Churches in Japan

church in Miyagi, Japan

thumb|A Nanban-ji depicted on a Nanban byōbu thumb|The Shunkō-in#The Bell of Nanban-ji|Bell of Nanbanji, made in Portugal for Nanbanji Church, established by Jesuits in 1576 and destroyed 1587, JapanNanban-ji (南蛮寺, also pronounced Nanbandera) is a name applied to spaces or structures used by Christian missionaries and Japanese Christian converts in the early history of the Catholic Church in Japan. Whether converted from existing temples or built for purpose as churches and centers for Christian education, buildings known as Nanban-ji (temple of/for the southern barbarians) were present in Kyō