A museum about persecuted Japanese Christians opened on April 1, 2018 in a large Catholic church in Nagasaki. The Oura church, Japan’s oldest church, is also a candidate site for the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list, reports Japan Times.
The museum showcases various items related to early Christians in the Asian nation, including panels explaining the different time periods in the religion’s history—its introduction, its prohibition, and its resurgence.
Japanese Christians practiced their faith in hiding as authorities persecuted and tortured believers from the 17th to the 19th century.
Christianity was brought to Japan by missionary Francis Xavier in 1549. The religion was thought to be extinct after the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity during most of the Edo Period which lasted for more than 250 years.
Japanese Christians practiced their faith in hiding as authorities persecuted and tortured believers from the 17th to the 19th century.
The most famous in