26 Grapes in Nagasaki
2026
6″ x 6″
Japanese cups, stained glass
$240
During my last visit to Japan, I went to see Kenji Imai’s architectures, 26 Martyrs Museum and St. Philip Church, in Nagasaki. They were built in 1962 and included stunning mosaic murals and mosaic towers. At a local antique store there, I found some old cups and used them to make my visual record or a postcard for you.
Nagasaki has a quite unique history (much older than the atomic bomb) because it was the only port open to international trade for over 200 years (1641-1859) of isolation policy in Japan. There was also a harsh Christian persecution, then many Japanese Christians went underground. Imai’s mosaics were dedicated to famous 26 Martyrs and he used 26 grapes as well as crosses to represent them. What you see in my mosaic are memorable pieces from his mosaics: a star and its light, a cross, 26 grapes, and two towers of the church.
One of Nagasaki’s traditional crafts has been kite-making. They were made after the kites that came from Indonesia on Dutch ships. On this traditional kite design, there is a Japanese alphabet, イ(i) , is designed to indicate “number one (ichiban)”. I could breathe in their openness to the world in Nagasaki and the kite reflects that air.
If you are interested, “Silence” (Scorsese 2016) is a good movie to learn about that rough period for Christians in Nagasaki. It’s amazing to be able to see some historical churches and remains as well as relatively unchanged landscapes from that time after all these years and events.
Aya Kinoshita