Visited the three World Heritage Sites in the Goto Islands of Nagasaki. The Goto Islands were the home to many of the persecuted "Kakure Kirishitans" (i.e. "hidden Christians") that fled there to practice their faith in secret.

The churches were humble, peaceful and were gorgeous in a subdued way.

Our first stop was Dozaki Church on the main island of Fukue:


Dozaki Church (堂崎教会堂 - Dozaki Kyokaido)

The other two are located on Narushima and Hisaka-jima. With ferries being extremely infrequent, we opted to charter a private boat to take us to both locations. It was a good choice - when we visited, there were no other tourists. The caretaker of Gorin Church said they only saw 400 visitors in the entire month of March. Note that advance reservations are required if you'd like to see the inside of these two churches.


Narushima, Goto (奈留島) - Egami Church (江上天主堂 - Egami Tenshudo)


Narushima, Goto (奈留島) - Egami Church (江上天主堂 - Egami Tenshudo)


Hisaka-jima, Goto - Gorin Church (旧五輪教会堂 - Kyu Gorin Kyokaido)


Hisaka-jima, Goto - Gorin Church (旧五輪教会堂 - Kyu Gorin Kyokaido)


Hisaka-jima, Goto - View from Gorin Church (旧五輪教会堂 - Kyu Gorin Kyokaido)