Saturday, December 12, 2009

Torture in Tsuwano! The Memorial Chapel of Mary



The Memorial Chapel of Mary is located in Otome Pass in Tsuwano. It was built in 1951 on the site of the torture and martyrdom of 25 Christians, including a 5 year old girl, in the early years of Meiji (1867-).

 


When Japan "opened" in the 1850's thousands of "hidden christians" mistakenly believed that it was safe to come out of the closet as a Christian Church had been constructed in Nagasaki by the French. Rather than execute them all, which is what the law proscribed, it was decided by the new government to disperse them to "re-education" camps across Japan and "encourage" them to join the new state-created religion of Shinto.

 


One method used on some of the 153 Christians sent to Tsuwano was imprisonment in tiny cages and left exposed to the elements. These statues show one of the famous martyrs, Yasutaro, who was visited by the Virgin Mary every night during his torture. Otome is the Japanese word for "virgin girl", and the pass was named Otome Pass because of an old, local legend that told of a young girl who was spurned and she wandered into the mountains here and disappeared.

 


There is a lot more detailed information on the martyrdom of the hidden Christians at this site



The short path leading up to the pass and chapel starts not far from the station in Tsuwano.



Posted by Ojisanjake at 1:47 PM
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9 comments:

  1. justgotspaidDecember 15, 2009 at 6:43 AM

    Wow, what a beautiful and interesting place. Good post.

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  2. MountaincatDecember 20, 2009 at 3:46 PM

    Interesting post and informative. That church and spot seems very well preserved. If I am in that area, I would visit that place.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 22, 2009 at 1:26 PM

    I'd like to visit here too, so much history.

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  4. the soul of japanDecember 22, 2009 at 3:05 PM

    I would never visit such a place. Those Christians deserved what they got. They shouldn't have been in Japan spreading this kind of religion in the first place. That's why Paul never sent missionaries to Asia.

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  5. OjisanjakeDecember 22, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    McAlpine... thats a very intolerant post.... they were Japanese Christians.....Japan has "imported" many religious traditions... do you think Buddhism is native to Japan?

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  6. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2012 at 4:02 PM

    Hey,thanks for posting your pictures, I need photos for my report about Christianity in Japan (Asian Studies). Your pictures is a great help so thank you so much for posting it!!!!

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  7. AnonymousMay 1, 2013 at 10:47 AM

    I have visited Tsuwano several times and have always been moved to prayer during my pilgrimage to The Virgin's Pass. Tsuwano is a great witness to the enduring faith of The Church in Japan and should give all Japanese Christians a sense of pride in the their continued faithfulness to the Gospel. I pray that the martyrs of Tsuwano will one day be canonized by the Church in honor of their sacrifice for the Lord.

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  8. AnonymousJune 27, 2014 at 7:01 AM

    I was able to visit there in April, 2014. There was a lot of construction going on - they are improving the stairs and the area near the chapel. All that noise kinda ruined my visit. But in the future people may enjoy it more. That climb up the hill is also rather steep!

    Re: the disgusting post above - the people tortured and killed there were all Japanese - denied their right to live and worship as they wished. And by the way, Paul founded several churches in Asia Minor. You're as clueless as you are intolerant.

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  9. José Juan Vergara SJSeptember 2, 2025 at 10:26 PM

    En las montañas, a una hora de Yamaguchi, se encuentra Tsuwano, un lugar santo donde tuvieron presos a 153 “cristianos ocultos” entre los años 1870 y 1873. De ellos, 36 murieron mártires. Aquí Nuestra Señora se apareció a uno de los japoneses torturados, reconfortándolos a todos. El Padre Robert Flynn S.J., párroco de Tsuwano con cuarenta feligreses, un santo varón, nos explicó con fervor y detalle la historia de estos mártires, al Padre José Miguel Vara y a mí.

    A la salida del pueblito de Tsuwano, hay una pequeña quebrada boscosa que sube apartándose del camino. A media altura de la ladera, un pequeño y viejo templo budista abandonado sirvió de prisión a los mártires. El gobierno japonés actuó con saña y resentimiento al darse cuenta que había sido burlado por estos “cristianos ocultos” por más de 250 años. Por eso, los trasplantó y les ofreció indulgencia y regalos si apostataban. Algunos renegaron de su fe, pero la mayoría se mantuvo fiel. El castigo consistía en meterlos desnudos en una jaula de bambú de 1 metro cúbico donde no podían ni pararse ni acostarse. Sumergían la jaula en una lagunita helada y luego dejaban al pobre cristiano congelarse durante la noche. Varios sufrieron este martirio. Otros murieron de hambre. Fueron los gobiernos extranjeros los que presionaron al Emperador Meiji para que suspendieran estas crueldades y diera libertad religiosa.

    En la actualidad, junto a la mencionada lagunita, hay una sencilla capilla conmemorativa dedicada a la Virgen.

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