Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki region
Ever since Christianity was introduced to Japan, the Nagasaki region has been the center of Christian culture in the country. Christianity spread to Nagasaki and the islands of Amakusa for a brief period in the 16th century, through the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier. Just a few decades later, in 1614, the Edo shogunate banned the faith, and its followers were forced to practice in secret or face torture and death. Though many Christians were forced to renounce their faith, many others found ways to carry on their religious practices in secret. Without ordained priests or institutions to follow, the religion began to slowly evolve into its own distinct form.
Nagasaki has very long history of Christianity and this is why numbers of Catholic churches still exist, and also you can meet Japanese and foreign monks and sisters there which are quite unique and rare sights in Japan. Visitors to Nagasaki's pilgrimage sites can witness how Japan's hidden Christians secretly kept their faith over a period of 250 years amid severe oppression, as well as how Christianity was swiftly revived across the Nagasaki region following the lifting of Japan's long ban on Christianity in 1873.
The Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki have been designated to the list on 2018, as “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region”.
Nagasaki has very long history of Christianity and this is why numbers of Catholic churches still exist, and also you can meet Japanese and foreign monks and sisters there which are quite unique and rare sights in Japan. Visitors to Nagasaki's pilgrimage sites can witness how Japan's hidden Christians secretly kept their faith over a period of 250 years amid severe oppression, as well as how Christianity was swiftly revived across the Nagasaki region following the lifting of Japan's long ban on Christianity in 1873.
The Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki have been designated to the list on 2018, as “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region”.
