Yamato

   also Yamatai. Name of an early Japanese kingdom controlled by what eventually became the Japanese imperial clan. Archaeologists disagree over whether Yamato was situated in Kyushu or present-day Nara prefecture. According to Chinese chronicles it was ruled in the third century CE by Himiko or Pimiko, possibly a female shamanic ruler and prototype of the shamanic miko. The myth cycles of the Kojiki and Nihongi legitimated the Yamato ruler who prior to the sixth century was probably little more than a local chieftain with power over a loose confederation of uji. The clan successfully subordinated other uji and at some point the rulers adopted the Chinese title ten' o (heavenly king, emperor). During the 6th-8th centuries numerous influences from China and Korea were incorporated into the structure and government of the state (see Ritsuryo). By extension the old name of Japan, Yamato is also used for what is now Nara prefecture.