Himiko
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Himiko (卑弥呼; c.175?–248) was a female ruler of Yamataikoku, an ancient state thought to have been located either in the Yamato region or in northern Kyushu of present-day Japan. Few records are available and little is known about her, and the location of Yamataikoku is the subject of a great, often emotionally charged, debate that has been raging since the late Edo period.
According to an ancient Chinese history book, Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Himiko was a shaman who controled people through her paranomal abilities. The Nihonshoki, an old Japanese history book, notes that Himiko was actually Empress Jingū, the mother of Emperor Ojin, but historians disagree. Some speculate that she is conflated with Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess.
According to an ancient Korean history book, Samguk Sagi, Himiko, as queen of Japan, sent an embassy to King Adalla of Silla in May 172. If this record is correct, it would indicate that the Nihonshoki had been edited to subordinate the importance of Himiko to Empress Jingū.
Himiko never married and it is recorded that her younger brother assisted her as a political advisor. She is said to have had one thousand female servants and to have never appeared in public.
In ca. 188, Himiko ascended to paramountcy and in 248 she died.
The precise pronunciation of her name is unknown. The Himiko reading derives from her name as represented in kanji, which was written 卑彌呼 prior to mid-20th century kanji reforms.