Kitano, Keiho

Keiho Kitano was a Japanese Buddhist cleric who reported a series of encounters with extraterrestrial beings beginning on 22 July 1975 in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture. According to his account, a luminous craft landed on a rocky hillside near the temple lodging where he was staying. He saw human-looking occupants and later claimed to have met extraterrestrials on several occasions. He said they taught him an extraterrestrial language and dictated messages warning that humanity was endangering Earth and the wider cosmic environment. The case received attention in Japanese UFO publications during the 1970s, including UFO to Uchu. The encounters and the alleged extraterrestrial communications remain unverified.

Biographical information

Little independently confirmed biographical information is available about Kitano. Contemporary and later accounts describe him as a senior Buddhist cleric, reportedly around 80 years old at the time of the first encounter. This would place his birth around 1894 or 1895.

He was said to be associated with a Buddhist temple in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, and was visiting Buttsu-ji, a temple in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, when the first incident occurred. Sources describe him as a daisojo, a title associated with senior Buddhist clergy. However, some later commentators have questioned aspects of the biographical claims and his precise religious affiliation. These details should therefore be treated cautiously rather than presented as established facts.

Kitano's account became known through Japanese UFO publications and recordings attributed to him. The magazine UFO to Uchu, published by Universe Publishing, covered the initial incident in its February 1976 issue and returned to the subject in a later issue in April 1978.

Case information

The first encounter

Kitano said the first encounter occurred at approximately 1 a.m. on 22 July 1975. He was staying in an annex at Buttsuji while visiting the area on business. Already in bed, he heard a voice calling to him in Japanese, telling him to wake up. He then noticed an intense light shining through the curtains and heard the voice instruct him to open them.

Looking outside, Kitano reportedly saw a luminous object approaching from the eastern sky. It circled the lodging before descending onto a large rock on the opposite hillside. He estimated that the object was between 10 and 20 metres in diameter. Three other lights were also visible in the sky.

According to Kitano, a door opened in the upper part of the landed craft, and a human-looking figure emerged. The being wore a long, dark-brown garment resembling a gown. Kitano could not clearly determine the figure's ethnicity or facial features because of the distance, but said its body and movements appeared human. He also claimed to see four or five other figures moving inside the craft.

Subsequent encounters

Kitano said that he met extraterrestrials several more times after the initial incident. He claimed that they taught him an extraterrestrial language, which he described as having approximately fifty vowel sounds. He reportedly met five or six different beings but declined to reveal their names, saying that he had been asked to keep them secret.

A further incident allegedly occurred in January 1978, when Kitano was staying at a hotel in Izu for a Buddhist ceremony. He said that a familiar being appeared outside his room and then entered. The visitor reportedly told him that an important message needed to be recorded. Kitano used his tape recorder to capture what he believed was the being's voice.

Recordings attributed to the alleged extraterrestrial were subsequently circulated online. They are presented by supporters as evidence of the encounter, but their origin and interpretation have not been independently established.

The message

The messages attributed to the visitors focused on humanity's responsibility for the condition of Earth. The beings allegedly warned that human activity was disturbing the planet's balance and producing consequences that extended beyond Earth. They criticised humanity's tendency to pursue individual interests while neglecting its broader responsibilities.

The visitors reportedly described their presence as an attempt to warn humanity rather than to satisfy curiosity about UFOs. Their message combined environmental concerns with spiritual ideas about humanity's place in the universe. In this respect, Kitano's account resembles other contactee narratives in which extraterrestrials appear as teachers or messengers offering warnings about humanity's future.

Assessment

The Kitano case is notable because it emerged in Japan during the 1970s and was documented in contemporary UFO publications. The February 1976 issue of UFO to Uchu provides a useful historical reference for the initial report, while the 1978 coverage documents the later claims concerning the recorded voice. These publications establish that the story circulated at the time, but they do not independently confirm the alleged encounters.

The principal evidence consists of Kitano's reported testimony and recordings attributed to the visitors. No independently verified physical evidence has been identified that establishes the presence of an extraterrestrial craft or its occupants. The alleged language recording would require reliable provenance and specialist analysis before it could support such a conclusion.

The case is therefore best regarded as a historically documented Japanese contactee account. Its distinctive features include the reported landing near a Buddhist temple, the claim of learning an extraterrestrial language, and the environmental and spiritual warnings attributed to the visitors.

Note: virtually all sources are in Japanese, and the Exopaedia does not support UTF-16.