Persecution of Christians & the Hidden Christians

The Tokugawa (1603-1868) regime hardened its policy towards Christians. In 1640, a special office called Kirishitans Shumon aratame-yaku, meaning Christian Suppression Office (CSO), was established to persecute Christians systematically. The CSO developed four major techniques to find the hidden Christians in the society. The first one was the reward system which I described earlier. The second technique was to make all the Japanese residents become official Buddhists and force them to register their names in the local or regional Buddhist temples. Not doing so or rejecting to do so would cause punishment and even the death penalty. The third method was the so-called kumi-method. Kumi consisted of five or more households who kept order on a local level. These kumi were obligated to report any hidden Christians to the authorities. Not doing so or failing to do so caused them to be strongly punished together with the Christians.

The last method was a certain ceremony called the ‘picture trembling ceremony’ or in Japanese ‘e-bumi ceremony.’ All the citizens of Japan were obligated to trample on a sacred Christian image, like a cross, the Virgin Mary, or an image of Jesus Christ.

Later on, for economic reasons the paper images were replaced with metal medals which lasted longer. Consequently, these ceremonies took place in order to detect Christians, and so Japan trampled on the Christ image through its streets and the alleys of every city, town, and village. Many died because they rejected to do so and chose to die as martyrs.

Martyrs of Japan

The Japanese soil has witnessed the bloodshed of thousands of Christians, especially during the Tokugawa Period. February 5, 1997 is memorialized as the 400th anniversary of the Christian Holocaust in Japan in which approximately one million indigenous Japanese Christians were slaughtered for their faith during the 250 years of the Tokugawa Period. It all began on February 5, 1597. On the hills of Nagasaki the blood of twenty-six martyrs for Christ were shed. These twenty-six individuals, ranging from 12 to 64 years of age, were stretched out and crucified upon crudely built crosses. This slaughter marked the beginning of a nearly 250-year nightmare that decimated the Christian church in Japan, which at that time, according to A History of the Christian Church in Japan by Dr. Richard Drummond, was “the largest single organized religious community within the nation.”

Today, only about three Japanese in a thousand claim to be Christians. Five children ranging in age from 12 to 19 were among those killed on February 5.

Ibaragi Kun from Kyoto, at age 12, the youngest of the group from Kyoto, was admired until the end for his remarkable courage in the face of death. Shortly after the Christians were led to the place of their execution, an official came to him and begged him to recant his faith. Young Ibaragi Kun looked his tormentor squarely in the eye and replied, “Sir, it would be better if you yourself became a Christian and could go to heaven where I am going. Sir, which is my cross?” The stunned official pointed to the smallest of the crosses on the hill. Ibaragi Kun ran forward, knelt in front of his cross, and embraced it like a friend. Along with the others, he sang praises until he could sing no more (www.keikyo.com).