Ooops. I got carried away. By the way, the word "Okura-sho" which was the former name of the Ministry of Finance no longer exists. The government had forced the reorganization of government ministries at the dawn of the 21st century, and the name "Okura-sho " which continued since the Ritsuryo era was replaced with "Zaimu-sho". (*Ministry of Finance is used as the English equivalent for both terms.)

But I am not fond of this new name "Zaimu-sho". It sounds too frivolous. I personally think Okura-sho sounds more dignified and therefore more appropriate as the name for the safe keeper of a nation.

According to the "Kogo-Shui", written by the Inbe clan, a family overseeing religious affairs, the office named Okura first appeared during the reign of the 21st emperor Yuryaku which was around 5th century AD. This was when the Yamato court centralized its administrative power and fixed its governmental system.

The person who led the office of finance was Soga-no-machi. He was the hero among the Soga clan that had established the Golden age of the Yamato court in the Aska region. His descendents include the famous Soga-no-umako and Prince Shotoku. It is well known that the Soga family was able to take such an active part in politics because they had many continental immigrants under their control. Among those were the Hata clan and the Aya clan, and they were the ones that were actually running the finance system.

The Hatas, in contrast to the Ayas, were not interested in politics. Even if we examine the history from a bird's eye view, the name Hata seldom appears. The Hatas were exceptionally active in was the financial aspect. And this is something that deserves to be examined.

They must have been very enthusiastic in finance, because some even named themselves Okura Hata. The Okuras of today must be the descendents of the Hata clan.

The name Okura bears a rich image. They must have been quite well off. In fact, the whole Hata clan had mobilized everything from luring the city, providing the land, construction, workforce and even to food supplies upon constructing Heiankyo. The Hatas living in the Oumi region, in particular, was very devoted. Many Okura Hatas had lived there. It is presumed that their financial resources played a large role in building Heiankyo.

While the Hatas had no interest in politics, they were quite particular about industry from the beginning. As there is a theory that the name Hata originated from hataori, meaning "weaving machine", they were the sole family engaged in sericulture. They manufactured fabrics from the silk they produced. Some even named themselves Hatabe. For such reasons, historians call the Hata clan "Shokusan Gozoku" (meaning an influential family that promoted industry). No doubt millionaires. No other clan had been called the same.

How could they enjoy such prosperity? Considering the fact that the Hata clan was Jewish, the name that strikes one's mind is the world's richest family, the Rothschilds. No other family on this earth is as wealthy as them. The founder of the family, Mayer Rothschild, once said, " Let me issue and control a nation's money, and I care not who writes its laws", which became exceedingly famous. No Rothschild has become a politician. They all succeeded as businessmen and got hold of enormous wealth.

But then again, they were Jewish. They regard the Old Testament as their holy book and believe in the prophesy of the Absolute God Yahweh. After the war when the Jews who had been wanderers tried to establish their own state in the Promised Land of Palestine, as predicted in the Old Testament, it was the Rothschilds who offered them vast amount of funds. In both a good and bad sense, the Rothschilds gets much of the credit behind the foundation of the state of Israel. It is no exaggeration to say that without the Rothschilds, the state of Israel would not exist.

Apart from political matters, the Hata clan in Japan and the Rothschilds in Judea have many factors in common. They both believed in the Old Testament, had no intention to become politicians, controlled financial matters, and also had huge industries under their thumb.

The state of Israel that was established by the vast funds the Rothschilds had offered considers Jerusalem as the holy city. The name Heiankyo, the capital city the Hata clan had constructed, can be translated into the Hebrew "El Shalom" (a peace city), the same meaning as Jerusalem. Both families were involved in establishing the sanctuary of Israelites.

The Hata clan might have been the Rothschild of ancient Japan.

Translated by Rie Ishida