Distribution of Maria Kannons

These two heat maps reflect the shift in cultural use and value of Maria Kannon images from the Edo period to today. However, they do not examine Maria Kannon images as a whole and should not be interpreted as such, but they hint at shifting trends in cultural attitudes towards the images.

The red points on this map illustrate the location of where underground Christians originally used the Maria Kannon statues in this exhibit. A majority of the dots are in western Japan, particularly in Nagasaki, which is where most underground Christians lived. A few dots lie in the Kanto region (Eastern Honshu, the location of Edo) and Tohoku regions (north Honshu), reflecting the existence of underground Christian communities in other areas.

This map shows the current locations of the Maria Kannons featured in this exhibition. Many of them are in the possession of institutions in Tokyo (modern day Edo), such as the Tokyo National Museum or Sophia University, because of their status as historically and artistically significant objects. These objects in museum and university collections no longer "belong" to underground Christians but are in the public domain. Others are in the posession of the Oura Tenshudo and Urakami Cathedrals in Nagasaki, which Christians and missionaries erected after the opening of Japan to foreigners in 1868.