The causes of the entry of our religious into Japon, and the
circumstances under which they entered Satzuma.
[Christianity in the kingdoms of Japon took its origin from the
Society of Jesus, the first preacher and apostle therein being
St. Francis Xavier. The fathers of this Society had entered Japon
according to the rule of the gospel, without weapons or soldiers, but
with peace and mercy and in the strength of holy living. Christianity
flourished so that the first missionaries were obliged to call in aid;
and they sent for assistance to the Philippinas, where at that time
there were discalced Franciscans and Augustinians, besides members of
the Society. Father Gaspar Coello, vice-provincial of the fathers in
Japon, wrote to the governor, Dr. Santiago de Vera, to the bishop,
Don Fray Domingo de Salacar, and to the guardian of St. Francis,
and the rector of the Society in Manila, urging the establishment of
trade between the Philippinas and Japon. The bishop made a number of
formal inquiries, which were verified before a notary. One is dated
at Nangasaqui, September 11, 1584; and the other from the kingdom
of Fixen, January 24, 1585. The witnesses when asked especially if
it would be an advantage to have religious of various orders, and
especially religious under the vow of poverty, replied unanimously
that such would be very well received. They called to witness the
case of the holy Fray Juan Pobre, a discalced friar who disembarked
in Japon on his way to China, and whom the Japanese, both heathen and
Christian, adored. It must be admitted that soon afterward the fathers
of the Society in Japon changed their opinion, in spite of the fact
that the extension of Christianity in Japon required more laborers in
the field and that the empire was large enough for all the religious
orders. God was pleased to put it into the heart of many of the kings,
or tonos, of that realm to send to Manila to ask for religious of all
the orders. The particular reason for the calling of our religious was
as follows: In 1601 a number of Japanese vessels, with many Christians
on them, touched at Manila. A number of these Christians became very
fond of our convent, and often visited it. One of them, by name Juan
Sandaya, brought the captain of his ship to the prior, Fray Francisco
de Morales; and they discussed the possibility of sending religious
of the Order of St. Dominic to Satzuma, whence the captain came. In
the following year a letter was brought from the king of Satzuma,
Tintionguen, inviting them to come to his kingdom. The letter was
dated on the twenty-second day of the ninth month in the sixth year
of Keycho. [32] In response to it religious were sent. Father Fray
Francisco de Morales went as vicar and superior, accompanied by the
fathers Fray Thomas Hernandez, Fray Alonso de Mena, and Fray Thomas del
Spiritu Santo, or Zumarraga, and brother Fray Juan de la Abadia, a lay
brother. [33] They set sail on the day of the most holy Trinity. They
carried but little in the way of temporal things, expecting to live
upon the alms which they should receive in Japon. They rested the first
night in a heathen temple in the island of Coxiqui. [34] The priest of
the idols removed the images, and left the temple unoccupied, and the
fathers consecrated it and set up in it an altar. The Japanese were
very curious about the new missionaries, and were greatly pleased with
them. They were welcomed in a few days by some Japanese gentlemen,
who made them a very ceremonious greeting and welcomed them in the
name of their king. They were escorted to the court of the tono, where
they were honorably received. The black and white colors of the habit
pleased the Japanese, for these are customary in that country; while
the eating of fish as an ordinary article of food is very common in
Japon. They also greatly admired the devotion of the fathers to study,
for they esteem their boncos [or "bonzes"] in proportion as they are
learned; but what above all they admired was the contempt of these
fathers for comforts and worldly advantages. The favor with which
the religious were received enraged the priests of the idols, who
insisted that the Japanese princes who had become Christians had been
unfortunate. They mentioned the instance of Don Augustin Tzunotami,
[35] a great and valiant lord who had been destroyed by the emperor;
also that of Don Francisco, the king of Bungo, [36] who had been
conquered and lost his life; while this kingdom of Satzuma had been
protected by its devotion to its gods, and especially to Faquiman,
who is their god of war. It was no wonder that two Christian princes
should have been overwhelmed when thousands of heathen had suffered
the same overthrow, but the idol priests passed that over. The emperor
intervened, and enacted a decree that no king or tono, and not even
any gentleman of distinction, should become a Christian. The king
of Satzuma, however, would not banish the religious, but gave them
permission to build a church and a house. Not infrequently, however,
they were forgotten, and did not receive their customary supply of
rice. The fathers converted the family of the man in whose house they
lived, and made a chapel in the oratory of the house. The queen was
desirous of seeing the image of the Virgin which was set up in the
chapel; and it was carried to the palace, and there worshiped with
the greatest respect by the chief personages of the court. The king,
being unable to make up his mind how to treat the religious because
of the opposition of the emperor, permitted them, at their request,
to return to the island of Quoxiqui, where they had landed, and
where they had something of an establishment. Here they suffered
from the rigors of the Japanese winter in a wretched hut. They had
insufficient food, and received very small alms. In case of illness,
it was impossible to give the sick man any treatment, or even proper
food. The Lord, however, preserved them; and the tono at last, pitying
them and being edified by their way of living, offered them a town,
the income derived from which would suffice to maintain them. This
they declined, as being against the rule of the province to which they
belonged. The king was much amazed, and gave them some interpreters
to speak for them when they preached. Being on an island seven leguas
at sea, they could not preach to advantage, or learn the language;
the king gave them permission to build a house and a church in the
city of Quiodomari. They said their first mass here on the day of
the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in 1606. Here the fathers made a
number of conversions, although they were permitted to baptize only
the common people, the conversion of persons of rank or of soldiers
being forbidden. Some, however, came secretly and were baptized. One
of them, a soldier by the name of Leon, received the crown of martyrdom
in four months.]