This video explains that there are many interesting similarities between the Japanese culture and the cultures in some regions of Africa.

[Note: This video takes a somewhat “apologetic” stance about the subject, where he stresses that he doesn’t know if there actually was any contact between those regions, but the evidence definitely does seem to point to the cultures being in contact with each other.  It would have been the easiest of voyages for such people to simply explore along the southern coast of Asia— There wouldn’t have been any “sailing off into the great void”-type of risks that traveling across oceans would have entailed, so in my opinion I think contact between the regions almost certainly has happened.]

Following are points made in the video:

— Many African languages and the Japanese language share many similarities.  For example, just about every Japanese word and every African word ends in a vowel, and they are both “tonal" languages, where the tone of the speaker’s voice determines the meaning of the words that are spoken.

— The Japanese language is very different from other Asian languages that surround it, where it is considered to be a “language isolate.”  Some African languages are also considered to be language isolates.

— Many words are similar between Japanese and African languages.  Similarities exist between Japanese and the Nigerian Ruba language.

—  The modern day West African city of Edo is now known as “Benin City,” and the Japanese version of Edo is now known as Tokyo.  In 1457 AD, the city of Edo was built in Japan, only 13 years prior to the city in the Benin Empire being renamed to Edo.

— The largest West African empire was known as “Songhai,” which sounds remarkably Asian, and the capital city of Somalia is called “Mogadishu.”

— The video then lists numerous Japanese and Yoruba words listed side by side, showing that they are essentially the same.

— The same same sort of comparison is shown with Japanese and Igbo words, which are also very similar.

—African were capable of sailing to Japan and vice-versa, although there is no documentation of that happening before the 15th century.  Both the Japanese and Africans had sailing technology that would have been able to make the voyage.

— Both East Asians and Africans frequently construct their houses around their yards rather than having their yards on the outside as is done in the West.  Also such constructions used large amounts of wood, particularly in the pillars, and they were build without the use of nails.

— Many African sculptures display Asiatic characteristics, and many Africans also have Asiatic features such as wide faces, high cheekbones, and almond shaped eyes.