“In Japanese history there is no more attractive or interesting period than that of the Kirishitan, especially as it makes us think about what it is to be a human being.” - Endo Shusaku (transl. by Peter Milward) as quoted in In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival by John Dougill, www.tuttlepublishing.com, 2012
Japan unpeeled: Blood. Sweat. Tears.
The author as a 2 year old with MEP priests in Singapore, 1965
Our goal is to find hidden places where the fire of revival continues to burn during the time when powerful warlords were trying to unite Japan through force and violence in the seventeenth century. Despite the chaos of civil unrest and war, the Kingdom of God made progress through various missionary activities carried out by organizations like the SJ, FMM, MEP, including other non-catholic missional groups, even though they were operating under the control of colonial powers.
Canons, Castles and Christianity: Major imports from the Europeans (Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, etc) that threatened the Japanese elites and eventually led to violent resistance against foreign domination during the Tokugawa period.
During the samurai and ninja period marked by poverty, superstition and social upheaval, the exploits of missionaries like Francis Xavier, many of whom were crucified or burned at the stake, the message of Jesus spread and established itself. For their faith, many were subsequently uprooted and sent far and wide for “re-education” as far away as the mountains overlooking Kyoto.
Many people in Singapore would be familiar with the history of Southeast Asia and the terrible things that happened during the time of military aggression before the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This is where the kamikaze pilots had their base.
What many of us may not realize is the sheer number of devout Christians who would have been attending churches all over Nagasaki at precisely 11:02am on that infamous Sunday morning when time stood still.
Beyond the history of WWII however, we wanted this journey of discovery to go further back to the early days of the moments and movements of an earlier “crazy wind” that blew the Portuguese, Dutch and other colonial powers to these shores. Thus we are on the trail of these hidden pockets of revival that had been displaced by stories of trauma more recently suffered by atomic survivors.
We must remember an entire generation was wiped out in an instant yet there remains a significant remnant many of whom can still testify to the legacy of these secret believers in Jesus.
One thing I didn't consider were the vast distances involved. The city of Fukuoka offers two distinct views. On one side, there is the ocean facing the Korean peninsula, and on the back side, there are mountain ranges that serves as a shield against the strong Pacific and Arctic winds coming in from the north & east.