OVERVIEW

Kuroshima Island is the largest of the Kujukushima islands. Two months after the discovery of the hidden Christians in Oura Cathedral in 1865, 20 representatives of the hidden Christians visited Father Petitjean in Oura to confess their faith. Subsequently, Father Poirier read the first mass in Kuroshima Island at the house of Daikichi Deguchi, one of the representatives. By 1873, Kuroshima had become an "island of Catholic." Kuroshima Church was constructed through the endeavors of Father Marman, with the self-sacrificing cooperation of the local laypeople. They carried bricks and other necessary materials by themselves, climbing up the steep slope from the beach.The interior of this church is magnificent, with arcades, triforia and clerestory. Kuroshima Church is unique in that Arita porcelain tiles, granite quarried in Kuroshima and other local materials are used.