おらしょ こころ旅

Registered asset

Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

Former Nokubi Church

  • Designed and constructed by Tetsukawa Yosuke. Finished in 1908.
  • The church has a single-storey roof with a rib vault ceiling. The ribs in each section are all supported by the same one column (a design feature which is unique among Japan’s brick churches).
  • Following a period of technical exchange with the Western missionaries, Japanese church building entered a new phase. Nokubi church is an early example of a church which, while integrating European and Japanese construction techniques, was designed and executed by a Japanese carpenter without guidance from foreign missionaries.
  • Although Nozaki island is now deserted, Former Nokubi church remains as an important testimony to the deep-rooted faith of the island’s former inhabitants.

Related persons and terms（By hovering your mouse pointer over an item, explanation of the item are displayed.）

Sanro Shiki

［Sanro Shiki ］ Aisles (passages) extend from the entrance to the altar in a church building. The highest-ceilinged central passage is called the nave, and the lower-ceilinged side passages are called the side aisles. When there is one side aisle on each side of the nave, it is called a Sanro Shiki (three-aisle structure), and when there are two side aisles on each side of the nave, it is called a Goro Shiki (five-aisle structure.)

Discovery of Hidden Christians

［Discovery of Hidden Christians］ The Discovery of Hidden Christians is an event in which several Senpuku Kirishitans (hidden Christians) in Urakami confessed their faith to a priest for the first time in about 250 years, in 1865, even when the ban on Christianity had not yet been lifted. This historical event happened at the Oura Cathedral built in the foreign settlement of Nagasaki.

Nave

［Nave］ Nave refers to the central aisle from the entrance of a church to the main altar.

Side aisle

［Side aisle］ A side aisle is the part of a church building that runs parallel to both sides of the nave.

Yosuke Tetsukawa

［Yosuke Tetsukawa］ Yosuke Tetsukawa was a master builder and architect from Kamigoto. He received instruction in church architecture from Father Marc Marie de Rotz.　Yosuke was later involved in constructing many church buildings on his own, mainly in Nagasaki.

Biography & Glossary >>

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Articles related to this asset

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    A church like a castle, facing out to sea

    A church which sits on high ground on a deserted island. It was the first brick church to be made by the carpenter Tetsukawa Yosuke, and it contains some beautiful donated ornaments which have very fine detail.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    Tears at the final Mass

    In 1971, following a period of depopulation, the last people left living on Nozaki island migrated together as a group. Nokubi church, built at such cost to the Christian families who had willingly embraced hardship in order to pay for it, was closed.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    The beauty of Ojika

    The cultural landscape of the Ojika island group has been designated as an Important Cultural Landscape by the Japanese national government. Much of the landscape remains as it has done for centuries, and so does the warmth and the kindness of the people who live there.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    An island of settlers

    During the Edo period, many Christians migrated to Nozaki island in search of a new life. Today, many of those who live on Ojika island have also arrived there from elsewhere, and these settlers have brought fresh energy to the island.

  • Goto Islands

    Understanding Changes in Church Architecture

    Tetsukawa Yosuke, a key figure in many instances of religious architecture, took on the challenges of building new kinds of churches while overcoming various obstacles involved in the process.

  • Nothern Nagasaki Prefecture

    旧家に展示されたキリシタン資料

    江戸時代、壱岐から移住した小田家は鯨組を組織し、大いに栄えた。
    その屋敷は現在資料館となっている。

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