26 Martyrs Museum

The 26 Martyrs Museum, adjoining the Nishizaka Hill memorial, holds one of Japan's most significant collections of Kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christian) artifacts, assembled largely by the Catholic Church following the martyrs' 19th-century canonization. The collection spans four centuries of Japanese Christian history, from Francis Xavier's 1549 mission and the era of the Christian daimyo, through the 1597 crucifixions of the 26 martyrs, to the underground practice of Christianity during the 250-year Edo-period ban. Signature holdings include fumi-e devotional images used by Edo-period authorities to detect hidden believers, rosaries and prayer texts disguised within ordinary household objects, and correspondence from the 16th-century Jesuit mission. Displays are arranged thematically by era of persecution and resistance rather than strictly chronologically, with a dedicated room addressing the 1865 rediscovery of hidden Christian communities at Oura Cathedral. The museum building, completed in 1962 alongside the outdoor martyrs' monument, has been periodically updated with improved lighting and case preservation for its paper and textile holdings, many of which are centuries old and light-sensitive.