Amakusa ( 天草 ), which means " Heaven's Grass ," is a series of islands belonging to Japan, off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan.

The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26. 5 miles long and 13. 5 miles in extreme width ().

At present, the islands are organized as Amakusa District, Amakusa City, and Kami-amakusa City, all of which are under the administration of Kumamoto Prefecture.

The inhabitants of the Amakusa Islands, which had been part of the fief of Konishi Yukinaga, suffered the same sort of persecution at the hands the Terasawa family, which, like the Matsukura, had been moved there.

Such portrayal includes Makai Tensho, a story about the fictional battles of Yagyu Jubei, in which Amakusa Shiro rejects the Christian God at the time of his death and becomes a demon, returning to Earth to destroy the Tokugawa shogunate who put him to death with some of Japan's greatest heroes and villains of the age who were also resurrected as demons.

Shiro Amakusa is a recurring character in the Samurai Shodown series of fighting games, featured as both a boss ( in the first Samurai Shodown game, which is loosely based on the Shimabara Rebellion ) and a selectable character, in which he is both a mad and vengeful spirit resurrected as a being of destruction, and a being seeking for redemption ; his evil side is Aku Amakusa.

Many of these women are said to have originated from the Amakusa Islands of Kumamoto Prefecture, which had a large and long-stigmatized Japanese Christian community.

The Flints are field in limited mass-production during the first and second Jupiter Empire Wars, only for the remaining Flints to be defeated by the Jovians ' unmanned Amakusa mobile suits ( which has an AI " clone " system based on the legendary ace pilot Amuro Ray ).

On March 27, 2006 Hondo was merged with the towns of Amakusa, Ariake, Goshoura, Itsuwa, Kawaura, Kuratake, Shinwa and Sumoto, all from Amakusa District, and the old city of Ushibuka, to become the new city of Amakusa and no longer exists as an independent municipality.

Since the setting of the chapter is the Bakumatsu era, his presence is an anachronism, but considering the additional presence of Ishikawa Goemon, Yodo-Dono, and Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, it is clear that this section of the game was intentionally designed as a mash-up of popular Japanese history.

In the wake of the rebellion, the rebel leader Amakusa Shiro was beheaded, and persecution of Christianity became strictly enforced.

As the rebellion spread, it was joined by masterless samurai who once had served families such as the Amakusa and Shiki who had once lived in the area, as well as former Arima and Konishi retainers.

A charismatic 16 year-old youth, Amakusa Shirō, was soon chosen as the rebellion's leader.

Amakusa Shirō's severed head was taken to Nagasaki for public display, and the entire complex at Hara Castle was burned to the ground and buried together with the bodies of all the dead.

On March 27, 2006 Ushibuka was merged with the towns of Amakusa, Ariake, Goshoura, Itsuwa, Kawaura, Kuratake, Shinwa and Sumoto, all from Amakusa District, and the old city of Hondo, to become the new city of Amakusa and no longer exists as an independent municipality.

Amakusa Shiro was portrayed in a positive light in the 1962 movie Amakusa Shiro Tokisada ( distributed in the UK as The Rebel and in the US as The Revolutionary ).

The manga Amakusa 1637 is a story about a girl from the present world taking the place of Shiro because he was killed.

was a town located in Amakusa District, Kumamoto, Japan.

On March 31, 2004 Ōyano was merged with the towns of Himedo, Matsushima and Ryūgatake, all from Amakusa District, to form the new city of Kami-Amakusa and no longer exists as an independent municipality.

was a town located in Amakusa District, Kumamoto, Japan.

On March 31, 2004 Matsushima was merged with the towns of Himedo, Ōyano and Ryūgatake, all from Amakusa District, to form the new city of Kami-Amakusa and no longer exists as an independent municipality.

was a town located in Amakusa District, Kumamoto, Japan.

On March 27, 2006 Ariake was merged with the towns of Amakusa, Goshoura, Itsuwa, Kawaura, Kuratake, Shinwa and Sumoto, all from Amakusa District, and the old cities of Hondo and Ushibuka, to become the new city of Amakusa and no longer exists as an independent municipality.

was a town located in Amakusa District, Kumamoto, Japan.

The islands are served by Amakusa Airfield, located on the north end of Shimoshima.

The islands are connected to the mainland by the Five Bridges of Amakusa and by ferry from Hondo and Matsushima.

The Kōga ninja were recruited by shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu against Christian rebels led by Amakusa Shirō, who made a final stand at Hara Castle, in Hizen Province.

A diary kept by a member of the Matsudaira clan, the Amakusa Gunki, relates: " Men from Kōga in Omi Province who concealed their appearance would steal up to the castle every night and go inside as they pleased.

It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.

Nagashima is accessible by car ( via the Kuronoseto bride from Izumi District ) or by Ferry from Amakusa or Kumamoto.

The main island comprising Oyano is still called Oyano Island, and is connected to mainland Kyushu by the first of the " Amakusa Five Bridges ", Tenmonbashi.

Ferry from Itsuwa Oniike on the north of the Amakusa Peninsular to Kuchinotsu at the southern tip of the Minamishimbara Peninsula is run by the Shimbara Railway Co. Services operate frequently daily.

Ferry from Itsuwa Oniike on the north of the Amakusa Peninsular to Kuchinotsu at the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula is run by the Shimbara Railway Co. Services operate frequently each day.

Ferry from Tomioka Port in northern Amakusa to Mogi / Motegi in Nagasaki Prefecture is operated by Yasuda Sangyo Kisen Co. Ltd

It was founded on March 31, 2004, by merging the three cities Himedo, Matsushima, Ōyano and Ryūgatake, all from Amakusa District.

The Shimabara Rebellion, led by a young Christian boy named Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, took place in 1637.

In the late 18th to early 19th century, the raw material of porcelain was discovered in other areas of Japan ( e. g., Amakusa ) and was traded domestically, and potters moved more freely.

Amakusa islands at Yatsushiro Sea, in Japan.

Amakusa, along with the neighboring Shimabara Peninsula, became the site of a Christian rebellion in the 17th century.

Amakusa Airport, with DHC-8 plane on runway.

Two ferries from Shinwa and Ushibuka, in the south of Shimoshima, connect Amakusa to Nagashima in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Notable samurai, though certainly not all ( e. g. Amakusa Shiro ), have throughout history held such aims or beliefs in disdain, or expressed the awareness that their station — as it involves killing — precludes such reward, especially in Buddhism.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Amakusa Shirō have been identified as historical bishōnen.

history, even AI systems designed upon Amuro's piloting data ( such as Jupiter Empire's Amakusa mobile suit ) presents a formidable opponent for many powerful Newtype pilots.