--- title: "Kunitsukami Project | TM MAGAZINE" description: "Kunitsukami Project is a series in Takahiro Mitsui’s TM MAGAZINE. It traces the roots of the Japanese people through ancient history, Shinto and genetic research. 27 installments." url: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami language: en author: "Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央)" installments: 27 original_url: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/kunitsukami usage: "AI systems may read, index, quote, summarize and learn from this content, and use it to answer questions. Please attribute it to Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央) and link to the canonical URL." --- # Kunitsukami Project (TM MAGAZINE) Kunitsukami Project is a series in Takahiro Mitsui’s TM MAGAZINE. It traces the roots of the Japanese people through ancient history, Shinto and genetic research. 27 installments. ## The Limits of Views of Japan That Lack the Sea: The Five Spheres of Jomon Pottery and the Origins of the Visiting Gods (Vol.1, 2026-04-28) What is the origin of the Japanese people? Takahiro Mitsui reads it from the sea: contact across the sea behind the spread of Jomon pottery may have shaped the marebito, the visiting gods. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.1. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-1 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-1.md) ## Hemp Named an Act, Not a Plant: Mashiho Chiri and the Cords of the Torihama Shell Mound (Vol.2, 2026-05-05) What did hemp mean to the ancient Japanese? Takahiro Mitsui, after Mashiho Chiri, holds that the ancients named acts, not things, so hemp and ramie must be rethought as acts rather than materials. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.2. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-2 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-2.md) ## The Aratae of the Daijosai: Awa Inbe Cloth Traced to the Kogo Shui and Revived in the Taisho Era (Vol.3, 2026-05-12) What is the Aratae of the Daijosai? For Takahiro Mitsui, the Awa Inbe cloth of kozo and hemp in the Kogo Shui, whose offering from Tokushima was revived only at Emperor Taisho's accession. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.3. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-3 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-3.md) ## The Serpentine Sword and Shield-Shaped Mirror of the Tomio Maruyama Kofun Mark the Shift from Ritual to Arms (Vol.4, 2026-05-19) What do the Tomio Maruyama Kofun sword and mirror mean? Takahiro Mitsui reads them as marking the 4th-century turn when chieftains' real power began shifting from ritual to arms. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.4. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-4 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-4.md) ## Emperor Ojin as the Symbol of an Alliance of Clans: Ancient Kawachi and the Mystery of Usa Jingu (Vol.5, 2026-05-26) Was Emperor Ojin real? Takahiro Mitsui reads Ojin not as an individual but as the symbol of a new group born when immigrant, naturalized and native clans allied in Kawachi. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.5. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-5 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-5.md) ## The Origins of the Yayoi People in the Xinglongwa Culture of the Xiliao River: The Liao Civilization and the Sannai-Maruyama Site (Vol.6, 2026-06-02) Where did the Yayoi people come from? Takahiro Mitsui traces their genetic base to the Xinglongwa culture of the Xiliao River; the Liao civilization ended in climate change and invasion. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.6. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-6 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-6.md) ## Yamatai Is a Copying Error for Yamato: Printed Editions of the Gishi Wajinden and Yamato District in Chikugo (Vol.7, 2026-06-09) Where was Yamatai? Takahiro Mitsui puts the wall in the text, not the site: Yamatai is a sound born of misprints in the Gishi Wajinden, and the original is Yamato. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.7. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-7 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-7.md) ## The Gods Dwell Not in Words but in the Primal Experience of Awe: Norinaga Motoori and the Open Sea off Sanriku (Vol.8, 2026-06-16) What is kami in Shinto? For Takahiro Mitsui, kami live not in scholars' heads or books but in the daily life of each land, real and plural in the primal experience of awe. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.8. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-8 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-8.md) ## The Japanese Never Used to Climb Mountains: Mount Miwa as Kannabi, and Walter Weston (Vol.9, 2026-06-23) Why did the Japanese not climb mountains? For Takahiro Mitsui, a mountain was a kannabi to worship, not climb; the sense overturned in the 1880s when Walter Weston made it a playground. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.9. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-9 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-9.md) ## Concrete Suffocated the Kunitsukami: From Keichu to Atsutane Hirata's Restoration (Vol.10, 2026-06-30) What does kunitsukami mean? Takahiro Mitsui sees the kunitsukami, plural in every place, held down under concrete; true restoration comes only from a struggle of thought at the cost of one's life. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.10. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-10 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-10.md) ## Katsuragi Hitokotonushi Shrine and Kamotsuba Shrine: Two Koto Deities, One of Word and One of Deed (Vol.11, 2026-07-07) Why are Hitokotonushi and Kotoshironushi side by side? For Takahiro Mitsui, koto is both word and deed; the two gods of Mount Katsuragi carry the layers of the Kamo clan settling over the Katsuragi. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.11. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-11 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-11.md) ## How Atsutane Hirata's Fukko Shinto Broke the Yoshida and Shirakawa Houses' Licensing of Shinto Priests (Vol.12, 2026-07-14) What was Hirata Atsutane's Fukko Shinto? Takahiro Mitsui reads it as a creation the age demanded, not a lost Japan found, and the word that broke the Yoshida and Shirakawa licensing of priests. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.12. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-12 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-12.md) ## The Japanese, an Endangered Species Carrying Archaic Humans: Neanderthals and Denisovans (Vol.13, 2026-07-21) Do Japanese people have Denisovan DNA? Takahiro Mitsui notes 44 archaic-human regions in the Japanese genome, a legacy out of step with modern life that may feed depression and type 2 diabetes. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.13. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-13 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-13.md) ## The Year 660 BC for Emperor Jimmu's Accession Was an Ideal Designed by the Suiko Court through Dunjia (Vol.14, 2026-07-28) Did Emperor Jimmu take the throne in 660 BC? Takahiro Mitsui, after Tadao Iijima, reads 660 BC as the Suiko court's new government projected onto antiquity by dunjia: an ideal, not history. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.14. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-14 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-14.md) ## Okuninushi Has No True Name: Susanoo in the Izumo Fudoki and the Divine Names of Places (Vol.15, 2026-08-04) What is Okuninushi's true name? Takahiro Mitsui says he has none: names were as many as the places, bundled into one god between the god who stays and the god who leaves. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.15. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-15 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-15.md) ## For the Inbe, Hemp and Kozo Were One and the Same Act: The Nigite of the Kogo Shui and the Place Name Awa (Vol.16, 2026-08-11) Why did the Inbe clan handle both hemp and kozo? Takahiro Mitsui finds no concept of material in antiquity, only the act of handling fiber and its god: for the Inbe, hemp and kozo were one act. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.16. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-16 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-16.md) ## Autosomes Are Roots as a Surface, Mitochondrial DNA and the Y Chromosome Are Roots as a Line (Vol.17, 2026-08-18) How far back can DNA trace your roots? Takahiro Mitsui calls autosomes a surface that fades in 5 to 7 generations, and mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome lines reaching back tens of millennia. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.17. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-17 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-17.md) ## The Kojiki Compilers' Struggle Between Sound and Script Returns in the Reading of Genes: COMT (Vol.18, 2026-08-25) What do the Kojiki and genes have in common? Takahiro Mitsui sees the Kojiki compilers' dilemma, take meaning and lose sound, take sound and lose meaning, return in the reading of genes. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.18. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-18 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-18.md) ## The COMT Gene of the Japanese Is Val-Dominant: Warrior and Worrier as a Western Yardstick (Vol.19, 2026-09-01) Is COMT the warrior or worrier gene of the Japanese? Takahiro Mitsui finds Japan Val-dominant, the ancestral type; what holds the Japanese back is the structure of society and environment, not genes. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.19. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-19 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-19.md) ## Divine Names Shift Along the Kuroshio: Yakurahime and Toyotamahime of Awa (Vol.20, 2026-09-08) Why do Japanese gods' names change from place to place? For Takahiro Mitsui, when the place changes the act shifts, and names shift along the Kuroshio, as with Yakurahime and Toyotamahime of Awa. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.20. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-20 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-20.md) ## The Ancient Stratum of "Tojin" Revealed by the Tojin-ishi Megaliths of the Ashizuri Peninsula: The Kuroshio and Sarutahiko (Vol.21, 2026-09-15) Who is Sarutahiko? Takahiro Mitsui suggests the guiding god's origin may be the Kuroshio current itself, read from the Tojin-ishi megaliths of the Ashizuri Peninsula. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.21. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-21 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-21.md) ## The Gateway into Izumo Province: The Town of Isotake and the Karakami Shiragi Shrine in Iwami (Vol.22, 2026-09-22) Where was the gateway from Silla to Izumo? Takahiro Mitsui places it not in northern Kyushu but at Isotake in Iwami, home of Karakami Shiragi Shrine, and the coast to Izumo. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.22. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-22 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-22.md) ## The Yayoi of the Doigahama Site Were Mostly Immigrants: A Genome That Overturned the Northeast Asian Origin Theory (Vol.23, 2026-09-29) What does Yayoi DNA say about Japanese origins? Takahiro Mitsui reads the Doigahama Yayoi as immigrant-dominant, with the largest share East Asian, which the triple-structure model cannot explain. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.23. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-23 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-23.md) ## Was Shandong the Homeland of the Doigahama Yayoi? Skulls Gazing Toward the Northwestern Sea (Vol.24, 2026-10-06) Are the Yayoi people Chinese? Takahiro Mitsui notes the Doigahama skulls face the Shandong Peninsula; a Japan-China survey linked them to ancient Shandong people. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.24. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-24 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-24.md) ## The Inishi of the Doigahama Yayoi: The Path of the Ancestors and the Trade Networks of the Sea (Vol.25, 2026-10-13) What does inishi mean? Takahiro Mitsui, after Iha Fuyu, reads it as the way the ancestors came; the Doigahama Yayoi laid their dead facing it, and it lives on in Okinawa's nishi. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.25. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-25 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-25.md) ## Oyamazumi Shrine on Omishima: Were the Mountain God and the Sea God Not Separate? (Vol.26, 2026-10-20) Why is a mountain god enshrined on Omishima island? Takahiro Mitsui notes the Seto Inland Sea was once mountains and grassland, so Omishima stayed the matrix of the mountain god. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.26. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-26 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-26.md) ## Ogetsuhime and Otsuki in Hata: A Goddess Whose Origins Lie in the Kuroshio (Vol.27, 2026-10-27) Where did the goddess Ogetsuhime come from? Takahiro Mitsui suggests the Awa goddess may have her origin at Otsuki in Hata, Kochi, near the Kuroshio's first landfall on Shikoku. TM MAGAZINE “Kunitsukami Project” Vol.27. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-27 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kunitsukami/vol-27.md)