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Picture of Jesus used to reveal practicing Catholics and sympathizers Picture of the Virgin Mary. A fumi-e (踏み絵, fumi "stepping-on" + e "picture") was a likeness of Jesus or Mary onto which the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan required suspected Christians to step, in order to demonstrate that they were not members of the outlawed religion; otherwise they would be ...
The Martyrs of Japan (Japanese: 日本の殉教者, Hepburn: Nihon no junkyōsha) were Christian missionaries and followers who were persecuted and executed, mostly during the Tokugawa shogunate period in the 17th century. The Japanese saw the rituals of the Christians causing people to pray, close their eyes with the sign of the cross and lock ...
The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each daimyō administering a han (feudal domain), although the country was still nominally organized as imperial provinces. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanization, which led to the rise of the merchant class and Ukiyo culture.
A Dehua porcelain "Guanyin bringing child" statue, interpreted to be "Maria Kannon" in connection with Christian worship. Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan. The gion-mamori, the crest of the Gion Shrine, which depicts two crossing scrolls and a horn, was adopted by the Kakure Kirishitan as their crest under the Tokugawa shogunate [4]
The Tokugawa shoguns eradicated Christianity in Japan via murder, persecution and decrees. [27] In 1637, Matsukura Katsuie imposed a high tax onto people and oppressed Christians. This, combined with famine, led in 1638 to the Christian-led Shimabara Rebellion , where an estimated 37,000 people (mostly Christians), were massacred. [ 27 ]
The Tokugawa shogunate not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, but also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyo, and the religious orders. The emperor was held up as the ultimate source of political sanction for the shōgun , who ostensibly was the vassal of the imperial family.
In 1543, during the wars of the Sengoku period, the Portuguese landed in Japan for the first time, and soon spread Christianity throughout Japan from Kyushu.Regional daimyō, or feudal lords, were eager to trade with the Portuguese for their European arquebus, while the Portuguese saw the Japanese as potential converts to the Christian religion, preferring to trade with those who converted.
Following the reunification of Japan with the Tokugawa shogunate, Neo-Confucianism assumed a dominant state-sanctioned position in Japanese religion. Although Buddhism continued to persist, its influence and importance decreased and scholars often characterise Japanese Buddhism during this era as one of relative stagnation.