GOD OF YAHADA

Now, let us delve into the origin of this religion of the Hatas or Hadas. The religion evidently first became known in Japan in the area called Osada, or Ohada, several miles northwest of the shrine of Usa-Yahada in Usa, in northeastern Kyushu. Originally, the area was called "Ayahada-go" and must have been an old colony of these people. The kingdom of Hada, so often appearing in the contemporary Chinese books of that era, probably refers to these settlements in the "Ayahada-go."

In this area, there is a small Yahada Shrine, called Komo Jinja or the "Shrine of Reeds", which is very unique in that no specific building serves as a sanctuary. Ordinarily, the structure of a Shinto shrine resembles the Biblical tabernacle, in that it has an outer court, a holy place, and a holy of holies. However, in the case of the Komo-Shrine, the holy place is simply a pond called Misumi-Ike, or "Crystal Clear Pond."

The origin of the Yahada faith is a legend connected with this pond. It seems that in ancient times, the God of Yahada appeared on the shore of the lake as a beautiful male child. Standing in the thick reeds, he said to the people, "I am the God of Yahada. Make for me an ark, that I may sleep here among you in the reeds which grow on the shores of this pond. You must revere the ark as the emblem of my presence . " To this day there remains on the shore a rock, that, according to the legend, is believed to have reflected the shadow of this super natural being.

Since then, for more than two thousand years, the festival called Komomatsuri or "Reed Festival" has been held at the shrine every summer, and villagers cut down the reeds lining the shore to make pillow arks, which are donated to the Yahada Shrines in the vicinity, including the Usa Yahada. Professor Saeki's theory that the Hada tribes were a part of the ancient Jewish Diaspora, is given further support by this legend which in effect reminds one of the story of Moses. When the cruel Egyptian Pharaoh gave orders that all male children of the Hebrews were to be killed, the mother of Moses, Jochebed, placed the infant in a basket of reeds, and hoping for a miracle of God which would save Moses, she sailed it into the river, where the daughter of Pharaoh was bathing. This miracle was not long in coming, as Pharaoh's daughter found Moses, and rescuing him from the lake, adopted him as her son. Later Moses went on to lead the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the promised land.

For the Hadas, being Middle Eastern but separated from the main stream, it was quite natural that they should have commemorated this miraculous event of Moses. But in time over the centuries this oral tradition slowly changed so that in a Japanese manner it became the legend of the beautiful male child.