Makuya

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Makuya (幕屋?), also called Makuya of Christ (キリストの幕屋 Kirisuto no makuya?) and based at the Tokyo Bible Seminary, is a Japanese New Religion founded in 1948 by Ikurō Teshima, a devout Christian. Its members consider themselves Christian, and the group is strongly Zionist.

'Makuya' is the Japanese equivalent for the Hebrew word mishkan, which refers to the Holy Tabernacle, the portable shrine built to carry the Ark of the Covenant. Literally, mishkan has the meaning of 'place of dwelling' or 'place of Divine dwelling.'

The sect believes in the basic tenets of Christianity and believe in “a return to the dynamic faith of the original Gospel of early Hebraic Christianity, as opposed to the dogmatic, institutionalized, European-dominated churches.” They focus on worship of God and Jesus directly, ignoring many secondary objects of worship, such as the cross, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. They claim to be descents of the two lost tribes of Dan and Zebulun

Unlike nearly all other Christian sects, which use the cross as their symbol, the Makuya take the seven-armed Jewish menorah as their religious emblem, and display it on their happi coats. Though the group rejects certain types of churches, liturgy, and clergy, they have adopted a number of religious observances, customs and rituals. They believe in faith healing, and engage in mass convocations, marriage ceremonies, pilgrimages, ritual costume & hairstyles, and rituals such as walking barefoot on hot coals and standing under waterfalls. In addition, members of Makuya take on Hebrew names at times, in addition to their Japanese ones; Teshima chose to become Abraham. The sect also publishes two periodicals, the Genshi fukuin (Original Gospel) and the Seimei no hikari (Light of Life).

Strongly Zionist, the organization sponsors a number of kibbutzim in Israel, and makes mass pilgrimages to Jerusalem. The primary kibbutz the student Makuya stay at is Heftziba. Makuya has appeared in front of the United Nations on at least two occasions, speaking on behalf of Israel. Students of Teshima volunteered to aid Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967, and in 1973 organized the first pro-Israel demonstration in Japan.

Teshima fell ill and died on Christmas Eve 1973 while he and 13,000 of his adherents were protesting Japan's caving in to an Arab oil embargo in front of the Diet building, but the sect has survived and grown under the leadership of his widow and son-in-law. Today it boasts branches in Japan, Israel, United States, United Kingdom, France Spain, Brazil, China, South Korea, and Taiwan, and claims to have 60-72,000 members.

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[edit] Origin of the sect

Teshima was influenced by the writings of Uchimura Kanzō, studying under his disciple Tsukamoto Toraji and joining the No-Church Movement. Accused of obstructing a municipal plan to destroy a local school in Kumamoto, a warrant was issued for his arrest in 1947. Teshima fled to Mount Aso in central Kyūshū where he lived in a cave for several weeks and where he claims to have heard the voice of God, telling him to return home and to propagate the proper teachings of the Bible. He returned home, discovered the warrant had been retracted, and set up a Bible study group which quickly grew into a movement known as Genshi Fukuin Undo (Original Gospel Movement), and then as Makuya.

The new movement focuses on a return to the Hebrew roots of Christianity, paying respect to the Jewish origins of the faith.

[edit] Makuya and the Common Origin Theory

Along with some other shinshukyo, and a number of others, the Makuya believe that the Japanese people are descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Teshima purports that when the Hebrews escaped from slavery in Assyria, some made their way to Japan, where they came to be known as the Hata tribe. He purports that the word 'Hata' derives from Yehuda (Judah). He wrote a detailed history of the Hata tribe, and their influences on early Japan, drawing similarities between elements of Hebrew culture, and passages from the Japanese historical/mythological texts Nihonshiki and Kojiki, in which the Hata tribe feature prominently.

Teshima argued that the Hebrews may have been the first to bring the arts of weaving and silk cultivation to Japan, and cites the similarity between the sailboat symbol of the Hata tribe and that of the Tribe of Zebulun. He submitted one convincing argument as to the sea wall near Fukuoka as having similar construction to other Jewish masonry:

After the first invasion of 1274, the Japanese samurai built a stone barrier 20 kilometers in length bordering the coast of Hakata Bay in what is now Fukuoka city. The wall, between 2-3 metres in height and having a base width of 3 metres, was constructed between 1276 and 1277 and was excavated again in the 1930s.

He also pointed out the presence of the 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's text, the Hata tribe died out as a distinctive group around the time of the Genpei War in the 12th century, assimilating into the larger Japanese gene pool as a whole.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Films

  • Jewish Soul Music: The Art of Giora Feidman (1980). Directed by Uri Barbash.