Pillar of stone in Kazuno city, Japan (left), and pillars of stone in the land of Israel (right)
This page is from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
Israelites Came To Ancient Japan
Chapter 3
Did the Lost
Tribes of Israel Come To Ancient Japan?
(The infomation of this Chapter 3 and Chapter 4
is mainly from what I learned from Rabbi Marvin Tokayer's book published in
Japan, plus my study.)
The Land of Far End
There is a book called the Forth Book of Ezra, which was written in the end
of the first century C.E.. Although this is not the Bible but just one of the
ancient Hebrew documents, an interesting thing is written:
"They are the Ten
Tribes which were off into exile in the time of King Hosea, whom Shalmaneser
king of Assyria took prisoner. He deported them beyond the River and they were
taken away into a strange country. But then they resolved to leave the country
populated by Gentiles and go to a distant land never yet inhabited by man, and
there at last to be obedient to their laws, which in their own country they had
failed to keep. As they passed through the narrow passages of the Euphrates, the
Most High performed miracles for them, stopping up the channels of the river
until they had crossed over. Their journey through that region, which is called
ARZARETH, was long, and took a year and a half. They have lived there ever
since, until this final age. Now they are on their way back, and once more the
Most High will stop the channels of the river to let them cross." (13:39-47)
This article was mentioned in the form of a vision and we cannot immediately
think that this is a historical fact. But it is possible to think that there was
some fact which became the background for this article. There might be the news
or oral tradition that the Ten Tribe of Israel started their journey to the east
and settled to a land of a year and a half distance away.
Where is ARZARETH
which the Ten Tribes are said to have gone to? We cannot find the same name in
the world by looking at the map.
Dr. Schiller Szinessy suggests that this is
nothing else but the Hebrew words "eretz ahereth" (ARZ AHRTh) which means the
other land. Otherwise, if we interpret this as the Hebrew words "eretz aherith"
(ARZ AHRITh), they mean the end of land, or most far away land. Not a few people
thought that Japan might be the land.
Japan Which Kaempfer Saw
Engelbert Kaempfer was a German medical doctor who stayed at Dejima, Nagasaki
Japan during 1690-1693 C.E.. He came to Japan after he traveled and saw various
countries of the world. He was an erudite man and published a book about Japan
after he went back to Europe.
In the book Kaempher states that the Japanese
language, customs and religion are much different from the ones of the Chinese
or the Koreans, and that the main race of the Japanese are not derived from the
Chinese or Koreans but rather a tribe from the area of Babylon came to Japan and
became the main race of the Japanese. He wrote:
"The Japanese must be of a
tribe who immigrated directly from the area of Babylon."
The area of Babylon
is the Middle East where there was the Assyrian Empire which the Ten Tribes of
Israel were exiled to. Kaempher also states:
"The appearance of the Japanese
is so different according to regions in Japan that we can clearly distinguish.
This proves that the Japanese are formed through the process that several tribes
were added to a basic nation. The most noble, old lineage family and "daimyo",
feudal lords, and high officials are generally intelligent, elegant in
appearance than others, full of dignity, having higher nose and somewhat look
European. The people in the region of Satsuma, Oosumi, and Hyuga are middle in
the height, but strong and manly in language and ability...."
And he states
that there are differences in appearance and nature according to the peoples of
various parts of Japan. He also states:
"As for the roots of the Japanese and
their origin, it seems that we should admit the Japanese are independent from
others and did not derived from the Chinese."
Rabbi Tokayer's Experience
Rabbi Marvin Tokayer tells a story about what he saw in Japan. He lived in
Tokyo, and on the first Sunday in Japan he visited Meiji-jingu, a grand shrine
of Shinto which is the religion unique to Japan. There he saw a Shinto priest
wearing a white robe, putting a unique cap, and on the corners of his robe were
fringes which were cords of 20 - 30 centimeters long.
The Shinto priest was
waving a branch of Sakaki tree to right and to left and upward and downward. He
was purifying a baby of one month old who was brought to him by the parents but
never carried by the mother. When seeing this scene, he says he thought:
"Did
I come to my home land?"
Because all of these he saw were the customs of
ancient Israel. The way of waving the branch by the Shinto priest resembled
Jewish custom. And in ancient days of Israel, the mother was considered impure,
after birth, and would not carry the baby for the ceremony in the temple. Today,
Jews no longer observe this ritual, but how fascinated he was to see everyone
except the mother holding the baby. He said, "Cute." to the family and asked why
the mother was not carrying the baby, and his wife and he were stunned into
silence, when told that the mother was still impure, just as the Bible.
He
asked a Shinto priest, "Why do you put on fringes on your robe?" The priest
answered, "This is just a tradition from ancient times." But this is originally
the custom of Israel. There is a description about the fringes in the Bible
(Deuteronomy 22:12).
Fringes were actually a trademark that he was an
Israelite. Today, Jews wear prayer shawl called Tallit which is a large white
cloth with fringes (called Tzitzit) on the corners. These are the same as the
ones of the Japanese Shinto priest.
The Three Holy Objects in Israel and Japan
Like the ancient Israelites had three holy objects, the Japanese have three
holy objests, which are a mirror (called Yata-no-kagami), a bead
(Yasaka-no-magatama), and a sword (Kusanagi-no-tsurugi). These have been
believed very holy as the tokens of authority of the emperors and as the holy
Yorishiro since very ancient times. Today these three are kept separately in
different places.
There are several differences between the holy objects of
ancient Israel and the ones of Japan, but are common in having three things and
thinking them holy. Though in fact the three holy objects of Israel were lost in
the time of Babylonian Empire, so it was impossible to have the same objects in
Japan.
An orthodox Shinto believer, a Japanese scholar and a professor of
Kyuusyuu Imperial University, Dr. Chikao Fujisawa, believed that the three holy
objects of Japan originated from the three holy objects of ancient Israel. And
there are not a few Shinto scholars who think the same. Some suggest a
parallelism between the mirror and the tablets, the bead and the manna, the
sword and the rod.
Some point out that mirrors were also used in the temple
of King Solomon (1 Kings 7:28). Others point out that the shape of the Japanese
bead is the same as a Hebrew letter yod which is also the first letter of the
holy name Yahweh.
Offerings
To Shinto shrine people bring rice, Mochi (Japanese Matzah), Japanese liquor
(Sake), cereals, vegetables, fruits, confectioneries, salt, water, fish (sea
bream, etc.), and bird (pheasant meat, etc.) as their offerings to god and place
them in the Holy Place of the Shrine. These must be the best ones, and the fire
for cooking them must be a holy one lit by flint or heat of rubbing.
The
offerings are displayed beautifully on a table of wood and the priest prays to
god in front of it. After the ceremony the priest and participants are to eat
the offerings. In that, modern Shintoists find significance that man eats with
god or dines with god.
In the Holy Place of the Israeli tabernacle or temple,
there was also a table of wood on which the bread made of cereals of the land,
liquor (wine), and incense were offered (Exodus 25:29-30). These offerings to
God had to be the best ones. The priest prayed to God and after the ceremony the
offerings, which had been offered to God, were eaten by the priest and his
family (Numbers 18:11). And in the Bible there is an article that Moses and the
leaders of Israel "ate and drank" in front of God on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:11).
The Bible does not mention the concept of "dining with God" though, later,
Jews in Talmudic times find significance of dining with God.
With a few
exceptions, meat of four legged animals is generally not offered in Shinto
religion. The most common offerings are firstfruits, salt, fish as bonito, Mochi
(Japanese Matzah), rice, liquor (Sake), seaweeds, etc. Usually most of them are
Kosher, or permitted foods in the Jewish diatary laws. But in modern Shinto,
shellfish is sometimes offerred (Abalone is offered at Ise grand shrine). This
is non-Kosher and the Jews not only never eat it, but also never offer to God.
How was it in the start of Japanese Shinto?
In the Holy Place of the Israeli
tabernacle or temple, there were also lamps which were never extinguished
(Exodus 27:20-21), since they were holy fire. There is also an eternal light
burning in every synagogue to this very day. In the same way, in the Holy Place
of Japanese shrine, there is holy fire as lamps lit by divine means. Placing
fire as lamps and the table with offerings on it in the Holy Place of the Shinto
shrine resemble the Holy Place of ancient Israeli tabernacle. Thus the functions
of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies of the Japanese shrine are very similar
to the ones of ancient Israel.
It is noteworthy that the liquor is
indispensable for both Israeli and Japanese shrines. Like the liquor was offered
in the Israeli temple, the liquor is offered in the Japanese shrine. The Bible
says that the drink offering shall be of "wine, one-fourth of a hin" (Leviticus
23:13). "A hin" is about 6 liters, and I hear that its one-fourth is about the
quantity of the liquor which is offered in grand shrines of Shinto.
Surprise of Chief Rabbi of Israel
Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, who used to live in Japan, tells a story about when the
chief rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Goren, once visited Japan.
Chief rabbi Goren
was very curious and fascinated with Japan and enjoyed his stay very much. He
said that he wanted to learn the essence of Japanese Shinto religion, and he
attended for a while a lecture at Kokugakuin University which is a Shinto
university in Tokyo.
At the lecture, the chief rabbi asked the lecturer a
question about how to guard Shinto grand shrine, that is, where the guards
stand, how they patrol, in what turn they patrol the places, and how to shift
the guards. Hearing the answer, Rabbi Goren was very surprised and said,
"Unbelievable." Turning his face pale, he said to Rabbi Tokayer who was young in
those days, "Do you understand the importance of what the Shinto lecturer said?"
Then he added, "Read the Mishnah, and you will know why I was so surprised to
hear it."
The Mishnah, the teachings of ancient Jewish scholars, has an
explanation on how the ancient temple of Jerusalem had been guarded. As a matter
of fact, Shinto's way of guarding, patrolling, and shifting guards at shrine are
just the same as the one which had been done at the ancient temple of Jerusalem.
The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E. and not yet rebuilt. How cound
the way of guarding at Japanese Shinto shrine be the same as the one at the
temple of ancient Israel? Chief rabbi's word "Unbelievable" is a natural
response.
Uncovered Dancing of David
In old Shinto shrines men often wear white robes to carry the Omikoshi ark,
while in other shrines men wear short and colored garments with headbands and
carry the Omikoshi very cheerfully shouting "Wasshoi, Wasshoi". Around them
people in the same wear are dancing and sometimes we find half naked ones. This
reminds us of the scene of the dancing of David.
David undressed the usual
gorgeous robe for king, clothed in a simple white linen robe and danced before
the ark of God. His wife Michal saw him and despised him in her heart. Later she
said an irony to David, "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering
himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants!" (2 Samuel
6:20)
David did not become totally naked but he who usually wore gorgeous
robe danced wearing a simple white robe, which looked almost uncovered or half
naked to the eyes of Michal. She would feel the same if she looked at the
Japanese people dancing.
Using Water and Salt for Sanctification
In Japanese Shinto they have a custom to use water or salt for
sanctification.
Most of the Japanese shrines are built near clean river,
pond, lake, or the sea. This is to do sanctification there. In Shinto, water is
to purify man. In ancient Israel they had this custom, for the Bible says that
before priest serves at holy events or at the temple, he has to "wash his
clothes" and "bathe in water" (Numbers 19:7).
So, it was also an ideal in
ancient Israel that they have clean water near a worship place. Japanese Shinto
priests also wash their clothes and bathe in water before they serve at the
shrine. Buddhist priests generally do not have this custom.
In the Shinto
religion they also use salt for purification. Japanese Sumo wreslers sow the
Sumo ring with salt several times before they fight. The Western people wonder
why they sow salt, but the Jews get the meaning immediately that it is to purify
the ring. In Japan, salt is used to purify the holy place of shrine, or to
purify Omikoshi.
And when you go to a Japanese-style restaurant, you will
sometimes find some salt put near the entrance. The Western people wonder why,
but the Jews get the meaning immediately that this is for purification. Even
today, the Jews have a tradition of welcoming a new neighbor or distinguished
guest with salt. If a world leader were to visit Jerusalem, the chief rabbi
would welcome him at the entrance to the city with Hallah (Jewish bread) and
salt.
Jews start each meal by salting bread, this makes every meal table an
altar. Meat is "Koshered" by putting salt on the meat to remove all the blood.
In Japan they offer salt every time they perform a religious offering. So is
the offering at Japanese feasts. Salt is not offered in Buddhism. Offering salt
is again the same custom used by the Israelites, for it is written in the Bible
that one has to offer salt with all his offerings (Leviticus 2:13).
In
Judaism, salt is very essential. Talmud (the wisdom of Judaism) confirms that
all sacrifices must have salt. Salt is preservative. While, honey and leaven
were prohibited with sacrifices since they symbolize fermentation, decay and
decomposition, the opposite of salt. There is the words "the everlasting
covenant of salt" in the Bible (Numbers 18:19). Salt has meaning of anti-decay
and permanence, and symbolizes the everlasting holy covenant of God. The Temple
of Jerusalem had a special salt chamber, and Joshephus, a Jewish historian in
the first century C.E., records a Greek king making a donation of 375 baskets of
salt to the temple.
According to Zen'ichiro Oyabe, Japanese people before
Meiji-era had the custom to put some salt into baby's bath. The ancient people
of Israel washed a new born baby with water after rubbing the baby softly with
salt; there is a description about "rubbing baby with salt" in the Bible
(Ezekiel 16:4). Salt has cleansing and hygienic power and newborn babies were
rubbed with salt.
Thus, there was the common custom of sanctification in
both ancient Israel and Japan, and for this sanctification water and salt were
used in both countries.
Uncleanness of the Dead
In Japan, salt in a pouch is distributed to participants of a funeral. After
the funeral, when the participants come back and enter their houses, they have
to be sprinkled on themselves with the salt for purification. Ancient Israelites
who touched a dead body or went to a funeral also had to be purified in a
specific way; the Bible says that a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in
the water, sprinkle it on the persons who were at funeral , or on the one who
touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave (Numbers 19:18). Thus in Israel
the person who touched the dead had to be purified himself.
Even today, you
find water outside a Jewish cemetery and outside the home, so people who are
returning from a cemetery or funeral can wash their hands before entering the
house. Before one goes to a funeral, one prepares water outside the home, so you
can wash before reentering your home. Also in Japanese mythology, it is written
that deity Izanagi went to the world of the dead (called Yomi in Japanese) to
take his dead wife back, and when he came back from Yomi, he bathed in water of
a river and purified himself from the impurity of the dead. In addition this
Yomi, Japanese Shinto's world of the dead, is very much like Sheol which is the
world of the dead mentioned in the Bible.
The very important feature of
Japanese Shinto is that it has the concept of uncleanness or impurity of the
dead. A house which has the dead, or a person who went to a funeral is said to
have touched the uncleanness. The Western people do not have this concept. This
uncleanness is not material but religious or ritual. This Shinto concept is the
same as was in ancient Israel, for the Bible says that the one who touches the
dead body of anyone shall be "unclean seven days" (Numbers 19:11).
In Shinto
religion, a person with his/her family dead or relative dead is regarded unclean
for a certain period. In the period, the person cannot come to a shrine, which
was also a custom of ancient Israel.
Buddhist funeral is held inside temple,
but Shinto funeral is held always outside shrine not to bring impurity into it.
And the Shinto priest who participated the funeral does not bring things he used
at the funeral into the shrine. Even when he has to bring in, he purifies them
and then brings. He has to purify himself, too. Also in ancient Israel, funeral
is never held at the temple.
The Bible records that the Israelites wept and
mourned for "30 days" at the death of Moses and at the death of Aaron
(Deuteronomy 34:8, Numbers 20:29). While a Japanese ancient Shinto book called
Engishiki, which was written in 10th century C.E., set a period of 30 days for
the uncleanness that a person cannot participate holy events, and set a period
of 7 days for uncleanness of death of a fetus of within three months and death
of a person lacking a part of the body. Thus, the Shinto concept of uncleanness
of the dead resembles the custom of ancient Israel.
Salt to Offensive Person
In old days, the Japanese had a custom to sow offensive person with salt.
When watching Japanese TV drama of Samurai times, we sometimes see the scene of
sowing offensive person with salt.
This can be understood by Jews, since the
Bible has an article that an Israelite, Abimelech, caputured and destroyed an
enemy city and "sowed it with salt" (Judges 9:45). Salt is also a symbol of
barren, death, and curse.
In Israel, there is a lake named Dead Sea, which is
called in Hebrew Salt Sea (Yam Ha-melech) since it has very high density of salt
(5 times as the ocean). No fish. The surroundings are also covered with salt or
rock salt. This place is also the ruin of ancient cities called Sodom and
Gomorah.
Bathing
The Westerns use soap inside bathtub and enter the tub with their bodies
still unclean. But Jews never do this. They wash their bodies and make
themselves clean and then enter ritual bath. Every Jewish community has a
Mikveh, ritual bath. Jews follow ritual of washing before entering the Mikveh.
Everyone from the Western is surprised to see the washing before bath.
But
this is the same as the Japanese custom of bathing.
When you get to a public
bath in Japan, there you will see that Japanese people wash their bodies and
make themselves clean before they enter the bathtub. This is the same in their
homes. European and American people do not have this custom except for Jews.
The Japanese like cleanness very much. Many of them have a bath everyday,
make their clothes clean, and wash their hands very often. This is a tradition
from ancient times
In the 14th century of Europe, there was a big fatality of
plaque called Black Death and many people died, although only a few Jews died.
So, the people of Europe douted the Jews and spreaded the groundless rumor that
the fatality was due to that the Jews sowed with poison. But the fact was that
the Jews liked cleanness very much, made their cloths and houses always clean,
have a bath, and washed their hands very often. While most of the people except
for Jews in Europe had never experienced bathing even once in their whole lives.
The reason why perfume was developed in Europe was the smell of their
bodies.
But the Jews washed hands after going to restroom, after going
outside, and before every meal. That was why they rarely became sick. The
Japanese have had this same custom since ancient times.
Pillars of Stone
It is also interesting to note that as the Japanese say "one man, two men,
three men..." when counting the number of men, ancient Japanese people said when
counting the number of gods "one pillar of god, two pillars of gods, three
pillars of gods..." This way of counting gods is understandable to the Jews,
because the ancient Israelites set up pillars of stone for their worshipping,
and the pillars were associated with gods.
In many places of Japan even
today, there are religious pillars of stone. For instance, in Kazuno city, Akita
prefecture, there is a big long natural stone standing at the center of the
surrounding stones. The pillar-like natural stone which is placed in the back of
Kashima shrine, Ibaraki prefecture, is also regarded as a holy stone.
Pillar of stone in
Kazuno city, Japan (left), and pillars of stone in the land of Israel
(right)
The way of setting up these pillars of stone is almost the same as the
pillars of stone discovered in Israel. This was a custom which the ancient
Israelites had. Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites, set up "a pillar of
stone" to worship God and "poured a drink offering on it" (Genesis 35:14).
As
Jacob poured a drink offering on the pillar of stone, Shinto priest pours a
drink offering (Sake) on the pillar of stone. Moses also set up "12 pillars of
stone" near the altar according to the 12 tribes of Israel (Exodus 24:4). Thus,
the pillars of stone were an element of worshiping God Yahweh.
But in the
latter days when idolworship came into Israel, people inclined to use the
pillars of stone as an element of their idolworship. So, later, prophets of
Israel blamed the pillars of stone and rejected them. The Bible says concerning
when the people of the southern kingdom of Judah degraded to idolworship that
they built for themselves "high places" and "sacred pillars" (pillars of stone,
1 Kings 14:23). The pillars of stone were used as pagan sacred pillars. Many of
these are discovered in Israel and look similar to the Japanese pillars of
stone.
In Japan, not only the pillars of stone, there are many shrines with
big holy natural stones or rocks. These stones are thought to be objects where
the spirit of god comes down and sits. They are connected to worship.
This
kind of stone was also seen in ancient Israel. The Bible records that the first
Israeli king Saul rolled a great stone and made it an altar (1 Samuel 7:33). He
brought a big natural stone and made it a worship place. He used natural stone
because it was forbidden to use hewn stone for an altar. The Bible says that
when one makes an altar of stone for God, he "shall not build it of hewn
stones." (Exodus 20:25)
Also in Japanese Shinto, the stone for worshiping is
always natural stone.
Altar of Earth
While, insead of stone, earth is sometimes used for religious worship.
Nihon-shoki records that the first Japanese emperor Jinmu took earth from Mt.
Ameno-kagu-yama, made many bricks from it and made an altar for worshiping gods.
It seems that ancient Israelites also made altar from earth, for the Bible says,
"An altar of earth you shall make for me (God)" (Exodus 20:24)
Altar could
also be made of earth. In case of the altar made of earth, it meant that it was
made of bricks. The history of brick is very old; in the Near East many bricks
were already used even in the time of the Tower of Babel, about 4000 and several
hundred years ago (Genesis 11:3).
It seems that the Israelites sometimes made
bricks from earth and made altar of bricks. But compared with stone, brick is
weak and easily decomposed by time, so archaeologists have not yet found altar
of bricks in Israel, but found in other Near East countries.
Bronze Serpent
When the Israelites were wandering the desert after their exodus from Egypt,
they met a flock of serpents and many people were bit and died. The poison were
very strong like a fire. To save the people, Moses made "a bronze statue of
serpent" according to the commandment of God and set it on a pole so that the
people could look at it, and when one who had been bitten by serpent looked at
the bronze serpent, he lived (Numbers 21:9).
After this incident ended, this
bronze serpent had been in the safekeeping among the Israelites. The exsistence
of this statue was never bad as long as the faith of the Israelites were sound.
But when the Israelites degraded later, they began to worship the bronze serpent
as their idol rather than to worship true God. As a result Hezekiah, a king of
the southern kingdom of Judah in the 8th century B.C.E., broke the stature to
stop the idolworship. The Bible records that he broke in pieces the bronze
serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the Israelites "burned incense
to it" (2 Kings 18:4).
It was before this when the Ten Tribes of Israel were
exiled to Assyria (722 B.C.E.). So it seems that the Ten Tribes had the custom
of worshiping the bronze serpent when exiled.
At a Shinto shrine on Mt.
Inomure, Ooita prefecture, until about 40 years ago, there had been a unique
feast for begging rainfall, in which they firstly make a foundation by
constructing 6 trunks of tree into the shape of the Shield of David, then on it
they pile up a lot of branches and make it a tower, and on top of it they put a
vertical pole with a slough of snake twining round it. People burn the branches
and the tower and pray for rainfall. They burn incense to the snake expecting a
supernatural power from it.
Pole with a slough of snake in fire on Mt. Inomure
I saw the scene on a video and this reminds us of the custom of ancient Israel to worship the bronze serpent. Besides, gods which are worshiped in Japanese Shinto shrines are sometimes snakes. This might have some connection to ancient Israel.
Remnant of Celebration of Circumcision?
If the ancient Israelites came to Japan, do the Japanese have the custom of
circumcision? Although I have heard a rumor that circumcision is performed among
the Imperial family of Japan, I have not been able to confirm yet whether or not
there was the custom of circumcision in Japan.
Today we cannot see the custom
of circumcision among Japanese citizens, but they have a traditional Japanese
custom called O-shichi-ya which means 7th night. On the 7th night from the day a
baby was born, the Japanese parents have a celebration to introduce the baby to
relatives and friends and let them know the name of the baby.
The 7th night
is, according to the Jewish way of counting days, 8th day from the day the baby
was born, for from the sunset the next day starts in the Jewish calendar. Is
this a remnant of the Jewish custom of circumcision on the 8th day? The
Israelites gathered together on the 8th day from the day a (male) baby was born,
and the parents introduced the baby to relatives and friends, circumcised him,
introduced his name and rejoiced his birth together (In case of a female, it was
done on the first Sabbath). This is the same in modern Judaism. For the seven
days, the baby has no name. This is the same custom as the Japanese.
Customs of the First Month
The Japanese traditionally celebrate a new year magnificently. They also do
Obon feast on July 15 or August 15 every year as a national event. They have a
saying, "It is as if Obon and a new year came together" which means very very
busy. These two events are the most magnificent ones throughout a year in
Japan.
Looking at the new year first, on January 1 many Japanese people begin
to gather together at shrines even before dawn. And on January 1 they sit a
happy circle with family and eat Mochi (Japanese Matzah). They eat Mochi for 7
days and on the 7th day they eat porridge with 7 kinds of bitter
herbs.
Today, the Japanese use the solar calendar; the New Year's Day is
January 1 and the day of eating porridge with 7 herbs is January 7. But
historically the Japanese used the lunar calendar, when the New Year's day was
the 15th of the first month because on that day was the first full moon. It is a
remnant of this that today January 15 is called Small New Year's Day
(Koshougatsu in Japanese). This day was also called "New Year's Day of Mochi".
New Year's celebration was a feast of Mochi. And the night of January 14 is
called New Year's Eve of the 14th Day. In the time of the lunar calendar, the
15th day of the first month was a national holiday.
According to Zen'ichiro
Oyabe, the Japanese before the 12th century C.E. had eaten porridge with 7
bitter herbs on the 15th day of the first month, and on the following days they
performed events to pray for good harvest of the new year. This is similar to
the custom in ancient Israel. They celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread
throughout the "7 days" "from the 15th day of the first month", when they ate
the unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:6).
The unleavened bread, which is
"matzah" in Hebrew, is a very thin bread prepared by kneading and baking without
using yeast or leaven. The way of preparing Japanese Mochi is similar to this
except for using rice instead of flour. Israeli "matzah" and Japanese Mochi are
very similar each other in pronunciation as well as in meaning, recipe and
purpose.
And the Israelites ate with "bitter herbs" on the 15th day of the
first month (Exodus 12:8). Thus, just as the ancient Japanese ate with 7 bitter
herbs on the 15th of the first month, the Israelites ate with bitter herbs on
the 15th of the first month.
In the Jewish calendar, the 15th day of the
first month, that is the first day of the feast, is full moon and the Sabbath
(Leviticus 23:7). On the next day of this Sabbath, the Israelites offered
firstfruits and prayed for a good harvest of the year (Leviticus 23:11).
The
Japanese clean their houses thoroughly before the coming of New Year's Day. When
the Jews look at it, they think, "This is the same custom as ours!" for they
also had to clean their houses thoroughly before the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
for the Bible says, "you shall remove leaven from your houses" (Exodus 12:15).
So they had to purge all the houses and remove leaven from them. Passover among
the Jews in India is called Holiday of Cleaning the House and they remove all
leaven and clean the house.
Obon Feast
Next, let us look at the Obon feast. In Japan they have an event called Obon
on July 15 or August 15. In the time they used the lunar calendar it was held on
the 15th day of the 7th month.
Today Obon is regarded as one of the events of
Buddhism, but since the time long before Buddhism was imported to Japan, there
had been a feast called Tama-matsuri which was the original of Obon. When
Buddhism was imported to Japan, this Tama-matsuri was took in the events of
Buddhism and became Obon. In ancient Israel on the 15th day of the 7th month was
a big feast called the Feast of Booths (harvest feast, Leviticus
23:39).
Today the Japanese use the solar calendar and in many cases they now
hold the Obon feast on the 15th day of the 8th month. Strangely this was the day
when the harvest feast was held in the northern kingdom of Israel of the Ten
Tribes. The Bible records that Jeroboam, the king of the northern kingdom,
ordained a feast "on the 15th day of the 8th month" like the feast which was in
the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12:32).
It was an Israeli tradition
since ancient times to have the harvest feast on the 15th day of the 7th month,
but King Jeroboam rejected this tradition and ordained a new day for the harvest
feast on the 15th day of the 8th month.
In Israel, the Feast of Unleavened
Bread (New Year) and the Feast of Booths (harvest feast) on the 15th day of the
7th month (or 8th month) were the most magnificent events throughout a year.
Similar to this, the Japanese have been performing magnificent feasts at the
same times as these. In Japan today, the 15th day of the 8th month is also the
memorial day of the end of the last war.
Dancing at Obon
There is an interesting point in the Obon feast. The Japanese dance at the
feast and this is not a dance of Buddhism but a traditional dance called Utagaki
which has existed since ancient times.
The Utagaki dance has been held since
the time before the 5th century C.E. and became very popular in the 8th century.
Men and women gathered for dance and they sang, danced, met with a view to
marriage and promised to marry. Their way to dance was that men and women joined
alternately to a circle of dancing, danced in the rhythm of song by a singer,
and when the number of people increased, they made the dancing circle double or
threefold.
The ancient Israelites also had this kind of custom. They had a
time of dancing during the harvest feast from the 15th day of the 7th month (8th
month in the northern kingdom), and single men and women looked forward the time
of dancing and meeting to come.
I heard that in Japan there used to be a
custom of plunder marriage during the Obon feast. In Oita, Kyusyu Japan, there
was a custom that during many people are fanatical in dancing, men took women
they like and brought to forest. The same custom was among the ancient
Israelites.
The Bible records that there was an incedent that all of the
women of Benjamin tribe of Israel were killed, when the elders of Israel talked
each other how they can let Benjamin tribe continue to exist. "There is a yearly
feast in Shiloh (a city in the northern kingdom of Israel)", the elders said,
and instructed the men of Benjamin, "Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, and
watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances,
then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from
the daughters of Shiloh". The men did so. They "took enough wives for their
number from those who danced, whom they caught" (Judges 21:16-23). Israel in
those days was in such a period of confusion.
Full Moon On the 15th Day
In Japan there is also a custom called Juugo-ya, which means 15th night, on
the 15th day of the 8th month in the Japanese old lunar calendar. This is during
September-October in today's solar calendar. This corresponds to the 15th day of
the 7th month (Tishri) in the Jewish calendar, which is the day of the Feast of
Booths. When the Japanese are celebrating Juugo-ya, the Jews are celebrating the
Feast of Booths.
On this day, the Japanese often build a booth, gather
together there with family, put Japanese pampas grass to a vase, offer harvest
of the season like dumpling, taro, pear, etc., and enjoy the beauty of the full
moon in Autumn. In Israel, on the 15th day of the 8th month in the northern
kingdom of Israel, or on the 15th day of the 7th month in the southern kingdom
of Judah, they built a booth, gathered together there with family, offered
harvest of the season, rejoiced the harvest looking the beauty of the full moon
in Autumn (Leviticus 23:39-42).
Offering Harvest
In Japan they have an elegant custom to offer firstfruits of harvest to god.
They offer the firstfruits of cereals and fruits or a part of what they first
get from their production.
Kanname-sai is a feast in October at Ise grand
shrine to offer firstfruits to god. The ancient Israelites also had the custom
of offering first fruits, for the Bible says that the first of the firstfruits
of the land shall be brought to the temple (Exodus 34:26).
It is interesting
to note that in Ise grand shrine in the time of Kanname-sai feast, the clothes,
tables, and tools which are used in the service are all renewed. They do this in
the sense of coming into a new year. In Judaism also, the month of the harvest
feast (Tishri, September-October) is the time of a new year.
About a month
after the Kanname-sai feast of Ise grand shrine, a feast called Niiname-sai is
held at the Imperial House of Japan. Although the name is different, this is
also the feast of offering a part of harvest.
Niiname-sai feast is held as
follows; the feast begins at 6 p.m. and ends at around 1 a.m.. It is held at
night. The emperor offers the harvest to god and after that, he eats them in
front of god. By this ceremony the emperor is given from god the role as the
leader of the nation. In ancient Israel, the leaders of Israel - Moses, Aaron,
70 elders, etc. - also ate in front of God (Exodus 24:11).
And the
Niiname-sai feast which the emperor performs for the first time after he
ascended to the throne is especially called Daijou-sai feast which is a larger
Niiname-sai feast, when special booths are built for offering harvest. In the
Daijou-sai feast of today's emperor Akihito, there were also simple but large
booths built, and after the ceremony they broke the booths and burned them.
Booth built for Daijou-sai feast in 1687
Daijou-sai feast is also held at night. Akihito's Daijou-si was held from 6:30 p.m. to the next morning. The emperor offered the harvest and ate in front of god. In ancient Israel and also today, the Jewish Feast of Booths begins at sunset. The Israelites came into the booths, decorated with harvest products, ate in front of God and rejoiced together.
Wedding
I find several similarities between the Japanese Shinto way of wedding and
the Jewish way of wedding.
In Shinto wedding, the bridegroom and bride drink
from the same cup of liquor (Japanese Sake). In the same way in the Jewish
wedding the bridegroom and bride drink from the same cup of wine, although this
is not Biblical but Talmudic (the 3-6th century C.E.). Christian wedding does
not have this custom.
In the Jewish wedding today, after drinking wine, the
bridegroom break a wine glass. This is to remember that the Temple of Jerusalem
is destroyed. This custom started after the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in
70 C.E., and the Israelites before that did not have this custom of breaking the
glass.
In Shinto wedding the bride has a shawl on her head and hides half of
her face. The shawl is to the hight of her eyes today, but in old days, this was
to hide all of her face (called Kazuki in Japanese). In old days, this shawl was
also put when a Japanese woman attended a shrine.This custom of shawl was also
seen among the ancient Israelites. In the Bible, Jacob, the ancestor of the
Israelites, thought that he had married Rachal though, the bride was in fact not
Rachal, but her sister Lear. It was due to darkness and the shawl on her face
that he could not distinguish her. Even today, Jewish bride puts a veil on her
face in wedding . Ancient Israeli woman had the custom to put a shawl and hide
her face when she comes out. Every time she comes to a synagogue, she had to put
a shawl on her head.
It is also an important feature of Shinto that every
Shinto priest is married. There is no rule in Shinto to make priest single. In
modern Japan, most of Buddhist monks are married but this is a custom since
Meiji-era. Before then, it was the custom of Buddhist monks to be single. Every
Buddhist monk outside Japan is single. Catholic father is single. But Shinto
priest is married. This is a tradition from the time immemorial. So was the
ancient priest of Israel. So is rabbi of modern Judaism.
Concerning Japanese
marriage, a Japanese woman told her memory. One day, her mother told her about
the marriage of her aunt. After the aunt's husband was killed in a war, the
aunt, who did not have any children then, married her husband's brother who had
been at that time unmarried. About this marriage, the mother told her, "This is
a traditional custom of Japan," but then she thought that today is the age of
free love and it is consequential to marry whom one loves, and she could not
understand what the mother said. However she told that later she was surprised
knowing that this is the same as a Jewish custom.
It is true that that this
is the same as a Jewish custom, for the Bible says that if brothers dwell
together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be
married outside the family to a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in to
her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to
her (Deuteronomy 25:5)
In Japan today, we cannot see this custom anymore
usually, but it seems that this custom had been performed widely in Japan until
recent time.
Chapter 1
Israelites Came to Ancient Japan
Chapter 2
The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Myanmar, and
China
Chapter 3
Did the Lost Tribes of Israel Come To Ancient Japan?