2007-12-17 - 5:32 p.m.
Christmas Extravaganza, PART II
Christ in Japan: ELOFTING@HOTMAIL.COM's Most Important Translation Yet! The End of Religious Wars! (Since Everyone Was Wrong) Merry Christmas Everyone!
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The story of how Jesus Christ was crucified on Golgotha Hill is well-known throughout the world. It may, therefore, come as shock to many people to learn that it was, in fact, Jesus' little brother Isukiri who died on the cross that day.
Jesus, meanwhile, was far, far away in Japan.
When Jesus came to Japan to escape crucifixion at the age of 37, it was not his first time to come here. Jesus had also come to Japan to study religion when he was 18. That time, Jesus lived and studied at Kotaijingu Temple in Ishikawa Prefecture with a learned monk named Takeogokoro Shin-no.
The second time Jesus came to Japan was after switching places with his little brother and a long journey out of Isreal, through India, China, and Siberia, and passed Hokkaido before finally landing on Hattaro Beach in Aomori Prefecture, Northwest of Hachinohe.
It is unknown how many apprentices travelled with Jesus, only that Jesus did not travel all this way alone.
After landing at Hattaro Beach, Jesus and his party decided to follow the Gonohe River upriver as far as they could possibly go. Eventually, they arrived at Herai Village (now the Herai area of Shingo in Aomori Prefecture).
And Jesus' grave still exists in Shingo today.
Actually, at Jesus' true burial site in Shingo, there are two mounds of dirt, each with a wooden cross upon it. One of the mounds belongs to Jesus, and the other, according to legend, contains a comb that had belonged to Jesus' mother Mary, and hair and nail clippings from Isukiri's body.
Every year, on June 10th, the residents of Shingo gather at Jesus' grave and sing and dance in his honor.
But let's, for now, return to Jesus' life in Japan.
During Jesus' second stay in Japan, he often went to pray on the Mayogatai Plateau near Shingo in Aomori. Many people believe that, long ago, the gods used to gather and meet in this area. But few people know that Mayogatai was, once, the Garden of Eden.
In April of 7 AD, Jesus began a long journey throughout all of Japan along with his apprentices. It was during this journey that Jesus changed his name to a more Japanese-sounding one, Toraitaro Tengujin.
With his reddish complexion, big nose, and long white beard, Jesus tended to draw a lot of attention wherever he went. People would whisper his name, Tengujin, as he passed by. Eventually this was shortened to simply Tengu. And this is how Tengu, the Japanese folk creature, came to be named.
In May of 16 AD Jesus' former teacher Takeogokoro Shin-no inroduced Jesus to Suinin, the Emperor of Japan. According to legend, the Emporer was delighted with Jesus and formally invited him to stay in Japan for the rest of his life. And this Jesus did. He continued to live in Japan until he died in Herai at the age of 106.
Evidence of Jesus' influence in this area may still be observed today. During the Bon Festival (a Buddhist festival for the dead) in Shingo, residents who participate sing a song that goes "Nanyadoyare, nanyadoyasareno, nanyadoyare" and so on. People sing this song without knowing the meaning of the words because they are from Jesus' native language*, not Japanese.
The Sawaguchi family in Shingo is another legacy of Jesus' for they are actually his descendants. Members of the Sawaguchi family are nearly all quite tall, and have Western-looking eyes. Furthermore, the Sawaguchi family crest includes an image of the Star of David, an important Jewish symbol.
It is interesting to note that few residents of Shingo today are particularly interested in Jesus or Christianity today. This may be because this area has a rich folk history, and so many other strange and fascinating things have happened here.
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* Does anyone know what language Jesus' would have spoken? Or what language this is? Or what this nanya gibberish means? I would be really interested to be able to figure that out...
Translator's Note: My own theory behind this not-too-believable story is that some Christian missionaries living in Southern Japan probably fled North to Shingo after authorities down South started giving missionaries a rough time about four hundred years ago. Those missionaries could have either intentionally misrepresented themselves, or innocently screwed up while trying to communicate in the local dialect. Or maybe Jesus really did come to Japan... That would actually make more sense, to me, than him having come back from the dead.
