There are many areas of barren land on the Korean Peninsula.
I have visited Jeonju in China and South Korea over twenty times, and I must say that Japan has far richer land than South Korea.
March 12, 2019
“The Ancient Rulers of the Korean Peninsula Were Japanese”
By Yojiro Sato – Novelist and Professor at Nihon University College of Art
Although many Japanese are fed up with the habitual falsehoods of South Koreans, they still cling to the belief that a great deal of culture was transmitted to the Japanese archipelago via ancient Korea. But beware the neologism "toraijin" (people who came from the continent). Do not be misled.
This is a continuation from the special edition of Rekishi Tsuu (History Communication), a must-read supplement to the April issue of Monthly WiLL, which discusses the Yamato bloodline that runs through the royal family of Silla.
"Quick to anger and full of vengeance"
At the time, transportation primarily relied on sea routes.
The Korean Peninsula contains many areas of poor land. I’ve been to Jeonju in China and visited Korea more than twenty times. Still, Japan is undoubtedly the more fertile country.
The climate, too, is more temperate in Japan.
Isabella Bird (born in 1831), a British female travel writer who authored Korea and Her Neighbors, wrote that “Korea is unmistakably a mountainous country, with hardly any plains worthy of the name.”
In a wealthy country, the population naturally grows, which in turn increases national power. The reason Japan continued its incursions into the Korean Peninsula was precisely because it had such overwhelming national strength.
Alternatively, perhaps the Japanese state of Wa or Mimana (Kara) had real and tangible presence on the peninsula, which is why it launched repeated campaigns.
Isn’t that the natural conclusion?
To simply claim they never existed from the outset is not scholarship.
Abandoning the question entirely is hardly academic rigor.
Shouldn’t the role of historians be to research and investigate whether these things existed or not?
“Mimana” is mentioned many times in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), as well as in texts like the Hizen Fudoki and the Shinsen Shōjiroku.
It is also recorded in Chinese texts like the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Song, and Book of Liang.
Only South Korea lacks such records.
The absence of these references in Korean sources does not constitute proof that such states never existed.
Refutations from those who rewrote or erased history without basis only serve to degrade history itself.
As I wrote at the beginning, history can be traced through written records.
There is also abundant physical evidence, such as the uniquely Japanese zenpō-kōen-fun (keyhole-shaped burial mounds).
Moreover, there is the stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great.
When the written records and physical evidence match, what grounds are there for denying everything?
Unless South Koreans also present their own textual and material evidence in rebuttal, it cannot be called constructive research.
Destroying keyhole-shaped burial mounds, erasing unfavorable inscriptions, distorting interpretations—are not these the real historical distortions committed by Koreans?
Even in China’s Book of Sui, there are repeated descriptions such as:
“The King of Wa, Grand General Pacifying the East, Commander of the Six Nations—Silla, Kaya, Qinhan, Mahan, and others.”
This indicates that the King of Wa had acknowledged rule over the Korean Peninsula.
In the early 600s, the Envoy to Silla recorded:
“Silla and Baekje both regarded Wa as a great nation, revered it, and frequently sent envoys.”
Silla and Baekje acknowledged Wa as a major power.
Despite this, they now claim to have “brought over” their culture and technology to Japan, a country they revered.
Furthermore, Japan is frequently mentioned in other Chinese texts, such as the Bei Shi (Northern History) and Hunshu (possibly a misreference to a historical text—possibly Book of Later Han).
Japan was recognized from early on.
Given that Japan received hostages and tribute and had the power to control the entire Korean Peninsula, what justification is there for claiming Korean superiority?
A simple review of Korean history reveals that their national tragedy and suffering stem from being sandwiched between two great powers: China and Japan.
This has remained constant throughout history and did not change even in modern times.
French missionary Charles Dallet (1829–1878), in his book Histoire de l'Église de Corée, compiled from records left by martyrs executed in Seoul, wrote:
“If the Japanese army had not withdrawn following Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s death, Japan would likely have conquered the entire Korean Peninsula.”
Isabella Bird also wrote in Korea and Her Neighbors:
“Korea has only two classes: those who steal and those who are stolen from.
The bureaucratic class, selected from the yangban (nobility), are officially sanctioned vampires, and the lower class, comprising four-fifths of the population, quite literally exists only to provide blood to those vampires.”
She further described Korea as:
“A place where everything is low, poor, and miserable in quality.
Privileges by class, exploitation by nobility and bureaucrats, a complete absence of justice, unstable incomes unrelated to labor, and a government that repeatedly falls back on the worst customs of unreformed Eastern states.
Corrupt officials, intrigues, and a weakened administration secluded within the palace and harem.”
The nation had rotted from within and collapsed as a functioning state.
In Dallet’s Histoire de l'Église de Corée, he writes:
“They are quick to anger and equally full of vengefulness. Of fifty conspiracies, forty-nine are exposed beforehand by co-conspirators.
These betrayals are often driven by personal grudges or to avenge harsh words.
So long as they can punish their enemies, they do not care if they themselves are punished.”
“Koreans are generally stubborn, irritable, and vindictive.”
It’s as if he’s describing modern South Korea.
Former president Park Geun-hye said, ‘Even after a thousand years, we will not forget our grudge.’
If the leader of a nation holds such a mindset, the future is all too clear.
A country that once heavily modeled itself after Japan now routinely engages in falsification, fabrication, and distortion—ignoring textual and physical evidence while voicing grievances.
In South Korea’s 1996 high school textbook National History (Part I), one finds:
“Our victory in the Japanese invasions (Imjin War) was due to the superior potential of our people. While our official military defenses lagged behind Japan, at the national level we surpassed them.”
That’s simply not true. The historical fact is that they fought by relying on reinforcements from Ming China.
Their dependence on China remained unchanged even in modern times.
Isabella Bird noted:
“Korea had been a vassal state of China for centuries and had little contact with other nations.
Thus, China’s influence on Korea in terms of religion, civilization, thought, and customs was profound.”
At the time, the Korean people were earnestly studying Chinese culture and education.
They sought assimilation willingly.
She continued:
“Although they seem capable of producing durable matchlock guns and possess excellent copper, all the goods they use come from Japan.”
“And yet, curiously, despite this, the military is overall very weak.
Whenever they perceive significant danger, their only thought is to discard their weapons and flee in all directions.”
The gap between missionary testimonies and Korean historical self-perception is stark.
They lacked technological skill.
Oppression and exploitation of the people had eroded their loyalty to rulers.
On top of that, the yangban nobles were the first to flee.
The Toyotomi army likely knew this, which is why they were able to occupy territory so swiftly.
To be continued.
