A. Royden D'souza

Queen Himiko (170–247/248 AD) is one of the most fascinating and elusive figures in ancient Japanese history. Himiko ruled as the shaman-queen of Yamatai-koku, a powerful chiefdom or federation of chiefdoms in the Japanese archipelago during the late Yayoi period.

This is a textual journey through the Japanese archipelago from its geological formation through the ancient period, tracing the complete arc of human settlement, cultural development, and state formation up to the Nara era (710-794 AD).