Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region

For two and a half centuries, Christianity survived in Japan only in secret. Around Nagasaki, village communities disguised their faith within Buddhist and Shinto practice, passing it down through generations while the religion was banned — until the prohibition ended in 1873 and believers re-emerged to build churches. Ten villages, the ruins of Hara Castle and Oura Cathedral make up the series UNESCO inscribed in 2018, a World Heritage record of faith kept alive underground.