Japan KYUSHU Tourist  ジャパン九州ツーリスト株式会社

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九州を旅行する日本人をはじめとする、世界中の人たちの旅行会社です

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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.

 

 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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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 13th century.

 


 

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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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 Yamada 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.

 


 

 


 

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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.

 


 

General information  

Address 2477 Okubo, Hirado-city, Nagasaki-prefecture
Access

5 minutes walk from Hirado bus terminal

Open hours 8:30 to 17:30
Admission fee JPY 300
Days closed the third Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of June

 

 


 

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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.

 


 

 


 


 

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.

 


 

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 a

nd 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.

 


 

General information  

Address 19 Kotedamen, Tabiracho, Hirado-city, Nagasaki-prefecture
Access

1 hours and 50 minutes by a vehicle from Nagasaki-city

50 minutes by a vehicle from Sasebo-city

2 hour and 15 minutes by a vehicle from Fukuoka-city

Open hours 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00
Admission fee No fee is required
Days closed No closing day

 

 


 

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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.

 


 

General information  

Address 1458 Iwaanouemachi, Hirado-city, Nagasaki-prefecture
Access

1 hours and 50 minutes by a vehicle from Nagasaki-city

50 minutes by a vehicle from Sasebo-city

2 hour and 15 minutes by a vehicle from Fukuoka-city

Open hours 8:30 to 17:30
Admission fee 510 JPY
Days closed December 30 and 31

 

 


 

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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.

 


 

General information  

Address Kasuga Village Kararina : 166-1, Kasuga-cyo, Hirado-city, Nagasaki-prefecture
Access

1 hours and 50 minutes by a vehicle from Nagasaki-city

50 minutes by a vehicle from Sasebo-city

2 hour and 15 minutes by a vehicle from Fukuoka-city

Open hours 8:30 to 17:30
Admission fee No fee is required
Days closed Dec. 31 to Jan. 3

 

 


 

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