Travel Mysterious Japan

Tokyo

And the Lost Tribes of Israel

Arimasa Kubo

The Emperor’s Palace

Meiji-jingu Shrine

Meiji-jingu Shrine at Harajuku is the largest Shinto shrine in Tokyo. It is not an old shrine, but we can see typical Shinto customs and tradition here and there.

(Torii Gate)

In front of the shrine, there is the gate called “torii.” This type of gate does not exist in China or in Korea, it is peculiar to Japanese Shinto. The “torii” gate consists of two vertical pillars and a bar connecting the upper parts. But the oldest form consists of only two vertical pillars and a rope connecting the upper parts. When a Shinto priest bows to the gate, he bows to the two pillars separately. It is assumed that the “torii” gate was originally constructed of only two pillars.

In the Israeli temple, there were two pillars used as a gate (1 Kings 7:21). And in Aramaic or Hebrew language which ancient Israelites used, the word for gate or entrance was “teraa.” (Daniel 3:26) This word might have lightly corrupted into the Japanese “torii”.

(Crest of the Imperial House of Japan)

At the torii gate of Meiji-jingu you will see a round mark in the shape of a flower with 16 petals, which is the crest of the Imperial House of Japan. This crest is very much like the mark at Herod's gate in Jerusalem. The crest at Herod's gate also has 16 petals. It was a crest that kings of the Middle East used to use.

The crests of the Imperial House of Japan (left)

and Herod’s gate at Jerusalem (right)

(Wine and Rice Wine)

Entering the torii gate and on the way to the shrine, you will see wine barrels and Japanese Sake barrels on both sides of the way. The wine barrels were specially presented from France, and the Sake barrels are typical offerings at Shinto shrines. Sake is rice wine. Because there was no grape in old Japan, people made rice wine to offer to G-d. Wine was a main offering also at Mose’s tabernacle and Solomon’s temple.

(Temizuya Laver)

Located near the entrance of the shrine is a “temizuya” - a place for worshipers to wash their hands and mouth. The Japanese used to wash their feet, too, in old days. They do this to remove impurity for religious service before worshiping and praying.

This is a similar custom as is found in Jewish synagogues. They have a place to wash hands before worshipping and praying. The ancient tabernacle and temple of Israel also had a laver for washing hands and feet near the entrances.

(Structure of Shinto Shrine)

The structure of Shinto shrines, including Meiji-jingu, is very much like the ancient Israeli tabernacle, the inside of which was divided into two parts; the first part was the Holy Place, and the second the Holy of Holies. A Shinto shrine is also divided into two, and has both the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

The functions performed in the shrine are similar to those of the Israeli tabernacle. The Japanese pray in front of its Holy Place. They cannot enter inside. Only Shinto priests and specially permitted ones can enter. Shinto priest enters the Holy of Holies of the Japanese shrine only at special times.

These are similar to the ones of the ancient Israeli tabernacle. The Israeli people prayed in front of the Holy Place and could not enter inside. Only priests could enter. The Holy of Holies was permitted only for the High Priest to enter only once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

The basic Shinto shrine (left) and Israeli tabernacle (right)

Shinto's Holy of Holies is located on a higher level than the Holy Place, and between them are steps. Scholars state that, in the Israeli temple built by King Solomon, the Holy of Holies was on an elevated level as well, and between them there were steps of about 2.7 meters (9 feet) in width.

(Komainu guards)

In front of a Japanese shrine, there are usually two statues of lion known as “komainu” that sit on both sides of the approach. They are not idols but guards for the shrine; people do not worship them. At Meiji-jingu, the lion statues are not at the approach, but inside the Holy of Holies.

In the early history of Japan, there were absolutely no lions. But the statues of lions have been placed in Japanese shrines since ancient times. Why? This custom of two statues of sitting lion is peculiar to the areas along the Silk Road. There is the Komainu Museum in Gifu prefecture, Japan. The museum displays many lion statues along the Silk Road, and it explained that the lions in front of Japanese shrines originated from the Middle East.

The lion statues of the Middle East originally came from ancient Israel, because the custom of the statues of lions in Israel was the most ancient. The Bible says that in Solomon's temple in Israel, there were relieves of lions (1 Kings 7:36), and in the palace of Solomon, the statues of lions were on both sides of the throne:

“On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them… Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.”(1 Kings 10:19-20).

The Holy Place of Meiji-jingu

(Rabbi’s Testimony)

There is a Jewish group called Amishav in Jerusalem which is searching the Lost Tribes of Israel, the head of which was late Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail. He wrote a book titled “The Tribes of Israel.” (published by Amishav) He once came to Japan for investigation and in the book he wrote:

“The structure of Shinto temples indeed resembles the Jewish Temple, and have similar customs, such as washing before entering, and three degrees of holiness: An area accessible to all, and area accessible to the priests alone, and an area accessible only to the high priest.

This latter area is entered daily for the purpose of offering wine (Japanese liquor: rice wine). When entering, the priest rings a bell, claps his hands, prays, and gives alms.

The holy Ark has handles used for carrying, which indicated that it was carried to battles, like the Ark in the Jewish Tabernacle. There are two birds above the Ark, possibly resembling the Cherubim in the Jewish Temple. The Ark also has a holy mirror.

Sacrifices are based on rice, rice wine, and salt. These are replaced daily and discarded. Only spring water is used in the offerings.”

All of these show the resemblance between the Japanese Shinto religion and the ancient Israeli one.

(Ringing Bell and Clapping Hands)

When Japanese people pray in front of the Holy Place of a Shinto shrine, they firstly ring the golden bell which is hung at the center of the entrance. This was also the custom of the ancient Israel. The high priest Aaron put “bells of gold” on the hem of his robe, so that its sound might be heard and he might not die when he ministered there (Exodus 28:33-35).

Japanese people clap their hands twice when they pray there. This custom might also exist in ancient Israel. The original Hebrew word which is translated into “pledge” in Proverbs 6:1 possibly means clapping hands, and also a rabbinical commentator, Mtsudat David, states that the word in Ezekiel 17:18, translated into “pledge” or “give (raise) his hand”, sounds more like “clapping hands. It seems that the ancient Israelites clapped their hands when they pledged or did something important.

(Bow and Pray)

Japanese people bow in front of the shrine before and after clapping their hands and praying. They also perform a bow as a polite greeting when they meet each other. Bowing was also the custom of the ancient Israel. Abraham bowed to the Hittites as a greeting (Genesis 23:12). Jacob bowed when he was approaching Esau for giving him respect (Genesis 33:3). Contemporary also bow when reciting prayers in synagogues.

Modern Ethiopians have the custom of bowing, probably because of the influence of the ancient Jews who emigrated to Ethiopia in ancient days. The Ethiopian bow is the same as the Japanese bow. I once was astonished to see a TV program which showed Ethiopian bow as greeting, because it was completely the same as the Japanese one.

(Ema plates)

At the right of the Holy Place of Meiji-jingu, there are Ema plates, which people offered, writing their wish and prayer.

Ema means horse painting. On old Ema plates were drawn a horse, although recently the paintings often became other animals or other pictures.

Ema originated from the Japanese old custom to offer horse to G-d. But horse was expensive, and general people could not buy it. That was why they began to paint a horse on a plate to offer to G-d. Near the entrance of Ise-jingu Shrine there is a living horse which the emperors of Japan has ever dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. This was the custom of ancient Israel, for the Bible says:

“He (King Josiah) removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun.” (II Kings 23:11)

Until then, the pagan custom of dedicating the horses to the sun was among the southern kingdom of Judah. However, the custom was also among the northern kingdom of Israel and it continued among them. The same custom has been in Japan since ancient times.

Sumo at Kokugikan

At Kokugikan, near Ryogoku station, you can see traditional Japanese Sumo wrestling. Usually at Sumo, two Sumo wrestlers fight with each other. But in Shikoku island (Oh-yamazumi-jinja), there is the “one-man Sumo” which a Sumo wrestler fight with an invisible god. This reminds us of the story that Jacob wrestled with an angel. After that, Jacob changed his name to Israel. At Sumo, when a wrestler becomes strong, he changes his name. Sumo may have come from Hebrew words “shemo,” meaning his name.

Emperor’s Palace

Emperor of Japan used to live in Kyoto, but after the Meiji-era, he moved his palace to Tokyo. Today’s Emperor’s Palace is where there was the Edo castle. You can enter and see a part of the palace.

It seems that emperors of Japan are descendants of the tribe of Ephraim, the royal tribe of the so-called Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, because the emperors’ genealogy is exactly like the one of Ephraim (see “Similarity Between the Biblical Genealogy and Japanese Mythology” of the page).

The emperor’s palace and the regalia bead

　Since ancient times, the emperors have ever handed down 3 regalias: the mirror, the sword and the bead. It seems that these were from the memory of the 3 holy treasures of ancient Israelites: the tablets of stone, Aaron’s cane and the jar of Manna. The bead, one of the regalias, is the shape of Hebrew yod, and could be pronounced “Yah.”

Going Up and Down

Because Emperor lives now in Tokyo, the Japanese say “going up to Tokyo” or “going down from Tokyo.” This is a traditional expression. The Chinese do not use such “Up-Down” expression, but ancient Israelites did (Genesis 46:4, I Kings 12:28, Mark 10:32).

Looking at Mt. Fuji

If you climb up the Tokyo Tower, the Skytree or use the Tokaido Shinkansen, you will see Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain which is the landmark at the center of Japan Islands. It looks a big gentle sloped mountain, but actually was formed by eruptions of 3 volcanos. Jerusalem is also formed with 3 mountains (Temple Mount, Mt. of Olives, Mt. Herzl). The 3 volcanos under Mt. Fuji looks also like the 3 pillars of the Kabbalah Sephirot.

DNA of the Japanese and Jews

DNA of the Japanese is very different from the ones of the Chinese and Koreans. Y-chromosome DNA of most of the Chinese and Koreans belong to haplogroup O, and about 50 % of the Japanese belong to haplogroup O, too. However, nearly 40 % of the Japanese belong to haplogroup D, which is rare in the world.

The Y-chromosome haplogroup D is found at high rate among the Japanese (40 %), as well as the Chiang (Qiang) people (23%) who lives in southwest China near Tibet and are considered by Amishav (a Jewish group searching the Lost Tribes of Israel) as descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, for they have numerous customs and tradition of ancient Israelites.

　Y-chromosome haplogroup D is also the compatriot of haplogroup E, for both have the same YAP clade, as D and E came from the common ancestor in the Middle East. Many Jews of both Ashkenazim and Sephardim belong to haplogroup E (20-30%). Especially about the E1b1b1 type of haplogroup E, the Family Tree DNA (a DNA test provider) mentions, “It is found in all Jewish populations, from Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Kurdish, Yemen, Samaritan and even among Djerba Jewish groups.”

　Most important is that the Samaritan Levite priests belong to haplogroup E. General Samaritans are of mixed blood; however, the Levite priests among them are not mixed. The Levites strictly have been inheriting the Israeli blood in the male line since ancient times (II Kings 17:24).

　Furthermore, many of the known descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel belong to haplogroup E or D. The Pathans in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are said to be descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, have haplogroup E remarkably. Uzbekistan Jews have haplogroup E (28 %). The Falasha, Ethiopian Jews, have haplogroup E (50 %). Igbo Jews in Nigeria have haplogroupE (90 %).

　Thus, the Y-chromosome haplogroup D or E is an important indicator of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

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