I started this research because I noticed the names for two languages spoken within the boundaries of Nigeria
strangely resemble Japanese words. Take for example Yoruba, a language spoken in southern Nigeria. In Japanese
yoruba translates to something like "night horse," taking the ancient Japanese word, yoru for "night,"
and the more recent niponisized Chinese word ba for "horse."
Another language I noted was Edo, the original name of Tokyo, also spoken in Nigeria. So
at least two of Nigeria's over two dozen languages have vaguely Japanese-sounding names. This could easily be dismissed
as a coincidence. However, the more one investigates the matter the more fascinating and compelling the intertwinings
of history and cultures becomes.
The Yoruba trace their origins to the upper reaches of the Nile. The Yoruba kingdom was once
very powerful in central Africa. The Yoruba use a system of knots and cowrie shells to record past events. Also
the Yoruba, like the Japanese and Koreans, have an elaborate system of honorifics. One must use different words to speak
with someone depending upon their status within the society. This is exactly the same as Korea and Japan.
In 1985 a submerged pyramid was discovered off the coast of Japan's Yonaguni
Island. There is also a species of wild cat, the closest relative to the domestic cat, on a nearby island.
From here it is not difficult to make a leap and postulate that the Sundalese migrated from Africa to Asia during
the paleolithic period, and that they built pyramids in Sundaland and domesticated the cat. When the
waters rose and submerged the continent a remnant of this group returned to Egypt. Those who remained went on to found
the Jomon culture, a seafaring group who, according the the archeaological evidence, travelled as far south as Melanesia and
as far east as modern day Peru.
Jomon literally means "chord-marked." Pottery fragments from this time period are all known
for their chord-markings, impressions made from pressing knotted ropes into the clay before it was fired. This pottery
has been discovered in Japan, Melanesia and South America. Some scientists proposed that the khipu knots discovered
in the Andes were and ancient writing system. They are currently trying to decipher these knots. It is not beyond
the realm of possibility to suppose that the Jomon may have employed a system of ropes and knots to record information.
It is not hard to imagine this because their journeys carried them to far away places.
In Washington state a pair of college students stumbled upon the remains of a man from the early
neolithic era. This skeleton, Kennewick Man bears a striking resemblance to skeletons discovered in Japan during
the same time frame. Many have proposed that the Jomon may have travelled from Japan to the Americas.
In my opinion there is little evidence to suggest Japan was the center of Jomon culture. A
more probable base of operations would be the island of Taiwan. This is a very contentious issue in history.
I took a look at Swahili and Yoruba to see if there was a relationship to Japanese.
It turns out there are some similarities which suggest a common ancestor to all three languages. The
word for "person" in Swahili and Japanese is remarkably similar. In Swahili it is -tu and in Japanese it is
hito. The word for "yesterday" in Swahili is jana, in Yoruba it is ana and in Japanese
it is kinou. The word for "three" in Swahili is tatu, in Yoruba it is eeta, in Japanese it
is mitsu. Could these similarities be a mere coincidence or do these three languages share a common ancestor?
Recall that the Japanese word mitsu is old-Japanese. The new-Japanese word for three is Chinese-derived
san.
I contend that the language of Sundaland originated somewhere in the Upper-Nile regions. It's
influence on Japanese was similar to the influence of Latin on English, arguably more significant. I would go so far
as to suggest that the difference between Korean and Japanese can be explained by the influence this language had on Japanese.
Japanese remained fundamentally the same language as Korean but elements of the language superstructure were influenced by
the Sundalese language.
The preeminence of Jomon culture lasted from 10,000 BC to roughly 4,500 BC at which point the Austronesians
took over the island of Taiwan and began their advance south and east. This suggests a 4,000 year period of isolation
for the Jomon of Japan. This all changed around 300 BC when the Yayoi came to Japan bringing a new type of pottery and,
more importantly, wet-rice farming techniques. This is traditionally regarded as the birth of modern Japan.
The Japanese emperor is believed to be descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu. To
me this sounds remarkably similar to the Egyptian sun god Amen-ra. Nihon means "Sun-base," or extrapolating
a bit, "the land of the sun." Nihonjin means "person of the sun-base," or simplifying some, "sun-base-person."
Japanese folklore traces the birth of the nation to sometime around 600 BC. Archeological evidence, on the other hand,
places the first signs of rice farming at 300 BC. A synthesis of the two pieces of evidence gives us a timeframe of
somewhere around 400 BC. This would coincide with Alexander the Great.
There is significant evidence to suggest that the arrival of Alexander's armies to Egypt occasioned
the exodus of Egypt's ruling and priestly classes. They scattered to many points around the world. One group headed
west and came to the Americas where they went on to found the Olmec and Mayan civilizations. Another group headed
east and arrived in Japan. There is even a possibility that this group contained the last pharoah.
This would be the emporer Tennojin, descended from Amaterasu. However, more extensive
research needs to be conducted before we can jump to any conclusions.
