Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / The Portuguese in Nagasaki: The Hidden Christian Century
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Portugal spreading across the Atlantic and down the African coast, but today I want to go somewhere completely different — the other side of the world, to Japan. Because in the mid-1500s, Portuguese ships showed up in the Japanese archipelago, and that encounter changed both societies forever. Luna: Japan? I didn't expect that. How did they even get there? Lucas: Well, it kind of happened by accident. In 1543, a Portuguese ship — probably a junk that had been blown off course while heading to China — landed on the island of Tanegashima, off the southern coast of Kyushu. The local lord was fascinated by their arquebuses, these early firearms. He bought two of them, and within a few decades, Japanese swordsmiths were mass-producing their own versions. That's where the term 'tanegashima' came to mean 'gun' in Japanese. Luna: So the Portuguese accidentally introduced guns to Japan? That's a huge deal. Lucas: It really was. And that was just the beginning. A few years later, in 1549, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima, having traveled from Goa with a Japanese convert named Anjiro. Xavier was the first Christian missionary to reach Japan, and he found a country in the middle of a civil war — the Sengoku period — where daimyo, or warlords, were constantly fighting. Some of them saw Christianity as a useful tool, a way to trade with the Portuguese for guns and silk. Luna: So Christianity and commerce went hand in hand from the start. Lucas: Exactly. The Portuguese called this trade the 'Nanban' trade — 'Nanban' means 'southern barbarians,' which is what the Japanese called them, since they arrived from the south. The Portuguese would bring Chinese silk, gold, and of course, firearms, and they'd take Japanese silver in exchange. Silver was Japan's big export, and the Portuguese were basically the middlemen between China and Japan, because China had banned direct trade with Japan at the time. It was a hugely profitable arrangement. Luna: So the Portuguese became the bridge between two Asian powers. Lucas: Right. And that trade was centered on Nagasaki, a small fishing village that grew into a major port because of it. In 1570, a local lord named Omura Sumitada, who had converted to Christianity, leased the port to the Jesuits. So the Jesuits actually controlled Nagasaki for a while — they collected taxes, they ran the town, and they used it as a base for their missions. By the 1580s, there were over 150,000 Christians in Japan, mostly in Kyushu. Luna: Wait, the Jesuits ran a whole city? That's incredible. Lucas: It was. And they weren't just religious figures — they were also diplomats and traders. They'd negotiate with daimyo, provide them with Portuguese guns, and in return, they'd get protection and converts. Some daimyo even forced their peasants to convert, because they wanted to keep the trade flowing. But this close tie to the Jesuits eventually backfired, because it made Christianity look like a political threat. Lucas: Now, the other big player in this story is the unifier of Japan, Oda Nobunaga. He was the first of the three great unifiers, and he was pretty tolerant of Christians — he used them to counter the Buddhist monasteries that were powerful and often hostile to him. He even allowed the Jesuits to build a church in Kyoto. But when Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi took a different view. Luna: Hideyoshi is the one who turned against them, right? Lucas: Yeah, and it was a sudden shift. In 1587, just a few years after taking power, Hideyoshi issued an edict banning Christianity and ordering all missionaries to leave the country. He was worried that the daimyo of Kyushu, many of whom were Christian, were getting too powerful, and he didn't like the Portuguese having so much influence. But the edict wasn't very strictly enforced at first — the trade was just too important. So the Jesuits stayed, mostly under the radar. Luna: So it was like a ban that nobody really enforced? Lucas: Kind of. Until 1596, when a Spanish ship wrecked off the coast of Shikoku, and the pilot, in a moment of hubris, boasted that the Spanish had conquered the Americas by first sending missionaries and then soldiers. That story reached Hideyoshi, and he flipped. He had 26 Christians — six Franciscans, three Jesuits, and seventeen Japanese converts — arrested and paraded through the streets to Nagasaki, where they were crucified on a hill. Those are the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan. Lucas: And that execution sent a clear message. Christianity was no longer tolerated. But the trade still continued, because Hideyoshi still wanted the silver and the silk. So the Portuguese were allowed to stay, but they had to be careful — they had to prove they weren't there to spread Christianity, even though they were. Luna: It must have been a tense situation for the Portuguese merchants. Lucas: Absolutely. And things got even more complicated after Hideyoshi died in 1598 and Tokugawa Ieyasu took over. Ieyasu was even more suspicious of Christianity. He saw it as a threat to his authority, especially since some daimyo had converted to Christianity and might have used it to rally support against him. So he started cracking down harder, and he also started to restrict the Portuguese trade, eventually expelling them in 1614 and forcing all missionaries to leave. Luna: So that was the end of the Portuguese era in Japan? Lucas: Not quite. The Portuguese were replaced by the Dutch in 1639, but the persecution of Christians continued for decades. Thousands were martyred, tortured, and forced to renounce their faith. But some Christians went underground — they became the 'Kakure Kirishitan,' or hidden Christians. They practiced their faith in secret, using everyday objects to symbolize Christian concepts, and they kept that faith alive for over two centuries until Japan was opened again in the 19th century. Lucas: You know, before we get deeper into that, I want to step back for a second. This show is a labor of love — we research every episode ourselves, and we keep it ad-free because of listeners like you. If you've gotten something out of these conversations, and you want to support us, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it — no pressure, just a small way to keep us going. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us cover the costs of research and hosting. Lucas: So anyway, back to those hidden Christians. They're one of the most fascinating parts of this story. They kept their faith for generations, even when they had no priests, no churches, no Bibles. They passed down prayers orally, and they used things like a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, to represent the Virgin Mary. They would secretly carve crosses into stones, or use the shape of a well to symbolize baptism. Luna: That's incredible — to hold onto your faith like that under so much pressure. Lucas: It really is. And it's a reminder that this story isn't just about politics and trade — it's about real people who made impossible choices. There were also Portuguese and Japanese Christians who collaborated with the authorities, but many chose to die rather than renounce their faith. The last major persecution was during the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637-38, where a group of mostly Christian peasants rose up against their daimyo. They were crushed by the Tokugawa forces, and after that, the already-severe persecution became even harsher. Lucas: And then the Tokugawa shogunate cut Japan off from the world almost entirely — the period known as 'sakoku,' or the closed country. Only the Dutch were allowed to trade, and they were confined to the tiny island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay. The Portuguese were completely expelled, and for over two hundred years, Japan had almost no contact with the outside world. It was only in 1853 that American Commodore Perry forced Japan to open its borders again, and that's when the hidden Christians were discovered. Luna: So they had been secretly practicing their faith for over 200 years? Lucas: Yes. And when they were found, they were both overjoyed and shocked — they had assumed that the church had died with them, but they found that it had survived elsewhere. It's a powerful story of resilience, and it shows how deeply the Portuguese influence had penetrated Japanese society. Lucas: And even today, you can see the legacy everywhere. Words like 'pan' for bread, 'tempura' for fried seafood — those come from the Portuguese. And in Nagasaki, you can still find churches and Christian cemeteries from that era. The Portuguese-influenced architecture, the festivals, even some of the local cuisine — it's all a testament to that brief but intense period of contact. Luna: I never would have thought of tempura as Portuguese. That's a fun fact to bring up at dinner. Lucas: Yeah, it's one of those little gifts that lasted. But the bigger picture is that Portugal's reach truly went around the globe — from the Atlantic islands to the Indian Ocean, and all the way to the other side of the Pacific. Their search for trade and souls led them to places you wouldn't expect, and they left a mark that's still visible today. Lucas: I think the story of the Portuguese in Japan is a perfect example of how the Age of Discovery wasn't just about the Americas and Africa — it was a truly interconnected world. And when you think about how a small European nation could have such a profound impact on a country like Japan, it just shows you how history is full of surprising connections. Luna: And it makes me wonder — what other hidden stories are out there like this one? Lucas: That's a great question. And that's what we're here for. But for now, I think that's a good place to stop. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.