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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]
| UNESCO 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 | 32.734106°N 129.870236°E |
  Location of Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region in Japan | |
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]
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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]
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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 |
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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 | ||
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