Sakitsu: A Church Beside the Sea and Village Roads on a Quiet Day in Amakusa

This guide covers the way from Kumamoto to Sakitsu, the church and the shrine, the village roads between them, and how to book a church visit or a guide.

Sakitsu is a settlement in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture, in the Kawaura area. The sections below follow the trip from arrival to the church, then on through the shrine and the village roads, and close with booking and timing details.

Getting to Sakitsu

The bus from Kumamoto to Sakitsu is not a through service, so the trip includes a change along the way. The faster Sanko Bus super-rapid service between Kumamoto and Hondo is suspended.

From Kumamoto there is also a flight to Amakusa Airport. From Amakusa Airport, the way on to Sakitsu is by car, and the table below sets out the bus, plane and car times from each starting point.

From	Line and operator	Time or fare
Kumamoto	Plane to Amakusa Airport	About 20 minutes
Amakusa Airport	Car to Sakitsu village	About 45 to 50 minutes
Kumamoto to Hondo	Sanko Bus, Kaisoku Amakusa-go	About 2 hours 40 minutes
Kumamoto to Sakitsu	Bus, not a through service	About 180 minutes
Kumamoto city	Car	About 160 to 170 minutes
Matsubashi IC	Car via the Kyushu Expressway	About 2 hours 10 minutes
Church Entrance bus stop	On foot to the church	About 1 minute
Sakitsu bus stop	On foot to the Guidance Center	About 5 minutes
Guidance Center	On foot to the church	About 10 minutes

The Church by the Sea

Sakitsu Church is a Gothic-style church designed by the Nagasaki architect Yosuke Tetsukawa and rebuilt in the time of the French missionary Father Halbout. It was built because of Father Halbout's strong wish to place a church at a site that symbolized the suppression of Christians.

The church stands on the site of the former Yoshida village headman's residence, where fumie image-trampling was held during the period of the ban on Christianity. It was completed with the priest's private funds, the donations of believers and the voluntary labor of believers.

The building is of wooden construction, and its front spire section is reinforced concrete. Inside, the floor has been laid with tatami since the church was constructed. Few churches in Japan have a tatami-mat floor.

The altar stands where fumie image-trampling was carried out in the past. The church blends into the sea behind it, and for this reason it is also called the church of the sea.

The Shrine and the Village Roads

During the Amakusa Kuzure, Sakitsu Suwa Shrine was the designated place where hidden Christians were told to hand over the devotional items they owned. The village roads of the Sakitsu settlement have no sidewalks, so a walk between the shrine and the church is taken on the roadway itself.

Residents live around the facilities tied to their livelihood, such as the touya and the kake, and visitors are asked not to make noise around them. Visitors are also asked not to feed the stray cats in the village.

The church has no parking lot of its own, and tourist lots lie a short walk away. Traffic guidance for tourist vehicles is provided in the village through the daytime span listed in the final table.

Visiting the Church and Booking a Guide

Visitors cannot take photographs inside the church sanctuary. Visitors cannot eat, drink or smoke inside the church. Bookings for a church visit are accepted from well before the date of use, as set out in the table below. The booking contact for a church visit is Kyushu Sanko Tourism, whose telephone number is in the same table.

The Sakitsu Walking Tour is led in Chinese and English. It is booked on the homepage, with a deadline ahead of the walk. For a local resident guide from the Amakusa Takarajima Annainin no Kai, you choose a course from the course list, fill in the application form and send it by post or FAX ahead of the desired date.

The Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus runs within a fixed operating period, listed in the table below. Bookings close ahead of the travel date, although a same-day booking is possible when the operation is already confirmed.

On the Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, the World Heritage course for Sakitsu carries a boarding fee. The course is a long outing, with its length listed in the table below. The stop for a walk through Sakitsu village and the Minatoya museum comes in the afternoon. The course ends with passengers getting off at Hondo Bus Center and Amakusa Airport.

Each of these options is booked through its own channel. If you would rather arrange an outing online before you travel, a Sakitsu village tour on Klook is listed here.

Hours and Fees

A counter restaurant in the village serves omakase nigiri at lunch, and the price is in the table below. Its business hours, also in the table, may change depending on circumstances.

The parking at the Sakitsu Village Guidance Center has spaces for standard cars, large vehicles and disabled users. The tables below gather the booking details and then the times for the church, the Guidance Center, the museum and Michi-no-Eki Sakitsu.

Item	Detail
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, Sakitsu course, boarding fee	3,000 yen
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, booking deadline	3 pm, 2 days before the trip
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, operating period	April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, course length	About 7 to 8 hours
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, departs Amakusa Airport	9:45 (passengers board here)
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, Sakitsu village and Minatoya stop	14:05 to 15:05
Amakusa Gurutto sightseeing bus, getting off	17:10 at Hondo Bus Center, 17:25 at Amakusa Airport (passengers get off)
Local resident guide, fee	Base fee 2,000 yen plus 1,000 yen per guide hour
Local resident guide, booking	At least 7 days before the desired date
Local resident guide, office telephone	080-6050-9870
Sakitsu Walking Tour, length	About 75 minutes, in Chinese and English
Sakitsu Walking Tour, booking	On the homepage, by 22:00 2 days before
Church visit, booking starts	6 months before the date of use
Church visit, booking contact	Kyushu Sanko Tourism, 096-300-5535
Counter omakase nigiri, lunch	5,500 yen

Item	Detail
Sakitsu Church	9:00 to 17:00
Sakitsu Village Guidance Center	9:00 to 17:30
Sakitsu Museum Minatoya	9:00 to 17:00, last admission 16:30
Sakitsu Museum Minatoya, closed	December 30 to January 1
Traffic guidance for tourist vehicles	8:30 to 16:30
Michi-no-Eki Sakitsu	9:00 to 17:30
Counter restaurant, lunch	12:00 to 14:00 (may change)