Discover the mystery that is Japan – October 8-16, 2023

Daily itinerary

Sunday-Afternoon departure from Los Angeles Airport on a flight to Tokyo.

Monday–Evening arrival in Tokyo, situated on Honshu Island (Central Japan). Transfer to our hotel between the Kanda River and Imperial Palace, close to one of Tokyo’s oldest Catholic churches.

Tuesday – Visit Tokyo’s hidden gem, Kanda Church, dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, 16th Cent. Apostle of the Indies & Japan. Visit the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, next to the Emperor’s residence which was built over the ruins of Edo Castle (home of the Tokugawa shoguns’ family from 1603 to 1868).

Wednesday – Late morning flight departure from Tokyo heading south to Nagasaki on Kyushu Island (west coast of the East China Sea). Nagasaki, built up on the shores of a large bay, served as Japan’s only trading port open to the outside world during the national isolation period of the 16th Cent. Edo Era, opening the way for the missionaries. Afternoon arrival and transfer to our hotel.

Thursday – A day in Nagasaki and the surrounding area. Ever since the Portuguese explorers and missionaries arrived in the Sixteenth Century, Nagasaki has been a bastion of Catholicism in the Far East. St. Francis Xavier, one of the first to stop here on his way to China in 1549, stayed for two years. In a letter to his superiors, he described the Japanese as the “best people yet discovered”, drawn to logic and conviction. He established the most important Christian community in the Far East. A steady stream of Jesuits followed and over 300,000 natives received baptism. The Tokugawa Shogunate, initially welcomed the men in robes from the West but soon became alarmed by their success, and in 1587, issued an edict banning them from Japan. Paolo Miki was one of the first natives to receive baptism and was later ordained to the priesthood. When he and 25 companions were discovered, they were taken as prisoners and speared to death on Feb. 5, 1597. Later, the Holy Church canonized them, making them the first of the Japanese Martyrs to be enrolled in the Communion of Saints. Learn of their forced 600-mile march from Kyoto to the execution site on Nishizaka Hill, while singing the Te Deum. By the mid-1800s, at the end of the Edo Era, when the Shogunate no longer saw Christianity as a threat, missionaries began entering the country again. Permission was given for the building of the Oura Church, to serve the western merchants. Within one year, Fr. Bernard Petitjean, discovered fifteen men and women from Urukami Village at his door, revealing for the first time the existence of the “hidden Christians”(in Japanese – Kakure Kirishitan) of the past two and half centuries. Learn how they survived without priests and the Holy Eucharist, growing to nearly 30,000 faithful, disguising all visible signs of Christianity, and meeting in homes for religious services. Today visit Oura Church, Nishizaka Hill, and the Martyrs Museum. See original Fumie, images of Our Lord and the Blessed Mother, which the faithful were told to trample on or otherwise die.  Visit Hongochi Monastery and Church, founded by St. Maxmillian Kolbe during his six-year mission (1930s). See the Lourdes grotto he built by hand.

Friday – A day excursion to Hirado, the fourth-largest island of Kyushu and former Dutch trading post. Visit a church built to commemorate St. Francis Xavier’s arrival and the introduction of Catholicism to Japan. Visit Tabira, a wonderful French church built in 1917.

Saturday – Excursion to the Hot Springs Resort in Unzen. This site was featured in Silence, a film based on the acclaimed novel by the Japanese novelist Endō Shūsaku, who drew from the oral tradition telling of the suppression of Catholicism in Japan. The natural phenomenon of the hot springs was the backdrop of a chilling scene of martyrdom for the Christian peasants who took part in the Shimabara Rebellion against the local rulers (Dec. 1637 to April 1638). Visit Unzen Church in the Unzen Nat’l. Park, followed by the sights of the Shimabara Rebellion, including the ruins of Hara Castle, a pivotal spot.

Sunday – Visit the Takashi Memorial Museum honoring a local physician, radiologist, and survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (WW-II). Although raised Shinto, Dr. Takashi discovered Catholicism and received baptism in 1934. Though seriously injured in the bombing, he dedicated the rest of his life to treating its victims. Visit a museum remembering the 70,000 casualties and a church built over the ruins of what was once the largest church in Asia until the bombing decimated it. This more miniature replica was completed in 1959 over the original ruins. Pray in a chapel where the original hibaku Maria is kept, a charred statue of the Virgin Mary that survived the bombing.

Monday – Early afternoon flight departure from Nagasaki to Los Angeles. Mid-day arrival in Los Angeles.