Thousands died during the persecutions of Japan’s Christian Century

By Father Francis Nakagawa | Special to the Herald

In 1549, St. Francis Xavier stepped foot on the virgin soil of Japan and announced for the first time the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ninety-seven years later, in 1642, the Tokugawa government expelled all remaining missionaries and closed its ports to all foreigners, ending Japan’s legendary “Christian Century.”

As we approach the Nov. 24 beatification in Nagasaki of Father Peter Kibe and the 187 martyrs of Japan, let us revisit the historic evangelization of Japan that led to violent persecutions and martyrdom. How many converts were won over to the church? How many Christians were martyred for their faith? Let the numbers speak.

Winning converts

In the first year, 1549, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, 809 were baptized. Nineteen years later, in 1568, there were 30,000 Christians. In 1579, three decades after St. Francis’ arrival, 23 Jesuit priests and an equal number of brothers cared for 100,000 Christians. That number grew to 150,000 by 1582, mostly in Kyushu. Two hundred churches were built to serve them.

From the beginning, St. Francis’s strategy was to befriend the highest authority in the area. When the local lord was won over and even baptized, it was likely that his subjects would convert as well because of the strong loyalty between subject and master. Among such masters were the Lords of Otomo, Omura, Arima and Amakusa.

Native Japanese helped St. Francis and later missionaries learn the language and customs. Missionaries established schools to train catechists and opened seminaries to prepare candidates for the priesthood. A special group of helpers called “dojuku” (live-in) resided with the missionaries. Peter Kibe was a dojuku.

The first missionaries had a good relationship with Oda Nobunaga, the first of the trio of shoguns who unified Japan. Oda gave Christians land in Kyoto on which they built Our Lady of the Assumption Church and a seminary.

When Oda was assassinated in 1582, he was succeeded by the irascible and unpredictable Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Meanwhile the faith continued to blossom. New churches sprung up in Osaka, Sakai, Takatsuki and Akashi — all on Honshu, Japan’s largest island. New lords were baptized — Konishi, Takayama Ukon (whose canonization cause is in progress), and Kuroda. The number of Christians grew to 200,000.

The persecutions begin

At first, the shogun Toyotomi favored the missionaries. He liked the novelty of western customs and the commerce with Portuguese traders. But his mind was changed by Buddhist monks, who were antagonistic to the foreigners from the beginning, and other anti-Catholic advisors and he became militantly opposed to all missionary activities. With his edict of 1587, he ordered their expulsion.

Among those exiled was Takayama Ukon who was banished to Manila, where he died. The edict, however, was not well enforced.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s temper flared again in 1597 when a Spanish trade ship went aground off Shikoku. The rumor spread that the foreigners were using missionaries as a vanguard to overtake Japan and turn it into a colony, such as what happened in South America. Toyotomi called for the immediate execution of Christians.

This command resulted in the capture and killing of the “26 Martyrs of Nagasaki.” The victims were from the Kyoto Christian community of “Deus-cho,” the “Village of God.” The shogun ordered all Franciscans killed. The military rounded up 3,000 Christians. Local authorities reduced the number to 24. Two more were added during a forced mid-winter march to Nagasaki. All were martyred on Feb. 5, 1597. By then, there were 300,000 Christians in Japan.

Toyotomi died the following year and in 1600, a third shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, took over. At first he was tolerant of the missionaries and the church prospered. Land was even given to build more churches in Nagasaki, Kyoto, Osaka and even Edo, Tokugawa’s capital and now present-day Tokyo.

The numbers grew to 400,000 Christians, 140 Jesuits, 26 Franciscans, nine Dominicans and four Augustinian priests. Nagasaki had a bishop, a Jesuit novitiate, seminary and college, and a printing press. Nagasaki alone had 11 churches, 40,000 Christians and 15 native Japanese priests.

It all changed in 1614 when the great persecution began. Like his predecessor, Tokugawa was motivated by his favor of Buddhism and his desire to protect Japanese from foreign influence. All churches and Christian centers were ordered destroyed. Missionaries were forced to leave the country. Only 17 remained. Lords were forbidden to convert.

After the shogun’s death in 1616, his sons Hidetada and Iemitsu continued the systematic persecution with an increased ferocity. An estimated 4,000 were put to death.

The tortures

Through the various waves of persecutions, Christians were executed in different ways. The simplest form of execution was beheading. Group killings were done by crucifixion or fire. The 26 martyrs of Nagasaki were tied to crosses and then lanced by soldiers. It is said they sang praises to God as they met their fate. One of the martyrs, St. Paul Miki, preached to onlookers to be strong in their faith.

The 52 martyrs of Kyoto were tied to crosses and burned to death. They, too, praised God to the end.

Before killing the Christians, the magistrate made concerted efforts to break their resolve and renounce their faith and to return to Buddhism. This torture took a variety of repugnant forms.

Some victims were tied to posts off shore at low tide. As the tide rose, if they renounced their faith, they would be freed. If not, they would drown.

In the Unzen mountains outside Nagasaki, victims were hung over the volcanic wells of hot sulfur or doused with water from the hot springs.

Well documented was the torture of the pit. A victim was upside down for hours or even days with his or her head immersed in a pit filled with excrement and animal carcasses. A contemporary witness wrote: “The reverse hanging causes an indescribably terrible pain. Many Christians could not help but abandon their faith. They say that no human can bear the pain of hanging upside down.”

This is the torture inflicted on Father Peter Kibe who persevered in his faith to the end.

Another torture method, more psychological than physical, was the use of the “fumie,” of “step-on image.” This was a foot-square plaque with the image of Christ or the Virgin Mary. A prisoner accused of being a Christian was simply told to step on the plaque with his foot. If he did, he would be freed. If not, he was openly professing to be a Christian. He would then be tortured or executed. Women and children were not spared.

The magistrate would raid an entire village, line up everyone and subject them to the fumie. What a difficult choice it must have been for anyone who firmly believed in his or her religion. How can you desecrate the image of Christ or Mary?

Many refused to step on the fumie, choosing torture and martyrdom instead. Others stepped on the image, while inwardly maintaining their faith. Such cases are described by famed Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo in his book “Silence.”

The persecution created forms of torture unique to Japan, amplifying the determination and courage of these Christian martyrs to hold fast in their faith. They truly believed in the words of Jesus, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you because you are my followers. Be happy and glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

The “Catholic Encyclopedia” describes their courage. “When their hour of martyrdom arrived, they left their families, friends or fellow prisoners, and wherever possible donned festive attire. If permitted, they proceeded to the place of martyrdom praying together, singing psalms and sacred hymns, each encouraging the other until their heads fell under the sword or the flames and smoke choked off their voices. That tens of thousands made this highest sacrifice for the love of Christ is one of the glories of the early Japanese Church.”

In 1642, the last missionaries left Japan and the country closed its doors to the outside world for the next two centuries.

The hidden Christians

What happened to the remaining 400,000 Christians? They hid. For the next 200 years, without priests, they secretly hung on to their original faith. A system of elders passed down the teachings of the church. They prayed in Latin and observed major feast days and customs.

Remarkable was their discovery on March 17, 1865, after the country had reopened to the west.

An old woman of Urakama in Nagasaki approached Father Bernard Petitjean of the Foreign Missionaries of Paris who was then the rector of the Church of Our Lady of Oura. She asked three questions: Are you celibate? Do you believe in one God? Do you honor Mary, the Mother of God? The priest answered yes to all three. The woman brought the news back to her clandestine community. It was the beginning of the return of many hidden Christians to the open church. But others, as many as 50,000, refused to come forward. With memories of the faith remained memories of persecution. They were still fearful.

They had reason to be. The Meiji government was suspicious. They investigated, arrested, imprisoned and even tortured the newly found Christians. In 1869, it sent 3,400 hidden Christians away to 22 locations in Japan. Families were split, property confiscated, and people were forced to live under abject conditions.

It was amazing that Christians, who kept their faith hidden for two centuries, were subjected to such cruelties in the 19th century. These 3,400 Christians can rightfully be counted as martyrs.

It was only because of pressure from the west that the Japanese government in 1873 overturned its laws, granting freedom to Christians. The Meiji Constitution of 1889 established freedom of religion.

Number of martyrs

The number of canonized saints and beatified martyrs of Japan stands at 435. There are the 26 martyrs of Nagasaki (canonized in 1862), St. Thomas Nishi and 16 martyrs (canonized in 1987), 205 martyrs (beatified in 1867), St. Peter Kibe and 187 martyrs (to be beatified on Nov. 24).

The actual number of Japanese martyrs can only be estimated. The low figure is 2,128. Some say it is as high as 6,000. Then there are the 4,000 put to death during the persecution of shoguns Hidetada and Iemitsu from 1616 to 1651.

At the end of the Christian Century, the number of Catholics peaked at 400,000. Those numbers would not be matched until the 20th century when Japan’s Catholic population climbed over the half million mark. The number has recently risen to a million, primarily due to the influx of about half a million foreign Catholics.

Today’s Japanese church has much to do to equal the energy and zeal of the past.

Bishop Paul Otsuka of Kyoto recently appealed for a new evangelization inspired by the beatification of Father Peter Kibe and the 187 martyrs.

“The people to be beatified from the early period of the Japanese Church are for the most part lay people of all ages and both sexes, including children and the elderly, who lived with their families,” Bishop Otsuka said. “We of the Japanese church should be proud to have these martyrs who have no equal anywhere in the world.

But, he added, “The lukewarm faith of Christians in our own age must be rekindled. We must not let the example of our many martyrs become simply some tale from the ancient past.”

Dozens of Christians are tied to stakes in a painting of the “Great Martyrdom of Edo” (Tokyo), Dec. 4, 1623, by Takayoshi Ezoe in Takanawa Church of Mary Queen of Martyrs.