Why is the Nagasaki region important in the history of Hidden Christians? |
As foreign ships boarding Catholic missionaries anchored in the region in the latter half of the 16th century, Catholicism was intensively disseminated among the locals from the early period of the introduction of Catholicism to Japan. As a result, newly baptised Japanese in the region could receive pastoral guidance from the missionaries over a longer period than anywhere else in Japan, and Catholic communities became firmly established there. Based on these communities, even after Japan banned Christianity in the 17th century, some Catholics in the Nagasaki region secretly continued to practise their faith by themselves.
For more details, please access the web page ‘Introduction to the Nagasaki Region’. |