Tema: Oda Nobunaga: a visionary who was open to Christianity in the 16th century.

Even in a small Catholic Church on a remote island in Japan, one can find unique and breath taking art.

After the church we proceeded around the Island to see some of the sacred places for Hidden Christians.

In this small thicket is the one of those sacred spaces.



This is a memorial on the Island to the christians who suffered during hundreds of years of oppression.

This is a sacred space for hidden christians.

There are many small stone and concrete part to the space and some that look to be shinto but the space one that hidden christians traditionally came.





We were lucky enough to meet with Mr. Taniyama. He let us into his home and talked to us late into the night. He was an Ojiyaku and the head of a house hold that had been passing down the hidden christian tradition for hundreds of years. He made the decision to not force his children to carry on the tradition and has become buddhist. He felt it necessary to record his families history and the history of the hidden christians because in his opinion it is impossible for the tradition to carry on.

Mr. Fukumoto also joined us that night. He is also descendant from hidden christians but his father and family decided to rejoin the catholic church. We were able to ask both men about their thoughts on the history and current conditions of christianity in Ikitsuki. This interview was one of the highlights of our studies.

Mr. Taniyama shared books, photographs, newspaper clippings and even and NHK special that he was in that had to do with hidden christians. In the special he was still a practicing hidden christian.



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Mr. Fukumoto explains his thoughts on Christian history on the Island and how he and his family fit in as practicing Catholics.

Here is our group with Mr. and Mrs. Taniyama and Mr. Fukumoto after a long night of discussion.

The next day we toured the rest of the island. The west side of the island is rugged and beautiful.

On the west coast there is a sacred space for kakure kirishitans that unfortunately has been littered with garbage all along the beach.














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Brief Historical Overview

In 1549, Fransico Xavier (1506-1552) landed in Kagoshima; with him, he brought Christianity. As a Jesuit missionary, Xavier had great success. Xavier arrived at the beginning of the last decade of a century of civil war that had left the Japan in economic disarray. Christianity, as well as trade relations, spread with the support of Spain and Portugal. Many ports or places of trading, such as Nagasaki, were hotspots for Christianity. This intertwining of trade and religion led to the spread of Christianity and the influence of the Jesuit presence.

Fearing a repeat of colonization that occurred in other countries, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) expelled foreign missionaries. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) ordered the crucifixion of all Christians in Kyoto. The order only resulted in the martyrdom of 26 Christians that occurred in Nagasaki. These events forced missionaries to work more secretly.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) became Shogun in 1603, he used the missionaries for their connections to the silk trade. Once the missionaries were circumvented, the daimyo were ordered to kick all of the foreign missionaries out through the port of Nagasaki and to destroy all churches. Japan entered a period of almost complete isolation from the West, with the exception of contact with the Dutch who were living on Dejima, a man-made island in Nagasaki. The next major event in Christian history in Japan was the Rebellion on the Shimabara peninsula. The rebels were Christians who had been enduring economic hardships and heavy taxation. Even though the rebellion was not entirely religiously motivated, the government feared a larger Christian uprising and used its forces to crush the rebellion.

With these and other forms of persecution occurring, many Christians went underground and continued to practice the Christianity they had learned. Although some synthesis and evolution occurred, much of the original Christians practices were retained by the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians). To this day the prayers can be recited that have been passed on and remembered for generations, what has been lost to these peoples is the meaning of the words. While When Japan was opened again in 1854, Catholics sought out the Christians that had held onto their faith and practices in remote regions. Some Christians rejoined the Catholic Church and others remained separate. It is these groups of people and their history that we have studied, and that are the content of this site.
Copyright © 2006 Brendan Eagan

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Nagasaki

Being a city that is saturated with history, Nagasaki was a logical starting point and base for our research. It is centrally located within the majority of the areas we researched and has some very useful sites and people that we were able to use as resources. The curators of the 26 Martyr's Museum, Father Deigo Yuuki, and Father Renzo De Luca were invaluable and generous with their time and help. They shared their extensive knowledge of the history of Catholicism and Christianity in the region. Nagasaki's trade with Portugal was coupled with the spread of Christianity from the beginning. Nagasaki was a port of goods and ideas. Oura Cathedral is in Nagasaki, which played a large role in the Catholic Church’s discovery of "underground and hidden" Christians. Many of these Sempuku and Kakure Kirishitan lived in and just around Nagasaki. The largest Asian Cathedral was in Urakami until the Atomic bombing of Nagasaki destroyed it. Today, Nagasaki has one of the highest concentrations of Christians in Japan.

This is the Old Oura Church where after 250 years of persecution, hidden christians came to talk to Father Petitjean. This is the place where the Catholic Church first learned of the existance of Christians that had continued living in Nagasaki.



Statue of Mary at the Old Oura Church.





This is the front of the 26 Martyrs Meseum in Nagasaki. The memorial in front of the museum has a figure for each martyr.

Close-ups of the memorial.



The church behind next to the Museum.

Diego R. Yuuki, s.j. and Renzo De Luca, s.j. director of the museum both work here. Both men were generous with their time and knowledge and allowed us to see and photograph the artifacts in the museum.

The museum has many artifacts of historical significance having to do with Christianty in Japan, such as this metal.

This crab holding a cross is a representation of the story of the crab that brought St. Francis Xavier his cross after a shipwreck.

Takayama Ukon was one of the first Christian daimyo in Japan.

These medals are of Saints that worked in Japan in the Nagasaki region.

These coins or medals comemerate the four young Japanese christians that went to europe during the hight of Christianty's success in Japan in 1582.


This is a tsuba or the guard of a katana, the sword carried by samurai. When Christianity prospered in the region samurai who were christian would pay for christian symbols to be put into their tsubas. The following are some more examples.

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This is a depiction of the martyrdom of a christian that occured during the persecutions.

This is an original reward notice telling people how much money they will recieve if depending on the importance of the christians that they turn in. It says that one can recieve 500 silver coins for a preist and 300 silver coins for a religious brother. It also states that a person will still recieve money if they themselves are christian and that if it comes out that they have hidden one of the people they are looking for they there family and even their whole clan will be punished. They is says everyone should obey.

This is a Shumon Aratame register. It has certification of membership in a Buddhist temple. It is one of the last. The names in the register are of public officers of Nagasaki. Everyone was forced to be a registered member of a Buddhist temple when christianity was outlawed.

These are Maria canon. Canons are typical buddhist icons but hidden and underground christians could use them to whorship Mary and still not be overtly christian.

This is the backside of a miror used by hidden christians on the Goto Islands.

When Europeans heard of the persecutions of christians in Japan these renderings were made.

They depict a litany of tourtures that happened at the hot springs.

One can see the people that didn't renounce their faith being thrown over cliffs and tourtured in hot springs.


This is another perspective of the statue memorializing martyrs.

This is the bone of St. Francis Xavier. The box contains his cloak.

Here is the back fo the wall of the 26 martyr memorial on the way out of the museum.


Here is a canon in Nagasaki that can be seen from the 26 martyrs museum. One can see how the Maria canon could be hidden so that worshipers could pray to mary but keep it secret. The figures are very simliar.



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Goto Islands

The Goto Islands are off the west cost of Kyushu in the East China Sea. The island chain served as a refuge for many Sempuku Kirishitan. In 1797, Christians hiding in part of Nagasaki fled to the Goto Islands. The crackdown after the Shimabara rebellion, along with increasing persecutions, prompted many others to flee to these islands
as well. The remoteness of the islands allowed for Christians to escape the watchful eye of government officials. Even with persecutions on the islands, the Christians lasted generation after generation. The distance from highly populated areas is a common trait in the areas as Sempuku and Kakure Kirishitans were able to remain
hidden and to survive while holding onto their traditions. There are many Catholic churches on Goto that commemorate the Sempuku and Kakure Kirishitan struggles. Like Tsuwano, Goto had Christian prisons where
many people were tortured and died. Many children died in the prisons because of the horrid conditions.


Before we stopped at Hamawaki we went to a site that was a memorial to Christians that were imprisoned here. This is a shot of the small footprint of the cell in which the Christians were crammed.

Part of the memorial has graves of people that perished here. Many of the graves were for children. The cramped conditions of the cells resulted in many children being crushed to death. The stones give acounts of how some of the children died.

Many of the names are distinctly Christian, Maria was one of the most common.







Here is a shot of the Church that is next and part of the memorial.



Statue outside of Hamawaki Church.





While he was not sure, Mr. Izumi believes that all of there graves are facing East to be facing Christian heaven; which contrasts the rest that face west toward Buddhist paradise. Even though not all of the graves have crosses the fact that they are all packed tightly and facing the same direction makes Mr. Izumi believe that the families who had the grave put here are descendants of hidden Christians. Not even the Catholics that live in the area do the same thing. It is a subtle testament to the spirit of the hidden Christians.








Out side of the church are some small memorials to the hidden Christians for the regions. Many of the churches from this region commemorate the huge number of martyrs.




Mr. Izumi explains the statue of the men who brought Catholocism to the Goto Islands.

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Dozaki also has a small section of garden with naturally formed rocks. These rocks were brought from Sotome and other places Christians were fleeing from.

Mr. Izumi explains how the rock looks like Mary and that the volcanic rock cannot be found naturally on the Goto Islands.

This rock also has an image of Christ and Mary making it a sacred stone for the people who brought it to the Islands.

This stone does not have the image of Christ but just the image of Mary.

This stone just looks normal in among the others but when Mr. Izumi turns it over there is a faint cross on the back. When he replaces the stone he turns it back over hidding the cross.








The interior of Dozaki has a small museum portion besides having a normal church.



We then went to Mizunoura church, meaning water inlet church.

This style of arched celling is the same in Hamawaki Church. The beautiful architechture is found in many of the Catholic churches in Goto.



One can find the use of flowers as elements in crosses in many of the Churches of Goto.

This stylized depiction of a camellia as a cross is unique to this region of Japan. The tsubaki (camellia) is found in almost all of the churches in Goto.

The church grounds has a stunning garden.






The garden also has crosses that have the fourteen stations of the cross.





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Here is a close up of one of the stations of the cross.









This is another shot of Mizunoura church.

Behind the graden are some graves and monuments to some important early Japanese christians. The Statue is of Johannes De Goto one of the 26 Martyrs.




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Ikitsuki

Ikituki is a beautiful island just off of Hirado in Kyushu. While the island is well known for its historical and current whaling and fishing industry, it also has a dynamic past and present Kakure Kirishitan presence. The island’s geography and surroundings played a large role in the unique aspects and development in Christian practices. Ikituki has had a recent push to record this unique Kakure Kirishitan history before it is lost forever. With the economic condition pulling the youth away from the island, many of the Kakure Kirishitan groups are thinning or even disbanding. Even traditionally secretive groups feel the need to share or record the traditions their ancestors risked their lives to preserve. Our group had the pleasure of meeting with one former leader of one of these groups and one of his friends whose family used to be Kakure Kirishitan but rejoined the Catholic Church. Each man shared his own family’s history and then discussed their thoughts on Kakure Kirishitan on Ikituki in general. Ikitsuki had continued Kakure Kirishitan practices longer than other regions that suffered disintegration of their hidden Christian communities. But now even on Ikituki the hidden Christian traditions are not being passed on, the communities are dwindling out.

http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-st.../ikitsuki.html

Shimabara

The single most significant Christian historical event in Shimabara was a rebellion in 1637. There was significant Christians history in the region before the most famous one. In 1576, Lord Arima was baptized a Christian and over 20,000 residents of his land were obligated to follow suit. From that time on, the peninsula had a strong and significant Christian population. The first persecutions to take place in the region during the new Tokugawa regime took place at the Arima River during 1613. The Martyrs endured the tortures and slow deaths with such vigor and courage that it galvanized the 20,000 onlookers. In hopes of being granted the position of daimyo Hasegawa, the governor of Nagasaki, sent 10,000 troops to torture and murder the Christians into submission. This act of terror simply strengthened the people’s resolve.
In 1616, a new ruler was appointed to the region, Shigemasa Matsukura. He moved his capitol to Shimabara in hopes of succeeding his predecessors who had failed in crushing the Christians. The people of Shimabara were forced to build a new castle for the daimyo. It took 7 years of labor, step taxes, tortures and severe punishments to finish the construction. When the peasants could not pay the taxes, their wives and daughters where taken and subjected to many forms of torture. These types of harsh punishments worsened when Iemitsu Tokugawa became Shogun. Martyrdoms and persecution were everywhere.
In 1637, the economic and religious conditions were no longer bearable for the people of Shimabara. Disenfranchised samurai, who had been denied their rank because of their religion, and Christian peasants gathered supporters. These rebels held Hara castle and its surrounding areas for four months against government troops. The Dutch were employed by the Tokugawa government to cut off the rebels’ food and water supplies. The rebellion ended soon thereafter. All the rebels were killed: 17,000 men and 20,000 women and children. Christians all over Japan had to go underground if they hadn’t already done so. The persecutions continued for 250 years. The Tokugawa government was frightened by the rebellion and disliked foreign influence. They closed their borders to outsiders, save for the Dutch who were allowed to live on the man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki. The period leading up to and after the rebellion was the time that the Underground and Hidden Christians lived.

Back to Shimabara overview

Our group was allowed to see and take pictures in the museum inside of Shimabara castle. The museum has exhibits from the different time periods of Shimabara's history. Show here are the swords and scabbard of a samurai from Shimabara.

Samurai armor was also on display. These are the weapons and armor that would have been used by the samurai during the rebellion in 1637.

Here is a fumie, used to draw out Christians every New Years Day. Every one in an area would have to stamp on an image of Christ or Mary to prove they were not Christians.

The very visible crosses on these weapons were commissioned by a christian samurai.

This pottery was also commissioned by christian, most likely by a samurai.

Here is another Fumie.

These are small symbols used by hidden Christians much like the Maria Canon. They looked like buddhist images but held different significance for the Christians.



These are christian's graves just our side of Shimabara castle.







This pillar notes that they are christian graves.

This is a shot of our group in front of the Shimabara Castle that has the museum inside. You can see the pillar and graves to the left of us.

We then went to Shimabara Catholic Church to hear more about the history of christianity in Shimabara.


The inside of the church itself was unique. The circular layout and art work were different from any other churches we stopped at during our study.

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This is a replica of a fumie. Fumie were tools of spiritual torture. They were first used in 1626; every New Years Day everyone was forced to step on an image of Christ or Mary to prove they were not Christians. In some one refused to step on they and they family were put to death. The hidden Christians used a special prayer to ask forgiveness each time they were forced to step on the fumie.

The stain glass tell the story of Christianity in Shimabara. It starts with birth of Christ.

Depicted here is Christianity coming to Shimabara with Father Alessandro Valignano and Luis Almeida. With the work of Valignano Arima became the center of Japanese Christian culture. He used his knowledge of medicine to help people and taught not only religion but also music gymnastics japanese history, culture and literature were taught. He shared the most advanced studies from Europe.

In the 1580's four young seminarians went on the first diplomatic mission from Japan to Europe. The four young men are seen here.

The story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. In this story Jesus prepares for his own death. This scene offers a poignant comparison to the preparations martyrs in Shimabara made.

The Golden age of Christianity in Japan was not to last for ever. We can see people watching their friends and loved ones be forced to renounce their faith or be drowned in the Arima river.

This scene shows christians being burned at the stake along the Arima river. We can see a woman on the left whose son ran to her as she burned. Her hand and face are raised to heaven.

This window shows the Martyrdom of Paulo Uchibori and other faithful being lead to Unsen to be torture in the hot springs and thrown off cliffs.

The last window shows Christ in more of a typical portrayal with the Japanese people in the Marriage Banquet with the Resurrected Christ.

This flag is a recreation of the flag of the Shimabara rebellion. It depicts two angels worshipping the Eucharist. It says in Portuguese, "Praised be the most holy sacrament."

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This statue on the outside of the church depicts Paul Uchibori youngest son the age of five who showed no sign of pain when his hands were maimed. All of Paul's children had all but their thumbs and pinkies removed because the in the soldier's eyes Christians were less than animals so they should have less fingers than animals.

Another statue portrays Valignano helping the sick.

From the Church we went to the ruins of Hara Castle, the site of the Shimabara rebellion. We were lead by Shinji Matsumoto the historian in charge of the excavation hara castle and running Hara Culture Center. Mr. Matsumoto show us around the excavation and the culture center.

Some areas just look like fields, others have masonry or even bones of people killed in the rebellion.











Here are bones at the excavation.



Mr. Matsumoto explains the various parts of the excavation and significant parts of each.

Here is our group in front of a statue of the leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, 16 yearold Shio Tokisada.


Many of the rebels placed crosses and medals images of Mary in there mouths so if they died the governments troops wouldn't know to strip them of these sacred symbols. This picture shows teeth around a medal.

Here is a cross next to what looks to be a jaw bone.



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