Where to Go in Hirado

Three centuries ago, when Christianity was persecuted in the Japanese heartland, it didn’t take long for the heat to spread to Hirado. The island had provided sanctuary for the Catholicism of the Europeans and a base for their mercantile operations. When persecution came, some of the converted locals fled, some went underground, and many were killed. The assault on the kakure—hidden—Christians of Hirado was ruthless. Tradition has it that Nakaeno Island was the site of several rounds of executions. Hanmoto Beach is one of the best places to see the island, which has been restricted to visitors. Not much more than a trail leads down to this stretch of white sand that seems to have been cut out of the surrounding shoreline cliff. The shallow waters of the beach make it a great spot to swim, as well.

Hanmoto Beach

Nagasaki Hirado-shi Furuecho

0950224111

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Foreign visitors to Hirado should know that they are following in the footsteps of countless illustrious and not-so-illustrious outsiders: St. Francis Xavier, who arrived at Hirado after being expelled from Kagoshima, William Adams, the blue-eyed samurai, the Chinese pirate Koxinga, English sailors, Portuguese missionaries, and, of course, the men of the Dutch East India Company, that first transnational firm. The legacy of the Dutch presence at Hirado is preserved at the Hirado Dutch Trading Post, excavated and reconstructed in the 1970s. An impressive whitewashed building that still looks out of place on the island, the Trading Post serves now as a museum to Dutch operations on the island, which were curtailed in the anti-Christian and isolationist panic of the mid-17th century.

Reconstruction of the 1639 warehouse of the Dutch Trading Post in Hirado

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Nagasaki Pref. Hiradoshi Okubochou 2477

0950260636

8:30-17:30

【URL】http://hirado-shoukan.jp/

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The tall towers and clean lines of the Hirado Bridge are striking. Completed in 1977, the bridge links the island of Hirado to Kyushu. The bridge is what sets Hirado apart from the islands to its south and north: you can cruise across bridge to get there, rather than taking a ferry. There are several places on the island (or the Kyushu mainland, even) to get a view of the bridge, but the patch of parkland at the foot of the bridge on the Hirado side is the best place to appreciate its incredible size and height.

Hirado Ohashi Bridge

Nagasaki Pref. Hiradoshi Tahira

0950570600

【URL】https://www.nagasaki-tabinet.com/guide/50090/

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Toward the Ikitsuki-ohashi Bridge on the west side of Hirado Island sits Kasuga no Tanada and what is now known as the “Holy Land of Hirado.” The Christian communities here practiced their faith in secret, joining the ranks of the kakure sects. Their syncretic practices, blending Catholicism and local traditions, began as a way to hide their Christian beliefs but eventually became a vital practice in its own right. The terraced rice paddies of Kasuga no Tanada are a masterpiece of landscaping that have stood unchanged for centuries. The visitor center nearby explains something of their history, but it’s impossible, even completely ignorant of their history, not to be blown away.

平戸の聖地と集落(春日集落と安満岳)

長崎県平戸市春日町

0950-22-4111

【URL】https://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/kanko/shizen/shi17.html

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Approaching the St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church in Hirado’s Kagamigawacho district, there is a point described on maps with the matter-of-fact title: "A view of temples and a church.” Viewed from that point, on the steep path up from the surrounding town, the steeple of the church and the gold crucifix that caps its white spire is framed by the pagodas and tiled roofs of the temples that neighbor the chapel. Walking around the century-old church and even more ancient Komyoji and Zuiunji temples, there are plenty of impressive views, both of the architecture of devotion and the town and port below.

St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church

Nagasaki Pref. Hiradoshi Kagamigawachou 269

0950238600

Mass, not available for cere…

【URL】https://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/kanko/bnka/bnk16.html

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