Kakure Kirishitan

The Virgin Mary disguised as Kannon, Kirishitan cult, 17th century Japan. Salle des Martyrs, Paris Foreign Missions Society.

A Japanese Kirishitan crucifix, 17th century. Christ is depicted as Buddha-like, in the center of the cross. Paris Foreign Missions Society.

Kakure Kirishitan (隠れキリシタン, Japanese for "Hidden Christian") is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.

Main article: Christianity in Japan

History

Maria-Kannon. Dehua Kiln Statue. This image of the Virgin Mary was made to look like the Buddhist Kannon, so as to hide its Christian meaning. Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan.

Kakure Kirishitans are called the "hidden" Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes. As time went on, the figures of the saints and the Virgin Mary were transformed into figurines that looked like the traditional statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. The Bible was passed down orally, due to fears of printed works being confiscated by authorities. Because of the expulsion of the Catholic clergy in the 17th century, the Kakure Christian community relied on lay leaders to lead the services.

In some cases, the communities drifted away from Christian teachings. They lost the meaning of the prayers and their religion became a version of the cult of ancestors, in which the ancestors happened to be their Christian martyrs.

Many secret Christians, some of whom had adopted these new ways of practicing Christianity, came out of hiding when religious freedom was re-established in the mid-19th century and rejoined the Catholic Church after renouncing their unorthodox, syncretic practices. However, there were those who decided not to rejoin. They are known as the Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians).

Modern extinction

Following the legalization of Christianity and secularization of Japan, many Hanare Kirishitan lineages ended abruptly. Traditionally, boys learned the rituals and prayers from their fathers; when boys were uninterested or moved away from the homes, there would be no one left to continue the lineage.

For a while, Hanare Kirishitans were thought to have died out entirely, due to their tradition of secrecy. A group on Ikitsuki Island in Nagasaki prefecture, which had been overlooked by the Japanese government during the time of persecution, made their practices public in the 1980s and now perform them for audiences; however, these practices have acquired some attributes of theater, such as the telling of folktales and the use of statues and other images which most underground Christians had never created.

The anthropologist Christal Whelan uncovered the existence of genuine Hanare Kirishitans on the Gotō Islands where Kakure Kirishitans had once fled. There were only two surviving priests on the islands, both of whom were over 90, and they would not talk to each other. The few surviving laity had also all reached old age, and some of them no longer had any priests from their lineage and prayed alone. Although these Hanare Kirishitans had a strong tradition of secrecy, they agreed to be filmed for her documentary Otaiya.

Japanese culture

Shusaku Endo's acclaimed novel Silence draws from the oral history of the local Kirishitan communities pertaining to the time of the suppression of the Church.

Noted Japanese composer Yasuhide Ito has written a well-known work for symphonic band, called Gloriosa, that was inspired by the music of the Kakure Kirishitans.

The anime series Samurai Champloo is largely based on the related Shimabara Rebellion and its aftermath.

The anime series Rurouni Kenshin featured an arc inspired by the persecution of the Kakure Kirishitian.

Rin Tohsaka, one of the main characters in the visual novel Fate/stay night is a descendant of a Kakure Kirishitian lineage.

See also

• Kirishitan
• Linobamvaki
• Nagasaki Prefecture
• Ikitsuki, Nagasaki
• Sacred language
• Crypto-Christianity
• Shusaku Endo's novel "Silence" about the 17th century suppression of the last known Japanese Christian communities.

External links

• Photo-Documentary of Christian history in Japan with Concentration on Hidden Christians: photo and film project by students of St Olaf College.
• "Japan - Hidden Christians": Foreign Correspondent documentary
• Ikitsuki Journal; Once Banned, Christianity Withers in an Old Stronghold New York Times Article Dec. 25, 2003
• Lack of Oppression Hurts Christianity in Japan New York Times Article Apr. 3, 1997
• Japan's Crypto-Christians Time Magazine Article
• 2008 Beatification of Japanese Martyrs.