Saint Francis Xavier Memorial Church Hirado

 

Located on a hillside overlooking the small harbour in the main town of Hirado Island in Nagasaki.

The church was built in 1913 and reconstructed on its current site in 1931.

Originally called just Hirado Catholic Church, it was renamed the Sr. Francis Xavier Memorial Church after a statue of Xavier was erected in 1971.

Xavier visited Jaan in 1549 and initially stayed in what is now Kagoshima. In 1550 he visited Hirado and it is said that in a few short weeks, he accrued more converts here than in the many months he spent in Kagoshima.

I visited the modern church, actually a cathedral, in Kagoshima much earlier on this pilgrimage.

Hirado has several more historic churches and earlier this day I stopped in at the Tabira Church before crossing the bridge to Hirado.

It seems that like Tabira Church, it is no longer so easy to enter the building, a result it seems of the increasing popularity of Nagasaki's Christian sites since being registered as World Heritage.

Tabira Catholic Church

 

Tabira Catholic Church is located on the mainland close to the bridge across to Hirado Island.

It is a Romanesque brick structure with a wooden roof and was built in 1918.

Under the guidance of two French priests in the late Meiji period, Hidden Christians from areas further south in Nagasaki resettled in the area and built the church. Eventually many other Christian families migrated here.

The church was designed by Yosuke Tetsukawa who designed many other churches in the Nagasaki area.

In the late 20th century new stained glass from Germany and Italy was installed in the church and the original stained glass was donated to a church on Shikoku.

Since sites connected to Hidden Christians in Nagasaki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage, Tabira Church has become a popular tourist site. So nowadays it is recommended to contact the church in advance for permission to visit, but when I was there no such restrictions existed.

I visited on day 68 of my walk around Kyushu just before crossing over to Hirado. The previous post was on the Ohashi Natural Bridge.

Miura Catholic Church Sasebo

 

Miura Catholic Church is located on a hillside overlooking the port and train station of Sasebo in Nagasaki.

The parish was established in 1897 and the church was built in 1931. It is said to be in Gothic style and was built using reinforced concrete. In any other part of Japan it might be confused with a wedding "chapel" which are often also built in a simplified Gothic form, but in Nagasaki there are a lot of genuine Christian churches.

During the war it was painted black to stop it being an easy landmark for American bombers aiming for Sasebo.

The previous post was on Arcus Sasebo, seen below with the church in reflection.

Kagoshima Cathedral

I did post on this topic many years ago, but as my older posts no longer have photos I thought I would post a revised version. Located in downtown Kagoshima, the cathedral was built in 1999 to celebrate the 450 year anniversary of the arrival in Kagoshima of Francis Xavier in 1549

A church was built here in 1909 but was destroyed during WWII. A new church was built in 1949 to celebrate the 400th anniversary. Some stones from this church were used to build a memorial to St. Francis Xavier located across the street from the cathedral.

The exterior is quite striking, but the interior is sublime, being flooded with colored light from the stained glass windows. It also has a nice pipe organ, something quite rare in Japan.

It is a catholic church, but all are welcome for services on Sundays. For the rest of the week the church is open to visitors with no entry fee.

Tanokami, Eggs, A Church, a Giant Torii, & A Dragon

On the 26th day of my first walk around Kyushu I headed directly north from Shibushi towards Miyakonojo where I had a room for the night. As usual I stopped in at any shrines I passed, and after leaving one that was down a track I noticed a statue in the corner of a rice paddy.

This turned out to be a statue of Tanokami, the god of the rice paddies, and though I had come across this kami before, this was the first time I had seen one in statue form. I had heard that southern Kyushu had plenty of these statues and hoped to find lots more over the next week or so.

One thing Japan is renowned for is the huge number of vending machines, and in the countryside you can find some strange ones. Vending machines for fresh eggs are actually not all that unusual.

Walking through the outskirts of Miyakonojo I came across this church. It's a real church, a Catholic one built in 1933, not a fake wedding chapel, which incidentally I saw a little later. The fake wedding chapels are usually much bigger and grander, with plenty of soaring spires and elaborate gothic decorations.....

After checking in to my room I went for a walk and couldn't miss a huge torii straddling the road. This led to the towns main shrine set in a big park. Kamibashiragu Shrine seems to be connected to the arrival of the Shimazu Clan in southern Kyushu, though now it has plenty of imperial kami enshrined.

Tabira Church

Though it is located on the mainland of Nagasaki Prefecture, Tabira is included in the island Hirado.

Like many other churches in Nagasaki it was designed by Tetsukawa Yosuke.

Construction began in 1915, and the church was dedicated in 1918.

Built of brick, and using them decoratively, the church features an octagonal belfry and a lot of stanied glass and gold leaf.

Japan is trying to get the churches of Nagasaki listed as a World Heritage Site.

Hoki Church

Hoki Church is situated on the hillside of Hoki village with great views looking out over the coastline and islands.

It is interesting architecturally as the foundations are stone, the facade is made of red brick, the walls are wooden, and the roof is tile.

Like all the churches on Hirado, entrance is free.

It is the oldest church on Hirado Island, being built in 1898 to replace an earlier temporary church.

Himosashi Catholic Church

Himosashi Catholic Church is located in the small village of Himosashi on Hirado Island in Nagasaki Prefecture.

The island was home to many "hidden christians" who secretly practised a type of Christianity after it was made illegal 1n 1612.

In 1865 some of these hidden christians came out and visited the Oura Church established by the French in Nagasaki. Many of these christians were rounded up and persecuted and tortured.

Finally the persecution ended in 1888 with the Meiji Constitution that guaranteed religious freedom and chuches began to be built.

Himosashi Church was not built until 1929, but replaced a nearby chapel built much earlier by a missionary.

It was designed by Yosuke Tetsukawa, a Japanese architect who designed many churches in Kyushu.

It is a concrete structure in the Romanesque style and has a lot of stained glass.

It is open every day and there is no entry fee.

St Francis Xavier Memorial Church, Hirado

The St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church sits on a hill overlooking the town and harbor of Hirado on Hirado Island in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Constructed originally in 1913 it was reconstructed on its present site in 1931.

Originally called simply Hirado Catholic Church it was renamed in 1971

It's open from 6 till 6 and there is no entry fee