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Though appalled by Japanese practices of sodomy and  [[shudo|pederasty]], and of course wholly disapproving of [[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]] as "pagan" religions, the Jesuits for the most part, at least initially, held rather positive views of the Japanese. Jesuit Visitor (i.e. supervisor) [[Alessandro Valignano]] wrote of the Japanese as "white, courteous, and highly civilized," and wrote of their dignity, cleanliness, rationality, and a host of other positive traits.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 123.</ref>

Though appalled by Japanese practices of sodomy and  [[shudo|pederasty]], and of course wholly disapproving of [[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]] as "pagan" religions, the Jesuits for the most part, at least initially, held rather positive views of the Japanese. Jesuit Visitor (i.e. supervisor) [[Alessandro Valignano]] wrote of the Japanese as "white, courteous, and highly civilized," and wrote of their dignity, cleanliness, rationality, and a host of other positive traits.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 123.</ref>

The Jesuits took great pains to adapt to Japanese culture, including learning to sit in a Japanese style, to speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and even to properly formally entertain guests with [[tea ceremony]]. They struggled to some extent with the Japanese custom of daily baths, due not only to European beliefs at the time associating bathing with the danger of illness, but also because of religious or cultural associations drawn between dirt and lice and the monastic vow of poverty.

At Valignano's suggestion, the Jesuits took great pains to adapt to Japanese culture, including learning to sit in a Japanese style, to speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and even to properly formally entertain guests with [[tea ceremony]]. They struggled to some extent with the Japanese custom of daily baths, due not only to European beliefs at the time associating bathing with the danger of illness, but also because of religious or cultural associations drawn between dirt and lice and the monastic vow of poverty. Further, not all Jesuit missionaries in Japan agreed with this policy, or with Valignano's positive view of the Japanese people; [[Francisco Cabral]], for one, reportedly found Japanese culture to be "conceited, covetous, inconstant, and insincere," and so "unpalatable that he even refused to drink tea."<ref>de Bary, et al, 155.</ref>

The Jesuits gained allies relatively quickly among the ''daimyô'' and other prominent figures in Kyushu, including winning a number of converts among the Kyushu elite. Christianity suited samurai lords well, as missionaries emphasized sacrificing oneself for the Lord – and with the ''daimyô'' himself as divinely mandated, loyalty to God became intertwined with loyalty to one’s earthly lord. The Jesuits had difficulties, however, explaining the differences which separated their religion from Buddhism, with many potential converts confusing or conflating the Christian God and/or Jesus with [[Dainichi]] (Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha), and the Christian Heaven with the Buddhist [[Jodo-shu|Pure Land]]. Some Jesuit missionaries even wrote that the Devil himself "had deliberately fashioned Buddhism to resemble the true faith so as to confound and confuse the people."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 122.</ref>

The Jesuits gained allies relatively quickly among the ''daimyô'' and other prominent figures in Kyushu, including winning a number of converts among the Kyushu elite. Christianity suited samurai lords well, as missionaries emphasized sacrificing oneself for the Lord – and with the ''daimyô'' himself as divinely mandated, loyalty to God became intertwined with loyalty to one’s earthly lord. The Jesuits had difficulties, however, explaining the differences which separated their religion from Buddhism, with many potential converts confusing or conflating the Christian God and/or Jesus with [[Dainichi]] (Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha), and the Christian Heaven with the Buddhist [[Jodo-shu|Pure Land]]. Some Jesuit missionaries even wrote that the Devil himself "had deliberately fashioned Buddhism to resemble the true faith so as to confound and confuse the people."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 122.</ref>

Their first successful ''daimyô'' convert was [[Omura Sumitada|Ômura Sumitada]], in [[1563]]; in [[1580]], he ceded the Society the port of [[Nagasaki]], including the power of judicial authority within that space. [[Otomo Sorin|Ôtomo Sôrin]] welcomed the Jesuits into his domain ([[Bungo province]]) as guests, and allowed them to establish a mission there in [[1551]] (along with a hospital in [[1557]]), though he did not himself choose to be baptized until [[1578]].

Their first successful ''daimyô'' convert was [[Omura Sumitada|Ômura Sumitada]], in [[1563]]; in [[1580]], he ceded the Society the port of [[Nagasaki]], including the power of judicial authority within that space. [[Otomo Sorin|Ôtomo Sôrin]] welcomed the Jesuits into his domain ([[Bungo province]]) as guests, and allowed them to establish a mission there in [[1551]] (along with a hospital in [[1557]]), though he did not himself choose to be baptized until [[1578]].

A ''seminario'', or Jesuit school for Japanese youths, was established at some point, and from the 1580s until [[1614]] a painting workshop operated on the grounds, training Japanese in European painting techniques, and producing artworks for the Christian churches and missions in Japan. In addition, a chapel was built in [[Kyoto]] in [[1561]], and came to be called by the Japanese [[Nanban-ji]] (lit. "Southern Barbarians Temple"). Missionaries continued their efforts even while suffering persecution, and with the protection of [[Oda Nobunaga]], the number of their followers grew. In [[1576]], several hundred followers, with the support of the ''[[Kyoto shoshidai]]'' [[Murai Sadakatsu]], had the old worship hall rebuilt, and on 7/16 held a mass to celebrate the completion of the new chapel. Nanban-ji was then renamed to also be known as St. Mary's Temple (珊太満利亜上人). There were perhaps as many as 150,000 Japanese converts to Christianity by [[1582]],<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 40-41.</ref> and more than 300,000 Japanese Christians in Japan in [[1614]] according to some estimates, a greater percentage of the total population than the percentage of Christians in Japan today.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 50.</ref>

A ''seminario'', or Jesuit school for Japanese youths, was established at some point, and from the 1580s until [[1614]] a painting workshop operated on the grounds, training Japanese in European painting techniques, and producing artworks for the Christian churches and missions in Japan. In addition, a chapel was built in [[Kyoto]] in [[1561]], and came to be called by the Japanese [[Nanban-ji]] (lit. "Southern Barbarians Temple"). Missionaries continued their efforts even while suffering persecution, and with the protection of [[Oda Nobunaga]], the number of their followers grew. In [[1576]], several hundred followers, with the support of the ''[[Kyoto shoshidai]]'' [[Murai Sadakatsu]], had the old worship hall rebuilt, and on 7/16 held a mass to celebrate the completion of the new chapel. Nanban-ji was then renamed to also be known as St. Mary's Temple (珊太満利亜上人). There were perhaps as many as 150,000 Japanese converts to Christianity by [[1582]],<ref>Gary Leupp, ''Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900'', A&C Black (2003), 40-41.</ref> and more than 300,000 Japanese Christians in Japan in [[1614]] according to some estimates, a greater percentage of the total population than the percentage of Christians in Japan today.<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 50.</ref> Women were formally banned from the Order as early as 1549, and officially Jesuits were banned by the Papacy from "work[ing] regularly with women." Nevertheless, many female converts played notable roles in proselytizing to their fellow Japanese or otherwise supporting or promoting the Jesuit mission.<ref>Haruko Nawata Ward, ''Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century'', Ashgate (2009), 11.</ref>

However, in [[1587]]/6, after completing his [[Invasion of Kyushu]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] seized back Nagasaki from the Jesuits,<ref>de Bary, et al, 148.</ref> and issued the first of his Christian Expulsion Edicts. Nanban-ji was destroyed, and never rebuilt.<ref>Plaques on-site at the former site of Nanban-ji, in Kyoto.</ref> Still, Hideyoshi did little to actually enforce this expulsion edict, and so for a brief time, the Jesuits continued on, in a tenuous but not wholly dangerous position.

However, in [[1587]]/6, after completing his [[Invasion of Kyushu]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] seized back Nagasaki from the Jesuits,<ref>de Bary, et al, 148.</ref> and issued the first of his Christian Expulsion Edicts. Nanban-ji was destroyed, and never rebuilt.<ref>Plaques on-site at the former site of Nanban-ji, in Kyoto.</ref> Still, Hideyoshi did little to actually enforce this expulsion edict, and so for a brief time, the Jesuits continued on, in a tenuous but not wholly dangerous position.

Concerns were raised that according to Christian doctrine, loyalty to God and to the Pope superseded loyalty to one's lord, to the shogun, or even to the Emperor of Japan, and that further, according to Christian teachings, even figures such as the [[Sage Kings]] of Yao and Shun, revered as the ideal Confucian rulers, would be doomed to hell for their pagan beliefs and actions. The perceived threat was thus not only one to political stability, but a threat to the basic social structure.<ref>Schirokauer, 127.</ref>

Concerns were raised that according to Christian doctrine, loyalty to God and to the Pope superseded loyalty to one's lord, to the shogun, or even to the Emperor of Japan, and that further, according to Christian teachings, even figures such as the [[Sage Kings]] of Yao and Shun, revered as the ideal Confucian rulers, would be doomed to hell for their pagan beliefs and actions. The perceived threat was thus not only one to political stability, but a threat to the basic social structure.<ref>Schirokauer, 127.</ref>

These concerns were encouraged further by [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] and [[English East India Company|English]] representatives - Protestants whose home countries were embroiled in passionate religious wars with Catholic Spain & Portugal. Meanwhile, the [[Franciscan Order]] arrived in Japan in [[1592]], and began proselytizing not to the elites, but to the common people, drawing concern from Hideyoshi, Ieyasu and the like that this might disrupt the social order. The Jesuits and Franciscans had rather different approaches, and held hostile attitudes towards one another, with the Franciscans considering the Jesuits pretentious for their associations with the elites, and the Jesuits ridiculing the Franciscans for their lack of education, poverty, and association with the lowest rungs of society. Political/economic competition between the Portuguese and Spanish active in Japan also contributed to Japanese concerns about factionalism and instability.

These concerns were encouraged further by [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] and [[English East India Company|English]] representatives - Protestants whose home countries were embroiled in passionate religious wars with Catholic Spain & Portugal. Meanwhile, the [[Franciscan Order]] arrived in Japan in [[1594]], and began proselytizing not to the elites, but to the common people, drawing concern from Hideyoshi, Ieyasu and the like that this might disrupt the social order. The Jesuits and Franciscans had rather different approaches, and held hostile attitudes towards one another, with the Franciscans considering the Jesuits pretentious for their associations with the elites, and the Jesuits ridiculing the Franciscans for their lack of education, poverty, and association with the lowest rungs of society. Political/economic competition between the Portuguese and Spanish active in Japan also contributed to Japanese concerns about factionalism and instability. The [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] and [[Augustinian Order]]s then arrived in [[1602]], creating additional competition for the Jesuits. In [[1608]], these various orders succeeded in getting a reversal of the papal bull which granted the Jesuits exclusive rights to proselytize in Japan; from 1608 onward, these other orders were no longer officially forbidden by the Papacy from engaging in missionary activities in Japan. Even so, none of these groups ever commanded nearly as many converts as the Jesuits; by around [[1612]], the Jesuits claimed some 600,000 Kirishitans in their following, while the other orders each claimed only around 13-14,000.<ref>Nawata Ward, 6-7.</ref>

Disturbed by these various factional clashes, European arrogance, and the threat of violence or colonization, Hideyoshi, and later Ieyasu, gradually turned against the Christians. By the end of the 1630s, more than 3000 Japanese, and nearly 70 Europeans killed in Japan, would be formally recognized as martyrs by the Vatican, though of course many more killed for their faith were not recognized in this fashion. One particularly well-known and commemorated set of martyrs are the so-called "[[Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki]]," a combination of European missionaries and Japanese converts, killed at the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in [[1597]]; according to some accounts, the boasting of the Spanish captain of their ship, the ''[[San Felipe]]'', as to the great power of the Spanish king, and/or boasting that the missionaries were a sort of vanguard for an invasion of Japan,<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 32.</ref> was a key factor in Hideyoshi ordering this done. The Tokugawa outlawed Christianity in [[1606]], and began to expel missionaries in earnest in 1614. There were perhaps around 150 European missionaries active in Japan at that time, though the number of Japanese faithful was far greater.<ref>Madalena Ribeiro, “The Japanese Diaspora in the Seventeenth Century, According to Jesuit Sources,” ''Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies'' 3 (2001), 57.</ref> The Spanish were expelled entirely in [[1624]], and Japanese were forbidden from going overseas (or returning from overseas) in [[1633]].

Disturbed by these various factional clashes, European arrogance, and the threat of violence or colonization, Hideyoshi, and later Ieyasu, gradually turned against the Christians. By the end of the 1630s, more than 3000 Japanese, and nearly 70 Europeans killed in Japan, would be formally recognized as martyrs by the Vatican, though of course many more killed for their faith were not recognized in this fashion. One particularly well-known and commemorated set of martyrs are the so-called "[[Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki]]," a combination of European missionaries and Japanese converts, killed at the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in [[1597]]; according to some accounts, the boasting of the Spanish captain of their ship, the ''[[San Felipe]]'', as to the great power of the Spanish king, and/or boasting that the missionaries were a sort of vanguard for an invasion of Japan,<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 32.</ref> was a key factor in Hideyoshi ordering this done. The Tokugawa outlawed Christianity in [[1606]], and began to expel missionaries from [[tenryo|shogunate territory]] in earnest in [[1612]],<ref>Akamine Mamoru, Lina Terrell (trans.), Robert Huey (ed.), ''The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia'', University of Hawaii Press (2017), 65.</ref> and from the entire realm in 1614. There were perhaps around 150 European missionaries active in Japan at that time, though the number of Japanese faithful was far greater.<ref>Madalena Ribeiro, “The Japanese Diaspora in the Seventeenth Century, According to Jesuit Sources,” ''Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies'' 3 (2001), 57.</ref> The Spanish were expelled entirely in [[1624]], and Japanese were forbidden from going overseas (or returning from overseas) in [[1633]].

The nail in the coffin for missionary presence and activity in Japan was, arguably, a Christian [[Shimabara Rebellion|uprising at Shimabara]] in [[1637]]-[[1638]], in which tens of thousands of Christians rebelled against their lord; roughly 37,000 Christians were killed before the rebellion was over. The event was seen by the shogunate as evidence of the divided loyalties of Japanese Christians, and a spectre of rebellions, divisions, and instability which would continue if Christianity were not violently and powerfully suppressed.

The nail in the coffin for missionary presence and activity in Japan was, arguably, a Christian [[Shimabara Rebellion|uprising at Shimabara]] in [[1637]]-[[1638]], in which tens of thousands of Christians rebelled against their lord; roughly 37,000 Christians were killed before the rebellion was over. The event was seen by the shogunate as evidence of the divided loyalties of Japanese Christians, and a spectre of rebellions, divisions, and instability which would continue if Christianity were not violently and powerfully suppressed.