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The Portuguese and the Samurai: Mercenaries in the Shimabara Rebellion
In 1637, thousands of Japanese Christians and peasants rose up against the Tokugawa shogunate in the Shimabara Rebellion. Among the defenders of Hara Castle were Portuguese and Spanish mercenaries, Jesuit priests, and ronin warriors. This episode explores the rebellion's causes—crushing taxes, religious persecution, and famine—and its brutal suppression by 120,000 shogunate troops. Lucas and Luna discuss the role of Portuguese arquebuses and cannons in the fighting, the betrayal of the defenders by a Dutch warship bombarding the castle, and the aftermath: the complete closure of Japan to…
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