We present genuine bulk Ir 5d j eff states of layered perovskite iridates obtained by hard-x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES) with s-and p-polarized lights. HAXPES spectra of Sr 2 IrO 4 and Ba 2 IrO 4 are well reproduced by the quasiparticle density of states calculated by the local density approximation with dynamical mean-field theory (LDA + DMFT). It is demonstrated that the insulating nature of the iridates is triggered by antiferromagnetic correlation (Slater type) combined with electron correlation (Mott type). The extremely-lowenergy bulk-sensitive photoemission spectroscopy reveals "bad metallic" states in the paramagnetic phase of the iridates, suggesting strongly renormalized metallic states above the Néel temperature as predicted by the LDA + DMFT. Mott physics, which explains the insulating nature in materials triggered by strong electron correlations, has been vigorously studied for several decades from both experimental and theoretical points of view [1]. Owing to these efforts, new mechanisms for the metal-insulator transition (MIT) were proposed in some "Mott" systems, for instance, orbital switching for VO 2 and the essential role of antiferromagnetic (AF) correlation effects for La 2 CuO 4 [2,3].Layered perovskite iridates A 2 IrO 4 (A = Sr, Ba) have an insulating state, the origin of which was mysterious in the early stage of the research [4]. Detailed spectroscopic and theoretical studies recently demonstrated Sr 2 IrO 4 to be a spin-orbit (SO) -driven Mott insulator [5]. According to that scenario, the electronic structure near the Fermi level (E F ) is characterized by Kramers-doublet Ir 5d j eff = 1/2 states, which are eigenstates of the SO Hamiltonian within the t 2g subspace. For the iridate with five 5d electrons, the lower j eff = 3/2 bands are fully occupied and the higher half-filled j eff = 1/2 band split into the upper and lower Hubbard bands due to the relatively weak on-site Coulomb interaction (U ). This simple picture has been widely accepted since the results of experiments, such as optical conductivity spectra, seemed to be well explained [5,6]. In addition, the results of angle-resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy were well reproduced by the local density approximation (LDA) + U + SO band structure calculations [5]. For 5d transition-metal systems, however, the nature of atom-band duality, which is a characteristic feature of heavy elements, makes the interpretation of optical conductivity spectra complicated [7]. In addition, we point out here that the photoemission spectra excited by several tens-eV photons are strongly affected by the surface electronic structures modified by stronger electron correlation effect on the surface than in the bulk even for quasi-two-dimensional compounds [8,9].Recently, the LDA study with dynamical mean-field theory (LDA + DMFT) pointed out that both Sr 2 IrO 4 and Ba 2 IrO 4 should be classified as Slater insulators, in which the AF correlation mainly contributed to realizing the insulating states in these materials rather ...