By JIRO TSUTSUI/ Staff Writer
January 25, 2025 at 17:08 JST
Hundreds of items used by “hidden” Christians in Nagasaki Prefecture to practice their religion when doing so meant certain death have been recommended for designation as Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties.
The Council for Cultural Affairs submitted its recommendation on Jan. 24 to Toshiko Abe, the education minister.
The 2,218 items were used from the mid-16th century when Christian missionaries first came to Japan until the 1950s.
That so many items survived is testimony to the secrecy with which Japanese Christians observed their beliefs to escape persecution.
The items are owned by six organizations, including the Hirado city government, in Nagasaki Prefecture.
After the Edo Shogunate banned Christianity and devised cruel executions for unrepentant believers in the early 17th century, followers used items that contained elements of the Shinto and Buddhist religions, such as a hanging scroll of the Virgin Mary wearing a kimono.
Prayer books called “orasho,” a word derived from the Latin oratio, for prayer, are among the items.
Before the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region were included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2018, officials with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, suggested a search be made of items used to practice religion.
That led the Nagasaki prefectural government to undertake a five-year study into Christian relics in its jurisdiction.
In addition, four traditional festivals, including those that use huge dolls in a ceremonial parade, were recommended for designation as Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties.
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A hanging scroll of the Virgin Mary wearing a kimono (Provided by Hirado city government in Nagasaki Prefecture)
