The Site of the Martyrs of the Twenty Six Martyrs of Japan (Nishizaka Park)
| This memorial hill features statues and reliefs that quietly tell the story of Christian suffering and resilience. |
| Nishizaka Park is the sacred site where six Franciscan missionaries and twenty Japanese Christians were executed on February 5, 1597, following Toyotomi Hideyoshi prohibition of Christianity. According to tradition, the martyrs themselves requested this hill for their execution because its contours resembled Golgotha, the place of Christ crucifixion. In the years that followed, many more believers met the same fate here. In 1950, Pope Pius XII officially recognized Nishizaka as a Catholic pilgrimage site, and in 1956 the postwar prefectural government of Nagasaki designated it as a historic location. A century after the canonization of the 26 martyrs, in 1962, a memorial featuring life size bronze statues and a museum displaying the martyrs’ testament of faith were erected on the site. Nishizaka also holds contemporary significance: during his visit to Nagasaki in November 2019, Pope Francis offered prayers here. Standing on this quiet hill, one is reminded that there was a time in Japan when religious freedom was suppressed. A visit to Nishizaka Park invites reflection on a past that must not be forgotten and offers a peaceful space to pray for a future shaped by compassion and tolerance. |
