The Tomb of Jesus Christ in Japan

In the distant corner of northern Japan, a place known for terraced paddy fields and apple orchards, is the small village of Shingo, where lies a curious little attraction. It’s a small mound of bare earth, in the middle of a bamboo grove, that is surrounded by a short white fence and marked with a large wooden cross. Under the pile of earth, allegedly, lies the remains of Jesus of Nazareth. According to this bizarre folklore, Jesus did not die on the cross at Calvary; instead, it was his kid brother, Isukiri. Jesus managed to escape crucifixion by switching places with his brother, while the real son of God fled across Siberia to Aomori prefecture in the far north of Japan, where he became a rice farmer, married, had a family and eventually died of old age at 106. There is even a family in the village who is said to be the direct descendant of Christ. Photo credit: vera46/Flickr But there is more to the story. According to the local legend, Christ first visited Japan at the age of 21 to study theology. He stayed in Japan for 12 years learning the native language and culture before returning to Jerusalem at the age of 33 to preach. The source of this outlandish story is the so-called “Takenouchi Documents”, allegedly discovered in the 1930s, that detailed the life and death of Jesus including those “lost years” not described in the New Testament. The missing period of Jesus’ early life has given rise to several speculations. Was Jesus in Britain? Did he visit Kashmir in India? According to the Takenouchi Documents, not only was Jesus in Japan, he died there as well. The theory was perpetrated by a Shinto priest, Kyomaro Takeuchi, who claimed to have discovered the documents, written in Hebrew, in his family library. The original documents have conveniently disappeared but Japanese and English translation of these mysterious manuscripts are available.