Christian Bushido

I was always fascinated with Christian Bushido. Christian samurai and the era of noble warriors. They were men of honor and valor. They were warriors for all things good. Warriors of light. I don't know it caught my eye. I found their story interesting.

I was considering some things and I came to the same place I always end up. I am home. I am one.I love this world and its people. I think life is a miracle and is beautiful. It is important because it is so frail yet eternal. I would not change a thing about it. I accept it as it is and strive to become a master of myself. I wish to learn to see myself through the eyes of God. I do not wish to see through the eyes of a ME god. I wish to see through the eyes of the Creator of all.

I think at times we need extrodinary strength. I look to anywhere and anything for it. We can learn from eachother a great many things. I trust in my fellow man still. I am not without faith that those that live with peace will find peace no matter where they are. That is what unites us.

Christianity thrived under Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan's great samurai leaders, and by 1580 there were an estimated 150,000 converts. Churches and seminaries sprang up in the larger towns, and samurai were seen carrying rosaries in the streets. In battle, the Christian warlords wore crosses on their helmets and, as swords clashed, cries of "Jesu" and "Santa Maria" echoed over the battlefield

"A samurai carrying the cross is not a conventional image," says Vaticanologist Sandro Magister of the image above in his comprehensive report on "the 188 Japanese martyrs of the seventeenth century who were proclaimed blessed two days ago in Nagasaki"

— The Samurai with the Cross. From the Acts of the Martyrs of Japan. "There were noblemen, priests – four of them – and one religious. But most of them were ordinary Christians: farmers, women, young people under the age of twenty, even small children, entire families. All of them were killed for refusing to renounce the Christian faith."

From the article, this brief history of Holy Mother Church in Japan:The beatification of "Fr. Peter Kibe and his 187 companions" – as the title of the ceremony put it – was the first ever celebrated in Japan. The new blesseds joined 42 Japanese saints and 395 blesseds, all of them martyrs, elevated to the honors of the altar beginning with Pius IX.

The new blesseds were martyred between 1603 and 1639. At the time, there were about 300,000 Catholics in Japan, evangelized first by the Jesuits, with St. Francis Xavier, and then also by the Franciscans.

continued until 1611, when officials of Tokugawa Ieyasu denounced the Christian faith again. Within three years churches were destroyed, missionaries jailed, and Christian warlords exiled. Many Christian samurai lost their lands and their status, though their faith endured until the Shimabara Revolt in 1637-38.

A group of landless Christian samurai joined in a peasant rebellion against a harsh overlord in western Japan. About 20,000 held out for months in an abandoned castle against a government force thought to be 100,000 strong.

After losses in the thousands, the government was forced to ask Dutch warships to fire on the castle. Christian banners imprinted with the names of saints and "praise to the blessed sacrament" fell, the rebels were slaughtered, and the Christian samurai were finally defeated.

The interesting part is the prophecy

“When five times five years have passed, a remarkable youth will appear. Without study he shall of himself know all things, and he shall be famous throughout the land. Then shall the clouds of the east and west shine with a ruddy glow, wisteria flowers shall blossom from the trunks of dead trees. Multitudes shall bear the cross on their helmets, white flags shall float over sea and river, mountain and plain. Then shall come the time for Jesus to be honored.”

Amakusa Shirō

People believed in him because they thought he was the fulfillment of St. Francis Xavier’s ”prophecy” that there would be ”the Son of God” born in Shimabara and he supposedly did miracles.”

The son of former Konishi clan retainer Masuda Jinbei (益田 甚兵衛?) (according to some sources, Shirō may have been the illegitimate son of Toyotomi Hideyori), Shirō was born in modern-day Kami-Amakusa, Kumamoto in a Catholic family. The charismatic 15-year-old was known to his followers as "heaven's messenger." Miraculous powers were attributed to him.[1]

Shiro led the defence of Hara Castle and died when it fell. Executed in the aftermath of the fall, his head was displayed on a pike in Nagasaki for a very long time afterward as a warning to any other potential Christian rebels.

His death poem was: "Now, those who accompany me in being besieged in this castle, will be my friends unto the next world." (Ima rōjō #eiru mono wa, raise made tomo to naru.)

In 1637, strange appearances in the sky and unusual blossoms in the gardens seemed to coincide with the signs foretold by this prophecy. Neither was there lacking a person that was thought to answer to the description of the promised deliverer.

His name was Masuda Shiro, the son of one of the Christian warriors that had left the province of Higo at the time of the persecution under Kato Kiyomasa. The boy had been brought up in Nagasaki, and it is probable that what he learned there from the missionaries and other foreigners enabled him to astonish the people of Amakusa by a display of wisdom.

It was asserted that he could walk upon the sea, make birds fly down from sky to light on his hand, cause stags to issue from a sea-shell, and perform many other miracles.

One result of the Shimabara Revolt was that the Portuguese, being suspected of having encouraged it, were forbidden to come any more to Japan. In 1639, orders were given that, if a Portuguese ship should come, it must be destroyed and all persons on board be immediately beheaded. Notice was given to the Dutch and Chinese that their ships would be confiscated if any Christian teachers were found upon them. The Dutch were also ordered to give information if they knew of missionaries being brought by the vessels of any other nation.

I think it honorable when people defend their beliefs in God. If ever an idea be so noble and necessary in a person so as to grow beyond the self. The only path to peace is peace of self. That means peace of yourself with all. All people all things. I think the quest for personal honor is a selfish one. The quest for something more so as to inspire men to be free. What more noble thing than the struggle of freedom for your fellow man to believe as he wishes in whatever he pleases. That his choice be honored. That his will be free to decide who or what is his greatest good. Who is better a judge of oneself than one´s creator?

Noble is the defense of noble things as peace is found by he that goes in peace.



en.wikipedia.org...

orientem.blogspot.com.es...

www.jref.com...

historyofchristianityinjapan.wordpress.com...

Here are some of the foundations of Christian Bushido. I pulled them from a contemporary organization.

See if they are relevant to you.


Christian Bushido

[color=FBB917]Ways Of Light -
[color=F62217]Avoid Doing Ways Of Darkness -

[color=4CC417]Living A Righteaous Life

[color=FBB917]Spiritual Pursuits
- Galatians 5:16
[color=4CC417]So I say, live by the spirit, and you will notgratify the desires of the sinful nature. Worldly Entertainment

- Proverbs 21:17
[color=4CC417]Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach.

[color=FBB917]Godly Friends
- Proverbs 13:20
[color=F62217]He who walks with the wise grows wise but a companion of fools suffers harm.

[color=FBB917]Wrong Friends
- Psalms 1:1
[color=4CC417]Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners.

[color=FBB917]Good Stewardship
- Luke 16:11
[color=4CC417]So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth who will trust you with true riches?

[color=FBB917]Eternal Values
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
[color=F62217]So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.

[color=FBB917]Temporal Values
- Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth., where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

[color=FBB917]Edifying Music
- Ephesians 5:19
[color=4CC417]Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.

[color=FBB917]Fleshly Music
- Ephesians 4:29-30
[color=F62217]Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

[color=FBB917]Developing Abilities
- 1 Corinthians 4:2
[color=4CC417]Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

[color=FBB917]Burying the talents
- Luke 12:48
[color=F62217]But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

[color=FBB917]Veracity/Truthfulness

[color=FBB917]Speak Truth
- Zechariah 8:16
[color=4CC417]These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgements in your courts;

[color=FBB917]Lying
- Ephesians 4:25
[color=F62217]Therefore; each of you should put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

[color=FBB917]Honesty
- 2 Corinthians 8:21
[color=4CC417]For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but in the eyes of men.

[color=FBB917]Cheating
- 2 Corinthians 4:2
[color=4CC417]Rather we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contray, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

[color=FBB917]Sincerity
- 1 Thessalonians 2:3
[color=4CC417]For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.

[color=FBB917]Hypocrisy
- Job 8:13
[color=F62217]Such is the destiny of those who forget God so perishes the hope of the goddless.

[color=FBB917]Self-Control

[color=FBB917]Self Denial
- John 12:24
[color=F62217]I tell you the truth, unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.

[color=FBB917]Selfishness
- Philippians 2:21
[color=F62217]For everyone looks out for his own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.

[color=FBB917]Self-Control
- Proverbs 16:32
[color=4CC417]Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

[color=FBB917]Losing Temper
- Proverbs 25:28
[color=F62217]Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

[color=FBB917]Self-Control
- Galatians 5:22-23
[color=4CC417]But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

[color=FBB917]Anger
- Proverbs 29:22
[color=F62217]An angry man stirs up dissension and a hot tempered one commits many sins.

[color=FBB917]Not Easily Provoked
-Proverbs 19:11
[color=4CC417]A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is o his glory to overlook an offense.

[color=FBB917]Easily Irritated
- 1 Corinthians 13:5
[color=4CC417]Love is patient, love is kind, It does not envy, It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

[color=FBB917]Temperance
- 1 Corinthians 9:25
[color=4CC417]Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

[color=FBB917]Lack Of Moderation
- Proverbs 11:1
[color=4CC417]The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.

[color=FBB917]Discipline
- 1 Corinthians 9:27
[color=4CC417]No, I beat my body and make it my own slave so that after I preached to
others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

[color=FBB917]luttony
- Proverbs 23:21
[color=F62217]For drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

[color=FBB917]Bridle Tongue
- Proverbs 21:23
[color=4CC417]He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

[color=FBB917]Idle Words
- Matthew 12:36
[color=4CC417]But I tell you that men will have to give account of every careless word that they have spoken.

[color=FBB917]Diligence

[color=FBB917]Zeal
- Revelations 3:19
[color=4CC417]Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

[color=FBB917]Complacency
- Revelation 3:15
[color=4CC417]I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

[color=FBB917]Wholeheartedness
- Colossians 3:23
[color=4CC417]Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Slothfulness (not doing best)

www.christiansamurai.org...

Something I think we can all appreciate. I think it was in part what motivated these samurai to resist and defend their version of God. Right or wrong, they chose.

- Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Sumaria and to the ends of the earth.

- Matthew 9:36-38
When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.

- 1 John 3:17
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

- Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself.

- James 2:1-9
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say; here is a good seat for you but say to the poor man, you stand here or sit on the floor by my feet, have you not descriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers: has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. It is not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you to court?

Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

ok, I know. Who cares right?

I made this thread like this for a reason. I want to point out a BIG question everyone missed....

why did the Portuguese orchestrate the firing upon of a catholic force facing obliteration in a foreign land? are they not both Europeans and neighbors?

hmmmm.

That is kind of big. It shows mentality. It shows the hand of both sides. All cards on the table of history.


EDIT:

Let's think about this.

The values are common. They would be part of any society or group and be welcomed as insightful and good for living well. So what's the real problem?

We have the Catholic VS the Protestant face of the situation. But more importantly, we should look to the political power of the countries involved. During these years intense trading was going on the high seas. Piracy was common and often times supported by hands histories mention has forgotten.

All communication makes history. It is then a choice of what to remember as the "conversation" of the past.

What if I told you that since Spain's Jesuit order was a force of social good it was targeted by the "big business" of the day. This was done so not for being Catholic or seeing faith from an adversarial perspective on the Protestant side /Royalty. The Jesuits were always a case unto themselves. They got in allot of trouble in south America working in the same atmosphere in brazil with slaves and the Portuguese. It was dynastical trade battle over the globe with people and goods in the grinder of it all. All for profit?

The peasants rose against high taxes the European merchants brought to their cities. They were directly suffering since their leaders accepted monetary gain in exchange for facilitating situations in trade where the average worker was progressively worked and exploited to his mortal end.

The sovereign prince in charge was bought and paid for and like the disloyal fiend he was, he imposed extensive taxes to support the system of wealth and opulence that ruined the dinner table of every starving peasant in the land.

This rebellion was already happening and the Jesuits were there throughout it all, regardless of the crown or the papal tiaras blessing. They would teach, build, and make honorable the societies they helped. The Christian samurais were Christian first, and warriors second. They fought in response to the people and for them. They technically won. It was the use of protégées cannons that shattered the last stand of great men.

They fought like warrior poets. They bled like valiant lions in fierce combat. Their God and their hope for freedom was their sword and shield. It was shattered by the traders of the past. The same thirst for destruction and greed. Treachery and deceit. Hidden and lost.

How the true light can be whatever which illuminates.

In the early years of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogunate sent its own trading ships abroad in search of Chinese silks, hides and ceramics, principally to Indo-China and the Philippines. To distinguish themselves from the infamous pirate ships that sailed the China Seas, Japanese traders carried a special license issued by the bakufu. Licensed or not, many of these Japanese seamen had all the affrontery of the wako pirates who preceded them and it was not uncommon for friction and fighting to break out in the foreign ports they visited. In 1608, Andre Pessao, acting governor of Macao and captain of the next "Black Ship" to Nagasaki, attacked a ship of Japanese troublemakers. Fifty of the surviving sailors surrendered and were returned to Japan, but only after signing an affidavit that absolved the Portuguese from killing their shipmates. The sailors reported the incident to Tokugawa Ieyasu and claimed they signed the document under duress.

Tokugawa Ieyasu hesitated to retaliate against Captain Pessao when he arrived in Nagasaki aboard the Madre de Deus, since the ship's cargo represented such a valuable economic benefit to Japan. At about the same time, the Spanish galleon San Francisco ran aground in Edo Bay. The ship's captain, Governor Don Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco, was brought to Edo and asked if the Spanish could meet the Japanese demand for silk. The governor's enthusiastic reply that Spain would gladly send two or three ships each year to Japan proved to Tokugawa Ieyasu the Japanese could live without the Portuguese. They also found they could play the Spanish off against the Portuguese and the Protestant Dutch and English off against the Spanish Catholics. In early January 1610, the Japanese struck a blow against the Portuguese from which they never fully recovered when they attacked and sank the Madre de Deus as it departed Nagasaki.

In 1609, the same year the Dutch received Japanese permission to establish a trading base at Hirado, administrator Jacques Specx sent a shipload of pepper to Tsushima Island, bound for Korea. Thedaimyo of Tsushima sent the ship back to Hirado. It was difficult for the VOC to swallow that the trade monopoly with Korea was in hands other than theirs and they were keen to change that situation. In 1611, Tokugawa Ieyasu received a letter from The Hague in Holland dated December 18, 1610, and addressed to the "most Almighty Emperor and King of Japan." In his letter, Prince Maurits asserted the true object of the Catholics in Japan was the fomentation of political dissension and civil strife. He also wrote:

"Furthermore my subjects are willing to visit and trade sincerely all countries and places, I thus request Your Imperial Majesty that the same trade on Corea may favor Your Majesty's help."

Despite the lovely words, the prince got nothing. In fact, the message struck a raw nerve.

Tokugawa Ieyasu once tolerated the presence of Christian missionaries, but he soon concluded they were a potential menace to Japan. His advisors warned him that Christian doctrine enjoined the faithful to obey their spiritual leaders (the Jesuits), not their temporal leader (the Shogun).

www.koreanhistoryproject.org...

EDIT:

I want to stress the fact that RELIGION did not fail these people and did not cause this evil. It was the men who did not believe that ruined good men either in spirit or in life so as to fill their hollow chambers with wealth.

Don't buy into the whole God is silly and religion makes people dumb. There is such a dark side that tries to ruin what Good people do. Usually, historically , religion has united people of good worth and made them do good things.

Why question that. Cannot honor and truth stand alone to demonstrate that freemen make religion. It is the hope of the enslaver of his brother to rid the world of religion. No other force has stood against the shame of humanity with shoulders to carry the burden of evil men. No other reason for freedom has withstood the advances of vile hungers than the sustaining and filling gnosis of the one. The creator / creation of all / is all.

That will never die. Since before our days. No matter how far back you go.....we might die, but we are the ones to rise. Always have. Always will.

ok, so I want to start now with what was really interesting to me. A power struggle of a lower class lead by a miracle leader with special powers(Masuda Shiro). A Christ in his own right. He died a martyrs death and oddly enough is not overlooked by the Catholic church.

The prophecy

“When five times five years have passed, a remarkable youth will appear. Without study he shall of himself know all things, and he shall be famous throughout the land. Then shall the clouds of the east and west shine with a ruddy glow, wisteria flowers shall blossom from the trunks of dead trees. Multitudes shall bear the cross on their helmets, white flags shall float over sea and river, mountain and plain. Then shall come the time for Jesus to be honored.”

I don't think they were saying that Amakusa Shirō was Jesus. They were speaking to the truth that the people have an innate yet absolute liberating truth of being. A pure being.

This darkened search for a "better" being. Interchangeable humanity instead of true humanity.
This is a story as Horus was the story of his day and Jesus of his.

The name is given. His name is not a name for calling, but a definition of what it is in every free man.
The symbolism aside. The same threat is being counteracted. The source of that threat is the failure and is so the "broken" piece.

Hope incarnated. A redeemer. Our Mardok. Whatever.

In 1637, strange appearances in the sky and unusual blossoms in the gardens seemed to coincide with the signs foretold by this prophecy. Neither was there lacking a person that was thought to answer to the description of the promised deliverer.

His name was Masuda Shiro, the son of one of the Christian warriors that had left the province of Higo at the time of the persecution under Kato Kiyomasa. The boy had been brought up in Nagasaki, and it is probable that what he learned there from the missionaries and other foreigners enabled him to astonish the people of Amakusa by a display of wisdom.

It was asserted that he could walk upon the sea, make birds fly down from sky to light on his hand, cause stags to issue from a sea-shell, and perform many other miracles

I think it has been done so many times it can be staged now almost to perfection.



EDIT:
an interesting thread I came across I liked.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by BIHOTZ
why did the Portuguese orchestrate the firing upon of a catholic force facing obliteration in a foreign land? are they not both Europeans and neighbors?

I don't understand your question, could you please rephrase it?
Thanks in advance.

reply to post by ArMaP


ok,
why did the Portuguese arrange for the Dutch to fire upon the castle where the rebels were making their last stands?

One result of the Shimabara Revolt was that the Portuguese, being suspected of having encouraged it, were forbidden to come any more to Japan

A group of landless Christian samurai joined in a peasant rebellion against a harsh overlord in western Japan. About 20,000 held out for months in an abandoned castle against a government force thought to be 100,000 strong.

After losses in the thousands, the government was forced to ask Dutch warships to fire on the castle. Christian banners imprinted with the names of saints and "praise to the blessed sacrament" fell, the rebels were slaughtered, and the Christian samurai were finally defeated.

All we can do this far removed from the event is use what we know to determine what we don't. The Portuguese were barred from Japan for having "encouraged" the revolt. Really the Portuguese were acting as opportunists and encouraged the revolt in so much as they knew it would open up the market for new trading contracts. The Spanish had what others wanted.
This was the time of the 30 years war. It was a religious conflict since it was fought with protestants against Catholics but really it was a political struggle for power. The Portuguese are catholic like the Spanish. They should be concerned for the advancement of their faith and hope it succeeds. This time was marked by global war for dominance.
here we have an example.

At about the same time England also maintained a significant relationship with Persia. In 1616, a trade agreement was reached between Shah Abbas and the East India Company and in 1622 "a joint Anglo-Persian force expelled the Portuguese and Spanish traders from the Persian Gulf" in the Capture of Ormuz.

So we see how during the years before and after the 30 years war, there was a rush to secure global trading. The big business of the time.

The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. The conflict lasted, unceasing, for 30 years, making it the longest continuous war in modern history.
The origins of the conflict and goals of the participants were complex, and no single cause can accurately be described as the main reason for the fighting. Initially, the war was fought largely as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire, although disputes over the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire played a significant part

en.wikipedia.org...

The Portuguese were not exactly fully motivated by religion. They wanted freedom from Spain.

1635 the French marched eastward and crossed the Rhine River. The last and bloodiest phase of the war had begun in places in Italy, along the border between Spain and France, and between Denmark and Sweden, and the United Netherlands joined France in war against Spain.
In 1639, the navy of the United Netherlands annihilated the Spanish fleet. Portugal revolted against rule by Spain's Habsburg king and, in 1640, re-established its independence.

The Portuguese Restoration War was fought between Portugal and Spain and began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon (1668).

The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal and Spain under the Spanish Habsburgs. The period from 1640 to 1668 was marked by periodic skirmishes between Portugal and Spain, as well as short episodes of more serious warfare, much of it occasioned by Spanish and Portuguese entanglements with non-Iberian powers

So the Portuguese revolted in 1640. They had issues already with the Spanish crown and were probably ready to help the Dutch hurt Spanish interests. Why you may ask?

When Philip II of Portugal (known as Philip III in Spain) died, he was succeeded by Philip III (Philip IV of Spain) who had a different approach to Portuguese issues. Taxes on the Portuguese merchants were raised, the Portuguese nobility began to lose its influence at the Spanish Cortes, and government posts in Portugal were increasingly occupied by Spaniards. Ultimately, Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province, and Portuguese nobles stood to lose all of their power.

The Dutch were not happy with Spain's hold over the empires trading. I mentioned before

In 1611, Tokugawa Ieyasu received a letter from The Hague in Holland dated December 18, 1610, and addressed to the "most Almighty Emperor and King of Japan." In his letter, Prince Maurits asserted the true object of the Catholics in Japan was the fomentation of political dissension and civil strife. He also wrote:
"Furthermore my subjects are willing to visit and trade sincerely all countries and places, I thus request Your Imperial Majesty that the same trade on Korea may favor Your Majesty's help."

so the Spanish have little to no friends in that part of the world. Their closest allies are fellow Iberians, but merchants first. Wealth motivated all, not religion.

en.wikipedia.org...

So we now understand the setting. Portugal was Spain´s reluctant partner globally. The trade controlled by Spain in Japan caused action to be taken by the Dutch. The Dutch found allies amongst the Portuguese traders who were angry at policies that favored Spanish merchants over them. Fearing that if Spain was given a monopoly over Japans trade the Portuguese merchants supported the revolt in a "catholic" capacity. Making it seem like the Catholics were trouble makers. The Dutch could then move in and in return for getting rid of Spanish trade in the area the Portuguese merchants would enjoy greater freedom and security in trade.

The Japanese people did not trust the Portuguese and even fired upon one of their ships leaving port on one occasion as I mentioned before. The Portuguese were barred from ever trading with Japan since it was later revealed (probably by the Dutch) that they had supported the revolt instead of condemning it.

The damage was done though. Spain lost important trade and later fought a revolt of their own when Portugal successfully gained its independence again from Spain.

Caught in the middle of this power struggle are the Japanese peasants and their Christian beginnings. The fall of Christianity in Japan might have been long coming, but considering the relative tolerance they enjoyed it could be argued that had this intervention by the Dutch never happened, a Christian Japan might have changed history for the better.

SO my question.

Why did the Portuguese orchestrate the destruction of reformist forces held up in a castle fighting for the right to be catholic? They did so because of financial motivations as well as political reasons. The Dutch had everything to do with it as well.

We can argue that the victims do not change. The peasants stayed poor and exploited and their new religion and savior were crushed by the interests of the time´s Globalists.



en.wikipedia.org...

www.fsmitha.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by BIHOTZ
So we now understand the setting. Portugal was Spain´s reluctant partner globally.

More than reluctant, as Portugal had the same king as Spain, but the Spanish rule was more interested in the colonies and taxes they could get from the Portuguese, Portugal, during those 60 years was treated as a second class country when compared with Spain.

Religion takes a second place when dealing with national issues, as usual.

Edit: that Spanish rule even involved Portugal in wars that weren't theirs, like the 80 years war (although for Portugal it didn't last 80 years) against Great Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Very interesting thread OP.

Nothing to add or subtract, but enjoyed the read. Thanks.