1549Francis Xavier lands at Kagoshima on 15 August with Anjirō and two Jesuit companions.
1550–51Xavier preaches in Hirado, Yamaguchi and Kyoto and is received in Bungo.
1563Ōmura Sumitada is baptized, the first daimyo to become Christian.
1571Portuguese ships begin calling at the new port of Nagasaki.
1582Four young Japanese envoys, the Tenshō embassy, sail for Europe and Rome.
1587Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues an edict expelling the missionaries.
1597Twenty-six Christians are crucified on Nishizaka Hill, Nagasaki, on 5 February.
1614The Tokugawa shogunate bans Christianity nationwide; Takayama Ukon goes into exile in Manila.
1622The Great Martyrdom of Nagasaki (Genna).
1637–38The Shimabara–Amakusa uprising ends at Hara Castle.
1639Portuguese ships are barred; Japan enters its closed period and the faith goes underground.
1865On 17 March Hidden Christians from Urakami reveal themselves at Ōura Church.
1867–73The fourth Urakami persecution: over 3,000 Christians are exiled across Japan.
1873The public notice boards banning Christianity are removed.
1925Urakami Cathedral is completed by the returning community.
1945The atomic bomb destroys Urakami Cathedral on 9 August.
1981Pope John Paul II visits Nagasaki.
2008188 Japanese martyrs are beatified in Nagasaki.
2017Takayama Ukon is beatified in Osaka.
2018UNESCO inscribes the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.
2019Pope Francis prays on Nishizaka Hill and celebrates Mass in Nagasaki.
