Are the Japanese the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel? Language and Ritual Similiarities Are Clues

Sometimes it seems like everyone is looking for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.  Every few years a story pops up of the exiled ten northern tribes actually being in India, Myanmar, China, or Korea.  

The idea that somehow the missing tribes found their way along the Silk Road to Japan has been proposed more than a few times, and teams of scholars and archaelogists have studied the possibility over the years.

Lately there has been a proliferation of videos on the internet which claim to provide evidence that these stories are not myths, but realities.  The evidence offered includes similarities in ways that festivals and prayer are observed, in symbols that seem identical or close approximations, and in words and phrases in Hebrew and Japanese that are remarkably alike.

We'll share two of the most interesting videos with you and let you be the judge. The first focuses on similarity of rituals and festivals including "Japanese tefilin" and a Rosh Chodesh festival.  The second video, with something for everyone, including Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark, goes into detail about alphabet and language similarities.

Is this Jewish-Japanese connection a real possibility or just a fantasy?  Let us know what you think by commenting on this blog post.