On my day trip I went to Yamaguchi and Akiyoshi with my friend Miho. After making the hour long train ride to Shin-Yamaguchi, I met Miho and we drove to St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church. The original church burned down in 1991 and in its place stands an ultra-modern looking church. The church is named after Francis Xavier, a Spanish missionary, who arrived in Japan in 1549. He is usually regarded as the first missionary in Japan. A year after arriving in Japan he was given permission to preach in Yamaguchi, and as a result more than five hundred became Christians. In the museum I was able to see Bibles in Latin that he had brought over, priestly garments, paintings, and denying plaques. Many Christians became martyrs around 1597 because the government was not tolerant of Christianity. People were tested by having to spit or step on the "denying plaques." It was quite powerful to see these artifacts. How thankful I am that I can freely share my beliefs, yet many people around the world still do not have that freedom.

After spending time at the church, we made a brief stop at the five-storey pagoda of Rurikoji temple. This pagoda is made of wood, is around 500 years old, and is one of Japan's national treasures. It is very impressive!

Then we were off to Akiyoshi-do Cave. This cave is the largest limestone cave in Asia. The caverns were huge! Several houses could fit in one. There were also neat limestone formations and little waterfalls within the cave. One of the formations is called "100 Dishes" because it looks like lots of plates stacked on top of each other and spilling over. Oh, God never ceases to amaze me!

Pictures:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaNXLlm0cNWMy&notag=1