It may be a case of no Beddru, one bath.

In Acharya S' Christ Conspiracy, there is a list of "savior figures" offered with no details as to their background or nature. Last time I looked at one called Chu Chulainn and found a story of an Irish warrior-hero who had a bad temper, and nothing in common with Jesus. So I figured that when I looked into one called "Beddru of Japan" I might find some Samurai Jack sorta guy who saved the day at one time back in feudal Japan. As it happens, I didn't find even that much. In fact, in spite of looking through a dozen books on Japanese history and mythology, in spite of an Internet search, and in spite of consulting the Online Catalog of the Library of Congress, I found -- nothing.

No Beddru -- not in Japan or anywhere. The only place this joker IS mentioned is in the same list that Acharya offers -- which is also repeated uncritically by dozens of Skeptics around the Internet. Where did she, and they, get it from? That's the real story here so far -- it was originally from Kersey Graves' World's 16 Crucified Saviors. And where did Graves get to know Beddru? Who knows? (An alert reader informs me of a consultation with an expert in Oriental languages who says, "Beddru looks like it could be a Japanese transliteration of a European name, except that 'dru' isn't an allowed syllable in standard Japanese." Another reader familiar with Japanese vocabulary says that the double D combo is not known in modern Japanese. Comments are welcome from any readers in Japan.)

What's more criminal in this case, though, is Acharya's level of deception in offering this list. She lists only names for most of these, and then says that there is not "adequate room [in her book] to go into detail of all these mythological characters." I say rather, the barn is empty, and the door is wide open. She has NO "detail" on the majority of these characters and is bluffing to make it sound like she does.

At this point, I consider it likely that "Beddru of Japan" is a complete ringer -- Graves either made this name up out of whole cloth, or so badly mangled some source that whatever lies behind his cite will be difficult, if not impossible, to recover. If any critic can prove otherwise, I want to hear about it.

Here are some thoughts that came from a correspondence by one of our readers with Timothy Takemoto, whose homepage is here. Our reader wrote him because he seemed to have some expertise in Japanese mythology. See also his bio here. I will simply provide the correspondence as it stands other than ommitting the reader's name:

*Sent to me Jan 4th in reply to my inquiry about Beddru:

Dear ******,

There can not be a Japanese God called Beddru because constonants are followed by a vowel in Japanese. At the closest "Beddoru" but that does not sound like a Japanese god either since double dd is only used for loan words. There is a chance that "Beddoru" could be a Japanese name for a Hindu God. The nearest name that could be Japanese is Bedoru but even the combination "bedo" does not sound Japanese. Looking in a large dictionary that mentions quite minor Japanese gods, I find the only "Beddo-" of "Bedo-" entries are for loanwords such as Beddoru-mu (Bedroom) and "Bedouin" (Bedouin arabs).

Checking the other vowels

Beda - nothing

Bede- no (only a German proper name)

Bedi (pronounced Beji) - nothing

Bedu (prounced Bedzu) - nothing

Bedo - no only European loan words.

Occascionally "be" is a way of writing loan words beginning with "ve." These are now normally written in a different way (with a fricative "u" in place of the v). So perhaps this is really something like Vedoru?

Ve-da is the Japanese for the (Rg) Veda of Hinduism - Hindu Holy book. Ve-ta-nta is the Vendanta school of Hinduism and the Upanishads. Does Be-da-nnta" sound like "Beddoru"? Not really.

It does not look likely...

So, you have a misspelling on your hands. Tell me more about what he or she did and I may be able to help.

Looking on the Net I find that the God you mentioned comes up a lot but always in the same list. And.. aha...

This article claims that Beddru is a hoax http://www.tektonics.org/beddru.html

It seems to me that normally one would find some sort of vague grounding to the story. Perhaps if you tell me what this god is claimed to have done. Be self sacrificing?

*Sent to me Jan 7th:

Hi ******.

As I said in my last mail, I can imagine that there is some truth in the rumour but the name has been badly distorted.

I have also seen this God's name spelled Beddin. This is also impossible in Japanese. D when followed by I is pronounced "ji" and there are no bouble "j"s in Japanese, as English. Beddin would have to be a foreign word. It is very close to "Beddo-in" or "Bed in" which is or was slang for sedduce (to get someone in your bed), which I think originated in the Bed in for Peace done by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

I am sure that there is are many people that sacrificed themselves for others in Japan, such as Kamikaze pilots, and people become gods after their death, and even while they are alive through their deeds. So, in that sense, there is no shortage of Christ like gods.

There is also "Amida Buddha" who is the the Buddha of the largest religion in Japan "Joudo shu" and New "joudou shu" Buddhism. Amida (the Indian God Amitahba?) is a sexually neutre super being that carries the sins of the world. By praying to Amitahba one can be saved. This god became popular just when they were trying to stamp out Christianity in Japan. The Japanese are good at imitating things. I think that Amida is the Japanese version of Christ, made in Japan.

Tim