When one traces the various nations listed in Genesis 10 to their modern locations, it seems that many of them mutated into western and eastern branches. This is true of many Hamitic and Japhetic nations as pointed out in the book, In Search of … the Origin of Nations.
Following on this, what can be deduced from history and anthropology, this seems to also be the case for the descendants of Javan as we shall discover below. The one descendant of Javan that I would like to dwell on is Tarshish. Below is the Tarshish ethnic family tree as found in Genesis 10:1-4:
NOAH
– Japheth
– Javan
– Elishah
– Tarshish
– Kittim
– Dodanim
What has this to do with Japan? Eveything! Because the Japanese, like all peoples, are listed in the mysterious Table of Nations found in Genesis chapter 10. And we can use ancient history, anthropology and linguistics to track their route to their current homeland.
Then, by using historical precedent and Biblical prophecy, we can be reasonably sure what their next move will be on the world scene.
The Western Tarshish
The root form of Tarshish is “rasasu” which means “to be smelted.” Tarsisu is derived from this root and means a “smelting-plant” or “refinery” (James Douglas (ed), New Bible Dictionary, p. 1239). The inhabitants of Tarshish were called Tharsians or Tarseaiium in times of old. They founded the city of Tarsus or Tharsos in Cilicia, Asia Minor (see Acts 9:11,30; 11:25; 21:39; 22:3) before one group branched off westwards. The Assyrians called the city Tarzu (Jan Simon, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of The Old Testament, p. 89). The peoples of Tarshish have left behind marks of their migration in the Mediterranean. For instance, a monument inscription bearing the name of Tarshish was erected in Sardinia.
The famous Biblical character, Jonah, attempted to flee to Tarshish:
“But Jonah rose up to flee into Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3).
Tarshish was a city-port on the Mediterranean sea-coast. Where was that? Many Bible scholars will tell you it may be found in southern Spain (Edward Blaiklock & Roland Harrison, The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology, p. 435). For in Spain lay the city of Tartessus. According to Herodotus (Histories, Book IV, Chapter 153) and Strabo (Geography, Book III, Chapter 2), Tartessus is where Cadiz now stands. Carteria on the Bay of Gibraltar was also once known as Tartessos (Arthur Custance, Noah’s Three Sons, p. 95). The Tarshish of southern and central Spain was noted for its silver, iron, tin and lead (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book IV, Chapter 34. See Ezekiel 27:12). No wonder they were named “Tartessus” (meaning “to be smelted”).
King Ahasuerus (i.e. Xerxes, reigned c.485 – 464 B.C.) “laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea” (Esther 10:1). This may have included Tarshish as his empire probably had interests there at the height of his power (Cyrus Gordon, Before Columbus, p. 200). One of his chief counsellors was actually named Tarshish (Esther 1:14). This was done in those times as high-ranking persons were often named after distant provinces (Gordon, ibid).
The Eastern Tarshish
The peoples descended of Javan seemingly mutated into two different racial types; one an olive-skinned Caucasian type; the other a yellowish-skinned Mongoloid variation as did the other descendants of Japheth and Ham. Logically the eastern branch of Tarshish, dwelling anciently in Asia Minor, migrated with Kittim, a similar people, into the Far East.
Where did the eastern Tarshish finally put down roots? The Bible provides us with some clues:
“For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” (I Kings 10:72. See II Chronicles 9:21)
“Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.” (I Kings 20:48. See the parallel scripture in II Chronicles 20:36-37 where it mentions “ships to go to Tarshish”)
These Scriptures speak in terms of a seaport to Tarshish at Ezion-geber on the Red Sea coast. The New Bible Commentary maintains that although these ships went as far as India, they could not have circumvented Africa to get to the western Tarshish (ie Spain) (Donald Guthrie (ed), The New Bible Commentary, pp. 335, 386) as this would have taken too long and would have been uneconomical. This Commentary concludes that a careless scribal error must have slipped into the two accounts of Tarshish in II Chronicles (Guthrie, ibid). Two scribal errors of the same nature in the one book? How unlikely. Instead, here is a mention of an eastern Tarshish, a possibility most scholars overlook.
The same Commentary admits that there was more than one Tarshish and that there may have been one in the Orient, however it rejects the idea because there is no record of such a port (Guthrie, ibid). We shall see. Custance also believes such but admits that it is impossible to think in terms of ships of Tarshish bringing ivory, apes and peacocks from Spain (Arthur Custance, Noah’s Three Sons, p. 94). However, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that there was a Tarshish accessible from Ezion-geber (p. 734).
Back to the Scripture first quoted. The words used here of apes and peacocks are Indian (Tamil), not Hebrew (Ethelbert Bullinger, Companion Bible, p. 466). So, it would appear logical that the ships to and from Tarshish stopped over in India on the way back to Ezion-geber with goods then transported overland to the land of Israel. Josephus renders the same verse as “ivory, Ethiopians and Apes” (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 8, Chapter 7, Section 2). The Hebrew here for “Ethiopians” is “Sukkiyyim” – a people referred to in II Chronicles 12:2-3 (see the article Who are the Mysterious Sukkiim? at www.friendsofsabbath.org for details of who they were and their modern location).
There were no black Cushitic peoples in Spain when this was written. They were dwelling only in East Africa and India. Here is further proof that there was an eastern Tarshish. Undoubtedly, as was stated previously, Tarshish migrated with Kittim and dwelt alongside them –– this would have been in the ancient Near East and centuries later in northern China (Kitai or Cathay) before branching out. Consider that the Chinese Yuan-Yuan Empire and Yuanan region likely take their names from Javan father of Kittim and Tarshish. The peoples of Persia called those descended from Javan in Asia Minor Yuna or Yauna (Edward Rapson, Ancient India, p. 86).
Here is another clue. It is not generally known that the Japanese claim in their traditions to have been led to the island of Japan by a symbolic three-legged sun-crow (Nihon Shoki, Book III, Section 11).
It is interesting that the only other area of the world where one finds such symbols are the regions of southern Turkey. Josephus wrote that “Tharsus [gave his name] to the Tharsians; for so was Cilicia of old called” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chapter vi, Section 1). Therefore it should come as no surprise that the ancient capital of Cilicia was named Tarsus. Is this where the Kittim and eastern Tarshish settled sometime after the tower of Babel incident?
Of further interest is the statement in a Japanese document compiled in 720 AD, the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), that Ninigi, a forefather of their race, had four sons. This may have been Javan who also had four sons. From one son descended the Japanese emperor Jemmu Tenno. This son was named Po-wori which means “FireBender” and may be compared to Tarshish which means “smelter” or “refiner” (Nihon Shoki, Book II, Section 27).
The Spaniards of Asia
When the Spaniards first encountered the Japanese, they referred to them as “the Spaniards of Asia” –– by which they meant the “Tarshish of Asia” (San Augustin’s letter on the Filipinos, s.5; quoted in The Philippine Islands 1493-1898, Vol. 40, p. 192). It may therefore be deduced that this is where the eastern Tarshish is located –– in Japan. The Spanish seemed to know or theorised that the Japanese were descended, to a large degree, from Tarshish.
Colin, in his Native Races and Their Customs, writes:
“The principle settler in these archipeligoes was Tharsis, son of Java, together with his brothers.” (quoted in The Philippine Islands, ibid, p. 38)
But where does the name Japan come from? From the name Jih-pun which was used by the Chinese of them and later came to mean “rising sun.”
Unknown to most, in Japan today four primary sub-racial groups may be identified:
1. The Okayama: The majority who are taller and fairer than the rest; they have a complexion ranging from yellowish to almost pure white; small mouth, finer features and slender build; they live mainly in the north (Francis Brinkley, Japan and China Its (their) History Arts and Literature. (Vol. 1), p. 38). These are the descendants of Tarshish. Buxton adds that they came from Korea and Manchuria originally (Dudley Buxton, The Peoples of Asia, pp. 217-19), near where Kittim settled in what became named Kitai or Cathay.
2. The Ishikawa/Chikuzen: A slightly darker strain, related directly to the central Chinese; these have prominent cheek-bones, large mouth, heavily boned physique. They are a mixture of the Chinese and Korean invaders with the original inhabitants (Brinkley, ibid, p. 38; Buxton, ibid, pp. 217-19). These are descended from Magog mixed with Tarshish.
3. The Satsuma: A darker proto-Malay or south-east Asian strain (Buxton, ibid); overall their numbers are few; they probably drifted into Japan via the Kuro-shino (Black Tide) current which sweeps northward from the Philippines; these dwell mainly in the extreme south (Brinkley, ibid). They descend from Ashkenaz who populated south-east Asia.
4. The Ainu: These interesting people are a mixture of proto-Nordic, Australoid and Mongoloid (Martin Hurlimann, Japan, p. 90; Richard Storry, A History of Modern Japan, p. 24); there are probably over 25,000 as of 2023. These remarkable people have such European features as oval eyes, heavy distribution of hair throughout the body, thin lips and well-developed jaws and chin (Harumi Befu, Japan, p. 15).
Thus, as Buxton maintains, from a physical anthropological point of view, the majority of Japanese are not a mere offshoot of the Chinese race, but a different stock which are related to the Chinese (Dudley Buxton, The Peoples of Asia, p. 215).
The Japanese also have a higher percentage of wavier hair than the Chinese; the length of head is greater and the cranium smaller. The face is narrower and the eye-fold less developed (Maksim Levin, Ethnic Origins of the Peoples of Northeastern Asia, pp. 316-17). Also, together with the Koreans, they exhibit a high frequency of blood group A in common with West Europeans (Laurence Snyder, “Human Blood Groups” in Kroeber & Waterman, Source Book in Anthropology, p. 160).
Japan’s Prophetic Destiny
Now that we have identified the origin of the Japanese, let us explore their prophetic destiny.
We now know with certainty that in World War Two the Japanese imperial plans were to extend their empire through India to Iran; to Madagascar off the shores of Africa (Auguste Toussaint, History of The Indian Ocean, p. 239); the whole of Australia (with the exception of Tasmania which they were to leave for German settlement); and the western sea-board of Canada, the United States and Mexico (Louis Allen, Japan: The Years of Triumph, pp. 110-11).
World history would have been very different if they had possession of those areas, but a Higher Power had other plans.
Today Japan is aligned with the West and it is beginning to wake up to external threats and being encouraged to re-militarise. There have been a number of headline articles on this program such as: Brad Lendon (et al), “Japan approves long-range weapons to counter growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia,” CNN, 20 Dec 2022; Christopher Johnstone, “Japan’s Transformational National Security Strategy,” Center for Strategic International Studies, 8 Dec 2022; Nick Allen, “Japan sets off biggest military build-up since Second World War,” Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Dec 2022; Zeleb.es, “Japan sheds pacifist ways and begins major defense buildup,” MSN.com, 19 Dec 2022.
The build-up of the Japanese in response to China’s and North Korea’s missile threat is astounding. It may even seem like this is good for Australia and the Anglo-Kelt sphere and other peoples.
But will the eastern descendants of Tarshish remain as allies of the Anglo-Saxon-Keltic powers? What if they become turncoats?
Time can change everything –– who says that they will continue as our allies in 5 or 10 years’ time? Anything can eventuate and an Asian coalition can emerge that will invade Australia and New Zealand sometime in the future. In fact, several prophecies indicate that the conquerors of end-time Israel will divide up their lands among themselves. One prophecy in Joel 3:2 speaks of the scattering of Israel and the parting or dividing of Israel’s homelands amongst her enemies. Amos 7:17; Micah 2:4 and Daniel 11:39 all seem to foretell a similar fate.
Many students of prophecy have concluded that what occurred to Israel, Judah and Jerusalem in Old Testament times are mere types or precursors of a far worse calamity yet future. Given that the Anglo-Saxon and Keltic peoples of Australia and New Zealand are descendants of Israel, it would behoove them to wake up to this possibility.
Could it be that the biggest double-cross in world history is on the horizon? Jeremiah warns:
“She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies…
“I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls” (Lamentations 1:2, 19).
The greatest double-cross in world history is indeed prophesied. Ezekiel explains who these “lovers” actually are:
“Thou has played the whore also with the Assyrians …
“Behold I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness” (Ezekiel 16:28, 37).
These “lovers” are allies of the House of Israel that turn around, align with Israel’s enemies and stab her in the back. From the above we can see that the Anglo-Saxon-Keltic peoples will be destroyed by her “lovers” or former “lovers.”
But in the prophecies God warns Japan:
“For the Day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low. And upon all the ships of Tarshish. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down” (Isaiah 2:12, 16-17).
God will humble the Japanese as He will all peoples. They must learn that it is ultimately God who has given them their talents and wealth; they must thank Him for it, not be boastful about their achievements, patting themselves on the back. In the book of Psalms, David wrote that God “breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind” (Psalms 48:7).
What now for Japan?
But the Good News is that Japan will repent. God says that, during the Millennial reign of the Messiah:
“Those [Israelites] that escape of them unto the nations, [He will send] to Tarshish and Javan, to the isles afar off [not Spain which is relatively nearby Palestine, given the global view of this prophecy], that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 66:19)
This prophecy probably cannot refer to the Spaniards, for most of them have heard at least something about the God of the Bible. Not so the bulk of the Japanese whose knowledge of the Bible is minimal.
Finally, Isaiah prophesied of the “isles” and the ships of Tarshish which, during the early portion of the Millennium, is seen returning to Israel her wealth and also taking the Israelites on their ships to the Holy Land during the Second Exodus (Isaiah 60:9). Diodorus Siculus, a most reliable historian of the Augustine Age, says that the term “isles” refers to lands which at that time were undiscovered, unlike Spain which was well known (see Iris Sulimani, “All Over the World: The Utopian Idea in Diodorus Siculus,” in Utopias in Ancient Thought, p. 231).
Japan’s and Spain’s repentant attitudes shine through clearly in chapter thirty-eight of Ezekiel. In this prophecy, Meshech, Tubal, Gog and Magog et al will attempt to wrest this wealth from Israel a few years after the Messiah’s return, but Tarshish will challenge them and take Israel’s side (Ezekiel 38:11, 13). In the words of the Psalmist:
“The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents to God. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: All Nations shall serve Him” (Psalms 72:10-11).
Japan will, at that time, repent and learn to serve God and live in peace and harmony with the other nations, like all peoples will eventually do.
