Charlotte Observer, August 26, 1971 Legend Says Jesus Died in Japan 30-Foot Mound is Pointed Out as Tomb of Christ By John Justin Smith Special to the Observer SHINGO, Japan --- About 1,000 yards from the bottom, the road petered out on the mountainside in Shingo village in northern Japan and we left the car to finish the journey on foot. The valley floor had been bulldozed clear and made level. On the left were half a dozen graves, some apprently more than a century old. On the right was a mound perhaps 30 feet high and it was difficult to tell whether it was a natural or manmade hill. Genki Kosaka, head of the government of Shingo, extended his hand, palm up, toward the mount and spoke in Japanese. Toyohiko Yoneda, interpreter, supplied by the government of Aomori Prefecture, listened, juggled the words in his mind and spoke in English. "This is the tomb of Christ." Now our journey in search of a legend was done and we were at the place where according to an old tale, Jesus of Nazareth died and was buried at the age of 112. The legend is well known in Japan. At least three books have been written about it and the local government has put the story into a brochure for tourists, mostly Japanese. Focal point for the story was this mound. A staircase had been hacked in its side and atop it were twin peaks, each about 6 feet high. There were two crosses. With Kosaka in the lead, we climbed the stairs, measured the crosses and listened as Kosaka, a man now in his 40s, spoke through the interpreter. "I came here as a boy to play. We were told that it was the burial place of an important person but we didn't know who that important person was." But in 1935 one Kiyomaro Takeuchi, a Shinto priest and member of an ancient Japanese family, came to Shingo with a story that is an outrage to Christian belief. Takeuchi told the villagers he had recently found old documents in his home in Isohara in Ibaraki Perfecture, northeast of Tokyo. He told the villagers that the documents said Jesus Christ had not been crucified in Jerusalem, but had fled and afer a four year journey, had made his way to Shingo. Here Jesus took the name Torai Taro Tenkujin, married a Japanese woman named Miyuko, had three daughters and lived a full life, according to Takeuchi. He said Jesus had been respected in Shingo as a teacher and prophet and after his death his body had been left on a mountainside near Lake Towada, a dozen miles west, for several years before it was buried here. We stood around the area of the crosses and Kosaka spoke, saying that one cross marked the grave of Jesus and the other the place of the burial of the ears and hair of his brother, Isukiri, crucified in his place. The ears and hair had been brought to Shingo by Jesus, he said. He talked on and Yoneda interpreted carefully. "He says some people say, no it is not the hair and ears of his brother, but the hair of Mary, his mother." (Still others, it was said think the second mound contains the body of another brother of Jesus.) Has anyone opened the graves to see what they might contain? "No" Kosaka answered, adding "A metal rod was once pushed down into each mound. It went in two meters, (roughly six feet six inches) and was stopped by something hard. Kosaka was asked bluntly: "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is buried here?" He thought for a few seconds and answered: "I cannot say one way or the other." Apparently the entire legend is based on the papers produced in 1935 by Takeuchi but, in addition to the books written about it, it has been passed orally from person to person, sometimes being changed or embellished. But the legend is being treated seriously by some and, because of the burial mound and some other odd things that have turned up, the government of Aamori Perfecture is considering archeological explorations. Kosaka also said there should be an investigation of other things in and around his village, including: Customs predating the 1935 discovery of the old writings. For many years, the foreheads of babies in Shingo had been marked with a cross at birth, and children had worn symbols identical to the Star of David on their clothing. Kosaka said that many years ago in a house very near the supposed burial place of Jesus, a water system that included pipes, and a faucet of some kind were found. He was unsure of the precise date of the finding but put it at a time before such systems were known in Japan. He said the pipes and faucet were taken to Tokyo for study. -- He sung for us a song which he said is believed possibly derived from Hebrew. It is sung throughout that region of Japan and phonetically its words go: "Namiya-Do-Yarayo. Naniya-Do-Na-Sareta-Dyasa-E. Naniya-Do-Yar-Ayo." -- Kosaka said certain hills in the area are not hills at all but pyramids in the fashion of the Egyptians. The legend says that Jesus of Nazareth, when he was 18 and in that part of his life called "the hidden years" by Bible scholars, landed in Ishikiri Prefecture in Japan in search of wisdom. Jesus, young and inquisitive, went first to a Shinto shrine called Kosokotai and studied for five years under Takeogokoro, a wise priest. The priest taught the young man from Judea many things, including politics, literature and religion. Takeogokoro also taught Jesus ancient Japanese magic tricks and several accounts list these tricks as being able to conceal yourself, to jump high into a tree and to throw a bamboo pole into water and walk on it. Jesus on this first trip to Japan, spent five years studying under Takeogokoro and several years travelling. The Shinto priest, pleased with Jesus, gave him an ancient sword, bid him farewell and sent him to see the emperor. The emperor, also pleased, told Jesus he was the King of the Jews and told him to return home but to return again to Japan. At the end of his first trip to Japan, the emperor caused an artist, Hikofutohitoga-Tazumonomiko, to do a portrait of the young man. It shows him as beardless and wearing a robe bearing symbols of his kingship, the sacred 16-petaled crysanthemum of Japan. Thus, armed with knowledge of magic, a sword and a kingly title, Jesus returned to his homeland by way of Monaco to preach that the Kingdom of God was at hand. His message did not sit well with the Jews and the Romans. When it became obvious that Jesus would be taken prisoner and put to death, his young brother Isukiri said in effect: "You have much left to do on earth. Let me die in your place." With Judas as an accomplice, Jesus allowed Isukiri to be killed on the cross and placed in the tomb in Jerusalem. Two days later, weeping, Jesus and Judas entered the tombs, stole Isukiri's body and buried it in the Judean hills. Jesus then fled to Japan. In writing about this legend, several authors have seized upon details and compared them with the gospel accounts in an effort to give them validity. Some of these details: -- The legend says that Jesus, Isukiri and Judas alone knew beforehand of the plot to have the brother take Jesus' place on the cross. The late Mrs Kiku Yamanei, in her book "Christ Died in Japan." says this explains the three denials of Peter, because Peter was unaware of the switch in prisoners and could honestly say he was not associated with the man held. -- The literature surround the legend seizes on Jesus' words from the cross and says that had this really been Jesus, the Son of God, he never would have cried out before mere men. -- The angel who greeted the two women who went to Jesus' tomb on the first Easter is identified in the legend as a Japanese who had returned to Judea with Jesus after his first trip to Japan. He is even identified by name, Muhito Tenkubu. Jesus of Nazareth, having fled Jerusalem after the crucifixion of his younger brother, Isukiri, made an epic journey, according to legend. One version has Jesus travelling alone. Another says he was accompanied by a disciple or perhaps as many as 14 of them. Either way, Jesus' trip took him to Africa, up through Europe, across Asia by way of Siberia and the Aleutians in Alaska to North America and South America back to Alaska and to Japan by boat. The trip is said to have taken four years and to have been a painful and dangerous journey. At one point, according to the Japanese legend, Jesus' boat was in danger of being destroyed by a typhoon, but he prayed and the storm was calmed. He sailed on in the story to land at Hachinoe on the Japanese Island of Honshu's northeast coast, where he erected a shrine in thanksgiving for having been spared from the storm. From Hachinoe, Jesus is said to have travelled inland to the village of Herai, now Shingo, where he married a Japanese woman, had three daughters and lived to be 112. When Jesus of Nazareth was 88 years old, he drew his last will. In it, he acknowledged he had lived in Japan, and in it he made a prophecy. In Chicago, a Japanese translator looked at a copy of the purported will and commented: "This is very old writing... difficult to translate." He spent several days looking over the document and made notes on what it contained and reported: "It makes about 20 points, most of them having to do with the two visits of Jesus Christ to Japan. For instance, the will of Jesus says: 'I suffered a calamity at the Hill of Calvary when my brother Isukiri died at the age of 33 in my place.' "Then there is a prophecy." What was the prophecy? "Oh, it says that 1,935 years after the writing of the will, all the families of people on earth will come together in one organization." The translator paused and seemed uncomfortable. He re-read the supposed will and said: "I do not like to say what it says next." But what does it say? "Oh, it says the man in charge of all the people will be Japanese." When will this coming together of mankind occur? "Well the best estimates of theologians are that Jesus was born in 6 to 8 B.C. Thus, he would have been 88 in the years 80 to 82 A.D. and by adding the mentioned 1,935 years you get a date of 2015 or 2017." As the translator spoke, a thought came to mind. How could this possibly be a document written by Jesus Christ? The characters were Japanese, and writing did not come to Japan until about the year 500 A.D. Parallel Cited Christ in Japan Historical Trick? Chicago --- A Jesuit scholar who has delved into obscure stories about the life of Jesus said the legend about Christ in Japan has only one parallel to his knowledge. And.Rev.Francis Filas, Loyola University theology professor, said the Japanese story may be the result of a little trick of history. Filas said another legend has turned up about a long journey Jesus is said to have made through Egypt. The legend is in apocryphal literature of the coptic Christians. "Isn't this (both legends) like the psychology of George Washington slept here"? Filas asked. He suggested that in the case of Washington and of the two legends about Jesus, people apparently desired to be associated with a hero figure and invented stories to accomplish this. Filas also cited the strange history of Christianity in Japan, a history that began with the visit of St. Francis Xavier at mid-16th century. Sixty-five years later, Christianity was forbidden, many Christians martyred and all ordered to renounce the religion. But when Japan was opened once more to foreigners in 1858 it was found that there were still remnants of Christianity. The priest suggested that the legend of Jesus in Japan might have sprung from these faithful. In Japan and elsewhere (notably in South America and among some American (Indians) similar "pockets" of Christianity were left behind when missionaries departed. Filas said, and in each case Christianity became mixed with local religions and "took on local colours".