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Nick
21st March 2001, 20:07
When the Jesuits brought Christianity to Japan in the 1500's, a few decided to take up this new faith, abondoning their old ways. As both a Christian and a samurai/japanese culture enthusiast, I was wondering if anyone knew of any "famous" Christian samurai, and any writings that they left behind.

Thanks all,

Nick

Joseph Svinth
22nd March 2001, 07:22
Try these links:

http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/chrinjap.htm

http://capo.org/premise/97/feb/p970207.html

I'd guess that the best records are written in Spanish -- there were 15,000 Japanese in the Philippines by 1602. Japanese ambassadors also visited Mexico between 1609 and 1611, and Mediterranean Europe between 1615 and 1620. Finally, there were some Christian battalions in the service of the Siamese.

kingwoodbudo
13th July 2001, 03:20
A Russian Orthodox priest named St. Nicholas, there is a cathedral named after him in Tokyo. In the late 1800's he was sent to Japan to spread Orthodoxy. He was not well received at first, but he learned the Japanese language perfectly, and translated the Bible for japanese readers. Of the group that did not want Christianity in japan, a samurai went to force him out of japan, but after letting St. Nicholas speak, he was converted to Christianity. He brought many more samurai to Christianity. After while the government thought that with so many samurai involved in this group that they were planning to overthrow the government, so they tried to get the church closed, but it did not happen :)

I'm sure you've guessed, I'm Christian too and have a deep interest in japanese culture and language, mainly Ninjutsu. I love samurai movies and thought. I have a japanese wife too :)

I hope this helps.

Don Cunningham
13th July 2001, 22:35
There are a lot of Christian historical sites in Nagasaki. As I understand it, Christianity first gained a foothold in Kyushu, since that was where the foreigners were allowed to trade. When we were in Kumomoto, there is a museum with a lot of Christian symbols in the artifacts, such as crosses embedded in the design of tsuba, etc. I think there were quite a few Christian samurai until Hideyoshi began to persecute them. Many remained Christian, but went underground or certainly keep it closely guarded secret.