The oldest wooden church in Japan that has recovered from two earthquakes.

  • Miyagi
  • Sightseeing
Church building

The oldest existing wooden church building in Japan

Ishinomaki is a port town, a manga town, and a town with many other aspects, but the Ishinomaki area used to be a town with many churches. The Ishinomaki Orthodox Church was built in 1878 under the name of "Ioan the Apostle" and is the oldest existing wooden church building in Japan. Although it was damaged in the Miyagi Earthquake of 1978, it was moved and restored to its current location in response to the citizens' request to preserve it as a cultural asset, and was designated as a tangible cultural property of the city in 1980. The church was severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and many of the surrounding buildings were destroyed or washed away by the tsunami, but miraculously, the main church building survived. In August 2028, the church reopened to the public.

If you are in the Ishinomaki area, please stop by to see the church, which has recovered from the two earthquakes and is loved by the citizens.

Photos used in this page are taken from Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization.
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