In Russia, they first learned about ancient statuettes from Japan thanks to science fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev, who devoted several articles and books to the possible visit of the Earth by aliens from other worlds. And he cited the dogu figures as one of the proofs of the hypothesis of the death of an alien ship in 1908 in the Podkamennaya Tunguska area. Moreover, Kazantsev even managed to assemble his dogu collection.
Most of them were found in Japan, and the number of all found dogu is about 15 thousand. The height is different - from 8 to 30 centimeters. The age, determined by the radiocarbon method, ranges from 3 to 4.5 thousand years.
Among the dogu there are images of animals, but mostly they are creatures similar to humans. Only the proportions of the body are distorted, the faces are unusual, and the head is often triangular or heart-shaped. In addition, their bodies are cut with circles, zigzags and other geometric shapes and resemble tattoos. For some reason, most of them lack their right hand. And until now, the only explanation for this is the ruthless time.
Disputes most often revolve around the strange-looking dogu. Someone sees female signs in silhouettes - wide hips, chest, belly: they say, fullness symbolizes fertility, and in some cases - pregnancy. Since some dogu illustrate childbirth, the theory arose that the figurines were a graphic illustration of matriarchy.
There is another version: these are images of people suffering from any ailments. Healers or priests transferred diseases of people to figures, then the dogu broke up, saving the sick from suffering. In favor of this theory is evidenced by the fact that many of the figurines did come down to us damaged.
Another hypothesis suggests that dogu are special amulets, with the help of which shamans set up contact with gods and natural elements. Perhaps they even somehow pleased the supreme rulers by arranging some kind of rituals.
However, today the most common theory is that the dogu depict space aliens who have visited Earth a long time ago, or rather ancient Japan.
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Fireball over Nijo Castle
Actually, the word "dogu" in translation from Japanese means "clay doll". And she is covered from head to toe with an unusual dress. The dogu looks so strange that one who sees them for the first time immediately exclaims: a real space suit!
NASA specialists twice - in 1964 and in 1990 - approached the study of the mysterious clothing of the dogu, compared it with modern space equipment, invariably giving a positive assessment of this comparison. The sleeves and legs of the suit seem to be inflated with air, which equalizes the pressure inside the suit with the outside. Experts discerned in detail the dogu not only a sealed helmet with slit-shaped goggles, various fasteners, small hatches for controlling and repairing life-support devices, but even … a breathing filter!
Most of the figures have three mysterious round protrusions near the mouth and cheeks, which are very difficult to correlate with any details of the face of a modern person. But in a spacesuit, breathing hoses and cables of intercom devices can be connected to such sockets.
A specialist in the ancient culture of Japan, Voon Green, has devoted many years to the study of dogu figurines. The result of his labors was the book "Space Suit, which is 6,000 years old." Green draws attention to all the unusual details associated with a space suit, and, very importantly, emphasizes that in the Jomon era, the Japanese sculpted many other figures with clearly human features from clay.
The purpose of the other Jomon-era pottery is clear: household utensils, dishes, hunting and fishing gear. But these "dolls" …
Green also cites examples from Japanese mythology, which speaks of flights of various objects over the clouds and the "sons of the sky." The Japanese also have a legend about a fiery dragon flying from heaven, in which the echoes of memories of ancient interstellar ships clearly sound. In addition, the researcher finds a similarity between the words "Dogu" and "Dogon" - the name of an African tribe, in the legends of which it is said about the visit of the Earth by aliens from space 5 thousand years ago.
Erich von Daniken, a Swiss ufologist and famous ideologist of the theory of paleocontacts, also has no doubts that dogu is evidence of a visit from aliens. Confidence in this is fueled by some archaeological finds: for example, in a drawing in the tomb of Chin San, dated 2000 BC, the king raises his hand in greeting in front of seven flying discs.
In medieval Japan, UFOs have been observed many times. For example, in 1361, a flying drum-like object appeared from the side of an island in western Japan. And in May 1606 over Kyoto every now and then hover balls of fire, and one night many samurai saw how such a ball, similar to a rolling red wheel, stopped over Nijo castle. There are witnesses of unidentified objects in our time.
Did you fly or dive?
Not only strange costumes, but also inhumanly huge eyes amaze in doga. They take up half of the face and look like large sunglasses or sport ski goggles. It is no coincidence that the dogu is often called “clay figures with dark glasses”. If these are really glasses, then the longitudinal slits on the lenses make you recall the sun shields on the helmets of modern spacesuits.
According to another version, these are primitive "snow goggles" - like those used by modern Eskimos: opaque, with a small horizontal cut. They significantly limit the amount of sunlight entering the eyes (we all instinctively squint at the sun). Glasses, of course, are simple, but they never fog up. Perhaps, when the people of the Jomon culture moved to the islands from somewhere in the south, on the wide snowy plains, they simply needed this item, without such protection they could go blind. Then it turns out that the figures are images of the ancestors of the Japanese.
The third theory goes back to Japanese mythology, where a lot is said about kappa - the inhabitants of the deep sea. These strange creatures with flippers and fins possessed knowledge that they passed on to people. Then it turns out that the suits depict diving suits. Their streamlined shape is by no means accidental: such equipment had to resist the high pressure of water, and the spherical shape better distributed the forces of impact; the drawing on the robe gives an idea of the tattoo.
By the way, the earliest mention of Japan in the 3rd century Chinese manuscript "Gisivajinden" refers to the Wa men who jump into the water for fish and shells, paint special drawings on their faces and bodies. Although the tribal tattoo style has not found a continuation among the Japanese, it can still be seen in other Pacific inhabitants, for example, the Maori in New Zealand.
Dogu were also used in funeral rites: closed eyes, that is, the eyes of a deceased person, speak of this. The features of the image of an owl, a bird, often used in figurines, are also traditionally associated with the Lower World. In addition, on the surface of the dogu, the "life line" is often found, meaning the connection between life and death. Since most of the figurines found are broken, this may indicate their use in some posthumous rites.
So far, none of the listed theories has been rigorously confirmed. So dogu figurines are another mystery left to us by our ancestors.
Yulia Skopich