Gravestones of Minami Kushiyama

Three gravestones found in a local field in 1924 and moved to their current arrangement in 1979 are among the oldest Christian gravestones in Japan. The largest, made of olivine basalt, carries the date 1606 and the baptismal name 'Rian,' making it the earliest-dated Christian grave inscription confirmed to survive in the country. Of the 192 identified early Christian gravestones in Japan, 146 are concentrated in Nagasaki Prefecture, most dating from the early 17th century before Christianity was banned. The stones reflect European gravestone designs of the period, often featuring floral crosses or the IHS trigram, and likely belonged to people of wealth since stone markers were expensive.