There is evidence that Christianity may have come to Japan long before the Jesuit priest, Francis Xavier, reached Japan on July 27, 1549. The northern prefecture of Honshu, Aomori, contains many Christian symbols that predate Xaxier, things from the 2nd or 3rd century!

There is an area in Aomori Prefecture, Northern Honshu, called “Towada”. Lake Towada is famous for being the largest lake in northern Japan.

The first character on the left in the above picture is a cross. It’s the Chinese character for the number 10, but nevertheless, it is a cross shape. I believe here, it’s meant to be the Cross of Christ!

The second character means “peace,” and the third and last character means “rice field.” It literally can mean “Field of peace by the cross of Christ.” Christians in the past were numerous in this part of Japan. Not far from Lake Towada is the town of Shingo, which supposedly has the grave of Jesus Christ! True Bible believers know this cannot be Christ’s grave because Jesus rose to Heaven and didn’t stay in the grave. It’s probably the grave of a Japanese follower of Christ. But nevertheless, just the fact that there are Christian symbols in the area indicates that Japanese culture may have been heavily influenced by Christianity in the first millennium. This knowledge was suppressed. Also, it could be that many historical records were lost in the Great Fire of Meireki on March 2, 1657.

I didn’t make this stuff up. I heard it directly from the Japanese people. I lived in Japan for exactly 40 years.

Though most Japanese do not know or read the Bible, their culture contains many principles taught in the New Testament, principles such as hard work, hospitality to strangers, generosity, humility, cleanliness, sanitation polices, etc. The fact that Japan has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world testifies to its early Christian heritage.