[News of Jesus] came from Japan later, in 1933, when a Shinto priest in the Ibaraki Prefecture discovered written documents that turned out to be the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. What's more, the papers (which disappeared just before the outbreak of World War II) identified the nearby village of Shingo in Aomori Prefecture as his last resting place. Jesus, it turns out, did not die on the cross - that was his previously unreported brother Isukiri, who had secretly taken his place. As Isukiri suffered the crucifixion, Jesus secretly fled for Japan, taking with him his brother's severed ear and a lock of the Virgin Mary's hair as keepsakes. On a journey of four years, he crossed the Siberian tundra to reach Alaska, then sailed for Hachinohe, and finally reached Shingo. There, he made a fake identity for himself and enjoyed a quiet life, marrying a farmer's daughter named Miyuk and raising three children, farming garlic and tending to those in need. Described as bald with features of a 'long-nosed goblin', Jesus Christ died in Japan at the age of 106... The most remarkable aspect of this story is that you can visit the grave of the Japanese Jesus to this day...The villagers of Shingo are certain of their godly heritage. "I'm not really planning anything at all for the 25th of December, as it doesn't really matter to us," a 52 year old villager named Junichiro Sawaguchi told a reporter in 2008. "I know I am descended from Jesus, but as a Buddhist, it's just not all that important."
Edward Brooke-Hitching, The Madman's Library: The Strangest Books, Manuscripts and Other Literary Curiosities from History
