Tag Archives: Japan
Was Japan’s First Emperor a Chinese Refugee?
Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇 Jimmu-Tenno), whose name means “Divine Might” is the legendary founder of Japan’s Imperial House and a direct descendent of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. His rule is said to have been between 660 and 585 BC. Today, Emperor Akihito can claim, through an unbroken line of succession, direct descent from Jimmu. Jimmu himself is […]
The Honjo Masamune: A Lost Japanese Treasure
The katana, or samurai sword, is famed throughout the world for being the perfection of sword design. It has become the symbol of the samurai class, and Japan as a whole, to the outside world. To the Japanese the katana is also a symbol of their culture and national pride. During the Meiji restoration at […]
The Japanese Schindler
As of January 2012, 24, 356 people from 47 nations were recognised by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority based in Jerusalem, as Righteous Among the Nations. These people have all been recognised for their sacrifices, risking life or liberty, to save Jews from the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II. In […]
The Lost Tribes, Nestorians and Christ in Japan.
In 2005 Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar recognized the Kuki-Mizo, a Tibeto-Burmese people in northern India, as one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Since then there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the issuing of visas by Israel to these people but on Christmas eve 2012 the Israeli government decided to let them emigrate. These […]
The Hidden Christians of Japan
In 1549 three Catholic missionaries landed in Kagoshima, Japan intent on spreading the word of God to this new land. They were Francis Xavier (later made a saint), Cosme de Torres and Father John Fernandes. They would meet with great success and at its height the number of converts would number 300,000 including members of […]
Yasuke: The African Samurai
Japan is not a place one would usually associate with immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean. Yet in the late 16th century Japan’s most powerful warlord, Oda Nobunaga, had a black page who was not only a cultural curiosity but also served as Nobunaga’s bodyguard and was granted the prestigious rank of Samurai. This was […]
The Shaman Queen of Yamatai
Quick note: My Japanese is not very good and my written Japanese is even worse and so please forgive any mistakes made in spelling and meanings of various names. Japan has an ancient history which is intimately connected with the time when gods inhabited the Earth. The line of Emperors to this day is considered […]
The Republic of Ezo: Japanese Separatism or Expansionism?
Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido is different to the rest of Japan in many ways. The first thing that one notices is the amount of space available. The capital city of Sapporo is a place of wide streets and houses of a decent size, rather than the cramped apartments of other major cities in Japan. Hokkaido […]
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