Amakusa, Kumamoto (town)

was a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in Amakusa District,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. As of 2003, the town had an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 4,405 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of 51.54 persons per km². The total area was 85.46 km². On March 27, 2006, Amakusa absorbed the cities of

Hondo Hondo may refer to: Places * Rio Hondo (disambiguation), the name of several locations, derived from the Spanish word for "deep" Canada * Hondo, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Hondo, New Mexico, an unincorporated co ...

and Ushibuka, the towns of

Ariake Ariake (有明: "daybreak") may refer to: Places in Japan *Ariake, Kagoshima, a former town in Kagoshima Prefecture *Ariake, Kumamoto, a former town in Kumamoto Prefecture *Ariake, Saga, a former town in Saga Prefecture *Ariake, Tokyo, a district w ...

, Goshoura, Itsuwa, Kawaura, Kuratake, Shinwa and Sumoto (all from Amakusa District) to create the city of

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mi ...

. "Amakusa City" refers to this union of six towns and two cities, while "Amakusa Town" or "Amakusa-machi" refers to the one town of those six. Amakusa-machi consists of five hamlets, four spread along the west coast of Shimo-shima and one located in the mountains between the coast and

, the administrative capital of Amakusa City. They are, in order of geographic location starting from the south, Ōe (大江), Takahama (高浜), Shimoda-minami (下田南), Shimoda-kita (下田北), and Fukuregi (福連木). Shiratsuru-hama beach and the village of Takahama

Shiratsuru-hama beach and the village of Takahama

Amakusa-machi is famous for its scenic coastline along the Amakusa-nada sea, including a natural, white sandy beach in Takahama called Shiratsuru-hama 白鶴浜 and beautiful, strange rock formations in the bay Myoken-ura 妙見浦. Shimoda-kita is also home to a famous hot spring which, according to legend, was discovered by a white heron. Many tourists come to Amakusa-machi to enjoy these leisure spots. The village of Ōe, along with the Sakitsu in Kawaura-machi to the south, were both visited by Christian missionaries in the wake of St. Francis Xavier's mission to Japan in 1549. Many were converted and kept their faith even during the periods of harsh persecution and the

Shimabara rebellion The , also known as the or , was an uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpopular polic ...

. The Romanesque-style church in Ōe and the gothic-style church in Sakitsu have both become symbols of Amakusa's Christian history, and are visited by many throughout the year. Museums located in both Kawaura and Ōe exhibit various artifacts from the time of Christian persecution that show how the Japanese Christians of that time kept their faith. Oe mura

Between the five villages of the town, there used to be as many as five elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one high school, with the total junior high school population reaching as high as 800 students. A steep decline in the population has reduced the elementary and junior high schools to one each, both located in Takahama. The junior high school student population is around 75, while the total elementary school population is around 115. The high school, also located in Takahama, is closing in March 2015. Dissolved municipalities of Kumamoto Prefecture {{Kumamoto-geo-stub