This study aims to examine changes in the cultural landscape shaped by hidden Christians in Japan since the eighteenth century and to highlight, for the first time, the positive significance of historical transformations in these cultural landscapes. The narrative of cultural landscape change holds lessons for universal issues of persecution and discrimination that humanity has yet to resolve. We have divided the region’s cultural landscape into three periods: before the arrival of hidden Christians, after the arrival, and after the latter half of the twentieth century. Up to the first half of the twentieth century, the cultural landscape was impacted by discrimination and persecution between hidden Christians and the surrounding Buddhist communities. This landscape has evolved into a modern landscape as residents have addressed the region’s negative history. This study seeks to positively evaluate changes, advocating the ‘evolving cultural landscape’ concept as a representation of societal maturity and progress.
Hara et al. (2026) studied this question.