Nagasaki & the Gotō Islands, where faith and history live on

Ōura Cathedral, built in 1864, is the oldest surviving wooden Gothic-style church in Japan. The cathedral was built by the French missionary Father Petitjean, and within it stands an altar dedicated to the 26 Saints.

It was here, in 1865, that the “Discovery of the Hidden Christians” took place, when hidden believers came to the priest and of their own accord professed their faith. That miraculous moment, when a faith preserved through more than two hundred years of hiding came into the open, moved people deeply around the world. To this day Ōura Cathedral welcomes pilgrims as a “symbol of the revival of faith.”

Urakami Cathedral is one of the largest Catholic churches in Japan, a place of prayer that the believers of Urakami built after overcoming long persecution. Following the lifting of the ban on Christianity in 1873, the believers brought together their materials and, over more than thirty years, completed this magnificent cathedral.

On August 9, 1945, however, the atomic bomb reduced it to ruins in an instant. Many believers perished and the cathedral itself was turned to rubble. The present cathedral, rebuilt after the war, continues to stand as a “testament to the revival of faith and to peace,” conveying prayer together with relics of the bombing.

A facility built to commemorate the martyrdom of the 26 Saints — the 26 believers and missionaries crucified on the hill of Nishizaka in 1597. Alongside the monument stands a museum exhibiting records and relics of the time and materials that convey the journey of faith.

For pilgrims it is a special place where they can come into direct contact with the witness of those who gave their lives for their faith. For ordinary visitors, too, it is a place to learn of the human conviction and the reality of persecution etched into Japan’s history.

A brick church near Nagasaki Station, formally called the “Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Though a relatively new church built after the Second World War, it holds an altar enshrining the remains of martyrs and quietly conveys the journey of faith in Nagasaki. Set in the heart of the city, it is a cherished place where pilgrims and believers can pray in peace of mind.

Standing beside Urakami Cathedral, Nyokodō is a small wooden prayer hall whose name derives from the words of Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This was the place where Dr. Takashi Nagai — a physician and Catholic believer who, though he had lived through the horror of the atomic bomb, continued to stand alongside the people — lived and offered his prayers.

Suffering from an illness caused by his radiation research, Dr. Nagai threw himself into rescue work for the victims immediately after the atomic bombing of 1945. Having lost his beloved wife and knowing his own days were numbered, he lived together with the people of Urakami and, sustained by his faith, left behind numerous writings. His best-known work, “The Bells of Nagasaki,” was also written in this Nyokodō.

Nyokodō is still preserved today, and Dr. Nagai’s cherished belongings and effects are displayed inside, continuing to speak to visitors of the importance of peace and love of neighbor. In Nagasaki, which passed through a history of persecution and also experienced the tragedy of the atomic bomb, Nyokodō has become a place of prayer that conveys the witness of one Christian who lived in the 20th century.