Amakusa’s Sakitsu Village (Component of a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site)

Amakusa’s Sakitsu Village is located on Shimoshima Island in the Amakusa Islands. This settlement reflects the continued faith of Hidden Christians during Japan’s ban on Christianity and is registered as one of the components of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.”

Sakitsu is a fishing village that developed after the Sengoku period and became a base for missionary work when Christianity first arrived in Japan. During the Edo period, Christianity was banned, and the shogunate carried out severe persecution. While outwardly living as Buddhists or parishioners of local shrines, Christians secretly continued to practice their faith. The Hidden Christians of Sakitsu used familiar objects as substitutes for religious items, such as praying to patterns inside abalone and other shells as images of the Virgin Mary, and preserved their faith until the ban on Christianity was lifted.

The shape of the land has changed little since the Edo period, and the village’s main roads, stone seawalls along the coastline, and places of worship still remain today. Sakitsu Church, built in the Gothic style, stands within a traditional Japanese fishing village scene, creating a distinctive landscape. The Statue of Mary on the Sea, located a little away from the village center, is also a must-see, especially when it glows in the sunset.