Who were the Ouchis, mighty shugos, discoverers of the silver mine Iwami-Ginzan, founders of Yamaguchi, Kyoto of the West? And why is this interesting at all?

But I suggest to read first the Introductory Notes, otherwise you may be confused at some places.

A very important and fully Japanese Ouchi monograph will get the symbolic reference [0]. The notation is analogous with that of the 0th Law of Thermodynamics: without it there would be no Thermodynamics of any type at all.

This study cannot be satisfactorily written in English; however maybe there would be no point to write it Japanese and I could not do that anyway. So I list the principal problems.

Titles cannot be converted from Japanese to any language except maybe Korean. Namely if a title is not a complete sentence but something as a newspaper headline, then any alphabetic text including official Romaji is incorrect. For example, the stem of a verb exists only symbolically.

History needs names. Historical Japanese names are all written with kanjis. Now the pronunciation, and so Latin transcription, of a kanji is often not unique; as e.g. the kanji meaning both "katachi" and "kei" (originally cca. "inner spiritual essence", "ethereal moving force"). So some names are not unique even in the Japanese literature in English language. I am aware that I may have used erroneous transcriptions in many times; I did my best.

There is a diametrically opponent problem as well: there are words with the same transcriptions (even to hiragana) but of different kanjis & meaning. While the phenomenon does exist in other languages too, there it is are rather exceptional. The fundamental reason behind this Japanese characteristics is not yet quite known. Some authors refer to Chinese & Southeastern languages, where intonation is a lexical feature. For first approximation you can imitate the phenomenon by multiplying the vowel kinds. Then Latin transcription is degenerate and leads to multiple meanings. Note that this happens when we reconstruct Sumerian pronunciation via vowel-poor Akkadian. However there are two problems with this explanation. First, Japanese has no relation at all to Chinese or the Southeastern languages. And, secondly, the problem appears even when using the completely autochtonous hiragana or katakana transcriptions, although the Japanese certainly knew the structure of their language. Anything be the reason, transliterations are degenerate.

One degeneration, which however can be handled, is vowel length. To be sure, according to consensus there are 5 vowels for "colour" in Japanese which are and can be distinguished in Romaji as

a, e, o, i, u

even if "u" is not the European familiar "u", but a sound existing in Cymru and Turkish. However for length each of them seems to have short/long variants, which distinguish meaning, e.g. "tori" is "bird" with short "o" and "road" with long one. So Westerners do one of three things. First, they can neglect length. This is done by newspapers, which then write the name of the ex-premier as Mori Yoshiro, although two of the 3 "o"'s are long. Or, Japanese Romaji applies a horizontal bar above vowels; but that is cumbersome with any typewriter, so seldom used outside Japan. Third, one can double the vowel. That is done e.g. in the phonetically very careful system of Dunn & Yanada [1]. However the long vowels are within a single syllable and the Dunn & Yanada transcription obscures this fact.

I am aware that Japanese always state that they have no long vowels, but I made some checks, and they admit that however some are pronounced longer. For me these longer but one syllable vowels are heard as long vowels, therefore here I will use the trick of Hungarian orthography (perhaps, surprisingly, it evolved from a suggestion of Jan Hus, Bohemian nationalist and heretics, burnt in Basel, 1410, in the presence of Sigismund of Luxemburg, Apostolic King of Hungary, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and King of Bohemia for various heresies, maybe the most known is to drink wine at Holy Communion without special Papal permission). So in this HTML there will be 10 Japanese vowels

Shorter: a, e, o, i, u

Longer: á, é, ó, í, ú

The primed vowels more or less correspond the barred ones of Romaji and are ALT-160, -130, -162,-161 & -163. (They are regular members of Hungarian alphabet.) The system lives here from this moment. For more details see Appendix 1. For "long vowels" then the transcription is one-to-one compared to katakana; hiragana sometimes writes ou for monophtongous ó and ei for monophtongous é.

Now, there is another evolving degeneracy, about consonants. The voiced yóon ("soft", "palatal") derivatives of the "t-" and "s-" series seem to coincide in present pronunciation, while hiragana could handle the difference. To clarify the problem for Westerners, the "SA" syllable (meaning the sum of an alphabetic "s" phoneme and an "a", a high abstraction in Japanese) sounds roughly as "European" "sa", and "TA" as "ta". But "SI" is "shi" and "TI" is approximately "chi", no doubt, by the retroactive palatalizing force of "I".

For the voiced counterparts, "ZA" is "za" and "DA" is "da". However now come the yóon syllables. Hiragana considers them combinations of CI + YV, where C is any consonant and V is any velar vowel. Again, one may contemplate if this was the history; anyway, no yóon syllable exists with "e".

Now, even without any practice in Japanese one can guess that pronunciations of "DYV" and "ZYV" syllables would be similar, although not necessarily identical. (Think about "j" and "dj" in Libanese Latin orthography.) Do not confuse this with English ambiguity between "ji" and "gi"; "gi" in Japanese is quite distinguishable and is near to Hungarian "gy" which is "d'" of the Slovakian orthography. Now, Romaji writes both "DYV" and "ZYV" syllables as "JV". However hiragana can distinguish, and sometimes does. So does Dunn & Yanada, and I am tempted to follow their nondegenerate system. (There is an analogon in Hungarian orthography: now "j" and "ly" coincide, except a small mountain region of Hungary. Still official orthography stubbornly maintains the distinction. Young children often err.) Only I am afraid that with consequent use nobody would read this site.

However I do propose here a consequent system. I told the way of vowels. Now, look for the consonants.

The hiragana characters can be arranged into 13 complete series and some remainders. These series could be named according to the syllables with "a" vowel; the neutral "a" has the least retroactive influence on the consonant. These series we may call

where V is any vowel. There are still two incomplete series and something consonant-lengthening. The incompletes are

and the incompleteness does not raise any problem. But in Romaji some consonant-doubling appears. One case is written as a small "tsu" with the consonant. Being that phenomenon a glottal stop or similar. We can simulate the glottal stop with Q, for example. Then remains the single consonant "n". That we can write with "N'".

There are still the yóon syllables. But observe that now it is unequivocal to write them by "CYV", where C is any consonant. Namely, no 2 ordinary consonant can be neighbours (in -n'n- and -n'm- they are separated by a hyphen "'"), so if two consonants are adjacent then one is either "q" and that is the "small tsu" or a "CY" and then it is a yóon syllable. This system is in one-to-one correspondence with hiragana for consonants and distinguishes vowels also for length; and it is almost the system of Dunn & Yanada [1].

However the consequent use would result in unfamiliar words. For example Óuchi" would be "Óuti" or "kanji" would be "kanzi". So I will not be fanatic. For more explanation see again Appendix 1. But for second (given) names of ruling Óuchis, for expressing honour for the heroes of this site, I apply the rigorous system and another font. So the unfamiliar forms can seem archaic, showing the obligatory respect or such.

Two Hungarian fonts, long counterparts of ö and ü, are substituted by ô and û, because they are so Hungarian that I am afraid about HTML reproduction.

While Japanese does not distinguish upper and lower cases, for me it would be improper not to use capital initials in names. In Hungary it would be an insult to write a name with small initial.

Japanese names will be written family name first, as Hungarians too. (This is the official way in Japanese, Hungarian, Chinese, Korean North/South and Vietnamese, at least, so some 20 % of humanity. Westerners remain as they like. Japanese Emperors of course never had a family name because there is no other family of Japan to distinguish them from. Now, territorial Rulers beneath the Emperors could be considered as counterparts of European Kings. Kings have only second names on the throne. But for clear presentation I will use their family names. However, as for Kings, Óuchi dates are not for birth but ascending to their curule chairs.

May their spirits rest in peace!

Yamaguchi is an old city of Japan. I shall have to qualify lots of things in this study; let us start with the two adjectives of the first sentence. The city is old, in Japan. It was already a commercial and cultural center in the times of Hundred Year War in Europe. Of course that is nothing in China.

I am a Hungarian and this puts me into a middle position. In the US once somebody proudly showed me an inscription on a railway station demonstrating that it was built in 1900 AD; the other American told that: "It is nothing for them. They came from a place where everything is older than that." True; but in Rome buildings stand which go back to Roman Republic. Yerevan, capital city of Armenia, is almost synchronous with Rome, and was always the capital city of Armenia. When, some 3 years ago, I made short comments about Hungarian history for a Chinese colleague visiting Hungary, I told the year of foundation of the state. He asked back if I made an error. It was strange for him that a state was founded at a date AD.

Now, Hungary is special. The Kingdom of Hungary was founded on the Christmas of 1000 AD by nomadic Magyar tribes and their allies, both local and nomadic. The Magyars arrived into the Carpathian Basin in 896 AD (most probably in the second half of April). Hungary, however, got her name from the Bulgarian (r-) Turkish Onogurs (On Ogur = Ten Tribe; logical people will not use plural after a definite numeral). Indeed, Onougur->Ungarus, initial H comes from Hun. The name officially appears in a Western "Roman" Imperial edict in 860 AD as "Marcha Uuangarorum", Hungarian March. So in some wider sense there was a Hungary already in 860 AD, but not a State. We in Hungary count the history of Hungary from 896 AD. Previously different components of the Hungarian nation lived separate histories at separate places; and the dominant component, Magyars, lived thousands of miles to the East. Some pre-Conquest Magyar graves have been excavated by Chuvash and Tatar archeologists, but our museums do not have anything such. Our nearest kins for language live in Siberia; true, in most Western Siberia.

Now in Japan a history-minded Hungarian is at ease. True, the Japanese State is older, the canonical date in 660 BC. But the museums do not have items from the first centuries. Museum exhibits become more solid with, say, Emperor Suiko in the 6th century AD. (Emperor Suiko was female. Then what? I cannot call her Empress; she was the Tenno herself, not Tenno's wife. Similarly, Maria Theresa (1740-1780) was our King, Rex Hungariae, not Queen, Regina. Japanese is genderless, as Magyar. In addition, I read somewhere, that Christine of Sweden used to tell that she was King, while Elisabeth of England was only Queen. Indeed, Christine of Sweden was not interested in husbands.) So the oldest Japanese cities are not much older than the oldest Hungarian ones. (In fact, in Hungary Savaria goes back to Emperor Augustus of Rome; but that was an un-Hungarian state.)

Hungary is somewhat an implant in Central Europe. In average people are shorter, legbones often curved, Mongol spot and epicanthic fold, while rarity, not unheard of. And there is the language. Magyar language, in first approach, do not resemble anything. If Hungarians anywhere on Earth switch to this language, no outsider can understand anything at all. Roger Penrose (cf. Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems and such) told me once in Budapest that Magyar sounds as if Hollywood invented it for fiction movies. Indeed, some American tried with the idea that Hungarians are immigrants from planet Mars. (There is a story that once, during World War Two, a secret Nuclear Energy Committee switched to Magyar for convenience when Einstein went out. Szilárd, Wigner, Teller &c...) But second approximation shows that Magyar has relatives: Manyshi and Khanti in Siberia. We cannot understand, however, them, and vice versa. In third approximation, Finnish, Estonian and such Northern languages are also relatives, as linguists can demonstrate it (but that does not help in understanding). There are clear links with Samoyeds, reindeer nomads at the Polar Circle. And here Science stops. Maybe the Uralic group is a sister group of Indo-European or Indo-Tyrrhenian within Nostratic; kinship with Altaic languages (Turkish, Mongolian, Mandzhu, maybe Gilyak) is more probable, almost sure, but some rigorous linguists tell that they cannot prove it. These links had been obscured by the turmoils of the end of Würm III glacial, migrations and such.

On the other side, Japanese is generally considered a nation without relatives. According to tradition, just before 660 BC conquerors came from Heaven (the Emperor and some aristocrats still keep some artifacts from the previous home; indeed 2700 years is not too much, see Rome, Yerevan &c.) and organised the aborigines. Then come Japanese archaeologists & anthropologists and tell that the conquerors have affinities with some mainland East Asia people, but not Chinese. Similarities can be traced back until so far as Koguryo, which in recent years would be called rather North Korea. Linguists would tell that there are disturbing similarities with Korean language. The two languages cannot be mutually understood, but linguists can demonstrate "something".

Observe that Magyar is probably in kinship with the Altaic languages; only Science is still unable to tell more certain statements. Then Korean is almost Altaic, surely it is related to Manchu. So Magyar is unrelated to almost all European languages but not so in Asia, and with Korean the link is probable although far; and Japanese is unrelated to any except that it may be a remote kin of Korean. So Magyar and Japanese are trebly remote; and still Magyar is farther from neighbouring Polish or German than from Japanese, and Japanese is farther from neighbouring Chinese than from Magyar.

Now, there is a general opinion that Japanese are strange people, unique, and are not at ease with foreigners. Since I visited Japan in several times (in meteoritics and symmetrology) and I did not detect any uneasiness toward myself, I think the opinion might come from Anglo-Saxons.

In 1999 I attended to PIECE'99, an impact conference in Yamaguchi, organised by Miura Yasunori. During the events I observed the great esteem of modern Yamaguchi people towards the extinct princely house Óuchi. I looked into history and the problem turned out to be interesting and highly nontrivial. On the banquet I promised to start Óuchi research in Hungary, and publish. Up to now I was able to publish only one article, in Magyar [2]. Still, I think the topics deserves some effort; we shall see why. In addition, I learnt from anthropology that if one omits the usual rites for important dead, then they appear in dreams until the rites are not performed again [3]. The Óuchis are not my ancestors, still they may haunt even my dreams if I do not fulfil my promise.

Our age is sensitive on xenophoby. Japanese are often told (by foreigners) to be xenophobes. Now let us see citations from the Founder of Christianity [4]. I start with Luke, because in Hungarian his name is exactly my family name. In 17, 11-19 he narrates that near the Samaritan/Galilean border 10 lepers went to Jesus, 9 Galilean and 1 Samaritan. He healed them, and they went away happily. Then the Samaritan came back to thank him, the Galileans not. Jesus is Galilean, with the apostles. He sadly comments: "There was nobody else returning to honour God, but this stranger?" Matthew 15, 21-28 is also interesting. Near Tyre a Kanaanite woman asks his help for her daughter. He does not answer. The disciples tell him to help; then he: I have sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then the woman starts an argument; and after some sentences Jesus is willing to heal.

Obviously Jesus Christ teaches something for all humanity. But also obviously, even for him a Samaritan is stranger compared to a Galilean compatriot; and a Kanaanite is healed after everybody in his own community has been. But also, we can see that a Samaritan is almost "we" compared to a Kanaanite. The Good Samaritan is a positive example. And at the Sichar well Jesus and the Samaritan woman talk a lot peacefully albeit mutually not quite friendly. And he does know in advance that one of the lepers is Samaritan, but he heals him automatically. There are grades.

Óuchi = Oo Uchi = Great House. Exactly the same title as Per aa = Pharaoh. So their House was great indeed. And in Yamaguchi the local physicists told: the Óuchi family was not Japanese, but some Asian. (Japan is not Asia, Britain is not Europe.) Also: there was an Óuchi who went everywhere on horseback. That is natural for a Hungarian: we learn this about early ancestors. But Japanese terrain is not good for this. Only master horsemen on special horses can go everywhere on horseback.

Now, there are strangers and foreigners in Japan; e.g. now a lot of Koreans. But it is not a high status to be Korean there. And the Óuchies were not garbage collectors but princes. Or dukes; their position in decentralised medieval Japan seems to be more akin to actually leading dux than the civilian princeps. And without stretching analogies too far, think of contemporary cultured Venice and its doge. Only the ducal office was inherited in the Óuchi family or clan for centuries. It is a matter of definition, for exactly how much centuries. And during those centuries, they were continuously somewhat "non-Japanese". For facial appearance, surely some members of the family were rather "continental"; but details come soon.

So if we look for details of Óuchi history, we can understand more about Japanese society. Also we understand something about history; and in the same time console their spirits.

Since Óuchies founded Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi people preserved traditions about them. What I write here in this Chapter, seems to be the Yamaguchi consensus, and I did not find any coherent counterevidence. The bulk comes explicitly from an Óuchi exhibition at Yamaguchi Museum in 1999, and from Ref. [0] the fundamental Óuchi monograph.

The founder of the House of Óuchi is Rinshou (later), in 611. He settled in Suo Province, on the shore of the Inner Sea, and became a local leader. Then come 12 generations, and then names, later dates too:

__________________________

The first brother inheritor, which I know, is Moriharu. I accept these data in face values and continue.

There is a record for Hiroyuki starting the Iwami-Ginzan silver mines or an important part in 1309: I did not see it and take the date from [5]. For a discussion see Appendix 2. If it is correct, and if he did it as ruling Prince, Hiroyuki ruled long.

To be on sure grounds, let us see the distribution of the ruling times; we showed earlier that this is a good approach if we have long dynasties [6], [7]. 32nd Óuchi, Yoshinaga, is a special case, so let us ignore him. There is 940 years for 31 rulers, that is 30.3 years in average. Slightly long compared to European standards.

For the first 23 we get 32.2. For the last 8 we can calculate everything although the statistics is small. We get:

n = 8

<x> = 24.88±2.77 ys

<s > = 7.81±3.19 ys

So the averages of the first 23 and the last 8 differ by 7.34 ys. If the first 2/3 of the distribution were stochastically the same as the end, the length until Hiroyo should be 572.24±63.71 ys at 1 s . Therefore the null hypothesis seems to be at 2.6 s from the facts. More straightforward result could be obtained via a formal chi-square test, but no qualitative improvements are expected. At some 98 % level either a few members of the dynasty may have been forgotten, or the average ruling time moderately shortened for the 14th century. But the second almost surely happened. Namely

1) End-Kamakura, Óei and Ónin times were disturbant. Earlier life may have been more peaceful.

2) In the short sequence of 8 rulers there is a younger brother and a son of an elder brother; 25 %. Both make the average decrease. If this did not happen earlier then indeed the average must have decreased.

So the null hypothesis that the generations are complete and the stochastic properties of the series are stationary does not seem to be correct. It is almost sure that the number of rulers is not overestimated; and the apparent decrease of ruling periods with time is historically probable. Fundamentally statistics in itself cannot raise doubts against the Óuchi genealogy.

There is the record mentioned above, that Hiroyuki did something about Iwami-Ginzan silver mines. Since that seems to be an orthodox history, accept it in face value. Then as terminus ante quem we get the minimal length of Hiroyuki's rule 43 years (maybe even longer by a few years). Taking the 43, the averages for the last 9 rulers will be

n = 9

<x> = 26.89±3.34 ys

<s > = 10.02±3.79 ys

One can see that only this change in itself decreases the chance against the null hypothesis to cca. 80 % which is generally not enough to exclude a hypothesis at all. On the other hand, while Hiroyuki's length is large, it is not extraordinary. It is within the 2s region of the distribution; and such things do happen in dynasties.

It is interesting that the graves of both Sigehiro and Hiroyo are in Jofukui Temple, but that of Hiroyuki is near to Furukumajinja Shrine. However the two places are near to each other, and obviously only Hiroyo may have been buried directly in his new city. The ashes of the grandfather and father must have been intentionally reburied there, originally probably they were in Suo.

This is enough for statistics. The known data seem to be acceptable. Now let us see the origin of the dynasty.

In early Japanese history the role of the Korean peninsula is a commonplace. Writing, iron industry, Buddhism, and a lot of luxury industries arrived via the peninsula; as well as horse. The reason is obviously geographical. The Japanese archipelago is quite isolated from the mainland except for 3 links. At the northern edge of the archipelago Hokkaido is at easy distance from Sakhalin, and Sakhalin could be reached from the mouth of the River Amur. At the southern edge the really numerous and scattered Ryukyu islands almost reach Formosa, which was in some contact with China. However in the first centuries AD both Sakhalin and Formosa were remote peripheries of mainland civilisations. But the third link is between (with modern place names) Pusan, the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula and Fukuoka on Kyúshú os Shimonoseki on Honshú, via the Tsushima Island, halfway between. The peninsula was a periphery of Chinese civilisation, but not a remote periphery. And the Japanese end was the meeting point of the 3 big islands, Kyúshú, Honshú and, behind, Shikoku. The probable craddle of the Japanese civilisation. For any case, Ninigi, grandson of Amaterasu Ómikami and grandfather of Jinmu Tennó, the Founder, descended from sky onto a hill on Kyúshú (anywhere Amaterasu's Sky be located).

Lot of immigrants, whole clans and pseudo-clans (be) are listed in early Japanese chronicles and clan traditions as "immigrated from Korea" in the early centuries of Japanese state, and they were, undoubtedly, more skilled in one or other discipline of Chinese culture than the population of the archipelago. However the quotation marks are trebly proper. Some of them did not immigrate from Korea but through Korea; there was no Korea, or if there was, the majority did not start from there; and some of them were not exactly immigrants. Let us go step by step.

The first point is simple. For example, recent discussions guess that the Hata clan carried early Christian traditions to Japan along the Silk Road. Now, some authors believe they started from Kazakhstan.

The second point needs some explanation. For Westerners (practically for anybody outside of the area of Chinese writing tradition) Korea is now one nation divided by actual politics. That may or may not be true. Let us see another nation divided. Between 1949 and 1991 there were 2 Germanies. The Eastern half called herself Deutsche Demokratische Republik, the Western Bundesrepublik Deutschland. The "Deutsch" was common element, it goes back to Roman times, and that is translated in these names as "German". Now, Korea is different. The northern part of the Korean peninsula calls herself Chosun (or Choson), the southern one Hankuk, or, more detailed, Dae Han Minkuk. I guess, the northern name comes from the High Middle Ages state, the southern from the ancient ages when some part of the territory was called the "3 Hans", while "Korea" seems to come from "Koguryo", the old northern state, or Middle Age Koryo.

In the centuries relevant for the present study the peninsula contained 4 states. Koguryo was cca. the present North Korea plus some parts of Manchuria. Mimana (Kaya, Imna) was the southern central part under direct Japanese influence. The southeastern part was Silla (Shilla, Shiraga), while the southwestern Paekche (Hyakusai, Kudara). Some historians now doubt even the existence of an entity Mimana; for the other 2 observe that Shilla is the Japanese transliteration of Silla, Hyakusai is that of Paekche, while Shiraga and Kudara are the Japanese names for Silla and Paekche.

Now, early connections between Silla and Japan could not have been avoided due to geographical facts, and there are ample indications in Japanese chronicles. E.g. Sosa no O, God of Tempest and Sea, brother of Amaterasu Ómikami, "lived" in Silla long. Or, Emperor-Regent (female) Jingu is a fifth-generation offspring of a Silla immigrant. The relations are far from friendly, as usual between neighbours. Early chronicles tell bad things about Silla, and mythology tells that Sosa no O is a great god, but his temper is rather dangerous, he was once aggressive towards his sister the Sun Goddess and, besides other raw deeds, defecated in her main hall.

On the other hand, chronicles are quite friendly toward Paekche, as one towards his younger brother. They do not consider, of course, the King of Paekche the equal of the Tenno, but they do not consider anybody else either except the Chinese Emperor, the Shanyü (the Throne of the Hun Great King, the Tanhu, on the Far West is already empty when the first Japanese chronicles are composed). Still, the Paekche King is a nice fellow, Paekcheans are good guys. And even today, "kudara-nai" i.e. "non-Kudaran" is "worthless", "not cultured" [8].

And now comes the third point. Here I turn to a source written in Magyar [9]. It is a History of Japan, written by historian Jamadzsi Maszanori, in Hungary. (This is his Hungarian name. In Japanese Romaji it seems to be Yamaji Masanori, in English Masanori Yamaji.) Note that when citing [9], I am translating Japanese ideas to English through Magyar, and the logics of Magyar and Japanese are more similar than those of English and Japanese. Jamadzsi [10] definitely mentions the Aya, Hata and Fumi clans as the most important "áttelepültek", and he tells that "Az áttelepülteket a japánok 'kikadzsin'-nak, azaz 'az uralkodójához megtértnek' nevezték.".

Let us stop here for a moment. Obviously here Jamadzsi translates a Japanese explanation. Unilingual vocabularies, explaining words by analogies [11] or by definitions are often used by scholars. In them a rarer word or expression is explained by words in common use; or the meaning is delimited by a lengthy formula. The sentence is certainly nor a dictionary item; as far as I know, no Japanese-Magyar dictionary exists (which is rather interesting). The 3-word expression is the circumscription of "kikadzsin", and Jamadzsi translated the circumscription, probably word by word. We have a triangle of words: Japanese "kikajin", English "naturalized (person)" and Magyar "honosított", which cannot be equivalents because the state philosophies behind differ. I return here soon.

Now, what is an "áttelepült"? The Magyar vocabularies tell that "áttelepül" is "transmigrate" (root forms). "Települ" is cca. "settle", "migrate" is rather "vándorol", but sometimes they are almost synonymes. However the "át"="trans" is important. "Immigrate" is "betelepül", "emigrate" is "kitelepül".

Now let us see the sentence cited. I give a translation as literal as possible, still leaving for a while 3 words in Magyar. "The Japanese called the transmigrants 'kikajin', i.e. 'az uralkodójához megtért'."

Now, English sites about Japanese minority problems &c. translate present "kikajin" as cca. "naturalized person". (See e.g. [12].) Jamadzsi's text, however, suggests that this translation lacks some aspect not existing in English, and that it is not the historical meaning. And also observe that statistics seem to indicate that present kikajin are mainly ethnic Japanese, offsprings of Japanese in Korea, Brazil &c., who want to get back Japanese citizenship. According to [12], the of the kikajin between 1952 and 1962 14% was earlier Japanese citizen but lost the citizenship, 42 % was descendants of Japanese citizens, 4 % were married to Japanese, and further 39 % were Korean, which status was also something almost Japanese citizenship before 1945. Only 1 % (!) had no former Japanese connections.

Now, the term "back" does not mean too much for Westerners, since, as we have seen, only 14 % of present kikajin were Japanese citizens; but their ancestors were. Extant Hungarian citizenship regulations know a similar cathegory. If somebody applies for Hungarian citizenship whose ancestors had it but lost, he waits shorter time &c.

Obviously in USA the origin of naturalized Americans is different. Behind the Anglo-Saxon idea "naturalization" one guesses that the individual, henceforth, is to be regarded as a "natural" subject, or somebody naturally born there. The Hungarian notion has nothing about "nature". The Magyar "honos" is translation from Latin "indigena"; Latin was Hungary's official language between 1000 and 1841, and Roman Law had serious impact on Hungarian law. In Middle Ages in Hungary the citizenship of peasants was irrelevant, the middle classes belonged to some communities which then belonged to the state, and noblemen had individual citizenship. Now, the Parliament could have given indigenatus, and then the individual became a Hungarian nobleman. "Indigena" is a "home person", and "hon" is cca. "home", so giving indigena status the person is no more a foreigner.

And now let us go back to kikajins and see the key words. So the (Paekche) transmigrants the Japanese called kikajin, and a kikajin is "az uralkodójához megtért" person. The 3-word expression is a Past Participle; its verbal form is "az uralkodójához megtér". The first two is simple enough: "az" is "the", "uralkodó" is the generic "ruler"; maybe it would be appropriate to use "monarch". "Uralkodójához" is "to his/her monarch"; note that i) Magyar is as genderless as Japanese, and ii) you must look for grammatical relations after the nouns as in Japanese. Mirror translations are more reliable from Japanese to Magyar than to English.

Now, what is "megtér"? I took a Magyar-English dictionary published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and it has given 4 translations, all of different roots in English. Namely, 1) return; 2) be gathered to one's fathers; 3) repent; 4) become converted. Meaning 2), however, is meant only for dead. But let us see the expression again, now fully in English.

It is almost the same if we tell that somebody repents and so goes back to his monarch, or simply that he returns to his monarch. In both cases the term indicates that the particular monarch was his monarch, he left his monarch but now goes back. Or, his ancestors left but he goes back. The third translation is not so trivial. But let us see a religious analogon. From Christian point of view Jesus is Lord of the whole Humanity. If somebody converts to Christianity, he simply recognises this fact, so converts to his Lord. However note that the Japanese Emperor was never considered the monarch of all Earth; he was the natural monarch of Japan.

So, according to the authentic Magyar translation of "kikajin", in the sixth century a kikajin was a person whose monarch originally had been the Tenno, or at least should have been, later the person did not belong to Him, but now is going to Him. Anglo-Saxon history was different; the English refugees of Zimbabwe/Rhodesia still have the English passports. Maybe some local leaders in France (as geographic unit) at the end of the Hundred Year Wars following the troops of the Prince of Normandy retreating to the Channel Islands (where Elizabeth II is still Princess of Normandy, not Queen) or to England were really kikajin.

But this can be correct only if special ties existed among the home localities of the "transmigrating" persons of the Korean peninsula and Japan. Now, on the other side of the connection, Hong Wontack [13] guesses that the Japanese imperial house, or part of it, originated in Paekche. Egami [14] guessed that states both in Korea and in Japan were founded by horse-riding invaders from Manchuria, Mongolia or so. Akima [15] does not believe this, but for the contacts he cites lot of mythology.

Obviously past and present politics strongly influence the theories and I definitely do not have to settle the question of origins. But two things are sure, reasons be anything; 1) that Paekche was in close contact with Japan, while Koguryo was not; and 2) that Paekche was considered friendly by Japanese while Silla was not. (And note that Wontack Hong's book was published in South Korea by Kudara International; the Japanese name of Paekche.) Now let us see an interesting observation of Wontack Hong [13]. The official Japanese chronicle Nihongi, when recording persons settling in from Koguryo and Paekche at the border of sixth and seventh century, tells that Koguryo persons emigrated/immigrated to Japan; but Paekche persons arrived at. The kanjis of the two expressions have nothing common at all, although I do not have the necessary skill to reproduce them in HTML. I would guess that Paekche persons were kikajin, Koguryo ones were not, and Silla ones either enemies or boat people harassed by tyrannical Silla authorities and/or the tempest God Sosa no O.

If, indeed, there was some early intimate connection between Japan and Paekche, then that was the reason of the special status of Paekcheans. If simply Japan and Paekche established an alliance against the common enemy Silla, then the bad reputation of Silla and Sosa no O may be caused by Paekche scribes of the Japanese court. But the Paekchean scribes were only technical experts. The Tenno and His court read the Nihongi, and accepted as flawless and official. Anyway, Japan acted as any nation in past and present. It believed itself the first, its allies seconds, the neutrals, unknowns and so third, and enemies the scum of humanity. At and after the First World War lot of Anglo-Saxon books called Germans as "Huns" (see e.g. [16], where it is a habit of the author), meaning their bloodthirstiness and ugliness in the same time. While any Hungarian is surprised on this (Germans are farthest of all for appearance from Eastern Huns, and they were not even allies of them, except the noble Skirrs of King Edika, Commander of Guard of Attila, but mere subjects), the fact is that this statement did not differ qualitatively from the opinion of some Japanese (and of myself) that Westerners are too blond, too tall, and their legs are unnaturally straight.

Now we can return to the Óuchis. Namely, the founder of the Óuchi (Great House = Per Aa -> Pharaoh) family is Prince Rim Seong, third son of King Seong-Myeong of Paekche. He transmigrated to the shore of the Inner Sea, to the Suo Province, in 611 AD, and continued to be a leader there. Either he got indigenatus, or it was not needed in his case.

Paekche, in spite of the heroic efforts of a Japanese expedition army, was eliminated by tyrannical Sillan herds (and imperialist Chinese Tang troops) in 663 (Koguryo ceased to exist 5 years later, but Koguryo is no matter here). Of course, then local chieftains transmigrated with some followers; similarly Hungary accepted some White Croat allies en masse in 955, when the Polyan troops eliminated White Croatia around Cracow and to the East. (Hungary was not in the position to stop the Polyans outside of the Carpathians just after the fiasco at Augsburg; but in later times Polyans became as good allies as White Croats.) It is a trivial matter if a nation settles down refugee allies, and this fact does not tell too much about xenophoby/xenophily. However the first Óuchi arrived half a century earlier. So it seems that for centuries Japanese and Paekcheans (or should I say rather Kudarans?) mingled more or less freely.

Rim Seong is the Paekchean name of the founder of the Óuchi family. His Japanese name is Rinshou. The difference is just as King James II of England was Prince Jacques II on the Channel Islands (while King James VII in Scotland, but that is another matter). That is a simple matter although more than transliteration; look, the King of the Mongolian roam in Hungary was Béla IV in the middle of the country, Vojtech IV in the northern mountains, Adalbert IV for the German burghers of the capitol or for the Transylvania Saxons, and he was also the King of Kumans, but I do not know his Kuman name; if somebody knows, please tell me.

Let us go back now to Ref. [0], the genealogy in it and to the statistics above. The first ruler in its genealogical tree after the founder is the 16th Óuchi, Morihusa. Accepting the genealogy, between the arrival of Rinshou (I think the vowel is long) and the death of Yositaka 940 years were, and 31 rulers. That is 30.3 ys per rulers; I cannot take anything else than the mean deviation from the last 9 rulers. Then, calculating back from the beginning of Hiroyo, our first certain date, we get that Morihusa started in 1109±28. The average date is the beginning of Emperor Toba; Go-Sanjo is jókó, and the central powers just seem to manoeuvre with the help of the Minamotos (cf. the appointments on night, June 23, 1102). But still there is peace.

Let us jump back. Prince Rinshou was not at all the only Paekche royal blood in Japan. 52 years after his arrival the last Paekche royal court had to flee to Japan; indeed, this was the royal court after the last one in Paekche, because in 660 Tang Chinese Su-Ding-fang and Silla King T'aejol Muyong took the capitol of Paekche and captured King Uyja, together with the Crown Prince and many chieftains. The 663 expedition was a desperate effort to resuscitate the decapitated and occupied Paekche; and, as we shall see, there was another revival 200 years after. Anyway, the fleeing Paekchean King, Crown Prince and courtiers arrive at Nara, spend there some time, and then start to somewhere in Kyúshú. Sea storm takes them to the eastern shore; and up to now some "Koreans" live in Nango, Miyazaki Prefecture. Of course, Koreans live almost anywhere in Japan; but in Nango Kudarans live. Nango is Kudara no sato, the Kudaran hometown [17]. But in this time the Óuchi Family was already well rooted in Suo Province.

While the time of relative obscurity is going, something again happens on the mainland.

Shiraga was as strong, active and temporarily successful as her god, Sosa no O, God of Sea and Tempest. In 668 conquers Koguryo, and in 676 evicts the Tang troops. Korea is united?

No. In 698 Tae Jo-yong, from the Koguryo royal family, founds the Koguryo successor state, Parhae, farther to the North. The state alternatively called nowadays as Pohay and Bohai. Silla builds a wall on the border of this Northernmost Korea. And then at the end of 9th century the effective authority of the Silla Kings shrinks. Again appears a Paekche and a Koguryo. And a military leader of the latter organizes in 918 the Kingdom of Koryo. Its capitol is Kesong, in the present People's Democratic Republic of Korea (shortly, North Korea). Both the name and the genesis of Koryo shows that it is a Koguryo successor state. Koryo eats up Paekche; the Kitays (Liao) annull Parhae in 934; and then next year Silla capitulates. Korea is united; now.

This dynasty (called Wang) will rule until 1392, under difficult conditions. From 1215 they are under Mongolian vassalage. However the Mongolians are ousted from China in 1368; the prestige of the Koryo royal dynasty which was their vassal for one and half centuries may be low. No surprise that they are overthrown soon; but let us go chronologically.

The Gempei War is one of the most decisive events of Japanese history. With serious simplifications and with an impartiality coming from distance in space and recognised lack of intimate knowledge one can summarize the situation at the second half of 12th century as follows.

The person of the Japanese Emperor is god-like. In earlier times, when the Yamato state was small, this did not hinder direct control of state administration, although, as Aristotle tells in De Mundo [18] the Prime Mover is at the farthest periphery of World and similarly the Great King of Persia is in his palace, unmoving, and is the primordial cause of events, not getting mixed in details. But there is a tendency to substitute the holy ruler more and more with ordinary humans in everyday business. This was a usual evolution in many states. E.g. remember the Khazarians. There the Khagan guaranteed fertility of the land, help of ancestral spirits &c. and a large golden disk reflected the rays of Sun from above His head into the eyes of the petitioners; during this the Beg, in some offices, handled military matters without too much protocol because he was an ordinary human. It went so far that about 740 Beg Bulan introduced even a new religion, the Karaite, however with the consent of the Khagan; and the golden disc remained above the Khagan's head. About 70 years later a descendant of Bulan, "King" (Beg) Obadiah accepted Talmud in addition, so converted to regular Jewish religion, and still the holy Khagan remained in office. We know that the King in 955 was Joseph, from his correspondence with Chasdai ibn Shaprut, Chief Minister of Cordoba [19], but who was then the Khagan? Magyar tribes also used this practice, so something is still obscure about the political situation just at the eve of the Conquest of Hungary. Anyway, Khagan (?) Álmos dies the sacred death of the old Khagans at the very boundary of the Carpathian Basin, because he "might not enter" the new country.

OK, the Paramount Chief is too holy so let us find an ordinary human. But of course, one cannot choose too lowly ones. The ideal solution is to choose relatives. First came Regents for the case of too young Emperors, who could continue later as Chancellors (Shessú/Kampaku). This office was the prerogative of Fujiwaras, being intimately and multiply relatives of the Imperial Family. The practice started with Fujiwara Yoshifusa under Emperor Seiwa (the 56th Tenno). But soon another "advisor" was needed for military matters, first on far frontiers as Southern Kyúshú or Northern Honshú. This official is the Shógun, the Great General against Barbarians.

Then the Fujiwaras get concurrents from an interesting direction. The Emperor is too sacred. But not the ex-Emperor. The first abdicated Emperor was Heizei in 809; however Shirakawa saw the possibilities. He "retired" to a Buddhist cloister and thence used Cloistered Power.

The two strongest military groups in these times were the Taira (or Heike) branching from Emperor Kanmu (781-806) and the Minamoto (or Genji) from Emperor Seiwa (858-876). As we can see, both families were originally divine, and not too far relatives. The main difference was that the Tairas remained in the central regions around Kyoto or went to Southwest, while the Minamotos settled the North(east).

Now, above we discussed the 3 links of the Japan archipelago to the mainland. I will call them East (but it is Northeast), West (which is Southwest) and South (extreme South). The first is Siberia (Amur) through Sakhalin and Hokkaido, the third is South China & Farther India through Formosa and the Ryúkyú islands. Both links are thin and scattered. But the West link is tight; only indirect. Shimonoseki or Fukuoka, so South Honshú and North Kyúshú, is near to the Korean peninsula, and Tsushima is a stepstone. Chinese innovation entered the peninsula from the North, through the Yalu River, diffused to South, and could relatively easily get over from Shiraga or Kaya. From Kudara it was not so easily: no stepping stones hence.

To be sure, before the 6th century navigation was somewhat awkward, and so a travel between any part of the archipelago and mainland was considered an irreproducible event and esotery. Remember the Chinese chronicles about shamans in the Japanese ships; and the dialog of Emperor Chúai and His wife Jingú. It is recorded in Nihongi; I cite it after [13] & [15]. Jingú gets a divine suggestion to go to the peninsula. To this the Emperor answers: We have looked all around, and there is sea, and no land. Can there be a country in that Great Void?" Akima [15] stresses that the ancient Japanese idea was that things vanish at the horizon. Sometimes somebody appeared from Otherworld in a boat, but that was not an everyday experience, one did not count on such travels.

Still ideas and definitely ideas in heads of persons could diffuse the straits between Kaya & Silla on the mainland and South Honshú & North Kyúshú in the archipelago. Bronze technique, iron industry, rice planting and very probably horse arrived via that link, together with higher levels of pottery, clothes &c. Compared to advanced Kudaran products the autochtonous ones were Kudaranai, non-Kudaran, not polished. (And Rinshou, founder of Óuchi Clan was Kudaran; even a Prince.)

Even centuries later, rich, cultured life went on in the Western provinces. Around 1150 Tairas were there, while Minamotos on the North, fighting with northern, hairy barbarians. After 3 centuries of northern life they became fearsome warriors, enduring any discomfort. (All such notions are relative. For Scandinavians the cold Northern Honshú is hot Mediterranean. And so what? The Tairas were not Scandinavian.) And then in 1183 the Minamotos started from the East, the Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa commanded the Minamoto bakufu in Kamakura to deal with the Tairas, and in 2 years they eliminated the Tairas. In the Dan-no-Ura naval battle all the Taira naval forces vanished and ex-Emperor Antoku drowned; a tragic event of Japanese history yearly commemorated even now, and in 900 years directed evolution of the local crabs reached some resemblance to samurai faces, because local fishermen feel improper to fish crabs which may have souls of Heike warriors. Ex-Emperor Antoku was 7 years old (!).

Obviously the loyalities were in question. So the Kamakura bakufu reorganised the state, appointed shugos and jitos to control the administration (the Ritsu-Ryó state did not use these offices), and these officials, of course, were proven loyal to the Minamoto cause.

Also, the West was Taira territory and the last stand of Tairas. It is symptomatic that in 1185 the victors establish the office of chinzei-bugyo, which can be translated as the supervisor of pacifying the West. No doubt, via the shugos and jitos the West was pacified soon, the change of important families do not alter the cultural pattern (East vs. West vs. South) and the Óuchi family lived as local chieftains. Probably at this date Manmori was the head of the House (but the name is strange; maybe alternative readings of the first kanji should be looked at), maybe still Hiromori. The shogunate soon became a shadow function and Hójó shikkens (shogunal lieautenants) governed instead, and then came the Mongols.

The Mongols reduced the Koryo state on the Korean peninsula to vassalage cca. 1215, and occupied all China totally in 1280. In Europe the Mongol advance was stopped cca. in 1242 when Polish and German forces including heavy cavalry of the Western Empire were finally successful in Silesia, Westernmost Poland (Legnica), and stopped also in Hungary where the Hungarian army had to fight simultaneously against the Western Empire (Frederick Babensberg of Austria) and Khan Batu, son of Jochi, son of Katun Börte (the father is uncertain, either Khan Gengis, or the Merkit chief Toktaobeki abducting Börte; Jochi means Guest). However the European stopping of the advance did not mean anything for Asia.

Khan Kubilay demanded taxes from Japan in 1271 and attacked two times, in 1274 & 1281. Both times the main force attacked North Kyúshú; however Southern Honshú was also strongly affected by the defence measures. Shikken Hójó Tokimune sent new shugos from his family to Nagato. The later ascent of the Óuchis as shugos suggest that they should have shown good abilities during the crisis. Hirozyou fights against the Mongols; either as Duke or as Heir Apparent.

However first the Kamakura bakufu is finished. In 1333 troops of Tennó Go-Daigo, and military leaders Ashikaga Takauji and Nitta Yoshisada eliminated all the offices of the bakufu and Nitta Yoshisada eliminated the Hojo family. The increase of Imperial influence was only transient, Ashikaga Takauji as shogun (1338) organised the Muromachi (Kyoto) bakufu, and nominated new shugos, in some cases his familiars. In that time, as we saw, Hiroyuki leads the Great House; and he has a lot of silver.

To the time of the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, on almost all territories the military leaders were loyal to the bakufu [9]. This is the time of Óuchi Hiroyo (1352-1380), founder of Yamaguchi, the 24th Óuchi. His forefathers were strong in Suo Province; his father gained a lot of silver; now Shógun Yoshimitsu nominates him to "protect" the provinces Suo, Nagato & Iwami in 1366. The Protector erects a castle in a defensible central place and then organises a city around. That is Yamaguchi; cca. the Entrance of Mountains. I cite again [9]: "With the advent of warring princes around their castles cities evolved. The warring daimyos gathered their vassals to their castles, invited merchants and artisans, and protected them, they paid tax. E.g. Odawara of Prince Hójó and Yamaguchi of Prince Óuchi were characteristically such cities.".

The statue of Óuchi Hiroyo -of course, on horseback- can be seen in Yamaguchi, and the photograph is on p. 35 of [0]; also sometimes is reproduced in turist booklets, history books, advertisements of the Yamaguchi Museum and such. The statue suggests a great horseman; but, what is interesting, rather from the Mongolian type. Hiroyo sits in the saddle with grave dignity and august indifference; as nomadic leaders are recorded in history books, from Attila, the Hun Tanhu (cf. if not about horseriding, the description of a feast by Priscus Rhetor, where Attila eats from a wooden dish, he is very grave, and nobody dares look into his eyes, except his youngest son, Irnak) to Genghis Khan and his successors. And not only his stance is Mongol-like but his face is too. An average Japanese does not seem Mongol-like, just as an average Hungarian does not; even if Hungarians somewhat deviate from European standards towards the Mongoloid race, and Japanese are classified there. We both have the experience to tell ourselves apart from Mongolians.

It is, however, not necessary to look for romantic mysteries about Óuchi connections to Mongols. The family was a direct descendant of Rim Seong, third son of King Seong-Myeong of Paekche. In that time Paekche mounted warrior aristocracy surely belonged to the Altaic stock, from which Mongols also originated. The question is rather: whence the Óuchies got their wives and horses? Mongol horses can go anywhere; a Mongol does not like to walk, in contrast on complicated Japanese terrain with a Japanese horse one cannot go everywhere on horseback, while Hiroyo did, according to tradition. An without mainland wives the mainland features would have diluted in 750 years. Or while in original Suo, did Óuchies marry only fellow-Paekchean ladies?

Anyway, Hiroyo marries from the capitol Kyoto. He is often in Kyoto, negotiating with the bakufu. He likes Kyoto. So, he adopts Kyoto culture for his new, western city. He makes a checkerboard plain for the city, as in Kyoto. He invites artisans familiar with the lacquerware of the Imperial city. He makes the Yasakajinja Shrine built according to a Kyoto original. And his Kyoto wife initiates the Óuchi doll art, similar to Kyoto dolls. The Kyoto of the West is in evolution.

But the Óuchi court is not simply the copy of central Kinki. There are the mainland horses. And somebody called Ch'ê Sung-ching, brings a recipe from "the Mongolian Dynasty", surely in the disturbances in China when autochtones overthrow Kubilay's dynasty (that is 1368). The recipe is that of Tochinko. The son of Sung-ching makes a sweet snack Uiro from Tochinko. Mainland influences are not unheard of in Yamaguchi.

Then comes Hiroyo's eldest son, Yosihiro (1380-1399). In contrast to his father, he looks the exemplar of a Japanese mounted warrior (the influence of his Kyoto mother?), and indeed his picture (on horseback) often illustrates books about Japanese art or history. He is followed by his younger brother (the 4th son of Hiroyo), Moriharu (1399-1431). His picture and statue from old age can be seen on p. 56 of [0], and the face seems peculiar. According to one tradition, told by the chief priest of the five-story pagoda in Rurikoji Temple, the pagoda was erected for the spirit of Yosihiro by Moriharu. (The chief priest did not confer with me. He gave an interview to some high-school students, namely Saito, Ishihara, Arita & Oka sans, who translated the interview to English and I got a copy at the shop of the Temple [20].)

However this tradition tells that 1) the deceased fell in the Ounin War, which started only in 1467; 2) calls Moriharu the son [20]. So this tradition contradicts the monograph [0], and is possibly corrupt. For any case the priest remembers that the deceased was very brave, and "never fought without being at the head of his soldiers). This seems apply on Yosihiro, but may apply other Óuchies as well. So let us see other texts. Ref. [21] also tells that the pagoda was erected for the spirit of Yosihiro, but the younger brother is called Morimi. This is the usual misspell; he is of course Moriharu, but the kanji and the person is the same. Ref. [22] correctly writes Moriharu, but for the deceased he invents a name nowhere seen in the family list, Yoshitaro. Mistype in the English? Ref. [23] gives the names Moriharu & Yosihiro, and tells that Yosihiro was killed in a battle against Asikaga (sic) Yoshimitsu. Now we may be sure that the Óuchies were indeed Moriharu & Yosihiro. And since Ref. [24] writes that the Óuchies were defeated by Shogun (Shógun) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the revolt started in 1399, we can be quite sure that Moriharu erected the pagoda for Yosihiro; but Moriharu died in 1431, and even his successor, the son of Yosihiro, died in 1441. So the 1442 date is slightly late.

The 27th Óuchi is Mochiyo (1431-1441), elder son of Yosihiro. He is followed by Norihiro (1441-1464), younger son of Moriharu. (Was his brother, Noriyuki, already dead?) The 29th Óuchi is his son, Masahiro, from 1464 to 1495, and the Ónin War starts in his time. (Some sources write "Ou", but the orthographically reliable [9] gives Ó, so the "Ou" is the hiragana trick.)

Some sources tell that the Ónin War broke out between Hosokawa and Yamana Clans, and Hosokawa was surely one of the sides. (The same Hosokawas who gave a saint some 133 years later, Hosokawa Gracia, née Akechi (another famous family; the father is the "Shógun of 13 days"), and a Prime Minister, Hosokawa Morihiro, in 1993-94, ex-sudent of Catholic Sophia University.) But on the other side some mention Óuchi, some Yamana and Óuchi. It was anyway an almost nationwide war, Óuchis strongly involved. And surely, the Óuchies and Hosokawas were concurrents in western trade. So this is the moment to break the chronological narration and go back just before 1400.

In 1399, in his last year, Óuchi Yosihiro, Protector of Suo, Nagato and Iwami, military governor of six provinces, sent a report to the Court of Choseon (Choson, Chosun, Chosen) in Seoul. He wrote that he could stop pirate (wako) activity influencing the shores of Choseon [13]. He tells in the report that he is a descendant of Paekche's kings. As reflexion, the Choseon Cronicle of King Cheongjong states that Yosihiro is descendant of King Onjo, founder of Paekche. Then he got virtual monopoly to Choseon commerce; and Ref. [13] tells that his brother (and successor) Moriharu (he reads Morimi; again the uncertainty with kanjis) "amassed wealth from trade with Korea". Also he writes that "since the Ouchi family always emphasized ... that they were descendants of the Paekche royal family they could receive exceptionally preferential treatment from the Court of Choseon in trade".

The trade in itself was important; not only because it carried Korean carrots or cotton into Japan, not being available until that [21]. It is more important that the "Ouchi family accepted the continental cultural ideas and art very readily" and in the time of Óuchies Yamaguchi was an "international city and was home to about 2,000 foreigners" [21]. We return to the western connections in another Chapter; however note that Yosihiro starts to mention his Paekche origin in 1399, and because of this his brother gets "exceptionally preferential treatment" in Seoul.

Now, between 935 and 1392 the peninsula was governed by successors of old Koguryo (now the People's Democratic Republic of Korea) from northern Kesong. The South became dominant in 1392, and the seat was tranferred to southern Seoul, into the northern part of old Paekche. This is the time to mention Paekche origin and to be rewarded for it. And it works. Yosihiro dies young, only 43. But Moriharu could harvest the fruits of the deeds of King Onjo and Prince Rim Seong.

The death year of Mochiyo, 1441, is, however, also not without events. The shogunate started to decline, and then in 1441 Akamatsu Mitsusuke assassinated the Shógun, Yoshinori [24]. and parallelly revolting peasants threatened the shogunate headquarters. He is followed by his minor son, who dies two years later. His younger brother, Yoshimasa, follows after 6 year gap, but instead of governing, performs tea ceremonies, ikebana and such. He abdicates during the Ónin War. In their last century the Ashikaga Shoguns could not control the great lords.

The Ónin War was serious but did not disturb too much the Yamaguchi life. Instead, Kyoto was in ruins because the Hosokawa and Yamana armies (the latter including Óuchi Masahiro as a general) fought in Kyoto. People flee. Now Yamaguchi is really Kyoto of the West, with Kyoto courtiers and such.

In 1467 Óuchi Masahiro besieged Hosokawa Katsumoto in the fortified Shokokuji Monastery. He was finally unsuccessful; but at least he was able to collect 8 cartloads of enemy heads. Formally the war went between Shógun Yoshimasa, the aesthete, and his brother Yoshimi, supported by Hosokawa vs. Yamana/Óuchi. The war ended without winner. True, first the Hosokawas gained full influence on the Shógun. In 1493 they forced Shógun Yoshitane to abdict. Then he went to Yamaguchi, to the Óuchis.

In this time the 30th Óuchi rules, Yosioki, son of Masahiro, on whose picture (p. 90 of [0]) the face looks quite Eastern European. He sits on a fiery horse. Ruling from 1495 till 1528, in 1508 he was able to restore Yoshitane. But Vasco da Gama already have reached India. The colony of Goa is formed in 1505. Nothing is known about this in Japan. In 1523 in Ningbo, China, Óuchi and Hosokawa agents clash over trade rights. Óuchis win and get the monopoly.

And now comes the final flowering and the fall. 31st Óuchi, Yositaka, inherited a rich territory and made it even richer. All my sources then tell that "retainers developed resentments toward those living the luxurious life", or "was so absorbed in pursuing cultural life that he forgot to watch his back". But first: new Southern Barbarians appear in Kyúshú. In 1543 a Chinese ship grounded at Tanegashima, with two Portuguese merchants [25], carrying guns. A local chief ordered smiths to investigate the guns, and after one year and one more discussion with a Portuguese smith they were able to manufacture guns. In the next years Christianity started on Kyúshú, and in November, 1549 Francisco Xavier arrived at Yamaguchi.

This story belongs to another Chapter, about Western Japan and European Connections. The unknown barbarians were Southern Barbarians, because they came from beyond the Ryukyu Islands. Interestingly, they were almost as hairy as the Northern Barbarians on Hokkaido or beyond.

In 1551 Óuchi Yositaka met his fate. So he lived so luxuriously that forgot to watch his back. It is difficult to find more definite statements. It seems that his two chief vassals, Sue Harukata and Móri Motonari, told him that be cautious, but he was not; therefore Sue Harukata revolted. Óuchi Yositaka, with his only son (Yoshitóto?), fled to Nagato and there, "being the situation hopeless", ordered a faithful retainer to kill his (minor?) son, while writing a letter to Móri Motonari to avenge him [26]. Then he performed seppuku.

Now, for first sight this story simply does not have any meaning for Europeans. What did want Harukata and/or Móri from Yositaka? For second guess, I can be wiser from my own experience. I led a project until the end of 2001. In 1999 two underlings of mine started to fight each other telling me that I was too friendly with the other. Then one of the physicists told me that I wanted to force her to work with the other, but it will not be successful because she will work only with me; and then immediately she vanished (forever?). The second then questioned the existence of the first and vanished in 2000. I finished the project with the only survivor. No explanation.

Maybe Sue and Móri did not like each other, and each believed that the other would revolt against the Óuchi, and then as new leader would be intolerable. If the Óuchi does not want to make countersteps, the only possibility for self-defence is to eliminate the boss first and then the would-be rebel. While this is not a quite satisfactory explanation, I cannot find better; maybe Japanese historians can.

Then the rebels got an Óuchi to rule (!). Late Ótomo, daimyó of Bungo, Kyúshú, had been the husband of Yositaka's sister. So the present daimyo of Bungo, Ótomo Yoshishige (Sorin), was an Óuchi by blood, and so his younger brother Hachiro. Sue asked Hachiro to be an Óuchi, he agreed, and took the seat as Óuchi Yosinaga. He is the anomalous one whom I left out of statistics.

Móri Motonari had to avenge Óuchi Yositaka. So he had to kill Sue Harukata. He chose to punish also the accomplice, Yosinaga/Hachiro. In 1556 he initiated a rebellion in Yamaguchi, in 1557 Óuchi Yosinaga fled to Kachiyama, besieged and killed. Móri marched into Yamaguchi and erected a temple for the spirits of the avenged Óuchi clan. Then ruled.

I definitely decline to draw conclusion from the Óuchi/Sue/Móri struggle. True, I chose the status of a historiographer on the side of the defunct House. But I do not know what to tell. No doubt: Sue was the bad guy (only: what was his aim?). But who was the good Óuchi? Yositaka or Yosinaga? And: I may have friends in Yamaguchi. They are in good position to draw conclusions if they want. I only want to tell that I am deeply influenced by the loyality of an unknown citizen who in 1999, midnight, when we were lost, not only directed to the statue of Óuchi Hiroyo, but waited for some half an hour, using his car reflectors to illuminate the statue. Anyway, the Óuchi House is gone from power for more than 4 centuries, and generally it is told that the dead has no friends. The Óuchies still have a whole city.

The unknown citizen then told us to sit into the car, and carried to the Xavier Memorial. St. Francis of Xavier is also a great name in Yamaguchi. And this tells me how to finish this study instead randomly pointed morality. Now come some chapters about Connections.

According to geography the compass of Japanese connections had 3 principal directions. East, which was northeast, West, which was Southwest, and South, which was Southeast. In any other directions the infinite Sea. The importance of all three connections is strongly emphasized by Amino [27]. We do not have to agree with him; but all three existed.

In Japan southern connections did exist. Probably the Japanese population has Polynesian/Indonesian/Malay component, but until the 16th century that had been forgotten. Southern Barbarians are reported at Chusima, Iki and Kyúshú in 997 and 1020 [9]. The incidents had no continuation. They came from Nothingness or Otherworld and returned (who could).

Ryu-kyu as an independent kingdom, was a relay of commerce with China and Southeast Asia. However it seems that no surprising influence arrived at Japan on this way.

Due to geography, in Japan context Eastern connection means northeastern, so through Hokkaido. Since the Hokkaido Ainus were in tribal stage, and Sakhalin slightly higher, this could mean rather the Amur area on the continent. But in the 16th century Russia was still far from the Pacific.

Therefore the eastern connection must have been even more negligible than the southern one. Obviously, in early times some plants may have arrived on the eastern route, but in the Yamato history up to the 16th century North Honshú was rather a cul-de-sac. Its settlers were strong and enduring but quite devoid of external impulses.

But Western connections were very important. Chinese impulses always could reach South Honshú or North Kyúshú directly from the Shanghai area, but it was much easier a connection with the Korean peninsula. While Egami [14] believes that the Japanese upper class came through the peninsula, maybe from Manchuria, and Wontack Hong argues for Paekche origin of the Imperial clan (with some Sillan admixture), Akima uses the same texts to show that in the time of the first Emperors the mainland was no more "real" than Paradise, Hell and Avalon in Europe. I definitely will not settle the argumentation.

However what is sure, Paekchean kikajin crossed to Japan in great numbers, carrying continental skills, religions and Chinese writing. These kikajin were integrated into the Japanese society, so Japan could negotiate with China as weaker but not negligible partner. As told earlier, these influences impacted at North Kyúshú/South Honshú, so that area was always the most civilized, with the most challenges. The Imperial court was relatively far from that point, in the 12th century between rich/cosmopolitan Tairas and virile/pure Minamotos; at the end of the 16th rich/cosmopolitan Westerners and virile/pure Tokugawas. Explanation comes soon.

As we saw, Portuguese arrived about 1543; from South, Goa, via Macao. Being the pact of Tordesillas valid, Japan was in the Portuguese hemisphere. However Spain had the advantage of Western America as basis plus the Philippines (with false longitudes) where the colony was established in that year. However Portuguese rights were unchallenged.

Catholicism spread fast on Kyúshú, and with Francisco Xavier in Yamaguchi too. While Óuchi Yositaka showed no will to convert, he did nothing against conversion of anybody; and there were converts. Between the times of Francisco Xavier and Tokugawa Ieyasu Jamadzsi characterizes the situation cca. as follows [9]. The Kyúshú daimyos defended Christianity because of commerce considerations and some of them converted. In the central Kinki region the Jesuits erected temples, schools, hospitals, orphanages and presses. In 1581 some 150,000 Japanese were Christian; at the beginning of the 17th century maybe 700,000. At the end of the 16th century European habits appear as: broad-brimmed hats, red wine, foodstuffs fried in oil, beef and horse meat, European style music. These "innovations" vanish after sealing Japan in 1639.

For the chronology of Portuguese connections see [28]; for that of Japanese Catholicism [29].

The start of unifying Japan is put, somewhat arbitrarily, to 1568, when Oda Nobunaga, theoretically to restore the lawful Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, enters Kyoto. The end, with the same arbitraryness, can be put to the Sekigahara Battle. There Tokugawa Ieyasu confronted a Western coalition which fought with the somewhat hypocrite slogan: For the Toyotomi family. The nominal leader of the Western block was Isida; the strongest leader maybe Móri.

Looking back to the age of Discoveries we have the tendency to think that the scenario was everywhere the same. Some Spaniards with guns, horses and iron breastplates, accompanied with fanatic priests, enter, annihilate the army of the absolute ruler, take away the gold and settle down. Yes; this happened so in America. Even in the most organised, still neolithic Peru. However there the transition took really decades. The office of the Inca existed until 1572, with less and less power.

Africa went, however, to the Portuguese. Portugal was a smaller country and not so fanatic. In Angola a vassal kingdom was organised with local bishops and such, and the Kingdom, albeit almost virtual, still exists. In Rhodesia/Zimbabwe the Portuguese made endless palavers with the Lord of the Gold Mines, the Absolute Ruler, the Monomotapa, until something happened with Portugal (a minute, please); but what happened with the Monomotapa? In East Timor the Portuguese have built a light brown Catholic nation which survived a quarter century Indonesian occupation, fought out her independence, and now happily speaks the Malay vernacular + the official Portuguese. About 1580, as we saw, Kyúshú and South Honshú was full with frying meat, red wine, oil painting, Jesuits, and presses printing gospels and Aesopus' fables. (I copy here the title page of the latter from [9]: "ESOPO NO FABULAS. Latinuo vaxite Nippon no cuchito nasu mono nari. IEVS NO COMPANHIA NO Collegio Arnasusani voite Superiores..." &c. &c. The text is not Portuguese; it is Japanese. Only the orthography is not Romajin.)

The conversion started; without any armed force. Much later, during the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu, in 1637, peasant revolt started in the Shimabara area, Kyúshú. Peasant revolts happened earlier as well. But in this some 40,000 fought and the biggest banner showed two angels, a chalice, a host, and a Portuguese text telling: "Glory to the Holy Eucharist". It was no Portuguese complot. There was no Portugal. As we should remember but always forget, Portugal was taken by Spain in 1583.

If Christianity was so strong in Japan, it may have been a bit even stronger and then... Indeed, what would have happened then?

This is not quite idle fantasy. The Western Alliance, fighting for the Western Culture (I mean, that of Southern Honshú + Kyúshú), for the right of happy (?) anarchy and theoretically for the Toyotomi Family was full with Christian daimyos. I do not think that Europe was a dangerous enemy in 1600. England & Holland fought Spain and Portugal was occupied. To invade Japan via Veracruz, Mexico, León and then the Philippines was something not too practical, and on the shorter Good Hope-Goa-Macau route Portuguese merchants and Jesuits blocked the Spanyards entering the Tordesillas sphere of influence of defunct Portugal. (If one does not believe this, read [28] at 1585. The Pope grants the exclusive rights of Portuguese Jesuits in Japan, while Portugal is occupied by Spain.) And even if some hundreds of Conquistadors appear; then what? The Japanese already had their own gunsmiths, they had their own good horses and could send tens of thousands against the hundreds. But the Japanese Catholics were strong and growing stronger. If the Western Alliance wins, Catholics take some key positions. Westerners would leave the country open (we saw, they always kept it open), and then Japan enters the commercial struggle 250 years earlier.

The Westerners were always cosmopolitan (for Japanese, at least). We saw that they imported Mongolian medicines & sweetmeat. They imported Korean carrots and cotton. They backtracked the route of Southern Barbarians and for a historical moment were concurrents at Annam, Malacca and Ternate.

Even 37 years after Sekigahara and after decades of Eastern suppression the Christian peasants of Kyúshú fought 4 months against a samurai army of 120,000 strong plus a Dutch warship, the de Ryp, of 20 guns. What if Isida & Móri won at Sekigahara, with lots of Christian daimyos and samurais? What if Christianity becomes an idea for the cosmopolitan West against pure Yamato East?

I only ask. But try to answer not from an Eurocentric viewpoint; that is not too interesting. Rather: what would have had been the Japanese and world consequences? But first observe that there was a need for Christianity. Everybody fought everybody and this could not be maintained too long. We saw that even mighty and cultured Óuchi Yositaka had to perform seppuku, and we do not know why. (This "we" means that both I and a lot of historians do not explain for what final purpose Sue Harukata revolted.) Maybe fight became automatic; but then nobody could relax anymore. In such times there is need for ideas helping peace.

Buddhism was such an idea, but could not work anymore, because in the earlier centuries lot of Buddhist monasteries collected fiery warrior-monks entering the struggles on every sides.

Konfucianism was a virtual possibility; it was known in Japan for many centuries, but only for intellectuals. (Remember: Kiyohara Sei, rather called in Europe Sei Shónagon, the literary courtier lady in the 10th century, entering intellectual races with men, knows that Konfucius existed but does not know anything more about him. See also Appendix 3) Konfucianism will be the idea of the Shogunate in the 18th century, but now time is not yet ready. The pure and virile East now can use only the Iron Hand instead of ideas; and will. Ordnung muss sein.

But Iron Hand and pure force is not a nice way for the West. Do not misunderstand me. Westerners, as Móris, Hosokawas and many other, were big fighters. However, they had something to lose too; and they wanted freedom. At least the freedom of great lords. Iron Hand may give peace and security; but cannot give freedom. And Christianity, with its experiences in the turmoil after Charlemagne, with treuga dei and such, may.

And indeed, Christianity spreads as a bushfire on the West. Daimyó converts after daimyó in Kyúshú and Western Hónshú. Even great Ótomo Yoshishige, brother of the Last Óuchi, Yosinaga, becomes Dom Francisco Otomo in 1578. In 1600 Hosokawa Gracia is Catholic (her husband not yet). Some important people on the West takes Ten Commandments as a possibility to organise life. What if Ishida and Móri won at Sekigahara and the West got some time to try to reconcile Liberté and Fraternité (but not Égalité, of course)? What if Jesuits, of course, Portuguese Jesuits according to the 1585 decree of the Holy See, became advisors of a Western Shogunate? They might even advise an attack against Spanish Manila, treacherously established in the Portuguese hemisphere. (In Our TimeLine or OTL this is planned by Tokugawa Ieyasu, indeed.)

Mighty China stagnated in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rich and populous India went down. But I think, Japan would have been a different concurrent.

Remember what happened in the Meiji restauration. The Tokugawas isolated Japan from the world for more than 2 centuries. Now in October 1868 Shógun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, for avoiding the attack of Chósu (the old Óuchi domain, now Móri) and Satsuma (Southern Kyúshú), asks the Tenno to take back the power. Then he changes his mind and attacks with greater numbers at Fusimi and Toba. The European-style Imperial army wins, the Tennó takes over the capitol of the Shógun, Edo, and changes the name to Tokyo. Four (!) more years and starts the first railway line, with Japanese personnel.

Now my questions, into the attention of Europeans, Japanese, and Alternative History fans.

What happens if that country enters into World Economy still before Industrial Revolution?

What would be the result of 30 Year War from 1618 between Protestants and Catholics with a Far Eastern Power friendly to Rome?

Who would have California when Americans traverse the continent in 1846? It is sure that the upper class people would be Catholic and of black hair, but rounded eyes or almond?

And: would now Japan be in better or worse relative positions? It is sure that the Japanese lifestyle would be "more European". Would it be better or worse for economy? I think this is an unanswerable but very important question.

I would like to thank Dr. Miura Y. in Yamaguchi, organiser of PIECE’99, for discussing some questions with me; but I take all responsibility for the present picture. I also thank some participants of PIECE’99, including Dr. Kedves M., for discussing orthographic nicerties with me, and also Dr. Wolf Gy. The Hungarian colleague with me looking for the horseback statue of Óuchi Hiroyo was Dr. Bérczi Sz. This study is a side product of OTKA T/26660, Meteoritok és kisbolygók termodinamikája.

Some Japanese claim that Old Japanese had 8 vowels instead of 5. This is the idea of Hashimoto, going back to 1909. This would put Old Japanese nearer to Altaic, which is no problem at all. However Hashimoto indicated that the "doubled" vowels were "i", "o" and "e"; and it is not easy to see such a system. Interested people may consult Turkish (Altaic) and Finnish and Magyar (maybe related) vowel systems. However even supporters of the Hashimoto theory tell that the system degenerated for the present one in the 10th century so we may forget the extra vowels.

Japanese hiragana seems to write "ó" and "é" in two different ways. Let us consider the "o"-sound. Take a syllable ending with "ó", e.g. the first of "tóri"="road". That is written in hiragana as "to-o-ri" and that is obvious. However in many cases hiragana makes a nontrivial trick. In the name of the great historical clan (and of the contemporaneous politician) Móri hiragana writes "Mo-u-ri". Now, it is possible that during linguistic evolution the "ó" in "Móri" assimilated from "ou"; but present Japanese is devoid of any diphtong, and katakana does not use this diphtongoid trick. I will not complicate the matter; it would be a great honour for me if a Japanese could criticise only the orthography of this HTML.

As for the consonants, strong retroactive influence of the vowel is seen in Japanese. Therefore when foreigners heard the syllable which is the "-I" member of the "T-"-line, they got the impression that they heard a "chi", not a "ti".

A similar effect is Slavic "softening". In Slovakian the "ti" connection is always pronounced as "t'i", where the prime "'" now indicates a palatal quality. Similarly, "di"->"d'i", "ni"->"n'i" and "li"->"l'i"; other consonants are unaffected. In Polish, however, "ci" transforms into "t'i". In Russian the majority of consonants have palatal/velar pairs and the choice is governed by the next vowel. The Japanese "ti"->"chi"="tshi" is unfamiliar but not absurd, and it is as automatic as the Slavic "softening".

Anyway, a "-chi" can mean only one hiragana, so the transcription is still unequivocal. Similarly in "Tennó" the first "n" is automatically "n'". Also "seppuku" cannot be anything else than "seqpuku" since the only consonants before another may be only "n'" and "q". "Shi" is of course "si" of hiragana. We may continue to use the familiar "ji", "jo", "ja" and "ju" instead of the correct "zi", "zyo", "zya" and "zyu". But we must distinguish "ji" from "di" and "zu" from "du". I will do, if I can. Anyway, writing "nosebleed" as "hanaji" we would believe that the third syllable is the "I" member of the "Z" series, while it is the "di" character: "hanadi" or, at final tolerance, "hanadji". And also "follows" is clearly not "tsuzuku". In the Dunn & Yanada system it is "tuduku". With some indulgene for lazy readers it can be "tsudzuku", but the second syllable is clearly the voiced variant of "TU" not of "SU". I note that the impossibly consequent system which I will not use here is almost the Dunn & Yanada system [1] for consonants (only "di" and "zi" coincide in theirs) and the system of Ref. [30] for vowels (which book was very useful for me).

Iwami-Ginzan was the greatest silver mine locality of medieval Japan in Iwami Province. (Gin = silver.) About 1600 the yearly silver product was cca. 40 metric tons [31]; to see the order of magnitude, in 1960 the total Japanese production was 324 metric tons and Japan was in the top 5.

Now, Ref. [31] states that "There are few records of the early development of the mine in the 16th century..."; and it really is seen that the past before the Tokugawa Era is still confuse. Namely, [31] on one hand tells that the mine was discovered in 1526, when a merchant from Hakata "started the development of Iwami Ginzan"; on the other that "From its opening in the Edo period, Iwamiginzan was under the direct control of the 'Bakufu'...". But the Edo period started in cca. 1600, so the mine was open already before the Edo period, according to the very Ref. [31].

Ref. [31] is the home page of the Iwamiginzan Museum, so it must be authentic. It refers to an 1812 book Ginzan Kyuki or Iwamikoku Ginzan Yousyu which collected older traditions; the story of the discovery by the Hakata merchant comes thence. 7 years later the merchant imported new techniques from "Korea", increasing silver production "enormously".

However in a chronologic table Ref. [32] tells at 1309 that "Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine was discovered according to an old mine record 'Ginzan Kyuki'"; the very same book on whose testimony [31] attributes the discovery to merchant Kamiya Jutei of Hakata. Interestingly, two lines below the 1309 discovery it is written: "1526 Kamiya Jutei...discovers the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine". So, according to [32] Iwami-Ginzan was doubly discovered. At another place [30] the same composition illustrates the legend that the merchant saw a glimmering mountain from the Japan Sea, the second discovery. Finally, in a third part [5] the two traditions are reconciled by writing: "An old record says that the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine was discovered by Ouchi Hiroyuki in 1309, in the late Kamakura Period. However, the full-scale development of the Mine started by Kamiya Jutei in 1526...". The "old record" cannot be anything else, of course, than Ginzan Kyuki.

Now, [5] elegantly reconciles the two traditions about discovery (in the same book!), and a double discovery is quite possible. Considering the difference between the management of a silver mine by a daimyó and a merchant, probably Hiroyuki's men discovered one lode, which later became exhausted; and Kamiya reopened the mine by means of the advanced technology availably for him.

Until counterevidences appear, I think we can accept that Óuchi Hiroyuki discovered something in Iwami Ginzan in 1309. We also may relate the ascent of the House during mid-1300's to the silver mine. However we cannot be sure that in 1309 Hiroyuki was already the ruling Óuchi. He may have led a survey expedition as heir apparent under Sigehiro. (And the same may or may not be the situation with Manmori, Hirozyou or Sigehiro, when they are mentioned at a given year, but in the same source their ascension to ducal seat is not.) This is the reason that when calculating back, I use the period of Hiroyo as starting point.

Westerners seem to consider the expression Sei Shonagon as a name. However it is not the name of the author of the "Pillow-book" [34]; it is a nickname. Since Internet users generally tend to believe the Anglo-Saxon naming system natural, the names deserve a few sentences. Of course, what I am writing about the name of the author of Pillow-book, may generate just such a hilarity among Japanese readers as a Japanesae would generate entering the age-old argumentation, which King Béla's notary was Magister P., the author of the first Hungarian history book. But as I see, Internet sites are so diverse about the name of the literary lady that I may tell my version as well.

Let us see an example. A colourful player of the South Vietnamese drama, First Lady of South Vietnam during the Ngo Dinh Diem regime, sister-of-law of the President (batchelor), was Le Xuan, the Beautiful Spring. She married Ngo Dinh Nhu. Now, Ref. [35] writes that with the marriage in 1943, she became "...Madame Nhu, or, as she preferred, Madame Ngo".

The text formulates as if Le Xuan had had special preferences in her name. Indeed, American journalists always called the lady "Madame Nhu". But in the same time they called the US First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy as Mrs. Kennedy, and not Mrs. John.

Namely, in the name of President's brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, Nhu was the given name. Family name of brothers should be the same, given names different. Both the brothers were Ngo Dinh. Q.E.D. The Madame was Ngo Le Xuan. She knew her own name, and also the French rules, more or less the same as American. American journalists seem to have believed that the first name was the given name.

European naming systems go back to Greek and Roman examples, but changed a lot. Greeks used mainly the given name, but, because in greater communities a lot of Demetrioses may have occurred, if needs be, appended it with something. Most times with the name of the father; but e.g. the civil dictator of post-Alexandrine Athens, ex-student of Aristotle and Theophrastos, later first director of the Library of Alexandria, was called "Demetrios of Phaleron", from his townlet, and Aristotle the Philosopher is generally Aristotle of Stageira, not Aristotle Nicomachides.

Roman system was different. A male Roman of good house had 3 names, e.g. Marcus Tullius Cicero or Caius Iulius Caesar. Plebeians had rather two. The first name was given him. So the great rhetor might have been Aulus Tullius Cicero as well, by his father's whim. Tullius was not exactly the family name; rather the gens. The third seems to denote a sub-branch, but sometimes, as e.g. amongst the Scipios, stands for individual characteristics (Africanus, Nasica &c.). For females the system is not clear. The daughter of Marcus Tullius Cicero is generally mentioned simply as Tullia, the gens name. So she is a daughter from the Tullius gens and nothing more?

The Roman system is believed to have come from Etruscan, and, indeed, even other Italicus nations did not follow this habit until not assimilated fully to Rome. I.e. the Oscan text of Cippus Abellanus starts with a name Maiiúí Vestirikiíúi Mai. Sirei [36]. Since it stands in dative, and the third name is abbreviated, the individual, questor of Abella, was Maios Vestirikios Siris, son of Maios. Four names, not three.

The Roman system did not survive the Roman Empire. In medieval Europe most people had only a single name, which was generally that of a saint as guardian. Important people may have used the name of the father as well; noblemen used the name of their estate, or a clan name. Later everybody got at least one name in addition to the given name, most frequently a family name. However the Republic of Iceland is still without family names. E.g. in the 80's the President was Vigdis Finnbogadottir, i.e. Vigdis, daughter of Finnboga. Men's second name, of course, ends with -son. No common name in the family. Russian is a hybrid system: given name + paternal name (father's given name with ending generally -ich/-ina or such) + family name (frequently ending with -ov/-ova). Since America is big, they introduced the habit of 2 given names.

Now, the Hungarian system follows Central European patterns, but with family name first. As I told, this is also the Far Eastern system, but in Europe only Hungarians use this. It happens because of i) the structure of Magyar language, and ii) the lack of too strong Indo-European influence in literature.

To see these points, let us leave names for a moment and go to time data. This is typed on 25th March, 2002, which, in Magyar, is 2002. március 25., or, with pure numbers, 2002. 03. 25. The latter is unfamiliar for fellow-Europeans, but exactly the Japanese system. Why this similarity?

Time data are abbreviations. The European 25th March, 2002 is an abbreviation of the original "the twenty-fifth day of March of the twenty-hundred second year of Our Lord". However in Magyar it is "Urunk kétezerkettedik évének március hónapjának huszonötödik napja". In Magyar the possessive expressions have endings, not prepositions; and generally go into opposite direction than in Indo-European. And the Japanese structure is the same.

Now back to names. Kovács Mihály is Michael Smith, but Mihály is Michael and Kovács is Smith. (Incidentally a Kovács Mihály in Slovakia would be written as Michal Kováč, with something on the c, which may or may not turn out in HTML, and this was the name of the previous Slovakian President.) The original construction was Michael, the smith; and Mihály, a kovács. However family names started amongst noblemen, and noblemen called themselves from the estate. Hungarian history has a great warrior fighting Turks in the first half of 15th century called Hunyadi János in Magyar. He was born in the fortress Hunyad. Hunyad-i is cca. "of Hunyad". However his Roumanian name is of course Iancu de Hunedoara.

And now the literary lady of Kyoto. She was a courtier lady of the wife of the Emperor, Princess (I cannot call her Empress) Sadako. The father of the courtier lady was Kiyohara no Motosuke, a literary man and provincial governor. The Kiyoharas originated from Tenmu tennó, the fortieth Emperor, via Prince Toneri. The "no" particle is simply something for possessive &c. constructions, so now the gentleman would be called simply Kiyohara Motosuke. "Sei" is a word of many meanings. Some of them are of Chinese origin. Still, Sei is also a quite legitime female given name meaning cca. "Purity". A girl may get this for given name. Then officially she was Kiyohara Sei.

This is doubted sometimes, i.e. on the ground that Sei is another reading of Kiyo. However Sei is a genuine female name; and a literary gentleman of type Kiyohara Motosuke just may have done a pun naming his daughter by a symmetric name in kanji. What a nice thing. He and his daughter would know that in one sense she is Kiyohara Kiyo. Let us proceed.

However she is always called on her nickname. Shónagon is cca. "councillor"; Japanese court titles not always have European counterparts, but it is a male profession suggesting deskwork, writing and such. Kiyohara Sei had a literary culture half-male and so her fellow courtier ladies called her Councillor Sei, Sei the shónagon. Japanese does not have the definite article, does not have capital letters, so Sei shónagon is obviously Sei Shonagon for Westerners. Jamadzsi [9] of course writes the name as "Szei sónagon". Not a name, a "profession".

Now, is Sei a given name or a family name, substituting Kiyo(hara)? Again the word order. A famous Hungarian operetta about a lady going to battle in man's clothes has the title "Mária fôhadnagy", in English it would be in mirror translation "First lieautenant Mary" but that would suggest a maritime scene, and the lady is in cavalry. The German translation is correct: "Oberleutnant Marie". Indeed, the original (she was incidentally Croatian: Maria Lebstück) fought against German-speaking Austrians; an interesting story, but no place here. But look at the construction. In Magyar given name first, no family name, and then the piquant male profession. Just as Sei shónagon.

Kiyohara Sei was aware and proud of her speciality. Fujiwara no Nobotsune of the Rites Office was no kalligrapher; his writing was ugly. Kiyohara Sei waited until she had reach for a blueprint made by the gentleman, on which a text was written by kanjis, telling: "It is my wish to be performed in this way" or such. Now, witty Sei takes the blueprint and appends the text with "I would not do in this way". Ladies do not use kanjis; Sei demonstrates that she reads them, and writes them better and nicer than a male courtier, even a Fujiwara. (Was she popular among men? We do know she was not among women. Read Lady Murasaki about her and her Chinese writings; Lady Murasaki writes in her notebook that she also can read kanjis but she keeps this in secret. But Sei seems to enjoy her fame of strangeness, to be called a female councillor.)

Later Kiyohara Sei left the court and after many years a group of courtiers passed a hut. One told the others that this was the hut of ex-courtier Sei shónagon; they knocked in. Came out an old hag, asking: "Would you buy old bones?". But, as the male courtiers understood and esteemed, this was not self-criticism but Chinese literary reference. A Kuo Vei told once that a good race-horse is so valuable that even his bones are good to buy.

Buffalo Bill was a buffalo hunter having the given name William. A Japanese not interested in American history would think that Buffalo was his given name and Bill is the family name. Buffalo Bill is not in the Western order: given name is the second. But the first is not the family name.

And now let us see Kiyohara Sei about the Shakuden celebration [34]. Shakuden honours Konfucius and his disciples; something which should be interesting for Sei, the lady of Chinese culture. Now she tells that on Shakuden Kunji's picture is hanged (Konfucius) and the Emperor and His wife receive "something" called sómei, which is then put into a stone receptacle. Not a very detailed description; of course Sei could not have been present but had she been very curious, maybe Princess Sadako would have told more to her. So we can conclude that, of course, Kiyohara Sei knew who had been Kunji, she even knew some citations of him, but practically did not know his teaching and was not interested in it.

OK, maybe ladies of Heian era were not interested in Konfucius. However this is not my point. Kiyohara Sei played culture competitions with men at the court. Had Kunji's teaching been regarded as something important in men's circles, I am sure that Sei would have learnt something about it and would have made occasional references to surprise men first and her fellow ladies second. But then she would have known something definite about the Shakuden celebration. So I think I am safe to guess that Heian culture was not too interested in Konfucius' teaching.

[0] This reference is the fundamental Óuchi monograph. Since it has no Latin letter anywhere (except the Abbreviations NHK and JR), I give the title & editor in a Figure. It was published in Yamaguchi, sine anno. Sorry, I am almost illiterate in kanjis.

[1] Dunn C. Y. & Yanada S.: Teach Yourself Books. Japanese. The English Universities Press Ltd, London, 1958

[2] Lukács B.: A Vízöntô Japánban. Harmadik Szem 104-105, 34 (2000)

[3] Láng J.: Lélek és isten. Gondolat, Budapest, 1974.

[4] I am using the official Catholic text. Catholic Church is international, so there is no single canonical text (as the Hebrew Bible for Jews/Karaites, or the King James Bible for Anglicans), but the Church prepares texts of Bible in each relevant languages. I use the Magyar, and translate it to English. It is as canonical as to use the Catholic English text.

[5] ***: Classification by period. http://www2.pref.shimane.jp/ginzan/e/outline/spots/

[6] Lukács B. & Végsô L: Altoriental. Forsch. 2, 25 (1975)

[7] Lukács B.: KFKI-1998-02

[8] Mikami T.: http://kitombo.com/e/mikami/0709.html

[9] Jamadzsi Maszanori: Japán. Történelem és hagyományok. Gondolat, Budapest, 1989.

[10] This is the Latin orthography, because names are not transliterated between countries using Latin scripts. The official Japanese script of names is not Romaji but kanji/kana.

[11] Jaynes J.: The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1976

[12] Wetherall W. & De Vos G. A.: in Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (A World Survey), ed. by W. A. Veenhoven & W. C. Ewing, Nijhoff, The Hague, 1975, Vol. 1, p. 333

[13] Hong W.: Paekche of Korea and the Origin of Yamato Japan. Kudara International, Seoul, 1994

[14] Egami N.: Kiba Minzoku Kokka. Chuo Koronsha, Tokyo, 1967

[15] Akima T.: Japanese J. of Rel. Studies 20, 95 (1993)

[16] Burroughs E. R.: Tarzan the Untamed. Ballantine, New York, 1976

[17] Malcolmson M.: wysiwyg://6/http://www.japanunlimited.com/features/features.cfm?ID=2

[18] Aristotle of Stageira: De Mundo, esp. Bekker numbers 398a-b

[19] Harkavy A. Y.: Russ. Rev. VI, 71 (1875) & X, 314 (1879)

[20] ***: Goju-no-to: Rurikouji's Five-story Pagoda. Noda High School, Yamaguchi, s.a.

[21] ***: http://www.oidemase.or.jp/english/history/main.html

[22] ***: http://www.joho-yamaguchi.or.jp/ysd-cole/e-ymg-spot.htm

[23] ***: http://www.ntt-west.co.jp/yamaguchi/wnn-c/english/tourist/ruri-e.htm

[24] Miura S. N.: http://www.ingjapan.ne.jp/miurasn/history/muromachi.htm

[25] Tsunoda R., de Barry W. Th. & Keene D.: Sources of the Japanese traditions, 319-321. New York, 1958

[26] Laures J.: wysiwyg://111/http://pweb/sophia.ac.jp/~d-mccoy/xavier/laures/laures.html

[27] Amino Y.: Nihon no rekishi o yominaushu. Chikuma, Tokyo, 1991. (The relevant Chapter can be found on Internet in English as "The Maritime View of the Japanese Archipelago, at www.udel.edu/History/figal/Hist138/Text/er/rhj1.pdf)

[28] ***: Chronology of the Portugal-Japan Relations. http://www.pusnet.co.jp/users/cltembpt/chronology.html

[29] ***: Christianity in Japan. http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/chrinjap.htm

[30] Kiss Sándorné Székely Ilona: Japán nyelvtani összefoglaló. Tárogató, Budapest, 2001.

[31] ***: Iwamiginzan Museum. http://www.joho-shimane.or.jp/cc/silver/english.html

[32] ***: Abbreviated Chronological Table of the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine History. http://www2.pref.shimane.jp/ginzan/e/outline/spots/period02.html

[33] ***: Excavation of Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine Continues. http://www2.pref.shimane.jp/ginzan/e/survey/h01.html

[34] Waley A.: The Pillow-Book of Sei Shonagon. London, 1960

[35] Wittenwyler M. D.: The Fall of the House of Ngo Dinh. http://www.interviewresearch.com/The%20Fall%20of%20the%20House%20of%20Ngo%20Dinh.htm

[36] Buck C.: Elementarbuch der oskisch-umbrischen Dialekte. Prokosch, Heidelberg, 1905

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