ABSTRACT
While the Japanese people still lacked their own writing systems, scattered reports of Japan appeared in some Chinese historical works. The earliest contemporary account of Japan is found in the Han shu (History of the Earlier Han) compiled during the fIrst century A.D. in China. It consisted of a 20-word sentence saying that "The Japanese people live beyond the Sea of Lolang [the present-day Korea], and are divided into more than one hundred counties, and from time to time send their tributes." Other accounts also appeared from time to time, but by far the most important one is found in the Wei zhi (History ofWei), compiled around 297 A.D., which contains a section on Japan in its tales of peripheral peoples. Docunient 4 is a translation of this tale of the Japanese people, which is unrivaled in its description of Japanese customs and beliefs. The Wei history account also gives directions on how to reach the ancient kingdom ofYamatai, which poses an intriguing historiographical question.!
