【OAHSPE considerations】About the tradition of “Tsuboke tribe（津保化族）”

About the tradition of indigeneous people “The Asobe tribe（阿蘇部族）”

This site believes that the Ihin’s who spread across the world after the Pan-continent was submerged and traveled to Yista drifted to the Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture.
”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru (東日流外三郡誌) ” compiled during the Edo period in the 18th century, is a historical document that collects old folklore from the Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture.
The book contains the legends of the Asobe tribe(阿蘇部族), an indigenous people who have lived on Mount Iwaki(岩木山) in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, for tens of thousands of years.

The legend of the Aso tribe remains in the vicinity of Mount Iwaki. An elder states as follows:
Mount Iwaki(岩木山) was called “Asobe Forest” today.
During an ancient eruption, this forest was completely covered in fire rocks overnight, and all the people who lived there were buried alive.
It was a sad story. At that time, “Asobe Forest” became “Mount Iwaki”.

”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru” Volume 1 (edited by Tsugaru Nakayama Historical Site Preservation Society, published by Yahata Shoten))

Mount Iwaki, 1,624 meters above sea level, is located in a position that overlooks the Tsugaru Plain to the east. The Jomon ruins in this area are registered as a World Heritage Site as part of the “Jomon Ruins of Hokkaido　and Northern Tohoku”.

About the tradition of indigeneous people “Tsuboke tribe（津保化族）”

On Mount Bonju（梵珠山）, located east of Mount Iwaki, the home of the Asobe tribe, across the Tsugaru Plain, the following legend of the Tsuboka tribe (津保化族) is recorded:

Remains of the Tsubokake tribe (津保化族) can also be seen on “Tsubokeyama” in Nakayama (中山).
To the north of the Bonju mountain range is a pot-shaped mountain.People call this mountain “Tsubokemori,” or Tetsubachiyama, or Genpachisan, and it is a mountain with many legends surrounding it.
Iizumi (飯積), a villager living at the foot of the mountain said:

There is an “Oni no Tsubo” in a place called “Tsubokemori”, and the tree that grows there is a rare and precious tree. This is where people who fled from Mt. Asobe lived when Mt.Iwaki erupted long ago.
Deep inside the mountain there is a place called “Magical Mountain” where people are forbidden to enter.　The same can be said for Mt. Ishito at the foot of the mountain.
“Tsuboke” is the name given to the clan of people who live there. The later name of the mountain was given by later generations with a dialectal accent.

”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru” Volume 1 (edited by Tsugaru Nakayama Historical Site Preservation Society, published by Yahata Shoten))

Currently, to the north of Mt. Bonju is the village of Iizume, where Mt. Ishito is also located.
This area was once known as “Tsubokemori” (Tsuboke Forest), and is said to be where refugees fled when Mt. Iwaki erupted.

The Birth of the Arabaki Tribe (荒吐族)

It is said that the Asobe tribe and the Tsuboka tribe intermarried, and later the Tsuboka tribe intermarried with people who drifted ashore from China and Korea, giving birth to the Arabaki tribe.

The Arabaki tribe’s name remains in the shrines in ”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru”. Araiso Shrine (荒磯神社), Araiso Shrine (洗磯神社), Isozaki Shrine (磯崎神社), and others are remnants of the Arabaki tribe.

The old man said:
When we looked up a God of Arabaki , we found that they were gods of mountains, moon, water, gold, trees and grass, earth, fire, and the sun, as follows:
The sun god is the living, the moon god is the underworld, the sea god and mountain god are the bounty of the mountains and sea, the water god is agriculture, the metal god is war, the trees and grass god is food, clothing and shelter, the earth god is fields, and the fire god is protection from danger.

No one in Tsugaru knows of a God of Arabaki, and only the customs remain. In later times, they became mixed with Buddhism and with the gods of the Yamato refugees, and their sects changed, with only the likes of “Itako” and “Gomiso” remaining.

Furthermore, “Oshira” is the god of mulberry trees and horses, whose appearance is kept secret and who practices both divination and spirit mediumship.　These are used in rituals, the methods of which are kept strictly secret.

”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru” Volume 1 (edited by Tsugaru Nakayama Historical Site Preservation Society, published by Yahata Shoten))

Araiso Shrine is a shrine located in the center of the Tsugaru Plain and is now known as “Araisozaki Shrine”.
By the time ”The History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru” was compiled in the Edo period, it is said that no one knew of the deity Arahabaki, who had been worshipped there, but there were apparently “Gods of the mountains, moon, water, gold, trees and grass, earth, fire, and the sun“. This is said to be because the deities had mixed with those worshipped by imported Buddhism and refugees from the Yamato Imperial Court, and the deities had changed.

What happened when the I’hins of Yista assimilated with the local the I’huans?

According to OHASPE, the Ihīn who traveled to Yista (Japan) interbred with the local I’huans, unlike the I’hīns in other areas (Guatama, Jaffeth, Shem).　（OAHSPE-18『The Lords’ Fifth Book』Chap.5-14）

If the I’huans, who could not hear the voice of God, were to take in their blood, their descendants would lose the “ability to hear the voice of God” that the I’huanspossessed. Nevertheless, the I’huansof Yista assimilated with the local I’huans, meaning that even though they could no longer hear the voice of God, they assimilated with the local I’huans and are said to have led the I’huans from barbarians to civilized people.

The indigenous Asobe tribe were originally a hunter-gatherer people. However, following events such as the eruption of Mt. Iwaki, many of the Asobe tribe died, and the Tsubokake tribe washed ashore.
Meanwhile, the Ihins people, who could hear the voice of God, found it difficult to survive in Aomori Prefecture, which turns into an extremely cold place in winter, without the cooperation of the local I’huans. The I’huans also found their survival in jeopardy due to the volcano, and this, combined with the harsh environment, meant that they had no choice but to cooperate with each other in order to survive.

It is speculated that the surviving members of the Tsuboke tribes and Asobe tribes thus began living together north of Mount Bonju, which they both called “Tsubokemori (The forest of Tsuboke)”, and that this is how the prototype of the Arabaki tribes was formed.
Immigrants from other countries and people fleeing war in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago ended up there, and the nation became a multi-ethnic nation never seen before in Japan. They were called the Arabaki tribes, and formed a sovereign state ruled by five kings.

About the God Arabaki worshipped by the Arabaki tribes

The Arabaki tribe settled in the Area Tsugaru, an extremely cold place, so they established rules within the tribe to survive there. They worshiped “the Almighty God, Arabaki God, the God of Equal Intake” to strengthen unity within the tribe.

The fact that Arabaki God is an “omnipotent god” is quite unusual, considering that there are no omnipotent gods among the Gods that appear in ancient Japanese mythology. For example, in the “Kojiki (古事記)” chapter on the Age of the Gods, three gods, Ame-no-Minakanushi (天之御中主神), Takamimusuhi (高皇産霊神), and Kamumusuhi (高皇産霊神), descended to earth at the time of the creation of the world, and many other gods have appeared since then, but there has not been a single omnipotent God. If there are people who believe in the Creator, an omnipotent god will naturally come into being, but no omnipotent God has been born in Japan since the Age of the Gods.

Japan, a remnant of Waga continent, may not have had the environment for an omnipotent God to take root, partly because faith in the Waga continent itself had waned to begin with. This can also be inferred from the fact that Arabaki, who was worshipped as an omnipotent God in the time of the Arabaki tribes, is now known as the “God of the feet”.
On the contrary, it is unusual that he was worshipped as an omnipotent god in such a special environment. I believe that it was the I’hins of Yista , or the Tsubokha tribes, who fled from the submergence of the Pancontinent, who gave birth to this belief in an omnipotent god.

Conclusion

Among the contents of the OAHSPE, the Ihin people of Yista are a tribe with deep ties to Japan, and there is something that seems to be a clue in the book ”History of the Three Counties Outside Tsugaru”, so I have written an article including some of my personal thoughts on it.

In particular, I think it is very important that the Arabaki God worshipped by the Arabaki tribe is an omnipotent god who did not take root in Japan. This is because it is possible that it was the I’hins of Yista , who believed in the Creator, who started the worship of the “omnipotent God” Arabaki. And if the Arabaki tribes, which was born by assimilating with the local I’huans, including the I’hins of Yista , united under the “omnipotent God” Arabaki, I think this matches the following description in the OAHSPE.

The tribes that went in the two ships to the north land (Japan), no man could draw the line, after a thousand years, betwixt them and the I’huans, for they mingled therewith, and were lost, as I’hins. Nevertheless, they redeemed the barbarians into wisdom and peace.

『OAHSPE』The Lords’ Fifth Book 　Chap.5-14