Nozaki Island village ruins

Atlas / Goto Islands

Short answer

An island now left to wild deer, with the brick church its last Christian families built.

RegionGoto Islands

PeriodHidden Christians

TypeHidden Christian village

UNESCOYes, World Heritage

Getting thereFerry from Ojika, notice needed

Suggested timeHalf day

Visiting

Ferry from Ojika; visits require advance notice.

On these routes

The Goto Islands: churches at the edge of the sea

The story

Hidden Christians settled Nozaki alongside a Shinto shrine community. The former Nokubi Church was completed in 1908. The island is now uninhabited. The village ruins are a UNESCO component.

Sources & further reading

whc.unesco.org/en/list/1495
kirishitan.jp
Downes, 'Kakure Kirishitan' (on Christal Whelan's film Otaiya)

Visiting

On these routes

The story

Also in Goto Islands

Egami Village

Hisaka Island villages

Kashiragashima Village

Dozaki Church