Archaeologist Commentary of Tomb Raider (2013): Parts 1-3

The reading of ancient history is extremely tough and confusing, even if we have actual texts to read. Every country has parts of their history that they would rather erase, for one reason or another. Japan is no exception to this with history in general, but still most definitely in ancient history too. Whether modern cultures agree, even extant contemporary cultures thought particular histories in Japan were important to record, so they did. This is the main reason the 2013 Tomb Raider game exists, because, as close to a contemporaneous source as we still have, Wei Zhi 魏志 , the “Records of Wei” was written by basically Chinese anthropologists and compiled around 297 CE. And no lack of detail is going to hinder the game writers from creating a truly epic story, with even myths going off the rails. But, then, it wouldn’t be a Tomb Raider game without that, now would it?

< My name’s Renee, you’re listening to Detours in Artaeology, and this is Tomb Raider vs. The Storm Queen: the Yamatai Cage Grudge Match. >

Tomb Raider 2013, was far from the first piece to discuss Queen Himiko of Wa. Others, such as the 1st The Wei Records from Chinese sources don’t seem to depict her in a negative light (of course if there was political rhetoric or cultural bashing I could never get that as I am not from those cultural backgrounds nor could I read the original texts). She even seems to have sent emissaries to China so her kingdom could join China as a sort-of vassal state and sure, this could’ve been done for any number of reasons, but if China really hated her they probably wouldn’t have let her stay in power. Of course this is all as relayed by Chinese writers, but if there was fighting or a Japanese surrender you KNOW that they would’ve been exploited and praised till the end of time.

But before I get too deep into the history, let's walk through the story of the game.

For the full context of my experience with writing this, I played the game back in 2013, and haven’t touched it until watching MKIceAndFire’s approximately six hour YouTube walkthrough of the game without commentary. So while taking notes, I knew the general storyline and made commentary based on prior knowledge. I would also say that I didn’t know anything about the real Himiko or Yamatai prior to researching this, but it wouldn’t much matter, because the vast majority of what they do in the story is completely fictional, and not in the mythological way.

The game opens with the enormous storm that causes the ship that characters are on to crash on an uncharted island somewhere in the Dragon's Triangle, with the loosely defined boundary points at Guam, Luzon, and Miyake Island, which is a thing that does exist as is also known as the Devil's Triangle where people say they have seen things like ghost ships, sea monsters, UFO sightings, lapses in time, and malfunctioning electronic equipment. It's located in the Pacific or Philippine Sea, south of Tokyo, and centered around the Izu Islands. Which sits it right on the Ring of Fire, which causes underwater seismic activity and active vents that cause sudden rogue waves, steam explosions, and churning whirlpools, tectonic shifts from the meeting of ocean plates creates sudden violent weather and unstable sea surfaces, and Magnetic Anomalies, from local shifts in volcanic rock can temporarily disrupt compasses and navigational tools.

We learn through flashbacks, mostly when Lara is sitting at camp sites, game checkpoints, throughout the game that she, and her friend Sam, had recently graduated college and were on a research expedition funded by Sam’s parents and Whitman, to find the fabled Kingdom (island? or islands?) of Yamatai. Sam is very excited about this, one because her best friend will hopefully be getting her big break, but also because her family line traces back directly to Himiko. However, none of the contemporaneous Chinese sources (Wei zhi) nor the Japanese sources (Nihon shoki, Kojiki), which were published later (760 CE and 712 CE respectively), explicitly state whether Himiko had children (Domenig, 2023; Akima, 1993; Alam, 2016; Akima 1993; Mori 1979). Plus if Himiko had had children, or rather, an heir, there was likely a hereditary framework for the line for succession, whether through matrilineal or patrilineal lines, for Yamatai’s transmission of authority similar to the other kingdoms in East Asia (Chen, 2020; Yuan-kang, 2012; Kuhn, 2021; Hompot, 2020; Sharman, 2019; Liu, 2022). But nothing, no record of succession crisis, but no record of another ruler of Yamatai.

There is, however, a recognized historiographical gap between the Wei zhi account and later Japanese narrative traditions. The later sources I just mentioned only discuss inheritance and kinship in ways that influence modern (at the time) reconstructions (Akima, 1993; Mori, 1979). Some modern academics examine how yo-yoing between foreign and indigenous succession practices could shape ruler legitimacy. When discussing repercussions, it is necessary to distinguish what is explicitly attested from what is conjectured in broader East Asian history (Chen, 2020; Yuan-kang, 2012; Kuhn, 2021; Hompot, 2020; Sharman, 2019; Liu, 2022). But, assuming this is true in the game, which would open a huge can of worms, of which I will get into later, the child must have been either well hidden and/or a boy to not suffer any terrible fate before having children of their own. Admittedly, they could’ve been killed for any number of political reasons, so I don’t think the possibility of the power from divine royalty would’ve been worth it.

Back at the beginning. Lara survives the crashing of the ship thanks to a ghost or hallucination and once onshore she gets knocked unconscious. This will be the only time I complain about this, I swear, but if she got hit in the head to the point of passing out, she’d most likely be having either cerebral edema (brain swelling) or intracranial hemorrhage (brain bleeding) and need urgent medical intervention, or she’d die pretty fuckin’ quick. As a person who has had the former, I know a little of the experience. I know it’s a super common writing trope, but it just bugs me.

Anyways, Lara wakes up wrapped in a cloth cocoon hanging upside-down from the ceiling of a cave. Did they tie her from a stalactite? Cause that’s impressive, no matter how thick it is. (Also, as a side note, did anyone else think it was “stalagtite” with a ‘g’ like stalagmite… cause I asked my partner and he also thought it was ‘g’ in both… just weird.) There are alters scattered throughout the rooms with lit red candles and other bodies hanging up and hundreds of bones scattered across the floors. The player has to light Lara on fire, who then falls on a perfectly upright piece of iron rebar (short for reinforcement bar) that goes straight through her side. Not even discussing the tetanus shot she must have had prior to this trip or that she’s so lucky it didn’t hit any internal organs (if she wasn’t there’d be no game). But, to do the least amount of new damage she should have pulled it out from her back. She didn’t know if it was thicker on the other side and she could definitely see that it wasn’t barbed on the front end. Even knowing it was evenly shaped rebar, there’s no way of knowing what the other end was exposed to. Better safe-ish than sorry.

As Lara is walking through the cave and subsequent cave systems, there are hundreds, if not thousands more bones in each and dozens if not hundreds of hanging bodies in total. How are there so many dead people on this island? Especially without people noticing that thousands of people are going missing in this particular area, the Dragon’s Triangle in the game, never seen nor heard from again. While the exact number of people who have gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle is unknown, historical estimates generally attribute the loss of at least 50 ships and 20 aircraft to the region, so hundreds of lives over the centuries and it gets SO much more attention in the media and books and tv shows. Just cause it’s in Asia is the game telling me no one has looked into this? I would think that after the storm kept stranding people there for millenia that there weren’t strict regulations in place that would keep EVERYONE out of the area, not to generalize on laws, but this is Japan we’re talking about (although I guess it could be in International waters at what distance out). But this is all cult stuff that we really don’t learn much about, but at this point they hang bodies, scatter bones, light and replace candles a lot (btw where do they get their unending supply?), make painted hand prints and suns on the walls in a few different design patterns. The right-side up cult sacrifice is over a shrine and around it I counted 59 skulls that were completely cleaned (why would they even continue doing this? It hasn’t worked all the other times… although maybe they correlate it with the recent wrecks… wouldn’t that be weird.) Since they aren’t following practices in much the way of Japanese tradition I’m aware of, I’ll skip the set dressing, though the journal from the cult member that Lara can listen to is interesting, though still disturbing. The sacrificial shrine is in front of an etched carving of Himiko, leading to the conclusion that this is a cult that worships Himiko.

There was no cult, in any definition of the word, that worshiped Himiko known to modern scholarship. As Sam says in the game, and is actually believed to be true based on the written documentation of Wei Zhi, Himiko was a shamanistic queen, and it wasn’t until later documents, mostly from outside sources that she would’ve been ever called anything like a “witch” as Lara later comments. Unless there was extra weird shit going on, the real Himiko would’ve likely been deified as much as any of the other emperors. Though obviously we can never know for sure.

*Random thing: When Lara has escaped the cave and title is shown she already has the wrapped up upper thigh bandage. When did she get that?

As we learn throughout the game many people have crashed on the island through the centuries, the first plane Lara has to climb looks like a (and is generally defined as) military cargo/transport plane from WWII. I don’t think this is particularly strange, the star form decal they show is a USA marker. Not to say a US pilot couldn’t have crashed, but I don’t know if they were included in the historical logs Lara could find from that era.

Cut scenes want Lara dead…

As she is exploring the island Lara and the player hear wolves, which do play a bit into the story (which I’ll get into as it develops). However, the story does have us believe that the wolves were already on the island. Now the islands of Japan had two distinct subspecies of gray wolf that once lived on the islands: the Japanese wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) on the southern islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and the Hokkaido wolf (Canis lupus hattai) on the northern island of Hokkaido. Both of which are now extinct as they were targets for hunting, as they were perceived as pests for livestock (Animalia n.d.; Martin 2019). However they survived, were they brought to the island? Even without the storm, which wouldn’t be a thing until after Himiko died, the island seems pretty far out to sea. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but wolves, deer, and rabbits all riding natural rafts out there seems unlikely. I wouldn’t be surprised if, just like Molokai, Hawai`i, deer and rabbits were brought out for hunting, and then at some point the people living there saw that they reproduced out of control and even regular culling couldn’t keep the population under control so they brought wolves to keep some greater balance. There I go, making up my own nature fan fiction.

Once Lara gets to the first campsite in the game she lights a fire and watches the first recording on the video camera. Ignoring that she either just found the camera, or pulled it from… somewhere… should she even light a fight when crazy cult members are after her, though I guess if she’s really cold a fire could stop her from freezing to death. But she never takes a jacket from any of her victims, even in the snow. Should’ve been a game mechanic, that and eating, you never have to hunt again after the sequence when learning how to aim and shoot the bow. Realistic survival mode.

In the next cut scene Lara finds Sam and meets the sketchy af Mathias. Sam proceeds to tell Mathias EVERYTHING and Lara is suspicious of Mathias and extremely skeptical of Sam, even though she already said that myths are based on a kernel of truth. Which is how she got the crew to go along with her plan to travel into the Dragon’s Triangle in the first place, which is why she keeps saying it’s all her fault. Lara argues that all of Whitman’s, the lead tv archaeologist douce, books say Yamatai is west, but Lara says east in the triangle because if it was west people would’ve found it by now. On their maps there is a never-ending storm in one spot, which, to be fair, a few different groups have gotten trapped trying to study, but with technology in 2013, NOAA would have been just one of many worldwide organizations that could have seen through the storm clouds… not that hard with satellites.

In the real legends Yamatai (or Yamatai-koku) was an ancient kingdom in proto-historic Japan during the late Yayoi period, spanning roughly the 1st through 3rd centuries CE. Because written Japanese had not yet developed during this era, primary historical accounts rely almost entirely on early Chinese dynastic records, most notably the 3rd-century Records of the Three Kingdoms (Wei Zhi) (Tsunoda, 1951).

Political Leadership

Yamatai is most famous for its shamanic monarch, Queen Himiko, who ruled from approximately 180 to 248 CE (Sansom, 1958; Tsunoda, 1951). Chinese chroniclers depicted her as a spiritual leader who resided in a secluded palace protected by hundreds of handmaidens (Sansom, 1958). In 238 CE, Himiko dispatched a diplomatic delegation to the Chinese Cao Wei court, earning the official title "Queen of Wa Friendly to Wei" alongside ceremonial gifts including gold, silk, and 100 bronze mirrors (Tsunoda, 1951). Following her death, Yamatai experienced brief political instability under an unnamed male successor before stability returned under Queen Toyo (Sansom, 1958).

The Location Debate

The exact geographical center of Yamatai remains one of the most heavily debated topics in early Japanese history due to conflicting distance and directional details in Chinese itineraries (Imamura, 1996):

The Northern Kyūshū Theory asserts that Yamatai was located in northern Kyūshū near Asian mainland trade routes, supported by major Yayoi moated settlements like the Yoshinogari site in Saga Prefecture (Imamura, 1996). Meanwhile in the Kinai (Yamato) Theory, it’s argued that Yamatai occupied the central Kinai region in modern-day Nara Prefecture, highlighting archaeological discoveries at the Makimuku site and the Hashihaka burial mound, a leading candidate for Himiko's tomb (Imamura, 1996). But none of these places are in the middle of the ocean, in fact, they are in the main Japanese island chain.

What could’ve influenced a lot of this game’s settings is that back in 2009, archaeologists found a massive stilt house near Makimuku in Sakurai, Nara, which points to that area being the real spot for Yamatai-koku. Excavations there turned up all kinds of artifacts: wooden pieces like masks and part of a shield, clay pots and vases that match styles from all over Japan, and a large amount of pollen used for fabric dye. On top of that, Makimuku is home to the Hashihaka burial mound, believed to be the first keyhole monumental structure (Kofun) in Japan,which many think is the actual tomb of Queen Himiko. The Kofun tombs are what the next period of Japanese history is named for, the Kofun period from c. 300 to 538 CE and the Kofun tombs are also associated with the emergence of the Yamato Kingship.

Linguists and historians continue to analyze how ancient Chinese phonetic renderings (such as 邪馬臺 and 邪馬壹) correspond to Old Japanese speech patterns (Hong, 1994; Miller, 1967). While Chinese scribes transcribed the polity phonetically as Yamatai or Yamadai, early native chronicles like the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki transcribed Yamato using phonetic characters (Man'yōgana) that eventually evolved into the kanji spelling 大和 ("Great Harmony") (Miller, 1967; Sansom, 1958).

But in the game Himiko could summon storms, which Sam attributes to her shamanistic-mystical powers. But, to the best of my knowledge, even her enemies didn’t write that about her. If anything they just tried to erase her from history. Sam even says that she’s Himiko’s descendent, which, of course, leads to her getting abducted. (I guess that was likely going to happen anyway, the cult recordings do later say that they’ve tried the ritual before.)

*Why was a sacrifice hung up still holding his bow? They could’ve used that, it’s not like they were giving him a respectful burial.

The 1st journal entry is from a Japanese soldier in WWII and mentions Chinese partisans, American GIs, and Oni, one of these things is not like the others. I wonder if the survivors ever became allies, like in that one Twilight Zone episode, but not the full Adam and Eve metaphor that is provided in that episode… though who knows.

* Roth never said where he was, let alone the direction Lara should go to find him, how did she know where to go?

As we’ve already seen, there are a number of different symbols that pop up everywhere in the background of the game. The first would be the sun. Most times when they show the basic sun it’s almost a square shape with the shining rays around it. Why not make it more of just a circle, well maybe they the cult, named the Solarii, didn’t want to be closely associated with Japan itself, maybe they were connecting it more with the square character for “sun”, who knows, maybe it was just an easier way to render in the game system. The sun symbol might tie more closely with the cult itself than with Himiko worship, though it could go either way because there are often hand prints underneath, like these are new members joining.

Another symbol is a sort of spiral shape. In real life this is called a Tomoe (巴 or 鞆絵) symbol, which primarily refers to a traditional “comma-like swirl symbol”, a legendary female warrior, and a popular lightweight paper brand, the last of which has no connection to the myths nor the game, just thought it was funny to mention.

A comma or tadpole-shaped swirl, most often seen as a trio in a circle (mitsudomoe) and are reminiscent of similar designs that have been found in wide distribution around the world, such as the triskelion. (Turnbull, Stephen (2012) [2002]. Samurai Heraldry. Bloomsbury Publishing. ; Repp, Martin (2002). "Protecting kami of the Japanese Nation". In Kubota, Hiroshi; Antoni, Klaus J.; Nawrocki, Johann; Wachutka, Michael (eds.). Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 169–191.) . The symbol's meaning has been deeply tied to Shintoism (often representing Hachiman, the god of war and archery) and family crests (kamon) (Munro, N. Gordon (1911). "Some Origins and Survivals" (PDF). Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 38: 1–74, 48ff.; "Shinto Symbols (Continued)". Contemporary Religions in Japan. 7 (2). Nanzan University: 89–142. June 1966. JSTOR 30232989.; Heldt, Gustav (2014). The Kojiki: An Account of Ancient Matters. Columbia University Press.). The god tie linked the symbol to ancient comma-shaped magatama jewels or tomo leather arm-guards worn by archers. As a leather wrist protector tomo appear to have been employed at least as early as the Kofun period, where they are frequently attested on haniwa terracotta figurines depicting archers, and may even have had, aside from their military function, a ritual or fetish value, perhaps related to their phallic shape (Miki, Fumio (1969). Haniwa: the clay sculpture of protohistoric Japan. Tuttle Publishing.; Miller, R. A. (1967). The Japanese Language. University of Chicago Press.). Which is pretty cool because that’s the first way Lara has to fight back, other than kicking. The pattern was also interpreted as water swirling, and because it is a water-related pattern, the Tomoe pattern was applied to roof tiles on buildings at the end of the Heian period as a fire protection.

But it wasn’t only an abstract symbol, it was the name of a woman named Tomoe Gozen. Just a badass onna-musha (female samurai) warrior of the Genpei War in the late-12th-century, even though she may not actually have been real since she wasn’t in the war accounts (Brown, Steven T. (1998). "From Woman Warrior to Peripatetic Entertainer: The Multiple Histories of Tomoe". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 58 (1): 183–199.; Muir, M. D. R. (2024, March 6). These 3 samurai women were some of history’s most legendary warriors. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/samurai-women-shogun-legends ; "Tomoe Gozen," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/tomoe-gozen [accessed August 4, 2026]). She was renowned in The Tale of the Heike for exceptional bravery, skill with a bow and naginata, and striking beauty. Not sure if the game designers meant to do this, but it could’ve tied the basic character ideas of Lara and Himiko together.

The paint in the game also shows tally marks, I counted 63 in the first one, but they show up sooo many times during the game, and they look like the same number. Maybe 63 means something. shrug Speaking of a lot of something, there are so many bottles, where did they get them all? It’s not like there were hundreds of cruise ships crashing ashore.

This was the actual point while watching the walkthrough that I got to the cutscene when Lara finds Sam and Mathias. Other than what I’ve already said, Sam says that Himiko was ruthless and powerful, using her shamanistic powers to call storms. Also that she commanded her Stormguard warriors, who “rode the very winds to battle, laying waste to all who opposed them.” And that “they say the sun rose at Himiko’s command and she ruled everything the rays touched, from the mountains to the sea and beyond” (Sam, Tomb Raider 2013). I don’t think this is in any texts, but whoever they are, they have poetic language.

I know that Himiko is called the Sun Queen in the game. This is likely based on the Japanese legend that identifies Himiko as Emperor Suinin's daughter, who enshrined the sun goddess's sacred mirror at Ise around 5 BCE, a city of present Mie Prefecture (Britannica Editors 2024, March 13). More reliable 3rd-century Chinese records, however, confirm an unmarried queen named Himiko ruled Yamatai as both a political monarch and high priestess. The characters used to represent the name Himiko mean “sun child,” or “sun daughter” in archaic Japanese, and it is interesting to note that later Japanese rulers claimed to be descendants of the sun goddess (Britannica Editors (2024, March 13). Himiko. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Himiko-Japanese-ruler).

Getting back to Sam’s monologue she did make mention of Himiko’s elite warriors, the Stormguards, which all the fandom information tells me these are the Oni that you have to fight even though they are so adept at taking out Lara’s enemies. While searching for any real world connection I looked to do a translation. In Japanese, "storm" is 嵐 (arashi) and "guard" or "protector" is 守護 (shugo) or 衛士 (eiji - guard/sentinel). Combined literally as a descriptive compound for a "storm guard/warrior," it can be expressed as 嵐の守り (arashi no mamori) or 風暴の衛士 (fūbō no eiji). But, when looking up these terms the only results either connect to Tomb Raider itself or a 3 volume book series that takes place in Ireland. So, I’m pretty sure the game people made up the whole warrior class.

Mathias then asks what happened to her, but we never get Sam’s answer because Lara falls asleep and when she wakes Sam and Mathias are both gone.

As the game progresses, there are staircases and monasteries all over the island. During the time that the original Himiko would have been alive, Japanese architecture was defined by the Yamatai Period. As I talked about earlier, one of the ways archaeologists thought they found Yamatai was through the stilt houses, which do match the houses in the game (Cartwright 2019). However, during the Yamatai and the following early Kofun period, pit dwellings (竪穴建物) were for everyday life along with elevated wooden structures which were mostly the raised-floor granaries to protect harvested rice and communal goods from ground moisture and pests (Heritage of Japan n.d.). Yayoi architectural styles. Heritage of Japan. Retrieved August 5, 2026.).

The pit houses were round or square with rounded corners, but technically the “pit houses” weren’t actually pits because they weren’t set beneath the surface. These humbler dwellings were built over shallow pits like homes of the earlier Jomon period (Heritage of Japan n.d.). However, unlike Jomon pit houses, many Yayoi buildings did not have indoor fireplaces and so must have been colder residences than those of the Jomon period. Architecturally advanced forms were the buildings that had irimoya thatched roofs that flared out at the sides. This flared roof style became the style for residences or palaces (miya) for shaman leaders, chiefs and other elite tribal members of society. At Yoshinogari, the largest of Yayoi sites in Japan, there is evidence that many large residences for local chiefs and leaders, meeting and ceremonial halls, and raised floor granaries were constructed along with structures such as watchtowers and the enclosing palisades (fences with sharp stakes) had been likely constructed for defensive purposes. (Heritage of Japan n.d.).

But the game doesn’t really show any of the average people’s normal homes. The buildings are very beautiful and it’s obvious that a ton of work was done by the developers and renderers, but maybe they were assuming only the wealthy would live on the island and everyone else would boat in daily? Usually workers live in the same places they would be working. Village settlements would have featured clustered pit houses alongside larger timber structures reserved for local chieftains or ritual gatherings.(Heritage of Japan n.d.). I guess maybe those buildings just didn’t last over the centuries, or were torn down and replaced with better housing as time went on and more people came to the island. The housing structures that we typically recognize as "quintessential Japanese homes" with sliding paper doors, tatami mat floors, and minimalist wooden interiors didn’t really begin becoming quintessential until the Heian period (794–1185 CE) and reached their definitive form by the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods (14th to 17th centuries), though the pagoda style architecture did come into popularity during the Asuka period, thanks to the rise in Buddhism (Ulak, J.T. (2026, August 1). Japanese architecture. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-architecture; Cartwright 2019).

A huge point is that all this game’s plot backstory predates the arrival of continental Buddhist temple architecture by centuries. There were absolutely no monasteries in Japan when Himiko was alive. It officially arrived from mainland Asia nearly 300 years later, in the mid-6th century CE (around 538 or 552 CE). (Penney, M. (2022). Buddhism arrives in Japan. EBSCO Research. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/buddhism-arrives-japan. When Buddhism was introduced through diplomatic missions from the Korean kingdom of Baekje, it brought continental timber architecture, heavy tiled roofs, and complex bracket complexes to Japan for the first time. The very first Buddhist monasteries and temples in Japan were built in the late 6th century, specifically in 590 CE. The Buddhist poses of the shrine also called this connection into question.

They brought architectural innovations for their monasteries: kiln-fired ceramic roof tiles to replace primitive thatch and bark roofing, stone foundation blocks so massive timber pillars no longer rotted in the bare dirt, complex interlocking wood brackets to distribute the immense weight of wide, sweeping roofs, and bright crimson paint and white plaster walls, which heavily contrasted with the unpainted wood of indigenous Shinto shrines (Penney 2022; Cartwright 2019 July 12).

So in these ways, the game is really getting ahead of itself in the real life timeline.

While Lara is exploring with Whitman they come across the painting that Whitman says “from the age of the symbols it could be the Sun Queen”… but the images were made with the white paint recently… what gives? Lara is the one who says Himiko, but is there a chance Whitman meant someone else, or was he saying that because it’s so recent the cult worships the Sun Queen? Whitman adds that “There’s no doubt Himiko had power. Shamanistic. Elemental.” This is when Lara says “A woman wields that much power and sooner or later it gets called witchcraft.” Whitman counters, “ We shouldn’t discount anything, even what may seem to us, irrational. We still have much to learn about the world.”

It is really interesting to me that Himiko was called the sun queen, and made the sun rise and set, but controlled storms. We are getting a massive cross-over into another goddess’ territory here, Amaterasu Ōmikami. She’s the sun goddess and chief deity of the Shinto religion in Japanese mythology. Her name means "the great divinity that illuminates heaven". Recorded in ancient texts like the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, she is considered the mythical ancestor of the Imperial House of Japan. [1, 2, 3]. She was born from the left eye of her father, the creator god Izanagi, while he washed his face during a purification ritual. Her brothers are Susanoo, the storm and sea god, and the moon god, Tsukuyomi, while she is the ruler of Takamagahara, the high celestial plain of the gods. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Her main myth is known as The Cave Myth (Amano Iwato) in which Amaterasu is angered by the destructive and chaotic behavior of her brother Susanoo so Amaterasu hides inside the heavenly rock cave (Amano Iwato). [1, 2] As the sun, when she hides the world is in darkness, letting cold and evil spirits thrive. [1, 2] The other gods hold a festival outside the cave, and just do a bunch of fun things to try and coax her out. Eventually, the goddess Ame-no-Uzume performed either a funny, passionate dance, causing the gathered deities to roar with laughter or a sexy dance to catch Amaterasu’s interest (depending on the storyteller. [1, 2] Whichever version you hear, the dance works as either curious about the commotion, or the dancer, Amaterasu peeked outside and saw her reflection in a sacred mirror (Yata no Kagami). Strong gods then pulled her out, which restored light to the universe. [1]

Was Himiko supposed to be a goddess, a shaman, or a witch? They never try to explain where she got her powers, cause just saying she was a shaman doesn’t answer any questions. Admittedly, that’s probably for the best. Shamans don’t control the weather, [as far as I know, and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong] they act as priests, as the connection between humans and the gods, Shinto in this respect. But Himiko doesn’t actually have any myths like that or what they claim in the game, that she was a conqueror. In fact, it was legendary that when she came to power she ended a longstanding war, and there was peace throughout her reign (??).

< My name’s Renee, you’re listening to Detours in Artaeology, and this is Part 2 of Tomb Raider vs. The Storm Queen: the Yamatai Cage Match. >

Picking up from the scene where we left off, Whitman and Lara are walking up the stairs and come across a Himiko statue in a shrine with freshly lit red candles. The statue has what look like incense rods behind and around her, made of stone. She’s wearing a dress or a robe that is symmetrical in the front with a button or clasp over what is maybe another dress or a solid choker and necklaces and a headdress with an arched top with sun near the high point and an intricate carving underneath it. This carving is an interesting first artistic view of Himiko, because the dress she is wearing in this is very different from what she’s wearing in any other scene, same with the crown. There may be a reason for this which, I’ll get into when the game acknowledges it. But for this part I’ll point out that much like the last episode, we don’t know what she really looked like or what her clothing looked like. The only records we have of her style of dress at least semi-contemporariously was from the Kingdom of Wa in China who had their own agenda. The general description of the clothing the Wei (Japanese group Himiko ruled) wore was that of a ‘simple and unstitched, featuring a primitive wrap style garment’. Of course this was prior to the kimonos and even proto-kimomos, but being wrap-style also includes the clothing the Wa dynasty was wearing. But, really kimono (着物) literally translates to "thing to wear" or "clothing". It combines the kanji character ki (着, meaning "to wear") and mono (物, meaning "thing") ("Kimono." Vocabulary.com Dictionary, Vocabulary.com, https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/kimono. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.).

Both men and women from the Hakuhō (Early Nara) period (645–710) to the present. Derived from the Chinese pao-style robe, the essential kimono is an ankle-length gown with long, expansive sleeves and a V-neck. It has neither buttons nor ties, being lapped left over right across the chest and secured at the waist by a broad sash known as an obi. Examples of art work that were done in the Edo period about another 3rd century Empress Jingū Kōgō wearing ancient, highly formalized ceremonial attire known as Sokutai (束帯) A Sokutai is the most formal, traditional ceremonial court attire worn by the Emperor, imperial family members, and high-ranking nobles in Japan over the years. Originating in the Heian period 795-1185 CE, this complex multi-layered ensemble remains reserved today for rare imperial state events like coronations and royal weddings (Britannica Editors (2014, November 19). sokutai. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sokutai). During the Edo period, artists often portrayed legendary female regents like Empress Jingū in masculine emperor robes rather than standard women's garments to visually reinforce their status as an absolute ruler. What was especially different about Empress Jingū is that she was exemplified as a warrior, as opposed to Himiko peace maker. But I couldn’t find art that shows the same style of clothes nor jewelry.

In addition, the headdress she is wearing on the statue is not a traditional head cover, at least not for women. There are less elaborate versions shown on men of the Yayoi period, which could have been what the developers were using to establish her power as leader, similar to what artists were doing in the Edo period. The headdress is, however, more feminine looking than the men’s, it has a neck cloth, and it has the carvings in the front that traditional head gear of the period didn’t. But, that is obviously because she’s queen, but, even that doesn’t match the ultra elaborate headdresses that were seen in later periods like the Taisho period of the 19th century. It was more of a full cover hat crown, but we don’t get to see if it’s open in the back because that’s not something that the walkthrough players (in this case MKIceAndFire) cared to examine… which is fair. If they even could, the statue is shown in a cutscene after all. Instead, what may have been possible, or at least what Himiko is generally shown wearing would have been more of pinned hair pieces with silk and/or floral decor. The dangling floral design with the combs and pins as we picture it today wasn’t a widely popular style until the Edo period, in between circa 1600 and 1868, so much later. However, anything that is used to hold hair in place: pins, combs, sticks, bars, clasps, ribbons, or flowers mounted on a prong, themselves are called kanzashi, started getting used as a general term in the Heian period, from 794 to 1185 CE (Takahashi, E. (2026, August 5). Kanzashi: Japanese hair ornaments, types & meanings. Japanese Rituals. https://japaneserituals.com/kanzashi/). There are many different types with each having specific names, but I’m not a fashion blogger so I won’t be going into those, even though a better trained eye may be able to notice specific distinctions in the style of the statues shown later in the game.

But, importantly, they were used in Japan as early as the Jōmon period, starting in c. 14,000 and ending in either 1000, 500, or 300 BCE, depending on the scholarship you read (Habu, Junko (1996). "Jomon Sedentism and Intersite Variability: Collectors of the Early Jomon Moroiso Phase in Japan". Arctic Anthropology. 33 (2): 40. JSTOR 40316410; Pearson, Richard (2006). "Jomon Hot Spot: Increasing Sedentism in South-Western Japan in the Incipient Jomon (14,000-9250 cal. BC) and Earliest Jomon (9250-5300 cal. BC) Periods". World Archaeology. Sedentism in Non-Agricultural Societies. 38 (2): 240–242). This was the overarching period before the Yayoi Period, when Himiko would have lived. So they definitely had the technology. In this early period, it is suggested that the sticks made from wood and bone would have been found in specific positions that could suggest that they were ritualistic talismans, possibly to ward off bad luck, rather than being only decorative or useful to keep hair out of the face (Takahashi 2026). But, like the rest of learning history from the period, these hypotheses are based on folklore recorded later with no written evidence of the time (Takahashi 2026). Of course, hairstyles changed a lot over the decades and the periods, which I would have expected to see more in the game, if Himiko did “survive” as long as she seems to, the Chinese court fashions and hairstyles would have played much more of an impact during the subsequent Himikos in the Heian period, bringing more elaborate hair ornaments, before the hair styles went to wearing it long and loose, with no pins needed (Takahashi 2026).

Getting back to it, Whitman says that finding Yamatai, identifying it to the academic community would be like finding Atlantis, that it’s a gold mine.Yes, he is extremely passionate about it, and yes it would be hugely important to the archaeological community and likely Japan as a whole for their history. But Atlantis? As much as this game wants to pretend, Yamatai isn’t a fictional kingdom, legendary, yes, but not completely mythological. Atlantis was a made up ancient city that Plato invented for a lesson in hubris and greed, Yamatai was a place with archaeological evidence that yes researchers are still looking for definitive proof, but as I mentioned in the last episode, there are places where archaeologists think it could be already, and they aren’t in the Dragon’s/ Devil’s Triangle. And just my own opinion… Whitman’s such a jackass little pansy.

I do actually like that the Russian dudes are speaking Russian and English, because it is a truly international group of murderous survivors. Also, why would they want new recruits? Just seems like a pain,... more mouths to feed.

Patreon bloopers+ reel with the r part

Another one? Where are the others? Maybe they are around and set fires to the houses to create chaos.

The gold structures have gold decor on the doors and walls, post tops and bottoms, and it’s very elaborate work. Are there gold mines on the island? Did they fasten them for building on the island before or once they got there? Repurpose them from boats that got marooned unless they were built before Himiko started storming, which is likely. They have the same spiral - the tomoe symbol and other very intricate designs. As long as they had access to a source I don’t doubt they’d use it so much, every other culture did. It’s malleable, so easy to work with, it doesn’t tarnish, so it’s easier to keep looking good, plus it’s just pretty.

An interesting side note, although 13th century explorer Marco Polo said that Japan “has tremendous qualities of gold” which later let the country become known as the “land of gold” and that they have their own mines; Sado Kinzan, starting in 1600’s and Konomai mine in Hokkaido in 1915 and the Hishikari gold mine in Kagoshima, southern Kyushu starting in 1985 (Eastside Gold and Coin Exchange. (2026). Japanese gold. https://www.eastsidegoldandcoinexchange.com/types-of-gold/japanese-gold). You’ll notice that none of these were around in the Yayoi period. Gold was not in use until the 5th and 6th centuries, as introduced by China and Korea. Some of the first golden artifacts were grave goods found in the Kofun key-hole burial mounds such as earrings (Team MUSUBI. (2023, January 24). The Japanese world of gold. MUSUBI KILN. https://musubikiln.com/blogs/journal/the-japanese-world-of-gold). It wasn’t until a few hundred years after Buddhism was introduced that places like the Golden Hall of the Buddhist temple Chūsonji, was erected in 1124 in the Heian Period, by Fujiwara no Kiyohira, the leader of Mutsu Province’s powerful Ōshū Fujiwara clan (Nippon.com. (2024, January 19). Celebrating nine centuries of Chūsonji’s Golden Hall. Nippon.com. https://www.nippon.com/en/news/l00319/).

In there, the whole building is gilded in gold and inside the central area is the Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas, along with statues of Virudhaka and Dhrtarastra dancing(?) and a bunch of what look to be monks (Nippon.com 2024). All the bodies are gilded. Even with the techniques of making entsuke gold leaf, which is the 400 year old traditional version of gold leaf [vs the modern tachikiri], the practice of decorating buildings with it, even just royal palaces, not even mentioning anyone of less than noble status, wouldn’t come into practice until the Momoyama Period from 1573 to 1615 (Society for the Preservation of Traditional Kanazawa Gold Leaf. (n.d.). Society for the Preservation of Traditional Kanazawa Gold Leaf. Retrieved August 15, 2026, from https://entsukegoldleaf.jp/eng/; Department of Asian Art. (2002, October). Momoyama Period (1573–1615). The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

So, once again we see the game skipping ahead in time with art that was not around yet. In this, you could, again, make the argument that people from a later period could have built these houses, but they weren’t royalty, they were just small houses. I don’t know, maybe they wanted to feel rich, but it would have been long after the island was “lost”, so did they just crash with all that gold leaf? And if that’s the case I’m surprised we didn’t see any kintsugi (金継ぎ,  'golden joinery'), also known as kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair") pottery. Things must have broken at one point or another, and if the game doesn’t mind that, according to legend, it started in the 15th century in the Muromachi Period, with the rising popularity of the Japanese tea ceremony, I think it could have been a great metaphor for Lara’s development too (TSUGU TSUGU. (2022, October 7). The history of kintsugi. https://kintsugi-kit.com/blogs/tsugu-tsugu-columns/the-history-of-kintsugi).

But, my main question is, why are the houses still so intact and looking so nice. Maybe Himiko purposefully doesn’t let the storms hit her more fragile Japanese villages, who knows, it’s never said.

Father Mathias says that he was caught in a plane crash and the life boat they tried to escape on was stopped by an impenetrable storm with a giant. While all this is explained with events that occur in the game, and the giant he is referring to is the Oni, it just makes me think of the Odyssey. Odysseus is caught in Posidon’s storm and he is first forced to Polyphemus on the island of the cycolopes, or I guess the land of the giants. I also just thought about the plane crash and life boat escape from the plane in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but that didn’t have any giants. I think I’m just too influenced by media.

Would the temple lanterns ever go up to a rock wall, a dead end?

There are so many Japanese housing structures, I know people could have come throughout history, but it must have been a really well known location to go to in Himoko’s time (all of them). And it’s ridiculous that in this game’s universe, it still would have been forgotten so quickly and completely. Lara says, “These ruins, Kamakura period, was this all part of Yamatai?” For a quick run down, the Kamakura period (1192–1333 CE) was a pivotal era full of crises in Japanese history marked by the governance of the Kamakura Shogunate, the rise of the samurai warrior class, the practice of ritual suicide by disembowelment (seppuku) and the cult of the sword both emerged, Zen Buddhism became very influencal since it appealed in warrior trainings, while new faith sects emerged, and the establishment of Japan's first feudal system. Power shifted away from the traditional imperial court in Kyoto to military rulers based in the eastern coastal town of Kamakura (Britannica Editors. "Kamakura period". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/event/Kamakura-period.).

First off, is Yamatai the nation or the island, cause they say at other points that they are on Yamatai, not in it, which is an important distinction when it comes to location language. Second, it was Lara insisting that Yamatai was there that got them stuck in the first place (she can be so wishy washy). And thirdly, I suppose maybe she could tell the period based on the art style. It was notably realistic during this period. Sculptors like Unkei and the Kei School shifted toward dynamic, muscular, and lifelike realistic and naturalistic art, like in Buddhist statues (Boundless. (n.d.). 13.4: The Kamakura Period. Humanities LibreTexts. Retrieved August 15, 2026, from https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Art/Art_History_and_Theory/Art_History_(Boundless)/13%3A_Japan_Before_1333_CE/13.04%3A_The_Kamakura_Period).

During the Kamakura period, Japanese painting largely maintained the foundational traditions established in the preceding Heian period, prominently carrying forward key artistic formats such as emaki handscrolls, the distinctive yamato-e painting style, and detailed painted mandalas (Boundless, n.d.). These narrative emaki handscrolls routinely featured religious themes, historical chronicles, or illustrated fiction while adhering closely to classic Heian aesthetic conventions (Boundless, n.d.). In contrast to this continuity in two-dimensional art, the era marked a major renaissance in Japanese sculpture, driven primarily by the pioneering masters of the Buddhist Kei school (Boundless, n.d.). Based in Nara, the Kei school dominated Japanese Buddhist sculpture through the 14th century, adapting the yosegi-zukuri (joined-wood) technique to create dynamic, realistic Buddhist and portrait statues for military patrons (Boundless, n.d.). Drawing inspiration from Nara-period traditions and Song Dynasty in China, the movement was led by Unkei, especially famous for his expressive and slightly terrifying, like straight out of Tomb Raider look, Niō guardians at Tōdai-ji and his priest portraits at Kōfuku-ji (Boundless, n.d.). Yet, during this time there were also artists like Kaikei, whose sculptures offered a more idealized aesthetic rendered with richly gilded and painted surfaces (Boundless, n.d.).

In this village there is another statue that looks like a fat Buddha. I already discussed how this would be anachronistic in Himiko's time and for approximately 300 years after in the last episode, but as people kept coming and getting stuck maybe they carved a statue to Buddha, but that wouldn’t have the right style of the Kamakura period. It could’ve been another statue of Himiko though, I didn’t get a good look from the front.

Another way Lara could have seen a difference in period was through the architectural style. In Japan’s Kamakura period, Buddhist architecture branched out into three distinct traditions, each bringing something different to the table. First up was the Wayō (Japanese) style, which polished traditional native design techniques to create simpler, highly resilient temple structures (Fujimori, T. (2023, July 5). Terunobu Fujimori 005: The Katōmado of the Shizutani School. Window Research Institute. https://madoken.jp/en/series/fujimori/). Meanwhile, the priest Chōgen introduced the Daibutsuyō (Great Buddha) style specifically to undertake massive restoration projects like Tōdai-ji; this approach relied on heavy-duty, intersecting bracket complexes capable of cleanly distributing immense roof loads (Buke-zukuri. (2008, March 5). NIPPON-KICHI. https://nippon-kichi.jp/article_list.do?kwd=6&ml_lang=en ). Finally, the Zenshūyō (Zen) style imported vibrant aesthetic traits directly from Song Dynasty China, introducing iconic features like decorative pent roofs, bell-shaped katōmado windows, hinged panel doors, and gracefully arched rainbow beams (ebikōryō)(Fujimori 2023).

In this village, Lara kills a chicken, which would definitely have been brought over. Just like they were all over the world basically. The question is, when? The game doesn’t give us the answer. Chickens are thought to have been first domesticated around 1500 BCE in the Southeast Asian peninsula, earlier estimates claim up to 10,000 years ago in India, China, or Europe. However, the oldest confirmed domestic chicken bones were discovered at Ban Non Wat in central Thailand. This may have been caused by the spread of dry rice farming that attracted wild red jungle fowl down from trees, initiating a symbiotic relationship with humans that catalyzed domestication (School of Archaeology. (2022, June 7). Major new international research reveals new evidence about when, where, and how chickens were domesticated. University of Oxford. https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/article/major-new-international-research-reveals-new-evidence-about-when-where-and-how-chickens-were).

However as we are well aware today, chickens are everywhere and in basically every cuisine. They were brought all the way to Hawai`i by Polynesian groups and so I would not be at all surprised if they had been brought to the island by the original Japanese inhabitants. But, what is pretty interesting and maybe a bit coincidental, or brilliantly planned if the game developers knew… Researchers led by Professor Masaki Eda from the Hokkaido University Museum have uncovered the earliest conclusive evidence of chicken breeding in Japan, dating back to the middle Yayoi period (fourth century BCE). By analyzing four young bird bones from the Karako-Kagi trading hub in Nara Prefecture using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to examine their collagen, confirming that two of them belonged to domestic chickens rather than wild pheasants (Eda et al., 2023). Carbon dating placed these juvenile bones between 381 and 204 BCE during Japan's middle Yayoi period (Eda et al., 2023). This was a major breakthrough because earlier chicken remains from this era were strictly adult males, leading experts to assume the birds were simply imported from outside Japan; finding young chicken bones proves that local breeding was actually happening on the islands as early as chickens first arrived (Eda et al., 2023). Masaki Eda, et al. The earliest evidence of domestic chickens in the Japanese Archipelago. Frontiers in Earth Science. April 20, 2023. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2023.1104535

* I don’t know if it’s just me, but I used to like the rain drops on the camera thing, but I don’t anymore, it kinda breaks my immersion and makes me think that my screen is dirty.

Inside the cave are “gilded figures, servants of the sun queen”... “sacrifice, murder, there’s no record of these in ancient Yamatai”. This mucks up the myth aspect, yes there are myths about places like Camelot being a peaceful friendly place, and a silly one if Monty Python is to be believed, but choosing the word “record” indicates that there are more than rumors and folklore about this place in the games universe. But, maybe they just mean the scant accounts like what we have in our world? They say that Himiko wanted to conquer, but I guess there was peace among the people of the island. I’m just going back and forth and you get to listen to me argue with myself. I’m so sorry. Importantly though, how much was shared with the outside world? There was a time, during Himiko’s life when people could and did leave the island safely “unless it was erased from the texts”. You’d think with all those records it would have been much more than a myth in the game’s universe. Also, the whole cave shrine area was said to have been “built in honor of the priestesses”. It has a bunch of skulls, were those examples of women who weren’t her favorites, or the women who didn’t survive, so many questions that we don’t get the answers to.

In the mountain village, Lara finds an ancient scroll sitting on a table from the ambassador's journal. In it he says that he was “forbidden to leave the palace”, but he did anyway and talking to people in the village helped him learn the rumors that say: Himiko talks to the spirit world, and that she commands the sun and rain, “that the lands are abundant by her will alone”. He comments that they seem to both revere and fear her, and that he wants to spread discontent through the population. Not the best idea when you are the guest of a queen that can control the weather and has elite warriors following her orders. If he didn’t buy the first point, he should at least be more wary of the second, though that does sound like something a dignitary would’ve been ordered to do on his ‘diplomatic mission’ to a female ruler’s court.

In fact, later, upon finding another one of his journal entries we learn that he was manipulated by Himiko and wants to immediately leave and tell his lord that they must stay away. Plus he must have seen some truly terrifying shit because he wants his lord to pay Himiko tribute to be allowed access to the oceans.

One of the side quest tasks Lara can do while exploring the mountain village is to burn an offering or something at seated statues. These Buddhist-like statues, like I said in the last episode, could’ve been a later addition by people once Buddhism arrived in Japan almost 300 years later (around 538 or 552 CE). These statues in particular remind me of the monster looking beings that are portrayed in many Buddhist temples in Korea, Mongolia… etc. These could have been holdovers from the Vedic society that Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) was born into and grew up in, wherein many of the deities had more frightening faces even when they were “good guys”. In the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, the prevailing religion was the Vedic tradition (often called Brahmanism), characterized by ritual sacrifices managed by a priestly caste (Brahmins) (Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press; ). Modern Hinduism later evolved from a synthesis of this Vedic tradition, local customs, and ideas from alternative movements, including Buddhism itself (Lockard, Craig A. (2007), Societies, Networks, and Transitions. Volume I: to 1500, Cengage Learning, ISBN 978-0-618-38612-3; Hiltebeitel, Alf (2007), Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture". Digital printing 2007, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-136-87590-8) Buddhas: Fully enlightened beings who have attained Nirvana and teach the path to awakening (e.g., Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical founder; Amitabha Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism).Gesar Travel. (n.d.). The 10 most important Buddhas & Deities: Buddhist iconography. Retrieved August 15, 2026, from https://www.gesar-travel.com/10-most-important-buddhas-deities/?lang=en Bodhisattvas: Compassionate beings who delay their own complete entry into Nirvana to help others attain enlightenment. Major figures include Avalokiteshvara (Compassion, known as Guanyin in China) and Manjushri (Wisdom) (Gesar Travel n.d.). Wrathful Deities & Protectors (Dharmapalas): Fierce guardians, common in Tibetan Buddhism, who defend the Dharma and ward off negative forces (e.g., Mahakala, Palden Lhamo) (Gesar Travel n.d.). Devas (Celestial Gods): Beings inherited from ancient Indian cosmology—such as Brahma and Indra (Sakra)—who inhabit higher heavenly realms but remain bound to the cycle of rebirth. Local spirits and regional gods were later integrated as Buddhism spread through Asia (Gesar Travel n.d.).

Additionally, the statues of Himiko change in this area of the map as well. Rather than the seated figure that was seen in the first area that was explored with Whitman, Himiko is in an almost standing Buddha or Bodhisattva pose, much like the female Bodhisattva that is prayed to for luck. This change in artistic style is hinting to me that this island did follow the changes of the outside world, so Himiko must have been ruling for a very long time, and the player is supposed to be left wondering. How could she live so long? Hint hint.

I know that the white paint on the walls would have been done by the cultist members. But, Lara goes after the plane that JUST went down and while exploring a tomb (not in too much of a rush then) we see a glyph of a plane going down. Was that just done, were they depicting examples of planes in general going down on the island, cause the fact that it happened so recently and sooo close to the painting gives me pause to wonder if the game designers were signaling some kind of foresight among these guys. I’m probably just over thinking it.

Now that Lara found this temple she finally admits to herself that this must be part of Yamatai and wonders aloud if the building is part of a large complex of ruins. There’s definitely a point where being skeptical becomes being willfully ignorant and ignoring evidence. Especially with all the journals she’s read and relics she’s found, and prior knowledge. She makes so many assumptions until she actually gets on the island, it’s a bit annoying. But I guess if a player hadn’t found some of the journals, maybe they wouldn’t reach the foregone conclusion by then. But still, it’s a game so obviously we’re on the “lost island nation”.

In the cave there are a lot of inlaid ‘statues’ (not what they’re called) carved into the walls, and she says “these ruins predate the Kofun period”. How can she tell? Clothing? The paintings on a wall tell a story. The first part of the story consists of a ‘pilgrimage’ trail and a queen, who Lara assumes (rightly) is Himiko at a very windy stone temple. This area is called the Chasm Monastery and is the next part of the map the player explores and will be where the Oni, called ‘the Guardians’ by the cult, make their first actual appearance. They are giant looking, at least 7 feet tall, more like André the Giant than ancient Tolkien Giant, but either way, they are very beefy, they drag around those huge clubs, and they are wearing what looks like samurai armor, another anachronism.

In fact clubs tie in to historical fact, even though they look different. The kanabō (metal stick) and tetsubo (iron stick) are famous giant Japanese war clubs used during the feudal era (Kogan, Daniel, and Sun-Jin Kim (1996). Tuttle dictionary of the martial arts of Korea, China & Japan. p. 168.;Pauley, Daniel C. (2009). Pauley's Guide: A Dictionary of Japanese Martial Arts and Culture. p. 90.) . Made of heavy wood or solid iron and covered with iron spikes or studs, these massive two-handed weapons could crush armor, break bones, and shatter enemy formations. They are often 4 to 6 feet long, weighing anywhere from 5 to over 20 pounds and were built to bypass hard armor through brute percussive force rather than slicing. And there is a mythological connection that can be followed. These giant clubs are the signature weapon of oni (Japanese ogres or demons). This comes from a famous proverb,The saying "oni ni kanabo" means "giving a club to an oni"—meaning to give an already strong person an unbeatable advantage (Strusiewicz, C. J. (2026, June 9). The kanabo: A history of Japan’s oldest weapon. Tokyo Weekender. https://www.tokyoweekender.com/art_and_culture/history/kanabo-japanese-war-club-samurai-oni/ Trimnell, Edward. Tigers, Devils, and Fools: A Guide to Japanese Proverbs. p. 115. ). There are specific one handed versions, but I think the Oni are just so strong to drag them one handed.

The bodies are all hanging upside down besides Lara and Jesob the pilot, who was lying wounded on the ground.

The 1st storyline tomb that Lara has to go exploring gets a, “I hate tombs” out of her. If she really feels that way there are plenty of jobs, both in academia and not that she could go into while doing archaeology as a career. Plenty of other study areas.

The tomb has a huge statue of Himiko and two stormguards wearing armor and holding staffs and large knife-spears. We can tell that they have the top-knot hair style, called the chonmage, because their hats/helmets had the top knot space built in. This style was historically worn by samurai and nobility, it features a shaved front and crown (sakayaki) with the remaining hair oiled and tied into a small knot folded on top. The fact that I have samurai in the description tells you that it was popular much later, in fact it wasn’t well known until the Edo period (1603–1868), but it did have roots dating back to around the Heian period or possibly earlier in the 600s CE in the Asuka & Nara Periods (c. 600–794) (LIVE JAPAN. (2020, November 10). The story behind Japan’s honorable samurai hairstyle: The “Chonmage”. LIVE JAPAN Travel Guide. https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0004702/). Back then wearing the hair in buns was known as ‘a mage’ and it wasn’t until the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods, around 1200, that men started shaving the tops of their heads and styling the remaining hair into a topknot, creating the look we know today (LIVE JAPAN, 2020). The look is thought to have originated when the Japanese imperial court adopted Chinese court culture. Court nobles grew their hair long and tied it into a tight bun on top of their heads to firmly secure their official, tall ceremonial crowns (kanmuri) (LIVE JAPAN, 2020).

In this tomb Lara reads “Himiko, the first sun queen” on the outside of the coffin. The player would likely be asking themselves, wait, there’s more than one? And maybe even figure out that, that must be how she “lived” so long… but how exactly? Especially after opening the coffin and seeing the skeleton of Himiko. Assuming this was, in fact, the first incarnation, the first body of Himiko, she would have died in the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE - c. 300 CE), in fact was believed to have died in 247/248 CE, so not even at the end. During this and into the next period, the Kofun Period (c. 300 - 538 CE) keyhole burials were the major royal tomb style and that is how archaeologists are attempting to find the real Himiko’s tomb.

Also in this extremely plot thickening tomb, there are paintings of a storyline of ritual sacrifice, though the story is shown to us in reverse order, to the way we would read a story. That, in itself, was a good choice for the developers because Lara moves from right to left, the way that Japanese/Chinese was written, though the story doesn’t actually seem to be completely connected in a sequence, though we are getting it that way. The first shows the ritual sacrifice, the young woman getting burned on a stand-up pyre. The second shows a woman either controlling the wind or trying to fight them with a boat in the back and the sun with something in the clouds. Lara says a pilgrimage to maybe the monastery she’s in. The third has Himiko, looking like a goddess giving winds as a woman with a vase that Lara responds with “pouring water”. Finally, the fourth is Himiko presiding over as queen with the other woman in front. This makes Lara assume that it was an accession ritual, and Himiko is transferring power to her successor. At first this idea seems pretty cool, but it pretty quickly turns ugly.

As I was watching I saw those gigantic barrel-looking metal bells? I think they are supposed to be bells, but where are the dangly pieces in the middle? How do they work and why, for fucks sake, are they so big? Do people straight up hit them, or make them hit each other? If they hit each other the intricate designs would get scratched up and dented. Though they are not normally so large, they do exist. They are called bonshō (Buddhist temple bells) or ōgane, which are massive bronze or metal hanging bells. Cast without internal clappers, they are struck from the outside using a suspended horizontal wooden log or beam, like you have to do in the game to produce a deep, rolling, and powerful reverberation that can travel for miles. They have cylindrical bronze bodies marked by raised relief lines, horizontal bands, and small protruding bumps (tatsuke) that help tune their acoustics. The earliest of these bells in Japan date to around 600 CE, although the general design is of much earlier Chinese origin and shares some of the features seen in ancient Chinese bells and according to legend got to Japan through Korea and would have been brought over as an extension of Buddhist traditions. (Gill, Steven Henry (Writer); May, Julian (Producer) (7 March 2010). Heart & Soul: Japan's Buddhist temple bells (Radio documentary). Japan: BBC World Service; Onozuka, Masakazu (2012). "Tsurikane no O-hanashi" [About Tsurikane] (PDF). IHI Gihō = Journal of IHI Technologies (in Japanese). 52 (3): 32–35.; Berkley, Rebecca (2006). The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook. Flame tree. p. 71. ISBN978-1-84451-520-2.; Starr, Laura B. (1896). "Japanese Metal Work". The Decorator and Furnisher. 27 (5): 140. doi:10.2307/25583310. JSTOR 25583310.; Malm, William P. (2000). Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments: The New Edition. Kodansha International. p. 74. ISBN 978-4-7700-2395-7. ; Byodo-In Temple Hawaii. (n.d.). Explore. Retrieved August 15, 2026, from https://byodo-in.com/explore/#sacred.).

And these are definitely oversized, so much metal! The real Monumental Japanese Buddhist temple bells still reach impressive dimensions, typically standing between 3 and 3.5 meters (10 to 11.5 feet) in height with a base diameter ranging from 2.5 to 2.8 meters (8 to 9 feet)(Chion-in Temple. (n.d.). Ōgane (Large Bell) and the Daishōrō (Great Bell Tower). Jodo Shu Head Temple Chion-in. Retrieved August 15, 2026, from https://www.chion-in.or.jp/). Their massive bronze and metal compositions weigh between 40 and 74 metric tons, requiring coordinated teams of 17 or more monks using a suspended wooden swinging log to ring them safely. These massive acoustic striking instruments stand in stark contrast to their historical predecessors, the ones that look different, but could’ve been the ceremonial bronze bells (dōtaku) of the Yayoi period. These were used primarily as ritual items and were much smaller at only 10 to 127 centimeters (4 to 50 inches) tall. Dōtaku (銅鐸) are richly decorated Japanese bells cast in bronze. They were used for about 400 years, between the second century BCE and the second century CE (corresponding to the end of the Yayoi period), and were used almost exclusively as decorations during rituals. Because although several dōtaku do have suspension rings and clappers, they make "muffled tones" or "rattling sounds”] when struck, suggesting that they were not meant to be rung ("Two dōtaku (ritual bells)". The British Museum. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017; "Bell (dotaku)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2006. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015.).

There are more carvings on the chasm wall going waaay up high. Not saying it’s impossible because ancient people did some incredible works of art. My question is why, how many people would even see these? Even when the island was “thriving”.

And, the saddest part of any adventure history video game, the complete and utter destruction of a work of beautiful ancient and historically important cultural sites. In this case a long wooden palace maybe, with gorgeous golden filigrée, carvings, and paintings, just completely collapses while Lara runs though it. Can’t even stop to really examine it, without the pause button of course.

At this point the Lara learns or figures out, thus so does the player, that the cult is going to put Sam through the fire ritual to bring back Himiko so they can get off the island. And they have tried before.

What is this, Jurassic Park III? A parachute wouldn’t help at all at such a low altitude. They don’t work to slow descent unless you pull the chord at or above 2000 ft, which Lara definitely is n ot at. If you look at parasailing as an example, you are not getting pulled down by gravity first like when you fall from a height, instead you are getting pulled forward by the boat and get lifted by the shute. Different physics equations, which I am not an expert in any way what-so-ever.

Lara comes across a Shantytown. When is that supposed to be from? There were obviously thousands of people who lived here over the centuries, with less and less over time I would assume. But why wouldn’t they keep living in the mountains in the nice wooden village, there’s already water, animals to hunt, places to farm. I guess they wanted a more “modern” setting. Probably more to add other places on the game map, mix it up a bit.

After being hurt for the million and first time Lara finds a poorly stocked first aid kit. She can’t really fix this injury, so she heats up her metal arrowhead and cauterizes her wound instead. I was curious about how much that would help, apparently cauterizing wounds with heated metal is an ancient medical technique used to stop severe bleeding by burning tissue. While common in historical battlefields, doing this today with improvised hot objects is dangerous, highly painful, and strongly discouraged. Old civilizations used hot irons to seal blood vessels during major trauma or amputations, but the danger is that improvised burning causes severe secondary burn injuries and destroys healthy tissue. Research shows burning tissue actually increases infection risks by creating dead cells where bacteria thrive. It would have just been better for Lara to apply direct pressure, wound packing, or a tourniquet are far safer and more effective for stopping severe bleeding, like you learn in first aid courses.

While exploring the shantytown, Lara finds journals from a cult member, and that’s when we learn that the name of the cult is Solarii. “The Solarii desecrate these ancient tombs, but also worship here?” Yes Lara, they done fucked up. As I mentioned in the last episode, the tally marks must mean something. In a cave around the shantytown, where the Solarii mostly live, Lara finds a symbol of a mountain over a line over a circle with more handprints underneath. I think the tally marks are the number of people and the handprints are basically a register of the people who joined. But seriously, where are they getting all this paint? I guess they could make them using different materials, like shells, but I doubt that any of these guys would have the patience.

As an aside, Solarii sounds like a Greek or Latin name for their sun cult, which is probably the point. The name Solarii (or Solari) stems from the Latin word sol, meaning "sun", and generally translates to "of the sun," "solar", or a plot of "land exposed to the sun". These guys don’t know or care to be culturally relevant. Mathias said he was a teacher by trade, but he didn’t say of what.

There were people talking over the walkie-talkies without pushing the button, that’s not how they work.

In a blink and you’ll miss it moment (just over sound) we hear that the helicopter is from Trinity. I never noticed that the first time I played through, but it’s a wonderful Easter egg for the following games. I could never have known what the significance would be, the setup hadn’t paid off yet.

As Sam is being burned to death on this pyre, Himiko stops the burning with her wind. So, the magic is real in this game for sure. But that is probably why the first image in the group of four is the girl in the fire. Before making the pilgrimage to gain the power from Himiko, the girl had to have been deemed worthy by Himiko herself based on this wind and rain. It’s not a godlike blessing to survive the flames like Denaryus Targaren in Game of Thrones, it’s just the queen’s choice. I wonder why they had to have this pomp and circumstance. Maybe they need to convince the people to follow her, that she would be divinely chosen. But people knew that Himiko controlled the weather, so why wouldn’t they assume Himiko saved her? How many times did she let young women burn?

Welcome back Tomb Raider, the first game of the Survivor series

This time we’ll be wrapping up the story and relating impressions and the promise of the new series that this game series offered. Then we’ll go over the relics that Lara can find throughout the game. Slightly off the proper storied path. Because we are near to the end of the game not a ton of new information is brought up historically, so I’ll be adding commentary to the game itself, the backgrounds of scenes, and getting to the big question of the game before discussing the relics, maritime trade that could’ve involved Yamatai, explaining some of the relics Lara found, and finally how Himiko has been depicted through art over the centuries and in various cultures.

My name’s Renée and you’re listening to Detours in Artaeology Tomb Raider vs Himiko Part 3: Long Live the Queen

After rescuing Sam and working to escape the Solarii cult Lara goes through a deep river of blood. This isn’t an original thought, but all that was going through my head was, ‘she has all the AIDS now, she has so many bleeding wounds, there’s no way she’s not at least infected with HIV.’

Question: Does Japan have catacombs, answer: no, not extensive, bone-lined underground catacombs like those in Paris or Rome, but it does feature ancient rock-cut cave tombs, cliffside crypts, and monumental burial mounds. However Japan does have a ton of cave systems that are hot spots for tourists, at least 18 (Atlas Obscura n.d., Ryuzendo 2024). Who’s to say that the island they were on didn’t have a cave system that was massively repurposed. The islands are all in the Ring of Fire so volcanic caves are pretty common.

They just made up the ritual chants… if anything it should’ve been in Japanese for Himiko to know what the f*** they’re saying.

Are there caves where flammable gas spews like in the game? What kind of gas is it? How is the whole complex not exploding?

Even though carbon dioxide is a common gas found in cave systems, flammable gases like methane and hydrogen sulfide can accumulate in caves or underground cavities, and pose severe explosion and toxicity risks. The common flammable gases found are methane and hydrogen sulfide.

Methane (CH4): Often called firedamp in mining contexts, methane can seep from underground pockets, organic decomposition, or adjacent coal strata. It is explosive in concentrations as low as 5% in air (Gresly 1882). Though these are often in coal mines, so not as likely on Japanese islands, there were studies done in Japan after the fires that followed the Noto Peninsula earthquake. For a while no ignition source could be identified, but in the study by Professor Emeritus Yuji Enomoto of the Faculty of Textile Science and Technology at Shinshu University found that a natural methane leak in soft sediment was likely the culprit (Enomoto 2026).

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is more commonly found in volcanic tubes, in natural caves, or deep mines from sulfur-rich water and mineral interactions though it is still rare in general. This is a highly prominent threat in Japanese volcanic terrain. Geothermal vents and magma chambers constantly release sulfurous gases which are a poisonous, flammable, and colorless gas with a pungent rotten-egg odor (McCurry 2025).

I guess this turned into a sort of PSA, but as for how is the whole complex not exploding? I guess, if there was enough gas built up and an ignition source, it would.

Whether Mathias is right or wrong about Himiko being real and being able to free them, he is still killing innocent people to do it.

What is the “pilgrimage”, wouldn’t it be a long journey the girl has to make? It’s supposed to be a spiritual journey with hardship, the trail walk up to Himiko’s temple/castle doesn’t seem like much of a pilgrimage. It seems like Himiko is just painting it the way she is because it makes it look much more noble because Himiko is a selfish spirit/goddess who wants to live forever.

The scroll from a stormguard warrior general gave a speech to his soldiers to protect against a fleet of invaders. He wrote that the Sun Queen’s rage will “raise a mighty storm to stop them and they, with the Sun Queen, will conquer all lands”. Lara asks “what stopped them”...

All the wolves are black… how’s that for genetic variation (I mean we have grey wolves). Lara comes across cages full of wolves and wonders if they are being bred. They are in the game, though I never caught if there was an actual reason why. I know they mentioned it, so if you know please get in touch.

They built a perpetually moving ski lift, with a lot of ‘cars’ to the Shantytown. Pretty massive power output, from how? Why waste power on that when no one is riding it.

Research facility? Who built it? To investigate the storms? How did they get all the material for constructing in 1 shipment? Unless they sent multiple crews where none ever left… We find out that it was the Germans who built the station and they attempted to get to the monastery, but probably never made it.

How is power possible? Very good question, if they’ve invented a perpetual motion machine, Lara should’ve found that and brought it home. I’m reaching, I know.

In the ancient scroll 4 of 10 we really start seeing that something was very wrong back then. It was written by a young woman called Priestess Hoshi, who is frightened as the Sun Queen gets old because she thinks that she’s the queen’s favorite. Hoshi wrote that the queen called her “first daughter” and looked at her like “she’s looking at her own reflection”. Just further confirmation that it’s a body snatching ritual.

On the ship exploration we are shown more flashbacks and photos that show Lara and Sam graduating college together. And upon finding Alex Weiss, the tech dude that has a crush on Lara, he’s going to sacrifice himself. I was caught in between thinking, ‘gawd Lara, you just give him a kiss on the cheek? He’s about to die, could’ve given him a proper kiss.’ But as that could be a toxic attitude I also thought ‘She shouldn’t have to kiss him at all. It’s not like she owes him anything, his feelings aren’t her responsibility.’ But, anyway.

Lara finds a German scientist journal who says that they found a tomb of an old important general dating to the Kamakura period in a coastal dig site. Probably a tomb Lara has explored already.

There are also Japanese soldiers from WW2, as we knew because of other previous journals and dog tags. Did they work with the Germans, since the countries were allies? Or did they just both crash for a purpose, or not.

Warrior figures that were also in Himiko’s tomb.

One man, a general who was shown in the painting, committed seppuku (which was, as I said in the last episode, a practice that wouldn’t come into common warrior culture until the Edo Period [1603–1868] when the Bushido Code, a samurai moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior, and lifestyle, was formalized. But it does go back to the Kamakura period (1185–1333) (Cleary, Thomas Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook Shambhala (May 2008), Bushidō: An Ethical and Spiritual Foundation in Japan. (2019, June 12). Nippon.com., Ratti & Cleary 1999, Andrews 2025).

We find out why via a note that was found on the body with the still sharp broken sword. He wrote that he had failed, the ritual was corrupted when the priestess killed herself because “only death could save her”. The general then wrote, “Now the first and last queen lives a half life, a soul in a decaying body.” … which is like every other person on the planet. Not a goddess queen though, if the general was a samurai, he would’ve been in a late incarnation, meaning he never knew a world in which she wasn’t alive and in charge. That’s pretty earth-shattering if you think about it.

“Her rage became the storms and would not stop while her soul is tied to this earth. My Stormguard are sworn to protect her. They must continue, but I cannot”

So dots are connecting in this part, the Oni are likely supposed to be the stormguard, and the body in the ritual chamber must be destroyed.

The game was actually showing Japanese/Chinese text (though I don’t read the language so I couldn’t say that it’s real text or says what Lara is reading. But why does Lara call it a prayer later?

It does sound like Yokai or a vengeful spirit for sure, left on her own and while not taking care of, the power grows.

Reyes' sling was not supporting her arm.

Whitman is a grubby idiot.

There is a large Himiko carved into the mountain side like a praying buddha. It is a version of her sculpture that matches the early looks, so it’s nice to bring that back, but still, meshing together two styles that could’ve been around 3 to 5 hundred years apart.

I wonder if the Stormguard Oni are still alive, or serve in an undead capacity. How did they get to be so much bigger?

What’s the difference between Oni and Yokai… it probably is obvious to a ton of you listening, but I did wonder …

In Lara’s 9th journal entry (of 10) which was recorded at a fire prior to this she hasn’t worked out why Mathias wants Sam to be the new body.

~ How are they hearing the conversations while fighting? They’re probably too occupied to push the buttons, did they tape them down? Is that the only way walkies can stay on automatically?

Looking at the Oni, there are a couple different looks with such beautiful detail. There are the warriors with the samurai look which I’ve gone into in the previous episodes. The armor could definitely be anachronistic but if she was “reincarnated” so much that she was alive through the Edo period, I don’t know, don’t hate me. But there are also the archers, and it’s at the end that is the first time we see them. What period do these match, if any? They just look like the main characters in the Assassin’s Creed games.

Looking at the traditional costumes (not the Halloween kind) there are specific clothing choices for those who participate in archery, called Kyudo in Japanese. These include the Keiko-gi (Jacket): A short-sleeved or wide-sleeved white cotton wrap-around jacket. Novices typically wear white, while higher-level practitioners might wear specific traditional colors or formal kimono for ceremonies. The Hakama (Trousers): Wide-legged, pleated divided trousers. For practice, men usually wear black hakama, while women wear black or navy blue. For formal shooting, a trouser-type machidaka-bakama is preferred. An Obi (Belt): A firm sash tied around the waist to secure the jacket and hold equipment. And finally, Tabi (Socks): Traditional white, split-toed Japanese socks worn on the feet. Footwear is removed off the range, but sandals like zori or setta are worn outside the dojo. (DeProspero & DeProspero 2012). ASAHI ARCHERY Global Online Store (n.d.).. This outfit looks much more traditional Japanese looking, even when all black, with VERY pleated wide pants, almost skirt-like. They don’t look quite as sleek as the assassins presented in the game.

The Japanese soldier is waiting to die by the Oni as the last survivor. Whitman hoped to be the soul survivor, which we learn in his personal journal entry recording. Haha he failed.

There is the big question, how long was Himiko transferring her soul?

Here is when we get to the chamber with multiple Sun Queen statues, all look the same. Except the large one which is seated, which would’ve likely been the first incarnation. The multiple statues are shown with 2 sets of forearms, one set is praying and the other set is by her stomach, potentially depicting contemplation? I was able to count 12 standing statues, which I wondered could either be the number of priestesses Himiko would have had… randomly reminding me of the 12 disciples, with 1 basically being a traitor to the queen. For a completely different culture that could be way too biblical, although it was made by … hopefully a multicultural company/group. Or they could be the incarnations she went through, which would add up to conservatively 360-400 years and would explain why there are so many changes in the art and architecture that I described in the previous episodes (links for those are in the description). And I lean more to the latter option because it’s in this room that Lara FINALLY gets it.

Behind the special Himiko statue is a slightly wavy back design and Himiko is seated on a lotus blossom, again with the Buddha design. Her 2 sets of arms are holding multiple things, she’s offering what looks like a scroll, a staff, a hammer, and something I couldn’t identify. What’s the symbology of those? And why do all of them basically have 4 arms, is that supposed to be a throwback to the older -- religion I discussed in the last episode?

The one called the “first and last sun queen” is the one that’s said to be rotting in the chamber, does that mean that it’s the first body that Himiko had and she went back. But that would mean that the ritual never would’ve succeeded. Or I think they meant it was the soul of the first Himiko, but the body of the last, because of the soul transference.

Getting to it…

If the new body had to be her relative like Sam presumably is, did that mean Himiko kept killing her own daughters? Were they all her direct children? Or other girls in the family line? Or daughters of the bodies she took over? Or do they just have to be Japanese and there was never another Japanese girl stranded on the island before? Like I said near the beginning of this… a HUGE can of worms.

It is late in the game that we get the final backstory of Hoshi. She stole the Stormguard general’s dagger to kill herself, to, in her words “stop the madness”.

~ good thing Lara has an infinite amount of rope, she collects other shit, but not that and there is no way while going through that she could collect the rope she’s using, but that’s game mechanics. I believe I already mentioned that she didn’t need to catch food after the initial hunt scenes to teach the player how to use the bow. Other than some plants. I guess the game is happening pretty quickly, over a few days, but still, with all the energy Lara is using, food and especially clean water would be REALLY important.

Himiko, as a ceramic statue-looking zombie, comes to life. Her face, like a mask, breaks or shatters and she was definitely wearing a wig.

The character is not wearing a modern standard kimono, but rather a stylized interpretation of pre-kimono ancient Japanese court dress. Because Queen Himiko ruled during the 3rd-century Yayoi period, the outfit blends ancient textile history with later Chinese dynastic influences, which could make sense, if it was a later incarnation of Himiko’s body (Minneapolis Institute of Art. (n.d.).

Key Components of the Outfit

The Outer Robe (Osode): The heavy, broad-sleeved garment worn on top is historically referred to as an osode (large sleeve). Its loose, flowing silhouette is heavily influenced by Chinese Han-dynasty clothing style (Hanfu). Fashion Hanfu. (2020, July 10). What is the difference between Chinese Hanfu and Japanese kimono. (Fashion Hanfu. (2020, July 10). What is the difference between Chinese Hanfu and Japanese kimono. Fashion Hanfu.)

The Undergarment (Kosode): Beneath the heavy robe is a tighter-sleeved white robe called a kosode (small sleeve). The kosode served as an undergarment during this era but eventually evolved centuries later to become the modern T-shaped kimono we recognize today. (Minneapolis Institute of Art. (n.d.). Japanese kimono. Artwork in Focus. Retrieved September 10, 2026, from https://new.artsmia.org/programs/teachers-and-students/teaching-the-arts/artwork-in-focus/japanese-kimono).

The Mo (A-Line Skirt): The white, flared lower piece is a traditional pleated wrap-around skirt known as a mo. (Badgley, J. L. (2019). Women’s garments. Sengoku Daimyo. Retrieved September 10, 2026, from https://sengokudaimyo.com/garb/womens-garments)

Front Sash: The vertical fabric hanging down the front is a ritual sash, which was traditionally used by rulers and shamans to symbolize elevated spiritual and political status.

Headdress: The headdress shown in the game has a large horizontal bar with dangling crystals and a half circle above it with 6 more sticks coming out at different angles, kind of reminiscent of the sun with crystals at the end of each stick. In the middle, around her high bun, presumably there is a golden crown with a buddha in its center and a fruit or flower on the top. The dangling kanzashi and other pieces originated in the Heian period, the period after the original Himiko lived, and just got more elaborate and intricate over time (Wada, T. (2022, August 5). What are kanzashi? 13 things to know about Japanese hairpins. Japan Objects. https://japanobjects.com/features/kanzashi).

Lara stabs Himiko with a torch, I’ll discuss this a bit more later, but I can’t not complain that she wasn’t even holding an unlit torch in the previous shot. And even if she did light it, how would it stay lit with all the wind as ridiculously powerful as it looks. Plus she takes so long to look back at Sam and then looks at Sam for way too long before stabbing Himiko. With all the power that was ‘on’ for all that time, I wonder if there’s any part of Himiko’s soul that stayed inside of Sam.

Relics List

Kanpo Herbs (3) - Mountain Village

Kanpō (or Kampō) is the Japanese branch of traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

YAGEN

“A kind of mortar and pestle. Probably used for preparing medicinal herbs. There are small bone fragments in the mortar well. Hopefully animal bones…”

MEDICINAL HERB VIAL

“Used in traditional Japanese herbal medicine, or kanpo. It looks like this vial has been sealed for many years. These are probably Maitake mushrooms, used to boost the immune system.”

DRIED GOBO ROOT

“It's Burdock. A root traditionally used in kanpo to fight inflammation.”

Noh Masks (3) - Coastal Forest

HANNYA MASK

Represents a hateful woman in the guise of a demon, Lara identifies white paint inside, which could identify the wearer as someone of noble birth.

FEMALE NOH MASK

The only description given in the game was that “Japanese Noh actors could tilt their heads up and down to make the rigid mask express different emotions”.

ONI NOH MASK

Worn in the traditional Noh theatre, guise of an oni or demon, but the one that’s found had a price tag, so, a replica. I wonder if it was from people on a cruise ship or some tourists flying over the island.

Edo Period Fans (2) - Mountain Temple

GREEN FOLDED FAN

“A silk fan. Could've been used by a villager or a noble, maybe.” Green-coloured silk fan with circular shapes on the silk.

GUNBAI WAR FAN

Gunbai were metal or wood-and-metal fans used by samurai officers to communicate commands to their troops. Today they are used by Sumo umpires. “Pretty solid. Must be made of stained cypress.” Dark wooden fan with apparently golden Japanese marks and some symbols.

Semper Fi (3) - Mountain Village

Semper Fidelis, Latin for "always faithful," is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, which further proves US soldiers were there too.

SILVER FLASK

"This must have belonged to a US Marine. Were they on this island in force, or just an advance party?"

OLD PHOTOGRAPH

"Someone looked at this picture many times. It's been folded and unfolded repeatedly."

USMC DOGTAGS

"American soldiers would never have left these behind. I don't think any of them made it out of here alive."

Senshi Elite (2) - Base Exterior

Senshi means "soldier" or "warrior" in Japanese. The relics in this set were apparently left behind by soldiers fighting in WWII. They can be found in the Base Exterior level.

JAPANESE DOGTAGS

MARKSMANSHIP BADGE

Ceremonial Fans:

Funeral fan (early 18th c.) - Black Silk fans were used when conducting funeral rights for important nobles (Definitely European influence)

Wedding fan - Man with swords holding a pink fan and a woman, both wearing kimonos with a yellow background. “Doesn’t look older than a few years.”

Inscribed silk fan - “19th century folded fans were often inscribed with poems or accounts of important events”

**not counting the family outing stuff

Ancient Coin:

Japanese 2 sen coin - date: Meiji 6 1873. One side was worn like it was rubbed repeatedly… good luck token.

100 MON COIN

PORTUGUESE TIN COIN

Bronze Coins (2) - Base Approach

BRONZE CHINESE COIN - A coin that “found its way to Japan in the mid 19th century”

BRONZE JAPANESE COIN

Yuan Dynasty Jade (3) - Shipwreck Beach

Brown Jade Ink Box - used by scribes in the Chinese royal court. The piece has a small engraving which indicated it was the possession of an Imperial ambassador. Face in the sky blowing(?)

STAINED JADE HEAD REST

SHAPED JADE HEAD REST

Jade headrests were very rare, traditional Japanese headrests, known as takamakura, were made of wood, bamboo, or rattan. Carved jade headrests or pillows are associated with ancient China, not Japan. Royal Chinese dynasties used hard stone and jade pillows to cool the head and massage neck nerves. And as I said Ancient jade headrests are rare artifacts, but imported Chinese pieces or novelty statues did occasionally wind up in foreign collections (S. Bernstein & Co. Jade & Oriental Art. (n.d.). Extremely rare Han Dynasty jade headrest. Retrieved September 6, 2026, from https://bernsteinjadeart.com/works-of-art/extremely-rare-jade-headrest). But if you’re wondering what they actually look like, it looks like a stand that a head could lay on. They definitely don’t look like pillows and would have blankets or possibly padding adding to the headrest itself to make it a bit more comfortable. Slightly similar to the ancient Egyptian headrests, which were especially good for keeping one cool, with obviously no connection to the older version from a different nation and culture. Just cool.

Vases:

Kansu burial urn

Chinese earthenware 1000s of years old. Lara says “Visited before the rise of Yamatai?” Round, decorative vase with two small handles on the sides.

Ban Chiang vase

the Ban Chiang site in Thailand, Lara asks “How did this get all the way to Yamatai?” I’ll get into the maritime trade in a bit. Round, stained vase with decorative carvings.

SATSUMA VASE

“A Satsuma porcelain vase, probably early Edo period” Long, very decorative vase with two handles. A painting of a human figure on the side.

Daggers (3) - Summit Forest

This collection of ancient and fairly modern decorative blades can be found in the Summit Forest.

CHOU/ZHOU DYNASTY DAGGER

“This Chinese dagger is extremely old. My father had a similar one in his collection dating from 854 B.C.” A metallic-looking dagger with decorative figures.

JADE CEREMONIAL DAGGER

“An ancient Chinese dagger, probably around 100 AD. How long have ships been crashing on this island?” Decoratively shaped jade dagger.

JAPANESE CEREMONIAL DAGGER

“This is fairly modern, perhaps 18th century. The gold carp carving was designed to contrast with the black lacquer finish.” A dagger with a handle that has a black lacquer finish and golden carving. There's also a case for the dagger, which, like the dagger, also has a black lacquer finish.

Animal Statuary (3) - Shantytown

The three carved animal relics are found in Shantytown.

JADE HORSE

JADE WATER BUFFALO

JADE DRINKING VESSEL

“It's a ceremonial drinking vessel from the Song Dynasty. Beautiful craftmanship!” Yellow-coloured drinking vessel made of jade. It depicts a horse, and it has very decorative carvings.

Inro (4) - Shantytown

An inrō is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects, suspended from the obi (sash) worn around the waist when wearing a kimono

DECORATIVE INRO

METAL INRO

SCRIBE’S INRO

“This gold lacquered inro contains writing implements and dried ink. Likely the possession of a court scribe or historian.” A small case with decorative carvings depicting a tree, some rope attached to both of its ends.

COMMANDER'S INRO

“This inro was probably used by a military commander to carry official orders and seals.” A small case with decorative carvings depicting a human figure, some rope attached to both of its ends.

Helmets (2) - Research Base

Lara assesses these relics as dating from China's Chou (or Zhou) Dynasty, c. 1046–256 BCE. This, in itself, is pretty interesting, because this would mean that the Chinese sent warriors to Yamatai as they were trying to be diplomatic. But, there’s no sign of battle nor mention of it (in game) from the historical documents that Lara brings up. Were they just there for show? There may have been some conflict because Himiko was the “Friend of Wei” not necessarily of all China. The Zhou dynasty was one of the ruling states in c. 1046 BCE and lasted until 256 BCE when the Qin conquered all of China. So, there was a bit of overlap when the Himiko(s) ruled.

CHOU/ZHOU DYNASTY HELMET

“Were these gifts for the ancient rulers of Yamatai? Or was there some kind of battle here?” Helmet made out of a shiny metal, with decorative carvings and other details.

So, would there have potentially been a battle, Himiko was more heavily associated AS a potential enemy of the Zhou. Definitly don’t want enemies to have super strong allies who can team up and take you out.

CEREMONIAL HELMET

“Chou/Zhou Dynasty helmet. The elaborate, decorative design suggests royalty.” Helmet made out of shiny metal, elaborate decorative carvings.

The shiny metal that the game doesn’t name is likely bronze, as the Zhou dynasty is often considered to be the peak of the craftsmanship of bronzewear in China (Von Glahn, Richard (2016). The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-139-34384-8).

*List of all relics came from Stellalune (stellalune@tombraiders.net) and can be found at https://tombraiders.net/stella/walks/TR9walk/relics.html

and -

Information and quotes from games was found on WikiRaider. (2018, May 8). Relics (Tomb Raider 2013), from https://www.wikiraider.com/index.php/Relics_(Tomb_Raider_2013

For more information and analysis I don’t think I could do better than the YouTube video podcast “The Dark Truth About Japanese Yokai Women” by For The Love of History [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buOn730Hq60].

As she eloquently stated, women are the demons. It’s a bummer, women are often painted as damnation of their eternal souls. They are generally created, not by any of their particular shortcomings or failures, but by horrible things that are put on them, that are done TO THEM. There are those that come from the women being jealous, but after being told all one’s life that you MUST marry, you MUST have children to pass on the family line, but then your husband, the only source you are basically allowed to have either goes out and cheats on you or just up and leaves one day. Damn, I’d be angry too.

I feel like while there are only three of these masks found in the Coastal Forest region of the game, this could be a sly message for the whole game. During her life Himiko was basically all powerful, and she wasn’t necessarily a good person, taking the bodies of her handmaidens to prolong her life. But after Hoshi ran away she really COULDN’T FIND ANYONE ELSE? I have so many doubts on that. But she does die, at least her latest body does. Now that’s already no good. But as I said in the previous episodes, Himiko never married, she never had children, so that’s already putting a type of shame on her from the familial perspective that is so pervasive. In that cultural view, no wonder she basically turned into a yokai (a vengeful spirit).

Moving to the present day of the game, I have no idea how long Mathias had been on the island, nor how many women he murdered in trying to find a way off the island, but he presumably kept trying the sacrificial fire play over and over again with no success, but expecting a different result. That’s the definition of insanity! The only difference would’ve been which women he burned to death. I wonder how long it took him to start trying.

Anyway, I digress… In the time that Lara is going up against Himiko, what is basically set up to be the big boss battle, we see a zombie Himiko presumably imbedding her soul into Sam’s body. Gawd, I’d love to get Sam’s perspective on that. Lara, in the meantime, is fighting the real boss battle, with Mathias. Mathias, who, maybe not outright lied, but heavily manipulated the main female characters in this game and is using Himiko, another woman with more power than he has to do his bidding. It only takes a torch to the chest, which literally came out of nowhere by the way and she didn’t even light, burning side down too (the really blunt end), to end Himiko completely. I don’t know about any of you, but I would think it would take a lot more to destroy a goddess by any other name. I don’t remember seeing any folklore in the game that a stake through the heart (? I guess) would kill her and free her soul from ravaging the island. She wasn’t a vampire (a European one anyway - I mean c’mon she’s Japanese). Why did that work? This is only my interpretation, but I think that once Mathias was gone she was no longer being manipulated, I don’t want to say controlled, but as a sort of Yokai spirit there was no vengeance that she was being led to doing on behalf of a man. I’m not saying this all happened in the first place because she was scorned by some guy, I’m just thinking that after hundreds or thousands of years (depending on how you view the game’s “reincarnation” timeline) her angry spirit may have lost the plot, and may have saved the Japanese Sam, potentially a descent, though that jury is still out. But, who knows maybe she gave birth in this universe. They never technically said in the game whether she was married, or had a bastard child, among any of her lifetimes (though that would make DNA tracing a lot more difficult… Are you descended from Himiko 3. No no, I’m a descendant of Himiko 8… which would make the genetics different… confusing).

My longwinded point is that since Mathias is the final battle, or the boss battle, and that Himiko was basically, if not literally a cut scene, it is obvious that Mathias is the main villain, not Himiko. She seems to be a pawn, running on pure instinct from her actions in life. And it is possible (and likely) that the game developers meant it to be the burning of her body that killed her and set her soul free. I wouldn’t argue against that, I’ll only say that if she really wanted to stop the fire she could have sent rain and wind to douse it. I think she was finally ok with letting herself die.

In this, Lara lives, and the last lines of text that show on the screen, before the credits, are “A survivor is born”. A survivor, not a hero.

Maritime Connections

When looking at how the ancient Japanese polity of Yamatai developed and eventually merged into the larger Yamato state, we have to look at the big picture of East Asian maritime trade and diplomacy. For centuries, a massive web of exchange linked China, Korea, and Japan. While some historical specifics of Yamatai are still debated, it's widely agreed that this broader network, especially contact between China and Korea, should have played a massive role in shaping Yamatai's political growth (Chen, 2020; Hompot, 2020; Kuhn, 2021; Liu, 2022; Park & Wang, 2019; Sharman, 2019; Yuan-kang, 2012). This interconnected environment essentially gave developing groups like Yamatai the tools to legitimize their rule, access new markets, and learn centralized governance. Korea acted as a vital bridge to the mainland, and the long-running Chinese tributary system served as a political blueprint that ultimately helped Yamatai integrate into the Yamato state (Kaufman et al., 2007).

But this brings up an interesting question: did Yamatai ever just bypass that formal tributary system and trade directly with Chinese dynasties or other regions? We know for a fact that early medieval maritime history was about much more than just official tribute missions. Historians are increasingly highlighting massive, active maritime networks that operated totally outside those formal channels (Heng, 2022; Zurndorfer, 2016, 2023). For example, there's a ton of hard archaeological evidence like Chinese ceramics and shipwrecks found at Southeast Asian sites like Champa and Srivijaya, that prove China was engaged in direct, everyday trade and port-city exchanges with Southeast Asia (Giang, 2021; Miksic, 2021; The Maritime Silk Road, 2022).

When it comes to Yamatai, though, there’s a major catch. Even though we know these independent, non-tributary trade routes were booming and Southeast Asian ports were major hubs for direct commerce (Schottenhammer, 2019), there is absolutely zero explicit proof that Yamatai was doing the same thing. It’s entirely plausible that an early Japanese polity could have tapped into the broader Maritime Silk Road, but we just haven't found the archaeological or textual smoking gun. There are no specific shipwrecks, inscriptions, or contemporary records proving that Yamatai had independent, direct trade or diplomatic ties with either China or Southeast Asia outside the formal tributary framework (Giang, 2021; Heng, 2022; Miksic, 2021; Schottenhammer, 2019; The Maritime Silk Road, 2022; Zurndorfer 2016, 2023).

Himiko Image

Before ending this series on Tomb Raider I did want to have a bit of discussion on Himiko’s history, archaeology, and her changing imagery. You can tell me why I’m full of it in the comments or via email.

As we discussed in the first episode in this audio trilogy, the first substantial written source of Himiko comes from a third-century Chinese historical record called the Wei zhi. It paints a picture of a woman with no husband and no children, secluded behind guards and female attendants, and, as written by the Chinese writer, had great ritual power (Domenig 2023). It also records diplomatic exchange with the Cao Wei court and a later succession crisis. Even the characters used to write “Himiko” are Chinese transcriptions of a Japanese (Wa) name or title, and their original pronunciation remains uncertain (Bentley 2008). Later images often treat the description “shaman queen” as a fixed personal identity, although the surviving evidence is a brief, foreign record filtered through Chinese categories (Domenig 2023). Though because this is an external, ethnographic description rather than a neutral biography, and because archaeology has yet to definitively identify her tomb among the massive kofun mounds, we are left with a massive historical blind spot: we have absolutely no securely authenticated ancient image of her.

Her actual appearance is a mystery, completely lost to history. Himiko's depiction in art has become a fascinating, ever-changing blank canvas. Modern artists are forced to invent her body, her costumes, and her palaces entirely from scratch. To do this, they usually rely on sparse textual clues and archaeological discoveries, like the thirty-four triangular-rimmed bronze mirrors found at the Kurozuka Kofun in the Nara basin, that were featured about Yamatai and that the mirrors reportedly bestowed on Himiko by Wei (Edwards 1999). These and other finds such as magatama beads and ancient bells support a picture of the late Yayoi and early Kofun world as one of long-distance exchange of ritual objects, elite burials, and intertwining politics. But it doesn't prove that the buried person was Himiko as archaeologists still haven’t currently identified this tomb as hers.

Looking at Yamatai specifically, again, as we talked about in the first episode, although there is debate about whether Yamatai itself would’ve been in northern Kyushu or in the Nara/Yamato region near Makimuku (Bentley 2008). The problem is intensified by the Wei zhi itinerary as its directions and distances do not directly lead us to one specific location (Kidderjr 2015). Another option is the Hashihaka Kofun, with its early date being compared with the period of Himiko’s rule and its name is linked in later Japanese tradition to the shamanic figure and Shinto kami (deity, divinities, spirits, and mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena) Yamato-totohi-momoso (Tobe 2004). But it’s not locked in that she’s Himiko because, according to legend, she was the daughter of Emperor Kōrei and Mimaki-hime, main wife of Emperor Sujin which is no where in the Himiko legend, though to be fair, no parentage is discussed in the sources I could find (Tobe 2004). The last place I’ll mention is discussed in a shape-analysis study of a very large keyhole mound at Tagawa estimated it to the third–fourth centuries and noted the chronological correspondence with late-third-century Yamatai, but, yet again, correlation does not equal causation, or rather resemblance is not identification (Ogawa et al. 2019).

The broader issue is that while the “great mound” described in the Chinese text may resemble an early kofun, but a lot of mounds and elite burials fit that general description. Even though archaeology contributes, narrowing plausible options, it still leaves the queen’s identity unresolved. As a result of this lack of location, traditional depictions often collapse different historical periods into one composite, generic "ancient Japan" aesthetic, dressing Himiko in flowing long sleeves, diadems, and dramatic shamanic gestures (Miller 2017). While these images are historically evocative, they are completely imagined wardrobe reconstructions rather than documented portraits.

Himiko’s afterlife in Japan was shaped partly by absence. The early Japanese Kojiki and Nihon shoki do not name her directly, although the Nihon shoki does quote material about Wa’s embassies to Wei. Later readers therefore connected her with Japanese shamanic and royal figures such as Empress Jingū and Yamato-totohi-momoso, even though, as I said, the identifications do not line up cleanly in chronology or biography and according to some scholars can be questionable due to the Chinese source (Antoni et al., 2023).

From the late Edo period onward, the location of Yamatai and the history of Himiko became a sustained argument about which textual tradition should control the past. Arai Hakuseki looked at the Chinese record and linked Himiko with Jingū; Motoori Norinaga looked at Japanese myth-history and questioned the Chinese account’s reliability. In that modern period, Himiko could be reframed through imperial history, she became a screen onto which competing ideas about Japan’s origins were projected. Marxist accounts of class and state formation, feminist histories of female political authority, or theories of early Japanese–Korean relations (Antoni et al. 2023, Domenig, 2023). This explains why Himiko can function as both evidence of female authority and a problem for narratives centered on a male imperial line. A 2013 study describes her as the earliest documented ruler, male or female, whose authority extended over a large region of the archipelago before centralized state formation, while also emphasizing how deeply misunderstood she still is (Yoshie et al. 2013). The historical question is not simply “Was she a queen?” but what kind of authority the Chinese description is translating: sovereign, ritual specialist, mediator among polities, or some combination of all three.

Moving into modern fine art, depictions of Himiko become even more dramatic and interpretive. A perfect example is Fukuzawa Ichirō’s massive 1980 acrylic painting, Himiko enters the Palace (卑弥呼宮室に入る), held by the Setagaya Art Museum (fukuzampseum, 2011). Measuring over two by three meters, the artwork places Himiko in a dominant red field as she is carried through a crowd. Rather than trying to be a strictly accurate antiquarian reconstruction, Fukuzawa turns the uncertain ancient record into a monumental, turbulent modern history painting.

In contemporary Japanese popular culture, the image fragments into recurring types to fit whatever narrative themes are needed: the wise elderly ruler, the cute and energetic shrine maiden, and the seductive or dangerous sorceress. Laura Miller’s studies connect these forms to assumptions about gender and power: Himiko becomes an anime or game character, town mascot, beauty-contest theme, advertising symbol, or divination persona (Miller 2017, Miller 2018). More so though, manga and anime versions can range from tyrant and promiscuous sorceress to shrine attendant. In Western media, such as the Tomb Raider franchise, she is even famously adapted into a terrifying, supernatural villain, even if that’s not what the designers were going for. These shifting visual forms redistribute her authority and reflect modern assumptions about gender and power (Miller, 2017).

In both traditional art and media and non, Himiko's visual identity has been completely commodified. Tarot and pop culture literature mention Himiko as a symbolic figure illustrating how external narrative forms reimagine Himiko when little is known about her contemporary appearance. She has been drawn as a High Priestess in tarot cards, and Japanese tarot literature notes that depictions of Himiko as a High Priestess are conjectural and not historically grounded in a specific likeness, highlighting the difference between historical evidence and contemporary artistic interpretation (Miller, 2017). It’s disappointing that she’s been turned into an adorable local town mascot, used as a marketable advertising symbol, and even contemporary divination practitioners claiming her as an ancestor of spiritual entrepreneurship (Miller 2017 & 2014, Quiroga & Kim 2020).

Ultimately, the same historical ambiguity that’s so frustrating and fascinating for archaeologists is exactly what makes Himiko so incredibly adaptable for artists and commercial culture. Her visual history isn't a linear evolution of one true face; it is a layered, cross-cultural adaptation. Centuries of telephone continuously built a mysterious third-century ruler into a character who could negotiate female power, national origins, spirituality, and popular entertainment (Antoni et al. 2023 Miller, 2017). Chinese court history tells of an island ruler folding her into imperial categories, Japanese scholarship brings her into national origins, modern visual culture translates her into gendered archetypes and consumer signs, and we just eat it up (Bentley 2008, Miller 2018). I am including myself in this.

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[^2]: Bentley, 2008. The Search for the Language of Yamatai.

[^3]: Kidderjr, 2015. Makimuku, Himiko and Yamatai : Solving the Puzzle.

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