Sotome is a stretch of rugged coast north of Nagasaki, where steep hills drop into the East China Sea, and the village of Shitsu clings to its slopes. During the centuries when Christianity was banned in Japan, the farmers and fishermen of this remote area kept their faith in secret, passing down prayers and rituals from generation to generation, hiding their devotion behind Buddhist and Shinto practices. When the ban was lifted in 1873, many of them returned to the Catholic Church. The Shitsu church, built in 1882 under the direction of the French missionary Marc Marie de Rotz, stands on a hill above the sea, a simple white building with a low profile designed to resist the strong winds. De Rotz was more than a priest: he taught the villagers to make bread, pasta and textiles, built a clinic and a workshop, and his legacy is still honoured locally. The village and church are part of the UNESCO listing of the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.
The area has a literary connection. Shūsaku Endō, one of Japan's greatest twentieth-century novelists, set his novel Silence, about the persecution of Christians and the anguish of a Portuguese priest, in a fictional village inspired by Sotome. A literary museum dedicated to Endō stands on the coast nearby, overlooking the sea, and a stone monument bears a line from the book about the blueness of the sea.
The coastline is magnificent. Route 202 runs along it, high above the water, with tight bends, short tunnels and constant views over the sea and the islands. The sunsets here are famous, and the road is known as the sunset road for good reason; on a clear evening, the sun sinks into the East China Sea in a blaze of orange. Traffic is light outside Nagasaki, the surface excellent, and the speed limits low.
The nearest towns with full services are Togitsu and Nagasaki, about twenty kilometres away. There are a few roadside stations along the coast where you can buy local produce and snacks, and small restaurants serving seafood. Try the local pasta, inspired by de Rotz, sold in the village shop.
The weather on this coast can be wild, with strong winds and typhoons in late summer and autumn. Spring and autumn days, clear and mild, are perfect for the ride.