Thirteen of their followers were sent back to Macao with this warning: “While the sun warms the earth let no Christian be so bold as to enter into Japan. In 1640 four Portuguese ambassadors who had gone from Macao to Nagasaki were called upon to apostatize, and when they refused they were put to death without further trial. In 1637 the province of Azima, 37,000 Christians, driven to extremities, revolted, shut themselves up within the fortress of Shimbara, and were slain to the last one. The exact number of the victims is unknown. The cruelty and refinement of the tortures are unparalleled even in the early history of the Church. In the following year, under Iemitsu, the persecution waxed still more furious and extended throughout the empire. The encyclopedia details: In 1622 took place what was called the “great martyrdom,” fifty-two chosen Christians being martyred on the same day (2 Sept.) at Nagasaki, twenty-seven being decapitated, and the remainder being burned alive. Persecution subsided for a while, but recommenced in 1614, when shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa decreed that Catholicism be abolished. Paul Miki and Companions are commemorated on the liturgical calendar on February 6. The Japanese ruler gave orders to draw up a list of Japanese Christians, and on February 5, 1597, 26 were crucified at Nagasaki. Things began to change for the worse when a vessel carrying Spanish Franciscans ran aground near Tosa, and the captain strangely remarked that the missionaries had been sent to prepare for the conquest of the country. Within 50 years there were about 300,000 Christians in Japan. Francis Xavier arrived in Japan on August 15, 1549, and had much success initially in spreading the Gospel, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

The region was designated in 2018 as a World Heritage site by UNESCO and dubbed the “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.” Much of the documentary shows Barakan taking a boat to islands off the Japanese mainland, where Christians fled to be able to maintain their faith life. Nagasaki: The Hidden Faces of Faith was produced by Japan’s NHK television network and is narrated in English by veteran Japanese broadcaster Peter Barakan. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th-century Japan, who endures persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan (“Hidden Christians”).Ī new documentary takes viewers to the various places where Japanese Christians practiced their faith in hiding for about 250 years, and where some today carry on the traditions of their ancestors. Moviegoers in 2016 learned about a fascinating period in Japanese history from Martin Scorcese’s film adaptation of Silence, the 1966 historical novel by Shūsaku Endō. Click to bring God's word to your inbox: One verse a day

Silence novel by shūsaku endō