Sakitsu Church & Village
﨑津教会・﨑津集落
A Hidden Christian heritage component inscribed as a World Heritage Site. This Gothic-spired church stands in a bay fishing village and is known as the “church on the sea.”
Sakitsu Church was completed in 1934 to a design by Tetsukawa Yosuke. The site was once the village headman’s residence, where fumie image-trampling took place in the Edo period. Unusually, the interior is covered with tatami mats, and the altar is said to stand on the spot where the fumie was once held. The surrounding Sakitsu settlement preserves fishing houses, kake (drying platforms over the sea) and narrow alleys called tōya. You can also visit Sakitsu Suwa Shrine and the Sakitsu Museum Minatoya to learn about the history of hidden Christian faith. In 2018 the site was inscribed as part of the World Heritage property “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki and Amakusa Region.” Admission to the church is free and it is open 9:00–17:00. Visits are not allowed during Mass or other religious services, and photography inside is prohibited. Park at the Michi-no-Eki “Sakitsu” roadside station and walk into the village.
Opening hours
09:00–17:00 (closed to visitors during religious services)
Nearby sights
- Amakusa Rosario Museum
- Oe Church
- Amakusa Collegio Museum
- Jusanbutsu Park
- Myokenura
- Shimoda Onsen (Amakusa)
- Ushibuka Haiya Bridge
- Jumanyama Observatory