Yashima

Yashima (八島(やしま)、) Is an old nickname to call Japan . There are eight islands that make up Japan, so it is called Yashima. Earlier this expression comes from the ` ` Gosa ''. Oashima (大八洲(おおやしま)), Oyashima no Kuni (大八洲国(おおやしまぐに))[1] It is also called.

It is a bit similar to Korean Paldo in that it is only eight and a somewhat different name that refers to the whole country. However, unlike Yashima, there is a difference that Chosun Paldo actually functioned as an administrative district in the Joseon Dynasty. As an old administrative district, the expression corresponding to Paldo is Ogi Childo (七).

The eight islands are said to refer to the large islands of Honshu , Kyushu, and Shikoku, along with Awaji , Iki , Tsushima, Oki , and Sado based on the Kojiki . However, since Hokkaido and Okinawa were not Japanese territories at the time, they are not included. The islands in the East Sea and South Sea that are familiar to us, such as Tsushima, Iki, and Oki , are much smaller than the two islands above, but they appear frequently. This can also be somewhat connected to the worldview that the Japanese had at the time the Kojiki was written.

Aside from the many islands in the Seto Inner Sea and the West of Kyushu ( Nagasaki , Kagoshima ), those eight islands were selected in many ways. In terms of ranking in Japan, it is not the eight largest islands. In size, Iki Island is quite small at 133.80 km ² , which is smaller than the islands of Kyushu or Seto, which would have been within the recognition of Japanese people even in the age of high school . Fukue Island, Sodo Island , etc. Maybe Awaji, Iki, Tsushima, Oki, and Apostles were independent countries, and they seemed to have set 8 because they sacred the number of 8 in ancient Japan.[2]

However, it is difficult to say that this is "awareness of Japanese territory." Yashima is strictly speaking in Japan, such as Japan's Ancient Temple and Japanese Clerk, but in mythology, not a history book, and therefore, clear expressions or definitions are inconsistent. In other words, Yashima should be considered a mythical space, such as mythological and symbolic expressions, and Japan's Yamatano Lochi and Amaterasu mythology. For example, Japan claims to be one of the Yashima and originally claimed to be a Japanese territory, and there is no record that the ancient Japan (Yamato regime) used Tsushima and Iki Island as a 'passage or broadcast of Wagu'. In the diplomatic documents with Joseon and Goryeo, Tsushima is often seen as an independent move apart from Japan.

The range that Yashima refers to differs greatly between the Kojiki , Nihon Shoki , and Shoku Nihongi , but is as follows when using the Japanese Wikipedia as the source.

Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Awaji, and Oki are the same, but Nihon Shoki combines Sado with Oki, and Iki and Tsushima, which are mentioned in Kojiki, are omitted. Instead, Koshinoshima, Oshima, and Kibinokojima, which are presumed to be regions of Honshu, are included.

It is difficult to confirm which is a later perception. If we look at the years alone, the Nihon Shoki is from 720 and the Kojiki is from 712, so there is not much difference. However, the extant copies of the Nihon Shoki are from the early Heian period (9th century) and the Kojiki is from the Ise version of the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (approximately 1371-1372), so it is not possible to know when the content was copied.