It is not mentioned in the book or the film, but a tiny village in northern Japan is expecting a large windfall from the big-screen blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code. Shingo is the last resting place of Jesus Christ, while the garlic farmer who owns the land claims he is the direct descendant of the son of God.
At least, that's what visitors are told by the locals, who are apparently convinced by the rather murky explanations as to how Jesus ended up growing rice in Aomori prefecture until his death at the ripe old age of 106.
'We haven't had too many extra visitors just yet: maybe 30 or so a day,' said Miyako Tamagawa of the Kirisuto no Sato Denshokan - or 'Village of Christ Legend Museum'. 'But the film has only just started in Japan. I think we'll have a lot more people coming here this summer.'
They come to behold a small mound of earth surrounded by a white picket fence and topped by a simple wooden cross. Floral wreaths are laid daily on the last resting place of the messiah by believers and the curious. Nearby is another, similar tomb: that of his brother, Isukiri, who took Christ's place at the crucifixion at Golgotha, in today's Israel.
It reportedly contains Isukiri's ear, which was recovered from the body, and locks of the Virgin Mary's hair. They somehow survived the long journey from the Middle East, through Siberia and China, before ending up in Japan.
The son of God, it is said, first travelled to Japan at the age of 21, and lived here during the 11-year gap in his life that is not accounted for in the Bible. Local legend has it that he studied the Japanese language and literature, and took the name Daitenku Taro Jurai. At the age of 32, he returned to Judea to teach about the sacred land of Japan, then fell afoul of the Roman authorities. But his brother died on the cross in his place, and Jesus returned to Japan. There, he fell in love with Miyuko, a farmer's daughter, and produced three daughters before dying.