Nagasaki was a small Rome in 1569

 

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 and Spain).

Nagasaki Port opened in 1571, the same year the first Portuguese ship arrived.

Following this, the development of the “Town of the Cape” began as a Christian

settlement, and the small Church of São Paulo was constructed at the tip of the cape.

• Misericordia Headquarters Church (1583)
• Santa Maria Church (1600)
• Santa Clara Church (1603)
• Santiago Church (1604)
• San Juan Bautista Church (1605)
• San Antonio Church (1606)
• San Pedro Church (1607)
• San Francisco Church (1611)
• San Agustin Church (1612)

Nakamachi Church, in Nagasaki

 

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 monument honoring them was erected in the premise.

The 16 Saints were martyred in Nagasaki from 1633 to 1637.

 

The 16 martyrs became Saints in 1987, since 26 Saint.

Dominic Ibáñez de Erquicia Pérez de Lete, Spanish, 1633, Dominican Priest

Antonio Gonzalez, Spanish, 1637, Dominican Priest

Jordan Ansalone, Italian, 1634, Dominican Priest

Luke of the Holy Spirit Alonso Gorda, Spanish, 1633, Dominican Priest

Michael de Aozaraza, Spanish, 1637, Dominican Priest

Guillaume Courtet, French, 1637, Dominican Priest

Jacobo Kyushei Gorōbyōe Tomonaga de Santa María, Japanese, 1633, Dominican Priest

Thomas Rokuzayemon Nishi, Japanese, 1634, Dominican Priest

 Vincent Shiwozuka, Japanese, 1637, Dominican Priest

Francis Shōyemon, Japanese, 1633

Matthew Kohioye, Japanese, 1633

Lorenzo Ruiz, Filipino, 1637

Marina of Omura, Japanese, 1634

Magdalene of Nagasaki, Japanese, 1634

Michael Kurobioye, Japanese, 1633

Lazarus of Kyoto, Japanese, 1637

 

Saint Kolbe Memorial Museum, at Hongouchi Church, in Nagasaki

 

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 and began educating seminarians and publishing a monthly

magazine ” the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.”

After that, the number of Japanese people who understood God’s teachings increased,

and Hongouchi Church was established in 1931.

 

After six years in Japan, he returned to Poland for health reasons.

And then, he volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek in the

German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland.

 

Saint Kolbe Memorial Museum was built to commemorate his canonization in 1986.

 

Catholic Unzen Church

 

The Church is dedicated to Antonio Ishida and others who were martyred in the

Unzen jigoku from 1627 to 1632 and was built in 1982 to commemorate Pope

John Paul II’s visit to Nagasaki.

The number of believers in the church is small, but many pilgrims visit, since it is

also a place of martyrdom.

Imamura Cathedral, in Fukuoka-prefecture

 

Imamura Cathedral is located in Tachiarai, Fukuoka-prefecture.

A Christian group was born in this region in the late 16th century.

When Christianity was banned, I continued my faith as a hidden Christian.

The twin-towered Romanesque-style brick Cathedral planned by Father

Tamotsu Honda and completed in 1923 with financial aid from foreign countries.

It was designed and constructed by Yosuke Tetsukawa, who was a master

church builder at the time.

The Cathedral has been designated as a national important cultural property.

Sakitsu Church, in Amakusa

 

A Gothic-looking church is located on a cove of a fishing village in Amakusa.

In 1934, a French priest

Augustin Halbout MEP purchased the premises of the former village headman and built a

wooden and concrete finished church, with Tetsukawa Yosuke’s design and construction.

He placed the altar at the very site where fumie or a test to ensure non-allegiance to

Christianity had been conducted.

Oe Cathedral, in Amakusa

 

The Church is a Pilgrimage site and is the oldest Catholic Church in Amakusa and was one of

the first churches built right after the ban on Christianity was lifted. The Romanesque-style

architecture and the chalky white structure was rebuilt in 1933 by a French missionary priest

named Father Garnier using his own money and contributions from local Christians living in

the area.

Kurosaki Church, in Sotome

 

The Church is located in Kurosaki district, where was place of the setting for Endo Shusaku’s

novel Silence.  In 1897, the foundations were laid down according to Father de Rotz’s design.

Construction followed and in 1920 the church was completed.

The followers built it brick by brick with their own hands. The modest design serves to bring out the

beauty of the bricks.  Experience the depth when you come inside and see the rib vault ceiling.

The church’s stained glass also leaves a lasting impression.

Shitsu Church, in Sotome

 

Built in 1882 by Father de Rotz, this low-ceiling church features a brick exterior, wood interior

and stone entranceway.  The roof itself is low in order to limit damage done by strong winds.

The church’s bell was brought here from France by a priest and rings out beautifully every

morning.  The location is famous as the place where the movie “Gege” was filmed.

Yamada Church, in Hirado

 

After the discovery of the numerous hidden Christians in Ikitsuki Island in 1865, they began

to work on recovering their Catholic faith although they were not too successful at first.

Then in 1878, a priest named Fr. Pelu came to Hirado and baptized many people who are

said to be the ancestors of the churchgoers of Yamada Church today.

The butterfly-wing decorations adorning the wall surface of the church interior was personally

made and painted on by the priest at the time, and the mosaic-like paintings are made from

actually, ground butterfly wings. These are considered as one of the church’s “seven sacraments.”

In 1981, St. Thomas Nishi along with 15 other martyrs were beatified in the Philippines. St.Thomas

was later canonized and a statue of him was built in commemoration of his canonization, in a

garden in Ikitsuki.