When Japan Almost Became Catholic
Catholicism took firm root in Japan shortly after the arrival of the first Portuguese and Spanish traders. Missionaries quickly gained the support of some daimyos and convinced a people scarred by frequent wars. But this new faith eventually became a threat to the Japanese government, which had just unified the archipelago; the risk of foreign interference and revolt became too great. This led to several decades of violent persecution. Today, I invite you to join me as we delve into the history of early Japanese Catholicism!
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Thanks to Jérôme Hannart for his research!
Sources:
• Jean-Michel Dufays, “Japan: History and Civilization (3rd century BC - 21st century AD)” in Jean-Michel Dufays, January 31, 2013. • Le Japon : histoire et civilisation (IIIe ...
• Jean-Michel Dufays, “Japanese Society from the 17th to the 19th Century” in Jean-Michel Dufays, December 9, 2013. • La société japonaise du XVIIe au XIXe siècle
• Jean-Michel Dufays, “The Far Eastern Religious Center: Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan (6th-21st centuries)” in Jean-Michel Dufays, April 16, 2015. • Le foyer religieux extrême-oriental : le s...
• Jean-Pierre Duteil, “Christianity in Japan, "From its origins to Meiji" in Clio. Cultural Travels, June 2003.
• Clotilde Jacquelard, "A Glorious Catastrophe: The Martyrdom of the First Christians of Japan, Nagasaki, 1597" in e-Spania, no. 12, December 2011.
• Nathalie Kouamé (ed.), "The First Evangelization of Japan. 16th-17th Centuries" in History & Christian Missions, no. 11, September 2009, pp. 9-130.
• Nathalie Kouamé, Christianity Tested by Medieval Japan or the Vicissitudes of the First Globalization. 1549-1669, Paris, Karthala, 2016.
• Harukazu Nagaoka, History of Japan's Relations with Europe in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Paris, Henri Jouve, 1905, pp. 11-148.
• Ryû Ôtomo, “Religions and Politics in Japan” in Recherches Internationales, no. 76, 2006, pp. 140-145.
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Music:
Some of the music in this video was created by @AdrianvonZiegler:
• Children of Darkness • Dark Fantasy Music - Children of Darkness
• Lord of the Ashes • Dark Music - Lord of the Ashes
The other music in this video comes from this playlist:
• Shinobi ☯ Japanese Lofi HipHop Mix • Shinobi ☯ Japanese Lofi HipHop Mix
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Illustrations
Some images in this video are from films:
• The 26 Japanese Martyrs (Tomiyasu Ikeda, 1931)
• Silence (Masahiro Shinoda, 1971)
• Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016)
Many of the illustrations come from the collections of these museums:
• British Museum (online: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection)
• Rijksmuseum (online: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksst...)
Some others are from independent artists:
• David Benzal (online: https://www.artstation.com/davidbenzal)
The last few are from these sources:
• Wikimedia Commons (online: https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
• MidJourney (online: https://www.midjourney.com/)
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00:00 - The First Missionary
02:32 - The First Conversions
05:10 - The Work of Alessandro Valignano
06:26 - The First Martyrs
08:50 - A Brief Respite
10:02 - Expulsions, Persecutions, and Massacres