US Edition‘A Huge loss.’ In Remote Nagasaki Islands, a Rare Version of Christianity Heads Toward Extinction
- Hidden Christians on a remote Nagasaki island gather to worship a unique faith heading toward extinction as of 2025.
- Researchers and local experts link the decline to societal individualism and challenges preserving the Hidden Christianity tradition.
- These Christians worship ancestors through disguised objects and reject mainstream Catholicism, with few remaining believers and limited studies.
- Masatsugu Tanimoto, 68, said, "I'm afraid we are going to be the last ones," reflecting worries about their fading heritage.
- The tradition’s near extinction suggests a loss of centuries-old faith, leaving only family hopes to continue Hidden Christianity.
36 Articles
36 Articles
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‘A huge loss.’ In remote Nagasaki islands, a rare version of Christianity heads toward extinction
By FOSTER KLUG, MARI YAMAGUCHI and MAYUKO ONO IKITSUKI, Japan (AP) — On this small island in rural Nagasaki, Japan ’s Hidden Christians gather to worship what they call the Closet God. In a special room about the size of a tatami mat is a scroll painting of a kimono-clad Asian woman. She looks like a Buddhist Bodhisattva holding a baby, but for the faithful, this is a concealed version of Mary and the baby Jesus. Another scroll shows a man weari…
'A huge loss.' In remote Nagasaki islands, a rare version of Christianity heads toward extinction (copy)
On the rural islands of Nagasaki a handful of believers practice a version of Christianity that has direct links to a time of samurai, shoguns and martyred missionaries and believers. After emerging from hiding in 1865, following centuries of violent…
Idaho Press
AP PHOTOS: On remote Nagasaki islands, a rare version of Christianity heads toward extinction
IKITSUKI, Japan (AP) — On the rural islands of Nagasaki, a handful of believers practice a version of Christianity that has direct links to a time of samurai, shoguns, and martyred missionaries and believers.
On this small island in the rural area of Nagasaki, the hidden Christians of Japan gather to worship what they call the God of closet—secret God.
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