These two pillars of Catholic history in Japan, missionary activity and the“hidden Christians”, continue to support the life of the Church today, and offer a guide to living the faith.
Currently, the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region appear on Unesco's tentative list of World Heritage Candidates, and the process to secure permanent registration as a World Heritage Site is underway.
The Hidden Christians in Ono Village also took this opportunity to contact the missionaries and joined the Catholic Church as their ancestors did in the 16th century.
Can I take photos within the property?| Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region Photography is allowed in the villages in principle, but do not take photos in the manner in which the privacy of residents is violated.
The hidden Christians revered the island and called it by various names including''St. John,'' and water-drawing ceremonies were held using the island's water as holy water.
Any questions about this website or questions and opinions about activities for“Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region” should be directed to the following contact.
Although Christianity was banned nationwide in 1614, Shitsu Village was ruled by the Saga clan, which was relatively lax about enforcing the ban, and the village headmen(Shoya) and other representatives in the village were all Hidden Christians.
They have about 50 churches, and the properties composing the"Hidden Christian sites in Nagasaki and Amakusa region" World Heritage sites are located on the Goto islands.
Under the circumstances,“Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region” nominated by Japan, whose registration had been recommended by the Advisory Bodies, were unanimously decided to be inscribed on the List.
In addition, in three years, in 2015, we will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Hidden Christians whose existence was revealed at Oura Catholic Church in Nagasaki on March 17, 1865.
On May 4, 2018, A UNESCO advisory body recommended that sites related to the history of the hidden Christiansof Nagasaki and the Amakusa region be inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list.
The Hidden Christians also outwardly behaved as its followers just like other villagers in order to hide their secret faith. In the Kado Shrine and the Tsuji Shrine, which were more familiar to the villagers, they practised their religious faith by secretly enshrining their own deities and offering prayers there.
Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region', bears unique testimony to the history of people and their communities who secretly transmitted their faith in Christianity during the time of prohibition spanning more than two centuries in Japan, from the 17th to the 19th century.
The Hidden Christians on Kuroshima Island outwardly behaved as Buddhists and were affiliated to a Buddhist temple, Kozenji Temple, which had recently been established in Honmura Village in the early 19th century in response to the increase in population resulting from migration to the island.
As a result, the Tokugawa Shogunate arrested the Hidden Christians in Urakami in 1867, and the Meiji Government which continued the Shogunate's policy of banning Christianity exiled more than 3,000 of them to twenty domains throughout Japan and tortured them in order to make them recant their faith.
Why not grab some fresh milk, yogurt, or even a soft serve in-between sightseeing? Surrounded by roughly 120 large and small islands, Amakusa is considered a hot spot as it is soon to be registered as a World Heritage Site for containing several artifacts related to the hidden Christians of Nagasaki and Amakusa.
Ono Village is located on a steep hill facing the East China Sea, on the western coast of the Nishisonogi Peninsula. It comprises several Shinto shrines to which Hidden Christians outwardly belonged and where they secretly enshrined objects for worship, Hidden Christians' graveyards, and the church that was built after the lifting of the ban.
There remain the former pastures that were cultivated by the Hidden Christian migrants from Sotome, the Buddhist temple where the Hidden Christians secretly venerated a Buddhist statue as the Virgin Mary(Maria Kannon), the sites of the houses of Hidden Christian leaders as well as their communities' graveyards, the site of the magistrate's office where the Efumi ceremony took place, and the site of the church that was built after the lifting of the ban.
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