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Christ's Samurai: The True Story of the Shimabara Rebellion
The sect was said to harbour dark designs to overthrow the government. Its teachers used a dead language that was impenetrable to all but the innermost circle of believers. Its priests preached love and kindness, but helped local warlords acquire firearms. They encouraged believers to cast aside their earthly allegiances and swear loyalty to a foreign god-emperor, before seeking paradise in terrible martyrdoms. The cult was in open revolt, led, it was said, by a boy sorcerer. Farmers claiming to have the blessing of an alien god had bested trained samurai in combat and proclaimed that fires in the sky would soon bring about the end of the world. The Shogun called old soldiers out of retirement for one last battle before peace could be declared in Japan. For there to be an end to war, he said, the Christians would have to die.This is a true story.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 7, 2016
45 people are currently reading
436 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Clements
150 books121 followersJonathan Clements is an author, translator, biographer and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Marco Polo, Mao Zedong, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi. He also writes for NEO magazine and is the co-author of encyclopedias of anime and Japanese television dramas.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 16, 2024
You're absolutely not witnessing any attempts at filling the "Shogun"-shaped hole in my life and fighting withdrawals, of course not. What a ridiculous idea! Nothing to see here, carry on.
*wipes a tear and reaches for her consolation sushi stash*
___________________________________
Now that I've read this book, I still don't feel I have it clear whether Geronimo Amakusa (I refuse to use the Anglicised Jerome the author went for) was the leader of a true oppressed religious minority's rebellion or the manipulated figurehead of a peasant uprising. And neither does Jonathan Clements, as he explains the difficulties in parsing, identifying, and interpreting the (lack of) sources about the war between the Shimabara/Amakusa Islands peasantry and the Shogunate in 1637-38 that ended with the siege and massacre at Hara Castle.
But two things were clear to me: The leader of this rebellion, a fifteen year-old Kirishitan boy called Masuda Shiro, a.k.a. Amakusa Geronimo, is fascinating. Too bad his life was so short and there's so little about him that it's frustrating as a reader to learn just crumbs from his life, although to compensate Clements does a good job of setting up the historical and social context of late 1630s Japan, specifically the situation of the Christian converts, which were the majority in the region (Shimabara) where the uprising began.
The second aspect I enjoyed, and that made the book a fun read to me, was how Clements frames and describes the history of Christianity's arrival in Japan with the Jesuits, from pioneering Francis Xavier to their last head Alessandro Valignano, and what happened after Tokugawa Ieyasu banned the religion in the country, an edict enforced by his son Hidetada and his grandson Iemitsu, who was the Shogun when the rebellion broke out. It's the most entertaining, and also at times quite hilarious, part of the book for me.
Why? Because of the misunderstandings that ensued between the Jesuits and their original native acolytes, and the misinterpretations the poor Japanese had to resort to in order to make heads or tails of this weird new religion. The passages describing how they originally assumed the Jesuits were some sort of crazy sect of Buddhist monks from India are amusing, but the real hilarity is in the parts describing what the Kirishitan, now deprived of their priests and theological/catechism teachers as well as of religious texts and the Bible, did to preserve the religion flourishing in hiding. It's like a funny game of telephone, in which the Christian beliefs got distorted by oral transmission to the point that, whilst still recognisable, they sound like a skit from "Life of Brian," Japanese version ("Life of Buraian"? Hehehe!). I'm still laughing out loud at the Japanese account of Jesus' birth, especially at the bits about the origins of the Three Kings that visited him as a baby (I get Turkey and Portugal, but Mexico? Hahaha!), and the edict of King Herodes to kill all infants in Bethlehem (I mean . . . Pontia and Pilate . . . It doesn't get more "Life of Brian"-y than this!).
Oh, my, this was such a gem. I now understand what the Europeans who encountered the first Muslims must've felt like (they mistakenly thought they were some weird Christian sect and not an entirely new religion), even the tired jokes about Christianity and Judaism and Mainstream Christianity and Mormonism acquire a new sheen in view of this historical experience of the faith with Buddhism/Shinto. It left me wondering, too, about what might have been if the Shoguns hadn't suppressed Christianity in Japan and the Shimabara uprising hadn't killed off the remnants. Would it have been just one more offshoot within Catholicism, or would it have eventually evolved into its own new major branch of Christianity to break up the Catholic/Protestant duopoly? (I know these aren't the only branches, but the others didn't reach Japan at the time.) Who knows? We'll never know, the current Kirishitan minority in Japan are as mainstream theologically speaking as any. My own suspicion is that it would've evolved like in Latin America, where there's a variety of local flavours of Catholicism heavily influenced by aboriginal mythology, folklore, and customs, thus being a more "ethnic" faith to a degree Catholicism in Europe and the US isn't.
But it wasn't to be. Shimabara happened, the few remaining believers went into secret worship for centuries, and Geronimo Amakusa became a symbol for anti-establishment youths using him in anti-government protests à la V from "V for Vendetta." This book says he's a known figure in Japanese pop-culture thanks to films, novels, games, etc., but it's safe to say he's unknown outside. Maybe Japanophiles and "Shogun" fans would've heard about him, I certainly hope so. There's also this anime, "Blue Eye Samurai," that happens during the time of the rebellion that might make Geronimo Amakusa's story more known in the West, if they depict him at some point (as the anime happens in the time of Ieyasu's grandson too). If not, this book is an excellent way to learn about Shimabara in general and Geronimo in particular, although it can't claim much academicism as the author is more of a fan than anything. But he's been as thorough as could be, and I have no complaints.
No complaints other than the Anglicisation of the Christian names of the Japanese, that is. I get Clements' arguments about naming simplicity for the sake of clarity, but I disagree with his decision to change the people's chosen names in Portuguese/Spanish into English, considering that there were no English teachers amongst them and the Japanese chose the names in the Portuguese spelling because their teachers and priests were of that ethnicity. You have no right to Anglicise their names. You have no right to change Geronimo to Jerome, or Miguel to Michael, etc. It's minor, you may argue, but it's significant enough. There's a reason why baptism names exist, and arbitrarily changing them to suit your and your readers' language isn't right. The least you could do would be to maybe adapt the pronunciation to Japanese, which is what the people back then did.
Other than than, a great read!
*wipes a tear and reaches for her consolation sushi stash*
___________________________________
Now that I've read this book, I still don't feel I have it clear whether Geronimo Amakusa (I refuse to use the Anglicised Jerome the author went for) was the leader of a true oppressed religious minority's rebellion or the manipulated figurehead of a peasant uprising. And neither does Jonathan Clements, as he explains the difficulties in parsing, identifying, and interpreting the (lack of) sources about the war between the Shimabara/Amakusa Islands peasantry and the Shogunate in 1637-38 that ended with the siege and massacre at Hara Castle.
But two things were clear to me: The leader of this rebellion, a fifteen year-old Kirishitan boy called Masuda Shiro, a.k.a. Amakusa Geronimo, is fascinating. Too bad his life was so short and there's so little about him that it's frustrating as a reader to learn just crumbs from his life, although to compensate Clements does a good job of setting up the historical and social context of late 1630s Japan, specifically the situation of the Christian converts, which were the majority in the region (Shimabara) where the uprising began.
The second aspect I enjoyed, and that made the book a fun read to me, was how Clements frames and describes the history of Christianity's arrival in Japan with the Jesuits, from pioneering Francis Xavier to their last head Alessandro Valignano, and what happened after Tokugawa Ieyasu banned the religion in the country, an edict enforced by his son Hidetada and his grandson Iemitsu, who was the Shogun when the rebellion broke out. It's the most entertaining, and also at times quite hilarious, part of the book for me.
Why? Because of the misunderstandings that ensued between the Jesuits and their original native acolytes, and the misinterpretations the poor Japanese had to resort to in order to make heads or tails of this weird new religion. The passages describing how they originally assumed the Jesuits were some sort of crazy sect of Buddhist monks from India are amusing, but the real hilarity is in the parts describing what the Kirishitan, now deprived of their priests and theological/catechism teachers as well as of religious texts and the Bible, did to preserve the religion flourishing in hiding. It's like a funny game of telephone, in which the Christian beliefs got distorted by oral transmission to the point that, whilst still recognisable, they sound like a skit from "Life of Brian," Japanese version ("Life of Buraian"? Hehehe!). I'm still laughing out loud at the Japanese account of Jesus' birth, especially at the bits about the origins of the Three Kings that visited him as a baby (I get Turkey and Portugal, but Mexico? Hahaha!), and the edict of King Herodes to kill all infants in Bethlehem (I mean . . . Pontia and Pilate . . . It doesn't get more "Life of Brian"-y than this!).
Oh, my, this was such a gem. I now understand what the Europeans who encountered the first Muslims must've felt like (they mistakenly thought they were some weird Christian sect and not an entirely new religion), even the tired jokes about Christianity and Judaism and Mainstream Christianity and Mormonism acquire a new sheen in view of this historical experience of the faith with Buddhism/Shinto. It left me wondering, too, about what might have been if the Shoguns hadn't suppressed Christianity in Japan and the Shimabara uprising hadn't killed off the remnants. Would it have been just one more offshoot within Catholicism, or would it have eventually evolved into its own new major branch of Christianity to break up the Catholic/Protestant duopoly? (I know these aren't the only branches, but the others didn't reach Japan at the time.) Who knows? We'll never know, the current Kirishitan minority in Japan are as mainstream theologically speaking as any. My own suspicion is that it would've evolved like in Latin America, where there's a variety of local flavours of Catholicism heavily influenced by aboriginal mythology, folklore, and customs, thus being a more "ethnic" faith to a degree Catholicism in Europe and the US isn't.
But it wasn't to be. Shimabara happened, the few remaining believers went into secret worship for centuries, and Geronimo Amakusa became a symbol for anti-establishment youths using him in anti-government protests à la V from "V for Vendetta." This book says he's a known figure in Japanese pop-culture thanks to films, novels, games, etc., but it's safe to say he's unknown outside. Maybe Japanophiles and "Shogun" fans would've heard about him, I certainly hope so. There's also this anime, "Blue Eye Samurai," that happens during the time of the rebellion that might make Geronimo Amakusa's story more known in the West, if they depict him at some point (as the anime happens in the time of Ieyasu's grandson too). If not, this book is an excellent way to learn about Shimabara in general and Geronimo in particular, although it can't claim much academicism as the author is more of a fan than anything. But he's been as thorough as could be, and I have no complaints.
No complaints other than the Anglicisation of the Christian names of the Japanese, that is. I get Clements' arguments about naming simplicity for the sake of clarity, but I disagree with his decision to change the people's chosen names in Portuguese/Spanish into English, considering that there were no English teachers amongst them and the Japanese chose the names in the Portuguese spelling because their teachers and priests were of that ethnicity. You have no right to Anglicise their names. You have no right to change Geronimo to Jerome, or Miguel to Michael, etc. It's minor, you may argue, but it's significant enough. There's a reason why baptism names exist, and arbitrarily changing them to suit your and your readers' language isn't right. The least you could do would be to maybe adapt the pronunciation to Japanese, which is what the people back then did.
Other than than, a great read!
January 18, 2021
Christ's Samurai by Jonathan Clement
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
On August 9, 1945, the largely Protestant nation of the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on the most Christian city of Japan, Nagasaki. For targeting purposes, the bombing crew used St. Mary’s Urakami Cathedral, the largest Christian church in East Asia.
Three hundred years earlier, another Protestant nation, this time the Dutch, used their ultimate weapon, a ship with cannons, to bombard the Catholic rebels of the Shimabara Rebellion, which minimally aided the Shogun to end the rebellion and exterminate the visible Christian presence in Japan.
To be a Japanese Christian has been to be at the mercy of local and international power.
This is a detailed, thoroughly researched and investigated book. At times, I was wondering how the material support for this book had managed to be preserved over the centuries. I also enjoyed the author's travelogue details that began each chapter. I found in myself, the strangest yearning to take a trip to Japan and see these sights and to visit the sites he describes.
The Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638) was a local conflagration but large and significant even so. The background of the rebellions lay in the prior century when Portuguese and Spanish traders had reached Japan. At that time, Japan was going through its civil wars and the advent of foreigners who could supply advanced technology was welcomed. Catholic missionaries made substantial headway with the population around the Nagasaki area converting hundreds of thousands of the Japanese locals, sometimes deeply and sometimes shallowly.
With the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1600, the fortunes of Christianity took a turn. War technology was no desired in unified Japan and the Shogun had heard from various sources that Christians were a "fifth column" used to turn native lands into puppets of Spanish rulers. The Shoguns, accordingly, issued edicts compelling Christians to return to Buddhism. It was at this time that the ritual of stepping on Christian objects, mentioned in Endo's "Silence," began.
In the 1630s, in the Nagasaki region, the oppression of Christians was combined with the oppression of farmers, who had been required to pay higher taxes during a period of agricultural decline. The result was the last rebellion in Japan until the end of the Shogunate in 1866.
Catholicism had been driven underground but not exterminated. An alliance was formed between ronin who had been on the losing side in 1600, farmers, and Catholics. Leadership was taken by Amakusa Shiro, aka Jerome Amakusa, who was young and an ardent Catholic. The rebellion acquired the tropes of a Catholic rebellion in its language and imagery.
After some initial successes, the rebellion was crushed as it seems was the inevitable outcome. Approximately 40,000 Catholic peasants were slaughtered. The Amakusa/Shimabara area was depleted of population to the extent that immigration was encouraged from other areas of Japan.
This was the beginning of real persecution of Christians who were driven totally underground as Kakure Kurishitan with their own rites and memories of the gospels. Christianity itself was equated with devil worship and evil rites. In my review of books on the "Hidden Christians," I have mused if a reason for the harshness shown by Japanese to Christian POWs had something to do with this history (along with, of course, the Samurai ethos.)
In any event, this is a readable book with more than sufficient detail about the nuts and bolts of the rebellion to satisfy those with an interest in that subject.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
On August 9, 1945, the largely Protestant nation of the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on the most Christian city of Japan, Nagasaki. For targeting purposes, the bombing crew used St. Mary’s Urakami Cathedral, the largest Christian church in East Asia.
Three hundred years earlier, another Protestant nation, this time the Dutch, used their ultimate weapon, a ship with cannons, to bombard the Catholic rebels of the Shimabara Rebellion, which minimally aided the Shogun to end the rebellion and exterminate the visible Christian presence in Japan.
To be a Japanese Christian has been to be at the mercy of local and international power.
This is a detailed, thoroughly researched and investigated book. At times, I was wondering how the material support for this book had managed to be preserved over the centuries. I also enjoyed the author's travelogue details that began each chapter. I found in myself, the strangest yearning to take a trip to Japan and see these sights and to visit the sites he describes.
The Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638) was a local conflagration but large and significant even so. The background of the rebellions lay in the prior century when Portuguese and Spanish traders had reached Japan. At that time, Japan was going through its civil wars and the advent of foreigners who could supply advanced technology was welcomed. Catholic missionaries made substantial headway with the population around the Nagasaki area converting hundreds of thousands of the Japanese locals, sometimes deeply and sometimes shallowly.
With the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1600, the fortunes of Christianity took a turn. War technology was no desired in unified Japan and the Shogun had heard from various sources that Christians were a "fifth column" used to turn native lands into puppets of Spanish rulers. The Shoguns, accordingly, issued edicts compelling Christians to return to Buddhism. It was at this time that the ritual of stepping on Christian objects, mentioned in Endo's "Silence," began.
In the 1630s, in the Nagasaki region, the oppression of Christians was combined with the oppression of farmers, who had been required to pay higher taxes during a period of agricultural decline. The result was the last rebellion in Japan until the end of the Shogunate in 1866.
Catholicism had been driven underground but not exterminated. An alliance was formed between ronin who had been on the losing side in 1600, farmers, and Catholics. Leadership was taken by Amakusa Shiro, aka Jerome Amakusa, who was young and an ardent Catholic. The rebellion acquired the tropes of a Catholic rebellion in its language and imagery.
After some initial successes, the rebellion was crushed as it seems was the inevitable outcome. Approximately 40,000 Catholic peasants were slaughtered. The Amakusa/Shimabara area was depleted of population to the extent that immigration was encouraged from other areas of Japan.
This was the beginning of real persecution of Christians who were driven totally underground as Kakure Kurishitan with their own rites and memories of the gospels. Christianity itself was equated with devil worship and evil rites. In my review of books on the "Hidden Christians," I have mused if a reason for the harshness shown by Japanese to Christian POWs had something to do with this history (along with, of course, the Samurai ethos.)
In any event, this is a readable book with more than sufficient detail about the nuts and bolts of the rebellion to satisfy those with an interest in that subject.
January 10, 2019
After reading about Nagai Takashi’s – a Japanese Christian – response to the bombing of Nagasaki, I decided to go back in time and continue reading about Christianity in Japan. This time, however, the topic is completely different. Christ’s Samurai is an account of the Shimabara rebellion, which has the dubious honour of being the only Christian uprising in Japan.
Christianity was first banned under the reign of Hideyoshi, and the change of power to Ieyasu Tokugawa did nothing to lessen that. In fact, the in-fighting between the various ‘Christian’ countries led the Japanese to be very wary of the foreigners and the religion they preached. Not the mention that a conversion to Christianity meant pledging allegiance to someone who was not the Shogun or the Emperor. It was not inconceivable that they would use this new religion to take over Japan; this was the fear that led to Christianity being banned despite a few high-profile converts.
Unfortunately for the Tokugawa, the ban against Christianity was not effective. Despite the brutal methods used, Japanese Christians were eager to be martyred for their faith. As the foreign priests were forced to leave Japan, rumours of a prophecy sprang up (conveniently appearing around the time of Jerome Amakusa/Amakusa Shiro’s appearance):
When five by five years have passed
Japan will see a remarkable youth
All-knowing without study.
See his sign in the sky
In East and West the clouds will burn
Dead trees shall put forth flowers
Men shall wear the Cross on their heads
And white flags shall flutter on the sea
Fires engulf fields and mountains, grass and trees
To usher in the return of Christ.
Christ’s Samurai is an account of the Shimabara rebellion, tracing it back to its roots when Christianity was introduced into Japan. I’ve been interested in the history of the kakure kirishitans (or senpuku kirishitans) ever since I read Endo Shusaku’s Silence, so I devoured this book. While I knew of the Shimabara rebellion, I didn’t really know the details and it was good to see it all in one place.
I also managed to learn more about the peculiarities of the kakure kirishitan’s faith. I had heard that their theology changed through years of isolation and the necessity of hiding their faith, but I never really heard how. The last section of the book touches on how the Bible stories of the kakure kirishitan’s differ with orthodox theology, which was fascinating. I wish that a bit more time was spent on this section, although I suppose I’ll have to read a book specifically about their theology to go in-depth on the topic.
The story is told in chronological order, though the first few paragraphs of each chapter is a snapshot of the author traveling around modern-day Japan. Some of the information was useful, but it never really developed into a secondary narrative, which gave it a sense of incompleteness to me.
While the book gives a good overview of the Shimabara rebellion, it doesn’t really go into Amakusa Shiro’s life. Perhaps there’s a lack of good primary sources, but I wasn’t very clear about what he preached or about how he became the face of the rebellion. We’re told that he was very charismatic and that he might have suffered from a disease, but there was a lack of details about his life. This book is more focused on the rebellion as a whole rather than Amakusa Shiro as a person.
If you haven’t heard of the Shimabara rebellion and you have an interest in Japanese history, you need to read this book. It introduces a part of Japanese history that is fascinating but isn’t very well-known.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
Christianity was first banned under the reign of Hideyoshi, and the change of power to Ieyasu Tokugawa did nothing to lessen that. In fact, the in-fighting between the various ‘Christian’ countries led the Japanese to be very wary of the foreigners and the religion they preached. Not the mention that a conversion to Christianity meant pledging allegiance to someone who was not the Shogun or the Emperor. It was not inconceivable that they would use this new religion to take over Japan; this was the fear that led to Christianity being banned despite a few high-profile converts.
Unfortunately for the Tokugawa, the ban against Christianity was not effective. Despite the brutal methods used, Japanese Christians were eager to be martyred for their faith. As the foreign priests were forced to leave Japan, rumours of a prophecy sprang up (conveniently appearing around the time of Jerome Amakusa/Amakusa Shiro’s appearance):
When five by five years have passed
Japan will see a remarkable youth
All-knowing without study.
See his sign in the sky
In East and West the clouds will burn
Dead trees shall put forth flowers
Men shall wear the Cross on their heads
And white flags shall flutter on the sea
Fires engulf fields and mountains, grass and trees
To usher in the return of Christ.
Christ’s Samurai is an account of the Shimabara rebellion, tracing it back to its roots when Christianity was introduced into Japan. I’ve been interested in the history of the kakure kirishitans (or senpuku kirishitans) ever since I read Endo Shusaku’s Silence, so I devoured this book. While I knew of the Shimabara rebellion, I didn’t really know the details and it was good to see it all in one place.
I also managed to learn more about the peculiarities of the kakure kirishitan’s faith. I had heard that their theology changed through years of isolation and the necessity of hiding their faith, but I never really heard how. The last section of the book touches on how the Bible stories of the kakure kirishitan’s differ with orthodox theology, which was fascinating. I wish that a bit more time was spent on this section, although I suppose I’ll have to read a book specifically about their theology to go in-depth on the topic.
The story is told in chronological order, though the first few paragraphs of each chapter is a snapshot of the author traveling around modern-day Japan. Some of the information was useful, but it never really developed into a secondary narrative, which gave it a sense of incompleteness to me.
While the book gives a good overview of the Shimabara rebellion, it doesn’t really go into Amakusa Shiro’s life. Perhaps there’s a lack of good primary sources, but I wasn’t very clear about what he preached or about how he became the face of the rebellion. We’re told that he was very charismatic and that he might have suffered from a disease, but there was a lack of details about his life. This book is more focused on the rebellion as a whole rather than Amakusa Shiro as a person.
If you haven’t heard of the Shimabara rebellion and you have an interest in Japanese history, you need to read this book. It introduces a part of Japanese history that is fascinating but isn’t very well-known.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
February 12, 2017
Have anticipating the film Silence and at this stage didnt want to read the novel of the same name. This seemed to cover similar themes and aspects of that film which spiked my interest. Interesting account and historical people that I previously had no knowledge about. Would reccomended to anyone that has an interest in Japanese war/religion and culture.
May 30, 2016
A fantastic cover by Takato Yamamoto caught my eye. Clements covers the background very well. I like the opening introductions to each chapter.
April 19, 2025
I love the first foot note for Chapter 7:
1. There is an Asian tradition of leaving offerings for the departed. On the day I visited Jerome’s grave, someone had left him some modern day entertainments. It would appear that, in the afterlife, Jerome Amakusa drinks Gekkeikan sake and smokes Kent Ultras.
This was initially a cover buy for the cover art done by one of my favorite artists, Takato Yamamoto; but I quickly became invested once I realized this takes place during the Tokugawa period.
I’ve recently become interested in the era when Christianity reached the shores of Japan, and the Shimabara Rebellion was interesting to read about.
The synopsis talks a lot about the leader or figurehead of the rebellion Jerome Amakusa, and my only disappointment in reading this is that he remains an enigma to the bitter end.
I would be interested in reading an entire biography on his life, but I saw no indication that much is known about him and those that did know died without sharing anything besides the religious mysticism surrounding him.
If I’m wrong though please point me in the right direction.
In the meantime -> time for me to revisit Shusaku Endo.
1. There is an Asian tradition of leaving offerings for the departed. On the day I visited Jerome’s grave, someone had left him some modern day entertainments. It would appear that, in the afterlife, Jerome Amakusa drinks Gekkeikan sake and smokes Kent Ultras.
This was initially a cover buy for the cover art done by one of my favorite artists, Takato Yamamoto; but I quickly became invested once I realized this takes place during the Tokugawa period.
I’ve recently become interested in the era when Christianity reached the shores of Japan, and the Shimabara Rebellion was interesting to read about.
The synopsis talks a lot about the leader or figurehead of the rebellion Jerome Amakusa, and my only disappointment in reading this is that he remains an enigma to the bitter end.
I would be interested in reading an entire biography on his life, but I saw no indication that much is known about him and those that did know died without sharing anything besides the religious mysticism surrounding him.
If I’m wrong though please point me in the right direction.
In the meantime -> time for me to revisit Shusaku Endo.
July 12, 2023
Did you know the Jesuits straight up owned the Japanese city of Nagasaki at one point? Crazy stuff, and that's kind of how most of this book felt - cool History Channel level of facts about the Christian and post-Christian era of Japan and how the rebellion impacted all of that.
Was really interesting, just lacking a lot of depth on the history. Felt spread too thin to be a satisfying handling of the time period. Wish I could give it 3 1/2 stars, bc in spite of that it was genuinely fascinating and had me hooked throughout. The stories of martyrs in particular are incredibly beautiful.
Was really interesting, just lacking a lot of depth on the history. Felt spread too thin to be a satisfying handling of the time period. Wish I could give it 3 1/2 stars, bc in spite of that it was genuinely fascinating and had me hooked throughout. The stories of martyrs in particular are incredibly beautiful.
April 19, 2025
Tentative 5 stars. The Shimabara rebellion is such an interesting (and dramatic) historical event, and Clements does a great job at putting all the pieces together and giving a captivating chronological narrative of the events.
So why a tentative 5 stars?
So why a tentative 5 stars?
February 6, 2024
If you enjoy learning about niche, obscure historical events, then you should pick this book up. I personally had never heard of the Shimabara Rebellion. After reading this book, I doubt anyone else, even among Japanese, will have heard of it.
I picked this book up solely because the cover art looked really cool. The idea of samurai fighting under a Christian banner piqued my interest as it seemed paradoxical. My knowledge of Christendom in Japan came from “African Samurai” which takes place during the height of the missionary influence in Japan so I had some idea of what the landscape looked like.
I thought the writer did a good job of delving into the history but keeping a coherent narrative. I appreciated at the start of each chapter when the writer recounted his travels to the modern sites of the events to contrast how different things are now. The author also clearly went to great lengths to explore the sources for accounts of what really happened. Unfortunately, much of the actual rebellion is shrouded in mystery so many of the details are only theory or rumors.
It’s incredible that Christianity had such a rapid rise but an even more rapid fall and a crushing end in Japan. The first half of the book recounts the growth but it stagnates when the country became engulfed in civil war. The eventual victor imposed isolationism thus pushing out the foreign religion of Christianity and pressing the remaining followers to an ultimatum. The story highlights that a few small events can have far reaching ripples in the course of history. I also found the observation that the rebellion being put down by European cannon fire and a Catholic Church being the target for the Nagasaki bombing morbidly poetic. It speaks volumes to the strife Catholics have gone through in Japan. I am left with an overwhelming sense of “what could have been?”
I picked this book up solely because the cover art looked really cool. The idea of samurai fighting under a Christian banner piqued my interest as it seemed paradoxical. My knowledge of Christendom in Japan came from “African Samurai” which takes place during the height of the missionary influence in Japan so I had some idea of what the landscape looked like.
I thought the writer did a good job of delving into the history but keeping a coherent narrative. I appreciated at the start of each chapter when the writer recounted his travels to the modern sites of the events to contrast how different things are now. The author also clearly went to great lengths to explore the sources for accounts of what really happened. Unfortunately, much of the actual rebellion is shrouded in mystery so many of the details are only theory or rumors.
It’s incredible that Christianity had such a rapid rise but an even more rapid fall and a crushing end in Japan. The first half of the book recounts the growth but it stagnates when the country became engulfed in civil war. The eventual victor imposed isolationism thus pushing out the foreign religion of Christianity and pressing the remaining followers to an ultimatum. The story highlights that a few small events can have far reaching ripples in the course of history. I also found the observation that the rebellion being put down by European cannon fire and a Catholic Church being the target for the Nagasaki bombing morbidly poetic. It speaks volumes to the strife Catholics have gone through in Japan. I am left with an overwhelming sense of “what could have been?”
July 4, 2018
Christ's Samurai covers an era of Japanese history that has only recently become of interest again to English speakers. It's a story of a rebellion in the area close to the city of Nagasaki. But some of it's roots lie at events that happened in the century before.
The book goes into detail about the Portuguese Catholic missionaries that spread Catholic Christianity there in the 16th century. It labels some of the difficulties with this foreign faith to the Japanese, including transposing Japanese language using a printing press that originally only had Latin characters. And the confusion with misidentifying the Christian version of God to the Japanese - whom known several gods.
The rebellion is set in a chronological order. Events are spelled and the speculation as to whom was whom & their roles. The debate over Jerome's identify is given thought as well as many others. As a historical book, it uses a good amount of historical data to bolster some it's thoughts.
This is not a truly thorough book, but a good read none the less. If somebody is trying to get a primer into Christianity in Japan, this could be useful. It's also useful as a book to show Tokugawa Shogunate policy in trying to force unity in all things as well as shortsightedness in fiscal policy. A good read.
The book goes into detail about the Portuguese Catholic missionaries that spread Catholic Christianity there in the 16th century. It labels some of the difficulties with this foreign faith to the Japanese, including transposing Japanese language using a printing press that originally only had Latin characters. And the confusion with misidentifying the Christian version of God to the Japanese - whom known several gods.
The rebellion is set in a chronological order. Events are spelled and the speculation as to whom was whom & their roles. The debate over Jerome's identify is given thought as well as many others. As a historical book, it uses a good amount of historical data to bolster some it's thoughts.
This is not a truly thorough book, but a good read none the less. If somebody is trying to get a primer into Christianity in Japan, this could be useful. It's also useful as a book to show Tokugawa Shogunate policy in trying to force unity in all things as well as shortsightedness in fiscal policy. A good read.
October 15, 2023
I can't really separate my appreciation and interest in this book from my reading of 'Silence' by Shūsaku Endō. The novel is set after the defeat of Shimabara rebellion, but without it the novel would be meaningless. Also as a boy going to catholic schools in the 1970's the tales of Japan's hidden catholics was one that was told again and again. What we were told less about was the context. This fascinating book provides a great deal of information on a fascinating but also fairly obscure part of Japanese history. As far as I know there are not many English language books on this subject and while not perfect it is probably an excellent introduction.
It is a work of enthusiasm then scholarship but it is free from the sort of catholic anti-protestant bias that most older accounts in English have. It is also fascinating for the place the rebellion and its leader, Amakusa Shirō, still has in Japanese popular culture. It certainly sparked my interest to learn more.
Mu four stars reflects the unique subject and is probably generous when compared to other history books I have given four stars to, but under thee circumstances I think it is deserved, particularly if it leads any readers to Shūsaku Endō's 'Silence'.
It is a work of enthusiasm then scholarship but it is free from the sort of catholic anti-protestant bias that most older accounts in English have. It is also fascinating for the place the rebellion and its leader, Amakusa Shirō, still has in Japanese popular culture. It certainly sparked my interest to learn more.
Mu four stars reflects the unique subject and is probably generous when compared to other history books I have given four stars to, but under thee circumstances I think it is deserved, particularly if it leads any readers to Shūsaku Endō's 'Silence'.
November 30, 2024
I chose this book because I've always been fascinated by rebellions and revolutions. And I also just had it lying around. I wanted to read it sooner, but I didn't have the motivation to do so. I expected it to be more inaccurate, but it felt like I was reading a historical record just put into a story. The story was touching because it showed how the rich(Samurai) and even the poor(peasants) stood up and fought for their faith together. It showed a rare connection between the two different classes at the time. Jerome Amakus Shiro Tokisada was the most influential for the rebellion. He was the one who united everyone and led them into battle. It was incredible to read, and it was well executed. Every question you thought of would be answered, so you wouldn't be left off with questions at the end of the story. The end was sad because of the siege on Hara Castle, where the rebels made their last stand. It was a bit shocking to see the rebels being executed when every bone in your body was tricked by the book and the words of Shiro Tokisada. It made me realize what a good leader he was in comforting everyone and telling them it would be fine. Ah, I forgot to mention he was only 17, and that's what makes it special. This book is not easy to recommend to a lot of people. It's more for people interested in history.
March 23, 2019
This book pique my interest for its 1) cover and title; 2) background of “the Secret Christian” in Japan I came to know from Martin Scorsese’s “silence” (movie adaptation of the novel by Endō Shūsaku).
The author pieced together his version of the event from various sources. The story telling of the events leading up to and during the final fight at Hara Castle is captivating.
Ultimately, there are not much insights given into who Jerome Amakusa is and whether it is a fight for faith as the author wants to stick to facts that are verifiable and can be inferred logically, which makes this book more about history than mythical.
The author pieced together his version of the event from various sources. The story telling of the events leading up to and during the final fight at Hara Castle is captivating.
Ultimately, there are not much insights given into who Jerome Amakusa is and whether it is a fight for faith as the author wants to stick to facts that are verifiable and can be inferred logically, which makes this book more about history than mythical.
Read
May 7, 2020Engaging, with each chapter beginning in the present before shifting into a studied retelling of the past. The Shimabara Rebellion in focus is told play-by-play from before the peasant uprising, all the way to the starved defenders’ last stand. It is perplexing in facts, and Clements makes no issue of letting the reader know how fishy certain (interesting) accounts are. A fascinating read, corroborated by the great histories of the Christian Century that have come before. I planned to skim it for a final paper and found myself finishing the whole thing, reading in-depth. You can tell Clements really cares about his subject, and about the scholarship in which he engages.
May 21, 2022
This is a pretty quick read, but it's both broad enough to lay down context and detailed enough to give a strong sense of narrative, particularly when it comes to the focus on the siege at Hara Castle. The author tries to be unbiased, which makes the Shogunate forces look less villainous without making the Christians seem particularly ambiguous. I disagreed with the decision to include the travelogue sections at the beginning of each section; the story's tension and sense of immediacy is somewhat lessened as a result. That said, it is fascinating, tragic history presented in an engaging and accessible way—a very strong work.
(Plus, that is one gorgeous cover)
(Plus, that is one gorgeous cover)
July 25, 2020
Detailed account of the Christian rebellion against ban on worship in the Edo period.
November 22, 2021
cool, easy read and interesting story. names get a bit confusing at the beginning but author keeps it to a minimun
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November 17, 2023Stopped reading halfway through. 3.5/5
August 30, 2024
Beautiful book.
Extremely, extremely boring.
That's a pity, because the story is so interesting. I'll be seeking other books on the same subject.
Extremely, extremely boring.
That's a pity, because the story is so interesting. I'll be seeking other books on the same subject.
May 11, 2024
First heard of this story from Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X filler Shogo Amakusa arc. Finished reading it 3 or 4 years ago in Tagaytay City but forgot to post it here. Also watched the classic movie on YouTube, I think.
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