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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