March 6, 2020/ 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Bunche 10383
Political Change in Early Sixth Century Japan An Archaeological Approach to King Keitai (r. 507-31)with Professor Ken'ichi Sasaki, Meiji University
The early sixth century in Japan was a time of considerable political change. Archaeologically, some aspects of mortuary practices changed drastically. This time coincides with the reign of King Keitai (r. 507-31) who rose to power from an obscure lineage. In the context of modern Japanese history, Keitai's tomb has not been designated as an imperial mausoleum, and a local government conducted archaeological excavations for ten years in the 1990's. In my talk, I will introduce various archaeological data related to King Keitai, and discuss their background and implications.
About the Speaker
Ken'ichi Sasaki is Professor of Archaeology at Meiji University. He has a BA from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. from Harvard (1995). Since being hired by Meiji in 1999 he has been conducting extensive fieldwork in southern Ibaraki Prefecture (the old province of Hitachi) and has compiled a 700 page site report on the Omuro cairn cluster in Nagano based on fieldwork conducted from 1984 to 1996. Parts of the results of this project have been published in English in Early-Korea Japan Interactions.
Download file: Ken-Sasaki-lecture-q3-a4w.pdf