Kumaso

Hypothesized origin

Scholars, such as Kakubayashi Fumio, "although information is extremely limited" concluded that they were of Austronesian origin based on some linguistic and cultural evidence, theorising that the word kaya, present in personal names or titles, such as Torishi-Kaya, has the same root as Tagalog "kaya", meaning "ability; capability; competence; resources; wealth" and Malay and Indonesian "kaya", meaning "rich, wealthy, having wealth". The So present in Kumaso was also theorised to have the same origins as tsuo, tsau, thau, sau, tau, tao supposedly meaning "people" in Austronesian languages. Alexander Vovin defended that the question of whether the Kumaso language was not Japonic is moot because not a single word of it is attested. He and Mark Hudson also theorised there is a probability that the Kumaso and the Hayato represented the same ethnic group.Arai Hakuseki argued that Japanese ancestors came from the Mahan confederacy, and that there was a possibility that Kumaso was from Goguryeo.

Overview

William George Aston, in his translation of the Nihongi, says Kumaso refers to two separate tribes, Kuma (meaning "bear") and So (written with the character for "attack" or "layer on"). In his translation of the Kojiki, Basil Hall Chamberlain records that the region is also known simply as So district, and elaborates on the Yamato-centric description of a "bear-like" people, based on their violent interactions or physical distinctiveness. (The people called tsuchigumo by the Yamato people provide a better-known example of the transformation of other tribes into legendary monsters. Tsuchigumo—the monstrous "ground spider" of legend—is speculated to refer originally to the native pit dwellings of that people.)

Geographically, Aston records that the Kumaso domain encompassed the historical provinces of Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma (contemporaneous with Aston's translation), or present-day Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures.

The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya, aka Brave of Kahakami, was assassinated in the winter of 397 by Prince Yamato Takeru of Yamato, who was disguised for this as a woman at a banquet.

Legacy

The word Kuma ('Bear') survives today as Kumamoto Prefecture ('source of the bear'), and Kuma District, Kumamoto. Kuma District is known for a distinct dialect, Kuma Dialect.

People of the Kumaso mentioned in the Nihongi

• Torishi-Kaya (aka Brave of Kahakami): a leader of the Kumaso
• Atsukaya: a leader of the Kumaso
• Sakaya: a leader of the Kumaso
• Ichi-fukaya: Emperor Keikō married her 82 AD and in the same year put her to death, since she was involved in the assassination which killed her father.
• Ichi-kaya: younger sister of Ichi-fukaya

References

References

1. 角林, 文雄「隼人 : オーストロネシア系の古代日本部族」、『京都産業大学日本文化研究所紀要』第3号、京都産業大学、1998年3月、 ISSN [[issn:13417207. 13417207]]
2. Kidder, Jonathan Edward. (2007). "Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology". University of Hawaii Press.
3. (1896). "Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697". [[Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.]].
4. Kakubayashi, Fumio. 隼人 : オーストロネシア系の古代日本部族' Hayato : An Austronesian speaking tribe in southern Japan.'. The bulletin of the Institute for Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University, 3, pp.15-31 ISSN 1341-7207
5. (2024-03-18). "Contents". De Gruyter.
6. (2017-12-31). "Frontmatter". University of Hawaii Press.
7. (1882). "Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters". [[Asiatic Society of Japan]].
8. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 200ff. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6
9. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 201. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6
10. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 195. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6
11. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 195. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6
12. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 196. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6
13. ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book VII, page 196. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN. 978-0-8048-3674-6