Otome Toge Maria Chapel (Otome Toge Maria Seido)

The Otome Toge Maria Chapel stands at Otome Pass, a site where Christians were martyred, in the beautiful of Tsuwano, which is known as San-in’s Little Kyoto. The Virgin Mary is even said to have appeared at the chapel. In 1868, 153 clandestine Christians were sent to Tsuwano from Nagasaki, and efforts were made to convert them. However, 37 of the believers who refused to comply were martyred by torture. The chapel was built as a memorial to them. The stained-glass windows depict the story of their martyrdom. There is also a curious telephone box within the chapel grounds. The telephone has two receivers, and it is said that if a man and a woman pick up the receivers together, they will wed. By all means check this out as well.