Himejima Island

Himejima is a volcanic island off Nagasaki's coast, its western and northern shores rising in columnar basalt cliffs up to 100 meters tall. In 1797, a community of Christians fleeing government persecution settled here, farming mulberry and catching shrimp and kibinago fish from the rocky southern shore. The population reached 300 by the Meiji era, and they built schools, a cathedral with stained-glass windows, and a ferry schedule. By 1965, the last 38 residents had left. The island has since been reclaimed entirely by vegetation, and no trace of the settlement is visible from the sea or from above.