Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki RegionUNESCO World Heritage Site

Ōura Cathedral

Location| Nagasaki and Kumamoto, Japan
Criteria| Cultural: iii
Reference| 1495
Inscription| 2018 (42nd Session)
Area| 5,566.55 ha
Buffer zone| 12,252.52 ha
Coordinates| 32°44′03″N 129°52′13″E﻿ / ﻿32.734106°N 129.870236°E﻿ / 32.734106; 129.870236

Location of Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region in Japan

Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (Japanese: 長崎と天草地方の潜伏キリシタン関連遺産) is a group of twelve sites in Nagasaki Prefecture and Kumamoto Prefecture relating to the history of Christianity in Japan. The Nagasaki churches are unique in the sense that each tells a story about the revival of Christianity after a long period of official suppression.[1]

Proposed jointly in 2007 for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria ii, iii, iv, v, and vi, the submission named at the time Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki on the Tentative List, was recognized on January 30, 2018, as a World Heritage Site.

The initial nomination included 26 sites; however, after reconsideration the Nagasaki Prefecture reduced the monuments to 13 sites.[2] Twelve sites were recognized. Concerns over the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been widely discussed in the academic literature.[3]

## Christianity in Japan

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Main articles: History of Roman Catholicism in Japan, Kirishitan, and Kakure Kirishitan

Christianity arrived in Japan in 1549 with the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier. Fanning out from Nagasaki, the new faith won many converts, including a number of daimyōs. Toyotomi Hideyoshi then Tokugawa Ieyasu persecuted those professing to be Christian. After the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637–1638, the official suppression of Christian practices was combined with a policy of national seclusion that lasted over two centuries. With the advent of Western powers and reopening of Japan in the 1850s and the reforms of the Meiji Restoration, missionary activity was renewed and a number of Hidden Christians resurfaced. Ōura Cathedral of 1864 is the first of the churches built in subsequent years.[4]

On 30 June 2018, thanking UNESCO for the admission in the World Heritage List, the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe publicly declared that the Hidden Christian Sites "convey the 'shape' of a faith that is unique to Japan and they are truly unparalleled worldwide as heritage of humankind."[5]

## Monuments

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Name  | Location  | Image  | Notes

|
|
|

Remains of Hara Castle (原城跡)[6] | Minamishimabara[7] |  | Historic Site
Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado (Kasuga Village and Mt. Yasumandake) (平戸島の聖地と集落＝安満岳)[6] | Hirado[7] |  | Important Cultural Landscape
Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado (Nakaenoshima Island) (平戸島の聖地と集落＝中江ノ島)[6] | Hirado[7] |  | No Entry[8]
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa (天草の﨑津集落)[6] | Amakusa, Kumamoto[7] |  | Important Cultural Landscape
Shitsu Village in Sotome (出津集落)[6] | Nagasaki[7] |  |
Ono Village in Sotome (大野集落)[6] | Nagasaki[7] |  | Important Cultural Property
Villages on Kuroshima Island (黒島の集落)[6] | Sasebo[7] |  | Important Cultural Property
Remains of Villages on Nozaki Island (野崎島の集落跡)[6] | Ojika[7] |  |
Villages on Kashiragashima Island (頭ヶ島の集落)[6] | Shin-Kamigotō[7] |  | Important Cultural Property
Villages on Hisaka Island (久賀島の集落)[6] | Gotō[7] |  | Important Cultural Property
Egami Village on Naru Island (Egami Church and its Surroundings) (奈留島の江上集落)[6] | Gotō[7] |  | Important Cultural Property
Oura Cathedral (大浦天主堂)[6] | Nagasaki[7] |  | National Treasure

## Previous Nominated Monuments

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The list consists of sites previously nominated, but currently not in the list.

Name  | Completion Date  | Location  | Construction type  | Comments  | Image

|
|
|
|
|

Former Catholic Seminary (旧羅典神学校)[9] | 1875 | Nagasaki | Timber-framed Brick | Important Cultural Property |
Aosagaura Church (青砂ヶ浦天主堂)[10] | 1910 | Shinkamigotō | Brick | Important Cultural Property |
Mementos of Father Marc Marie de Rotz (ド・ロ神父遺跡) |  | Nagasaki |  |  |
Former Shitsu Aid Center (旧出津救助院)[11][12][13] |  | Nagasaki |  | Shelter, macaroni factory, and sardine processing area are all Important Cultural Properties |
Dōzaki Church (堂崎教会) | 1907 | Gotō | Brick |  |
Hōki Church (宝亀教会) | 1899 | Hirado | Wood/Brick |  |
Christian tombstone (吉利支丹墓碑)[14] |  | Minamishimabara |  | Historic Site |
Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan (日本二十六聖人殉教地) | 1864 | Nagasaki |  |  |
Site of Saint Dominic Church (サント・ドミンゴ教会跡) | 1609 | Nagasaki |  |  |
Urakami Cathedral (浦上天主堂) | 1959 | Nagasaki | Reinforced concrete |  |
Former Residence of Archbishop (旧大司教館) | 1914 | Nagasaki |  |  |
Kaminoshima Church (神ノ島教会) | 1897 | Nagasaki | Brick |  |
Kurosaki Church (黒崎教会) | 1920 | Nagasaki | Brick |  |
Himosashi Church (紐差教会) | 1929 | Hirado | Reinforced concrete |  |
Ōso Church (大曾教会) | 1916 | Shinkamigotō | Brick |  |

## See also

[edit]

* Kirishitan
* Kakure Kirishitan
* Tenshō embassy
* Hasekura Tsunenaga
* Nagasaki Peace Park
* World Heritage Sites in Japan
* National Treasures of Japan

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki". UNESCO. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
2. ^ "Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki". UNESCO.; "Outline of Churches and Christian Sites". Nagasaki Prefecture. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
3. ^ Delakorda Kawashima, Tinka (2017). "Landscape in Hirado revealing the secrets of Hidden Christians' life-world: National and global policies in cultural heritage protection" (PDF). Anthropological Notebooks. 23 (3). Slovene Anthropological Society: 87–107\. ISSN 1408-032X.
4. ^ Finn, Dallas (1995). Meiji Revisited: The Sites of Victorian Japan. Weatherhill. pp. 12f. ISBN 0-8348-0288-0.
5. ^ "Message by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the Inscription of "Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki and the Amakusa Region" on UNESCO's World Heritage List". June 30, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2021-12-24.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Comprehensive Preservation and Management Plan - Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region" (pdf). Unesco World Heritage Centre. 2017. p. 282. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
8. ^ "Comprehensive Preservation and Management Plan - Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region" (pdf). Unesco World Heritage Centre. 2017. p. 113. Retrieved 2022-06-22. "At present, visitors cannot land on Nakaenoshima Island due to geographical restrictions, and they can only view the island from the opposite shore."
9. ^ "旧羅典神学校 (Former Catholic Seminary) ID 3523". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
10. ^ "青砂ヶ浦天主堂 (Aosagaura Church) ID 3417". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
11. ^ "旧出津救助院 (Former Shitsu Aid Center) ID 3841". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
12. ^ "旧出津救助院 (Former Shitsu Aid Center) ID 3842". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
13. ^ "旧出津救助院 (Former Shitsu Aid Center) ID 3843". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.
14. ^ "吉利支丹墓碑 (Christian tombstone) ID 2763". Database of National Cultural Properties. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011.

## References

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* Hall, John Whitney; McClain, James L. (1991). Early Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521223553. OCLC 611611101.
* Jansen, Marius (1989). The Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521223560. OCLC 611477603.

## External links

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* (in Japanese) Candidate for World Heritage
* (in Japanese) The Nagasaki Church Group
* (in English) Candidate for World Heritage
* (in English) The Nagasaki Church Group
* (in English) Outline of Churches and Christian Sites
* (in English) Map of proposed sites

* v
* t
* e

World Heritage Sites in Japan

Hokkaido|

* Shiretoko
* Jōmon Prehistoric Sites

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Tōhoku|

* Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land
* Shirakami-Sanchi
* Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining
* Jōmon Prehistoric Sites

Kantō|

* The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
* Shrines and Temples of Nikkō
* Ogasawara Islands
* Tomioka Silk Mill

Chūbu|

* Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama
* Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration
* Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining

Kansai|

* Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area
* Himeji Castle
* Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
* Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
* Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group
* Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Chūgoku|

* Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
* Itsukushima Shinto Shrine
* Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape
* Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining

Kyushu|

* Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu
* Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region
* Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining
* Yakushima
* Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region
* Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island

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