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Bateren Edict

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Hideyoshi's Bateren Edict

The Bateren Edict (Bateren Tsuihorei) was issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Chikuzen Hakozaki (currently Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) on July 24, 1587, regarding Christian missionary activities and Nanban trade.[1][2] Bateren is derived from the Portuguese word padre, which means "father".

The original document can be found among the "Matsuura Family Documents" and is stored in the Matsuura Historical Museum in Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture. Normally, the document called "Bateren Edict" refers to the five documents dated July 24, refers to "Matsuura Family Document", but also refers to memoranda dated June 18, 1933, in the "Goshuinshi profession old class" discovered in the Jingu Library of Ise Jingu in 1933. Furthermore, since the discovery of the latter 11 "senses", various discussions have been held on the reasons for the differences from the five expulsion orders and the meaning of the two documents.

Background

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Nagasaki's Formation and Christian Settlement

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Nagasaki's development as a significant port city in Japan was closely tied to the arrival of Christianity and Portuguese trade. Initially an unpopulated promontory covered with wild thickets, Nagasaki was selected around 1570 by Jesuit missionaries, with the support of the Christian daimyo Ōmura Sumitada (Don Bartolomeu), for its natural advantages as a port, including a narrow promontory that provided visual defense of the bay entrance. Sumitada, the first Japanese daimyo to convert to Catholicism, invited Jesuits to settle in Yokoseura in the early 1560s, where a church was built, and Portuguese ships visited in 1562 and 1563. However, Yokoseura was destroyed in 1563 by anti-Christian groups and jealous merchants, prompting the Jesuits to seek a new location.[3][4] Nagasaki was chosen, and Sumitada offered to donate the land to the Jesuits to establish a settlement for displaced Christians, many of whom were exiles from other regions due to religious persecution or wars. By 1579, Nagasaki had grown from a village of 400 houses to a town of 5,000 by 1590, and 15,000 by the early 17th century, becoming a hub for Portuguese trade and Catholic activity, with multiple parishes established to meet spiritual needs.[5][6][7]

The Jesuits, led by Valignano, accepted Ōmura’s donation to establish a secure base for their mission and facilitate Portuguese trade. Valignano saw Nagasaki’s strategic value for supporting displaced Christians and funding missionary activities.[8] The donation was accepted conditionally, allowing the Jesuits to withdraw if needed, reflecting caution due to Japan’s political instability and the non-binding nature of Japanese donations, which could be revoked by lords or their successors.[9]

Slavery in Japan Before and After Portugese arrival

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In 16th century Japan, economic pressures and cultural practices led to widespread servitude resembling slavery. Parents, facing taxes from non-Christian lords, sold children into servitude under "great" rather than "extreme" necessity.[10] Japanese lords wielded power akin to Roman vitae necisque potestas, treating peasants and servants as near-slaves,[11][12][13] often using them as tax guarantors.[14] During the Sengoku period, Daimyos and merchants sold war captives, especially women and children, into slavery, with Portuguese and Japanese sources documenting brutalities in conflicts like the 1553 Battle of Kawanakajima and 1578 Shimazu campaigns.[15] The inter-Asian slave trade, including wokou piracy, exacerbated suffering, with reports of Chinese slaves treated like cattle in Satsuma, a fate shared by many Japanese[.[16][17][18] The geninka system[a] formalized servitude, involving children sold by parents, self-sold individuals, debt-bound workers, and those punished for crimes or rebellion including their wives and children. Women fleeing abuse could be forced into genin status, and lords demanded retainers’ daughters serve as genin. Famine and disasters drove people to offer themselves as genin for survival, with the status often becoming hereditary, perpetuating bondage across generations.[21][22][23][24]

The Portuguese engaged in the slave trade in Japan, particularly in Kyushu, where political disunity and economic incentives facilitated the practice. Japanese slaves, often acquired through war, kidnapping,[15] or voluntary servitude due to poverty, were sold to Portuguese merchants and transported to places like Macau, Goa, and even Portugal. The Jesuits, while morally opposed to perpetual slavery, played a complex role. They tolerated temporary servitude (nenkihōkō) under certain conditions, as outlined by Bishop Cerqueira and Jesuit leader Alessandro Valignano, who argued that Japanese customs of servitude differed from European slavery.[25][26] The Church attempted to regulate the trade, with decrees in 1571 by King Sebastião of Portugal and later by King Philip III in 1605, but enforcement was weak due to local resistance and economic interests.[27]

Hideyoshi’s Foreign Invasion Plans

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Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after consolidating power in Japan by 1585, harbored ambitions to expand Japanese influence abroad. In 1585, as Kampaku, Hideyoshi articulated ambitions to invade China to address resource shortages, later expanding to Korea, the Philippines, India.[28] He claimed divine legitimacy, asserting that his mother dreamt she carried the Sun in her womb when he was born, an auspicious sign that he would "radiate virtue and rule the four seas"(Zoku Zenrin Kokuhoki).[29] Hideyoshi’s vision included relocating the Japanese emperor to Beijing, appointing his nephew as regent of China, and establishing himself in Ningbo to oversee further conquests, including India, and Europe.[30] These plans were driven by a desire for economic gain, territorial expansion, and recognition from foreign rulers, rather than purely military motives.[31] The 1592 invasion of Korea, involving over 160,000 troops, was a step toward this goal but ultimately failed after six years, ending with Hideyoshi’s death in 1598.[32][33] Fears of a Japanese invasion of the Philippines were recorded as early as 1586, with Spanish authorities in Manila noting Japanese espionage activities and preparing defenses against potential attacks.[34]

Jesuit Stance on Iconoclasm

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The Jesuits, led by figures like Francisco Cabral and Alessandro Valignano, officially opposed the destruction of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines by Christian converts, viewing such acts as counterproductive to their mission. However, zealous converts, particularly in agricultural and fishing communities, begain to see traditional institutions as complicit in feudal oppression. This led to violent iconoclasm in regions like Nagasaki and Kumamoto, where temples and shrines were burned.[35] The Jesuits aimed to convert the ruling class first, but the fervor of lower-class converts often spilled into destructive acts, complicating the mission’s relationship with Japanese authorities. Historians like Andre C. Ross note uncertainty about direct responsibility, but Jesuit leaders Francisco Cabral and Valignano opposed such violence, advocating accommodation with Japanese customs to sustain the mission.[36]

Luís Fróis’s História de Japam, over-relied upon as a key source on Christian iconoclasm (e.g., temple destruction) due to the scarcity of contemporary Japanese records, is unreliable, often compressing events across years into brief accounts, making contemporary missionary letters more trustworthy.[37] These letters reveal the establishment of the Todos-os-Santos Church in 1569, built by Jesuit priest Gaspar Vilela using materials from a dismantled Buddhist temple[b] donated by Nagasaki Jinzaemon Sumikage.[38] This act symbolized the Christian mission’s impact on local religious landscapes, with reports of other religious sites destroyed, possibly small prayer spaces in fishing villages[c]. The motives—whether missionary zeal, actions by Christian converts fleeing persecution,[39] or wartime strategies by daimyo—remain debated due to scarce corroborating evidence. Japanese and Western records diverge in their accounts: missionary letters focus on Christian activities but omit local perspectives, while Japanese sources, written during the anti-Christian Tokugawa period, lack reliability due to bias and temporal distance.[37] The daimyo, like Ōmura Sumitada, who sheltered Christians in 1569, often navigated a dual identity as both Christians and Buddhists, reflecting a pluralist flexibility. For instance, evidence suggests a daimyo took the tonsure in Shingon Buddhism around 1574, highlighting the coexistence of faiths.[40]

Church Acquisition

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Churches were acquired through donations or purchases, often facilitated by Christian daimyo like Ōmura Sumitada. Many temples, weakened by the Sengoku period’s instability and Oda Nobunaga’s attacks on religious institutions (e.g., the 1571 burning of Enryakuji),[41] were sold by Buddhist monks to missionaries for survival.[42]

Religious Nativism

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Social perceptions of missionaries in Japan were marked by defamatory rumors, notably claims that they consumed human flesh. Fernão Guerreiro’s Jesuit Annual Report documents persistent harassment, including acts like throwing corpses at priests’ doorways to convince the ignorant that missionaries ate human flesh, fostering hatred and disgust.[43] Rumors also circulated that missionaries came to eat children, extracted eyeballs for sorcery.[44][45] Similar slanders, such as claims in Ōmura Yoshimi’s Kyushu Godōzaki that missionaries skinned and ate livestock alive,[46] reflected a broader mystical belief that foreigners, especially missionaries, brought death and destruction. Historian Akio Okada attributes these ideas to xenophobic fears of foreigners and pagans, viewing their presence as inherently tied to ruin.[45]

In 1563, Ōmura Sumitada became Japan’s first Christian daimyō, adopting the baptismal name Dom Bartolomeu. His conversion provoked strong opposition, as Buddhist monks incited a rebellion that led to the burning of the monastery and Christian farmers’ homes at Yokoseura Port, reducing much of the port to ashes.[47] In a letter dated October 14, 1564, Luis de Almeida, Japan’s first Western surgeon and missionary, reported that Arima Haruzumi ordered the destruction of Christian crosses in his domain and mandated that Christians revert to their former beliefs.[48][49] In 1573, Fukahori Sumikata further intensified the persecution by burning down the Todos os Santos Church.[50][51]

Overview of the Bateren Edict

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The Bateren Edict, issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on June 19, 1587, was a decree ordering the expulsion of Christian missionaries (referred to as "bateren," from the Portuguese padre) from Japan. Promulgated during Hideyoshi’s campaign to unify Kyushu, the edict was a response to several perceived threats posed by Christianity.

Shinkoku and Religious Nativism

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Hideyoshi declared Japan a "Land of the Gods" (Shinkoku), arguing that Christian teachings were a pernicious doctrine incompatible with Japan’s syncretic religious traditions, which blended Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism.[52] His push for deification after death likely fueled his religious nativism, as he might fear any obstacles to his own divinization as an absolute ruler. [53]

Economic Concerns

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The edict was partly motivated by the depletion of Kyushu’s labor force due to the Portuguese slave trade and meat eating, which Hideyoshi saw as detrimental to the local economy.[54][55] Although an earlier memorandum included references to the slave trade, the final edict omitted these, focusing instead on religious and political issues.[56]

Political Threat

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The donation of Nagasaki to the Jesuits by Ōmura Sumitada raised concerns that Christian daimyo were ceding control to foreign entities, potentially undermining Hideyoshi’s authority. The close ties between Christian daimyo and Portuguese traders fueled suspicions of foreign interference.[57] George Sansom notes that the teachings of Christianity challenged social hierarchies and existing political structures, analyzing the Bateren Edict as a visceral defensive reaction by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who, from the perspective of a dictator and autocrat, feared missionaries not merely as heretics but as a force undermining the foundation of social order.[58] The Christian-influenced legal code in Nagasaki, blending Japanese customs with milder punishments and separating civil, criminal, ecclesiastical, and secular cases, implicitly challenged Hideyoshi’s absolute authority as a dictator by undermining his rigid control over Japan’s social-political order.[59]

Iconoclasm

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The destruction of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines by Christian converts, particularly in Kyushu, was cited as a grievance, though Hideyoshi’s own history of attacking Buddhist institutions suggests this was a pretext.[41]

Nanban Trade

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The edict banned Christian missionary work but welcomed trade with Christian domains to secure a trade monopoly and strengthen his power. Hideyoshi later seized Nagasaki, Japan’s wealthiest trading port, along with Mogi and Urakami from the Ōmura and Arima clans, destroyed churches, and fined residents heavily. Historian Fujino Tamotsu notes that Hideyoshi made Nagasaki a directly controlled territory to monopolize its unparalleled trade profits.[60]

Discussion

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The edict followed a confrontation between Hideyoshi and Jesuit missionary Gaspar Coelho, triggered by accusations of temple destruction and slave trading by Seyakuin Zenshu, a Buddhist advisor. It addressed economic concerns, such as labor shortages in Kyushu due to the slave trade and meat eating,[55] and political fears of Christian daimyo like Ōmura forming a pro-European faction.[57] The 1580 donation of Nagasaki to the Jesuits, while profitable for Ōmura, fueled suspicions of foreign encroachment.[57] Hideyoshi’s vision of Japan as a Shinkoku, influenced by Zen monk Saisho Jotai and Yoshida Shinto theories, clashed with the Christian worldview, particularly as converts, inspired by missionary zeal, destroyed traditional religious sites. The mission’s appeal to oppressed agricultural and fishing communities, who saw Christianity as liberation from feudal oppression, further alarmed authorities.[35] However, Hideyoshi’s inconsistent enforcement—allowing Valignano’s return in 1590 and using missionaries as trade intermediaries—reflects his pragmatic reliance on Portuguese commerce.[61][62][63] As a despotic ruler, Hideyoshi viewed Christianity as subversive, challenging Japan’s syncretic religious and political structure,[59] a reaction historians like Asao Naohiro link to a nativist response against European influence.[53]

Historian Rômulo da Silva Ehalt argues that human trafficking predated Portuguese arrival in Japan and was widely known across the archipelago, challenging Okamoto Yoshitomo's claim that Hideyoshi, enraged by discovering the slave trade, issued the Bateren Expulsion Order out of moral outrage.[55] Instead, Hideyoshi's interrogatory reveals his primary concerns were economic, such as labor shortages in Kyushu and the influence of Jesuit missionaries, rather than ethical issues. Hideyoshi ordered the return of displaced people—whether trafficked, kidnapped, or voluntarily fled—to their fiefs to stabilize agricultural production, a policy applied nationwide, not just in Kyushu.[64] He also expressed concerns about meat consumption depleting livestock essential for agriculture and war, offering to build a facility for foreigners to consume hunted animals if missionaries couldn't abstain from meat. These actions reflect Hideyoshi’s focus on consolidating control and ensuring economic stability.[65]

Criticisms

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Hideyoshi’s motivations are criticized as inconsistent and possibly hypocritical. His claim of Christian attacks on Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples contradicts his and Nobunaga’s own destruction of Buddhist institutions, such as the Negoroshu monks.[41] His sudden shift from viewing Christians as allies, as Nobunaga did, to enemies is seen as poorly justified, possibly driven by arbitrary or economic concerns rather than moral outrage.[66] Fears of a Christian “fifth column” were exaggerated, as neither Portuguese Macau nor Spanish Manila had the capacity to challenge Japan.[67] The removal of the slave trade condemnation from the final edict suggests economic pragmatism, as Hideyoshi relied on Portuguese trade. Later, during the 1597 Korean invasion, his administration endorsed the enslavement of Korean captives to finance the war, contradicting earlier moral stances, as noted by historian Okamoto.[68][69][70]

Aftermath

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The edict demanded that missionaries leave Japan within 20 days, though it was not consistently enforced. Hideyoshi continued to use Jesuits as interpreters and trade intermediaries, indicating pragmatic motives behind the decree.

Failed Invasion of Korea

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Hideyoshi’s 1592 invasion of Korea with 160,000 troops, followed by a second campaign in 1597, aimed to conquer China but failed spectacularly. After six years, Japanese forces retreated, and Hideyoshi died in 1598, having mobilized 500,000 troops without achieving his goals.[32]

Slave Practices and Karayuki-san

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The slave trade persisted despite the edict, as enforcement was lax and economic incentives remained strong. By the late 16th century, the practice of nenkihōkō (temporary servitude) was common, with some Japanese voluntarily entering servitude to escape poverty. The establishment of yūkaku (pleasure quarters) by Hideyoshi in 1589, such as Kyoto’s Yanagihara, facilitated human trafficking, with women and girls sold into prostitution. This practice evolved into the Karayuki-san phenomenon, where Japanese women were trafficked to Southeast Asia, particularly after the Edo period’s expansion of pleasure quarters like Maruyama in Nagasaki, where women were sold to Chinese and other foreign clients.

San Felipe Incident

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In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe ran aground in Japan, and its pilot, Francisco de Olandia, allegedly boasted about Spanish colonial ambitions, prompting Hideyoshi to execute 26 Christians in Nagasaki in 1597. No primary sources confirm Olandia’s testimony,[71][72] and tensions between Portuguese Jesuits and Spanish Franciscans intensified, with each blaming the other for the martyrdoms.[73]

Invasion Plans for the Philippines

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Hideyoshi’s ambitions to invade the Philippines persisted, with plans articulated in 1591–1593. Japanese emissaries, such as Harada Magoshichiro and Kiemon Harada, conducted reconnaissance in Manila, and Hideyoshi demanded tribute from the Spanish governor in 1592. Spanish defenses were weak, with only 4,000–6,000 soldiers, and fears of invasion persisted, particularly after reports that Hideyoshi planned to use the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan as staging points. However, the invasion never materialized, as Hideyoshi’s focus remained on the Korean campaign.

Inconsistent Execution of Edicts

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The 1587 edict was not rigorously enforced, as Hideyoshi valued trade with the Portuguese and used Jesuits as intermediaries. Missionaries reduced public activities but continued their work covertly. The edict’s inconsistent application allowed Christianity to persist in Nagasaki, where Jesuit influence remained strong until the early 17th century.

Tokugawa Persecution

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Under Tokugawa Ieyasu, who succeeded Hideyoshi, Christian persecution intensified. In 1614, Ieyasu issued a comprehensive expulsion decree, ordering all missionaries to leave and destroying Christian institutions. This was followed by Tokugawa Hidetada’s decrees in 1616 and 1619, which mandated forced conversions to Buddhism and public executions. The 1619 Kyoto executions (52 people, including four children and a pregnant Womban) and the 1622 Nagasaki executions (55 people, including children as young as three) marked a brutal escalation.[74] These measures, justified by appeals to Shinto, Confucian, and Buddhist unity, aimed to eradicate Christianity, forcing believers underground and effectively closing Japan to foreign religious influence.

Transcriptions

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First Version

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The first edict was issued on the 18th day of the 6th month of the 15th year of the Tenshō era, according to the traditional Japanese calendar, which corresponds to the date July 24, 1587, in the Gregorian calendar.

  • 伴天連門徒之儀ハ、其者之可為心次第事、
  • 国郡在所を御扶持に被遣候を、其知行中之寺庵百姓已下を心ざしも無之所、押而給人伴天連門徒可成由申、理不尽成候段曲事候事、
  • 其国郡知行之義、給人被下候事ハ当座之義ニ候、給人ハかはり候といへ共、百姓ハ不替ものニ候條、理不尽之義何かに付て於有之ハ、給人を曲事可被仰出候間、可成其意候事。
  • 弐百町ニ三千貫より上之者、伴天連ニ成候に於いてハ、奉得公儀御意次第ニ成可申候事、
  • 右の知行より下を取候者ハ、八宗九宗之義候條、其主一人宛ハ心次第可成事、
  • 伴天連門徒之儀ハ一向宗よりも外ニ申合候由、被聞召候、一向宗其国郡ニ寺内をして給人へ年貢を不成並加賀一国門徒ニ成候而国主之富樫を追出、一向衆之坊主もとへ令知行、其上越前迄取候而、天下之さはりニ成候儀、無其隠候事。
  • 本願寺門徒其坊主、天満ニ寺を立させ、雖免置候、寺内ニ如前々ニは不被仰付事、
  • 国郡又ハ在所を持候大名、其家中之者共を伴天連門徒押付成候事ハ、本願寺門徒之寺内を立て候よりも不可然義候間、天下之さわり可成候條、其分別無之者ハ可被加御成敗候事、
  • 伴天連門徒心ざし次第ニ下々成候義ハ、八宗九宗之儀候間不苦事、
  • 大唐、南蛮、高麗江日本仁を売遣侯事曲事、付、日本ニおゐて人の売買停止の事。
  • 牛馬ヲ売買、ころし食事、是又可為曲事事。

右條々堅被停止畢、若違犯之族有之は忽可被処厳科者也、

天正十五年六月十八日     朱印
— 天正十五年六月十八日付覚

Translation

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  1. Being a Christian should be at the discretion of the person.
  2. It is unreasonable for the daimyo to force its people to become a Christian even though the temples and peasants in the territory are not willing to do so.
  3. It is only temporary that the daimyo orders to rule the country, so even if the daimyo changes, the peasant does not change, so it is possible for the daimyo to rule the country wrong. if the daimyo says something wrong, he can do what he wants.
  4. A daimyo with more than 3,000 Kan and 200 towns can become a Christian with the permission of Hideyoshi.
  5. Those (daimyo) who have less may be up to the person's wishes, like Hassyu-Kussyu (number of buddhism sects), since it is religious matter
  6. have heard that Ikko-shu may show more than Ikko-shu for Christians, but Ikko-shu not only does not pay the annual tribute to the daimyo by setting up a temple territory (Jinaicho) in the country, but also tries to make whole Kaga province Ikko-shu. Togashi, the daimyo, was banished and ordered to be ruled by a priest of the Ikko sect. It's a fact that can't be hidden anymore.
  7. The monks of Honganji temple are allowed to set up a temple in the land of Tenma (= Tenma Honganji), but this kind of temple territory (of the Ikko sect) has never been allowed.
  8. It is not possible for a daimyo with a national county or territory to make his vassals Christians than for a sect of Honganji to set up a temple territory. Those who do not understand can be punished.
  9. It does not matter that a person with a lower status (rather than a daimyo, etc.) becomes a Christian at will, as in the case of the eight sects and nine sects.
  10. It is unreasonable to sell Japanese to China, Nanban, and the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, in Japan, the buying and selling of people is prohibited.
  11. Buying and selling cows and horses, and killing and eating them are also a shame.

However, Hideyoshi says that he will punish those who take this opportunity to harm the missionaries. Although compulsory conversion to Christianity is prohibited, the people are free to believe in Christianity on their own initiative, and the daimyo can become a believer with the permission of Hideyoshi. In fact, it guaranteed freedom of religion. Immediately after this, Hideyoshi took Nagasaki from the Jesuits and made it a tenryo.

Second Version

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The second version of the edict was issued the next day, on the 6th month, 19th day of the year Tenshō-15, which corresponds to July 25, 1587.

  • 日本ハ神國たる處、きりしたん國より邪法を授候儀、太以不可然候事。
  • 其國郡之者を近附、門徒になし、神社佛閣を打破らせ、前代未聞候。國郡在所知行等給人に被下候儀者、當座之事候。天下よりの御法度を相守諸事可得其意處、下々として猥義曲事事。
  • 伴天連其智恵之法を以、心さし次第二檀那を持候と被思召候ヘバ、如右日域之佛法を相破事前事候條、伴天連儀日本之地ニハおかせられ間敷候間、今日より廿日之間二用意仕可歸國候。其中に下々伴天連儀に不謂族申懸もの在之ハ、曲事たるへき事。
  • 黑船之儀ハ商買之事候間、各別に候之條、年月を經諸事賣買いたすへき事。
  • 自今以後佛法のさまたけを不成輩ハ、商人之儀ハ不及申、いつれにてもきりしたん國より往還くるしからす候條、可成其意事。

已上

天正十五年六月十九日     朱印
— 吉利支丹伴天連追放令

Translation

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  1. Even though Japan is a country protected by its own gods, it is completely unreasonable to introduce the evil law from the Christian country.
  2. I have never heard that local people are brought closer to the (Christian) teachings, made (Christian) believers, and destroyed the temples and shrines. It is only temporary that (Hideyoshi) has the daimyo of each country rule the territory. You should obey the law from the Tenka (Hodeyoshi's rule) and do various things as its rule but it is unreasonable not to do it with a sloppy attitude.
  3. Christian missionaries, by their wisdom, thought that they would leave it to the free will of the people to make them believers, but as I wrote earlier, they violated Japanese Buddhist law. It is not possible to have a Christian missionary in Japan, so get ready in 20 days from today and return to the Christian country. It would be a shame if anyone insisted that he was not a Christian missionary even he is.
  4. Since the trade ship is coming to do business, it is different from this (Edict), so continue to do business in the future too.
  5. From now on, it is permitted to visit Japan from the Christian country at any time, even if you're not a merchant, as long as it doesn't interfere with Buddhist law, so I'll allow it.

6th month, 19th day, Tenshō era, 15th year

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Genin (下人) were low-status, often hereditary servants in medieval Japan, employed in agricultural or household labor. Known as fudai no genin (譜代の下人, hereditary servants) or similar terms, they were subject to customary practices allowing their sale.[19][20]
  2. ^ The family temple(菩提寺) of Nagasaki clan.
  3. ^ As missionary records do not mention the shrines in Nagasaki noted in Japanese sources, those shrines could have been abandoned or deteriorated due to natural exposure before the port town’s establishment.

References

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  1. ^ Boscaro, Adriana (1973). "Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the 1587 Edicts Against Christianity". Oriens Extremus. 20 (2): 219–241. ISSN 0030-5197. JSTOR 44001284.
  2. ^ Kang, Etsuko Hae-Jin (1997), Kang, Etsuko Hae-Jin (ed.), "The Tokugawa Taikun Diplomacy and Korea", Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: From the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 136–166, doi:10.1057/9780230376939_6 (inactive 6 July 2025), ISBN 978-0-230-37693-9, retrieved 2022-07-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
  3. ^ Portuguese “discovery” and “naming” of the Formosa Island, 1510-1624: A history based on maps, rutters and other documents, Paul Kua, Anais de História de Além-Mar XXI (2020): pp. 323-324., "...from this year of 1571, Nagasaki became the recognised terminal port in Japan for the Great Ship from Macao” (Boxer 1963, 35). This is still a rather big range of years. Fortunately, further research enables us to narrow down the time. Ōmura Sumitada, the first Japanese Daimyo to accept Catholicism, had invited the Jesuits to settle in Yokoseura and built a church there, and the Portuguese ships visited this port in 1562 and 1563. But sadly, in 1563, the port of Yokoseura was destroyed by jealous merchants and anti-Christian groups in Japan, making it unsuitable for use thereafter (Boxer 1963, 27-29)"
  4. ^ Interactions Between Rivals: The Christian Mission and Buddhist Sects in Japan (c.1549–c.1647), "In 1563 Ōmura Sumitada becomes the first Christian daimyō with the name of Dom Bartolomeu. Owing to an uprising incited by Buddhist monks, the port of Yokoseura becomes a heap of ashes."
  5. ^ The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica , 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), pp.307-308 "There were also at that time many Christians living away from their homes, persecuted and exiled by the pagan lords because they refued to abandone the Faith and return to their sects....he added that by dividing the promontory among the displaced Christians a start would be made towards building the town. As this was a very good plan and most profitable for Don Bartolome and all his domain, he was greatly pleased by the idea and gave the promontory to the Father to divide among the displaced Christians. When I reached Japan for the first time,28 there were about four hundred houses there."
  6. ^ FUSION URBAN PLANNING IN THE 16TH CENTURY. JAPANESE AND PORTUGUESE FOUNDING NAGASAKI, Cristina Castel-Branco, Margarida Paes, Technical University of Lisbon, BPJS, 2009, 18/19, 67-103, p.89, "The population of Nagasaki grew very fast and this also indicates that the planners had adequately designed the city to encompass a large population. “In 1579 Nagasaki was a village of about 400 houses. By 1590 it had become a town known all over Japan, with a population of 5.000. At the beginning of the 17th century the population had reached 15.000. We may therefore say that Nagasaki was discovered by the Portuguese and developed by Portugal and the Catholic Church”.65 Along with it grew the churches just like in Lisbon"
  7. ^ FUSION URBAN PLANNING IN THE 16TH CENTURY. JAPANESE AND PORTUGUESE FOUNDING NAGASAKI, Cristina Castel-Branco, Margarida Paes, Technical University of Lisbon, BPJS, 2009, 18/19, 67-103, p.87-88, "In his Apologia, written in 1598, Alessandro Valignano, an Italian Jesuit who led the Company of Jesus in Japan for many years, gave the same account although he adds decisive elements such as the natural quality of the place with a promontory, visual defence of the bay entrance, and a thorough site selection previous to the founding. “About thirty years ago the port of Nagasaki, which is the territory of Don Bartholomé, Lord of Omura, was completely unknown and unpopulated. It is a naturally very good port, for a narrow promontory, which was then covered with wild thickets and brambles, juts out into the sea."
  8. ^ The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica , 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), p.316, "Secondly, in this way not only the territory of Don Bartolome but also the whole Christian mission of these parts would be made secure. Because if this place belonged to the Fathers, the Christians would have a great sanctuary when some of their pagan lords want to make them renounce the Faith or impose other such burdens on them. Because then they could leave their homes and come to live in this port, as many have done in times past when the Fathers began to gather them together in this place. And as their leaving their homes would cause much harm to their lords, these same nobles would then be discouraged from doing what they liked against the Christians.46"
  9. ^ The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica , 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), pp. 319-320, "Thirdly, the upkeep of this town and of this port, and the revenue which it provides us, all depend on the Portuguese ships coming here. If they did not come, we would not have revenue nor could these people be supported in any other way, because they completely depend for their living on what they earn from the said ships. And if these ships were to fail to come for two or three years, the people would have to leave the place; and as the coming of these ships is so uncertain and doubtful, this donation cannot be accepted as something firm and stable."
  10. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 472, "Cerqueira said that these parents would be led to subject their children to slavery because they could not pay taxes demanded by non-Christian Japanese lords. However, the problem he had in Japan was that gentile rulers were creating this situation...On the other hand, the problem of definition of necessity also permeates this discussion. Cerqueira indicates that some children were sold not out of extreme necessity, but rather of great necessity. The issue here is relativism: given the local living standards, the Japanese were supposedly able to live in conditions that could be deemed extreme in other areas but were rather ordinary in the archipelago"
  11. ^ Tōkyō Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo (ed.). Nihon Kankei Kaigai Shiryō –Iezusu-kai Nihon Shokan, Genbun, 3 volumes. Tokyo: Tōkyō Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo, 1990-2011. I, p. 170
  12. ^ Juan Ruiz-de-Medina (ed.). Documentos del Japón, 2 Vol. Rome: Instituto Histórico de la Compañía de Jesús, 1990-1995. I, p.216
  13. ^ WESTBROOK, Raymond. “Vitae Necisque Potestas”. In: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Bd. 48,H. 2 (2nd quarter, 1999). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999, p. 203
  14. ^ MIZUKAMI Ikkyū. Chūsei no Shōen to Shakai. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1969.
  15. ^ a b Thomas Nelson, “Slavery in Medieval Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica59, no. 4 (2004): pp. 479-480, "Fujiki provides a wealth of sources to show just how common the practice of abducting slaves was. Koyo gunkan 甲陽軍鑑, for instance, offers a graphic account of the great numbers of women and children seized by the Takeda army after the Battle of Kawanakajima 川中島 of 1553:.... Hojo godaiki 北条五代記 reveals how systematized the process of ransoming and abduction could become... Reports by the Portuguese corroborate such accounts. In 1578, the Shimazu 島津 armies overran the Otomo 大友 territories in northern Kyushu."
  16. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 277, "Chinese forced labor brought to Japan via these pirates is Zhèng Shùn-gōng 鄭舜功’s Rìběn Yíjiàn 日本一鑑. The book was compiled during Zhèng’s six-month trip to Bungo 豊後 in 1556, during the height of the Wakō activities in the region. In the section describing captives in Japan, Zhèng mentions that in Takasu 高洲, southern Kyushu, there were about two to three hundred Chinese people, “treated like cattle”, originally from Fúzhōu 福州, Xīnghuà 興化, Quánzhōu 泉州, Zhāngzhōu 漳州 and other areas serving as slaves in the region.910"
  17. ^ Rômulo Ehalt, Geninka and Slavery: Jesuit Casuistry and Tokugawa Legislation on Japanese Bondage (1590s–1620s), Itinerario (2023), 47, 342–356 doi:10.1017/S0165115323000256, pp. 352-353, "This principle was not limited to the case of genin—social status in general was also often transmitted according to the same gender-based rule: sons taking on that of their fathers, daughters of their mothers....Nevertheless, the authority of the Ritsuryō was always on the minds of early modern Japanese. In 1587, when a group of Japanese visiting Manila was questioned on bondage practices in their country, their response to the fate of genin children replicated the model established by the code.5"
  18. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 282, "Forced labor was a sub product of these struggles, and the Japanese slave market became dependent not only on Chinese and Koreans captured by Wakō, but also on servants captured domestically."
  19. ^ Maki, Hidemasa. Jinshin Baibai [Human Trafficking]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho, 1971, p. 60.
  20. ^ University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute. Strolling Through the Forest of Japanese History: 42 Fascinating Stories Told by Historical Documents. Tokyo: Chuko Shinsho, 2014, pp. 77–78.
  21. ^ Rômulo Ehalt, Geninka and Slavery: Jesuit Casuistry and Tokugawa Legislation on Japanese Bondage (1590s–1620s), Itinerario (2023), 47, 342–356 doi:10.1017/S0165115323000256, p. 354, "The same suggestion was repeated in other cases. For instance, those who offered themselves to work in exchange for protection during events like famines and natural disasters were often considered genin in Japanese society, but confessors were to admonish penitents that they should free these genin upon the completion of enough labour to pay for the amount of food, clothing, and shelter provided."
  22. ^ Rômulo Ehalt, Geninka and Slavery: Jesuit Casuistry and Tokugawa Legislation on Japanese Bondage (1590s–1620s), Itinerario (2023), 47, 342–356 doi:10.1017/S0165115323000256, pp. 352-353, "This principle was not limited to the case of genin—social status in general was also often transmitted according to the same gender-based rule: sons taking on that of their fathers, daughters of their mothers....Nevertheless, the authority of the Ritsuryō was always on the minds of early modern Japanese. In 1587, when a group of Japanese visiting Manila was questioned on bondage practices in their country, their response to the fate of genin children replicated the model established by the code.5"
  23. ^ Rômulo Ehalt, Geninka and Slavery: Jesuit Casuistry and Tokugawa Legislation on Japanese Bondage (1590s–1620s), Itinerario (2023), 47, 342–356 doi:10.1017/S0165115323000256, pp. 352-353, "Rescuing people condemned to death could result in tolerable slavery, but the condemnation had to be unjust—a conclusion evocative of the Mediterranean and Atlantic doctrine of rescate. In that case, a Christian could offer a fair ransom and, since no one should be forced to give his or her money for free, the benefactor could hold the rescued person in exchange as their servant, especially when some spiritual good came as a result of such transaction"
  24. ^ Rômulo Ehalt, Geninka and Slavery: Jesuit Casuistry and Tokugawa Legislation on Japanese Bondage (1590s–1620s), Itinerario (2023), 47, 342–356 doi:10.1017/S0165115323000256, p. 354,"Similar argument was made in the discussion of the case of women who had fled their fathers or husbands and sought shelter in the local lord’s house. While Japanese custom accepted that these women could be transformed into genin by the lord, the Goa theologians established that they could be considered enslaved only when they had been accused of and condemned for a crime. Otherwise, missionaries should campaign for their liberation in advising Japanese Christians through confession."
  25. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 473, "Next, Cerqueira deals with the issue of voluntary servitude, which here most probably refers to the practice of nenkihōkō 年季奉公 in Japan. The bishop makes it clear that the Japanese fulfilled all the conditions prescribed by moral theology for voluntary servitude, as for example the six points defined by Silvestre Mazzolini.1446"
  26. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. pp. 522-523, "The Spanish jurist thus registers that the enslavement of Japanese and Chinese was admitted as far as it was temporary, and that their servitude was fundamentally different from perpetual slavery. This difference is reinforced by the wording of his Latin text: while Asian slavery is called iustae captivitas, Japanese and Chinese servitude is expressly referred as temporali famulitium, temporal servitude. These were not people enslaved as a result of captivity in war, nor were to be understood as common slaves...Also, the legitimacy of these servants is provided by the understanding that local customs and laws were just according to European standards. This shows a line of interpretation close to what Valignano defended until 1598 in his idea of Japanese slavery’s tolerability."
  27. ^ Thomas Nelson (2004). “Slavery in Medieval Japan”. Monumenta Nipponica (Sophia University) 59 (4): 463-492. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 25066328 2024年3月14日閲覧. "As early as 1555, complaints were made by the Church that Portuguese merchants were taking Japaense slave girls with them back to Portugal and living with them there in sin....Political disunity in Japan, however, together with the difficulty that the Portuguese Crown faced in enforcing its will in the distant Indies, the ready availability of human merchandise, and the profits to be made from the trade meant that the chances were negligible of such a ban actually being enforced. In 1603 and 1605, the citizens of Goa protested against the law, claiming that it was wrong to ban the traffic in slaves who had been legally bought. Eventually, in 1605, King Philip of Spain and Portugal issued a document that was a masterpiece of obfuscation intended both to pacify his critics in Goa demanding the right to take Japanese slaves and the Jesuits, who insisted that the practice be banned."
  28. ^ Ike Susumu, Modern Asian Studies Review Vol 8, 2017, p. 7, "The first indication that Hideyoshi intended to invade China was made during the 9th month of Tensho 天正 13 (1585), just after he had been appointed Kampaku 関白 regent and forced the surrender of two powerful warlords, Chosokabe Motochika 長 宗 我 部 元 親 in Shikoku 四 国 and Sassa Narimasa 佐 々 成 政 in Etchπ 越中...Hideyoshi wrote in a letter to one of his own vassals, for those like Kato who have too many retainers and not enough rice to feed them, “asking Japan to foot the bill isnʼt going to be enough; weʼll have to get China to contribute, too” [Iyo Komatsu Hitotsuyanagike Monjo 伊予小松一柳家文書]. This was Hideyoshiʼs way, now that his hegemony over Japan was almost complete, of egging his military further on to an “adventure on the Continent” (Kara-iri 唐入り) with the promise of territorial expansion."
  29. ^ Ike Susumu, Modern Asian Studies Review Vol 8, 2017, p. 8, "Later on in peace negotiations with the Ming Dynasty, the “Articles to Be Announced to the Imperial Ming Delegation” which Hideyoshi gave to Japanese representatives led by Ishida Mitsunari 石田三成 would contain the statement, “The great land of Japan is a holy land. Its god is the Creator. The Creator is its god.” Hideyoshi himself claimed that when he was born, his mother had a dream that she was carrying the Sun in her womb. In other words, it was an auspicious sign that the child whom she had given birth to would throughout his life “radiate virtue and rule the four seas” [Zoku Zenrin Kokuhoki 続善隣国宝記]. This article was of course not Hideyoshiʼs idea but rather proposed by such diplomatic advisors as Zen monk Saisho Jotai 西笑承兌, for Japanʼs Warring States Era was marked by the spread of religious syncretism incorporating Confucian ideas and Shinto beliefs into the framework of the Dharma.
  30. ^ Ike Susumu, Modern Asian Studies Review Vol 8, 2017, p. 10-11 "As soon as he received the news of the victories, Hideyoshi made public his plans for the occupation and rule of East Asia, in which present Emperor Goyozei 後陽成 and his court would be relocated to Beijing and granted ten provinces....Hideyoshi himself would take up residence in the port town of Ningbo 寧波, “where the Japanese fleet would land” to take him onto the conquest of India [Kumiya Monjo 組屋文書]."
  31. ^ Routledge Handbook of Asian Regionalism, Edited by Mark Beeson and Richard Stubbs. Routledge, 2012, p.69.
  32. ^ a b Routledge Handbook of Asian Regionalism, Edited by Mark Beeson and Richard Stubbs. Routledge, 2012, p.58, "In 1592, Japanese General Hideyoshi invaded Korea with more than 160,000 troops on approximately 700 ships, eventually mobilizing 500,000 troops, intending to conquer China after first subduing Korea (Swope 2005: 41). More than 60,000 Korean soldiers, eventually supported by 100,000 Ming Chinese forces, defended the Korean peninsula. After 6 years of war, the Japanese retreated and Hideyoshi died, having failed spectacularly in his quest to conquer China and Korea."
  33. ^ Ike Susumu, Modern Asian Studies Review Vol 8, 2017, p. 7, "According to Hideyoshi, the division of Kyushu was motivated by the hope of “taking command as far as the continental and South Seas barbarians” [Kobayakawake Monjo 小早川家文書]. A few days after the partition of Kyushu, Hideyoshi toured the city of Hakata 博多, the gateway to the East Asia trade, urging the reconstruction of his new possession from the ruins of war into a base of logistics not only to take control of commerce, but also to launch an attack on Korea."
  34. ^ Memorial to the Council, 1586, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, ed. Blair and Robertson, vol. 6, p. 183.
  35. ^ a b Nelson, John K. (1996) A year in the life of a Shinto shrine, Seattle, University of Washington Press, p.15, "In spite of the Jesuit goal for converting the ruling class first, many agricultural and fishing communities saw in the transcendent message of loyalty to an omnipotent god a way to liberate themselves from centuries of oppression and submission. Converts learned to view traditional institutions such as temples and shrines as having been in collusion with the feudal lords, who had so long kept them in abject poverty. Inspired by the zealous preaching of certain Jesuit priests (and, later, those from Franciscan and Augustinian orders, who came from the Spanish Manila), the new religion´s fervour spilled over into violent action, as numerous temples and shrines throughout what is today Nagasaki and Kumamoto Prefectures were put to torch."
  36. ^ Andrew C. Ross, A Vision Betrayed: The Jesuits in Japan and China, 1542-1742, Orbis Books (1994/12/1) p.47
  37. ^ a b Amaro, Bébio Vieira. "Research Concerning the Establishment of Nagasaki's Port Town." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan 67.2 (2016): pp.3-4
  38. ^ Amaro, Bébio Vieira. "Research Concerning the Establishment of Nagasaki's Port Town." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan 67.2 (2016): pp.14-17
  39. ^ Amaro, Bébio Vieira. "Research Concerning the Establishment of Nagasaki's Port Town." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan 67.2 (2016): p.14., p.20
  40. ^ Immanent Power and Empirical Religiosity, Conversion of the Daimyo of Kyushu, 1560–1580, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 47/2: 247–278, p.258, "Indeed his experimentalism may have retained a pluralist flexibility, if we consider the Japanese evidence that (probably in 1574) he also took the tonsure (shukke) in Shingon Buddhism along with a priest name (Higashibaba 2001, 39–40)"
  41. ^ a b c Rie Arimura, The Catholic architecture of early modern Japan: Between adaptation and Christian identity, Japan Review 27 (2014): 53–76, p. 59, "Furthermore, Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 had set out to destroy religious institutions, or at least limit their power, as part ot his strategy to unify and create a centralized regime in Japan. His burning of Enryakuji 延暦寺,the main temple of the Tendai sect on Mount Hiei in 1571,is but one example. Similarly, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 eliminated a community of Shingon 真言 monks known as Negoroshu 根采衆.31"
  42. ^ Rie Arimura, The Catholic architecture of early modern Japan: Between adaptation and Christian identity, Japan Review 27 (2014): 53–76, p. 59, "In truth, not all Buddhist temples reused by the missionaries were as prestigious or powerful. In fact, many had been abandoned at the backdrop of the political and social instability of the Sengoku period....It was in order to escape religious oppression that the Buddist monks sold tneir properties to the missionaries. Frois noted this in 1577: "The reason why these monks sell their temples and monasteries where they live is because the King Nobunaga is gradually destroying and taking away their property. [...] The monks sell what they have in order to get funds to live."
  43. ^ Fernão Guerreiro, ed., Jesuit Annual Report Collection, Jesuit Japan Reports of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Volume 1, Dohosha, 1987
  44. ^ Myths, missions, and mistrust: The fate of Christianity in 16th and 17th century Japan, John Nelson, Pages 93-111, 2010,, History and Anthropology, Volume 13, 2002 - Issue 2, "In some parts of the country, Catholic priests were rumored to be little more than demons who "ate children, disemboweled people to make poisons, and possessed the power to wither trees and grass just by touching them"
  45. ^ a b Okada A. 1955 Kirishitan Bateren, tokyo, shinbun-do, p.159
  46. ^ da Silva Ehalt, Rômulo (2017). Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan (Thesis). Tesis Doctoral, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. p. 345-346., "The description abounds in horror and awe. The horrific scenario described instantly reminds contemporary readers of the horrors of the slave trade between Africa and the Americas. However, there are issues that may be raised to question the text’s accuracy. The chronicle sounds somewhat fantastic when describing the eating habits of the Portuguese. In fact, the description of Europeans as raw meat-eating monsters was quite common in East Asia."
  47. ^ Curvelo, Alexandra, and Angelo Cattaneo. Interactions Between Rivals: The Christian Mission and Buddhist Sects in Japan (c. 1549-c. 1647). Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2021., p.48, "1563 Ōmura Sumitada becomes the first Christian daimyō with the name of Dom Bartolomeu. Owing to an uprising incited by Buddhist monks, the port of Yokoseura becomes a heap of ashes."
  48. ^ Takashi Gonoi, New Omura City History, Volume 2 (Medieval Edition), Chapter 4, Omura City History Compilation Committee. Omura City, 2014-03-31., p.481
  49. ^ Cartas que os Padres e Irmaos da Companhia da Iesus, que andao nos Reynos de lapao escreverao aos da mesma Companhia da India, e Europa, desde anno de 1549 ate 1580. Primeiro Tomo, Evora 1598. f. 155.
  50. ^ Takashi Gonoi, New Omura City History, Volume 2 (Medieval Edition), Chapter 4, Omura City History Compilation Committee. Omura City, 2014-03-31., p.508
  51. ^ Ribeiro, Madalena, Gaspar Vilela. Between Kyúshú and the Kinai, Bulletin of Portuguese - Japanese Studies, vol. 15, diciembre, 2007, pp. 9-27.
  52. ^ Handbook of Christianity in Japan / edited by Mark R. Mullins. p. cm. — (Handbook of oriental studies, Section 5, Japan ; v. 10) ISBN 90-04-13156-6 I. Japan—Church history. I. Series. pp. 251-252, "A more antagonistic dynamic between Shinto and Christianity in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is more easily identified. Early evidence is to be found, for example, in Hideyoshi's expulsion edict of 1587 and his 1591 letter to the Governor General of Goa (Gonoi 1990, 150ñ1). In both, Hideyoshi deploys Shinto symbolism to justify the expulsion from Japan of Christianity and its missionaries. Item 1 of the edict reads: Japan is the Land of the Gods. Diffusion here from the Kirishitan Country of a pernicious doctrine is most undesirable. His 1591 letter begins in the same vein. The fact is that our land is the land of the gods and then proceeds to an exposition of what Takagi Shÿsaku (1993) has identified as Yoshida Shinto theories of the origins of the universe."
  53. ^ a b Handbook of Christianity in Japan / edited by Mark R. Mullins. p. cm. — (Handbook of oriental studies, Section 5, Japan ; v. 10) ISBN 90-04-13156-6 I. Japan—Church history. I. Series. pp. 251-252, "Asao Naohiro has observed that Hideyoshi was consciously constructing the idea of Japan as land of the gods as a counter and response to the idea of Europe as land of the Christian God. Ieyasu's letters to the Governor General of the Philippines in 1604 and the Governor General of Mexico in 1612 articulate the same ideas about Christianity's incompatibility with Japan as shinkoku, the land of the gods (Asao 1991, 108ñ18; Gonoi 1990, 203ñ5). More research needs to be done on this linkage between the Christian proscription and Shinto ideas, but it would not be surprising, given the nature of the nativistic dynamic, if counter-Christian concerns were somewhere present in the anxiety of both Hideyoshi and Ieyasu to have themselves deified and venerated after their deaths."
  54. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 328 ,"He explains the necessity they had of cows and horses in the country, as an important resource for war and manual labor. Hideyoshi also explains that eating these animals could deplete the land of this important resource. Once more, the ruler makes an irrefutable offer to the priests: if the Portuguese and the missionaries could not live without eating meat, Hideyoshi would order the construction of a facility to keep hunted animals to be consumed by the foreigners."
  55. ^ a b c Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 333, "In conclusion, the interrogatory sent by Hideyoshi shows that the ruler was more concerned with economic aspects and the impact of the way Jesuits acted in Japan rather than moral issues. The depletion of the fields of Kyushu from human and animal labor force was a serious issue to the local economy. This conclusion overturns what has been stated by the previous historiography, since Okamoto, who defended that Hideyoshi, upon arriving in Kyushu, discovered for the first time the horrors of the slave trade and, moved by anger, ordered its suspension.1053 However, as we saw before, the practice was much older and most certainly known in the whole archipelago, although apparently restricted to Kyushu. Because the Kanpaku consolidated his rule over the island, conditions were favorable for him to enact such orders."
  56. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p.344, "Both Hirai Seiji and Fujiki Hisashi support the provision forbidding the slave trade was addressed to the Japanese, not to foreigners.1078 Thus, the export of Japanese slaves was hindered as a consequence of the main prohibition. Because of that, we understand Hideyoshi had in fact followed Coelho’s advice, and acted to curtail the slave trade with legal actions aimed at Japanese rulers rather than foreign merchants."
  57. ^ a b c The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica , 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), pp.322-323,"If Don Bartolome gave to the Fathers what in fact he gave them in the port of Nagasaki, reserving for himself the dominion and the trading dues, as has been said, it was primarily because it seemed good to him and it was profitable, and no harmn could befall him from it; for the Fathers and all the town and port of Nagasaki remained as obedient and subject to him as before; neither had they the power to go againlst him nor was there any danger that they might try to do so.... But if perchance he had seen that we were attempting to hand over that town to the kings of Spain and that we tried to establish a fort there with a Spanish garrison, would he have been pleased with all this and considered it a good thing? I believe most definitely that if Don Bartolome had only suspected such a thing, he would have dealt with all of us in the same way as Taikj58 has now dealt with the friars.""
  58. ^ Sansom, George Bailey, Sir (1965). The Western world and Japan. CHaddon Craftsmen, Inc. p. 129. CRID 1130282270102463744. ""From his standpoint as a dispotic ruler he (=Hideyoshi) was undoubtedly right to regard Christian propaganda as subversive, for no system can survive unchanged once the assumptions upon which it is based are undermined. However high their purpose, what the Jesuits were doing, in Japan as well as in India and China, was to challenge a national tradition and through it the existing political structure. This last is an animal that always defends itself when attacked, and consequently Hideyoshi's reaction, however deplorable, was to be expected and does not seem to need any fuller explanation.""
  59. ^ a b The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica , 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), p.317, "The chief difficulty which the missionaries found with Nagasaki on their hands was the administration of justice. As Doctor of Law, Valignano thoroughly understood the grave problems involved in this administration; at the same he was able to find a solution which on the one hand was in accord with Japanese customs and on the other did not violate either Christian mentality or the laws of the Church. We do not know any detail the laws which Oomura Sumitada drew up with Valignano's advice, but from the words of the Visitor we can deduce that the code for the new city of Nagasaki was an improvement in two respects on the legislation then in force in Japan. The first and most important feature was the introduction of the distinction between criminal and civil cases and between ecclesiastical and secular jurisdiction; the second was an appreciable mitigation of penal severity."
  60. ^ Tamotsu Fujino, New Omura City History, Volume 2 (Medieval Edition), Chapter 3, Omura City History Compilation Committee. Omura City, 2014-03-31., p.444
  61. ^ de Bary, Wm. Theodore (2005). “Part IV: The Tokugawa Peace”. Sources of Japanese Tradition: 1600 to 2000. Columbia University Press. pp. 149. ISBN 9780231518123
  62. ^ Boxer, C. R. (1951). The Christian Century in Japan: 1549–1650. University of California Press., pp. 152–53. GGKEY:BPN6N93KBJ7.
  63. ^ The Spanish Lake, O. H. K. Spate, 2000
  64. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. pp. 330-331 ,"Fróis was, in fact, explaining his audience that Hideyoshi’s was poised to demand the return of people who were displaced by events such as war, kidnapping, or even people who had voluntarily fled their village...And the order for return of laborers to one’s fief was one of the necessary maneuvers to guarantee these conditions. These people could be displaced not only by conflict or kidnappings, but also by fleeing economic and social conditions. 1050 These were moves occurring in all Japanese territory and were not restricted to areas of Kyushu."
  65. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017. p. 328 ,"He explains the necessity they had of cows and horses in the country, as an important resource for war and manual labor. Hideyoshi also explains that eating these animals could deplete the land of this important resource. Once more, the ruler makes an irrefutable offer to the priests: if the Portuguese and the missionaries could not live without eating meat, Hideyoshi would order the construction of a facility to keep hunted animals to be consumed by the foreigners."
  66. ^ Christianity and Biblical Translations in Japan, Seth Wallace Jones, Phd Thesis, pp.13-14, "Hideyoshi’s choice seems to have been for completely arbitrary reasons. While there were factors that could have contributed to him being swayed, such as the close relationships between European traders and newly converted southern daimyo, the facts are not clear as to why he suddenly switched stances on the Christian issue. Until the fateful night when he questioned Coelho, he was friendly with the Christians, even seeing them as a tool much like Oda Nobunaga. His claim in the edict that he found the attacks of Christian daimyo on Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples appalling is also hypocritical. Both Hideyoshi and Nobunaga often attacked Buddhist temples that they perceived as threats to their political power, 19 so this drastic change in attitude towards them is illogical. It was so inconceivable to the Jesuits and Japanese Christians that they continued on with their mission"
  67. ^ Squabbles between the Jesuits and the Franciscans: a historical review of policies of two christian orders in Japan, Trans/Form/Ação, Marília, v. 46, n. 1, p. 235-250, Jan./Mar., 2023., p.248, "Thus, Hideyoshi must have been informed that Spanish missionaries had formed a fifth column and prepared the way for colonial conquest. Whether he believed this is another matter. Certainly his fears for national security of Japan were exaggerated, as neither the Portuguese in Macau nor the Spaniards at Manila were even in a remote position to challenge Japan. Persecution happened from time to time after the martyrdoms. This led to hard times for all missionaries in Japan, even during Ieyasu’s reign when Portuguese-Japanese trade was promoted. The mission in Japan progressed from bad to worse, hitting rock bottom in 1614 when Ieyasu issued an expulsion decree ordering all missionaries to leave Japan. From then on, Japan closed the door to the outside world."
  68. ^ Jesuits and the Problem of Slavery in Early Modern Japan, Doctoral Dissertation, Rômulo da Silva Ehalt, 2017., pp.432-433, "Martins’ decision established a new rule for Portuguese merchants in Japan – Japanese or Koreans were not to be purchased nor taken out of the archipelago. By reading the 1598 document, it seems that the Jesuits decided to finish their permit system, in place since the Cosme de Torres era, and prosecute slave traders. Interestingly, the main difference here between the ecclesiastical legislation and the local Japanese legislation, enforced by Hideyoshi’s administration, was that the bishop included the Koreans in his ban, while the Japanese ruler expected to use them"
  69. ^ Olof G. Lidin (2002). Tanegashima - The Arrival of Europe in Japan. Routledge. p. 170. ISBN 1135788715. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  70. ^ Amy Stanley (2012). Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan. Vol. 21 of Asia: Local Studies / Global Themes. Matthew H. Sommer. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520952386. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  71. ^ Según esta versión, cuando el Gobernador enviado por Hideyoshi a Tosa interrogó a algunos miembros de la tripulación del San Felipe, uno de los testimonios fue el del piloto del navío, un tal Francisco de Landia, y éste supuestamente quiso impresionar a Masuda enseñándole en un mapa la gran cantidad de territorios sobre los que gobernaba Felipe II –de la misma forma en que, recordemos, fray Juan Cobo había hecho con Hideyoshi tiempo atrás–; de lo hablado en esta entrevista, cabe aclarar, no hay testigos directos ni documentos escritos."
  72. ^ Cabezas, Antonio. El siglo ibérico de Japón. La presencia hispano-portuguesa en Japón (1543-1643). Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 1995. p.243
  73. ^ Squabbles between the Jesuits and the Franciscans: a historical review of policies of two christian orders in Japan, Trans/Form/Ação, Marília, v. 46, n. 1, p. 235-250, Jan./Mar., 2023., pp.244-245, "For the Japanese missionaries, 1597 was an eventful year. Far from being assuaged by the Nagasaki martyrdoms as might have been hoped, the acrimony between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, and between the Franciscans and the Jesuits, only intensified as charges and countercharges were freely exchanged. Each side blamed the other for the seizure of San Felipe and the subsequent mass execution at Nagasaki. According to the Portuguese, the Spanish pilot’s boasting had angered Hideyoshi, prompting him to drastic action. Not so, said the Spaniards: the real reason was that the Portuguese had spread the word that the Spaniards were robbers and pirates. The religious orders joined in the dreary controversy. According to the Jesuits, the friars had ignored all warning signs, and their public preaching had brought trouble on upon their own Jesuits’ hands. The Franciscans answered that the Jesuits had maligned them in court."
  74. ^ Joseph Broeckaert: Vie du B.Charles Spinola et notice sur les autres martyrs du Japon, Bruxelles, H. Goemaere (Libraire-Éditeur), 1868.