What is "Orasho"?
Our website will introduce you to 『The Churches and Christian Historical and Cultural Heritage of Nagasaki』, part of Nagasaki’s unique historical past.
Allow us to take you on a journey to understanding Nagasaki’s past and present, by showing you her churches and other historical and holy sites.
Visit historical landmarks, holy sites and churches and embark on a journey to their past and present. A journey to rediscover the 「kokoro」 the modern person have almost forgotten. Who knows? You just might find a new “you” at journey’s end.
Orasho
The term is a loanword derived from the Latin word for 「prayer」--- oratio.
The Churches and Christian Historical and Cultural Heritage of Nagasaki
「The Churches and Christian Historical and Cultural Heritage of Nagasaki」 are a magnificent legacy showing us the process of just how Christianity arrived, how it spread and later took hold in Japan. Its history, spanning over 450 years, was far from smooth. Christianity took a unique path in Japan, Nagasaki being the center stage --- initial introduction and spread, the keeping of the flame under the Anti-Christian Edicts, the return to faith after the lifting of the ban.
We can better understand how our unique religious and cultural tradition took shape, melding elements both Japanese and Western, by studying these various Historical and Cultural Heritage sites that remain with us to this day.
It is our sincerest hope that you will come away with the feeling that this is “a living heritage” nurtured through the unyielding persistence of the local community.
