Europe’s Quest for Asia and the Accidental Discovery of Japan

When Renaissance Europe found its traditional overland routes to Asia blocked by powerful Islamic empires, adventurous Portuguese and Spanish sailors pioneered new maritime paths. This era of technological advancement in navigation led to Columbus’s 1492 voyage under Spanish patronage – intended to reach Asia but instead encountering the Americas. Meanwhile, Portuguese sailors successfully rounded Africa, reaching India by 1498 and pushing further into Southeast Asia.

The first European contact with Japan occurred unexpectedly in 1542 when a Portuguese vessel bound for China was blown off course to Tanegashima Island. The islanders welcomed the stranded crew, including two Portuguese merchants and a Chinese interpreter who communicated by drawing in the sand. The visitors presented firearms as gifts to the local lord, establishing a pattern of military technology exchange that would profoundly influence Japan’s warring states period.

The Firearms Revolution and Japan’s Warring States

Japan’s Sengoku period (1467-1615) created ideal conditions for European influence. As the Ashikaga shogunate’s authority collapsed, regional daimyo (feudal lords) competed fiercely for supremacy. Portuguese arquebuses gave early adopters like Oda Nobunaga decisive battlefield advantages, creating enormous demand for European weapons and military advisors. The Tanegashima matchlock (named after its landing site) spread rapidly across Japan, with local smiths soon producing copies.

This military revolution coincided with growing European trade. Daimyo welcomed Portuguese merchants, recognizing that commerce brought not just advanced weapons but also economic benefits to fund larger armies. The southern Kyushu domains, closest to the main trade routes, became particularly prosperous and open to foreign influence.

Francis Xavier and the Jesuit Mission

In 1549, Jesuit priest Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima, marking Christianity’s formal introduction to Japan. Xavier came under Portuguese patronage during the Catholic Counter-Reformation, when religious orders sought new converts abroad to compensate for Protestant gains in Europe. His mission followed encounters with Japanese exiles in Malacca who described their homeland.

Xavier’s early strategy focused on converting daimyo, believing their subjects would follow. Though he failed to convert the emperor or shogun during a grueling two-month journey to Kyoto, Xavier developed key insights about Japanese society. He noted the cultural debt to China, famously remarking that converting China would naturally bring Japan into the Christian fold. Despite spending only two years in Japan before his 1552 death, Xavier established a foundation of 760 converts.

The Jesuit Expansion Strategy

Post-Xavier, Jesuits employed innovative evangelization methods:
– Employing children to parade through streets with flags and bells
– Establishing hospitals and providing medical care
– Adapting Christian imagery to resemble familiar Buddhist iconography
– Focusing on elite conversion to influence broader society

By the 1570s, some Kyushu daimyo enforced mass conversions, destroying Buddhist temples and persecuting non-Christians. Records claim 200,000 baptisms in three months – though many were undoubtedly coerced. The Jesuits’ success stemmed from both their humanitarian work and political alliances with powerful converts.

Oda Nobunaga’s Calculated Tolerance

The warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) strategically supported Christians to counter Buddhist political power. He granted land for Kyoto’s “Southern Barbarian Temple” (Namban-ji) and used Christian troops against militant Buddhist sects like the Ikko-ikki. Nobunaga’s 1571 burning of Enryaku-ji monastery on Mount Hiei – a Buddhist stronghold for centuries – demonstrated his willingness to destroy religious opponents.

However, Nobunaga’s patronage was purely political. He reportedly enjoyed humiliating Buddhist scholars in debates but never converted to Christianity himself. His assassination in 1582 left the religion’s future uncertain.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Sudden Persecution

Initially tolerant, Hideyoshi shocked missionaries by issuing 1587 edicts banning Christianity and ordering missionary expulsion. Several factors influenced this reversal:
– Alarm at Christian daimyo sending envoys to the Pope (1582 Tensho Embassy)
– Reports of Japanese slaves sold by Portuguese traders
– Fears that Christianity threatened social order
– Suspicion of foreign political influence

Hideyoshi’s 1597 crucifixion of 26 Christians in Nagasaki – including six Spanish Franciscans – marked Japan’s first major anti-Christian violence. However, enforcement remained inconsistent due to trade considerations.

Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Protestant Challenge

The Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868) initially relaxed restrictions, but new factors hardened attitudes:
1. The 1600 arrival of English pilot William Adams, who warned of Catholic political ambitions
2. Growing awareness of European religious wars through returned Japanese envoys
3. The 1612 Okamoto Daihachi incident (a Christian financial scandal in the shogunate)
4. Spanish missionaries’ attempted deception to enter Japan

Ieyasu recognized Christianity’s threat to the Tokugawa political order, especially the papal claim to supremacy over monarchs. The 1614 nationwide ban began systematic persecution.

The Shimabara Rebellion and National Seclusion

The 1637-1638 Shimabara Rebellion became the decisive confrontation. Oppressed peasants and masterless samurai (many Christians) fortified themselves at Hara Castle under teenage leader Amakusa Shiro. The shogunate mobilized 125,000 troops and even enlisted Dutch naval bombardment to crush the revolt. The castle’s fall brought mass executions of 37,000 rebels.

This catastrophe convinced the Tokugawa to implement the sakoku (closed country) policy:
– Expulsion of nearly all Europeans
– Death penalty for Japanese traveling abroad
– Restricted foreign trade to Nagasaki’s Dejima island (Dutch) and limited Chinese/Korean contact
– Mandatory Buddhist temple registration to identify hidden Christians

The Hidden Christian Phenomenon

Despite brutal persecution including torture tactics like fumie (trampling Christian images), underground communities survived. In 1865, French missionaries discovered thousands of “Kakure Kirishitan” (hidden Christians) near Nagasaki who had preserved faith for over 200 years without priests. Their syncretic practices blended Catholic rituals with Buddhist and Shinto elements – a testament to religion’s resilience against state oppression.

Legacy and Historical Significance

Japan’s Christian century (1549-1650) represents:
1. An early case of globalization’s disruptive impacts
2. The interplay between military technology, trade, and ideology
3. A precedent for Japan’s later struggles with Western influence
4. A fascinating example of cultural adaptation and resistance

The persecution’s long-term consequences included Japan’s technological isolation until the 1850s and the creation of unique hybrid communities that still influence Japanese culture today. Modern sites like Nagasaki’s Oura Church (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) commemorate this complex historical episode when Japan first grappled with the challenges of global interconnectedness.