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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). However, in [[1587]]/6, after completing his [[Invasion of Kyushu]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] issued the first of his Christian Expulsion Edicts, and the oppression of Christians saw a big turn. Nanban-ji was destroyed, and never rebuilt.<ref>Plaques on-site at the former site of Nanban-ji, in Kyoto.</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 more than 300,000 Japanese Christians 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>

 

However, in [[1587]]/6, after completing his [[Invasion of Kyushu]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] issued the first of his Christian Expulsion Edicts, and the oppression of Christians saw a big turn. Nanban-ji was destroyed, and never rebuilt.<ref>Plaques on-site at the former site of Nanban-ji, in Kyoto.</ref>

==Shifts, Decline, and Expulsion==

==Shifts, Decline, and Expulsion==

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 [[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.

Disturbed by these various factional clashes, European arrogance, and the threat of violence or colonization, Hideyoshi, and later Ieyasu, gradually turned against the Christians. There were more than 300,000 Japanese Christians in [[1614]] according to some estimates. 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 as to the great power of the Spanish king was a key factor in Hideyoshi ordering this done. The Tokugawa outlawed Christianity in [[1606]], and began to expel missionaries in earnest in 1614. The Spanish were expelled entirely in [[1624]], and Japanese were forbidden from going overseas (or returning from overseas) in [[1630]].

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 as to the great power of the Spanish king was a key factor in Hideyoshi ordering this done. The Tokugawa outlawed Christianity in [[1606]], and began to expel missionaries in earnest in 1614. The Spanish were expelled entirely in [[1624]], and Japanese were forbidden from going overseas (or returning from overseas) in [[1630]].

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 roughly 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 roughly 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.