Oura Church is easy to visit and combined with the Glover Garden next door. Of all the sites inscribed I think this is the only one not off the beaten path, after all the sites were supposed to be hidden. Wait wut? Reading the inscription I always thought they were about hidden sites, but in fact it is about hidden Christians practicing their faith after being outlawed in Japan, risking death and punishment they would move onto islands at the West coast of Japan and merge with Shinto shrines to cover up any sign of Christianity.

Understanding this better I immediately had to ponder if this is special, and I mean, worldly special, and I am thinking no. I am also under the impression that this would open up inscriptions for e.g. Jewish hidden synagogues or Islam in a right-wing Europe if it ever comes that far.

Anyhow, Oura Church is 150 years old and was the site where missionaries discovered that they were Hidden Christians in Japan who have been continuously keeping the faith while the missionaries were banned. I find the church more of a symbol than an actual sight worth visiting. Inside one can not even find a church but instead a museum about exactly the same subject. For non-WHS fanatics I could easily say they can skip the is but as a regular tourist visiting Nagasaki it's one of those things to add to the itinerary without much extra work, plus it gives you something new that you may never have heard about. As a church it is nothing special, especially for Westerners. If you want a superlative this is the oldest church in Japan.

Visiting any other sites requires odd bus connections, ferries that may or may not be regular, prior notification to the local tourism board to arrange a time. The Nagasaki Church Information Center center can be helpful with that.

Overall I find this an interesting piece of history and I am happy that Japan considers this as important history even though the remote locations are probably not getting any boosts from the WH status.