Martyrs of Japan

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Martyrs of Japan were Christians who were persecuted for their faith in Japan, mostly during the 17th century.

Contents

[edit] Christianity in Japan

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The Christian martyrs of Nagasaki. 16-17th century Japanese painting.
The Christian martyrs of Nagasaki. 16-17th century Japanese painting.

The shogunate and imperial government at first supported the Catholic mission and the missionaries, thinking that they would reduce the power of the Buddhist monks, and help trade with Spain and Portugal. However, the Shogunate was also wary of colonialism, seeing that in the Philippines the Spanish had taken power after converting the population. The government increasingly saw Roman Catholicism as a threat, and started persecuting Christians. A situation inflamed by their discovery that the Christian daimyo and Portuguese were engaging in the slave trading of Japanese women. It is recorded that around 500,000 Japanese eventually, mainly in a trade for gunpowder. [1] [2] Christianity was banned and those Japanese who refused to abandon their faith were killed.

On February 5, 1597, twenty-six Christians—six European Franciscan missionaries, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese laymen including three young boys—were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki. These individuals were raised on crosses and then pierced through with spears.

Persecution continued sporadically, breaking out again in 1613 and 1630. On September 10, 1632, 55 Christians were martyred in Nagasaki in what became known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. At this time Roman Catholicism was officially outlawed. The Church remained without clergy and theological teaching disintegrated until the arrival of Western missionaries in the nineteenth century.

While there were many more martyrs, the first martyrs came to be especially revered, the most celebrated of which was Paul Miki. The Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on June 8, 1862 by Blessed Pius IX and are listed on the calendar as Sts. Paul Miki and his Companions, commemorated on February 6. Originally this feast day was listed as Sts. Peter Baptist and Twenty-Five Companions, Martyrs, and commemorated on February 5.[3] Traditionalist Roman Catholics continue to venerate these martyrs on February 5 under that title.

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.

[edit] The 26 Martyrs of Japan

Main article: Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan

The Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan (日本二十六聖人 Nihon Nijūroku Seijin?) refers to a group of Christians who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597 at Nagasaki.

On August 15, 1549, St. Francis Xavier (later canonized by Gregory XV in 1622), Fr. Cosme de Torres, S.J. (a Jesuit priest), and Fr. John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan. On September 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a trade relationship with Europe.

A promising beginning to those missions—perhaps as many as 300,000 Christians by the end of the sixteenth century—met complications from competition between the missionary groups, political difficulty between Spain and Portugal, and factions within the government of Japan. Christianity was suppressed. By 1630, Christianity was driven underground.

The first Martyrs of Japan were canonized in 1862. They are commemorated on February 5 when, on that date in 1597, twenty-six missionaries and converts were killed by crucifixion. Two hundred and fifty years later, when Christian missionaries returned to Japan, they found a community of Japanese Christians that had survived underground.

[edit] Recognitions by other churches

A monument dedicated to the Martyrs in Nagasaki
A monument dedicated to the Martyrs in Nagasaki

Nippon Sei Ko Kai, a member of the Anglican Communion, added the martyrs to their calendar in 1959 to commemorate all the martyrs of Japan. The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America added the commemoration to their calendars during the revision of their respective prayer books in late 1970’s. Some parts of the Anglican Communion and the ELCA commemorate the martyrs of Japan on February 5 and the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England commemorate them on February 6.

[edit] 205 Martyrs of Japan (1597–1637)

They are also known as Alfonso Navarrete Benito, Pedro of Avila, Carlo Spinola, Ioachim Diaz Hirayama, Lucia de Freitas, and 200 Companion Martyrs of Japan. Among them are:

Beatified 7 May 1867. [4]

[edit] 16 Martyrs of Japan (1633–1637)

They are also known as Lawrence Ruiz, Dominic Ibáñez de Erquicia, James Kyushei Tomonaga, and 13 companions, Philippines, martyrs in Japan.[5] They are:

Beatified February 18, 1981.[6] Canonized 18 October 1987.[7]

[edit] Martyrs of Japan (1632)

These were two Augustinian priests, Martin Lumbreras Peralta and Melchor Sanchez Perez. Beatified 23 April 1989.[4]

[edit] Petrus Kibe Kasui and 187 Companion Martyrs of Japan

Murdered between 1603 and 1639. They include:

They will be beatified 24 November 2008. [8]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Onizuka, Hideaki (2006). The Rosary of the Showa Emperor. Bainbridgebooks/Trans-Atlantic Publications, 225. ISBN 4-88086-200-2. “Japan would exchange a barrel of gunpowder for fifty slaves. (In this case it would be specified as white-skinned (light skinned) good–looking (pleasing to the eyes) young Japanese women/maidens) In the name of God, if Japan can be occupied/possessed I am sure the price can be increased.” 
  2. ^ Tokutomi, Soho (1998). History of Modern Japanese People: The Toyotomi Era. Bainbridgebooks/Trans-Atlantic Publications, 337-387. ISBN 1-8916-960-5X. 
  3. ^ "Sts. Peter Baptist and Twenty-Five Companions". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
  4. ^ a b Martyrs of Japan (1597–1637) at Hagiography Circle
  5. ^ Biography at the Vatican website
  6. ^ USCCB (Office of Media Relations) – Beatifications During Pope John Paul II’s Pontificate
  7. ^ Lawrence Ruiz and companions from the Vatican website
  8. ^ Martyrs of Japan (1603–39) at Hagiography Circle

[edit] External links