The junior high school students from Minamishimabara, located far south in Nagasaki Prefecture, dressed in traditional samurai attire known as kamishimo, participated in the commemoration of the 1582 Tensho mission on Wednesday.
The Tensho mission refers to four Japanese envoys being dispatched by Christian warlords to seek papal support for religious expansion in Japan.
The visit marks the revival of a commemorative program that began in 2012 but was suspended for four years due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The original mission, which concluded in 1590, represented a significant milestone in early Japanese-European relations.
"I was able to feel the weight of what the Tensho mission accomplished. I would like to make use of this experience for my future," said Yuno Mizota, 15, one of the participating students at the Vatican ceremony.
