World Cultural Heritage Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region

“Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region”
Information Centre

History of Christianity in the region.

In 1562, Uku Sumisada, lord of the Goto domain, was cured of a fever by Luis de Almeida (1525?-1583), a Jesuit missionary licensed as a physician.
Feeling indebted to him, the feudal lord invited Almeida and the Japanese monk Lorenzo Ryosai (1526-1592) to the Goto Islands in 1566.
Almeida and Lorenzo carried out Christian missionary work in the territory, and the lord supported them.

At one time, the congregation reached more than 2,000 believers, but after the prohibition in 1614, persecution of Christians spread to various parts of the Goto Islands.
Although some continued their faith in secret during the period of the prohibition, the hidden Christians in the Goto region were not as organized as those in the Sotome and Hirado regions.
It is believed that the Christian faith in the Goto region gradually declined.
In 1797, an emigration agreement was concluded between the Goto and Omura clans for the development of agricultural land in the Goto Islands. Through this group migration, many Christian hiding places migrated from the Sotome region to the Goto Islands, and in the Narushima area, they spread mainly to Kazurashima.

History of Egami Church

The first church was built in 1906 on the land where Egami Church now stands.
In later years, plans were made to build a new church, and construction of the present church began in 1917, designed and built by Yosuke Tetsukawa.
The church, built with about 40 to 50 units at the time of construction, was consecrated on March 8, 1918, by Bishop Combaz (Jean Claude Combaz:1856-1926).
The Egami Church, who was completed in this way, is a wooden church with a multi-tiered roof structure with pier-tile roofing, white exterior walls, and light blue around the fittings, giving the church soft impression.

The simple structure is decorated with delicate details such as cross-shaped holes in the eave ceiling and eave ceiling ornaments, and moldings on the semicircular arches of the openings.
In 2008, it was designated National Important Cultural Property.

Surroundings and location

Egami Church is surrounded by giant tabu trees, and Naruseto stretches out in front of it.
On the adjacent land are the ruins of the closed Egami Elementary School and the Egami River, and a channel has been constructed so that the spring water behind the church flows into the river.
Standing across the waterway is wooden one-story presbytery, which has been repaired and is now used as waiting area for the churchwardens.

Ventilation is enhanced by the raised floor and by the cross-shaped decoration of the eave ceiling. The church has a rich landscape that is in harmony with the surrounding natural environment, taking into account its proximity to the sea and the presence of a spring on the site.
Across the Naruseto is Hisaka Island.