is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

, and

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

Prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

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 ...

. Established in 1934, the park derives its name from

Mount Unzen is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island. In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsunam ...

, an active

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

at the middle of the

Shimabara Peninsula is a peninsula located in Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. The peninsula incorporates the cities of Shimabara, Minamishimabara, Unzen. It was also the site of the Shimabara Rebellion, a 1637-1638 peasant and rōnin revolt, led ...

, and the

Amakusa islands , 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 m ...

in the

Yatsushiro Sea The , which is also called the , is a shallow semi-enclosed Inland sea (geology), inland sea separating the island of Kyūshū from the Amakusa, Amakusa Islands. It lies mostly within Kumamoto Prefecture and at the southern end of the sea it als ...

. The area is closely connected to the early history of Christianity in Japan, and the park encompasses numerous areas related to Kakure Kirishitan.

History

The park was established as the Unzen National Park in 1934 and, after extension, in 1956 renamed the Unzen-Amakusa National Park.

Related municipalities

Nagashima was a series of fortresses and fortifications controlled by the Ikkō-ikki, a sect of warrior monks in Japan's Sengoku period who opposed samurai rule. It was attacked and destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in the 1570s. This, combined with the surrende ...

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 ...

Kami-Amakusa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Kami-Amakusa was established on March 31, 2004, from the merger of the towns of Himedo, Kumamoto, Himedo, Matsushima, Kumamoto, Matsushima, Ōyano, Kumamoto, � ...

, Reihoku *

Minamishimabara is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the southern tip of Shimabara Peninsula. , the city has an estimated population of 45,465 and a population density of 270 persons per km2. The total area is 169.89 km2. The modern city o ...

, Shimabara,

Unzen is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island. In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsu ...

References

External links

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Unzen-Amakusa National Park
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Unzen-Amakusa National Park

Map of Unzen-Amakusa National Park
National parks of Japan Parks and gardens in Kagoshima Prefecture Parks and gardens in Kumamoto Prefecture Parks and gardens in Nagasaki Prefecture Protected areas established in 1934 1934 establishments in Japan {{Japan-protected-area-stub

History

Related municipalities

See also

References

External links