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The Samurai by Shusaku Endo
The Samurai • Although this is a work of historical fiction, as Endo writes in his Preface, “Of course my purpose…was not to depict the condition of Japan in the seventeenth century” (8). However, Endo further writes, “the setting of the novel will doubtless be more vivid for the reader who has some knowledge of the historical background” (8).
JAPAN AND CHRISTIANTY Christianity in Japan can be divided into three periods: 1. The initial encounter with Christianity in the late 1500s, and its prohibition by the early 1600s, a little over 50 years later. 2. The reintroduction of Christianity, after more than 200 years in the late 1800s when Japan was “opened” to the West. 3. The period after World War II and U.S. military occupation.
European Contact with Japan • By the end of the Muromachi(1336-1573) era, the first Europeans arrived in Japan to engage in trade and try to convert the Japanese to Christianity. • The Portuguese landed in Kyushu in 1543 and within two years were making regular port calls. • The Spanish arrived in 1587, followed by the Dutch in 1609. • The Japanese began to study European civilization. • This contact opened new opportunities for the economy. Europeans traded firearms, fabrics, glassware, clocks, tobacco, and other Western innovations for Japanese gold and silver.
European Contact with Japan • This contact also brought serious political challenges. • The new trade and foreign ideas allowed some lesser daimyo [local military leaders/nobility] to increase their power. • This was a period of many local wars, and the new foreign firearms made provincial wars more deadly.
Initial Encounter with Christianity Catholic missionaries came to Japan in late 1549 and slowly spread their influence. Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived in August 1549. Missionary activities were centered in Kyushu [Southern island of Japan], and by 1579 there were an estimated 100,000 Christians.
Spread of Christianity in Japan • By 1560 missionary activity spread to central Japan. In 1568 a Christian daimyo established the port of Nagasaki and in 1579 turned it over to Jesuit administration. • By 1582, there were as many as 150,000 Christian converts (2 percent of the population) and 200 churches. At the end of the 1500s, the number of Christians grew to more than 300,000. • Both southern daimyo and merchants seeking better trade arrangements as well as peasants were among the Christian converts. • Christianity had a disruptive impact on Japanese society because it upset established economic and political relations among the various daimyo and the central government. • It also disrupted a fixed social order in which merchants and peasants were at the bottom of society.
The Christian Problem • The "Christian problem" focused on three issues: • (1) controlling the Christian daimyo in Kyushu • (2) controlling trade with the Europeans • (3) maintaining a Japanese feudal social order
Restricting Christians • Bakufu [national government military leaders] tolerance for Christianity diminished as they tried to assert control and unify Japan under their central authority. • To contain its growing influence, the Bakufu outlawed Christianity in 1587, but the ban was not always enforced locally. • 26 Christians were killed in Nagasaki in 1597.
Central Government Authority Established in Japan • After nearly 300 years of civil warfare, in 1600 after a major battle a new central government was created. • The new leader, or Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, took control and moved the capital to Edo. • Tokugawa distrusted outsiders and any threats to his power.
Restricting Christians • Additional restrictions were imposed: • By 1612 the shogun's retainers and residents of Tokugawa lands were ordered to reject Christianity; • In 1614 foreign missionaries were expelled; • in 1616 foreign trade was restricted to Nagasaki; • in 1622 another 120 missionaries and converts were executed; • in 1624 the Spanish were expelled; • in 1629 about 3,000 Christians were executed; • in 1635 the Japanese were prohibited from traveling outside Japan. • Some Christians concealed their beliefs and continued to practice Christianity in secret.
Date Masamune • Model for His Lordship in The Samurai • A daimyo who served with distinction in the Korean invasion under Hideyoshi • After Hideyoshi’s death, he supported Tokugawa Ieyasu • For his brave service, Ieyasu awarded Date the lordship of the huge and profitable Sendai domain, making him one of Japan’s most powerful daimyo
Date Matsumune • Nicknamed the “One-eyed Dragon” • Small pox infected his right eye. According to legend, he plucked out the eye himself; another story reads that he had a retainer gouge out the eye. • The nickname stuck but was used with respect because of his heroic battle exploits and because he was an aggressive and ambitious daimyo.
Date Masamune Although he lost his right eye, he apparently requested that this portrait be done with both eyes intact.
Castle Gate in Sendai (The only part of Date’s castle that remains today)
Date’s Trade Mission to Europe • After assuming control of the remote Tohoku region of northern Japan, Date encouraged foreigners to come to the area in an effort to expand trade. In addition, he was sympathetic toward Christian missionaries, allowing them to come and preach in his province. • In 1613 he assisted Father Soteho (model for Velasco), who had been condemned to death for preaching Christianity in Japan despite the anti-Christian edicts. Ieyasu released Soteho and sent him to Sendai. Date asked Soteho to arrange a trade mission to Europe, accompanied by a few of Date’s retainers. • Despite fears that the powerful Date might be planning to acquire European aide in a possible overthrow of the Tokugawa regime, Ieyasu reluctantly agreed to the mission. Note: As Van C. Gessel writes in his “Postscript,” “We are left to our own devices to determine why the embassy was ever organized in the first place, what the ruler Ieyasu and … Date Masamune truly wished to gain…” (268).
Ieyasu’s and Date’s Letters to Pope Paul V • Ieyasu wrote, ”I don’t mind if you take advantage of coming to Japan to make a profit but don’t spread Christianity.” • Date wrote, “I’ll offer my land for a base of your missionary work. Send us as many padres as possible.” .
Translation of Date’s Letter • “The Franciscan Padre Luis Sotelo came to our country to spread the faith of God. On that occasion, I learnt about this faith and desired to become a Christian, but I still haven’t accomplished this desire due to some small issues. However, in order to encourage my subjects to become Christians, I wish that you send missionaries of the Franciscan church. I guarantee that you will be able to build a church and that your missionaries will be protected. I also wish that you select and send a bishop as well. Because of that, I have sent one of my samurai, HasekuraRokuemon, as my representative to accompany Luis Sotelo across the seas to Rome, to give you a stamp of obedience and to kiss your feet. Further, as our country and Nueva Espana are neighbouring countries, could you intervene so that we can discuss with the King of Spain, for the benefit of dispatching missionaries across the seas.”
Speculation • Due to lack of historical records and accounts, no one is absolutely certain • why the embassy was originally organized, • what TokogawaIeyasu and Date Masumune truly wished to gain, and • why HasekuraTsunenaga was chosen as the chief envoy. Thus, Endo’s novel is speculation.
Date’s Greatest Achievement • Funding and backing one of Japan’s few journeys of exploration and diplomacy in the early seventeenth century is considered Date’s greatest achievement. • He ordered the building of the exploration ship, the Date Maruor San Juan Bautista, using European shipbuilding techniques. He sent Father Sotelo; one of his retainers, HasekuraTsunenaga; and an embassy of 180 men on a voyage to establish relationships with the Pope in Rome. • His expedition was the first Japanese voyage to sail around the world. Previously, Japanese lords had not funded such a venture.
HasekuraTsunenaga • Although little is known of HasekuraTsunenaga, he was a mid-level noble in the Sendai domain who served the daimyo Date Masamune.
