Christ buried in Japan

I had posted something on this earlier, but with the change in domain, etc., that last post was inadvertently lost. I’ll do my best to rebuild it.

There are many strange legends that are floating around, if you’re curious and willing to look around a little. In Japan, Aomori Prefecture, there is a small village called Shingou (新郷村) that is totally in the boonies. Near this villiage there is a burial mound, called Kofun(古墳） in Japanese. Now these mounds are found all over Japan, with a large percentage of them being excavated by archeologists. (There are many that cannot be excavated by law because it is thought that they might contain remains of ancestors of the imperial family) What’s interesting about this mound is that according to local legend, this mound is the burial place of no other than Jesus Christ himself.

The general gist of the legend is this: instead of Christ being crucified on Golgotha, his younger brother Isukiri was crucified in his place. (I have no idea where this name came from. There are several individuals referred to as “brethren of the Lord” in the New Testament, namely James, Joses, Simon, and Judas in Matt. 13:55. Maybe one of these names was corrupted into Isukiri? I’ll leave that to anthropologists and etymologists) Christ then fled to Japan, of all places, where he lived to a ripe old age and died. After he was buried, his brother’s remains were also taken to Japan and placed in a burial mound next to his.

I get the impression that this local legend puts the otherwise insignificant town on the tourism map, so the little township does all it can to promote it. There are of course a score of non-mainstream religions that have seized upon this legend and incorporated it into their grand theory of everything, à la Foucalt’s Pendulum. Probably the most well-known of these various sects is Mahikari, or Divine Light, which is famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for their “light healing”.

There is a small website for the village that introduces some of the local legends, plus throws in a good plug for tourism. I’ll do my best to translate it into English.

Legend of Christ
“Jesus Christ, who was Crucified on the hill Golgotha, in reality secretly went to Japan.” This tremendous claim was put forth by the Takeuchi Manuscript, a document handed down by the Takeuchi family of the Kousoukou Grand Shrine in the Isohara village (currently North Ibaragi City) of Ibaragi Prefecture, which was revealed in 1936. Mr. Takeuchi personally visited Shingou village at this time and discovered Christ’s grave. Also due to a group of archeologists discovering “Christ’s will and testament” in 1936, and an archeologist/geologist by the name of Kiku Yamane writing a work on the subject, Shingou village has become a remarkable place that people pay attention to.

Jewish Customs?
I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not they really are the graves of Christ and his younger brother Isukiri. Even so, there are several mysteries concerning Shingou village. Herai (戸来, the original name of the village) is theorized to be a derivation of the word “Hebrew”. The words “aya” and “dada” are used for father, and “apa” and “gaga” are used for mother. When children leave the home for the first time, they paint a cross on their foreheads with black ink. If their leg falls asleep, they also paint a black cross on their foreheads. There are families that have used the Star of David as their family crest for generations. Also, there is a chant sung during the festivals that has been passed on for generations, even though its meaning is unknown. “Na-nya-do-ya-ra, na-nya-do-na-sa-re-no”.

The Enigmatic Megaliths
Is this a Pyramid for sun worship? According to the Takeuchi manuscript, there are seven pyramids in Japan that are thousands of years old, much older than the pyramids of Egypt. Mount Touwari, discovered by painter Hatayama Toritani in 1936, is purported to be the 4th of these pyramids. These are pyramids that appear to be normal mountains, but have megaliths arranged on the summit. It is thought that in ancient times that these places were used as places of sun worship. You can see the map of the megaliths here.

Find an Adventure
Come to the mist-shrouded forest of Shingou Village. We’re sure you too can feel an impression of this place. After that, come to the information center, called the House of Legends. There you will not only find a general explanation of all the local legends, but also many informative reports and original works are on display. Whatever your personal beliefs may be, come to our mysterious village with a sense of adventure!

Update:
I found a much better site for Shingou village than I had in the previous post. It has pictures of the mound, and pictures of the “historical markers” found around it. The 1st picture is of the path leading up to the burial mounds. The 2nd picture is the mound is Christ’s grave, while the 3rd picture is his younger brother Isukiri’s tomb. It’s pretty interesting how they put a cross on each of the mounds, just to emphasize the obvious. The building in the 4th picture is the “House of Legends”. The 5th picture is the explanation of the legend that’s next to Christ’s grave, and the final picture is none other than Christ’s Last Will and Testament itself, conveniently on display in the Hall of Legends.