Arifuku Church

Arifuku Catholic Church is situated on Arifukushima, the westernmost island of the Shinkamigoto archipelago. Its history is tied to the movement of families from Kaminoura in the Omura domain between 1817 and 1829. These migrants sought the rugged isolation of Arifukushima to maintain their faith in secrecy, eventually establishing four distinct settlements of Hidden Christians across the island. Following the end of the religious ban in the Meiji era, the community returned to the Catholic Church under the guidance of traveling missionaries.

The current structure, completed in 1927, is a small but architecturally unique wooden building. It is best known for its multi-story roof, a design feature that gives the modest chapel a sense of verticality and character despite its small footprint. Unlike the grand brick cathedrals found elsewhere in the Goto Islands, Arifuku Church retains the intimate, domestic scale of the early 20th-century island parishes.