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Kyoto
The Old Capital was Built
by Ancient
Eastern Christians
Kyoto
in Autumn
Kyoto was built by the ancient
Christians Hata Clan
Kyoto had been the capital of Japan
for more than 1000 years (794-1869 A.D.). In those days, Kyoto was
called Heian-kyo, meaning city of peace,
which was the same as Jerusalem
which means city of peace in Hebrew.
Emperor Kanmu
(737-806) decided to move the capital to Kyoto, when the Hata
clan, who had been serving Emperors, helped building the Heian-kyo
capital with all their wealth, technologies and
loyalty.
The Hata
clan was a large group of ancient immigrants to Japan originally from
today’s
Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region, moving through China and Korea. They
immigrated to Japan in the 3rd -4th century A.D..
They
numbered 18,670 people in the 5th century and increased more later.
Researchers say that the Hata people were
originally
a part of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
who
converted to ancient Eastern Christianity when they had lived in the
Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region.
The homeland of the Hata
clan in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region was
called Yuzuki near Iri
River. In that region was the place Yamatu.
A Jewish
researcher Joseph Eidelberg says that the name Yamatu
came from the Hebrew word Yah-Umato which
means God’s
nation or Yahweh’s nation. Yamatu later
became
Yamato, old name of Japan.
The
homeland
of the Hata Clan, Yamatu
(Xinjiang-Uygur
Autonomous
Region)
In Kyoto’s Heian-kyo,
the Hata people mainly lived in Uzumasa
area (today’s
Ukyo-ku district). Professor Yoshiro
Saeki, who was a
famous scholar of the Nestorian Christianity, thought that the name
Uzumasa had
come from Ish-Mashiah, which meant Jesus
Christ in
Aramaic, the language that the ancient Eastern Christians used.
The Hata
Clan and their Christianity
The Hata
Clan was ancient Israeli Christians, and they brought Christian faith
into
Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, as follows:
Tripod
symbol
of God’s Trinity at Kaiko-no-Yashiro
(Kaiko-no-Yashiro)
In Uzumasa area, Kyoto city, the Hata
people built Kaiko-no-Yashiro
Shinto shrine, in which there is the symbol of their faith, called Mi-Hashira Torii, which is a tripod comprised
of 3 Torii
gates and it looks a triangle seen from above. Shinto scholars say
that this Mi-Hashira Torii is the symbol
of Zoka-Sanshin
(Three Gods of Creation).
The Shinto’s Three Gods of Creation
came from the Christian faith of God’s Trinity. The first god is
called Ame-no-minaka-nushi,
which means in Japanese the Lord who sits at the center of heaven,
representing
Christianity’s God the father. A Shinto scholar Ikarimaru
Watanabe (1837-1915) wrote that Ame-no-minaka-nushi is
the same as the
Biblical God Yahweh.
The second god is Takami-musuhi
which, according to Shinto’s ancient
documents and the book written by a Shinto scholar Yoshisada
Amabe, is the son of Ame-no-minaka-nushi.
Thus, Takami-musuhi represents God the
Son, Jesus Christ. And the
third god is Kami-musuhi, which is the
divinity who
prevails among believers on earth, representing God the Spirit (Holy
Spirit).
Thus, the Hata Clan’s Mi-Hashira
Torii is the symbol of God’s Trinity.
Today’s Shinto is often said to be
polytheism. But according to the book of Yoshisada
Amabe, ex-Shinto priest of Kono-jinja
shrine, Shinto religion before the 8th century A.D. had been
monotheism, belief
in One God.
Gion Fesival and Yasaka-jinja
shrine
(Gion
Festival)
Kyoto is famous for its Gion
Festival, which the Hata
Clan began after the Heian-kyo capital had
been
built. The main event of Gion Festival is
held every
year on July 17th, which represents the day when the ark of Noah
rested on the
mountains of Ararat (the 17th day of the 7th month, Genesis 8:4).
The Hata
people began the festival in the prayer that any pestilence might not
occur
among the nation. This was the same as the Israeli king Solomon who
began
festival (in the 7th month) in Jerusalem just after completion of the
Holy
Temple construction, with his prayer that any pestilence might not
occur among
the nation (I Kings 8:37). It was Zion Festival. Rabbi Marvin Tokayer
says that
this Zion Festival might become the Gion
Festival in
Japan.
Gion Fesitival is hosted by Yasaka-jinja shrine, which the Hata
Clan built. Joseph Eidelberg interprets that Yasaka
came from the Hebrew-Aramaic word Yah-sakka,
meaning faith
in God.
Fushimi Inari-taisha
Fushimi Inari-taisha
Shinto shrine in Kyoto city (Fushimi district) was founded by the Hata Clan. The shrine is the head of all Inari
shrines all
over Japan. The Inari shrine publishes the Inari God Document, on
which is
written “Look, God is one, and has no form. He is the Spirit…”
A special feature of this Inari
shrine is its red Torii gate. It is said that color red represents the
red
color of the blood applied to the house entrances of ancient
Israelites at the
night just before their exodus from Egypt.
Fushimi
Inari-taisha shrine
At Inari shrines you may often see
fox statues, but these fox statues were brought by a monk Kukai
(9th century A.D.) and before him, there were no such statues.
Researchers say that the word Inari
came from INRI, which were the initials of “Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the
Jews” in Latin written on the head of Jesus on the cross. Since there
was no
letter representing “N” sound in ancient Japan, the Hata
clan used “Na” (of Nazareth) instead of “N”, and called it INaRI.
In fact, in the times of Heian-kyo,
streets of old Kyoto city were in a grid pattern,
which was different from today’s one. The pattern consists of
rectangle and
square districts. If you see only rectangle districts, you will see a
T-shaped
cross, on which Jesus was crucified. At the location of Jesus head was
the
emperor’s palace.
Above the location of Jesus head is
Mt. Funaoka, an elevated hill which was
the landmark
used to determine the location of the main street of the city. On Mt.
Funaoka is the original INaRI
shrine, which is small but older than Fushimi Inari shrine. The
original INaRI shrine is located at the
very place of INRI plate of
Jesus’ cross.
Koryu-ji Temple
The Hata
Clan usually built Shinto shrines, which were actually Christian
Shinto (Shinto
means the way of God) worship places or churches. But in Kyoto city
there is also
a big Buddhist temple built by the Hata
people,
namely Koryu-ji temple (Ukyo-ku,
Uzumasa. Built in 603A.D.). Today’s Koryu-ji looks quite like Buddhist’s; however,
it was in
old times very different from Buddhism.
In around 1800 A.D., a scholar Kinjo
Ota visited Koryu-ji and said, “This is
not a
Buddhist temple, but it seems it is a Nestorian Christian temple.” In
fact, Koryu-ji in old times was called Hachioka
temple. It is said that the name Hachioka
came from Pharsikhok temple, which was
the name of Nestorian church
in old China, meaning Persian church.
Maitreya Buddha and Orthodox icon of
Christ
The shape of their hands means the faith in God of Trinity.
Koryu-ji has the statue of Maitreya
Buddha that a
leader of the Hata Clan, Kawakatsu
Hata (7th century)
,
treasured. The nature of the statue is at the shape of his hand. The Maitreya’s right hand has 2 fingers touching
each other, forming
a triangle, and the other 3 fingers stretching. This is the same as
the hand
symbol that Eastern Christians, including Nestorian Christians, often
used to express
faith in God of Trinity. The same hand symbol is seen at many
paintings of Nestorians
and Eastern Christians.
The faith in Maitreya
Buddha was born when the apostle Thomas went to India and preached the
Gospel
of Christ. The idea of Christ (Messiah) came into Large Vehicle
Buddhism, and Christ
of the time of his second coming in the future was called Maitreya.
Thus, the Hata Clan had been worshipping
Jesus
Christ, treasuring the statue of Maitreya.
Next to Koryu-ji
temple is a well called Isarai, which
meant Israel in
old China. It was Jacob’s well or Israel’s well. It is said that there
were 12 such
wells in that vicinity in old times. Also next to Koryu-ji
is Ohsake-jinja shrine. It is small
today, but it was
a big shrine in old times. The original inscription with Chinese
(Kanji) letters
of Ohsake was Davi,
which
meant David in old China. So, it was David Shrine. Israeli king David
was an
excellent player of harp and dance, and Ohsake-jinja
calls
him the ancestor of orchestra and dance. Jesus was called the coming
David in
the Old Testament. Thus, Koryu-ji and Ohsake-jinja were originally a church and
worship place of
the Christian Hata people.
Matsunoo-taisha Shrine
Matsunoo-taisha Shrine (Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto
city), founded
by the Hata Clan, has many believers of
Japanese sake
(rice wine) makers. Since there were no grapes to produce wine in
Japan, the Hata people invented rice
wine, because wine was
indispensable in worshipping at the ancient Israeli temple and Shinto
shrines. Matsunoo-taisha has a legend
that water turned into rice
wine overnight. It is much like the story of Jesus who turned water
into wine
at a wedding night.