A Discovery That Sparked Curiosity
In the quiet village of Shingō, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, a remarkable claim stands among the hills: that Jesus Christ lived, died, and was buried there. The story began in 1935 when Kiyomaro Takeuchi, while surveying the region, announced the discovery of a tomb he said belonged to Jesus.
His findings drew from the so-called Takeuchi manuscripts, documents later judged to be a hoax, yet they described an extraordinary tale: that Jesus escaped crucifixion, traveled through Siberia, and settled in Japan, where he lived until the age of 106.
The Takeuchi Manuscript and the Sawaguchi Lineage
According to the manuscripts, Jesus came to Japan at the age of 21, studied divinity for 12 years, and returned to Judea to preach. Instead of dying on the cross at Golgotha, the text claimed his brother, named Isukiri, was crucified in his place. Jesus allegedly fled across Asia and arrived in northern Japan, adopting the name Torai Tora Daitenku.
There he married a local woman named Miyuko and had three daughters. The Sawaguchi family of Shingō has long been associated with this story, with claims that their ancestry traces back to Jesus himself. Beside the mound said to be his tomb lies another smaller mound, which the tale identifies as the resting place of Isukiri.
From Forgotten Site to Festival Grounds
Despite the dramatic story, villagers of Shingō showed little interest at first. Anti-Western sentiment in the 1930s made the idea unwelcome, and after the Takeuchi manuscripts were destroyed in Tokyo during World War II, further verification was impossible. For decades, the site was nearly forgotten. Then, in the 1960s, local officials began using the story to draw visitors.
By 1964, the village introduced the Christ Festival, held every June. During the festival, participants circle the tombs in a dance while singing an old song with mysterious lyrics. Some suggest the chant might resemble Hebrew, though no proof has ever confirmed this.
Tourism and the Christ Village Museum
Today, the so-called Tomb of Christ has become Shingō’s most famous attraction, drawing between 20,000 and 40,000 visitors annually. A sign near the site retells the story in detail, presenting the version in which Jesus escaped crucifixion and settled in Herai, the old name for Shingō.
To expand interest, the Christ Village Tradition Museum opened, exhibiting artifacts and stories linked to the legend, including a “Jerusalem stone” gifted to the village by Israel. In 2011, a local entrepreneur also opened “Kiristop,” a small Sunday shop whose name playfully recalls a convenience store chain, giving tourists a place to buy local goods.
In Shingō, Aomori, Japan, a pair of mound graves is promoted as the Tomb of Christ.
The claim began in 1935 when Kiyomaro Takeuchi announced a discovery tied to the Takeuchi manuscripts, later deemed a hoax.
The site is now one of the village’s main tourist draws…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/cbeK1PglO1
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) August 25, 2025