Japan's World Cultural Heritage

November 1 to December 25, 2022

Silent Christmas

The terraced rice paddies of the village of Kasuga, one of the places where Christians hid from persecution, is illuminated from November with 7,000 lights (18:00 to 20:00). Illuminations in the various churches begin in December, and inside, nativity scenes and other decorations is on display. The Arima Seminary, roughly equivalent to middle school today, was established by the Jesuits in 1580 as their first seminary in Japan, in what is now the city of Minami-Shimabara. On the 3rd of December each year is held the Festivus Natalis, and the procession of “barbarians” is recreated in memory of the Tensho Embassy of Japanese youth to Europe in 1582 .

*The schedule and content of the above event information may be changed depending on the weather or the organizer's circumstances. Please check the website before going out.

Tracing Japanese History via World Heritage Sites