The Site of the 26 Martyrs

The story of the 26 Martyrs is one that is tied up in the rise of the Tokogawa Shogunate around the 1600s and the predecessor to Tokogawa, Toyatomi Hideyoshi. Christianity had been introduced to Japan via Portuguese trade about fifty years before and had a rocky history to say the least, as an excerpt from a paper I wrote last semester here is the short story of the 26 Martyrs (26 Holy Men in Japanese):

As Hideyoshi continued to learn more about the West and the colonization of the Philippians, by the Spanish after their conversion to Christianity, distrust continued to grow even more toward the West and the Jesuits. In late January of 1597 Hideyoshi intensified his persecution of Christians and captured 24 of them, including two boys, in the capitol city of Kyoto. After having their left ears’ cut off and being paraded around the city and through the country to be ridiculed, they were marched to Nagasaki where on February 5th 1597 Hideyoshi had them, along with two Jesuits who had come to defend them, crucified. It is possible that this incident was spurred on by Hideyoshi’s own insecurities and need to assert his authority after the failed invasion of Korea, in which his demands were rejected and he was referred to as a subordinate of China. Hideyoshi died roughly a year later leaving his son in the care of 5 reagents, one of whom was Tokugawa Ieyasu, which delayed the expulsion of the Priests. At this time there were estimated to be around 300,000 Christians in Japan.

Beyond that there is not much to tell, so here is the site:

 The shorter man here is a young adult, but is not a child

 This is a Cathedral behind the site

 And this is the public bathroom at the site

If you ever come to Nagasaki you will often find fun maps like these around for tourists, I don't think there is anything shown on this map that I haven't been to see, or seen by matter of course during my time here. The site of the 26 Martyrs was the last site that I had intended to see in Nagasaki, and when I realized where it was I kicked myself for not seeing it sooner as it was near a common hang out of mine. While I still have bigger events from days gone by to write about this was my last real adventure in Nagasaki. Next weekend I will be going to a Baseball game in Fukuoka, that will be interesting to say the least, America might have invented Baseball, but I think the Japanese surpass us in their love of the game. Hopefully, I get more time to fill you in on some of my past adventure soon.