Urakami Christian Museum
This modest museum occupies the first floor of an apartment building in a residential district in the north of Nagasaki, about a five-minute walk from Urakami Cathedral. It is managed by a successful publisher with some support from individual donors, and admission is free. As the name suggests, the museum highlights the history of Christianity in Urakami, focusing in particular on two relatively recent and tragic episodes. One is the Fourth Urakami Crackdown (1868–1873), the Japanese authorities’ last-ditch attempt to suppress Christianity by sending thousands of Urakami Christians into exile around Japan at the cost of hundreds of lives. The other is the August 9, 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, in which some 8,500 of the 12,000 Christians in Urakami lost their lives. Despite the museum’s modest size, it also hosts smaller-scale exhibitions alongside the permanent displays. Films of Catholic interest are shown in the back, while books and other Christian memorabilia are for sale at the front.