Goto Islands

The Goto Islands are a Japanese archipelago of about 140 islands off the west coast of Kyushu, roughly 100 kilometers from Nagasaki City, with five principal islands: Fukue, Nakadori, Hisaka, Naru, and Wakamatsu. The chain stretches about 85 kilometers from north to south and is administered as part of Nagasaki Prefecture, with a population of just over 76,000 recorded in 2005. The islands are heavily cultivated and support deer and mountain trout, and their waters are fished for oysters, sea urchins, and other marine products alongside camellia oil production on land. Historically the Goto Islands were a refuge for Hidden Christians after Japan's ban on Christianity, and the archipelago retains numerous Catholic churches built from the 1800s onward as well as Ishida Castle, said to be the last Japanese castle built before the Meiji Restoration.