Churches and Cathedrals
Catholic Unzen Church, in Unzen
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.
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Shimabara Peninsula Martyrs Memorial Cathedral
This Cathedral is house of prayer for tens of thousands Christians who were martyred
between 1612 and 1658 throughout the Shimabara Peninsula.
t was built in 1997 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of 26
Japanese Saints and the 360th anniversary of the Shimabara Rebellion.
The Cathedral is a beautiful octagonal building with a large octagonal dome.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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Sakitsu Church, in Amakusa
Sakitshu is a Christian Pilgrimage site and has been registered on UNESCE World Heritage
as Hidden Christian site Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.
A Gothic-looking church is located on a cove of a fishing village. 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.
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