As well as the literature monument, there is another interesting monument on Mt. Utatsu, called the Nagasaki Christian Martyrs Monument.   In 1869, the Meiji Government oppressed and arrested Christians, and sent 500 of them to Kanazawa. The Kanazawa federal government separated them from their families, confined them here on Mt. Utatsu, and tried to make them renounce Christianity. Since they refused and there were protests from foreign countries, the government finally allowed them to go home, but not before well over 100 had perished.   A fine piece of prose, written by Cipriano Pontaccio, an Italian priest who put up with the persecution and defended his religious beliefs, is inscribed on the monument.

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