Changes

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>

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>

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.

==Shifts, Decline, and Expulsion==

==Shifts, Decline, and Expulsion==

Despite early successes, or perhaps because of them, from the 1580s on, the Jesuits began to face increasing suspicion and difficulties. Prominent figures such as Hideyoshi, and, later, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], aware of Spain's colonization of the Philippines, and of the incredible numbers of Christian converts within Japan, and having only very recently united the warring provinces of Japan into a semblance of peace and order, became concerned that the missionaries' activities could lead to a return to serious instability, or even conquest and colonization.

Despite early successes, or perhaps because of them, from the 1580s on, the Jesuits began to face increasing suspicion and difficulties. Prominent figures such as Hideyoshi, and, later, [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], aware of Spain's colonization of the Philippines, and of the incredible numbers of Christian converts within Japan, and having only very recently united the warring provinces of Japan into a semblance of peace and order, became concerned that the missionaries' activities could lead to a return to serious instability, or even conquest and colonization.

Concerns were raised that according to Christian doctrine, loyalty to God and to the Pope superceded 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 [[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. 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, 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 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]].

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.

*[[Luis Frois]] (1563-1597)

*[[Luis Frois]] (1563-1597)

*[[Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino]] (1570-1609)

*[[Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino]] (1570-1609)

*[[Alessandro Valignano]] (1579-1582)

*[[Alessandro Valignano]] (1579-1582, 1590-?)

*[[Gaspar Coelho]] (c. 1580s)

*[[Gaspar Coelho]] (c. 1580s, d. 1590)

*[[Giovanni Niccolo]] (1583-?)

*[[Giovanni Niccolo]] (1583-?)

*[[Giovanni Battista Sidotti]] (1708-1714)

*[[Giovanni Battista Sidotti]] (1708-1714)