Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / Portugal's Japanese Christian Martyrs and the Shimabara Aftermath
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Portuguese in Japan — the Nanban trade, the samurai mercenaries, the Shimabara Rebellion. But I want to go back to something that really set the stage for all that: the persecution of Christians that began in the late sixteenth century. And specifically, the story of the 26 Martyrs of Japan. Luna: The 26 Martyrs — I've heard of them, but I don't know the details. When did this happen? Lucas: February 5, 1597. Twenty-six people — Franciscans, Jesuits, and Japanese lay Christians — were marched from Kyoto to Nagasaki and crucified on a hill overlooking the harbor. Nagasaki had become a Christian stronghold, and the authorities wanted to send a message. The leader of the group was a man named Paul Miki, a Japanese Jesuit who had been preaching in Osaka. He was only in his early thirties. Lucas: What's striking is that Paul Miki wasn't some foreign missionary — he was a native Japanese convert, born into a wealthy family near Kyoto. He joined the Jesuits and became a skilled orator. When he was arrested, he was actually in the middle of a dispute between two Japanese lords, but really the persecution was part of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's broader crackdown. Luna: So Hideyoshi was the one who ordered the executions? Lucas: Yes, Hideyoshi had initially been tolerant of Christians — he even allowed Jesuit missionaries to operate freely. But by the 1590s, he became suspicious. There were a number of factors: the Jesuits' influence over daimyo in Kyushu, like Omura Sumitada who converted and gave them Nagasaki; the arrival of Franciscans from the Philippines, who were more aggressive in their preaching; and a famous incident where a Spanish galleon was wrecked and the pilot allegedly boasted that missionaries were the vanguard of conquest. Luna: Wait, really? That sounds like propaganda. Lucas: It probably was, but it played into Hideyoshi's fears. In 1587, he issued an edict expelling all missionaries, but it wasn't enforced strictly. Then in 1596, a ship called the San Felipe wrecked off Shikoku. The Spanish captain supposedly told Japanese officials that missionaries came first, then soldiers. That was the spark. Hideyoshi ordered the arrest of Christians in Kyoto and Osaka, and the 26 were chosen partly as a warning. Lucas: The group included three Japanese Jesuits — Paul Miki, John Goto, and James Kisai — and the rest were Franciscans and laypeople, including young boys. They were forced to march over a thousand kilometers in winter, from Kyoto to Nagasaki. One ear was cut off as a mark of shame. But eyewitnesses say they went singing hymns. Luna: That's incredibly moving. And they were crucified — wasn't that a Japanese punishment? Lucas: Crucifixion was used for certain crimes, yeah. But this was the first mass execution of Christians in Japan, and it became a cause célèbre in Europe. The Vatican beatified them in 1627, and they were canonized in 1862. But for Japan, it was just the beginning. After Hideyoshi died in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu took over, and at first he continued trade — the Portuguese were still welcome, and the English and Dutch arrived. But Ieyasu also began to tighten restrictions on Christianity. Luna: So the martyrdoms didn't stop the faith. What happened next? Lucas: The persecution escalated under Ieyasu's successors. In 1614, a full expulsion edict was issued. Missionaries went underground, and Japanese Christians — known as Kakure Kirishitan — practiced in secret. The Tokugawa shogunate used a system of 'fumi-e', forcing people to trample on images of Christ or the Virgin to prove they weren't Christian. Tens of thousands were killed over the decades. Lucas: And this directly led to the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, which we covered in episode 45. The rebels were mostly Christian peasants and ronin, and they were crushed by a huge shogunal army. After that, the shogunate expelled the Portuguese entirely — the Dutch were the only Europeans allowed to stay, confined to Dejima. That was the beginning of sakoku, the closed country policy. Luna: So the story of the 26 martyrs is really the hinge point — from tolerance to persecution to isolation. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a complex legacy. On one hand, the Portuguese Jesuits like Francis Xavier had laid the groundwork for a Christian community that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. On the other, the political and cultural clash proved impossible to reconcile. The martyrs' execution was meant to crush resistance, but instead it became a symbol of faith that lasted centuries. Lucas: There's a famous account from a Spanish Franciscan named Fray Marcelo de Ribadeneira, who wrote about the march. He described how Paul Miki, from the cross, preached his last sermon — forgiving his executioners and urging the crowd to seek salvation. Even the soldiers were reportedly moved. Luna: Were the martyrs just in Nagasaki, or elsewhere? Lucas: Nagasaki was the site because it had the largest Christian population and the authorities wanted a public spectacle. The hill where they were crucified is now the Nishizaka Park, and there's a monument there. But later martyrdoms happened all over Japan — in Edo, in Kyoto, in the countryside. Many Christians hid their faith for generations, only emerging after Japan reopened in the 19th century. Lucas: For the Portuguese, the loss of the Japan mission was a huge blow to the Estado da Índia. The trade in silver, copper, and luxury goods was immensely profitable. But the shogunate's decision to break with Portugal and rely on the Dutch was a strategic choice — the Dutch didn't bring missionaries. Luna: So the Dutch East India Company basically won out because they kept religion out of trade. Lucas: That's a big part of it. The VOC was purely commercial, while the Portuguese crown and the Church were intertwined. The Japanese saw that and preferred the Dutch model. It's a stark example of how missionary zeal could undermine imperial economic interests. Lucas: But the memory of the 26 martyrs persisted. In the 20th century, they were canonized by Pope Pius IX. And today, Nagasaki still has a strong Christian community — the Ōura Church, built in 1864, is dedicated to them. It's a reminder of that brief, intense period when Japan and Portugal intersected. Luna: It's incredible how such a small group of people could have such a lasting impact. Lucas: Absolutely. And their story is one that connects the global Portuguese empire to local Japanese history in a very human way. Next time you see a painting of the 26 martyrs, you'll know the whole context — the politics, the faith, the tragedy. Luna: I'll never look at Nagasaki the same way again. Lucas: That's the power of history. Anyway, that's a good place to stop for today. Thanks for listening.