Mayuko Ono

2 days ago | independent.co.uk | Mayuko Ono |Foster Klug |Mari Yamaguchi

Hidden Christians in Nagasaki, Japan, are a community that secretly practised Christianity during periods of persecution, and they are now on the verge of dying out. After emerging from isolation in 1865, some Hidden Christians converted to mainstream Catholicism, while others continued their unique practices.

2 days ago | independent.co.uk | Foster Klug |Mayuko Ono |Mari Yamaguchi

Hidden Christians are dying out, and there is growing certainty that their unique version of Christianity will die with themFoster Klug,Mayuko Ono,Mari YamaguchiOn this small island in rural Nagasaki, Japan, a community of Hidden Christians gathers to worship what they call the Closet God. In a special room, barely larger than a tatami mat, hangs a scroll painting of a kimono-clad Asian woman.

2 days ago | thesunchronicle.com | Foster Klug |Mari Yamaguchi |Mayuko Ono

IKITSUKI, Japan (AP) - On this small island in rural Nagasaki, Japan 's Hidden Christians gather to worship what they call the Closet God. In a special room about the size of a tatami mat is a scroll painting of a kimono-clad Asian woman. She looks like a Buddhist Bodhisattva holding a baby, but for the faithful, this is a concealed version of Mary and the baby Jesus. Another scroll shows a man wearing a kimono covered with camellias, an allusion to John the Baptist's beheading and martyrdom.

2 days ago | msn.com | Foster Klug |Mari Yamaguchi |Mayuko Ono

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2 days ago | abcnews.go.com | Foster Klug |Mari Yamaguchi |Mayuko Ono

On the rural islands of Nagasaki a handful of believers practice a version of Christianity that has direct links to a time of samurai, shoguns and martyred missionaries and believers ByFOSTER KLUG Associated Press, MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press, and MAYUKO ONO Associated Press Shigeo Nakazono, a folklore studies expert specializing in the hidden Christians and head of the Ikitsuki Island Museum "Shima no Yakata" explains an official edict board issued to ban Christianity during Japan's Edo...