McLeod, N. Illustrations to the Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan, Including Illustrations to Guide Book

(JAPAN).

Kyoto

1878

Second Edition. Five leaves of text, eighty-three engraved plates

A most curious volume identifying the Shindai class of Japan as descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. The author, a Scottish explorer, traveled extensively in Japan, then under the rule of the Shogun, and came to the conclusion that the noble Samurai are descendants of two of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Menasseh. Although the origins of the Japanese race are shrouded in mystery, the putative claim that the Japanese nobility are exiles from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, might be considered tentative at best