Japan Guide
Kyūshū
26 Martyrs' Memorial
East of Nagasaki Station, a quiet lane hugs Nishizaka hillside, starting in the north at a bizarre, mosaic-clad church dedicated to Japan's first Christian martyrs. In 1597, six foreign missionaries and twenty Japanese converts were the unlucky victims of the shogunate's growing unease at the power of the Church. They were marched from Kyoto and Ōsaka to Nagasaki, where they were crucified on February 2 as a warning to others. The group was canonized in 1862 and a century later the 26 Martyrs' Memorial, or Nihon Nijū-roku seijin junkyōchi, was erected on the site, together with a small museum (daily 9am–5pm; ¥250) telling the history – mostly in Japanese – of the martyrs and of Christianity in Japan. A surprising amount survives, including tissue-thin prayer books hidden in bamboo and statues of the Virgin Mary disguised as the goddess Kannon. One document records the bounties offered to informers: 500 silver pieces per priest, down to 100 for a lowly catechist.