Tomb Raider and Japanese Religion

Our discussion about how civil religion operates in Japan, or even if it does in the first place, reminded me of the new Tomb Raider game... Well, to be honest, the last new Tomb Raider game, not the newest new one called Rise of the Tomb Raider. 

This one!.... From Wikipedia

Anyway:

In the game, Lara Croft is a young PhD student on a research trip to the Japanese island chain around the Dragon's Triangle. She is looking for the lost civilization of Yamatai and its ruler, Himiko, and being the ignoramus I am, I totally thought that both of those things were completely made up purely for the video game.

Hahahahahaha. Nope.

But like, in my defense, the game IS the second link on a google search for Himiko....

I find it interesting that Japan so often either creates or ignores large sections of their own history. Understandably, such a thing is common in many, if not every, country, but our discussion of the emergence of Shinto as a long-standing tradition of Japan is eerily similar to the fact that almost none of the ancient Japanese histories mention Himiko at all. On the other hand, three ancient Chinese manuscripts do mention her and her kingdom. Finally, to further add to the mystery, one Japanese source does mention her as the Queen of Wa, so what's the deal?

Also, in some of those sources mentioned above, Himiko is said to be a magician and a practicer of sorcery. Tomb Raider really runs with this idea, and they straight out say that Himiko is alive, is the Sun Goddess, and she has survived all of these years by transferring her body into a new host whenever she grows old. There is also some sort of cargo cult that might be related to the cult of Himiko on the island, and then there are some Russian mercenaries of the island, because of course there are... At least I think so... It's been a couple of years. But, the game is beautiful and the attention to detail it puts into the islands' histories are commendable, especially with Lara's discoveries of items from ancient Japan, World War II and the present day and how they all relate to this enigmatic person of Himiko.

I find it interesting that Himiko and Yamatai, some person and a place that I totally thought was made up, has this interesting historical controversy around them, and that in the modern day, although it's a little sensationalized, she still is known for her "magical" reputation.