IKITSUKI JOURNAL Once Banned, Christianity Withers in an Old Stronghold By JAMES BROOKE Published: December 25, 2003 Masafumi Yamamoto for The New York Times A paper scroll once hidden, now on display in Ikitsuki's museum Masafumi Yamamoto for The New York Times Three "hidden Christians" taking a walk in the Ichibu area. The community survived three centuries of bannings, burnings and beheadings. IKITSUKI, Japan — In 1865 a group of 15 Japanese peasants cautiously approached Bernard Petitjean, the first Christian missionary to work in Nagasaki since 1614. Speaking in the sanctuary of the new church, the peasant leader confessed, "Our...