Amakusa (天草), which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan.
Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands. In the past, it has been known as Kyūkoku, Chinzei and Tsukushi-no-shima. The historical regional name Saikaidō referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands.
Kagoshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2. Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto Prefecture to the north and Miyazaki Prefecture to the northeast.
Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 and has a geographic area of 7,409 km². Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyazaki Prefecture to the southeast, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.
Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 and has a geographic area of 4,130 km². Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast.
The Shimabara Rebellion, also known as the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion or Shimabara-Amakusa Ikki (島原･天草一揆), was an uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638.
Shimabara is a city located on the north-eastern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula, facing Ariake Bay in the east and Mount Unzen in the west, in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.
Shimabara Castle, also known as Moritake Castle and Takaki Castle, is a Japanese castle located in Shimabara, Hizen Province. This five-story white building stands in stark contrast to the black Kumamoto Castle in neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture.
The Japanese term Kirishitan, from Portuguese cristão, meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Kakure Kirishitan is a modern term for a member of the Catholic Church that went underground at the start of the Edo period in the early 17th century.
The Ariake Sea is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters deep, and extreme tides exceed 4 meters (13 ft), covering roughly 1,700 square kilometres (660 sq mi). Isahaya Bay is a branch of the Ariake Sea. Across the Amakusa Islands lies the Yatsushiro Sea.
Shimabara Railway is a railway company in Nagasaki, Japan.
National Route 57 is a national highway of Japan connecting Ōita, Ōita and Nagasaki, Nagasaki in Japan.
Christian missionaries arrived with Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 100,000 converts, including many daimyōs in Kyushu. It soon met resistance from the highest office holders of Japan. Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620 it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians, while others lost their lives. Only after the Meiji Restoration was Christianity re-established in Japan.
Naru Island is one of the Gotō Islands in Japan. It is part of the city of Gotō in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region is a group of twelve sites in Nagasaki Prefecture and Kumamoto Prefecture relating to the history of Christianity in Japan. The Nagasaki churches are unique in the sense that each tells a story about the revival of Christianity after a long period of official suppression.
The 1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami resulted from the volcanic activities of Mount Unzen on 21 May. This caused the collapse of the southern flank of the Mayuyama dome in front of Mount Unzen, resulting in a tremendous megatsunami, killing 15,000 people altogether. It was also called Shimabara erupted, Higo affected (島原大変肥後迷惑), since many people were killed by this tsunami in Higo.
Misumi-Ōyano Umibe Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park on the west coast of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1956, the park spans the municipalities of Kami-Amakusa, Uki, and Uto.
Ashikita Kaigan Prefectural Natural Park is a Prefectural Natural Park on the coast of southwest Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1956, the park spans the municipalities of Ashikita, Minamata, Tsunagi, and Yatsushiro.
