Alex’s Reviews > Christ's Samurai: The True Story of the Shimabara Rebellion > Status Update

"The last and perhaps the most important strain of material has been that of local historians and archaeologists in Japan. Archaeological excavations persist at Hara Castle, and continue to uncover chilling untold tales of the rebels, such as the discovery of numerous skulls with crosses or Christian medallions in their mouths – where a samurai looter might not think of looking."

"The Nagasaki atom bomb also obliterated Urakami cathedral, and killed three quarters of the 12,000 Christians in the city. Dougill, In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians, 193 makes the wry but mathematically incorrect assertion that ‘In a single flash, the Truman administration had killed more Christians than in the whole history of Japanese persecution."

"In an unfortunate coda, Petitjean encouraged the Hidden Christians to proclaim their beliefs openly, which led to several of them being executed, and many of the others banished. It was still several decades before Christianity would be permitted openly in Japan."

"Tamamuro, ‘Local Society and the Temple-Parishioner Relationship within the Bakufu’s Governance Structure’, 266–8. Tamamuro’s account is a shocking litany of abuses and bureaucratic corruption, which makes a mockery of genuine Buddhist belief. After reading it, one will never look at a Japanese religious festival in quite the same way again."

"Hosokawa began the assault on the far side of the castle, through the third keep, but his letter specifically describes the self-immolation of rebel families in the main keep (honmaru). Reading between the lines, Hosokawa was interested in the manner of death of honmaru residents because some soldiers were making bogus claims for bounties on badly burned heads."

"The samurai were not, however, entirely idle during the period. On 4 February, Shigemasa ordered Matsukura and Terazawa, the lords of Shimabara and Amakusa respectively, to send inquisitors into any village that remained inhabited. Any family without a cooking pot was to be suspected of having lent theirs to the rebels, and interrogated about their alleged Christian sympathies."

"‘The conduct of Itakura [Shigemasa], throughout the whole campaign,’ notes Steichen in Les Daimyô Chrétiens, 408, ‘remains inexplicable: either he had an extraordinary incompetence as a general, or, which is also possible, he was disgusted at marching against insurgent peasants, of which he knew the greater part were Christian.'"

Sebastian Ōtomo, a Christian convert who vandalized a temple in supposedly religious zeal, readily cast aside the faith later. His sincerity was doubted even before his apostasy, and he may have converted just to gain the upper hand in an inheritance dispute and other social or legal issues he dealt with.

Hope I didn't post this twice.

"Although many hundreds of Japanese Christians from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have been beatified and canonised by the Catholic Church, neither Jerome himself nor any of his fellow rebels has attained such an honour."

About the beliefs of the Kirishitans, who passed on the Scriptures orally and in complete secrecy:
"The kings of Turkey, Mexico and France come to offer their congratulations on the birth of Jesus (in a stable), but they tell their story to King Herodes (Yorōtetsu), who orders the massacre of all children – his two henchmen are named as Pontia and Pilate."