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The Pass of the Virgin: History of the Christian Martyrs of Tsuwano
The Pass of the Virgin is a small mountain plain a short distance up the mountains behind Tsuwano, a tiny town of a few thousand inhabitants scattered across an anonymous landscape in southern Japan, in the Shimane prefecture, not far from Hiroshima.
In this book, the author, Takashi Paolo Nagai (1908-1951), tells us the story of faith and martyrdom that makes these remote places so special, where today there is a small church dedicated to Saint Mary and where every year the most popular pilgrimage of the Japanese Catholic Church is celebrated. It is the moving and heart-rending story of faith and total self-giving of a small group of peasants, the last representatives of the so-called Hidden Christians, who had secretly preserved and handed down the Catholic faith for over two hundred years, escaping the atrocious persecution of the government inquisition of the samurai. Deported to the Pass of the Virgin of Tsuwano in 1868-1873 and subjected to daily atrocious tortures, 37 of them died as martyrs because they never wanted to renounce their God.
The personal story of the author Takashi Paolo Nagai, a radiology doctor who survived the explosion of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, is closely linked to that of the Hidden Christians and the martyrs of Tsuwano. After losing his wife and all his possessions to the bomb, he spent the last five years of his life bedridden with leukaemia, in extreme and searching poverty of spirit, testifying that Christian faith and hope are able to overcome the destruction of war and death and bring life and peace back to a world that seemed annihilated forever. He wrote numerous books that became best-sellers in Japan and the rest of the world, making himself a witness of faith and a herald of peace. He died in May 1951 in the odour of sanctity. Only two weeks before his death he had finished writing this book, which is his spiritual testament and is now being translated for the first time into Japanese.
In 2013, the diocese of Hiroshima began the local phase of the canonisation process of the 37 Martyrs of the Tsuwano Virgin Pass, who are now recognised as Servants of God, while waiting for their beatification to be proclaimed.
In this book, the author, Takashi Paolo Nagai (1908-1951), tells us the story of faith and martyrdom that makes these remote places so special, where today there is a small church dedicated to Saint Mary and where every year the most popular pilgrimage of the Japanese Catholic Church is celebrated. It is the moving and heart-rending story of faith and total self-giving of a small group of peasants, the last representatives of the so-called Hidden Christians, who had secretly preserved and handed down the Catholic faith for over two hundred years, escaping the atrocious persecution of the government inquisition of the samurai. Deported to the Pass of the Virgin of Tsuwano in 1868-1873 and subjected to daily atrocious tortures, 37 of them died as martyrs because they never wanted to renounce their God.
The personal story of the author Takashi Paolo Nagai, a radiology doctor who survived the explosion of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, is closely linked to that of the Hidden Christians and the martyrs of Tsuwano. After losing his wife and all his possessions to the bomb, he spent the last five years of his life bedridden with leukaemia, in extreme and searching poverty of spirit, testifying that Christian faith and hope are able to overcome the destruction of war and death and bring life and peace back to a world that seemed annihilated forever. He wrote numerous books that became best-sellers in Japan and the rest of the world, making himself a witness of faith and a herald of peace. He died in May 1951 in the odour of sanctity. Only two weeks before his death he had finished writing this book, which is his spiritual testament and is now being translated for the first time into Japanese.
In 2013, the diocese of Hiroshima began the local phase of the canonisation process of the 37 Martyrs of the Tsuwano Virgin Pass, who are now recognised as Servants of God, while waiting for their beatification to be proclaimed.
115 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 2022
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March 8, 2025
This is the amazing story of the persecuted Christians of the district of Urakami, in Nagasaki, Japan, and it is also the story of faith and Christianity in the country as a whole. Told by Takashi Paul Nagai, a Catholic recognised as Servant of God by the church and a man with his own incredible journey that saw him help to rebuild his city after the atomic bomb attack of 1945, it is a tale of faith in the face of tremendous adversity.
History tells us that after St Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, there followed a flourishing of Christianity which saw hundreds of thousands of Japanese convert to Christianity, particularly in the south of the country and on the island of Kyushu where Nagasaki is situated. This spring of faith, however, became a threat to the non-Christian authorities of the country towards the end of the century, when persecution began. After decades of civil war, the country was reunified, but attitudes towards foreigners and foreign practices, particularly their Christian religion, had soured to the point of absolute intolerance. What followed was nearly 300 years in which the open practice of Christian worship was completely outlawed, foreign priests and missionaries were expelled from the country, and Japanese Christians were forced to go into hiding to become so-called “kakure kirishitan”, or Hidden Christians, lest they reveal themselves and be tortured or killed. It was one of the most terrible religious persecutions of modern history and a time in which freedom of religion was non-existent.
Takashi Paul Nagai’s story of the Christian Martyrs of Tsuwano takes place towards the end of this time period, called the Edo era, when in a last burst of intolerance, just as Japan was opening up to the world and inviting foreigners back to trade and share ideas relating to cultural and industrial progress, the government cracked down on Japanese Christians despite allowing foreigners to build their own churches for segregated worship. Even after the Meiji restoration occurred in 1869 with a new government formed by the Emperor instead of the traditional leader of the Samurai class, the Shogun, persecution was the national policy, with Christianity seen as in opposition to the official religion of the state, Japanese Shintoism.
When the French arrive in Nagasaki and build their church in Oura in 1865, the priests await signs of the faithful that are rumoured to be in hiding. They check the local people and their surroundings for religious symbols, they wait in their church for brave worshippers, and they even simulate falling from their horses to bring out Christian kindness in worshippers—but nothing happens. Until one day, a delegation of some 14 or 15 hidden Christians arrives in Oura from the district of Urakami to the north of the city. Fatefully, they were looking for their own signs. Was this the prophesised return of the faith to Japan? Was this the true faith or something different? Were there any depictions of the Virgin Mary? Once they entered the church and found their answers they burst into tears of joys and the priests welcomed them—despite all knowing that the church was strictly monitored by watchmen and terrible penalties could await those who broke the law regarding open worship of Christ.
The French priests deserve credit for helping conceal their new flock and for doing their best to visit their villages in disguise, dressed as ordinary peasants and altering their physical appearance to seem Japanese. They were simply astonished to find that there were thousands of Christians who had been hiding for hundreds of years and keeping the faith, passing it down generation after generation and waiting for the return of the church, and felt duty-bound to help them receive communion again. These were ordinary peasants who resided in remote villages - many just plain and unexceptional fishing villages - but they showed extraordinary faith and lived under the constant thread of being raided by the authorities, which forced them into measures like hiding their religious symbols underground and worshipping only in the pitch black of night.
Unfortunately Nagai’s story, which was related to him by those who survived and witnessed the persecution, including farmer Jinzaburo Paul Moriyama and his son Father Matsusaburo Moriyama, is one of heartbreaking torture and inhumanity. After the Hidden Christian communities emerged, the government separated their families, arrested community leaders, tortured the faithful, and forced Christians to abjure and turn away from their God or face pain and death. In order to completely break their faith, the government sent those detained to many different places across Japan, where, it was assumed, they wouldn’t be so emboldened by their community. This includes the Martyrs of Tsuwano - imprisoned in what became known as “the Pass of the Virgin” - who are a focal point of the book. Being martyrs, they died for their faith, refusing to turn their back on God. They withstood every challenge and their faith remained pure; they died horrific deaths far from home because their government wouldn’t let them practice their religion, and those who abjured spent years repenting after having their willpower tested to the extremes.
Eventually international outrage, led by Western countries, paved the way for Christianity to be decriminalised in Japan in 1873, with protections for freedom of religious practice, but would it have happened without the sacrifices of the martyrs? Their faith was an example and strengthened that of those around them, eventually drawing the attention and admiration of the world. It is a marvellous story and goes to show that the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Japanese history and faith—there is a lot to be learned here and reflect on.
History tells us that after St Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in 1549, there followed a flourishing of Christianity which saw hundreds of thousands of Japanese convert to Christianity, particularly in the south of the country and on the island of Kyushu where Nagasaki is situated. This spring of faith, however, became a threat to the non-Christian authorities of the country towards the end of the century, when persecution began. After decades of civil war, the country was reunified, but attitudes towards foreigners and foreign practices, particularly their Christian religion, had soured to the point of absolute intolerance. What followed was nearly 300 years in which the open practice of Christian worship was completely outlawed, foreign priests and missionaries were expelled from the country, and Japanese Christians were forced to go into hiding to become so-called “kakure kirishitan”, or Hidden Christians, lest they reveal themselves and be tortured or killed. It was one of the most terrible religious persecutions of modern history and a time in which freedom of religion was non-existent.
Takashi Paul Nagai’s story of the Christian Martyrs of Tsuwano takes place towards the end of this time period, called the Edo era, when in a last burst of intolerance, just as Japan was opening up to the world and inviting foreigners back to trade and share ideas relating to cultural and industrial progress, the government cracked down on Japanese Christians despite allowing foreigners to build their own churches for segregated worship. Even after the Meiji restoration occurred in 1869 with a new government formed by the Emperor instead of the traditional leader of the Samurai class, the Shogun, persecution was the national policy, with Christianity seen as in opposition to the official religion of the state, Japanese Shintoism.
When the French arrive in Nagasaki and build their church in Oura in 1865, the priests await signs of the faithful that are rumoured to be in hiding. They check the local people and their surroundings for religious symbols, they wait in their church for brave worshippers, and they even simulate falling from their horses to bring out Christian kindness in worshippers—but nothing happens. Until one day, a delegation of some 14 or 15 hidden Christians arrives in Oura from the district of Urakami to the north of the city. Fatefully, they were looking for their own signs. Was this the prophesised return of the faith to Japan? Was this the true faith or something different? Were there any depictions of the Virgin Mary? Once they entered the church and found their answers they burst into tears of joys and the priests welcomed them—despite all knowing that the church was strictly monitored by watchmen and terrible penalties could await those who broke the law regarding open worship of Christ.
The French priests deserve credit for helping conceal their new flock and for doing their best to visit their villages in disguise, dressed as ordinary peasants and altering their physical appearance to seem Japanese. They were simply astonished to find that there were thousands of Christians who had been hiding for hundreds of years and keeping the faith, passing it down generation after generation and waiting for the return of the church, and felt duty-bound to help them receive communion again. These were ordinary peasants who resided in remote villages - many just plain and unexceptional fishing villages - but they showed extraordinary faith and lived under the constant thread of being raided by the authorities, which forced them into measures like hiding their religious symbols underground and worshipping only in the pitch black of night.
Unfortunately Nagai’s story, which was related to him by those who survived and witnessed the persecution, including farmer Jinzaburo Paul Moriyama and his son Father Matsusaburo Moriyama, is one of heartbreaking torture and inhumanity. After the Hidden Christian communities emerged, the government separated their families, arrested community leaders, tortured the faithful, and forced Christians to abjure and turn away from their God or face pain and death. In order to completely break their faith, the government sent those detained to many different places across Japan, where, it was assumed, they wouldn’t be so emboldened by their community. This includes the Martyrs of Tsuwano - imprisoned in what became known as “the Pass of the Virgin” - who are a focal point of the book. Being martyrs, they died for their faith, refusing to turn their back on God. They withstood every challenge and their faith remained pure; they died horrific deaths far from home because their government wouldn’t let them practice their religion, and those who abjured spent years repenting after having their willpower tested to the extremes.
Eventually international outrage, led by Western countries, paved the way for Christianity to be decriminalised in Japan in 1873, with protections for freedom of religious practice, but would it have happened without the sacrifices of the martyrs? Their faith was an example and strengthened that of those around them, eventually drawing the attention and admiration of the world. It is a marvellous story and goes to show that the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Japanese history and faith—there is a lot to be learned here and reflect on.
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