Kirishitan (吉利支丹, 切支丹, キリシタン, Kirishitan^?), from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Christian missionaries consisted of "fathers", or bateren from the Portuguese word “padre”, and "brothers", or iruman from the Portuguese word "irmão".

Portuguese shipping having arrived in Japan since 1543^[1] Catholic missionary activities in Japan began in earnest around 1549, performed in the main by Portuguese-sponsored Jesuits until Spanish-sponsored mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, gained access to Japan. As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The term mendicant (Latin mendicans, begging refers to Begging or relying on charitable donations and is most widely used for religious followers or The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is Of the 95 Jesuits who worked in japan up to 1600, 57 were Portuguese, 20 were Spaniards and 18 Italian. ^[2] Francisco Xavier ^[3][4], Cosme de Torres (a Jesuit priest), and Father John Fernandes were the first, who arrived to Kagoshima with hopes to bring Christianity and Catholicism to Japan. Saint Francis Xavier ( Konkani / Konknni: Sam Fransisku Xavier/ Sanv Fransisk Xavier Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa Spanish: San Francisco is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southwestern tip of the Kyūshū island of Japan, and the largest city in the prefecture by some Catholicism was subsequently repressed in several parts of the country and ceased to exist publicly in the 17th century.

However, there are some historians who state that there is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that Nestorian (Assyrian Church) missionaries first landed in Japan in AD 199, believing that they travelled through India, China and Korea before the Tang Dynasty. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by It has also been estimated that the first churches were fully established by the end of the 4th century especially at Nara in central Japan. is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. ^[5]

Contents 1 The line of demarcations between Portugal and Spain 2 Propagation strategy 3 Early expansion 4 Nature of early Christian community 5 Economic activities 6 Military activities 7 Early policy toward Catholicism 8 Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Christian Daimyo 9 Tokugawa response 10 Christian view of Kirishitan history 11 Rediscovery and Return 12 Notable Kirishitans 13 Notable Opponents 14 See also 15 Other publications 16 References 17 External links

The line of demarcations between Portugal and Spain

Religion was an integral part of the state and evangelization was seen as having both secular and spiritual benefits for both Portugal and Spain. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Wherever these powers attempted to expand their territories or influence, missionaries would soon follow. By the Treaty of Tordesillas, the two powers divided the world between them into exclusive spheres of influence, trade and colonization. The Treaty of Tordesillas ( Portuguese: Tratado de Tordesilhas, Spanish: Tratado de Tordesillas) signed at Tordesillas (now in Although at the time of the demarcation, neither nation had any direct contact with Japan, that nation fell into the sphere of the Portuguese.

The countries disputed the attribution of Japan. Since neither could colonize it, the exclusive right to propagate Christianity in Japan meant the exclusive right to trade with Japan. Portuguese-sponsored Jesuits under Alessandro Valignano took the lead in proselytizing in Japan over the objection of the Spaniards. Alessandro Valignano, (Chinese 范禮安 Fàn Lǐ’ān ( February 15, 1539 in Chieti, Abruzzo region of Italy - January 20 The fait accompli was approved in Pope Gregory XIII's papal bull of 1575, which decided that Japan belonged to the Portuguese diocese of Macau. Pope Gregory XIII (January 7 1502 &ndash April 10 1585 born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585 A Papal bull is a particular type of Letters patent or charter issued by a Pope. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. In 1588, the diocese of Funai (Nagasaki) was founded under Portuguese protection. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan.

In rivalry with the Jesuits, Spanish-sponsored mendicant orders entered into Japan via Manila. The City of Manila While criticizing Jesuit activities, they actively lobbied the Pope. Their campaigns resulted in Pope Clement VIII's decree of 1600, which allowed Spanish friars to enter Japan via the Portuguese Indies, and Pope Paul V's decree of 1608, which abolished the restrictions on the route. Not to be confused with Antipope Clement VIII. Pope Clement VIII ( February 24, 1536 &ndash March 3, 1605 A Friar is a member of one of the Mendicant orders. Friars and monks Friars differ from Monks in that they are called to a life of poverty in service For Napoleon's brother-in-law see Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese. The Portuguese accused Spanish Jesuits of working for their homeland instead of their patron. The power struggle between Jesuits and mendicant orders caused a schism within the diocese of Funai. The word schism (ˈsɪzəm or /ˈskɪzəm/ from the Greek σχίσμα skhísma (from σχίζω skhízō, "to tear to split" Furthermore, mendicant orders tried in vain to establish a diocese on the Tohoku region that was to be independent from the Portuguese one. The is a geographical area of Japan. Tōhoku is Japanese for "northeast" and the Tōhoku region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshū

The Roman Catholic world order was challenged by the Netherlands and England. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Theoretically, it was repudiated by Grotius's Mare Liberum. Hugo Grotius or Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; ( Delft, 10 April 1583 Rostock, 28 August 1645 In the early 17th century, Japan built trade relations with the Netherlands and England. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Although England withdrew from the operations in ten years under James I due to lack of profitability, the Netherlands continued to trade with Japan and became the only European country that maintained trade relations with Japan until the 19th century. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James As trade competitors, the Protestant countries engaged in a negative campaign against Catholicism, and it subsequently affected shogunate policies toward the Iberian kingdoms. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra

Portugal's and Spain's colonial policies were also challenged by the Roman Catholic Church itself. The Vatican founded the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in 1622 and attempted to separate the churches from the influence of the Iberian kingdoms. The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples ( Congregatio pro Gentium Evangelisatione) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra But it was too late for Japan. The organization failed to establish staging points in Japan.

Propagation strategy

The Jesuits believed that it was very effective to seek to influence people in power and to pass the religion downward to the commoners. At least they needed to gain permission from local rulers to propagate Catholicism within their domains. It is confirmed that as feudal lords converted to Catholicism, the number of believers in their territories was drastically increased. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed After the edict banning Christianity, there were communities that kept practicing Catholicism without having any contact with the Church until missionaries were able to return much later. An edict is an announcement of a Law, often associated with monarchism.

When Xavier disembarked in Kagoshima, the principal chiefs of the two branches of the Shimazu family, Sanehisa and Katsuhisa, were warring for the sovereignty of their lands. Katsuhisa, adopted Takahisa Shimazu who in 1542 was accepted as head of the clan having previously received the Portuguese merchants on Tanegashima Island, learning about the use of firearms. Later, he met Xavier himself at the castle of Uchiujijo and permitted the conversion of his vassals.

Having a religious background, Takahisa showed himself to be benevolent and already allowed freedom of worship but not helping the missionaries nor favoring their church. Failing to find a way to the centre of affairs, the court of the Emperor, Xavier soon tired and left to Yamaguchi thus beginning the Yamaguchi period. ^[6] Xavier, stayed in Yamaguchi for two months on his way to an abortive audience with the Emperor in Kyoto. Yamaguchi was already a prosperous and refined city and its leaders, the Ouchi family, were aware that Xavier's journey to Japan had begun after the completion of his mission in India.

They took Catholicism for some sort of new sect of Buddhism and were curious to know of the priest's doctrine. Tolerant but shrewd, their eyes less on baptism than the Portuguese cargoes from Macao, they granted the Jesuit permission to preach. The uncompromising Xavier took to the streets of the city denouncing, among other things, infanticide, idolatry and homosexuality (the last being widely accepted at the time). Misunderstandings were inevitable.

Christian books were published in Japanese from the 1590s on, some with more than one thousand copies and from 1601 a printing press was established under the supervision of Soin Goto Thomas, a citizen of Nagasaki with thirty Japanese working full time at the press. Liturgical calendars were also printed after 1592 until at least 1634. Christian solidarity made also possible missionary mail delivery throughout the country until the end of the 1620s.

Early expansion

By the end of the sixteenth century, the Japanese mission had become the largest overseas Christian community that was not under the rule of a European power. Its uniqueness was emphasized by Alessandro Valignano since 1582, who promoted a deeper accommodation to Japanese culture. Japan was then the sole overseas country where all members of those confraternities were locals, as was the case with Christian missions in Mexico, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, or India, in spite of the presence of a colonial elite.

Most Japanese Christians lived in Kyushu, but Christianization was not a regional phenomenon and had a national impact. By the end of the sixteenth century it was possible to find baptized people in virtually every province of Japan, many of them organized in communities. On the eve of the Sekigahara battle, fifteen daimyo were baptized, and their domains stretched from Hyuga in Southeast Kyushu to Dewa in North Honshu (see Costa 2003). Hundreds of churches had been built throughout Japan.

Accepted on a national scale, Christianity was also successful among different social groups from the poor to the rich, peasants, traders, sailors, warriors, or courtesans. Most of the daily activities of the Church were done by Japanese from the beginning, giving the Japanese Church a native face, and this was one of the reasons for its success. By 1590, seventy native brothers in Japan, fully one half of Jesuits in Japan and fifteen percent of all Jesuits who were working in Asia.

The 1592 War between Japan and Korea also provided Westerners with their first opportunity to visit Korea. Under orders of Gomaz, the Jesuit Gregorious de Cespedes arrived in Korea with a Japanese monk for the purposes of administering to the Japanese troops. Gregorious de Cespedes was a Portuguese Priest who went to Korea to do Missionary work He stayed there for approximately 18 months, until April or May of 1595, thus being on record as the first Westerner to visit the Korean peninsula but was unable to make any inroads. The 'Annual Letters of Japan' made a substantial contribution to the introduction of Korea to Europe, Francis Xavier having crossed paths with Korean envoys dispatched to Japan during 1550 and 1551.

The Japanese missions were economically self-sufficient. Nagasaki’s misericórdias, became rich and powerful institutions which every year received large donations. The brotherhood grew in numbers to over 100 by 1585 and 150 in 1609. Controlled by the elite of Nagasaki, and not by Portuguese, it had two hospitals (one for lepers) and a large church. By 1606, there already existed a feminine religious order called Miyako no Bikuni (nuns of Kyoto) which accept Korean convents such as Marina Pak, baptized in Nagasaki. ^[7] Nagasaki was called “the Rome of Japan” and most of its inhabitants were Christians. By 1611, it had ten churches and was divided into eight parishes include a specifically Korean order.

Nature of early Christian community

Different groups of laymen supported Christian life in Japanese mission, e. g. ; dōjuku, kanbō and jihiyakusha helped the clergymen in activities like the celebration of Sunday liturgy in the absence of ordained clergy, religious education, preparation of confessions, and spiritual support of the sick. By the end of the sixteenth century kanbō and jihiyakusha had similar responsibilities and also organized funerals and baptized children with permission to baptize from Rome. The kanbō were those who had left secular life but not taken formal vows, while the jihiyakusha were married and had a profession.

These groups were fundamental to the mission, and themselves depended on both the ecclesiastical hierarchy as well as the warlords who controlled the lands where they lived. Therefore, the success of the Japanese mission cannot be explained only as the result of the action of a brilliant group of missionaries, or of the commercial and political interests of a few daimyo and traders.

At the same time the missionaries faced the hostility of many other daimyo. Christianity challenged Japanese civilization. A militant lay community, the main reason for missionary success in Japan, was also the main reason for the anti-Christian policy of the Tokugawa’s bakufu.

Economic activities

The Jesuits in Japan had to maintain economic self-sufficiency because they could not expect stable and sufficient payment from their patron, the King of Portugal, the king allowing the Jesuits to engage in trade with Japan. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Such economic activity can be found in the work of Francis Xavier, the pioneer of Catholic missions in Japan, who covered the cost of missionary work through merchant trading. Saint Francis Xavier ( Konkani / Konknni: Sam Fransisku Xavier/ Sanv Fransisk Xavier Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa Spanish: San Francisco From the 1550s to the 1570s, the Jesuits covered all necessary expenses with trade profits and bought land in India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Their officially recognized commercial activity was a fixed-amount entry into the Portuguese silk trade between Macau and Nagasaki. They financed to a certain amount the trade association in Macau, which purchased raw silk in Canton and sold it in Nagasaki. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. They did not confine their commercial activity to the official silk market but expanded into unauthorized markets. For the Macau-Nagasaki trade, they dealt in silk fabrics, gold, musk and other goods including military supplies and slavery. Sometimes, they even got involved in Spanish trade, prohibited by the kings of Spain and Portugal, and antagonized the Portuguese traders. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

It was mainly procurators who brokered Portuguese trade. They resided in Macau and Nagasaki, and accepted purchase commitments by Japanese customers such as; the shogunate daimyo and wealthy merchants. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings By brokerage, the Jesuits could expect not only rebates but also favorable treatment from the authorities. For this reason, the office of procurator became an important post amongst the Jesuits in Japan. Although trade activities by the Jesuits ate into Portuguese trade interests, procurators continued their brokerage utilizing the authority of the Catholic Church. At the same time, Portuguese merchants required the assistance of procurators who were familiar with Japanese customs, since they established no permanent trading post in Japan. Customs is an Authority or agency in a Country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods Probably the most notable procurator was João Rodrigues, who approached Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu and even participated in the administration of Nagasaki. João Rodrigues (1561–1634 or perhaps 1558–1633 was a Portuguese member of the Society of Jesus (a Jesuit who carried out Missionary work in  was the founder and first Shogun  of the Tokugawa shogunate

Such commercial activities were contrary to the idea of honorable poverty that the priests held. But some Jesuits at this time placed the expansion of the society's influence before this ideal. Mendicant orders fiercely accused the Jesuits of being corrupt and even considered their activity as the primary reason for Japan's ban on Catholicism. Mendicant orders themselves were not necessarily uninvolved in commercial activities.

Military activities

Missionaries were not reluctant to take military action if they considered it an effective way to Christianize Japan. They often associated military action against Japan with the conquest of China. They thought that well-trained Japanese soldiers who had experienced long civil wars would help their countries conquer China. For example, Alessandro Valignano said to the Philippine Governor that it was impossible to conquer Japan because the Japanese were very brave and always received military training but that Japan would benefit them when they would conquer China. Alessandro Valignano, (Chinese 范禮安 Fàn Lǐ’ān ( February 15, 1539 in Chieti, Abruzzo region of Italy - January 20 Francisco Cabral also reported to the King of Spain that priests were able to send to China two or three thousand Japanese Christian soldiers who were brave and were expected to serve the king with little pay. Francisco Cabral (born in the Diocese of Guarda, Portugal 1529 died at Goa, 1609 was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary in Japan Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

The Jesuits provided various kinds of support including military support to Kirishitan daimyo when they were threatened by non-Kirishitan daimyo. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Most notable was their support of Omura Sumitada and Arima Harunobu, who fought against the anti-Catholic Ryuzoji clan. Omura Sumitada (大村純忠 1533 - June 23, 1587) Japanese Daimyo lord of the Sengoku period Arima Harunobu was the second son and successor of Japanese Daimyo Arima Yoshisada. In the 1580s, Valignano believed in the effectiveness of military action and fortified Nagasaki and Mogi. In 1585, Gaspar Coelho asked the Spanish Philippines to send a fleet but the plan was rejected due to the shortness of its military capability. Gaspar Coelho was a Portuguese Jesuit Missionary. He replaced Francisco Cabral as the Superior and Vice-Provincial of the Jesuit mission in The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Christian's Protasio Arima and Paulo Okamoto were named as principles in an assassination plot to murder the magistrate in charge of the Shogunate's most important port city of Nagasaki.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the first ban on Catholicism in 1587, the Jesuits in Japan, led by Coelho, planned armed resistance. At first, they sought help from Kirishitan daimyo but the daimyo refused. Then they called for a deployment of reinforcements from their homeland and its colonies. But this plan was abolished by Valignano. Like the Kirishitan daimyo, he realized that a military campaign against Japan's powerful ruler would bring catastrophe to Catholicism in Japan. Valignano survived the crisis by laying all the blame on Coelho. In 1590, the Jesuits decided to stop intervening in the struggles between the daimyo and to disarm themselves. They only gave secret shipments of food and financial aid to Kirishitan daimyo. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings

In June 1592, Christian daimyo, under the leadership of Konishi Yukinaga, took full and active part in Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea and the massacre and enslavement of its people. Dom Justo Takayama ( 1552 - February 4, 1615) was a Kirishitan Daimyo and the Japanese Samurai who followed Konishi Yukinaga (小西 行長 Konishi Yukinaga, born 1555 and died November 6, 1600) was a Japanese Christian Daimyo under Their behavior was indistinguishable from non-Christian Japanese forces. ^[8]

Following his death, it seems that the Jesuits realized that the Tokugawa shogunate was much stronger and more stable than Toyotomi Hideyoshi's administration, yet the mendicant orders relatively openly discussed military options. The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of In the statement on the "Expulsion of all missionaries from Japan", drafted by Zen monk Konchiin Suden (1563-1633) and issued in 1614 under the name of second shogun Hidetada (1579-1632), was the considered the first official statement of a comprehensive control of Kirishitan. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. ^[9] It claimed that the Christian's were bringing disorder to Japanese society and that there followers "contravene governmental regulations, traduce Shinto, calumniate the True Law, destroy regulations, and corrupt goodness". ^[10] It was fully implemented and cannonized as one of the fundamental Tokugawan laws. In 1615, a Franciscan emissary of the Viceroy of New Spain asked the shogun for land to build a Spanish fortress and this deepened Japan's suspicion against Catholicism and the Iberian colonial powers behind it. The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic The Viceroyalty of New Spain (Virreinato de Nueva España was a name given to the Viceroy -ruled territories of the Spanish Empire in North America, The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Kirishitan converts took part in destroying traditional temples and shrines.

The Jesuits and the Mendicant Orders kept a lasting rivalry over the Japanese mission and attached to different imperial strategies. The competition between them was rough and indifferent to both the interests of Japanese Christianity. However, they contributed to the creation of a national Church more quickly than anywhere else in the world.

Early policy toward Catholicism

When the Jesuit priest Francis Xavier arrived, Japan was experiencing a nationwide civil war. Neither the emperor nor the Ashikaga shogun could exercise power over the nation. At first, Xavier planned to gain permission for building a mission from the emperor but was disappointed with the devastation of the imperial residence. The Jesuits approached daimyo in southwestern Japan and succeeded in converting some of these daimyo. One reason for their conversion may have been the Portuguese trade in which the Jesuits acted as brokers. The Jesuits recognized this and approached local rulers with offers of trade and exotic gifts.

The Jesuits attempted to expand their activity to Kyoto and the surrounding regions. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. (IPA /kʲoːto / is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. In 1559, Gaspar Vilela obtained permission from Ashikaga Yoshiteru to teach Christianity. also known as Yoshihusi, was the 13th Shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period This license was the same as those given to Buddhist temples, so special treatment cannot be confirmed regarding the Jesuits. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites On the other hand, Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568. Emperor Ōgimachi (正親町天皇 Ōgimachi-tennō) ( June 18, 1517 - February 6, 1593) was the 106th emperor Anyway, the orders of the emperor and the shogun were not influential.

Christians refer positively to Oda Nobunaga, who died in the middle of the reunification of Japan. ( June 23, 1534 &ndash June 21, 1582) was a major Daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history He favored the Jesuit missionary Luis Frois and generally tolerated Christianity. Luís Fróis (1532 &ndash July 8 1597) was a Portuguese Missionary. But overall, he undertook no remarkable policies toward Catholicism. Actually, Catholic power in his domain was trivial because he did not conquer western Japan, where the Jesuits were based. By 1579, at the height of missionary activity, there were only about 130,000 converts. ^[11]

Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Christian Daimyo

The situation was changed when Toyotomi Hideyoshi reunified Japan. Once he became the ruler of Japan, Hideyoshi began to pay attention to external threats, particularly the expansion of European power in East Asia. The turning point for Catholic missions was the San Felipe incident, where in an attempt to recover his cargo, the Spanish captain of a shipwrecked trading vessel claimed that the missionaries were there to prepare Japan for conquest. These claims made Hideyoshi suspicious of the foreign religion. ^[12] He attempted to curb Catholicism while maintaining good trading relations with Portugal and Spain, which might have provided military support to Christian Daimyo in western Japan. Dom Justo Takayama ( 1552 - February 4, 1615) was a Kirishitan Daimyo and the Japanese Samurai who followed

By 1587, Hideyoshi had become alarmed. Not because of too many converts but rather because the hegemon learned that Christian lords reportedly oversaw forced conversions of retainers and commoners, that they had garrisoned the city of Nagasaki, that they participated in the slave trade of other Japanese and, apparently offending Hideyoshi's Buddhist sentiments, that they allowed the slaughter of horses and oxen for food. ^[13] He was concerned that divided loyalties might lead to dangerous rebels like the Ikkō-ikki Sect of earlier years and produced his edict expelling missionaries. The Japanese, literally "single-minded leagues" were mobs of peasant farmers monks Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against Samurai rule However, this decree was not particularly enforced. ^[14]

Many Daimyos converted to Christianity in order to gain more favorable access to saltpeter, used to make gunpowder. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Between 1553 and 1620, eighty-six Daimyos were officially baptized, and many more were sympathetic to the Christians. ^[15] From the correspondence between the Portuguese King João III and the Vatican Pope of the period, it is written that the Christian Daimyos sold women into slavery for the Jesuits' gun powder at a going rate of 50 baptized Japanese girls for a barrel of saltpeter. John III ( Portuguese: João III ʒuˈɐ̃ũ ( June 7, 1502 &ndash June 11, 1557) nicknamed o Piedoso As many as 500,000 Japanese girls were sold on the slave markets and shipped to South America and Europe. The most powerful Christian lord, Sorin Otomo (Daimyo for the Kyūshū) was recorded to trade in medicines, pepper, gunpowder, slaves with Saint Francis Xavier, Luis de Almeida (1525-1583) and the other Jesuits, which was highly profitable for Portugal and the Roman Catholic Church for years. also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原 義鎮 and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友 義鎮 was a Japanese feudal lord ( Daimyo) of the Ōtomo clan or Kyushu is the third-largest Island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Saint Francis Xavier ( Konkani / Konknni: Sam Fransisku Xavier/ Sanv Fransisk Xavier Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa Spanish: San Francisco ^[16]

In 1587, Hideyoshi Toyotomi called marrano Gaspar Coelho to command to stop slave trade of Japanese women and bring back all the Japanese, immediately promulgated the "Bateren-tsuiho-rei" (the Purge Directive Order to the Jesuits) on July 24, 1587. Marranos or Secret Jews were Sephardic Jews (Jews resident in the Iberian peninsula) who were forced to adopt Christianity or Gaspar Coelho was a Portuguese Jesuit Missionary. He replaced Francisco Cabral as the Superior and Vice-Provincial of the Jesuit mission in It consists of 11 articles: "No. 10. Do not sell Japanese people to the Namban (Portuguese). " Finally by 1596, the Jesuit fathers prohibited slave trade in and outside Japan. Coelho, who brought with him modern European warships, had persistent in his request to Spain to send its Armada and prepared for war with Japan. Hideyoshi put Nagasaki under his direct rule to control Portuguese trade and in 1597, 26 Kirishitan followers were executed there on his order. Martyrs of Japan were Christians who were persecuted for their faith in Japan mostly during the 17th century

Tokugawa response

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu assumed power over Japan, in 1600.  was the founder and first Shogun  of the Tokugawa shogunate Like Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he disliked Christian activities in Japan but gave priority to trade with Portugal and Spain. He secured Portuguese trade in 1600. He negotiated with Manila to establish trade with the Philippines. The City of Manila The trade promotion made his policies toward Catholicism inconsistent. At the same time, in an attempt to wrest control of the Japan trade from the Catholic countries, Dutch and British traders advised the Shogunate that Spain did indeed have territorial ambitions, and that Catholicism was Spain's principal means. The Dutch and British promised, in distinction, that they would limit themselves to trading and would not conduct missionary activities in Japan.

The Tokugawa shogunate finally decided to ban Catholicism, in 1614 and in the mid 1600's demanded the expulsion of all European missionaries and the execution of all converts ^[17] This marked the end of open Christianity in Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of The systematic persecution beginning in 1614 faced stiff resistance from Christians, despite the departure of more than half the clergy. Once again, the main reason for this resistance was not the presence of a few priests but rather the self-organization of many communities. Forced to secrecy, and having a small number of clergymen working underground, the Japanese Church was able to recruit leadership from among lay members. Japanese children caused admiration among the Portuguese and seem to have participated actively in the resistance. Nagasaki remained a Christian city in the first decades of the seventeenth century and During the general persecutions, other confraternities were founded in Shimabara, Kinai and Franciscans in Edo.

The immediate cause of the prohibition was a case of fraud involving Ieyasu's Catholic vavasor, but there were also other reasons behind it. A vavasour, (also vavasor, Old French vavassor vavassour French vavasseur LL The Shogunate was concerned about a possible invasion by the Iberian colonial powers, which had previously occurred in the New World and the Philippines. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" Domestically, the ban was closely related to measures against the Toyotomi clan. On the other hand, some Jesuits cited "reasons of state" as the key factor; they realized the superiority of state politics over religion in Japan.

The Buddhist ecclesiastical establishment was made responsible for verifying that a person was not a Christian through what became known as the "temple guarantee system" (terauke seido). Ecclesiology (from Greek grc ἐκκλησίᾱ ekklēsiā, "congregation church" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the By the 1630s, people were being required to produce a certificate of affiliation with a Buddhist temple as proof of religious orthodoxy, social acceptability and loyalty to the regime.

Christian view of Kirishitan history

Non-religious researchers find it difficult to understand the motivations behind martyrdom. Instead of giving detailed accounts, they merely point out the rate of martyrdoms. The number of active Christians is estimated to have been around 200,000 in 1582^[18]. There were likely around 1,000 known martyrs during the missionary period. In contrast, Christians attach a great importance to martyrdom and persecution, noting that countless more people were dispossessed of their land and property leading to their subsequent death in poverty.

The Japanese government used Fumie to reveal practicing Catholics and sympathizers. A fumie (踏み絵 'step-on picture' was a likeness of Jesus or Mary upon which the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Fumie were pictures of the Virgin Mary and Christ. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Government officials made everybody trample on these pictures. People reluctant to step on the pictures were identified as Catholics and then sent to Nagasaki. The policy of the Japanese government (Edo) was to turn them from their faith, Catholicism. If the Catholics refused to change their religion, they were tortured. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Many of them still refusing to abandon their faith were executed on Nagasaki's Mount Unzen. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Mount Unzen ( jp 雲仙岳 Unzendake) is an active volcanic complex of several overlapping Stratovolcanoes also known as a Composite volcano

The Shimabara Rebellion, led by a young Christian boy named Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, took place in 1637. The was an uprising largely involving Japanese Peasants, most of them Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period. also known as was a leader of the Shimabara Rebellion. The son of former Konishi clan retainer, Shiro was born in modern-day Kami-Amakusa Kumamoto and touted by the leaders The Rebellion broke out over economic desperation and government oppression but later assumed a religious tone. About 27,000 people joined the uprising, but it was crushed by the shogunate after a sustained campaign. They are not considered martyrs by the Catholic Church since they took up arms for materialistic reasons. Many Japanese were deported to Macau or to the Spanish Philippines. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Many Macanese and Japanese Mestizos are the mixed-race descendants of the deported Japanese Catholics. Macanese ( "people of Macau" can be a general term for the residents or natives of Macau, a special administrative region of the People's Republic Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin 400 were officially deported by the government to Macau and Manila, but thousands of Japanese were pressured into moving voluntarily. About 10,000 Macanese, and 3,000 Japanese were moved to Manila.

The Catholic remnant in Japan were driven underground and its members became known as the "Hidden Christians". is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Roman Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s Some priests remained in Japan illegally, including eighteen Jesuits, seven Franciscans, seven Dominicans, one Augustinian, five seculars and an unknown number of Jesuit irmao and dojuku. Since this time corresponds to the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, it is possible that the checking of Catholic power in Europe reduced the flow of funds to the Catholic missions in Japan, which could be why they failed at this time and not before. For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. During the Edo period, the Kakure Kirishitan kept their faith. The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Roman Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s Biblical phrases or prayers were transferred orally from parent to child, and secret posts (Mizukata) were assigned in their underground community to baptize their children, all while regional governments continuously operated Fumie to expose Christians. A fumie (踏み絵 'step-on picture' was a likeness of Jesus or Mary upon which the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Drawn from the oral histories of Japanese Catholic communities, Shusaku Endo's acclaimed novel "Silence" provides detailed accounts of the persecution of Christian communities and the suppression of the Church. Shūsaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shūsaku, March 27[[ 923]]&ndash September 29[[ 996]] was a renowned 20th century Japanese author who wrote is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo drawn from the oral histories of Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan communities

Rediscovery and Return

Japan was opened to foreign interaction by Matthew Perry in 1853. Matthew Calbraith Perry ( April 10, 1794 &ndash March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U It became possible to live in Japan for foreigners with Harris Treaty in 1858 . The between the United States and Japan was signed at the Ryōsen-ji in Shimoda on July 29, 1858. Many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches, though proselytizing was still banned. In 1865, some of the Japanese who lived in Urakami village near Nagasaki visited the new Ōura Church which had been built by the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Missions étrangères de Paris) barely a month before. Urakami, Nagasaki Nagasaki Prefecture is a suburb in Nagasaki, the exact Ground zero where the atomic bomb exploded on August 9, 1945 ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. is a Catholic church in Nagasaki, Japan, also known as the Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris ( French: Séminaire des Missions Étrangères, then Missions Étrangères de Paris, short M The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris ( French: Séminaire des Missions Étrangères, then Missions Étrangères de Paris, short M A female member of the group spoke to a French priest, Bernard Thadee Petitjean, and confessed that their families had kept the Kirishitan faith. Those Kirishitan wanted to see the statue of St. Mary with their own eyes, and to confirm that the priest was single and truly came from the pope in Rome. After this interview, many Kirishitan thronged toward Petitjean. He investigated their underground organizations and discovered that they had kept the rite of baptism and the liturgical years without European priests for nearly 250 years. Petitjean’s report surprised the Christian world; Pope Pius IX called it a miracle. Blessed Pope Pius IX (May 13 1792 &ndash February 7 1878 born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was Pope from June 16 1846 until 1878

The Edo Shogunate's edicts banning Christianity were still on the books, however, and thus persecuted the religion up to 1867, the last year of its rule. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh, the American minister-resident in Japan, privately complained of this persecution to the Nagasaki magistrates, though very little action was taken to stop it. Robert Bruce Van Valkenburg ( September 4, 1821 &ndash August 1, 1888) was a United States Representative from New York The succeeding Meiji government initially continued in this vein and several thousand people were exiled. The Government of Meiji period Japan from 1868-1911 was an evolution of institutions and structures from the feudal order of the Tokugawa bakufu towards After Europe and the U. S. began to vocally criticize the persecution, the Japanese government realized that it needed to lift the ban in order to attain its interests. In 1873 the ban was lifted, exiles returned and started to construct the Urakami Cathedral which was completed in 1895. St Mary's Cathedral, often known as Urakami Cathedral ( Japanese: 浦上天主堂 Urakami Tenshudō) after its location is a Roman Catholic

It was later revealed that tens of thousands of Kirishitan still survived in some regions near Nagasaki. Some officially returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Others remained apart from the Catholic Church and became known as Hanare Kirishitan, retaining their own traditional beliefs and their descendants asserting that they keep their ancestor's religion. are Japanese Crypto-Christians, descendants of those converted by Portuguese missionaries who chose not to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church in the When John Paul II visited Nagasaki in 1981, he baptized some young people from Hanare Kirishitan families.

Notable Kirishitans

• Paulo Miki (1563-1596)
• Sumitada Omura, first Christian feudal lord (1533-1587)
• Arima Harunobu, Christian name Dom Protasio, Lord of Shimabara (1567-1612)
• Yoshido Kuroda, Dom Simeao, leader of Mori forces (1546-1604)
• Yukinaga Konishi, Dom Agostinho, chief member of Hideyoshi's field staff (1556-1600)
• Dom Justo Takayama Ukon daimyo of Akashi
• Dom Leao Gamo Ujisato (1556-1595)
• Dom Agostinho Konishi
• Bizen no Gomoji, Hideyoshi daughter (1574–1634)
• Ōtomo Sōrin (大友 宗麟 1530-1587), Dom Francis, "King of Bungo" , Fujiwara no Yoshisige (藤原 義鎮) , Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友 義鎮),
• Ōtomo Yoshimune(大友　義統）, Constantino,
• Ōtomo Chikaie(大友　親家）, Dom Sebastin
• Ōtomo Chikamori(大友　親盛）,
• Mancio Ito (伊東マンショ Itō Mansho),　伊東祐益 1570 - 1612
• Julião Nakaura (中浦ジュリアン Nakaura Jurian)
• Martinão Hara (原マルチノ Hara Maruchino)
• Miguel Chijiwa (千々石ミゲル Chijiwa Migeru)
• Hasekura Tsunenaga (支倉常長)

Notable Opponents

Asayama Nichijô (Nichijô Shonin) Nichiren priest d. Mancio Ito (伊東マンショ Itō Mansho) 1570–1612 a Japanese Nobleman, was the first official Japanese emissary to Europe. Early life Little is known of the early life of Hasekura Tsunenaga 1577

Konchiin Sūden (1569–1633), an influential Buddhist adviser who served the first three Tokugawa shoguns.

See also

• Kakure Kirishitan ("hidden Christian") refers to the Japanese communities that continued to secretly practice a native form of Christianity in spite of persecution. is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Roman Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s Their isolation led to their drifting away from the foreign version of the religion.
• Roman Catholicism in Japan
• Martyrs of Japan
• Nanban trade period
• Nippo jisho
• Japanese words of Portuguese origin
• Suwa Shrine (Nagasaki)
• Shusaku Endo's novel "Silence" about the 17th century suppression of the last known Japanese Christian communities. The Roman Catholic Church in Japan is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Curia in Rome Martyrs of Japan were Christians who were persecuted for their faith in Japan mostly during the 17th century The Nanban trade ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易 nanban-bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade" or the Nanban trade period ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易時代 The Nippo Jisho (日葡辞書 literally the “Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary” or Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam ( Vocabulário da Língua do Japão Many Japanese words of Portuguese origin entered the Japanese language when Portuguese Jesuit priests introduced Christian ideas Western science and technology Suwa Shrine (諏訪神社 suwa jinja) is the major Shinto shrine of Nagasaki, Japan, and home to the Kunchi festival. Shūsaku Endō (遠藤 周作 Endō Shūsaku, March 27[[ 923]]&ndash September 29[[ 996]] was a renowned 20th century Japanese author who wrote is a 1966 novel of historical fiction by Japanese author Shusaku Endo drawn from the oral histories of Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan communities

Other publications

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