For more than two centuries Christianity was banned in Japan, and in the villages along the Sotome coast north of Nagasaki, communities practised their faith in secret, disguising prayers as Buddhist chants and hiding images of the Virgin as the bodhisattva Kannon. These were the Hidden Christians, the Kakure Kirishitan, and their villages, including Ono, are part of the World Heritage listing of Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, inscribed in 2018. At Ono the small Ono church, built by the French missionary Marc Marie de Rotz in the late nineteenth century after the ban was lifted, has thick walls built in a local technique of stones bound with mortar, known as de Rotz walls.
Father de Rotz did much more than build churches. He set up workshops to teach local women to make bread, macaroni and textiles, and a museum in Sotome tells his story. The novelist Shusaku Endo set his novel Silence in this area, and a memorial museum dedicated to him stands on the coast with views over the sea.
The Sotome coast faces west over the East China Sea, with steep hills, terraced fields and fishing villages, and the sunsets are famous. National Route 202 runs along the coast from Nagasaki, with curves, views and light traffic, a lovely ride. The hills behind are covered with forest and cut by narrow roads.
The weather here is mild, with hot, humid summers and the rainy season in June and July; typhoons can hit in late summer and autumn. Spring and autumn are the best times to ride. Japanese roads are well maintained, traffic is orderly, and speed limits are low.
Fuel is available along Route 202 and in Nagasaki, twenty two kilometres away, and Togitsu and Obita are nearer towns. Local food includes de Rotz's somen noodles, still made in the area, and fresh fish. The Ono church is small and open on some days only, so check before visiting.