COVER PAGE
Center Top
MANGA
CHRISTIANITY IN HIRADO
Credits
Artwork Yonekura Yuji
Title Calligraphy Oishi Horan
Advisor Terada Kazuo (Kasuga Village, Hirado)
Story Tanaka Yoshitaka
Blue Box
NAKAENOSHIMA
Oratio
Vertical title
INORI
Bottom left
UNESCO World Heritage
Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region
Extreme bottom left
Published September 2020, by the Culture and Exchange Division; Department of Culture, Tourism and Commerce and Industry; Hirado City Hall
PAGE 1
No. 1
THE YEAR IS 1614. THE SHOGUNATE HAS BANNED CHRISTIANITY NATIONWIDE AND EXPELLED THE FOREIGN MISSIONARIES. STILL, THERE ARE PLENTY OF PRIESTS WILLING TO SLIP INTO THE COUNTRY AND PREACH IN SECRET.
Speech Bubble
CHRISTIANITY IS A HERESY. IT LEADS PEOPLE AWAY FROM BUDDHISM AND SHINTO. IF ANYONE BREAKS THE NEW LAW, THEY MUST BE PUNISHED QUICKLY AND HARSHLY.
SFX
Murmur
NOTICEBOARD
日本語のままの方が味があると思います。
No. 2
TIME PASSES. IT IS NOW 1622. FATHER CAMILLO, WHO WAS SECRETLY ACTIVE IN HIRADO, HAS TRAVELED ALL THE WAY TO THE GOTO ISLANDS TO PREACH.
No. 3
HE IS CAUGHT BY OFFICIALS OF THE GOTO DOMAIN AND SENTENCED TO BE BURNED TO DEATH AT YAIZA IN HIRADO.
No. 4
Red Letters
PRAISE THE LORD, ALL NATIONS.
HOLY,
HOLY,
HOLY.
(He was 50 years old at the time.)
SFX
Roar
BOX
SEPTEMBER 15. FATHER CAMILLO PREACHED A SERMON IN PORTUGUESE AND JAPANESE WHILE TIED TO THE STAKE. HE KEPT GOING EVEN AFTER THE FIRE WAS LIT. HE WAS STILL SINGING HYMNS WHEN LIFE LEFT HIS BODY.
PAGE 2
No. 1
TRAGEDY ALSO ENGULFED THE PEOPLE WHO HAD GIVEN FATHER CAMILLO LODGING OR HELPED HIM SAIL TO GOTO. ALL WERE ARRESTED.
No. 3
AMONG THOSE WHO REFUSED TO ABANDON THEIR RELIGION WAS JUAN JIROEMON. HE MADE A MEMORABLE STATEMENT IN THE BOAT TAKING HIM TO NAKAENOSHIMA FOR EXECUTION.
No. 4
THIS PLACE IS NOT THAT FAR FROM HEAVEN.
No. 5
IN 1622 AND 1624, MANY CHRISTIANS WERE EXECUTED ON NAKAENOSHIMA BY BEHEADING AND OTHER MEANS.
Page 3
No. 1
1959
GOSH, GRANDPA, THAT’S SO SAD!
SFX
Creak
No. 2
TERADA SAKUTARO, AGE 54
TERADA KAZUO, AGE 10
Speech Bubble
THIS IS YOUR FIRST VISIT TO NAKAENOSHIMA, KAZUO. I’M SORRY THE STORIES ABOUT THE PLACE ARE ALL SO SAD.
No. 3
DO YOU VISIT THE ISLAND OFTEN, GRANDPA?
No. 3
YES, BECAUSE WE USE WATER FROM THE ISLAND IN ALL SORTS OF CEREMONIES.
No. 4
I SEE.
No. 5
THERE IS A SHRINE ON NAKAENOSHIMA CONTAINING THREE SACRED STATUES. IT WAS BUILT IN THE LATE 1950S TO REMIND THE CHRISTIANS OF THEIR FOREFATHERS WHO WERE EXECUTED THERE.
PAGE 4
No. 1
Rumble
No. 2
THE WATER THAT KAZUO’S GRANDFATHER IS TALKING ABOUT IS HOLY WATER THAT THE KAKURE KIRISHITAN USE IN THEIR RITES. THEY COLLECT IT FROM A ROCKY PART OF NAKAENOSHIMA.
SFX
Crash
No. 3
Whoosh
No. 4
WOW! WHEN YOU GET UP CLOSE, THIS ROCK LOOKS HUGE!
No. 5
IF YOU RECITE A PRAYER THE WATER WILL COME BUBBLING OUT.
PAGE 5
No. 1
Flicker
No. 3
THANK YOU, LORD, FOR THE PRECIOUS WATER YOU GIVE US.
No. 4
IN THE WATER-COLLECTION RITE, THE WATER WILL ONLY COME OUT IF THE KAKURE KIRISHITAN SAY A PRAYER.
No. 5
Plop
PAGE 6
No. 1
A WATER BOTTLE CONTAINING THE HOLY WATER AND OTHER UTENSILS ARE USED IN A CEREMONY TO PURIFY THE HOUSES OF THE FAITHFUL. THE RITE IS CALLED YABARAI.
No. 2
IT STARTS AT THE ENTRANCE, WHERE A PRAYER IS RECITED.
Sprinkle
No. 3
THEN THEY PURIFY THE CENTRAL PILLAR
No. 4
AND PURIFY THE ALCOVE POST.
No. 5
FINALLY, THEY GO BACK TO THE ENTRANCE TO DRIVE ANYTHING BAD OUTSIDE.
NOTE
Drawings are based on documents about yabarai on Ikitsuki Island.
PAGE 7
No. 1
EVERY YEAR ON JANUARY 2, MY GRANDPA AND I CLIMB A HILL AND OFFER OUR PRAYERS ACROSS THE SEA TO NAKAENOSHIMA ISLAND.
Scrunch
No. 2
GRANDPA, WAIT FOR ME!
No. 3
PHEW!
No. 4
KAZUO, YOU NEED TO GIVE GOD THANKS FOR HELPING YOU MAKE IT THROUGH LAST YEAR SAFE AND SOUND.
No. 5
IN THE PART OF JAPAN WHERE I LIVE, CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN FOR ABOUT 400 YEARS. WE STILL DIRECT OUR PRAYERS TO NAKAENOSHIMA. IT’S A SPECIAL PLACE FOR US.
Note
The story incorporates elements from the personal experiences of Terada Kazuo from page 3.