5 FEBRUARY 1597
Japanese persecution drives Christianity underground
Fears of national disunity and infiltration lead to a violent crackdown
In January 1597, 26 Christians were arrested in Kyoto and forced to march barefoot to Nagasaki – a distance of some 600 miles. The group, which included six Franciscan missionaries and 20 Japanese laypeople, had endured horrific torture in the days before their journey, coupled with demands that they renounce their ‘alien’ faith. After their arrival in Nagasaki on 5 February, they were crucified on a hill overlooking the city and pierced with spears.
Their group's martyrdom was the grisly culmination of an anti-Christian campaign prosecuted by Japan's de facto ruler, the samurai warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Nearly half a century before, Christianity had been introduced to Japan via Jesuit
