16 Martyrs of Japan

The Martyrs of Japan (日本の殉教者, Nihon no junkyōsha) were Christians who were persecuted for their faith in Japan, mostly during the 17th century.

Early Christianity in Japan

Christian missionaries arrived with Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in the 1540s and briefly flourished, with over 100,000 converts, including many daimyo in Kyushu. The shogunate and imperial government at first supported the Catholic mission and the missionaries, thinking that they would reduce the power of the Buddhist monks, and help trade with Spain and Portugal. However, the Shogunate was also wary of colonialism, seeing that the Spanish had taken power in the Philippines, after converting the population. It soon met resistance from the highest office holders of Japan.^[1] Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity.^[2] After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians (隠れキリシタン, kakure kirishitan), while others lost their lives. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan.

The first group of martyrs, known as the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan (1597), were canonized by the Church in 1862 by Pope Pius IX. The same pope beatified the second group, known as the 205 Martyrs of Japan (1598–1632), in 1867.^[3]

16 Martyrs of Japan (1633–1637)

Another group of martyrs were investigated by the Vatican Curia's Congregation for the Causes of Saints (CCS) in 1980 and were beatified on 18 February 1981.^[4] Pope John Paul II canonized these 16 Martyrs of Japan as saints on 18 October 1987.^[5] This group is also known as Lorenzo Ruiz, Dominic Ibáñez de Erquicia Pérez de Lete, Iacobus Tomonaga Gorōbyōe, and 13 companions.^[6]

Ordained Martyrs

Dominican Priests

Foreign Missionaries

• Saint Dominic Ibáñez de Erquicia Pérez de Lete – 14 August 1633
• Saint Antonio Gonzalez – 24 September 1637
• Saint Jordan Ansalone – 17 November 1634
• Saint Luke of the Holy Spirit Alonso Gorda – 19 October 1633
• Saint Michael de Aozaraza – 29 September 1637
• Saint William Courtet – 29 September 1637

Japanese

• Saint Jacobo Kyushei Gorōbyōe Tomonaga de Santa María – 17 August 1633
• Saint Thomas Rokuzayemon – 15 November 1634
• Saint Vincent Shiwozuka – 29 September 1637

Martyred Laity

Dominican Laity

Japanese Cooperator Brother

• Saint Francis Shōyemon – 14 August 1633
• Saint Matthew Kohioye – 19 October 1633

Foreign Missionaries – Confraternity of the Holy Rosary

• Saint Lorenzo Ruiz – 29 September 1637

Japanese Tertiaries

• Saint Marina of Omura – 11 November 1634
• Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki – 16 October 1634

Christian Laity

Japanese Catechist

• Saint Michael Kurobioye – 17 August 1633

Japanese

• Saint Lazarus of Kyoto – 29 September 1637

See also

• Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument
• Christianity in Japan
• Roman Catholicism in Japan
• Nanban trade

Notes

1. ↑ Brodrick, James (1952). Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552). London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. p. 558. 
2. ↑ Jansen, Marius (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press. 
3. ↑ Martyrs of Japan (1597–1637) at Hagiography Circle
4. ↑ USCCB (Office of Media Relations) – Beatifications During Pope John Paul II’s Pontificate
5. ↑ Lawrence Ruiz and companions from the Vatican website
6. ↑ Biography at the Vatican website

External links

• The 26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki City, Japan
• Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan: Timeline of the Catholic Church in Japan
• Daughters of St. Paul Convent, Tokyo, Japan: Prohibition of Christian religion by Hideyoshi and the 26 martyrs
•  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Japanese Martyrs". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
• The Japanese Martyrs
• Nagasaki Wiki: Detailed Access Information from Nagasaki Station to 26 Martyrs Monument
• 2008 Beatification of Japanese Martyrs
• Kirish'tan: Heaven's Samurai, a historical novel that includes the story of the Twenty-six Martyrs
• Britto, Francis. All About Francis Xavier

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