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In a post I made titled Does Japanese Culture have Jewish Roots I wrote about the beginnings of my personal study of how Japanese traditions and culture have many similarities to ancient Israeli culture and customs reflected in the Old Testament. I am most intrigued by Japanese festivals that involve mikoshi (神輿). These are portable shrines that are paraded through many cities across Japan and have similarities in their usage to the Ark of the Covenant.

In that post I also included the first two videos from a Japanese television show that did a five part series on the connection of Ancient Israel and Japan. Parts 3 and 4 of this video series are below.

Tengu was and Israelite?

From the Japanese TV program “New Theory!? – Mysteries of Japan”

(TV Tokyo Mar. 21, 2008)

Isaac Festaval at Suwa

From the Japanese TV program “New Theory!? – Mysteries of Japan”

(TV Tokyo Aug 5, 2008)

Can it be proven historically?

I’ve had to take some time to look into these connections. The theory has its origins beginning in 722BC when the Northern Kingdom of Israel, consisting of ten tribes, were conquered and its people dispersed to the area of modern day Iraq and Iran by the Assyrian Empire. These exiled ten tribes never returned to their homeland. A few hundred years later the Southern Kingdom of Israel consisting of two tribes were conquered and its people also dispersed by the Babylonian Empire, but 70 years later they were permitted to return to their homeland.

The question is what happened to the ten tribes that were dispersed and never returned to their homeland? The Jewish historian Josephus, who provides some of the earliest historical records of Jesus Christ and His resurrection outside of the bible, lived in the first century and wrote about the where abouts of Jewish people during his day.

… there are but two tribes [Judah and Benjamin] in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers. (Antiquities of the Jews, 11.5.2)

The theory is that these exiled Israelites beyond the Euphrates (a large river flowing through modern day Iraq) who never returned to their homeland kept migrating eastward eventually making it as far as the islands of Japan.

I’ll be the first to admit that the thought of Jewish roots in Japans sounds crazy, but the similarities cannot be easily dismissed. As I have looked into it I believe this opens new doors to understanding Japanese society, helping Japanese to understand the bible in their cultural context, and contextualizing the gospel that it may be received and understood in their hearts.

Arimasa Kubo, a Japanese Christian pastor and graduate of Tokyo Bible Seminary, was the primary go to guy for the Japanese television show above about the connections of Ancient Israel and Japanese culture. He has done extensive and in depth research on the topic and made his findings available in English here. I recently had the pleasure to connect with Arimasa via email about evangelism and contextualizing the gospel in Japan, I found his replies insightful and was given permission to share it with you here.

Contextualizing is very important in Japan. I believe all evangelists should recognize this. Japan has a lot of “redemptive gifts” in its traditions, with which we could find the true God and so that the Japanese may be redeemed… When the historical connection between a Japanese tradition and the Biblical truth is not clear, we can use the tradition as just an illustration. When the connection is clear, we can use the tradition as evidence that ancestors of the Japanese knew Biblical God, and we should return to the faith.

Weather historical fact or just a strange coincidence, the similarities between Ancient Israel and Japanese culture at the very least provide illustrations from which to help Japanese understand the truth of the bible and come to a saving faith in the death and resurrection Jesus Christ.

This excites me personally and gives me a greater passion to learn about Japanese culture that I might better be able to articulate the love of God revealed in the gospel to Japanese hearts. I share more about using Japanese festivals called matsuri (祭り) as an illustration to articulate the gospel here. My approach is like that of the Apostle Paul in Acts 17:22-31 who understood the cultural and religious context he preached in and even quoted the popular poets and song writers of his day to springboard into the gospel with those who had little cultural context in the bible.

Tagged as: Arimasa Kubo, Assyrian Empire, Babylonian Empire, festival, Iraq, Isaac, Israel, Israelite, Japan, Japanese, Jesus Christ, Josephus, matsuri, Mysteries of Japan, Suwa, television, Tengu