OVERVIEW

Nishi Gaspar held a leading position related to the administration of the village. In 1606, he was executed at Kurose-no-Tsuji as the last martyr on the island of Ikitsuki. The execution ground was called Kurose on the basis of the Spanish word cruz (cross). The site is now a park where a large new crucifix has been erected. The grave of Nishi Gaspar and his family is just behind this monument. His son, Tomas Nishi, who was the only survivor, later became a priest in Manila in the Philippines, but was ultimately martyred at Nishizaka in Nagasaki City.