I’d like to think Jesus died here. I would, I really would. That’s pretty impressive - that this little
village - in the middle of nowhere, has been recognised by Israel. Ooh. This might piss some people off. So Christmas is almost upon us once more,
and soon a chunk of the world’s population will be gathered around unwrapping various unwanted socks and jumpers, and of course, celebrating the birth of Jesus christ. So what better time to re-examine the story
of Jesus, albeit from a rather…different… angle. A while back a friend told me about a town
hidden away in the mountains of north Japan, where the locals genuinely believe Jesus lived
and died. Now the idea that Jesus came to Japan is a
little bit difficult to believe, let alone that he lived and died in a rural town in
the north. So naturally, I thought my friend was making
fun of me, and I told him to get out of my kitchen. But then a few days later, I came across some
photos of the town; featuring the Tomb of Christ, something that resembled a church,
and a photo of the local townsfolk dancing around a cross. And then I felt very very confused. The town in question is called Shingou, and
it’s about 3 hours north of Tokyo by bullet train, in the region of Aomori. And having seen these photos and having heard
this bizarre story, I figure we’re going to have to go up there and see it for ourselves and try and work out what's going on. Now I won’t lie, we’ve got quite a lot
of questions that need answering; number 1, why did Jesus come to Japan, number 2, how
did Jesus get to Japan; I mean it’s quite far isn’t it. And 3: how did he escape the whole getting
crucified thing. So let’s go to Shingou and let’s go and
find the Tomb of Jesus Christ and find out what really happened 2,000 year ago. So we’re near the town of Shingou now in
Aomori. To call this place isolated would not be an
understatement. It's pretty remote. To live out in here in the winter months when
there’s absolutely towns of snow - to be honest you’d need to believe in Jesus to
get through it. What actual evidence is there that this is
real. Apparently they’ve got this summer festival
every year and they dance to this song. And the lyrics to this song has some strange
language that’s not Japanese. And some people say it’s based on Hebrew. That’s pretty random. Yeah so there’s some thing that make them
believe it’s true; and we’ve got to check it out. The first thing you’ll see before reaching
the town is the sign and seeing it for the first time, out here in the middle of nowhere
is an utter mind fuck. That is pretty surreal, there’s a just sign
there - in the middle of nowhere - just saying Tomb of Christ. Oh my god. So we’re at the village and there’s a
big map welcoming us here. It says Home of historical Romance and Jesus
Christ. I like the way the Historical romance is more
significant than Jesus Christ - they put that first. Apparently the burial mound of Jesus Christ
is up on that hill over there. And there’s quite a few strange and intriguing
things around here. Number 1: Tomb of Jesus Christ But number 4: Skunk cabbage group birthplace I don’t know what that is, but that sounds
equally excited. But I guess let’s go up the hill and have
a look. “Christ’s Grave” So this is the story of what actually happened
presumably; the real story of what happened to Jesus Christ It says; when Jesus Christ was 21 years old,
he came to Japan and pursued knowledge of divinity 12 years. Doesn’t really talk about how he got here;
we just assumed it wasn’t too difficult. He went back to Judea at age 33, and engaged
in his mission. He was here 12 years? However, at that time people in Judea would
not accept Christ’s preaching. Instead, they arrested him and tried to crucify
him on a cross. His younger brother, Isukiri casually took
Christ’s place and ended his life on the cross. So his younger brother, who you may or may
not know about, casually took Christ’s place on the cross. Casually? No problem! Don’t worry! And then Christ who escaped the crucifixion,
went through the ups and downs of travel, and again came to Japan. The ups and downs of travel? Only 8,000 miles. I like the way when he returned there were
ups and downs; but when came here when he was 21, no problem at all. He settled right here in what is now called
Herai Village, and died at the age of 106. It was Jesus, I suppose he could. The above description was given in a testament
by Jesus Christ himself. There you go, there’s the real story of
what happened. I can see the cross from here - let’s go
and have a look. Oh wow. So this is the mound - the burial mound of
Jesus Christ - died aged 106, after a long journey from Jerusalem to Japan. There’s a little rock here and it says Arigatou
Gozaimasu (thank you very much), presumably thanking him for coming and living here and
moving here…like he did. Although really he didn’t sacrifice anything
then did he? It was his brother. His brother casually took the place on the
cross. His brother casually took the place. What did Jesus do then? Surely this story is flawed as it makes him
look like a coward. I don’t want to get nailed to a cross; fuck
it I’m going to Japan. That’s basically what happened - and then
he lived to 106. And then here - and I’m not making this
up - there’s a stone dedicated by the Ambassador of Israel to Japan, Eli Cohen, in 2004. The stone on the right was dedicated by the
municipality of Jerusalem as a testimony of friendship between Shingo and the city of
Jerusalem and the State of Israel. June 6, 2004. And then there’s some Hebrew that I cannot
read. If anybody here knows Hebrew, please translate
that for us. But that’s pretty impressive, that this
village in the middle of nowhere, has been recognised by Israel. And then what have we got over here? And then over here we’ve got we’ve got
the mound of Isukiri, Jesus’ younger brother who of course, made the ultimate sacrifice
casually by getting nailed to a cross. But what I find both disturbing and upsetting
is that while Jesus has a little thank you saying Arigatou Gozaimasu beneath his cross,
Isukiri who got nailed to a fucking cross got nothing. There’s not thank you for him What’s going on? This story just doesn’t make sense. It’s true that Jesus may have died here;
but it’s slightly more likely that the tombs actually hold the bodies of 16th century Missionaries. During the 1500’s Christian evangelists
from Europe were common throughout Japan, until 1614 when Christianity was banned by
the Shogun. Those who refused to denounce their beliefs
were tortured, beheaded, or burned at the stake to set at an example. This led to Christianity going underground
in Japan for more than 200 years, with Christianity surviving only in scattered communities throughout
the country, until the Meiji restoration, when freedom of religion was allowed once
again. And today, around 1% of Japan’s population
still identifies as Christian. But given Shingou’s isolation, this might
explain why Shingo has held this connection with Christianity after hundreds of years. I’d like to think Jesus died here. I would, I really would. Because out here in the rural mountains of
Japan, there’s something romantic about it. Well not all of our questions were answered,
but I definitely think there were still some valuable lessons to be learned from this trip. For example, I learned when the shit hits
the fan, get the fuck out quick and let one of your siblings get nailed to a cross instead. That was pretty good advice. But what do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section below
- I’ve also put an article with more information in the description box, as well as directions
if you’re looking to make the pilgrimage themselves. I still feel we didn’t really get an answer
on how Jesus actually got to japan. But I can’t get that line out of my head,
that line about Jesus going through the ups and downs of travel. Because in that one line you can almost picture
that epic journey, that epic quest, that Jesus would have endured on his return trip to Japan.
Funny how they put the katakana as
“Kiristo”
So it’s the tomb of Chris-t