Villages on Kuroshima Island and Egami Village on Naru Island starting at Sasebo

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Villages on Kuroshima Island

   For more than two centuries after Christianity was banned in Japan in the early seventeenth century, small communities of believers kept their faith in secret, disguising prayers as Buddhist chants and images of the Virgin Mary as Buddhist figures. Kuroshima, a small island off the coast of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, was one of the places where these hidden Christians lived and farmed, and when the ban was lifted in the 1870s they emerged openly. Their villages are part of the UNESCO listing of Hidden Christian sites in the Nagasaki region, listed in 2018.

   Read the complete Villages on Kuroshima Island write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villages on Kuroshima Island is where the day begins. Next is Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado.

2. 2. Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado

   Hirado is an island off the northwest coast of Kyushu, connected to the mainland by a bright red suspension bridge, and for a brief moment in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was one of Japan's windows on the world. Portuguese traders arrived in 1550, followed by Jesuit missionaries, and later the Dutch and English East India Companies set up trading posts here. When Christianity was banned in the early seventeenth century and foreign trade was moved to Nagasaki, the Christians of Hirado went underground. Kasuga, a farming village on the western side of the island, is one of the places where these Hidden Christians, the Kakure Kirishitan, maintained their faith in secret for more than two centuries, outwardly following Buddhism and Shinto while worshipping Christian images disguised as Buddhist statues and reciting prayers in a garbled mix of Latin, Portuguese and Japanese. The village and the sacred mountain of Yasumandake above it are part of the UNESCO listing of the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.

   Read the complete Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Remains of Villages on Nozaki Island.

3. 3. Egami Village on Naru Island

   Egami is a small Catholic church on Naru Island in the Goto archipelago, off western Kyushu, and its story is one of the most remarkable in the history of Japanese Christianity. After missionaries arrived in the sixteenth century, the shogunate banned the faith and for about two and a half centuries persecuted believers. Some communities went underground, hiding their rosaries and their prayers in the guise of Buddhist or Shinto customs, and became known as the Hidden Christians. In the Goto islands, families who had fled from Nagasaki in the late eighteenth century cleared poor land and kept their faith quietly, and when the ban was lifted in the 1870s they came into the open.

   Read the complete Egami Village on Naru Island write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Egami Village on Naru Island, about halfway. Next is back through Remains of Villages on Nozaki Island.

4. 4. back through Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Kasuga Village and Sacred Places in Hirado comes up about 579 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villages on Kuroshima Island.

5. 5. Villages on Kuroshima Island

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villages on Kuroshima Island write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villages on Kuroshima Island closes the day.