The Relation to Japan

There is no direct historical material which shows the relation between Dagaya and Japan (this state name has been used since the late seventh century). However, there can be little doubt that these two states actively exchanged with each other, considering the dipper (made of inoctilucent shell) exhumed in the Jisan-dong Tumulus No. 44 or the Daegaya relics excavated in Japan.

Noctilucent shells are produced in only the south region of Okinawa in the south of Kyushu, Japan. This suggests that notilucent shells were transmitted to Daegaya by the Wae force of the north Kyushu region rather than were directly conveyed by Okinawa people. Then, which ways were used by envoys or traders who came and went between Daegaya and Wae?

There were three ways that Daegaya can reach in the South Sea. The first way was to go to the Gimhae direction via the Nakdonggang. The second way was to go to the front sea of Sacheon via Hapcheon, Samga and Jinju. The final way was to go to the sea by using the water system of the Seomjingang via Geochang, Sancheong and Hadong.

It seems that in the late fifth and early sixth century Daegaya had the three ways available to them. In particular, in the early sixth century Daegaya would have exchanged with Wae through the water system of the Seomjingang, considering that Daegaya competed with Baekje centering around the Hadong region.

On the other hand, the relics originating from Daegaya have been excavated in the Japanese islands. Korean stoneware pottery is called seueki in Japan. From the fourth century to the early fifth century, the pottery which was influenced by the south region of Gaya, centering Gimhae and Busan, were exhumed in Japan.

In the late fifth century, the pottery which was affected by Daegaya was excavated here. These potteries have been discovered in Hukuoka-hyeon, Siga-hyeon and Osaka-hyeon. This shows that Daegaya exchanged with Wae. However, since we have no direct historical material which concretely shows the relation between these two states, we cannot know the exact situation between them.