Tomb of Christ

The Tomb of Christ in Shingo, Aomori, is one of Japan's most gloriously odd attractions, built around a local legend claiming that Jesus escaped crucifixion, fled to Japan, and lived out his days as a rice farmer in this remote Tohoku village. Two burial mounds on a grassy hillside are marked with wooden crosses, one said to hold Christ's remains and the other a lock of his brother's hair. A nearby museum presents the legend's evidence, including a supposed ancient Hebrew document discovered in the 1930s. Whether taken seriously or embraced as a curiosity, the site is genuinely memorable, and the surrounding village of Shingo is a peaceful corner of rural Aomori in its own right.