FUKUOKA - A sword that was recently discovered in an ancient burial mound bears an inscription indicating a specific date in the year 570, providing the oldest known evidence of the use of calendars in this nation, according to the Fukuoka municipal board of education.
The inscription was revealed by X-ray examinations of the iron sword, which was excavated from the ancient Motooka tombs in Nishi Ward, Fukuoka.
Two of the inscribed kanji indicate the Chinese calendar year of Koin, or the year A.D. 570 by the Western calendar.
The 75-centimeter-long sword was found in a stone chamber of an 18-meter-diameter burial mound known as the G6 tomb, where it had been stored together with crystal balls, glass beads and gilt bronze earrings.
It is the fifth sword bearing a reference to the calendar system to be discovered in the tombs.
The X-rays show 19 kanji on the sword's blade. They state that the sword was produced on "the sixth day of the first month, which was the day of Koin, in the year of Koin."
Under the Chinese calendar system, Koin represents a certain combination of one of the five natural elements and one of the 12 signs of the zodiac.
The year of Koin occurs once every 60 years, but 570 is the only year of Koin in the relevant period in which the day of Koin fell on Jan. 6.
Based on analysis of earthenware burial ornaments found in the G6 tomb, experts believe the tomb was built in the mid-seventh century. This indicates the sword was placed in the tomb several generations after its production.
Other historical treasures excavated from the Motooka tombs include weapons and saddlery that indicate people buried there were connected to the Yamato regime that ruled ancient Japan.
According to the board of education, experts believe people buried in the tombs belonged to influential families that were tasked with governing the Kyushu region and sending troops to the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Yamato regime.
Kyushu University Prof. Yasutoshi Sakaue, a scholar of ancient Japanese history, said: "The Japanese calendar system of counting years originated in China. The Chronicles of Japan [an ancient historical text dating from 720] says a calendar expert came to Japan from Baekje, a kingdom in the southwest of what is now the Korean Peninsula, in 554.
"A date from the year 570 is carved into the sword, which makes it the oldest known example of the use of a calendar in Japan. It shows that people in the Japanese archipelago had grown accustomed to the calendar system just a bit more than 10 years after it was introduced," he said.
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