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Ikitsuki Island Museum

This museum is called Shima-no-yakata in Japanese and has various exhibits explaining the culture and tradition of life on Ikitsuki Island.

This museum’s main exhibition is centered around the Masutomi group who became one of the largest whaling communities in Japan during the Edo period.

Other exhibitions include displays on the Hidden Christians faith that was passed on through generations while withstanding its long persecution as well as an introduction to local fishing and agricultural methods that make good use of the rich and varied nature of the island.

It’s a place where one can get to know the true spirit of Ikitsuki. Only some of the displays are in English.

Ikitsuki Island Museum.
Ikitsuki Island Museum was opened in 1995 as a museum that features the history of Ikitsuki Island.


Whaling.
Here you will see how whales were caught during the Edo period when it was home to the Masutomi Group, the largest operation of its kind in Japan, and how the people there lived in the midst of such abundant nature.

  • Archeological evidence in the form of whale remains discovered in burial mounds suggests that whales have been consumed in Japan since the Jomon period (between c. 14,000 and 300 BCE).
  • Without the means to engage in active whaling, consumption at that time primarily stemmed from stranded whales.
  • Surviving Ainu folklore reveals a long history of whaling and a spiritual association with whales.
  • See more at Whaling in Japan - Wikipedia.

"Dawn" (Ikitsuki) by Koyama Tsuyoshi Katashi Oyama.
The Tokugawa shoguns eradicated Christianity in Japan via murder, persecution and decrees.

  • In 1638, an estimated 37,000 people (mostly Christians), were massacred after the Christian-led Shimabara Rebellion.
  • By this point, after the Shimabara Rebellion, the remaining Christians had been forced to publicly renounce their faith.
  • Many continued practicing Christianity in secret, in modern times becoming known as the "hidden Christians" (kakure kirishitan).
  • These secret believers would often conceal Christian iconography in closed shrines, lanterns or inconspicuous parts of buildings.

Maria Kannon.
Depictions of Mary modeled on the Buddhist deity Kannon (Avalokitesvara), goddess of mercy, became common among kakure kirishitan, and were known as "Maria Kannon".[6]

  • The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish.
  • The Bible and other parts of the liturgy were passed down orally, because printed works could be confiscated by authorities.

House of Hidden Christians.
There are houses in which devotional tools have been secretly kept since the period of the initial introduction of Christianity to Japan in 1550.

  • There are houses in which Hidden Christians’ devotional tools, such as statues of the Japanese traditional deities Daikokuten and Ebisu which were venerated as Deus, the God of the Christian faith, have been kept right up to the present day.

See also

Sources

Location

Location: 4289-1 Ikitsukichō Minamimen, Hirado, Nagasaki 859-5706, Japan