Catholic Church in Tsuwano

Tsuwano

Must be in the Christmas spirit to be posting all these churches :) The Catholic Church in Tsuwano was built in 1931.

It's a replica of the Oura Tenshudo, the church built by the French in Nagasaki in 1865.

Inside, no pews or chairs, only tatami to sit on.

The church is open daily. On May 3rd there is a procession from the church up to the Chapel at Otome Pass followed by a Mass in front of the church.

Round Windows: looking in (traditional)

Not much I can add to the title, except to give locations. This first one is from a farmhouse in the village of Yairoishi, up in the mountains of Iwami.

This is of the Tea Room at Kennin-Ji, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto.

This is at Komyozen-Ji, a delightful small temple in Dazaifu, Fukuoka. It has my favorite temple garden.

Just a house in Tsuwano.

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.

Haikyo

Haikyo is a Japanese word that means something along the lines of "ruin" and "abandoned building", and its a word that is becoming used in English now. There are lots of people who's hobby is exploring abandoned sites around Japan. Where I live close to half the buildings are abandoned, so it doesn't seem anything special.

This tiny haikyo was on the trail leading up to the small chapel at Otome Pass, in Tsuwano, the site of the torture and martydom of Japanese christians in the late 19th Century.

It was a small tea room/cafe, and was probably built in the late 1960's when Japan started to experience a domestic travel boom

One of the fascinations of haikyo seems to be that often things will be left untouched as they were.

Yabusame. Horseback archery in Tsuwano

Yabusame tournaments are held at various locations throughout Japan, but only one is held in an original yabusame ground, and that is the one at Tsuwano at the Washibara Hachimangu Shrine.

The course is 270 metres long, with a stone embankment running the length. The festival is held in April, and usually the cherry trees lining the course are in full bloom. Hachiman, the primary Kami of the shrine is, among other things, the god of archery.

Yabusame, like Sumo and Kagura, is primarily performed for the entertainment of the Kami, which is why it is properly held at shrines. The morning is spent with ceremony, ritual, and pageantry, and the medieval costumes of the participants combined with the cherry blossoms makes for a very colorful affair.

Horse, riders, and all the participants plus the grounds itself are all purified prior to the competition.

Once it begins, it all happens very quickly, the horse and rider taking just a few seconds to gallop down the course. The arrows have a heavy, rounded head so a loud "thunk" is heard if the target is hit.

View the complete Yabusame slideshow

Tsuwano Koi (carp)

This manhole cover is from Tsuwano, a small castle town in the mountains of western Iwami. It's a very popular tourist destination, and one of the things it is known for is its canals and ditches filled with colorful koi (carp). The town only has about 5,000 inhabitants, and they are outnumbered by the carp. They (the carp, not the inhabitants :)) were kept in the canals to serve as an emergency food supply in times of famine or siege.

For more photos of Japanese manhole covers click here For more photos of Tsuwano click here