Magatama

Magatama(Japanese: 勾玉), are curved beads which first appeared in Japan during the Jomon period. They are often found inhumed in mounded tumulus graves as offerings to deities (see grave goods). They continued to be popular with the ruling elites throughout the Kofun Period of Japan, and are often romanticised as indicative of the Yamato Dynasty of Japan. Some consider them to be an Imperial symbol, although in fact ownership was widespread throughout all the chieftainships of Kofun Period Japan. It is believed that magatama were popularly worn as jewels for decoration, in addition to their religious meanings. In this latter regard they were later largely replaced by Buddhist prayer beads in the Nara period. Image File history File links typical magatama stone Fair use under US and Japanese copyright law. ... Look up bead in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Jōmon period (Japanese: 縄文時代 jōmon jidai) is the... Burial of Oleg of Novgorod in a tumulus in 912. ... Ancient unreadable gravestones mark the position of graves in the parish churchyard at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England A grave is a place where the body of a dead animal, generally human, is buried, often after a funeral. ... Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the... A deity or a god, is a postulated preternatural being, usually, but not always, of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings. ... In archaeology and anthropology grave goods are the items interred along with the body. ... A government is the body that has the power to make and enforce laws within an organization or group. ... Look up élite and elite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Daisenryo Kofun,the tomb of Emperor Nintoku,Osaka,5th century. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Yamato period (大和) (better known as the Kofun... // A dynasty is a succession of rulers who are members of the same family for generations. ... The following is a traditional list of Emperors of Japan. ... Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive possession or control of some thing, which may be an object or some kind of property. ... This article is about the leader. ... Daisenryo Kofun,the tomb of Emperor Nintoku,Osaka,5th century. ... Prayer beads are traditionally used to keep count of the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions. ... The Nara period (Japanese: 奈良時代, Nara-jidai) of the History of Japan covers the years from about AD 710 to 794. ...

In modern Japan, the magatama's unique shape of a sphere with a flowing tail is still the usual visual representation of the human spirit. Wearing one during life is considered a way of gaining protections from kami. Kami (神) is the Japanese word for deity. The word is used to indicate any sort of god, beings of a higher place or belonging to a different sphere of existence. ...

In modern terminology, magatama is also the name for oval seed beads with off-center holes, also called drop beads. Both modern drop beads and ancient magatama are known as kokkok in Korean. Seed beads are uniformly shaped, spheroidal beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres. ...

Origins

Some theorize that magatama originated in Japan before spreading to the Asian continent through Korea, where they are known as kokkok. No site of magatama production has been found in the Asian continent, including neighboring China, Manchuria, and Siberia. Additionally, kokkok are indistinguishable from their Japanese contemporaries, a fact which supports the theory that the beads originated in Japan. See also: Asian and Eurasian World map showing Asia. ... It has been suggested that Geographic Realms be merged into this article or section. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Extent of Manchuria according to Definition 1 (dark red), Definition 3 (dark red + medium red) and Definition 4 (dark red + medium red + light red) Manchuria (Manchu: Manju, Simplified Chinese: 满洲; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲; Hanyu Pinyin: ) is a name given to a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ...

However, there are many examples of kokkok in Korean art [1], and since the preponderance of archaeological evidence shows that Korean artifacts were often transmitted to the cultures on what is now the Japanese islands (such as pottery found in tombs) this leaves open the possibility that magatama are based on kokkok. [2]

Yasakani no Magatama

The most important magatama is the Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊曲玉), which is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, added some time around the Heian period. The Yasakani no Magatama stands for benevolence, and is one of the three items used in the ceremony of imperial ascension. In Japanese mythology, the jewels, along with the mirror, were hung on the tree outside of Amaterasu's cave (where she had hidden) to lure her out. It is believed to be a necklace composed of jade magatama stones instead of a solitary gem as depicted in popular culture. It is believed to be enshrined in Kokyo, the Japanese Imperial Palace. The Imperial Regalia of Japan (Jp: 三種の神器; Sanshu no Jingi, or Three Sacred Treasures) consist of the sword, Kusanagi (草薙剣) (or possibly a replica of the original; see Kusanagi), the jewel or necklace of jewels, Yasakani no magatama (八尺瓊曲玉), and the mirror Yata no kagami (八咫鏡). Also known as the Three Sacred Treasures of... The Heian period (Japanese: 平安時代, Heian-jidai) is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. ... A coronation is a ceremony marking the investment of a monarch with regal power through, amongst other symbolic acts, the placement of a crown upon his or her head. ... A selection of antique, hand-crafted Chinese jadeite jade buttons Jade An ornamental stone, jade is a name applied to two different silicate minerals. ... Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace. ...

In popular culture, the Yasakani no Magatama has been presented as a baseball-sized orb with a tail, similar to a three-dimensional comma, cored through by a hole in the center. It is thought that the original magatama was broken somehow and crafted into the jade necklace that is the current one, though there is no historical evidence that points to this. A baseball is a ball used primarily in the sport of the same name, baseball. ... The term comma has various uses; comma is the name used for one of the punctuation symbols: , The term comma is also used in music theory for various small intervals that arise as differences between approximately equal intervals. ...

See also

• Amaterasu
• Japanese mythology
• Shinto
• Susanoo
• Tomoe