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JAPAN IS PROUD HOME OF CHRIST'S TOMB
By Leo Lewis in Shingo Village
Times Online
May 29, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2201183,00.html
In a paddy-lined valley in the far north of Japan is a municipal
signpost
inscribed: ³Tomb of Christ: next left.²
Follow the winding path up into the forest and there, sure
enough, is a
simple mound with a large wooden cross labelled as the grave of
Jesus.
Nearby is a tomb commemorating Isukiri, Christıs brother,
adorned with a
plastic poinsettia Christmas wreath.
For two millennia the farming village of Shingo claims to have
protected a
tradition that Jesus spent most of his life in Japan. The
village is the
home of Sajiro Sawaguchi, a man in his eighties who claims to be
a direct
descendant of Jesus and whose family has always owned the land
in which it
is said that Christ is buried.
Mr Sawaguchi emerged as Jesusıs heir only in 1935, when a priest
in Ibaraki
discovered a document in ancient Japanese purporting to be
Christıs will.
This document supposedly identifies Shingo as the location of
the tombs of
Jesus and Isukiri. The claim is widely believed. About 40,000
Japanese visit
the site every year. Two years ago it was presented with a
plaque by
Jerusalem, and next Sunday it will host the annual Christ
festival of
traditional Japanese dance.
According to the account in the Christ Museum next to the tombs,
Christ
arrived in Japan at the age of 21 and learnt Japanese before
returning to
Judaea 12 years later to engage in his mission and preach about
the ³holy
land of Japan². The official Shingo history is that Jesusıs
place on the
Cross was ³casually² taken by his brother, leaving Christ free
to return to
Japan. On his return he fell in love with Miyuko, a local girl,
and lived
happily with his family among the rice fields until dying aged
106.
Norihide Nagano, the straight-faced curator of the tombs, says
that the
theory that the grave does contain the remains of Jesus is
supported by
several pieces of evidence. There is the local tradition, dating
back
hundreds of years, of drawing a charcoal cross on babiesı heads;
and ancient
kimonos made in the area incorporated a Star of David.
The upkeep of the site is paid for out of the profits of a local
yoghurt
factory, and Mr Nagano agrees that The Da Vinci Code will
probably boost
Shingoıs coffers. The village shop is already doing a roaring
trade in
Christ-branded saké. ³Did you enjoy the museum?² asks Mr Nagano.
³If you
did, I recommend you go to Ishikawa district. They have the tomb
of Moses
there.²
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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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