About Urakami Church
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an order to expel Christian missionaries in 1587, many Christians in the Nagasaki area secretly defended their faith. After the ban on Christianity was lifted, the congregation worked for 20 years to complete the sanctuary, which was then known as the “First Great Sanctuary of the East” and was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945 and rebuilt in 1959.
How to get there
It takes about 5 minutes by taxi from JR Urakami Station. Take the Nagasaki streetcar and get off at Matsuyama-cho, and it is an 8-minute walk from there. Take a Nagasaki bus and get off at the Urakami Tenshin-mae stop, and it is a 1-minute walk.
1-79 Honou-cho, Nagasaki City
Tips
The appearance is good, Japanese Eastern style. It is the earliest and most famous Catholic church after Kaifuku, and is famous throughout Japan. It is also part of the “Hidden Christian Sites of Nagasaki Region”, which was just promoted to World Heritage in 2018. However, since the interior is not beautifully decorated, you need to buy a separate ticket and are not allowed to take pictures, so you can just take pictures of the outside.
At the time of the visit, the exterior wall was under repair. So I could only take pictures of the hand stand. The explanation inside is in Japanese, and you can’t take pictures.
A tragic church.
When the Catholic Church first entered Japan, it was rejected by the government, and the faithful had to go through a lot of hardship to maintain their own church and build it.
The original church was destroyed by the atomic bombing in 1945, and what you can see now was rebuilt in 1959.
Urakami Catholic Church is located 500 meters from the original bombing site, and some of the remains can still be seen.
There are not many tourists, and the interior of the church can be visited freely.
Next to the monument to the center of the atomic bomb drop, only one pillar at the archway is still standing.
On one side, there will be a brief sign that identifies which part of the former Urakami Catholic Church this column belonged to.
This is also a part of the ruins after the atomic bombing, but the surrounding area was already residential, so the mark of the atomic bomb only remains on these ruins.
As a restored relic, it is full of the vicissitudes of history, but I actually think it is quite nice, and there is a religious school nearby.
The Urakami Catholic Church was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, just a few hundred meters from the center of the blast, and was rebuilt in 1955 and reconstructed in 1980. However, after the A-bombing, there were several sections of broken walls and statues left behind, which have now been moved to the center of the A-bombing for preservation. In addition, the original explosion in the Museum also restored the Catholic Church building, it seems that the Urakami Catholic Church and the atomic bomb has a great connection.
It was destroyed in the atomic bombing tragedy on August 9, 1945, but was later rebuilt. I bought a set of postcards for my collection.
The Catholic Church was completely destroyed in the A-bombing, and the remnants of the original destruction are now displayed in the Peace Park, which is a memorial to the A-bombing, and the current Catholic Church was rebuilt on top of the site.
Urakami Catholic Church in the heart of the explosion, there are still some of the foundations of the building near the time, it is scary to think about.
Website
http://www1.odn.ne.jp/uracathe/
