Nagasaki Prefecture

Nagasaki Prefecture, located in the northern region of the Island of Kyushu, and is composed of several islands in the sub tropics of Japan. 

Nagasaki Prefecture is one of the only places in Japan that you can see a huge Catholic presence, with there be being approximately 70,000 Catholics in the prefecture, which accounts for roughly 5% of the population in Nagasaki. This large figures are due to protugese missionaries who arrived in Japan in the 16th century and began spreading until Christianity was banned in the Tokugawa Era. 

Despite the bans, underground churches began to emerge. Eventually, the European settlers were forced out of Japan, including many of the Half European-Japanese children. 

In World War II, August 9th, 1945, the United States of America dropped an Atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki – the capital city of the prefecture – just 3 days after dropping the devastating bomb on Hiroshima. Ultimately, Japan resigned after the Nagasaki Bombing and thus ended World War II. A common concern of Nagasaki and Hiroshima alike, is the safety of the city in respect to the radiation. Rest assured that both Nagasaki and Hiroshima are completely safe and life still continues to this day. Some of the older people will still have the scars and wounds from the bombing and it’s truly a heart breaking sight to see.