Changes

* Note that sometimes he is referred to as "Froez."

* Note that sometimes he is referred to as "Froez."

Luis Frois was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and joined the Society of Jesus in 1548. He went to India and served as a secretary, where his writing talent was recognized. He arrived in Japan in 1563 and studied Japanese language and customs in Takushima (度島) near Hirado, Kyushu. Early in [[1565]] he joined the Jesuits in Kyoto and for the next few years experienced the confusion of the times. In [[1569]], the year after [[Oda Nobunaga]] entered Kyoto, he met Nobunaga at the [[Nijo castle|Nijô Castle]] construction site, the first of many audiences with him. In 1576 he left Kyoto and went to [[Bungo province]]. He spent most of the rest of his life in Kyushu.

Frois was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in [[1532]], and worked for the Royal Secretary's office for a time in his youth. He joined the Society of Jesus in [[1548]], and relocated to [[Goa]], in India, that same year, where he served as a secretary and studied in the College of Saint Paul. He joined the mission in [[Malacca]] from [[1554]] to [[1557]], when he returned to Goa. Frois was ordained as a priest and confessor in [[1561]], and left Goa the following year. After spending several months again in Malacca, he arrived in Japan in 1563, where he began to study Japanese language and customs in Takushima (度島) near [[Hirado]]. Early in [[1565]] he joined the Jesuits in Kyoto and for the next few years experienced the confusion of the times. In [[1569]], the year after [[Oda Nobunaga]] entered Kyoto, he met Nobunaga at the [[Nijo castle|Nijô castle]] construction site, the first of many audiences with him. In [[1576]] he left Kyoto and went to [[Bungo province]], where he served as "superior" until [[1581]]. He spent most of the rest of his life in Kyushu.

In 1581 he accompanied the Visitor [[Alessandro Valignano]] to Kyoto and Azuchi, and even visited [[Echizen province]]. He made another visit in 1586 with [[Gaspar Coelho]], and was in [[Macao]] 1592-95. He died in Nagasaki in 1597, a few months after the death of the [[Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan]].

In 1581 Frois accompanied the Visitor [[Alessandro Valignano]] to Kyoto and [[Azuchi castle|Azuchi]], and visited [[Echizen province]]. He then became assistant to Vice Provincial [[Gaspar Coelho]] from [[1582]] to [[1587]], and accompanied Valignano to [[Macao]] in [[1592]]-[[1595]] before returning to Japan. He died in [[Nagasaki]] in 1597, a few months after the death of the [[Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan]].

Frois was the author of many of the Jesuit annual reports and over a hundred long letters.  Many of these were printed in [[Cartas]] in Europe in 1598 (translated into Japanese in [[Jesuit Reports]]).  He also wrote an account of the death of the [[Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan]] and a [[Frois's History of Japan|history]] of Japan from 1549, which was not published till the 20th century.

Frois was the author of many of the Jesuit annual reports and over a hundred long letters.  Many of these were printed in ''[[Cartas]]'' in Europe in 1598 (translated into Japanese in [[Jesuit Reports]]).  He also wrote an account of the death of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan and a [[Frois's History of Japan|history]] of the Jesuit mission in the Far East from 1549. This ''Historia'', though commissioned and encouraged by the Jesuit establishment in the East, was ultimately never sent to Rome and never published until the 20th century, as Valignano and others felt it was both too long, and contained too many details "not suitable to mention" to a European audience. The original manuscripts were lost in a fire in [[1835]], but manuscript copies produced by other Jesuit scholars gradually surfaced over the course of the 20th century and were eventually published.<ref>Ward, 18.</ref>

In English, [[They Came to Japan]] has many excerpts from his writings, and [[History of Japan (Murdoch)|Murdoch]] quotes him (from Cartas) extensively.

In English, ''[[They Came to Japan]]'' has many excerpts from his writings, and [[History of Japan (Murdoch)|Murdoch]] quotes him (from ''Cartas'') extensively.

==References==

==References==

 

* ''They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640'', compiled and annotated by Michael Cooper, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1965.

* [[They Came to Japan]]

* 日本キリスト教歴史大事典 (Large Dictionary of Japanese Christian History)、教文館, 1988.

* 日本キリスト教歴史大事典 (Large Dictionary of Japanese Christian History)、教文館, 1988.

 

[[Category:Foreigners|Frois, Luis]]

[[Category:Foreigners|Frois, Luis]]

[[Category:Christians|Frois, Luis]]

[[Category:Christians|Frois, Luis]]