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❤️NEXT UPDATE : Saturday 16th September
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| Houses on Koshikishima islands |
Kuro Shū (クロ宗. The name Kuro is thought to be derived from Kurosu クロス, meaning Cross. Shū means a school or sect) is a regional religion practiced by a certain small community on Koshikishima islands.*1
The community most likely began as a group of hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) who fled from persecution and took sanctuary on the islands during the Edo period.
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| From Wikipedia |
<Origin and Legend>
On Koshikishima islands, there is a grave called Tenjo Haka (天上墓, meaning Heavenly Grave) which is said to be the grave of a man called Yajirō.
Yajirō was also known as Anjirō or Angelo, and was once a murderer and fugitive in Malacca, before he met and confessed his crime to Xavier and became a Christian.
Later, Yajirō served as Francis Xavier’s interpreter and helped him with his mission to spread Christianity in Japan.
According to one legend, after Shimabara Rebellion, some Christian followers, led by Yajirō, sought refuge on Koshikishima islands, where they settled.
Yajiro’s community continued to practice their faith in secret in this remote region, during the time when Christianity was banned and persecuted in Japan.
Their beliefs and teachings were then passed on to their descendants, and kept alive by them from generation to generation.
But because the community was cut off from the rest of the world, their beliefs and teachings underwent a transformation over time, and deviated from the conventional doctrines of Christianity, eventually developing into Kuro Shū as it is known today.
<The Community and its “Iron-Bound Law”>
The followers of Kuro Shū, who form a small community on one part of the islands, *2 do not welcome outsiders, and are usually extremely incommunicative.
They do not accept media interviews of any kind.
Currently, it is estimated that there are only about 20 houses in the community.
Each house is enclosed within high block walls around 3 metres high, so that the house is almost invisible from the outside. *3
These peculiar structures add a rather eerie and mysterious atmosphere to the whole place.
It is rumoured that the followers of Kuro Shū are forbidden to reveal anything that happens within the community to the outside world, and that anyone who does not abide by this iron-bound law is eliminated.
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| A Street on Koshikishima islands |
<The Death Ritual>
The most notable characteristic of Kuro Shū is its death ritual.
When a follower is at death’s door, the person is carried to the house where the priest called “Sakaya”*4 resides. And there, while the dying person is still breathing, the blood and heart are taken out of the person’s body, and the rest of the followers who have gathered in the house drink the blood and consume the heart.
One folklorist states:
“There are certainly other religions which practice cannibalism as part of their death rituals, for the purpose of incorporating the dead person’s soul into their bodies.
However, it is rare to take blood and organs out of the body of someone who is still alive.
From what I heard, when the body is carried out of the Sakaya’s (priest’s) house, to be laid in its final resting place, it is all wrapped up in white cloth smudged with blood. It is a quite gruesome ritual.”
But the details of this ritual is still unknown.
Some people speculate that the story of this gory ritual was fabricated in order to keep curious outsiders away from the community.
It is also possible that many of the other myths surrounding the sect are merely defamatory fiction created by the outsiders who were fearful of this secretive and silent community.
The population of Koshikishima islands is on the decline and the number of Kuro Shū followers is fast decreasing too.
The sect might disappear completely in the not-so-distant future, without anyone fully discovering its secrets.
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Notes:
*1 Koshikishima islands — also known as Koshikijima islands or Koshiki islands. (“Shima” and “Jima” just means island in Japanese)
*2 Koshikishima islands consist of three major islands, namely:
Kami-Koshikishima (上甑島, Upper Koshiki island), Naka-Koshikishima (中甑島, Middle Koshiki island) and Shimo-Koshikishima (下甑島, Lower Koshiki island).
The Kuro Shū community is located on Shimo-Koshikishima (Lower Koshiki island), in a town called Katanoura (片野浦).
*3 It is not so uncommon for the houses on this island to have high walls as protection from typhoons, but the walls surrounding the houses in the Kuro Shū community appear to be built for a different purpose.
*4 The name Sakaya サカヤ is apparently derived from the word sacrament, and is written as 賢家 in kanji, meaning the House of the Wise.
The succession of the Sakaya is hereditary, and they are said to exercise absolute power over the entire community.
Comments
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The death ritual reminds me of a disease called kuru. A certain tribe somewhere in Australia[?] practices a ritual where they cannibalise their dead loved ones... including the goddamn brain. Like what happens in a Mad Cow disease, the illness is caused by a "prion" that usually resides in the brain.
The ritual in the article sounds like what you'll see in a metal music video.
Welcome back Saya^^thank you for translating this 👍🏻
You see this story is quite similar to the (probably also defamatory fiction told by outsiders) story about a traditional community in Bali who supposedly in ancient times were conducting cannibalism and / or geronto-cide of their deceased family member ala Midsommar Movie - if I remember correctly, it was in a book by Miguel Covarrubias, a Mexican with many achievements. Then again we will never know. I also read about similar stories in many parts of the world with similar themes.
Many thanks for your stories! It's always intriguing!
It’s fortunate for the people in this sect that they don’t eat brain🥶✨
I hope people refrain from doing what people do in metal music videos! 🤣✨
Thank you so much for your interesting comment!🙏🏻🌼
And yes, the sect exists, although we are not sure those stories related to them are true or not.
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for your comment!❤️
It’s unfortunate that minority groups tend to suffer from unfounded rumours 😵
We fear what we don’t understand!
You’re welcome and thank you so much for your comment too! 😊🙏🏻🌸I really appreciate it!
i didnt know such high walls were a tsunami measure, i learn new things every day. i can understand why people would want to be left alone after persecuction.
People fear what they don’t know🥲
They live on an island, so typhoon and tsunami must hit it hard when it comes! I don’t know if we have any high-walled houses like those on the mainland!
Thank you for your comment!⭐️