The Shimabara Rebellion in Japan led to the central government's brutal suppression, banning of Christianity, and expulsion of foreigners for 250 years.
Christian missionaries faced challenges in converting locals due to cultural differences, gaining success with feudal lords like Daimyo Shimabara converting to Christianity in 1580.
Deep dives
The Tokugawa Show-Mock Rule Unifying Japan
During the 1630s, the Tokugawa Show-Mocks, having unified Japan earlier, faced a rebellion in the province of Shimabara. Peasants revolted due to harsh taxation and poor harvests, with many rebels being Christians. The central government responded with a massive army, leading to the rebellion's suppression, banned Christianity, and expelled foreigners for 250 years.
Christian Missionaries in Japan
Christian missionaries arrived in Japan in 1549, primarily Jesuits from Portugal. The missionaries faced challenges in translating Christian concepts due to differing cultural contexts. They struggled to convert locals at first, but managed to gain some success with feudal lords in the southern part of Japan, notably Daimyo Shimabara, who converted to Christianity in 1580.
European Involvement in Japan
Portuguese merchants and Jesuits played significant roles in Japan initially, with the Jesuits acting as mediators for the Portuguese trade. However, the Dutch and other European players arrived later, leading to competition and conflicts. The Dutch focused more on trade and were less interested in conversion. The Battle of Sekigahara marked a turning point in Japan's relations with Western powers, leading to the expulsion of most foreigners.
The Three Great Unifiers of Japan
The period of the three great unifiers in Japan, including Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Yasu, marked efforts to unify the country. These leaders, through strategic military actions and political reforms, played crucial roles in shaping Japan's future. Hideyoshi's Sword Hunt and land reforms aimed at centralizing power and establishing control over the feudal lords.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Christian uprising in Japan and its profound and long-term consequences.
In the 1630s, Japan was ruled by the Tokagawa Shoguns, a military dynasty who, 30 years earlier, had unified the country, ending around two centuries of civil war. In 1637 a rebellion broke out in the province of Shimabara, in the south of the country. It was a peasants’ revolt, following years of bad harvests in which the local lord had refused to lower taxes. Many of the rebels were Christians, and they fought under a Christian banner.
The central government’s response was merciless. They met the rebels with an army of 150 000 men, possibly the largest force assembled anywhere in the world during the Early Modern period. Once the rebellion had been suppressed, the Shogun enforced a ban on Christianity and expelled nearly all foreigners from the country. Japan remained more or less completely sealed off from the rest of the world for the next 250 years.
With
Satona Suzuki
Lecturer in Japanese and Modern Japanese History at SOAS, University of London
Erica Baffelli
Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Manchester
and
Christopher Harding
Senior Lecturer in Asian History at the University of Edinburgh
Producer Luke Mulhall
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