Japan claims Jesus

Jesus-san, the garlic farmer, is buried here. That unfortunate guy in Calvary was his brother, called "Isukiri" in Japanese. Or a thief stand-in; depends on whom you ask.Those are the claims of the mountain village of Shingo, Japan, where a fenced-in mound atop a hill is considered a holy site, the grave of Jesus Christ. There's even a highway sign in English to direct you to the "Tomb of Christ." Shingo's mayor can introduce you to His descendants, who, according to an article in this month's Smithsonian Magazine, are surprisingly skeptical about their holy heritage.

Here's the way the story goes: After he was not crucified in Golgotha, Jesus fled Roman persecution by heading across Siberia to Alaska. Later somehow he landed in Japan, where he fell in love with Miyuko, a farmer's daughter. He married her, settled down, raised three daughters and grew garlic, all the while continuing his inspirational good deeds and spreading legendary kindnesses before dying at age 106.Why Japan? According to this legend, Jesus spent the New Testament's "lost years" there, before traveling to Judea. So there he returned after his persecution.

Every year 20,000 pilgrims visit the simple burial site, a mound enclosed by white picket fence and marked with two, 8-foot wooden crosses. A simple museum is at one end, along with Jesus coffee mugs and coasters. Traditional dances and songs are performed by women in kimonos at the annual Christ festival in spring.The self-styled Kirisuto no Sato - "Christ's hometown" in Japanese - has no church. Like the rest of Japan, its residents are mostly Buddhist or Shintoist (a naturist religion), but that doesn't stop the daily dozens of Japan's minority Christians from making pilgrimages to Shingo.

Even some locals doubt the tale and suspect city leaders of a profit motive from religious tourism. Still others say they can prove it with ancient scrolls written in Japanese, recounting the tale and referring to two graves in Shingo (the other is said to hold the Virgin Mary's hair, which Jesus allegedly brought with him). These scrolls were discovered in possession of a Shinto priest near Tokyo around World War II. Who allegedly wrote the scrolls detailing Jesus' Japanese life, you ask? Jesus himself, of course. His "last testament," they say.Obviously there are questions with all of this. The original scrolls were lost; all that remains is a copy. The bones in the crypt below have not been scientifically tested. The man who reported finding the burial site made other claims later doubted. Few outside Shingo take it seriously. On the other hand, suspiciously Christian traditions long predate the alleged "discovery" of the tomb, such as a black cross placed on the foreheads of newborns in non-Christian families. Some songs contain Hebrew words.

So if not Christ himself, his influence somehow reached Japan. It isn't unusual for cultures outside a new religion to merge it with old tradition. The Seventh Century Book of Kells comes to mind, incorporating Irish pagan imagery with Christian ones. Ancient Rome's Saturnalia slowly morphed into Christmas, which, by the way, some in Japan celebrate like Valentine's Day, "losing their virginity" in celebration of the Virgin birth.

They sure don't do that in Ireland.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network, fascinated by variety in culture and religion. Contact her at [email protected].