Jesus in Japan

November 19, 2006 12:34 AM

"I'm not a Christian, and I have my doubts about being Jesus' descendant,' says garlic farmer Toyoji Sawaguchi. "Somehow I just can't picture Jesus, a great man, as my ancestor.' Bucolic Shingo, formerly Herai, a tiny village in northeast Japan, is believed by some to be the final resting place of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Photos of His grave can be found here.
posted by maryh (37 comments total)

I lived 10 minutes from Shingo in the 90s. All the other Gaijin in the area just had a blast visiting the Jesus Convenience Store. There's not much up there in the Tohoku region, but Shingo was a required stop when the family came to visit. I'm so pleased to see this on the Blue!
posted by Dantien at 12:45 AM on November 19, 2006

Freakalicious.
posted by dhammond at 12:49 AM on November 19, 2006

Wait a minute... so he didn't die for our sins?

There's very little, unfortunately, concerning the Son of God on the Shingo town website. There is this page, featuring another of the bizarre little dolls-in-a-basket.

Thanks for the post, maryh!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:57 AM on November 19, 2006

the dolls in the baskets make me think mario brothers.
posted by RTQP at 1:06 AM on November 19, 2006

BTW, Jimmy Hoffa is buried in Kyushu.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:32 AM on November 19, 2006

Yeah, right, flapjax, just like he's 'supposed' to be buried under Meadowlands Stadium... Buried like a fox...
posted by maryh at 1:51 AM on November 19, 2006

Wow, I was just planning to do a podcast story about Shingo for my friend's website.

And hey, it coulda happened!
posted by zardoz at 2:47 AM on November 19, 2006

It is nearly impossible to miss this 5 branches star, embly of the Sawaguchi family, in its prominent position:

Embly. I'm liking that word. Emm-blee. Emblyembly.

The similarity of this family emblem this David's star, symbol of the hebrews since ancient times, is nothing short of breathtaking:

Because they both have branches. Pure logic. embly.
posted by Zack_Replica at 3:12 AM on November 19, 2006

This makes at least as much sense as the commonly-accepted Christian doctrine version of what happened to him.
posted by blacklite at 3:25 AM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

This is absolute bullshit. Actually, Jesus lived another 2000 years after the crucifiction, and is buried in my ass.

Come see.

Don't forget to buy the t-shirt.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:45 AM on November 19, 2006

Here's another good article on the subject. Also, John Updike wrote a short story based on this myth in "Jesus on Honshu," which you can find collected here.
posted by melissa may at 3:53 AM on November 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

Basket Doll is watching you embly.
posted by Shecky at 4:32 AM on November 19, 2006 [2 favorites]

I really hope Jesus learned some kick-ass martial arts skills when he was in Japan. It would further jibe with the story of Jesus I like that is told in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
posted by thekilgore at 6:12 AM on November 19, 2006

Bizarrre. Someone just handed me a copy of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal a couple of hours ago.

And, um...12 years, now, I have called Japan home but never, ever, have I heard of this village, though I had been told of "the Christmas God"'s travels through Asia by a religious scholar in Tel Aviv, but took it all with a grain of that guy Lot's salt.

Said religious scholar is supposed to be coming to visit in the next year (see, he's my brother-in-law...) and now I'm thinking a road trip to Aomori is *definitely* in order.

(Gotta get me one of them basket dolls to add to my collection of absurd artifacts and embly.)

Embly embly embly, malkovich.
posted by squasha at 6:31 AM on November 19, 2006

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine ...
posted by R. Mutt at 6:32 AM on November 19, 2006

i licked Lots wife.
posted by quonsar at 6:35 AM on November 19, 2006

Thus, the mystery of why she turned around is solved.

(oh, and in case I didn't make it clear above, maryh, great post.)
posted by squasha at 7:16 AM on November 19, 2006

Wrong. Jesus didn't cross Siberia to become a rice farmer in Aomori, have a family and die at 114 (sigh.)

Don't you know that, after surviving the Crucifixion, Jesus travelled through Turkey, Persia, Western Europe, and England, then reversed course to India? He's really buried in Kashmir:

The implications of Kersten's discovery are monumental. Christ's life in India, after the crucifixion, challenges current Church teachings at their very foundation. The theology of Saint Paul, the major influence on modern Christianity, is empty fanaticism in the light of this discovery. Threatened also are the doctrines of obedience to the Church, original sin, salvation through blind faith and the non-existence of reincarnation, etc. Yet these ideas underlie the morality and ethics, (or lack of them), that govern the entire Western social structure, from the legal system to medical health care schemes. It is no wonder that the modern Churches and their secular interests refuse to consider such a proposition as Kersten's!

No wonder. Clearly, the collapse of Western Civilization is at hand, and Junichiro Sawaguchi is just trying to get into the act.
posted by cenoxo at 7:22 AM on November 19, 2006

Very fun post to read. Maybe Amakusa Shiro was a descendant of Nihon Jesus, too!
posted by Atreides at 7:28 AM on November 19, 2006

Acutally, it's a typo.

He was really trying to help Paul with his trignometry homework. Paul wasn't getting it, and insisted to Jesus -- three times -- that the sin A= a/h. In frustration, Jesus wept, and fell over, landing on the wooden axis frame they were using to generate angles.

Yes, kids....
posted by eriko at 8:09 AM on November 19, 2006

Jeez . . . You guys are all so sceptical. A few days ago I had a beer with the man hisself, and he said there's no way he's gonna put out another album, until you guys just all . . . You know . . . um . . . believe. And stuff.
posted by Absit Invidia at 8:11 AM on November 19, 2006

"Nanya Do Yara Nanya Do Nasareno Nanya Do Yara"

Hey! Hey! Yoko!

"Nanya Do Yara Nanya Do Nasareno Nanya Do Yara"

Hey! Hey! Yoko!

"Nanya Do Yara Nanya Do Nasareno Nanya Do Yara"

Hey! Hey! Yoko!
posted by taosbat at 8:44 AM on November 19, 2006

i thought jesus went to america to convert the indians
posted by empath at 8:56 AM on November 19, 2006

squasha : Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Well worth a read. As far as I'm concerned Chris Moore's version makes all other gospels obsolete. Particularly insofar as it explains Jesus' feelings towards bacon.
posted by quin at 9:15 AM on November 19, 2006

This makes at least as much sense as the commonly-accepted Christian doctrine version of what happened to him.
posted by blacklite at 5:25 AM CST on November 19

As well as how humans came into existence. Yeah, don't forget that one either.
posted by ninjew at 9:32 AM on November 19, 2006

This makes at least as much sense as the commonly-accepted Christian doctrine version of what happened to him.

Well... except that one is in the synoptic gospels and one isn't.

But, hell. I support the 118 year old Ninja jesus.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:41 AM on November 19, 2006

Isn't this about as far fetched as the Latter Day Saints' version of Jesus' life?

My band's next album will be entitled "Tomb of the Unknown Savior."
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:06 AM on November 19, 2006

Meatbomb writes "crucifiction". Sly anti-religious skepticism or lack of spellchecking at 3:45 a.m.? You decide.
posted by Quietgal at 10:10 AM on November 19, 2006

Amazing how after all these years people are still making up stories about Jesus...
posted by wfrgms at 10:21 AM on November 19, 2006

Lordy.

Christ didn't head off to Japan or India! He came over to the New World and called himself Quezalcóatl.

You're all a-gonna burn in hell.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:59 AM on November 19, 2006

But the orgy of evidence is not over yet!

This is my new favorite rhetorical device.
posted by owhydididoit at 11:17 AM on November 19, 2006

..and Mary H., what's your last name again? keed...
posted by owhydididoit at 11:18 AM on November 19, 2006

The answer is so obvious! How could you all miss it. He did ALL of the above. After all he is The Jesus!
posted by tkchrist at 12:37 PM on November 19, 2006

Why does a cross mark the grave if Jesus didn't die on a cross?

Kind of subverts the whole meaning of the symbol, yes?
posted by cadastral at 1:16 PM on November 19, 2006

Fascinating post!
posted by nonmerci at 1:18 PM on November 19, 2006

Santa Claus is Jesus.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:08 PM on November 19, 2006

Cadastral just made my head explode!
posted by ereshkigal45 at 7:42 PM on November 19, 2006