- Kakure-Kirisitan - August 15, 1549, S.P.Franciscvs Xaverius who was a missionary of Iesus Hominum Salvator came over to Japan. After he got a permit to preach, just a few Japanese got Christianity. But, it was not so long, 1587, until Shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi felt a problem about the power of Christianity. In 1612, Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa made a law to prohibit Christianity. After this law was enacted,lots of Kirisitans (Christians) were martyed by the law. They had to dive into the underground to protect themselves. So, Kakure-Kirisitan means hidden Christian. This picture is a grave stone of Kirisitan. You can see it is shaped like a cross. One Buddhism temple's priest made this grave for Kirisitan because he was protected from the law. Kyushu was the last place for belief of Christ in Japan and we can find a lot of traces of Japanese Christianity. The most famous place is Nagasaki.
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© Daisuke Tomiyasu
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