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On last September 30, a Korea-Japan international academic conference was hosted by Northeast Asian History Foundation. Luckily, I too had an opportunity to make a presentation. After the conference, I visited Baekje's sites in Iksan, Buyeo and Gongju for two days from October 1 to October 2.I was deeply impressed with the developed scenes of Korea which I was revisiting 35 years after my previous trip. Thinking about the exchanges between ancient Japan and Baekje, I got deeply moved by the past.

A trip to Korea to have correct knowledge of history

It was September 1976, 35 years ago, when I visited Professor KIM Won-Ryong at Seoul National University first of all carrying a letter of recommendation by Inoue Mitsusada, a professor and my academic adviser during the time of my study at a university. I was cautioned by Professor KIM that I should not try to show my knowledge about 《The Historical Records of Japan》 because Korea and Japan are different in understanding the ancient history. Then I went to Busan via Gyeongju. In Busan I met Professor KIM Jeong-Hak. He guided me around the Gimhae site for two days which was being excavated right at that time. After that, I looked around the site of Gaya Kingdom of the past in Gyeongsangnam-do. Early in the morning on the following day, I visited Haein Temple where a young training monk showed a small place where he lived and also guided me inside the temple precincts, a memory that I have not forgotten until now. In Baekje's sites of Gongju and Buyeo, it was an honor for me to have an opportunity to visit King Muryeong's Tomb which had been discovered just recently. I crossed the Geumgang River on a ferry from Gunsan at a downstream spot. There I saw a scene of the sun setting into the Yellow Sea which was very impressive, reminding me of the field of the battle at the Baekchon River (Baekgang River) though I was not sure if I was at the same battlefield.

The purpose of the trip at that time was like this. Around that time there were also various sorts of disputes among scholars of Korea, China and Japan on matters of understanding histories. At that time Professors Sakamoto Taro and Inoue Mitsusada organized meetings for reading 《The Historical Records of Japan》 where the issue of Imna Japanese Government was raised just before moving to a section on the reign of Emperor Kinmei. As a young member I did not have many chances to speak, but I heard Professor Suematsu Yasukazu presenting the colonial view of history since the era of imperial Japan and began to question how the view had been widely spread in textbooks for middle and high schools. So, I wanted to have right historical knowledge and thought that I would have to visit the sites.

Distortions of history in 《The Historical Records of Japan》

After I returned to Japan, I read 《The Historical Records of Japan》carefully again. In fact, Imna Japanese Government does not appear at all in Korean texts, but only appears in 《The Historical Records of Japan》. 《The Historical Records of Japan》 referred to 《Historical Records of the Kings of Baekje》 and it should be regarded as a material originating from Korea. Things were not that simple. With regard to this, I thought that I would reach the truth in the following ways.

First, 《Historical Records of the Kings of Baekje》 were submitted by exiles from Baekje after the fall of Baeje when demanded by the Japanese government. They were exiles and more than 100 years had passed by then. So, they must have written the contents in a way to please Japanese people. Therefore, it could not be necessarily true. Professor Suematsu understood it as it is written and concluded that Imna Japanese Government was a colony controlled by the Yamato Dynasty. In addition, from the side of Japan as well, the national strength of the Yamato Dynasty was not big enough to possess land overseas and its naval force was very weak, which means that Imna couldn't be a colony. Instead, there were active exchanges between powerful families in North Kyushu and Seto Naikai of Japan and the southern parts of the Korean peninsula, and as a result a significant number of Japanese people lived in Gaya, I could confirm. I thought that these facts should be the basis for further exploration.

Secondly, Imna refers to Gaya which was not as strong as Baekje to the west or Silla to the east, but was a number of confederated small nations. In early 6^th century, Gaya was attacked from both east and west, which resulted in the east of the Nakdong River being annexed by Silla and the west of it being occupied by Baekje. In this situation, the Gaya Kingdom attracted people from Japan living locally and began independence activities. In this context, people from Japan requested assistance from the Yamato Dynasty far away, which then responded. This is the fact.

Thirdly, then how significant was the influence of the Yamato Kingdom on Gaya? My understanding is that its real force was slight. However, Yamato Kingdom's support would have been important from Gaya's point of view because it was in a crisis from attacks from Baekje and Silla. People from Japan living in Gaya would have had almost no political power, but if they were supported by Yamato Kingdom, both Baekje and Silla would have to consider this in their politics.

After carefully reading 《The Historical Records of Japan》 from this point of view, I wrote a paper titled 〈On the formation of so-called 'Imna Japanese Government'〉 in 1980. The paper was long, so I presented it in a journal 《Ancient Culture》 in three times. After then, my interest moved from studies on the wooden tablets of King Nagaya to Fujiwara no Fuhito and King Nagaya, and moved again recently to Prince Shotoku and the descent of God's son and finally to the emperor system. As my interest has changed, I have come to effectively forget about Imna Japanese Government. Then, Northeast History Foundation's Research Fellow YEON Min-Soo read my paper written 20 years ago, and I was invited to come to Seoul after receiving an assessment that I didn't deserve. I had never expected such an opportunity and I really thank for it.

My presentation in this symposium was on a topic titled 'Fujiwara no Fuhito and 《The Historical Records of Japan》'. It is generally accepted that ancient kingdoms in Japan were formed after the mid 7^th century through Taika Reform and Jinshin Rebellion. This understanding is based on 《The Historical Records of Japan》. Fujiwara no Fuhito was the highest official in charge of compiling 《The Historical Records of Japan》. If you critically examine 《The Historical Records of Japan》 in detail, you will find that Fuhito and other people distorted a lot of facts in order to create circumstances in their favor.

As part of the study, I presented a paper in 1996 where I discussed that Prince Shotoku was a fake person who in fact did not exist. I further discovered that the emperor system – based on myths like Heaven's Plain called 'Dakamanohara', Descent of God's Son, Uninterrupted lineage of the Emperor's Family – was in fact invented by Fujiwara no Fuhito and others in 《The Historical Records of Japan》. Furthermore, as my research progressed, I also discovered that the historical meanings of Taika Reform and Jinshin Rebellion were totally different from those presented in the past. I have heard that Researcher YEON Min-Soo is going to translate some parts of the paper into Korean for publication. I hope you to read it with interest.