The Matsura Clan and their Smuggling (1)

     We can know what the ancient Matsura area was like through the Records of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the Late (East) Han Dynasty (BC184-AD220) and the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280).  The 3 kingdoms included Wei, Shu, and Wu.  Volume 30 of Book of Wei has Biographies of the Wuhan, Xianbei, and Dongyi.  The Dongyi biography has the entry about Wa, today’s Japan.

     Himiko, the queen of Wa, sent ambassadors to Wei in 238, 243, 245, and 247.  The return ambassadors of Wei described Japan.

     To reach the Yamatai Country, where Himiko lived, they crossed the Korea Strait via Tsushima and Iki Islands, and arrived at the north-west coast of Kyushu.  The area was called Matsura Country.  The country was covered with weeds and trees so dense that they could not see people walking in front of them.  The people living there were good at catching fish and abalones not only in the shallow sea but even by diving into the deep sea.