- Oura Cathedral is dedicated to the 26 martyrs of Japan, and was also the stage for an event which became known as the “Discovery of Christians”.
- At the time when it was constructed, foreigners residing in Japan were allowed to be Christian, but for Japanese people it was still forbidden.
- The French missionary Father Petitjean experienced many difficulties when raising the funds to cover the cost of the church’s construction.
- Father Petitjean was buried inside the cathedral, where his body still rests today.
- Inside the cathedral there are various gifts from France.
Related persons and terms(By hovering your mouse pointer over an item, explanation of the item are displayed.)
Amakusa Shiro
[Amakusa Shiro]
Amakusa Shiro, also known by his real name Masuda Shiro, is said to have fought as the leader of the peasants' rebel forces of the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion at the young age of only 16.
Kuzure
[Kuzure]
Kuzure is the destruction of the faith-based organization of Kirishitans (Christians) due to strict control or informing during the forbidden period. The term refers to large-scale arrests of Kirishitans in an area, including the Omura county kuruze, the first to fourth Urakami kuruze, and the Goto kuruze.
Goro Shiki
[Goro 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-aisles structure), and when there are two side aisles on each side of the nave, it is called a Goro Shiki (five-aisles structure.)
Prudence-Seraphin-Barthelemy Girard
[Prudence-Seraphin-Barthelemy Girard]
A missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Prudence-Seraphin-Barthelemy Girard, arrived in Ryukyu in 1855 and was appointed as the vicar apostolic of Japan in 1857. After leaving Ryukyu, he came to Japan around 1859 and founded the Yokohama Cathedral (EGLISE DU SACRE-COEUR) in 1862.
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.)
Plaster
[Plaster]
Stucco is a building material used for bonding tiles and stones, filling in joints, and painting over walls, and is applied to the surfaces of the Oura Cathedral and Shitsu Church.
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.
Senpuku Kirishitan
[Senpuku Kirishitan]
Senpuku Kirishitan (hidden Christians) lived ostensibly as Buddhists during the ban on Christianity but secretly carried on their faith.
Side aisle
[Side aisle]
A side aisle is the part of a church building that runs parallel to both sides of the nave.
Takekomai
[Takekomai]
Takekomai is a method of constructing the base of an earthen wall using woven thinly sliced bamboo and was used for the base of the walls of the Oura Cathedral. It consists of making small holes in the pillars, passing split bamboos horizontally, and assembling the bamboos vertically to cross each other. It is a valuable technique now that there are few earthen wall artisans.
Bernard-Thadée Petitjean
[Bernard-Thadée Petitjean]
Bernard-Thadée Petitjean was a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He landed in Ryukyu in 1860, Yokohama in 1862, and arrived in Nagasaki in August 1863, where he began construction of the Oura Cathedral and held the consecration in February 1865. Shortly after that, he encountered Senpuku Kirishitans in the Discovery of Hidden Christians.
Louis-Théodore Furet
[Louis-Théodore Furet]
Louis-Théodore Furet, a missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, entered Ryukyu in 1855 and landed in Nagasaki in 1863. He returned to France in 1864 and came to Japan again in 1866, becoming a priest at the Yokosuka Ironworks the following year.
Biography & Glossary >>