Christianity in Early Modern Japan

When the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier introduced Catholic Christianity to Japan in 1549, it developed quickly in the country. The Japanese called this new religious movement and its believers Kirishitan. This volume explores the popular religious life and culture of the native adherents, which have been so often ignored in conventional studies of Christianity in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Japan. Subjects included are lay missionaries, followers’ engagement in symbols and rituals, Japanese catechism, and apostasy, underground practice, and martyrdom under persecution. This book provides fascinating new information about the faith and practice of the Japanese followers, and expands the horizon of historical studies of Japanese Christianity. It will be an important source for students of Japanese studies, religious history, and studies of cross-cultural interaction.

Ikuo Higashibaba, Ph.D. (1997) in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions, the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, is part-time lecturer at Tenri University, Japan.