地域観光資源の 多言語解説文データベース

The Munakata family

The Shimbaru-Nuyama tumuli (kofun) were built for important members of the Munakata family. The earliest written texts that mention the Munakata family are the Kojiki (712) and Nihon shoki (720) and the Shinsen shojiroku, a genealogical record completed in 815, but there is evidence that they came to prominence much earlier. The fulfilment of religious duties appears to have been an important element of state formation and governance from the early Yamato period (300–710), with the court assigning key religious roles to specific families in outlying regions. The Munakata family presided over rituals on Okinoshima on behalf of the court, but they are thought to have fulfilled another crucial role as protectors of key trade routes.

The area that the Munakata family governed in northwestern Kyushu covered the shortest route between Japan and Korea (across the Genkai Sea), and a sea route between Kyushu and the main island of Honshu, where the Yamato heartland was located. By the seventh century, members of the Munakata family simultaneously held the hereditary titles of district administrator and high priest, and records show there was also intermarriage between daughters of the Munakata family and emperors, solidifying their status. After the rituals on Okinoshima ended, the Munakata family remained as high priests of the shrines at Okitsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya and Hetsu-miya. The family line ended abruptly with the death of the last male member, Munakata Ujisada, in 1586, but the name lives on in the area.

宗像家

新原・奴山古墳群是專為宗像家重要成員建造的墓地。日本最早的史書《古事記》（712年）、《日本書紀》（720年）以及《新撰姓氏錄》（815年）名鑑中，都能找到對宗像家的紀錄，且有證據表明，宗像家在這些文獻成書前就已經是名門望族。自大和時代（300-710）初期，主持祭祀便成為鞏固國家和統治的重要一環，對位置偏遠的領地，朝廷將此重要職責委託當地某一家族代為執行。宗像家不僅是大和朝廷在沖之島祭祀事宜的代理執行人，也是重要貿易路線的守護者。

宗像家統治的九州西北部，包括橫跨玄界灘、連接日本與朝鮮間最短的航線，以及九州本島與本州之間的海路，而本州就是大和朝廷的中心地帶。西元7世紀時，宗像家成員已經同時擁有地區行政長官與大宮司（神社最高負責人）這兩項世襲頭銜。據史料記載，天皇後宮也有宗像家的女子，與皇室的聯姻使其家族地位更為堅固。在沖之島的祭儀終止後，宗像家成員繼續擔任著沖之宮、中津宮和邊津宮神社的大宮司。1586年，隨著最後一名男性成員宗像氏貞（1545-1586）去世，這個曾經顯赫的家族宣告終結，但家族聲名在當地流傳至今。