Jesus Christ lived in Aomori - really?

By Kaz Morran

An active conspiracy theory that rivals the revelations of “The Da Vinci Code” awaits visitors to the sleepy village of Shingo, between Hachinohe and Lake Towada in Aomori Prefecture. Every year in June, a ceremony unlike any other in Japan awakens Shingo (called “Herai” in times long ago) and women in kimono dance around the grave of Jesus Christ. Yep, THE Jesus Christ.

You didn’t know? You can visit his grave in a beautiful park in Aomori. But, behold, there is a lot more to this legend. Back in 1935, a well-known researcher dug up some ancient scriptures in Herai. They were written in Hebrew and supposedly signed by none other than the man, Jesus Christ, himself. These scripture allege that Jesus came to Herai when he was 21 to study religion for 12 years. Then he returned to Judea to teach everyone what he had learned in Japan.

As the story goes, people there didn’t agree with what he was trying to preach and arrested him. It seems however, that here’s where the story takes a twist. Jesus managed to escape crucifixion by having his little brother take his place on the cross. Jesus had a brother? You ask. Apparently so. The real Jesus did a bit of backpacking, then came back to Japan where he settled down in Herai. He married a Japanese woman named Miyu and became a rice farmer. His gravesite marks the end of his 106-year life (or 118 according to some people). His brother’s grave sits comfortably beside Jesus’ grave.

The burial mounds were done in a way that is consistent with how the tombs of important figures of that time were buried at the time. Nearby are the grave sites of the Sawaguchi family. According to the Hebrew writings, the Sawaguchis, who continue to live in the area, are the true descendants of Christ. Indeed, photos of them and their ancestors reveal faces obviously different that typical Japanese. They are taller, their noses longer, and their skin lighter than others in the village.

The family emblem of the Sawaguchis marks the outside of their present home in the village. It is a star, remarkably similar to the Star of David. As if to fuel the legend, in 2004, the ambassador of Israel visited Shingo and donated a plaque, written in Hebrew.

The meanings of the words chanted by those who perform the annual ceremony have long since been forgotten by locals. However, it is an old Hebrew tongue, and some parts sound familiar such as the word “Nazareth.” Furthermore, the name Herai is likely derived from the ancient “Hebron,” or home of the Hebrews. Some documents refer to the village as New Herai.

Also of interest is that linguistics experts say the Japanese language has several words that bear remarkable similarities to the Hebrew language. They are puzzled at how this could have happened since there is no historical connection between Japan and ancient Israel. Or is there? Other legends say that a lone man arrived by boat one day, long, long ago, from exactly that area of the world, he spoke Hebrew, and taught locals many things.

There exists today a very unique custom in Shingo. When a new baby comes into the world, a cross is drawn upon its forehead. Locals do not know why, but like many Japanese customs it is followed merely out of respect for tradition.

The Christ Tomb museum has many other artifacts of local traditions such as unique clothing and weaved baskets that are oddly similar to those in ancient Israel.

Of course, with every legend comes doubt. Alas, our amazement is stifled when we learn that the alleged authentic documents, written in perfect Japanese and signed by Jesus, were found by Kyomaro Takeuchi, who was employed by the mayor of Shingo. At that time, the mayor had been on a desperate journey to promote his town’s appeal to tourists. With 10,000 people a year coming to his little village now, it looks as though he was successful.

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Latest 15 of 61 Total Comments Show All

Mittsu at 01:19 PM JST - 21st August

This is such an old story.
Patrick Smash at 04:18 PM JST - 21st August

I think they should make a TV drama called "Jesus of Aomori". I would have Manabu Oshio play Jesus, Noriko Sakai as Mary, and Beki-ko as Mary Magdalene. Thane Camus could turn up and say, "OK, in Aramaic please" a bit, and Jesus' audience could be a whole room full of young women from various countries in mini-skirts.

Please Japan, please make this show.
Patrick Smash at 04:22 PM JST - 21st August

And the feeding of the 5000 could be done with senbe and raw fish, and the young ladies could be directed by St. Peter, played by Samma. Jesus' first Japan miracle could be teaching the local eikaiwa teacher to speak passable Japanese.

This would be a classic if someone makes it.
bobbafett at 05:27 PM JST - 21st August

Altria, that was pretty funny.
realist at 08:14 AM JST - 22nd August

The person who wrote this drivel does not know anything about the REAL Jesus, and this article about Him living in Aomori is the worst garbage I have read in a long time. Why does JT print such inane rubbish?
realist at 08:17 AM JST - 22nd August

Thw only thing that approaches reality in this article are the vague references to connections between Shintoism and Judaism. For more on this, read the book "The Japanese and the Jews."
samlee at 06:29 PM JST - 22nd August

It is amazing that you post this subjecet on your facebook. As the matter fact my new book: "Rediscovering Japan, Reintroducing Christendom is all about such things. In fact Christianity did not enter Japan during the 1500s by the Catholic Missionaries, but rather through the Church of The East, who came from Assyria and Persia. Also the tribes of Israel came to Japan, some of these were also Christian Jews. Judaism as well as Church of the East have strongly influenced Shintoism as well as Japanese Buddhism. All this in details you will find in my new book which will be published by Hamilton Books, Univ Press of America.

Concerning the grave of Jesus: that grave is belonging to some early missionaries of the Church of the East and some believers in the Hatta (Hada) clan. The researchers in the past have interviewed the family who owns these graves, and they all admitted that it may have belonged to some holy people. Here is a fragment from my book, Rediscovering Japan, reintroducing Christendom: 2000 Years of Christian History in Japan (Univ. Press of America: Release Time: January 2010):

"The So-Called Grave of Jesus There is a legend in Japan which claims that Jesus Christ was not crucified on the Mount of Golgotha, but came to Japan and lived there to the age of 106 in Shingo Village; it also claims that he is buried there. This village is not far from Hachinohe City in Aomori Prefecture, where a Christ festival has become a tourist attraction in Japan. Historically, it has never been proven that Jesus ever came to Japan. Even the suggestion that this was the case has no basis in theological and/or historical evidence. Still, there might be some remnant of Christian history behind this local festival, even if it is now used by the authorities to make money by attracting tourists. Keiko Nagai wrote an article in Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, on July 31, 1996 about this legend. She interviewed the Sawaguchi family, which owns the land where the graves are located. They, who have inherited the land from generation to generation, never suggested that this grave belonged to Jesus Christ, but rather to an unknown exalted person. The family was urged to care for it from generation to generation. It was only in 1935 that rumors about the grave involving Jesus were started by someone from Ibaraki. Keiko Nagai asked the village mayor, Junpachiro Hosogawa, at the time also the high priest of the village shrine, about this matter. He answered: “We are often asked that it is a wonder that Christians don’t file claims, but we have never had any complaints. They understand that we are not treating the matter comically or as a lark.” Also, a local official confirmed that there is no evidence that Christ is buried there (Nagai, 1996). Why there is such a legend in this particular Japanese village if it is factually not the case that Christ ever visited Japan? Upon his travel there, Joseph Ken, Jr., also interviewed the family who owned the land on which the tomb was located. They, too, confirmed that it was not the tomb of Jesus. However, they did mention that there were seven graves of foreigners located there. A local tradition developed in the village that the tombs must not be disturbed; supposedly, a curse would come upon anyone who tried to open them. But, in the pre-war years, the grandmother of the family had decided to open up one grave in spite of this. She brought out some artifacts. Subsequently, the military police to came and dug up all of the graves and took their contents to Osaka. It appears that they were the graves of ancient Christian settlers (Ken, Jr., 2008), perhaps missionaries or merchants. Joseph Ken, Jr. notes in his work, Lost Identity, that, in this area, there were people with some very interesting surnames, such as “Yohane” or “John” in the Bible, and “Yakobu”, or “Jacob.” Another fact worth noting is that the old name of this village was Herai, which resembles the Japanese pronunciation of Hebrew or Heburai. In this village, people of Shingo have certain song sounds similar to some in Hebrew. Those who learned this song from generation to generation sing Nanyadoyara Nanyadonasareno Nanyadoyara as they dance around the grave. These words have no meaning in Japanese, but in Hebrew it could mean “We praise your Holy Name; we will destroy the aliens and praise your Holy Name” (ibid)." Kind Regards

prof. Samuel Lee Lecturer in Japan's Christian History & Cultural Sociology of Japan Amsterdam, The Netherlands / www.ProjectJapan.org
kwilkins21 at 10:17 PM JST - 22nd August

I give you props SAMIEE!!! Your statement was ten times better, entertaining, and factual than the original article. With the way you explained things I could definately want to read more. The original article shouldn't speak as if what he/she was saying was factual because it will only bring hatred from Christians due to the history of so many false profits. Many can probably agree with me that it was a ploy to gain tourism. And I respect the family for not stating that it was not Jesus Christ. I see it as another way of brainwash or scheme to make japanese people think this is the chosen country of importancy.
Farmboy at 07:33 AM JST - 23rd August

Good post, samlee!
HalcyonDaze at 10:49 AM JST - 23rd August

Yeah, interesting post Samlee, but while the names may suggest some Jewish Christian influence it seems a bit of a leap to attribute that to some ancient Wise Men from the East. Is there any hard evidence for that?

Also, if the graves have been protected from generation to generation then it begs the question as to how long ago that area was settled by the Japanese?

To me it seems more likely that it's just the legacy of some stray believers in the Edo period. However, it would be interesting to somehow date those graves in Shingo.
telecasterplayer at 12:15 PM JST - 25th August

read about this years ago. If the J-Man travelled all the way to Japan, don't you think he might have gone to Kyoto or Nara, which were the happening cities at the time? BUt if this story tweaks the bible-literalists, more power to it.
Redeemed at 11:06 PM JST - 25th August

Interesting. This is the first I have ever heard of this story. I do not believe the person was the Jesus Christ however I do believe he could have been a from long ago Israel. Thank you for the story. It is interesting.
TheMarion at 03:53 PM JST - 26th August

Not to be long winded, just type in the words "Axum, Ethiopia" and go from there. Jesus worked with Solomon to build the Church of Mary and it still stands dome 2000 years plus. USE YOUR COMPUTER AND SEE WHAT YOU WILL SEE.
Marius2 at 07:39 PM JST - 26th August

the alleged authentic documents, written in perfect Japanese and signed by Jesus, were found by Kyomaro Takeuchi, who was employed by the mayor of Shingo. At that time, the mayor had been on a desperate journey to promote his town’s appeal to tourists

Of course, this doesn't stop people in believing what they're doing is something old, traditional and genuine:

like many Japanese customs it is followed merely out of respect for tradition

And sadly, this same blind belief can be seen in so many of the festivals, prayers and whatnot here.

Obviously the wild claim in the article attracts a lot of comments and questions of what's real. Wish people would do the same with so much else here, and not take it at facevalue.
samlee at 05:09 PM JST - 8th September

Hi, everyone. Thanks for your interest and suggestions on my post (my reaction to the post "Jesus in Japan"). Some asked me if there are more evidence specially about the Jewish influences. Well, my answer is yes. My book "Rediscovering Japan, Reintroducing Christendom: 2000 years of Christian History in Japan" will be released in February 2010. In this book of almost 250 pages you find hard facts concerning this. The name of the publisher is University Press of America / Hamilton books. I am not sure how much the book will cost, but I think it will be something like 29.95$.(I think from coming December, you can pre-order this book, from the publisher)http://www.univpress.com/

I have done more than 4 years research on this subject, and tried to write the book as objective as possible. For instance there are almost 500 words in Japanese that resemble Hebrew words with similar meanings. Also some Japanese festivals resembles with those in the Old Testament Jewish festivals. Well, you can find all these in my book. Best wishes to you all.

Samuel Lee (Lecturer in Japan's Christian History & Cultural Sociology of Japan Amsterdam, The Netherlands / www.ProjectJapan.org)