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A discussion, covering Japan’s early history.
Our appreciation of Reiki begins with understanding the environment from which it came. Japan has a very rich history and is a culture of legend. The Japanese name for Japan is Nihon, and in some cases Nippon, which translates in English as sunrise, or more popularly, “Land of the Rising Sun.” Interestingly, it is taught in Ninzuwu culture that the Sumerians themselves migrated from ancient Japan during prehistoric times. Michael Rice, in a book entitled, Egypt’s Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000-2000 BCE, states:
“In Sumerian texts which celebrate Dilmun various epithets are customarily attached to it, by which it is represented as a paradisial place where the gods dwelt and in which numerous act of creation took place. It is called the Land of Crossing, the Land where the Sun Rises (for the Land is situated in the Sea of the Rising Sun) and throughout its literature particular emphasis is placed on Dilmun’s purity.”
In ancient Sumerian texts, Dlmun is described as “the Land where the Sun Rises,” which is situated in the “Sea of the Rising Sun.” It was also described by the Sumerians, like the Mountain of Nizir among the Chaldeans, as a land where the gods dwelt and a place of creation. This doesn’t discount that there may have been a Dilmun of later ages near the region of ancient Mesopotamia. However, the paradisiacal place of Dilmun where the gods dwelt seem to point to a prehistoric empire located in the region of Japan. A deeper discussion about the Japanese origin of the Sumerians can be found in this article:
Japan’s earliest period is known as the Japanese Paleolithic period (旧石器時代 kyūsekki jidai), which began around 40,000 BC and lasted up until 14,500 BC. Amazingly we find, that the earliest human bones, not those of hominids, but actual human beings, were discovered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the fossils date back to around 14,000–18,000 years ago. Wikipedia, under the topic, Japanese Paleolithic, states:
“The earliest human bones were discovered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the fossils date back to around 14,000–18,000 years ago.”
This is in agreement with the Ninzuwu teachings that human society began where the sun rises. Another amazing feature about the Japanese Paleolithic period can be found in a Wikipedia article, under the topic, Japanese Paleolithic, where we read:
“The Japanese Paleolithic is also unique in that it incorporates the earliest known ground stone tools and polished stone tools in the world, dated to around 30,000 BC, a technology typically associated with the beginning of the Neolithic, around 10,000 BC, in the rest of the world. It is not known why such tools were created so early in Japan, although the period is associated with a warmer climate worldwide (30,000–20,000 before present), and the islands may have particularly benefited from it.”
The Japanese Paleolithic Period is followed by what is popularly known as the Jomon period. The term jomon (縄文) means “rope-patterned” in Japanese, as it describes a distinct style of pottery associated with this period. The Jomon Period dates from 14,500 BC to 300 BC. It covers a time when Japan was inhabited by a Negrito hunter-gatherer culture. Evidence of the early Negrito inhabitants of Japan was noted in the works of some early anthropologists. In 1923, anthropologist Roland B. Dixon wrote that “this earliest population of Japan were in the main a blend of Proto-Australoid and Proto-Negroid types, and thus similar in the ancient underlying stratum of the population, southward along the whole coast and throughout Indo-China, and beyond to India itself.” Dixon pointed out that, “In Japan, the ancient Negrito element may still be discerned by characteristics which are at the same time exterior and osteologic.”
While Dixon’s observations are not clearly stated by modern anthropologists in their investigation of Japan, in some conspiracy to keep such a reality veiled, we do find an interesting statement in the Wikipedia article, Japanese Paleolithic cited earlier:
“The Paleolithic populations of Japan, as well as the later Jōmon populations, appear to relate to an ancient Paleo-Asian group which occupied large parts of Asia before the expansion of the populations characteristic of today’s people of China, Korea, and Japan.”
There are certain myths appearing in the Nihon Shoki, which describes the Negritos of Japan, who would later take refuge in the mountains and on occasion are described as tengu in some accounts. One such character appears on Emperor Jimmu’s discovery of Japan, is popularly known as Nagasunehiko (lit. “the long-legged man”).
Following the Jomon Period is what is known as the Yayoi period. Evidence of new settlers in Japan can be determined by the differences in pottery and the expansion of rice farming. Traditionally, the Yayoi Period is dated from 300 BC to 300 CE. Yayoi is named after a village where certain artifacts attributed to this period were discovered. The name of this place is called Yayoicho.
During the Yayoi Period human society became more complex. One of the amazing figures, which came to rise during this time, is a shamanic woman known as Queen Himiko. While there is much controversy and mystery surrounding her identity and sovereignty, ancient Chinese text, Records of Three Kingdoms, describe her large influence:
“The country formerly had a man as ruler. For some seventy or eighty years after that there were disturbances and warfare. Thereupon the people agreed upon a woman for their ruler. Her name was Himiko [卑彌呼], her age at the time was only fourteen. She occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people. Though mature in age, she remained unmarried. She had a younger brother who assisted her in ruling the country. After she became the ruler, there were few who saw her. She had one thousand women as attendants, but only one man. He served her food and drink and acted as a medium of communication. She resided in a palace surrounded by towers and stockades, with armed guards in a state of constant vigilance. (tr. Tsunoda 1951:13)”
Some scholars claim that the Yayoi people migrated from China’s coastal Jiangsu province. Similarities between the Yayoi and Jiangsu remains, along with DNA testing support this possibility. They also learned to make tools of bronze and iron. The Japanese also learned to weave cloth. The leaders of Yayoi society were buried in mounds away from the ordinary people’s burial grounds.
