Nicole Badry
Omura is a city on Omura Bay in central Nagasaki Prefecture,
Kyushu. It was once the castle town of the Omura family.
From the Meiji period (1868-1912), it was a military base.
Kompira Shrine-”Kotohira Shrine”- is a Shinto shrine, popularly known
as “the Komparasan [Kompira Shrine] of Sanuki Province,” in the
Nakatado district of Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku; dedicated to the deity
Omononushi or Kami and to Emperor Sutoku.
Nagasaki is the capital of Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu. Its
importance as a port dates from 1571, when it was opened to foreign
trade at the request of the Portuguese. During the 200-year-long
period of National Seclusion, the island of Deijma, constructed in
Nagasaki Bay in 1634-36, was the only port open to foreign trade.
The Urakami district where Christianity was secretly
practiced in defiance of the Tokugawa shogun ate’s bans is the site of
the Urakami Catholic Church, Peace Park, Intl. Cultural Hall, and
Nagasaki University.
Kyoto is a city in southern Kyoto Prefecture, central Honshu, in the
northern part of the Kyoto fault basin. The ancient capital
of Japan and home of the imperial court from 794-1868, Kyoto is rich in
historical sites and relics.
The Kyoto fault basin was first settled in the 7th
century by the Hata family, immigrants from Korea. Their family
temple was constructed and then called “Heiankyo”, became the capital
of Japan in 794. The plan of the new city was patterned after
China’s Tang dynasty capital of Chang’an.
Early contacts between the Philippines and Japan focused on
commerce. Long before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines
in the mid-16th century, Japanese traders and merchants settled around
Manila, which became the focal point of early bilateral trade. In
1593 Spanish authorities in Manila sent to Japan 4 Franciscan priests
who, despite official Japanese distrust of missionary activity, were
able to preach and build a church near Kyoto. However, in 1597,
Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered their sudden execution, together with other
missionaries and their Japanese converts. By the mid-17th century
the Japanese government had banned overseas trade, and all Spanish
priests and traders had been expelled from Japan. More than 2
centuries passed before contact between the 2 nations was renewed with
the opening of Japan in 1854.
Osaka Castle is a castle located in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
where Hideyoshi passed his sentence on to the martyrs. It was
built by the national unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Construction
began in 1583 at the site of the headquarters of the Ishiyama Honganji
sect and took some 3 years to complete. The castle measured
~3.3km east and west and ~2.4 km north and south. It was
considered vitually impregnable.
After Hideyoshi’s death, the castle fell to invading
Tokugawa forces in 1615 and was heavily damaged. It was restored
in 1620.
Sieges of Osaka Castle- There were 2 campaigns in 1614 and 1615
in which Tokugawa Ieyasu destroyed Toyotomi Hideyori, the son of
Hideyoshi, thereby eliminating the most serious potential challenge to
the shogun ate Ieyasu had established in 1603.
Hideyori was daimyo of a large domain centered on
Osaka Castle. Ieyasu found in the Shomei Incident of 1614 a
pretext to denounce Hideyori for subversive behavior.
Hideyori’s mother, Yodogimi, called upon daimyo to rally to the
Toyotomi cause, but none did. Toyotomi vassals (notably Ono
Harunaga, and large numbers of unemployed samurai, like Sanada
Yukimura) saw an opportunity to improve their fortunes, and some 100,
000 fighting men assembled in Osaka Castle.
Late in 1614, Ieyasu and his son, the shogun
Tokugawa Hidetada, led armies totaling some 200, 000 men to surround
the fortress, which proved impregnable.
On 19 January 1615 Ieyasu agreed to a settlement
permitting him to fill in the outer moats, and the winter’s seige
ended. Ieyasu withdrew, and crews began to fill in the inner
moats as well as the outer ones. When Hideyori protested, Ieyasu
gave him the choice of dispersing the ronin under him or leaving Osaka
Castle for another province. Hideyori refused and Ieyasu
mobilized another army of 200,000. Because the castle was now
vulnerable, Toyotomi forces took to the field, where their detachments
were crushed in scattered battles in Kyoto-Osaka region. On 3
June 1615 the castle fell, ending the summer campaign. The next
day Hideyori and Yodogimi committed suicide.
Nishizaka Hill is where the executions of the 26 martyrs was
performed. Now known as the “Mountain of Martyrs” or “26 Martyrs
Hill” it seems to carry a symbolic relation to Golgotha, the place
where Jesus was crucified. Other martyrdoms were performed on
this hill, such as the death of San Lorenzo Ruiz
New Leads
Nagasaki Trade
Kakure Kiristritan (Shogunate’s bans)
Map of Kyoto (pg. 60 in “Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia)
The beliefs surrounding the beatification and canonization of the
martyrs-how did they fulfill the requirements for the Church?
Franciscan convent of “Our Lady of the Angels”
Valignano‘s "History of the Church in Japan", which he began writing in
March, 1597.