The cultural connections between Japanese and ancient Jewish culture has been one of the most fascinating studies I have done. At first it sounds like an urban ledge or something; Japan after all is over 6,800 miles (11,000 km) away from Israel, how could these two cultures have anything in common?
My first time to Japan it just so happened that I was doing a study on the first five books of the bible, the Torah, and began to notice very subtle similarities. For example, the usage of the Japanese word for foreigner, gaijin (外人). Its usage is not limited to just those who are foreigners in Japan, but also includes anyone who is not Japanese. Even when I am in my home country of the United States, I am still considered gaijin by Japanese foreigners in the United States. This is the same world view ancient Israelites had, everyone who was not and Israelite was considered a foreigner, even if technically the Israelite was the foreigner in another country.
As I investigated further it became harder to discount that there was a link between Israel and Japan. I came across a book called “Rediscovering Japan, Reintroducing Christendom” by Samuel Lee. He explains that it is possible Israelites made it to Japan via the silk road after they where exiled from their land by the Assyrian Empire in 722BC. Lee also shows that there is compelling evidence that Christianity entered Japan in four stages over the past 2000 years and not just with in the past 500 years which is commonly believed, it was a very interesting read.
The possible connection between Japanese culture having Jewish root is something that Jewish people in Japan have noticed as well. The Ambassador to Japan from Israel, Eli Cohen, actually believes the Ark of the Covenant is somewhere in Japan. His interview in the following videos was broad-casted on Japanese television several years ago.
I finally found this broad-cast with English subtitles and am happy to bring parts 1 and 2 for you here. While I am not convinced that the Ark of the Covenant will be discovered in Japan as it leads you to consider, it does elaborate on some very interesting aspects of Japanese culture and its Jewish roots. The similarities of the language and the explanation of the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) held in Kyoto are pretty amazing.
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I recommend this book especially for Japanese. I hope the book gets translated into Japanese. There are so many things that are not even mentioned in Japanese History. It is the duty of Japanese to seek out their own true roots. At least they should research and be informed what they would not consider because of being held back in reading and studying the history and connections of their own pasts. The TV documentary programs in Japan are finally unafraid to submit to the inquiry at least.
Kermit,
We met at Rice of Life. I know you would like to believe this theory of connection, but this theory, from an academic perspective, plays loose and fast with history. There are similarities, but there are also suspect items such as the Hata clan. The Hata clan is invoked by a lot a figures in Japanese history via genealogies so anything tracing back to them is suspect. Plus in looking over Lee’s book, he never makes any references to scholarship in literature, history, archaeology, or anthropology. It’s going to take a lot more than just faith to make this theory sound plausible. Coincidences are one thing, solid scholarly thought is something completely different.
Harrison, I’m sorry I can’t say I remember meeting you…
I’m by no means raising the claims in Lee’s book to the level of say… the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I just think the many similarities between ancient Jewish and Japanese culture are really interesting. Apparently there are other non faith professing people in Japan who think its more than coincidence too. Actually Lee’s research is impressive if you actually take the time to read it.
In just looking over the first few pages of the book, there’s a major mistake in math. He states that the gap between BC 660, when Jimmu is thought to established Yamato, and 250, when it actually is established is 400 years when it is actually 910 years. And he overlooks scholars who have actually worked on the issues he brushing over. Mark Hudson in “Ruins of Identities,” argues against attributing an ethnos to the Jomon and Yayoi while he could have easily turned to Joan Piggot’s “The Emergence of Japanese Kingship” to discuss those earlier years. And by doing so it feels like it’s projecting rather than actually building a solid argument. I might take a look at his book if I have some time, but it will be scrutinized.
Apparently you have strongly held biases and presumptions to “scrutinize” someone’s work before even reading it.
Like I said before, based of the first few pages it seems like projection rather than scholarship. As a scholar, I’m of the hermeneutical bend and follow along the ideas of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur. But it always bothers me as a Catholic how evangelicals are so radically opposed to being scholarly and rational. They do a great disservice to the scholars of the tradition among them Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther. There’s nothing wrong with a passion for knowledge, deep thought, and intellectual curiosity. You might want to try it out once.
Hey man, no need for personal insults, especially for someone who does not know me.
I think guys like Martin Luther, Augustine, and John Calvin are great. All I’m saying is that you should actually read Lee’s book before scrutinizing and blowing it off. Let me guess, you just went to Amazon.com and read the preview, did you even make it to the second chapter? What about all the cultural and language comparison? Most of the book actually focuses on the history of Christianity in Japan in which Lee shows compelling evidence that this began some 2,000 years ago. Most Christian and Catholic traditions only believe this history began 500 years ago. Do you have anything to say about Lee’s research concerning that?
For anyone who has actually been to Japan you have to admit that similarities between ancient Jewish and Japanese culture are at the least interesting and can’t be so easily dismissed as mere coincidence.
Basically it boils down to what forestructures you have and what they allow you to see. The forestructures you have are not the same as the ones I have so we are not going to see things the same way. I read Heian waka poetry and Han,Tang, and Song Dynasty shi poetry, play gagaku, and have been inside the Imperial Palace, so how I see Japan and you see Japan are very different. I see it as is privileging the Jewish-Japanese connection at the expense of the Chinese-Japanese connection, particularly because Japanese does contain linguistic information that was lost in China with the fall of the Tang Dynasty and Japan preserved part of the gagaku repertoire which was also lost with the fall of the Tang Dynasty.
I said I might take a look at the book; I didn’t dismiss it completely. I am rather busy between writing my dissertation and now filling out applications for post-docs, jobs, and a fellowship to go back to Japan. As you suggest I look at the book, I would advise you to look for the 6 part BBC documentary “A History of Christianity.” It represents the kind of study that I think works and that Lee’s work will be measured against.
Kermit,
Got the book and read it today. The latter half of it is a summary of stuff you can find in more detail in serious studies; however the first half is basically summed up as “making a mountain out of a molehill.” Are there similarities between some of things in Jewish and Japanese culture–yes. But the problem lies in how to contextualize it. No thought is giving to the role China plays in a lot of these things since China was the cultural center of Asia during the Tang Dynasty.
Furthermore his argument that Christian should do like the Assyrian Church and listen to the Japanese loses weight when he dismisses all scholarship on Japan as being conservative and opposed to his theory. As a scholar, I’m already put into a class when I haven’t even been giving a chance. That only makes the mistakes Lee makes more noticeable and in turn weakens his theory. He needs to take his own advice and listen to what scholars have to say and not make Japan into a Jewish state.
That’s my 2 cents, feel free to respond back.
Thank for sharing, I would like to hear more of your thoughts. My goal is only to contextualize the gospel to Japanese culture using what I can. Any link that connects Jesus to Japan I am very interested in… if it is true.
I do have a passion for knowledge, deep thought, and intellectual curiosity though I myself am not a scholar on your scholarly level. But I have taken seminary classes, one of which was the Christian History. I found that documentary you told me about but haven’t had time to watch it yet, is there anything in it that a class on this subject might not cover? Either way I look forward to watching it soon.
I am very open to the mistakes you see with Lee’s book. In your opinion based on scholarship, do you have any other problem with Lee’s book? Would it be possible to list those out? In light of the scholarship issues could Lee’s theories still be plausible? I would really appreciate your thoughts. Up until this conversion with you no one has approached me with criticism to Lee’s book and or theories, especially someone with credibility. At some point I would like to invite Samuel Lee to give a response to these criticisms.
Also, there is no doubt that Japan has a huge influence from China. For me its so obvious that I guess I haven’t said much about it. I am very interested in what you said about how Japan has preserved linguistic information that was lost in China with the fall of the Tang Dynasty. Have you seen my post in which I explore how Genesis could possibly be revealed in Chinese characters. I did a 6 part series on this and though I am sure that it is not up to par with scholarship that you would accept, I would appreciate your thoughts… especially with part 1 and part 2. Its just something else that I found very interesting that I think could possibly be used to contextualize the gospel in Japan.
Where to begin as there’s a lot to cover.
As to the BBC documentary, I think Professor MacCullough does a great job of showing the connections and schism that occur throughout the history of the faith; that’s why I recommended it.
As to Lee’s book, his thesis has a degree of plausibility because there are similarities. But without turning to history and working out a logical and sound explanation of how it is possible, it will always be a fringe thesis. The problem is that at times he can’t keep the story straight. Take for example the discussion of the myth of Amaterasu at the beginning of chapter. There are actually two versions of the same myths between the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki and yet he doesn’t make that clear or addresses how the Kojiki myth (the myth which paints thing differently and subsumes into the Nihongi version) affects the thesis. This along with the math mistakes demonstrate a lack of thoroughness which weakens the thesis because it basically says to scholars you’re not keeping the facts straight. These kinds of mistakes seriously weaken the argument in the minds of scholars.
As to your kanji study, what you’re doing is something that was done in Japan as well. My professor brought this up in her first book. She called it etymological paranomasia, where kanji are analyzed into their component parts and shown to have a deeper meaning. So it’s nothing new, the only thing that has changed is that you’re using Christianity instead of esoteric Buddhism like the poets she and I study did. But how many Japanese people even know about the paranomasia that she and I encounter?
This Idea that the Japanese shinto rites have some roots in Judaism is a compleat trick of satan and ment to keep the Japanese from really converting. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.
I have two books by Samuel Lee. They are difficult to take seriously: they read like an informal lecture, and from the errors of grammar and flow I would say the books have never seen an editor’s pen. I regret purchasing them.
I have researched thoroughly this hypothesis that some aspects of Japan’s culture may have Jewish roots. However, from the evidence that i have researched so far, I would have to disagreee.
It seems that Shinto is older than the Jewish religion. The link below provides some proof of my findings:
http://mysticalshinobi.wordpress.com/shinto-predates-ancient-babylon/
I’ve just began to study the japanese language. While learning to count numbers. I noticed something very interesting. Which sent me looking for answers on the web.
I noticed that the way the Japanese number 10 is pronounced as
10 = juu (jew) and the Japanese “Kanji” character for 10 is a 十 that looks like the cross used for crucifixen.
Yes, I do understand the the japanese numbers and number system mostly were derived from the Chinese. Which, then again makes me think that maybe the Chinese also had contact with the ancient Jewish culture along the silk route thousands of years ago.
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