St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church

 

This church is a catholic church in Hirado, Nagasaki. Hirado is a place

where Francis Xavier visited 3 times in Japan to spread Christianity, and

even during the Kinkyo Ordinance of the Edo Period that prohibited

religions, Christianity was very widespread.

For that reason when the ordinance was lifted this church was constructed,

and the image of Francis Xavier was put on the side.

 

Francis Xavier visited here

Catholic church in Hirado

St. Francis Xavier statue

One of the sites of the town is “the view of temples and church” which can

be had halfway up the lane leading up the hill. The church was originally built

on a different site in 1913, but was reconstructed at its present location in 1931.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Design Your Kyushu Trip

We arrange custom Nagasaki & Kyushu Christian Pilgrimage Tours.

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Yamada Church

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 Yamad

a 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.

 

Yamano Church, in Hirado

 

Yamano Church was built in 1924 in the Yamano area, where is halfway

of Mount Yasuman. Most people living in this area are Christians.

 

The ancestors of the Yamano village fled persecution from Nishisonogi

and Sotome to Goto island during ban on Christianity.

However, they were unable to live on Goto island, so they moved to

this area of Hirado Island between 1820 and 1830.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Design Your Kyushu Trip

We arrange custom Nagasaki & Kyushu Christian Pilgrimage Tours.

Connect below via your preferred method:

Tabira Church

 

The church is a Christian Pilgrimage site and was designed by Tetsukawa

Yosuke, a famous architect of various churches in Nagasaki-prefecture, and

built between December 1915 and October 1917. It is one of the latest brick

churches in the prefecture of Nagasaki. Tetsukawa Yosuke has called this one

of his best works. The beautiful building facing Hirado Strait offers artists and

photographers a motif typical of the Tabira district.

The church has been designated an important cultural asset by the Japanese

government.

 

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The history of the Tabira district began with the work of two foreign missionaries.

In 1886, the French missionary Emile Raguet, in charge of Kuroshima Church at the

time, purchased one hectare (2.5 acres) of wilderness at his own expense and urged

three families in need to settle there. The same year, Marc-Marie de Rotz of Shitsu

Church bought one hectare and sent four families to cultivate the pristine land.

Gradually the number of the settlers increased and reached 80 families by the early

Taisho era (1910s).

In 1914, the Japanese priest Nakata Tokichi arrived in the parish. To replace the

humble prayer house, he made tremendous efforts to raise funds for a formal church.

Tetsukawa Yosuke designed the brick building, and the parishioners cooperated in the

construction project, gathering a large number of seashells and burning them into lime

powder. The site of the processing ground still remains in front of the church.

Construction was finally completed under Tetsukawa’s supervision in 1918. The brick

church was the architect’s last in a long series of ecclesiastical works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dutch Trading Post

Set up in Hirado in 1609 as the base of operations of the Dutch East India Company in Japan.

The building seen today is a warehouse which was originally constructed here in 1639 as part

of the trading post, but torn down just three years later after the Dutch had been relocated to

Dejima Island in the port of Nagasaki.

 

The warehouse was reconstructed in 2011. It was built as close to the original design as possible

and exhibits the facility’s original Dutch architecture of interlocking stone blocks supported by large,

exposed wooden beams. The structure is capped by a Japanese-style tile roof, just like the original.

 

 

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Kurose no Tsuji, martyrdom site of Gaspar Nishi Genka

 

The site where Christian Gaspar Nishi Genka was martyred in 1609, located on

Kurose Hill overlooking Nakae no shima between Hirado and Ikitsuki.

The tomb facing the sea is called Gaspar-sama and is a revered place for Ikitsuki’s

Hidden Christians.

The cross-shaped “Kurose no Tsuji Martyrdom Monument” was erected by Catholics

in 1991, and Mass is held every year around November 14th.

 

Gaspar Nishi Genka was the first martyr of Ikitsuki and the father of Thomas Rokuzaemon

Nishi who was one of the 16 Saint of Nagasaki, dedicated in Nakamachi Church in Nagasaki.

 

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Hirado Castle

 

Stands on a hill guarding Hirado Port and the Hirado Strait, which used to be part of an important

trade route between Japan and the Asian mainland. The original fortress was built in 1599 by the

local Matsura Lord; however, he destroyed the structure after fighting the Tokugawa on the losing

side of the Battle of Sekigahara as a gesture of loyalty to the victor. The Matsura Clan continued

ruling Hirado for the next two and a half centuries.

 

A new castle, also known as Kameoka Castle was built on the site a hundred years later in 1718 as

part of the coastal defences erected during Japan’s self imposed seclusion in the Edo Period.

This structure stood for over 150 years, but eventually fell into disrepair and was dismantled during

the Meiji Period.

 

 

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Matsura Historical Museum

 

The museum stores and displays the historical collection of the Matsura family who ruled

over the northern area of Nagasaki prefecture since the 13^th century.

 

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The museum is housed in the former private residence of the Matsura family, the grand

Tsurugamine Mansion, built in 1893. Hirado has a long history of overseas exchange due

to its geographical location.

 

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Kasuga Village / Hidden Christian Site

 

Kasuga Village and Mount Yasugatake is a Christian Pilgrimage site and is registered on

the World Heritage as Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.

 

This idyllic, remote village was refuge to a small community of Hidden Christians who practiced here

for centuries, far from the prying eyes of the government. After the ban on Christianity was lifted, the

local villagers decided to continue practicing their own unique brand of the religion rather than rejoin

the Catholic Church. As a result, churches were not erected in the village, and the religion remains

outwardly invisible.

 

 

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Nakae no Shima / Christian Pilgrimage site

 

Nakae no Shima is a Christian Pilgrimage site and is the UNESCO World Heritage site of

Hidden Chriatian Sites in the Nagasaki Region. Located two kilometers off the coast of

Hirado Island, Nakae no Shima is a small, uninhabited island where religious leaders

were executed during the persecution of Christians. The island is considered sacred,

and water collected there is used for baptism.

 

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