Electric Mole Forums - View Single Post - Ringo 15th Anniversary Releases 13.11.2013

TurtleFu · 2013.12.02, 07:34 AM

Nagasaki, by virtue of being the main trading port with the Portuguese. I wrote a paper on the Christianity in Japan, pre-Tokugawa. After that, it mostly became the center of rangaku studies (Dutch studies), because the Dutch were not missionaries (and Dejima, the Dutch trading post, was right off the bay).
There are books and articles on the kakure christians I've been meaning to read. But basically for a period of time, Christianity was outlawed and persecuted by the Tokugawa. This resulted in some really interesting art, like oratories shaped like lacquered shrines that could reasonably be considered something Shinto/Buddhist.

EDIT:
Yup, the bomb was in Urakami, which was the district of Nagasaki with the most Christian activity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ur...udoJan1946.jpg

EDIT EDIT:
Sorry, didn't explain that well. Kakure Christians are the "hidden" Christians that continued their private worship while under Tokugawa rule. They were heavily persecuted.
Many daimyou (feudal lords) converted to Christianity during Momoyama-Azuchi (pre-Tokugawa). In part it was to gain favor with the Portuguese, because the Portuguese had guns. It also helped subvert Buddhist authority, which was one of the reasons why Nobunaga supported the missionary school of Azuchi. At that time Buddhist temples were gaining considering influence, even militarily. Nobunaga appropriated Christian and Buddhist imagery to lend legitimacy to hisrule. Hideyoshi did contribute to the persecution, such as his mass crucifixion of Franciscan monks in 1597, but it became an official decree under Tokugawa authority.
I'll have to do some more reading into the meaning behind crucifixions in Japan, but it was more popular to have icons of Madonna and Child rather than crucifixes. Why, I'm not so sure... but crucifixes do exist, such as a lacquered one with an ivory Jesus, but as far as I know there is only one extant example from the pre-Edo time period (it's in Salamanca, Spain).

2013.12.02, 07:34 AM	#276
TurtleFu Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Honolulu Posts: 1,592	Nagasaki, by virtue of being the main trading port with the Portuguese. I wrote a paper on the Christianity in Japan, pre-Tokugawa. After that, it mostly became the center of rangaku studies (Dutch studies), because the Dutch were not missionaries (and Dejima, the Dutch trading post, was right off the bay). There are books and articles on the kakure christians I've been meaning to read. But basically for a period of time, Christianity was outlawed and persecuted by the Tokugawa. This resulted in some really interesting art, like oratories shaped like lacquered shrines that could reasonably be considered something Shinto/Buddhist. EDIT: Yup, the bomb was in Urakami, which was the district of Nagasaki with the most Christian activity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ur...udoJan1946.jpg EDIT EDIT: Sorry, didn't explain that well. Kakure Christians are the "hidden" Christians that continued their private worship while under Tokugawa rule. They were heavily persecuted. Many daimyou (feudal lords) converted to Christianity during Momoyama-Azuchi (pre-Tokugawa). In part it was to gain favor with the Portuguese, because the Portuguese had guns. It also helped subvert Buddhist authority, which was one of the reasons why Nobunaga supported the missionary school of Azuchi. At that time Buddhist temples were gaining considering influence, even militarily. Nobunaga appropriated Christian and Buddhist imagery to lend legitimacy to hisrule. Hideyoshi did contribute to the persecution, such as his mass crucifixion of Franciscan monks in 1597, but it became an official decree under Tokugawa authority. I'll have to do some more reading into the meaning behind crucifixions in Japan, but it was more popular to have icons of Madonna and Child rather than crucifixes. Why, I'm not so sure... but crucifixes do exist, such as a lacquered one with an ivory Jesus, but as far as I know there is only one extant example from the pre-Edo time period (it's in Salamanca, Spain). Last edited by TurtleFu : 2013.12.02 at 05:15 PM.