Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument in Nagasaki, Nagasaki

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Get directions Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan

Coordinates: 32.75471, 129.87172
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This memorial on Nishizaka Hill was built on June 1962 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the canonization of the 26 Roman Catholic Christian martyrs, comprised of 20 native Japanese and six priests (four Spaniards, one Mexican and one Indian), who were executed on the site on February 5, 1597. The martyrs had been arrested in Kyoto and Osaka on the order of then national ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi for preaching Christianity, then an outlawed religion in Japan. They were imprisoned then forced to march through the snow to Nagasaki so that their execution might serve as a deterrent to that city's large Christian population. Hung up on 26 crosses with chains and ropes, the Christians were executed in front of a large crowd on Nishizaka Hill.

February 6 is the feast day of the 26 martyrs. The memorial altar was built not only for them but also for the many Japanese and non-Japanese faithful who gave up their lives for their Christian faith. The image of a plum blossom at the middle of the altar was chosen because it blossoms every February, the month of the martyrdom of the 26 martyr saints.