26 Christians arrested in Kyoto who were consisted of 20 Japanese, 4 Spaniards, 1 Mexican, and 1 Portuguese. They were forced to walk barefoot to Nagasaki for about a month. On February 5, 1597, all 26 Christians …

26 Saints were the first martyrs in Japa…の続きを読む

  Todos os Santos Church, the first church in Nagasaki, was built in 1569. The feudal lord Omura Sumitada and the Jesuits reached an agreement in 1570 to develop Nagasaki into a port for Nanban trade (with Portugal …

Nagasaki was a small Rome in 1569…の続きを読む

  The number of Christians in Japan continued to grow, reaching approximately 300,000 by 1614. Fearing that this increasing influence could lead to rebellion, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued a ban on Christianity in N …

Ban on Christianity in 1612…の続きを読む

  Twenty-five years after the martyrdom of the 26 Saints, the blood of Christians was once again shed on the hill of Nishizaka in Nagasaki.     A total of 55 Christians were martyred, having been arrested at Su …

Genna great Martyrdom in 1622…の続きを読む

  When Matsukura Shigemasa became the new federal lord of Shimabara in 1616, many people were Christians. Initially, he acquiesced in Christianity, because he needed people’s cooperation to build Shimabara Castle. H …

Unzen jigoku Martyrdom…の続きを読む

  26 Christians arrive at Tokitsu Port by the boat on the cold night of February 4, in 1597 and stayed one night on the boat. At dawn on February 5, they got off the ship with a cold b ody and landed at Togitsu Port …

26 Saints Pilgrimage route on February 0…の続きを読む

  The site is located in Minami-Arima, Minami-Shimabara City. It was the primary battlefield of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637—a large-scale peasant uprising against the Shogunate’s persecution of Christians, led b …

Shimabara Rebellion in 1637…の続きを読む

  Nakamachi Church is located near JR Nagasaki Station which was constructed for Japanese Christians in 1986. The church was dedicated to the 16 Saints of Nagasaki (St. Thomas and the 15 Martyrs) in 1988, and the mo …

Nakamachi Church, in Nagasaki…の続きを読む

  Father Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894 and was a priest of the Conventual Order of St. Francis. He had been active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He came to Japan in 1930 an …

Saint Kolbe Memorial Museum, at Hongouch…の続きを読む

  Christianity in Japan holds a profound and unique history unlike any other in the world. Its journey began in 1549 with the arrival of Francis Xavier, the first missionary, leading to the rapid spread of the faith—prim …

History of Japanese Christianity…の続きを読む