Abraham Ikuro Teshima and "Makuya"

Abraham Ikuro Teshima (1910-1973) was the greatest contributor to the hypothesis of the origin of the Japanese from the Lost Tribes. Teshima created the Zionist Christian movement "Makuya" in Japan (The word "Makuya" is the Japanese translation of Ohel Moed, the meeting place between God and man, the dwelling place of God’s Shekhinah (Ex.29:42:43).
His admiration for Jews Teshima explained not only religious belief, but an influence of the blood too. He said that Japanese also are a part of the Lost Tribes. "It is found that the blood types of the Japanese are closest to those of the inhabitants of Palestine. May be on this ground of "blood relationship” the Makuya people feel such a special love and affinity toward Israel", - he said.
In the beginning, his movement was comprised of tens around 20 people. Today there is more than 50 thousand followers of Abraham Ikuro Teshima in Japan, the Far East states, the USA, Mexico and Brazil.
Teshima arrived in Israel ten years prior to the Six-Day War, lodged in the kibbutz Nir David, near the mountain Gilboa, and created the "Heftsiba group". After some time the Makuya movement established their own kibbutz – "Heftsiba".
Just before the Six-Day War, Prof. Teshima set up the "Israel Emergency Relief Committee of Japan”. And when the war broke out, he hurriedly flew to Israel with relief goods. "Before long a fatal blow from heaven will be dealt Nasser", – he declared. Prior to his departure for homeland Israel Ambassador in Japan Moshe Bartur told that his words were prophetical.
Members of "Makuya" did not confine themselves to appeals and propagation. In 1967 the newspaper "The Jerusalem post" published a photo of Shlomo Ono, who tried to save wounded inhabitant of Jerusalem during the assault of the Jordanian army and was seriously wounded in the head, arms and legs. He became one of many members of "Makuya" who were ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Israel.
... Every year in on the same day, one can witness an interesting phenomenon. In the center of Jerusalem thousand people pass in traditional Japanese attires, holding Israeli flags. Hieroglyphs are intertwined into a menorah pattern, the gold of Hebrew letters lights up with the light of a red sun on a white background (Japanese flag).
Teshima showed that Japanese are descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. According to him, the Hada (or Hata) clan (Teshima deciphers this name, as Yehuda) was part of the Lost Tribes. According to the Japanese, historical tradition, the Hada got over onto the Japanese islands in the 3-4 century AD under the invitation of the Japanese emperor. They soon became a leading force on the Japanese islands, and established a new branch of the imperial dynasty.
This tribe had 11 000 armed soldiers and surpassed local tribes in Japan not only in military art, but also in progress of civilization. In particular, specifies Teshima, Hada brought the knowledge of silk onto the islands.
Teshima compared ancient Hebrew folklore and culture to passages of the Japanese mythological texts Kojiki (Earliest Japanese history and mythology, prior to Chinese influence) and Nihongi (A slighter later version done in the Chinese style).
In particular, he underlined a similarity in emblems of the Hebrew tribe of Zebulon and a tribe of Hada – a sailing boat. According to Teshima they left Kagome crest at some of Shinto's oldest and most important shrines; the crest, a relatively simple shape, is a six-pointed star identical to the Star of David.
According to Teshima, there was a tradition before the Second World War in Japan, according to which a newborn child got a kimono (white for a boy, and red for a girl). On the inside of the kimono was embroidered the Star of David, or "Magen David". (After the war old traditions gave way to modern European clothes, and the customof presenting a newborn with a Kimano disappeared). Moreover, continued Teshima, there were traditionally 12 stitches on the "Magen David". Teshima connected this custom with the 12 Tribes of Israel.
He wrote also that tombs of a clan of Hada were very similar in design to Jewish burial places.
Teshima found similarities in names of two nations. So, the name an old part of Kyoto was Heian, which means on Japanese "Peace". Сity of Heian in Japanese means Heian Kyo ("a City of Peace"). It coincides with the Jewish decoding of Jerusalem – "a City of Peace" too.

Avraham Kotsuji

One unique researcher of this subject was Professor Avraham Setzuso Kotsuji. Kotsuji was born in 1900 in Kiyoto into an aristocratic Japanese family. His father was a prominent Shinto priest, descended from a long-line of well-known priests. Kiyoto was the center of the Shinto religion and Setzuso's father hoped that his son study for the priesthood.
After marrying, Setzuso began to study Tanah and Hebrew at Monmouth College in New Jersey, USA). He began to learn Hebrew language and grammar and became the leading expert in this area in the country. In the late thirties he published a number of articles proving that a part of the Japanese tribes came from the Lost Tribes which got over on islands.
When Manchuria was conquered by Japan in 1939, the Emperor invited Professor Kotsuji to serve as his Jewish Affairs Advisor. Professor Kotsuji accepted this offer and moved to Harbin, where he remained for a few years.
Learning Hebrew and Jewish history caused him deep sympathy and interest to Jewry. After he returned home from Manchuria, he started actively helping Jews who were running from Nazi-occupied Europe, procuring entry visas and prolongation of visas (Visas were given by the Japanese authorities for some months and then refugees got deported from the country which actually doomed them to death).
Professor Kotsuji bribed the officials with large sums of money, which he borrowed from his wealthy brother-in-law. He repaid the debt himself. As a result of Prof. Kotsuji's intervention, the Japanese authorities agreed to extend the refugees' visas several times, letting them stay for eight months instead of the original two-week period. Later, when the Japanese decided to banish the Jews from Japan, they did not expel them completely but instead deported them to Shanghai, China, which was then under Japanese rule. When anti-Semitism in Japan, a country which had barely any Jews, intensified to the point that high ranking Japanese leaders publicly blamed the Jews for both World Wars, Professor Kotsuji countered these accusations and portrayed the Jewish Nation as highly ethical and as the Chosen Nation to whom G-d bequeathed the true faith. He published a book, titled "The True Character of the Jewish Nation". In his book Kotsuji exploded all of the German myths and lies about the Jews.
"Divine Providence has brought thousands of unfortunate refugees to our shores, so that we should grant them a safe haven, where they will find peace and tranquility. This is our mission in life. Let us not betray it", - he said.
Professor Kotsuji was warned by many that he was risking his life by publishing such material and delivering his lectures. He was accused of encouraging that plot and of abetting Japan's enemies, the Jews. Kotsuji was arrested and interrogated under torture.
Then a miracle occurred. At the peak of the interrogation, a high-ranking Japanese colonel who knew Professor Kotsuji very well suddenly appeared at the prison where the professor was being held. The colonel was startled to see one of Japan's most-respected academics incarcerated on blatantly false charges and locked up with criminals. Immediately, the colonel demanded that Professor Kotsuji be released, and that all of the charges against him be dropped. This incident heightened Professor Kotsuji's already strong belief in the Divine, and induced him to conclude that the Creator protects those who defend Jewry.
In 1959, sixty-year-old Professor Setzuso Kotsuji converted to Judaism. He was renamed Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji and warmly welcomed to the Jewish faith by his friends from the Mirrer Yeshiva. Professor Avraham Kotsuji spent the final years of his life in Brooklyn's fervently-Orthodox community. The heads of the Mirrer Yeshivah formed a special committee that rallied to his aid and raised money to support and care for all of his needs. He dead in 1973, and wished to be buried in Jerusalem. Kotsuji asserted that a tribe of Hada – the ancient Jews came via the Silk way to China, and from there, came over to Japan.

Research of Arimasa Kubo

Arimasa Kubo                                One more detailed research proving the origin of the Japanese from the Lost Tribes, belongs to modern Japanese researcher, Christian Arimasa Kubo.
Arimasa Kubo was born in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, in 1955. He graduated from the Tokyo Bible Seminary in 1982. Today, he is the chief writer for a Christian magazine "Remnant," and representative of "Remnant Publishing." He is also involved in a wide range of projects to promote understanding of the Bible.
He is author of a number of books, including the book written in English "Science Comes Close to the Bible” (ACW Press), and the books written in Japanese "Israelites Came to Ancient Japan” "Japan-Israel, A Sealed Ancient History 2 - Buddhism & Eastern Christianity Edition” and "The World of Scientific Creationism.”
His books have been translated into English, Korean and Taiwanese, and are widely read. He was also the translator for "Nihon-Yudaya, Huin no Kodaishi” (Japan-Israel, A Sealed Ancient History) written by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer and published in Japanese in 1999 by Tokuma-shoten.
Kubo wrote that at first, he was not at all interested in this subject: "Even when I heard someone Japanese says that Israelites came to ancient Japan and might become the ancestors of the Japanese, I did not believe it. Japan is located far away from Israel. Japanese faces do not like the ones of the Jews. How can I say that Israelites were a part of the ancestors of the Japanese?.
But later, I chanced to read a book entitled, "The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”, written by Joseph Eidelberg. I also read the book published in Tokyo in Japanese entitled, "Yudaya to Nihon: Nazo no Kodaishi” (The Jews and the Japanese: Its Secret History), written by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer.
It was also eye-opening to me, and I was very surprised to know that there are so many things in Japan which seem to have originated from the ancient Israelites”.
Kubo wrote his own book, based, on research of many authors including Joseph Eidelberg, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, Zen'ichiro Oyabe, Eiji Kawamorita, Ikuro Teshima, and Juji Nakada.
He wrote: "In Nagano prefecture, Japan, there is a grand Shinto shrine named "Suwa-taisha" (Taisha means large shrine). At Suwa-taisha shrine, the traditional feast called "Ontohsai" is held on April 15 every year. This feast illustrates the story of Isaac in chapter 22 of Genesis in the Bible - when Abraham was about to sacrifice his own son, Isaac.
… At the back of the shrine, there is a mountain which the people of Suwa have been calling "Mt. Moriya” (Moriya-san in Japanese) since immemorial past.
The name "Moriya" sounds almost the same as the Hebrew word for "Moriah” (in Hebrew "Moriyah"), in other words, Temple Mount of Jerusalem, which is the very place where Abraham was about to sacrifice Issac. (Genesis 22:2).
… At the Japanese "Ontohsai” feast, a boy under the age of 15 was chosen. He had a ceremony for purification, and was tied up by a rope to a wooden pillar. Then the boy and the pillar were laid down on a bamboo carpet.
When a Shinto priest comes to him preparing a knife, he brings down the knife and put a scar on the top of the wooden pillar without hurting the boy. After that, a messenger (another priest) comes there making noise by ringing bells, then the boy is released.
… This is reminiscent of the Biblical story in which Isaac was tied up by a rope, laid down on wood as an altar, about to be killed by Abraham’s knife, but was released after an angel came and stopped Abraham.
At the "Ontohsai” feast, animal sacrifices were also offered. 75 deer were sacrificed, but among them it was believed that there was one deer "with its ear split.” The deer was considered to be the one which "the God provided”.
… It may have some connection with the "ram” which the Bible tells that God "provided” to Abraham after Isaac was released. Abraham sacrificed the ram in place of Isaac as an offering to God. According to the Bible, its ram was "caught in the thicket by the horns,” and could not get out even with struggling, the ear might have been split, which is similar to the deer’s ear of Suwa which was split.
In the museum near Suwa-taisha shrine, I saw a stuffed head of the sacrificed deer displayed. The right ear was split.
… Is there any other country than Japan which has this kind of feast which appears to illustrate the story of Abraham and Isaac? As far as I know, no. We cannot think of it as the knowledge or custom taught by the Chinese, Koreans nor other Asians.
…Two years ago, my friend went to Israel and saw a Passover feast on Mt. Gerizim in Samaria, where several hundred Samaritans still live. My friend asked a Samaritan priest how many rams were offered at the Passover.
According to my friend, the priest answered that they used to offer 75 in old days, although they now offer less. It is interesting to note that this number 75 is the same as the number of the deer offered at Suwa-taisha shrine in Japan since ancient days.
… In ancient times of Japan there were no sheep, and it might be the reason why they used deer (Deer is Kosher, permitted food for Israelites, as well as sheep). Even in historic times, Japanese people thought that this custom of deer sacrifice was strange, because animal sacrifice is not a Shinto’s general tradition (But some places of Japan had the custom of animal sacrifice.)
…Today, this custom of the boy about to be sacrificed and then released, and the deer sacrifice are no longer practiced. But we can still see the feast itself, although people currently use stuffed deer instead of performing a real animal sacrifice. We can also see the custom of the wooden pillar called "oniye-basira," meaning "sacrifice-pillar," on which the boy was tied up".
Further, says Kubo, there is an obvious similarity in Hebrew and old Japanese ceremonies.
- Kube found parallels between the religious black box of Japanese, called "Yamabushi" and the Jewish tefilin. "Yamabushi" is a religious man in training unique to Japan. Today, they are thought to belong to Japanese Buddhism. However, Buddhism in China, Korea and India have no such custom. The custom of "yamabushi" existed in Japan before Buddhism was imported into Japan in the 6th century C.E.., - he explained. - "Yamabushi" puts on his forehead a black small box, which is called in Japanese a "tokin", tied to his head with a black cord. This black box greatly resembles a Jewish black box known as Tefilin (or phylactery), which is tied to forehead with a black cord. The size of the black box "tokin" is almost the same as the Jewish Tefilin. The Jewish Tefilin is cubic-shaped, while the Japanese "tokin” is round and a flower-like. Concerning this, a Jewish researcher, Mr. Geoff Melnick, gave me an email and let me know that the ancient Jewish record, the Mishna, specifically mentions "round Tefilin.” (Megillah 4:8) It cautions against the use, but this means that round Tefilin was known in Judea at least two thousand years ago”.
Kube wrote that the "yamabushi" use a big seashell as a horn which is very similar to the Jews blowing a shofar or ram's horn. "I imagine that having no sheep in Japan, the "yamabushi" had to use seashell horns instead of rams' horns”, - he concluded.

- According to Kubo, the structure of the Japanese Shinto Shrine is similar to God's Tabernacle of ancient Israel. The inside of God's tabernacle in ancient Israel was divided into two parts. The first was the Holy of Holies, and the second was the Holy Place. The Japanese Shinto shrine is also divided into two and have both the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place.
The functions performed in the Japanese 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 special 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.
- As Suwa-taisha shrine (grand Shinto shrine in Nagano prefecture) has "Mikoshi” ark, other shirines also have "Mikoshi” ark. This resembles the Ark of the Covenant of ancient Israel in shape, purpose and other customs around it.
The Bible tells in First Chronicles, chapter 15, that Israel King David brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord into Jerusalem.
The shape of the Japanese 'Mikoshi' appears similar to the Ark of the Covenant.
Japanese carry the "Mikoshi" on their shoulders with poles - usually two poles. So did the ancient Israelites:
"The Levites carried the ark of God with poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD." (1 Chronicles 15:15)
The Israeli Ark of the Covenant had two poles (Exodus 25:10-15).
The Israeli Ark had two statues of gold cherubim on its top. Cherubim are a type of angel, heavenly being having wings like birds. Japanese "Mikoshi" also have on its top the gold bird called "Ho-oh" which is an imaginary bird and a mysterious heavenly being.
- Kubo wrote that in ancient Israel, although the high priest wore a colorful robe, ordinary priests wore simple white linen. Priests wore white robes at holy events. Japanese priests also wear white robes at holy events. Buddhist priests wear luxurious colorful robes, but in the Japanese Shinto religion, white is regarded as the holiest color.
The robe of Japanese Shinto priest has cords of 20-30 centimeters long (about 10 inches) hung from the corners of the robe. These fringes are similar to those of the ancient Israelites, for Deuteronomy 22:12 says:
"Make them fringes in the four corners of their garments throughout their generations".
- Kubo pay attention to other similar feathers in rituals of two people: for example, waving a tree branch during celebration Sukkot by Jews and sanctifying someone or something by Japans. Japanese Shinto priest waves a tree branch or a "harainusa" which is made of a stick and white papers and looks like a plant. Is it accidental stimulatory? It’s difficult to assert anything decisively. Kubo brings, however, the impression of a Japanese woman, who was present at the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, in the U.S.. "A Japanese Christian woman acquaintance of mine used to think of this "harainusa" as merely a pagan custom. But she later went to the U.S.A. and had an opportunity to attend a Sukkot feast held among Jews. When she saw a rabbi waving the sheaf of the harvest, she shouted in her heart: "Oh, this is the same as the one a Japanese priest does! Here lies the home for the Japanese", - wrote Kubo.
- Kubo found numerous other similarities in rituals and traditions of the two people, for example, salt use at various ceremonies, and menstrual purification.
Just like Teshima, he specified rare coincidence of blood structure between the Jews and Japanese and referred to Professor Tanemoto Furuhata, authority on forensic medicine at Tokyo University. Professor Furuhata mentioned in his book that surprisingly the features of the blood types of the Japanese are very similar to the Jews.
- During Japanese New Years, Japanese prepare "mochi” (rice Matzah). "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. Among the Sephardi Jews, there is a custom to make "matzah” from rice. Thus, the Japanese in old times ate the Japanese "matzah” (mochi) throughout the "7 days” from the 15th day of the first month just as the Israelites did. And just as the Israelites ate with "bitter herbs" on the 15th day of the first month (Exodus 12:8), the ancient Japanese ate with 7 bitter herbs on the 15th of the first month.
The Japanese clean their houses thoroughly before the coming of New Year's Day. My wife and I get very tired for the cleaning of our house at the end of every year. The Jews, who looked at the Japanese cleaning of their houses, would think, "Oh, this is the same custom as ours!",- Kubo told.
- Japans hold the "Obon” harvest feast on the 15th day of the 8th month according to solar calendar. "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, 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). …That is, on the day when the Japanese are celebrating "Jugo-ya,” the Jews are celebrating the Feast of Booths. On the day of "jugo-ya,” the Japanese used to 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 of Autumn”.
- In Old Shintoism, there is a ceremony of atonement called Ooharai, which is a ritual to expel all the sins and impurity of the nation. In the ceremony of Ooharai, the emperor comes there wearing a white linen clothes, which means a shabby figure. After the ritual, the clothes are placed on a small boat and let flow the river.
The thought of Ooharai is similar to the thought of the Hebrew Scriptures, for this Japanese custom resembles the Israeli custom of the scapegoat, which was a ritual held by the high priest of Israel at the temple of Jerusalem.
The high priest prayed laying his hands on the head of the goat, let the goat bear all the sins of the people of Israel, took the goat to a solitary land, and looked at the goat vanish beyond the horizon, when the people were grateful for that their sins were took away with the scapegoat to a land which cannot be seen and that God would not also look at their sins anymore.
- Also Kubo paid attention to the traditional Japanese custom of taking off shoes and washing feet, before coming into a house like the ancient Jews did.
The Japanese emperor, in the first year of his accession to the throne, performs the Daijou-sai (the big harvest feast), when he changes his clothes to white ones and come forward to god with his feet naked. There he receives oracle of god and becomes true emperor and leader of the nation.
This resembles a thought in the Bible. When Moses came forward to God, he put off his shoes and became barefoot (Exodus 3:5). So did Joshua (Joshua 5:15). There they received oracle of God and became true leaders of the nation. When the Japanese come into their house, they put off their shoes, too. The Western and the Chinese come into their house with their shoes on, but the Japanese do not. Until the beginning of Meiji-era (about 100 years ago), there was a custom in Japan to prepare a washtub with water or hot water for a person who walked outside to wash his/her feet before entering the house. The ancient Israelites had also the custom of washing their feet; there are several descriptions about washing feet in the Bible (Judges 19:21, etc.). Washing feet before entering a house was a daily custom of the ancient Israelites and the Japanese.

Interested by amazing searching of Arimasa Kubo I wrote him letter with request to questions to my questions and got quick and detailed answer. I publish my interview here.
- Do you have followers in Japan?
- No academic scholars admit this subject publicly in Japan. But the public people who are interested in it are indeed increasing. The other day, I appeared at a major TV program in Japan entitled "Japan's Mystery: Is the Roots of the Japanese Israel?" The program got a high rate of people's view.
- Can collective memory of Japanese people preserve connection with Jews? (According to Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail few refugees from Nazi Germany recollected that Japanese people meet them with exclamations "You are our brothers!")
- Since about 100 years ago, there have been Japanese people who believed that the Japanese are the descendants of the Israelites. The people who said "You are our brothers!" were one of them. The people are not majority yet, and I think we need more certain evidences to have the most Japanese people convince that the Israelites came to ancient Japan and formed many Japanese traditions.
- Your suggested version that Lost Tribes adopted Christianity in version of Nestorians and than arrived to Japan. But we didn't find any evidence of such phenomenon.
- In 1841, a book entitled, The Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes - Evidence of their Identity, was published in New York. This was written by Asahel Grant, medical missionary, who spent abundance of time in the 19th century with the believers of Keikyo (Nestorian Christianity) in the Near East. Grant claims that everyone in the areas of Persia (Iran), Iraq, Armenia, and Kurdistan thinks that the Keikyo people are the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, and they indeed behave in manners very close to the Tribes of Israel. Their language is Aramaic which was the ancient Israeli and Middle Eastern language. They do not eat the foods forbidden in the Bible. They have Hebrew and Israeli-sounding names like Abraham, Joshua, Benjamin, Dan, Joseph, etc.. They have other ceremonies as the tithe, sacrifices, first fruit, Sabbath observance like the Jews, as they do not cook or use fire for cooking on the Sabbath, have fast days similar to the Jews and a Holy of Holies similar to the Jews, observe Passover, circumcision and baptism on the 8th day, and live in the manner of the ancient tribes of Israel. They also have cities of refuge taught in the Hebrew Bible (Numbers chapter 35). When anyone have committed an accidental murder, he would have a place to escape in safety. All of these are found in the ancient Israeli tradition. Ikuro Teshima told that once meet Swedish missionaries Rev. & Mrs. Brom who had been working there for evangelism past 50 years. They said to him: "In the outback of China live the descendants of ancient Keikyo Christians. Many of them are now under the influence of superstition of Dao jiao or became Muslims or Catholics.... The Keikyo people came to China passing the Silk Road. It is important to note that they are actually Israeli Christians. They are Israelites". Thus, we can know that in the East, even when the Israelites became Christians, they kept the customs and traditions of their ancestors abundantly as Israelites. So, unlike the Western Christianity, Nestorian Christianity was the one which kept some Jewishness of the first century's Christianity, and I think that among the Lost Tribes, there were some who did not feel hard to accept the faith. I think there were some Nestorian Christians who were the descendants of the Israelites, like you find Islamic people who were the descendants of the Israelites among the Pashtuns. I think there were 3 waves. One is the Lost Tribes of Israel who formed Shinto in Japan. The next was the Hata clan who developed Shinto in Japan. There are theories that they were also the descendants of the Israelites. And the third was the Nestorians who came to Japan and gave some influences. - If it was truth, how Nestorian Christianity could match with Shintoism and why we didn't see any mentions about Jesus Christ in Japanese mythology?
- The Japanese mythology mentions 3 gods who firstly appeared. They are called "Zoka San-shin" which means 3 gods of creation. One is Ame-no-minaka-nushi, who sits in the center of heaven and Lord, and is like God the Father. The next is Takami-musuhi, who is his son according to the genealogy kept in Komo-jinja shrine in Kyoto. He would be like Jesus, And the third is Kamu-musuhi, who is the spirit prevailing in the people on earth. He would be like the Holy Spirit. At Kaiko-no-Yashiro shrine, which the Hata clan built in Kyoto, you will find a tripod object standing in a pond. It is a symbol of the Trinity of the 3 gods. Thus, I find some influence of Christianity on Shinto, not only the influences of Judaism.

Letters in Hebrew, "Israel" in hieroglyphs and a secret room of the Mikado

Historians engaged in the study of early Japanese painting, point to interesting parallels. The VII century picture of the first king of Japan from the Hata tribe, jima-Tana, is depicted on a barge with oars in his hands, and surrounded by his troops, servants and slaves. They drew attention to the weapons of the king and his nobles. They accurately imitated weapons, of warriors in the Assyrian Empire. There were no similar swords or daggers on the Japanese miniatures, but they were widely presented in Assyrian chronicles. This is doubtless confirmation that the army which came to Japan, arrived from the depths of Asia. (Though, we should notice, this fact didn’t mean that this army was one of the Lost Tribes).
Professor Joseph Eidelberg in his book "The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel” paid attention to the linguistic similarity of the Jewish and Japanese languages.
Eidelberg wrote that one of the halls in a Shinto temple, Japanese clerics named "Hondan" which is translated as "The Book Hall", though it is known that there weren’t any books there. It reminds me, wrote Eidelberg, of the description of the "holy of holies" of the Temple, containing the Torah scrolls.
Extraordinary and curious historic fact: during the Second World War one of the princes from the imperial family came to a member of the Jewish community in Harbin (Manchuria), and asked him to find the Jewish woman who would teach his bride the laws of ritual purity.
Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail confirms the version of Abraham Ikuro Teshima, Avraham Kotsuji, Arimasa Kubo. He wrote about the recollections of refugees from Lithuania during the Second World War. Japanese met them with the words: "We are brothers, we are part of Israel!". He also recollected the headings of Japanese newspapers of that time: "The People of God arrive to Japan".
Avichail found an article in the newspaper Haarets, written in the 30s. According to this article, there was a sacred room in the palace of the emperor Mikado. In this room there are objects with Jewish symbols: in particular, the broken Tables and a miniature model of the Holy Ark. Other articles of the time described a mirror on the back side of which was written the name of the Jewish God.
Avichail wrote that within an hour’s drive from Kyoto, on a small island called Oagi, there is a construction similar to the Holy Ark, with inscriptions in Hebrew.
Avichail referred to the prophecy of Isaiah (49:12): "Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. (Sin means "China" in ancient Hebrew).

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer: The secret remains secret...

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer (Author photo)
If Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail devoted his life to collecting of the Lost Tribes, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer never put before himself of a similar task. Ironic, a bit derisive, judicious, with refined manners, he makes impression of the inveterate skeptic. Born in Hungary, he moved to America and there joined the Chabad movement. In the 60s, the Lubavitcher Rebbe asked him to go to Japan, because there weren’t any rabbis in the far east. "Why did he choose me? – Tokayer says with a smile, talking about himself in the Jerusalem hotel - Melachim Shlomo. - simple! Because I knew, besides for English, several languages, including Hebrew, and the Jewish community in the Far East were of European decent. "There was a small group of the Jews during the post-war time in Japan, about two or three hundred persons. They were both refugees from Europe, and natives of Manchuria. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Soviet intrusion into Manchuria they got over from Harbin to Shanghai, and after the Mao’s victory – for the Japanese islands. Today only one elderly woman with Russian roots remained from this community in Japan, he said. However Tokayer still has remained the chief Rabbi of Japan.
Marvin Tokayer did not think about the origin of the Japanese people until he discovered some curious facts. For example, he recalled already mentioned memories of Scot McLeod who arrived in Japan in 1867 and wrote the book about Japan. «He was a drunk, but he had a trained eye», - Tokayer laughed.
For the sake of curiosity Tokayer became interested in the research of the Japanese themselves. "The current generation of Japanese is absolutely indifferent to who they are and what their roots are. All that interests them is money. But before the war, these questions interested and agitated them. It is known that modern Japanese people are the descendants of immigrants who came to Japan more than a thousand years ago. But who were these settlers? The question remained unanswered. There were no chronicles in Japan as in Medieval Europe; there was no written tradition. And then, evidence that the Japanese, by their rites, rituals, and traditions, are culturally closer to Jews than to their Chinese or Koreans neighbors began to appear. For example, Tokayer noted, Japanese, unlike other Far East people, don’t have statues of God. Their temples of Shinto are very similar to the structure of the Jewish Temple. The altars in the temples of Shinto are turned not to the East, as in local religions, but on the West. The clothes of the clerics (including the laces similar on tzizit, of white color and linen manufacture) are extremely similar to the clothes of the Jewish priests, and have nothing in common with clothes of Koreans or Chinese. People in an ancient temple of Shinto near the city of Nagoya light candles in a candlestick made in the form of a Magen David.
There was a sacred spring on which was written «Edo Isuray» in Kyoto, he continued. «Edo» means "spring" in Japanese. «Isuray» in Japanese is ... Israel. This inscription has existed here since the most ancient times. Who and why has left it? It is not known... There are masks with obviously Semitic features on facades of many houses in the same Kyoto.

(It’s part of my interview with Marvin Tokayer during his visit to Jerusalem)
- How do the academic circles of Japan react to such a hypotheses?
- They don’t. There is plenty of similar evidence and facts, but, unfortunately, they require a thorough study and confirmation. This must be done by professional historians, but they do not show any interest to the subject. All research on this subject is done by Christians - supporters of Israel, like Kubo or Tesimo. But they are not professionals.
- Avraham Kotsuji was the professional historian…
- Yes, but he only put forward assertions... I knew him personally, he died in my arms.
- How do you treat stories about Jewish secrets in the room of the Mikado?
- There are stories with descriptions of the mirror of Mikado and Hebrew letters on it, but there is no substantial evidence of this till now.
- What about the Kubo’s descriptions of the Japanese ritual similar to Jewish one on Moriah mount in Jerusalem where Abraham was about to sacrifice Issac?
- There are no doubts that such tradition has deep roots. But it is not clear whence it descends. Some researchers assume that it was adopted by Japanese at Christians. But it appeared much more before missionaries arrived here. And it's interesting that the Japanese are very picky in compliance with a number of specific parts, which is characteristic of the Jews. For example, the sacrificial deer must have a split horn, as is customary in Jewish tradition.
- How do you treat this version? It seems very improbable.
- Why? We can assert that a relatively small group of people from the Land of Israel came to the Far East, and came over to Japan. With a much more advanced culture, it had a great impact on the primitive tribes who lived here and influenced their development. In the history such phenomena isn’t rare.
- Have American or Israeli historians tried to research this subject?
- No. The major problem is language. Japanese is very difficult for Europeans. There are few enthusiasts in Israel, like Joseph Eidelberg, but they also, are not professional historians.
- And what about archeological excavations?
- The Japanese laws strictly forbid opening tombs, burial places or gravestone monuments.
- How do today's Japanese treat Jews?
- With respect and a certain degree of alertness. A Jew for the Japanese is an extremely capable, intelligent, and educated man. The most famous Jews in Japan are Freud, Marx, and Kissinger. They are interested in things associated with Jews. Some time ago I published a book on Japanese «Hohmat the Talmud» («Wisdom of the Talmud»). In the beginning nobody paid it any attention, but now it has become a bestseller.
- Anti-Semitic myths were popular at one time in Japan...
- Yes, Arabs paid significant sums for publications of books like The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion. Such books were sold for fabulously low prices and were unprofitable. At first they were popular, but then interest in them decreased, and now they are not popular at all. Mistrust of Jews by Japanese is connected with their mistrust to of Western people. But there is no real anti-Semitism here.