Books by Hitomi Omata Rappo
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In 1627, the Pope, Urban the 8th, beatified twenty-six martyrs, who were crucifi... more More Information
In 1627, the Pope, Urban the 8th, beatified twenty-six martyrs, who were crucified thirty years earlier, in Nagasaki, Japan. This beatification was exceptional, not for its sheer speed, but also because they were the first blessed from the new missionary territories. In permitting their cult inside the Franciscan and Jesuit orders, the Church not only recognized the value of their sacrifice. It also confirmed a certain view of Japan as the land of martyrs.
This book recreates the process which led to the formation, and the diffusion of such rhetoric on the Japanese martyrs in Europe. In doing so, it showcases a double perspective (“à parts égales”), built on a rigorous analysis of both European and Japanese sources. Integrating such stories to a broader historical and historiographical perspective, it clarifies the impact of the term “martyrdom” in the descriptions of Japan in Early modern Europe – showing how the missionary orders and the Church came to advertise the martyrs of Japan, and the ideological implications, as well as the world-view, such discourses gave birth to. Later, the rhetoric of Japan as the land of martyrs would be amplified and diffused all over the Catholic world. Such “reflections,” in iconography, literature, or even theater, produced an “imaginary Japan,” a land of heroic martyrs, tyrants, cruel executioners, or converted princes, which would haunt the whole modern period.
Peer-reviewed Articles by Hitomi Omata Rappo
Metropolitan Historical Association, The Journal of Historical Studies, 2021
The Palgrave Handbook of the Catholic Church in East Asia, 2022
The successive bans on Christianity in Early Modern Japan led to several persecution campaignsesp... more The successive bans on Christianity in Early Modern Japan led to several persecution campaignsespecially during the early seventeenth centurywhich resulted in numerous deaths, among both the local converts and the missionaries. These events made a major impact on Europe, including the beatification of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki, who died in 1597 and were blessed 30 years later. Active missionary efforts ended by the late 1630s, but during the three centuries of the Edo era (mid-seventeenth-mid-nineteenth centuries), Christianity survived within hidden communities. Such communities kept legends of local martyrs, and they were sometimes the subjects of administrative control. A few incidents also saw people killed due to alleged links to Christianity. The martyrs of Japan came back to the forefront of Western discourse during the nineteenth century, with the rediscovery of “hidden Christians”
in 1865 and the persecutions that followed. This process culminated in the
beatifications of the martyrs in Japan and the official recognition of Christianity. In this context, the notions of Christian martyrs/martyrdom and persecution were accepted in Japan for the first time, and these terms became officially translated. After that, Japanese Christians started building a new identity through the construction of narratives on Christian martyrs. They especially tried to locate the alleged locations of the executions of martyrs in the early modern period. Such efforts resulted in the establishment of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki and the beatification and canonizations of various groups of martyrs (in 1981, 1987, 2007, and 2016), as well as the recognition of relevant locations as World Heritage Sites. After the Second World War, the martyrs of Japan were also linked to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, a fact which was stressed during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Japan, becoming an important part of the identity of the city.
京都市立芸術大学美術学部紀要 FACULTY OF FINE ARTS, KYOTO CITY UNIVERSITY OF ARTS BULLETIN, 2021
JOURNAL OF THE SCHOOL OF HISTORY (Bukkyo Univ.), 2021
A la luz de Roma: Santos y santidad en el barroco iberoamericano. Volumen III. Tierra de santidad, 2020
Since Luther’s Theologia Crucis (1518), the crucifixion became an even more crucial issue in the... more Since Luther’s Theologia Crucis (1518), the crucifixion became an even more crucial issue in theological discourses. Following the official decision of the Council of Trent (1562), Jesuits were extremely active in promoting a Catholic answer to the Protestants’ theses. They thus created archeological studies on the crucifixion, as seen in the work of Justus Lipsius (1594). After him, the fathers Bartolomeo Ricci and Pedro Bivero wrote illustrated manuals on the same subject (1608 and 1634). This article will analyze such concepts of the crucifixion built within the Company, and also showcase their concrete impact. When, in 1597, twenty-six Christians were crucified in Japan, the Jesuits were at first reluctant to recognize the new martyrs. Their decision to finally embrace them must be understood in the context of their studies on the Cross, a fact that explains why we find Japanese martyrs in both Ricci and Bivero’s books.
Keywords: the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki, Crucifixion, Jesuits, Mission in Japan, Antonio Gallonio, Justus Lipsius, Bartolomeo Ricci, Pedro Bivero
Japan on the Jesuit Stage, edited by Haruka Oba, Florian Schaffenrath, and Akihiko Watanabe, Brill., 2021
On Sunday, fourth of August 1717, a play titled “Théocharis, martyr du Japon (martyr of Japan) wa... more On Sunday, fourth of August 1717, a play titled “Théocharis, martyr du Japon (martyr of Japan) was performed by the students of the Jesuit college Louis le Grand, in Paris. It is a play in five acts, written, in Latin. According to the French program printed for the representation, the story takes place in 1614 Japan, during persecutions against Christianity. It tells the tale of a young nobleman, who is executed by the king of the Bungo province, and dies as a martyr.
Théocharis is a late example of the tradition of theatrical plays on Japan in French Jesuit colleges. Such plays were made from the early 17th to the mid-18th century, a timespan similar to other, and especially German-speaking, European countries. Although drawing from similar themes and sources, French plays present a few key differences with their German counterparts, starting with the almost systematic presence of ballet dances in the representations.
This contribution will first provide a chronology of the martyrs plays showcasing Japanese characters in French Jesuit colleges. It will then analyze the specificities of such plays in a broader context, as they can be seen in Théocharis, showing how and why French Jesuit theater not only actively incorporated ballet dances, but was also gradually influenced by concepts taken from French Classical Theater, such as “Bienséance.”
キリシタン文化研究会会報 /Bulletin of Association for the Study of Kirishitan Culture, 2020
English Title: Th e Imago Primi Saeculi (1640) and Jesuit Views on Japanese Martyrs: Th e Symboli... more English Title: Th e Imago Primi Saeculi (1640) and Jesuit Views on Japanese Martyrs: Th e Symbolism of Carlo Spinola
名古屋大学文学研究科附属人類文化遺産テクスト学研究センター編『HERITEX』 vol. 3, 2020
What constitutes sanctity? How can one person be defined as a saint? Such questions were freque... more What constitutes sanctity? How can one person be defined as a saint? Such questions were frequently asked in the sixteenth and the seventeenth century Europe, when the authority of the Catholic Roman Church was not taken for granted any more, with the rise of Protestantism. As a result, the Roman Church was forced to rethink the very concept of sainthood, and to reform the system to officially recognize new saints, canonization. Through this reformative process, a new title of sanctity, beatification, was created and new procedures were established.
The twenty-six martyrs of Nagasaki, executed under the regime of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1597, were one of the first to receive this new title, and they remain a very special case in the history of beatification. Their accession to sainthood also represents the first officially recognition of saints from the territories newly discovered in the modern era. In addition, the process of their beatification was much faster than what happened with other contemporary martyrs, whether in the Indies or in Europe. It was indeed completed in 1627, only thirty years after their death.
This process also gives us the opportunity to analyze the rivalries which opposed the missionary orders: Franciscan and Jesuit. Indeed, it was initiated by the Franciscans, while the Company of Jesus remained at first in the background, adopting a very cautious attitude towards the very notion of accomplishing the supreme sacrifice in the apostolic act. The Jesuits, however, gradually changed their attitude, especially since the 1610s, but they did not fully embrace the new saints until after the beatification. In fact, the beatification process of the twenty-six martyrs owes much more to the Mendicant Orders. It truly started after the so-called Hasekura Embassy, a Japanese delegation engineered by the Franciscan Luis Sotelo, which arrived in Rome in 1615. Later, the official process was entirely in the hands of Friars Minor, especially during the apostolic tribunals created, in Asia and Mexico, in the early 1620s to verify the sanctity and the martyr of the twenty-six.
By giving a precise description of not only the historical context but also of the trials themselves, this article will examine the significant impact these events had in the rapid success of the beatification process of the twenty-six.
Keywords: Modern History, Beatification and Canonization, 26 Martyrs of Japan, Martyrdom, Society of Jesus, Franciscans, Mission, Vatican, Church Law
L'emblème entre philologie et arts du décor. Actes du XIe Congrès de la Society for Emblem Studies (Nancy), Presses universitaires François-Rabelais (Tours)/Presses universitaires de Rennes, avec le soutien du Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR), 2019
“Imago primi saeculi” (1640) is an important collection of richly illustrated emblems, published ... more “Imago primi saeculi” (1640) is an important collection of richly illustrated emblems, published to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Society of Jesus. It contains four emblems depicting Japanese martyrs. These images are connected one with another through allegorical allusions and designed to attest to the sanctity of Carlo Spinola, a famous Italian Jesuit missionary deceased in Japan. The objective of my communication will be to find the origins of such iconography in the previous emblematic tradition and to contextualize it in relation to the strategy of the Jesuits of the time.
L’Imago primi saeculi (1640) est un important recueil d’emblèmes richement illustré, qui fut publié pour commémorer le centenaire de la fondation de la Compagnie de Jésus. Il comporte quatre images consacrées aux martyrs japonais, dont le langage symbolique, très particulier, n’a pas encore été étudié. L’objectif de ma communication sera de rechercher l’origine de cette iconographie dans la tradition emblématique précédente et de contextualiser ces nouveaux éléments emblématiques en regard de la stratégie des Jésuites de l’époque.
Imago primi saeculi est avant tout construit pour honorer la mémoire des précédents pères, notamment les figures héroïques comme Ignace de Loyola, le fondateur de la Compagnie, ainsi que François Xavier, l’apôtre des Indes, qui furent tous deux canonisés en 1622. L’on y trouve aussi des figures qui sont mortes comme « martyrs ». La mort en tant que « martyr » était une des plus importantes preuves de sainteté, et c’est ainsi que l’Imago primi saeculi est largement consacré à glorifier les exploits de ces véritables soldats de la mission.
Dans l’histoire des Jésuites, les martyrs du Japon, ont eu une importance décisive, car le pays ayant interdit le christianisme, après une courte période de tolérance, dès 1584, il était devenu un terrain idéal pour fournir de « véritables martyrs ». Les vingt-six missionnaires et chrétiens locaux qui avaient été exécutés en 1597 deviennent d’ailleurs les premiers saints d’outre-mer de la Compagnie, ainsi que les premiers martyrs de la mission asiatique reconnus officiellement, en 1627. Or, bien que ces derniers comptaient trois jésuites japonais parmi eux, la Compagnie, malgré une réticence initiale face au phénomène des martyrs en terre de mission, avait investi davantage d’efforts dans la béatification d’une autre figure majeure parmi les Jésuites tombés au Japon, le fameux père italien Carlo Spinola.
Quatre emblèmes dans l’Imago primi saeculi sont connectés avec une chaîne d’allusions conçue pour prouver la sainteté de Spinola, qui en est la figure centrale, et la seule à être nommée explicitement. Revenant sur le contexte de rédaction de l’Imago, j’analyserai ce discours symbolique en le situant dans la tradition emblématique plus large, et notamment le symbole du bûcher. Je montrerai également comment Spinola et les martyrs du Japon sont présentés comme un lien entre les temps de la première Église et l’ère de mission, ainsi que les motivations plus générales de la Compagnie dans sa mise en avant de ses martyrs.
Anais de História de Além-Mar, 2017
IN: Anais de História de Além-Mar, XVIII (2016)
Inaugurated in 1962, the Museum of the Twenty-Si... more IN: Anais de História de Além-Mar, XVIII (2016)
Inaugurated in 1962, the Museum of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki and its accompanying monument are dedicated to the memory of the first saints born from the mission in Japan: the Twenty-six martyrs of 1597 (beatified in 1627, canonized in 1862).
Analyzing both the architecture and the nature of the collections of the museum, this article demonstrates how the entire structure was created, in the context of post-War Nagasaki, as something between a museum and a place of worship, and also as a “lieu de mémoire,” following the models of Jesuit spirituality, such as Louis Richeome’s “La peinture spirituelle,” or the “Spiritual Exercises.”
Palavras-chave: Mártires, Museu, Relíquias, Japão, Jesuítas, Nagasaki
Inaugurado em 1962, o Museu e Monumento dos Vinte e Seis Mártires são dedicados à memória dos primeiros santos nascidos da missão no Japão: os vinte e seis mártires de 1597 (beatificado em 1627, canonizado em 1862) .
Analisando a arquitetura e a natureza das coleções do museu, este artigo demonstra como toda a estrutura foi criada, no contexto do pós-guerra Nagasaki, como algo entre um museu e um local de culto, e também como um “lieu de mémoire”, seguindo os modelos da espiritualidade jesuíta, como a “La peinture spirituelle” de Louis Richeome ou os “Exercícios Espirituais”.
Diogène Revue internationale des sciences humaines, 2016
IN: DIOGÈNE, "HISTOIRE GLOBALE ET RELIGION", N° 256 (Décembre 2016)
The history of the colonial ... more IN: DIOGÈNE, "HISTOIRE GLOBALE ET RELIGION", N° 256 (Décembre 2016)
The history of the colonial experience has produced various results depending on the regions that were subject to it. In territories that fell under European domination, historians have tried to go beyond the conceptual framework inherited from the Christian West. However, in regions that did not suffer the same fate, such as modern Japan, this scholarly movement was not as influential.
A striking example of this can be found in the concept of “martyr,” which had become the main framework for describing the Christian experience in Japan in the modern period. Martyrdom, with its corollary notion of persecution, is indeed deeply infused with an ideology inherited from Catholic theology. Using martyrdom as a framework had a deep impact on the perception of the repressive measures engaged by the local authorities in Japan. Effectively, it narrowed the historical discussion to an essentially moral issue.
While in Japan, this idea of “martyr” was first rejected, it was reintroduced in the late 19th century, as a part of an effort to include the country in the circle of nations with a Christian past, and thus among those belonging to the “civilized” world. Such discourse became even more prominent with the idea of a “Christian century” proposed by Charles R. Boxer in the mid-20th century. Christianity has been an important influence on the religious and intellectual history of Japan. Nevertheless, the very idea of a “Christian century” has extremely Eurocentric connotations and was influenced, directly or indirectly, by theologically connoted notions such as “universal history.”
The same problem can be seen with the integration of the subject of Japanese Christianity in the field of global history. While this field tries to stay away from a West-centered perspective by analyzing transnational or cultural subjects, the same caution has not always been applied on a conceptual level. This article deconstructs such globalizing, and moral, discourses on the history of Christianity in Japan. It analyzes their ideological and sometimes political implications. At the same time, it sheds new light on recent progress made by Japanese scholars who have proposed new models that go beyond “global history.”
The notion of “Martyr” was one of the most litigious aspects of sanctity in modern Europe, especi... more The notion of “Martyr” was one of the most litigious aspects of sanctity in modern Europe, especially with the rivalries between Catholic and Protestants that followed the Wars of Religion. “Martyr” originally means a witness or a testimony of the true faith and it occurs most commonly in times such as persecution, when believers are forced to make the ultimate choice between death or survival through apostasy. The Modern European society, shaken by religious conflicts, provided Catholic and Protestant Christians with many opportunities to be victims of mutual “persecutions.” Most of such heroic deaths were eventually recognized as “martyrs.” Since both sides claimed themselves as the most authentic victims of persecution caused against their absolute faith, proving the validity of their martyrs led up to an ontological polemic. Confronted with such war of “martyrs” propaganda, the Roman Catholic Church put forward its own original “martyrs,” especially missionaries who died outside Europe, in territories governed by what they regarded as pagans, tyrants and barbarians.
Indeed, during the 16th century, the Jesuits, the pioneer of the Catholic Mission in the newly connected world, kept careful records of their colleagues’ deaths as “martyrs” in Brazil, Florida, India, and especially Japan. This discourse of “martyrs” was mainly European rhetoric designed for contemporary European audiences to gloss over the unfulfilled work of Christianization, because it was an one-sided description of local incidents in the concerned areas from the standpoint of Christian missionaries. It was notably the case with Japan, where Christianity was seen as a heretic sect and even legally prohibited. Hence, Christian “martyrs” did not appear as heroes in local contemporary documents, but as criminals. In its essence, this term of “martyr” conveys a fundamental theological concept connected deeply with the primitive pan-European penetration of Christianity, and it was literary untranslatable into indigenous languages, which didn’t share the same Christian value and history. Shaping discourses of “martyrs” of Japan is thus perceived as inner-European religious propaganda.
Inner-contextualization by the Church of the Christian martyrs from Japan into Catholic Europe began with the beatification of the 26 martyrs in Nagasaki by the Pope Urban VIII in 1627. This group consisted not only of Europeans, but also of Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Mexican. They thus were the first case of beatification of non-European after the Council of Trent. If sainthood reflects the values of the culture in which they are perceived in a heroic light, as Peter Burke says, the officialization of their cult stood for a new ideal of sanctified death. Their crucifixion, inflicted to them by a pagan tyrant, “ignorant” of the true faith, offered the perfect setting to produce martyrs, as José de Acosta later analyzed.
The favor displayed by the Vatican office for these 26 martyrs draws a sharp contrast with the treatment to the contemporary Benedict the Moor, the Ethiopian “Black” saint, whose cult has begun in Sicilia right after his death in 1589 and whose beatification process preceded the 26 martyrs. While Benedict’s representations normally reflect his physical otherness, the iconography of Japanese martyrs, a very popular theme for the Jesuits after the beatification, conveys no rendition of their physiological features, and especially of their skin color. As far as I could observe in the remaining paintings, such as in Madrid, Munich, or Naples, and engravings, they are always depicted with a European-like physiognomy. Their imagery follows the model of the early Christian martyrs. My present research analyzes such discrepancies, and concentrates on the process of integration of these new martyrs of Missions in the Counter-Reformative Europe with the Catholic rhetoric and traditional religious iconography, and its implication in the Western world-view of the time.
Post-Tridentine Catholic Europe saw a renewed worship of relics. In Japan, “persecutions” were ca... more Post-Tridentine Catholic Europe saw a renewed worship of relics. In Japan, “persecutions” were carried out by local authorities since the end of the 16th century. As a result, Japan was one of the main lands for the production of new holy objects, many of which were sent to Europe. Missionaries’ writings evoke a real quest for such relics. In these writings, real facts are mingled with skillful rhetoric that is reminiscent of the early times of the Church. Already venerated in the main centers of the mission in Asia, relics from Japan also had an important impact on European Christendom. These objects not only decorated churches but also became subjects of dramas. They also served as an argument for the beatification of the first saints from the mission of the East Indies.
L’Europe catholique post-tridentine a reconnu un renouveau du culte des reliques. Le Japon, du fait des « persécutions » menées par les autorités locales depuis la fin du XVIe siècle, fut une des principales terres de production de nouveaux corps saints, dont nombre furent acheminés en Europe. Les écrits missionnaires évoquent ces événements en mettant en scène une véritable quête des reliques où faits réels sont mêlés à une symbolique savamment travaillée pour évoquer les premiers temps de l’Église. Vénérées déjà dans les principaux centre de la mission en Asie, les reliques du Japon ont aussi eu un impact important en Europe. Elles y ont non seulement orné des églises, mais sont aussi devenues des sujets de pièces de théâtre, et elles ont aussi servi d’argument pour la béatification des premiers saints issus de la mission des Indes orientales.
La Europa católica post-tridentina reconoció un renovado culto de las reliquias. El Japón, debido a las “persecuciones” llevadas a cabo por las autoridades locales desde fin del siglo xvi, fue una de las principales tierras de producción de nuevos cuerpos santos, un gran número de los cuales fue llevados a Europa. Los escritores misioneros evocan estos hechos poniendo en escena una verdadera búsqueda de reliquias donde los hechos reales se mezclan con una simbólica trabajada de manera erudita par evocar los primeros tiempos de la Iglesia. Veneradas ya en los principales centros de misión en Asia, las reliquias del Japón tuvieron también un impacto importante en Europa. Éstas no solo adornaron las iglesias, sino que se volvieron también tema de obras de teatro, y sirvieron también de argumento para la beatificación de los primeros santos surgidos de la misión de Indias orientales.
Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines, 2017
The concept of « martyr » had a decisive role in Mission History in the modern period. However, t... more The concept of « martyr » had a decisive role in Mission History in the modern period. However, the use of such notion in the process of writing history can be dangerous, as it reflects a series of conceptions and values, both cultural and religions, which are not necessarily shared by all the protagonists. The process of translation of the term « martyr » in Japan happened in two phases : the first on in the 16th century, and the second in the 19th. The assimilation of an idea previously refuted created a distortion, an ambiguity in the discourse. An analysis of this situation constitutes, however, an excellent starting point in order to deconstruct preexisting frameworks, and to propose a point of view less centered of the West, following the pioneering work of Saïd, Spivak and Derrida.
Résumé français :
Le concept de « martyre » a eu un rôle décisif dans l’histoire de la mission à l’époque moderne. Or, l’utilisation d’une notion de ce type dans l’écriture de l’histoire, religieuse en particulier, pose problème, car il reflète un ensemble de conceptions et de valeurs culturelles comme religieuses, qui ne sont pas forcément partagées par l’ensemble des partis impliqués. Le processus de traduction de martyre au Japon, qui s’est déroulé en deux étapes, au XVIᵉ et XIXᵉ siècle, a ainsi engendré une distorsion, une acceptation postérieure d’une notion qui avait été pourtant été réfutée à l’époque des faits. Une analyse de cette situation offre toutefois un excellent point de départ pour déconstruire les cadres conceptuels préétablis et proposer un angle d’approche moins centré sur l’ « Occident », en se situant dans le prolongement des travaux de Saïd, Spivak ou encore Derrida.
Book chapters by Hitomi Omata Rappo
IN: Andreas Nijenhuis et al. (dir.), Frontières et altérité religieuse. La religion dans le récit de voyage, XVe-XXe siècle, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2019
Ce livre explore l’altérité religieuse au prisme du voyage, à travers les incursions en terre d’i... more Ce livre explore l’altérité religieuse au prisme du voyage, à travers les incursions en terre d’islam, la différence religieuse et ethnique, les religiosités ibérique et italienne modernes, le rôle de l’altérité religieuse comme marqueur d’exotisme, et une réflexion sur les liens entre modernité politique et religion. Le corpus analysé embrasse toutes formes d’écrits liés au déplacement de la fin du Moyen Âge à l’époque contemporaine : journaux, mémoires, textes épistolaires ou encore romancés, voire une pièce de théâtre, intégrant des réminiscences du voyage.
Der Beitrag behandelt das Jesuitentheater in der Eidgenossenschaft im sechzehnten und siebzehnten... more Der Beitrag behandelt das Jesuitentheater in der Eidgenossenschaft im sechzehnten und siebzehnten Jahrhundert, mit dem Thema der zeitgenössischen Mission in Japan. Das Thema Japan weckte schon bei bekannten schweizerischen Kennern wie Peter Canisius und Renward Cysat Interesse. Japanische Themen waren im Jesuitentheater vor allem als heroische Märtyrersgeschichten nicht nur in deutschsprachigen, sondern auch in lateinischen Ländern sehr beliebt. Die schweizerischen Jesuitenschulen waren ein Treffpunkt dieser beiden Traditionen, in denen die Entwicklung der Märtyrerthemen deutlich verfolgt werden kann. In diesem Beitrag geht es besonders um die Geschichte von Rex Bungi ‒ ein Zyklus von Theaterstücken, der in Fribourg, Luzern und Wallis aufgeführt wurde. Durch Vergleich der verschiedenen Theaterstücke lassen sich die Sublimierung der Gewalt im theatralischen Martyrium und die Distanzierung vom Martyrium erkennen.
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Books by Hitomi Omata Rappo
In 1627, the Pope, Urban the 8th, beatified twenty-six martyrs, who were crucified thirty years earlier, in Nagasaki, Japan. This beatification was exceptional, not for its sheer speed, but also because they were the first blessed from the new missionary territories. In permitting their cult inside the Franciscan and Jesuit orders, the Church not only recognized the value of their sacrifice. It also confirmed a certain view of Japan as the land of martyrs.
This book recreates the process which led to the formation, and the diffusion of such rhetoric on the Japanese martyrs in Europe. In doing so, it showcases a double perspective (“à parts égales”), built on a rigorous analysis of both European and Japanese sources. Integrating such stories to a broader historical and historiographical perspective, it clarifies the impact of the term “martyrdom” in the descriptions of Japan in Early modern Europe – showing how the missionary orders and the Church came to advertise the martyrs of Japan, and the ideological implications, as well as the world-view, such discourses gave birth to. Later, the rhetoric of Japan as the land of martyrs would be amplified and diffused all over the Catholic world. Such “reflections,” in iconography, literature, or even theater, produced an “imaginary Japan,” a land of heroic martyrs, tyrants, cruel executioners, or converted princes, which would haunt the whole modern period.
Peer-reviewed Articles by Hitomi Omata Rappo
in 1865 and the persecutions that followed. This process culminated in the
beatifications of the martyrs in Japan and the official recognition of Christianity. In this context, the notions of Christian martyrs/martyrdom and persecution were accepted in Japan for the first time, and these terms became officially translated. After that, Japanese Christians started building a new identity through the construction of narratives on Christian martyrs. They especially tried to locate the alleged locations of the executions of martyrs in the early modern period. Such efforts resulted in the establishment of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki and the beatification and canonizations of various groups of martyrs (in 1981, 1987, 2007, and 2016), as well as the recognition of relevant locations as World Heritage Sites. After the Second World War, the martyrs of Japan were also linked to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, a fact which was stressed during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Japan, becoming an important part of the identity of the city.
Keywords: the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki, Crucifixion, Jesuits, Mission in Japan, Antonio Gallonio, Justus Lipsius, Bartolomeo Ricci, Pedro Bivero
Théocharis is a late example of the tradition of theatrical plays on Japan in French Jesuit colleges. Such plays were made from the early 17th to the mid-18th century, a timespan similar to other, and especially German-speaking, European countries. Although drawing from similar themes and sources, French plays present a few key differences with their German counterparts, starting with the almost systematic presence of ballet dances in the representations.
This contribution will first provide a chronology of the martyrs plays showcasing Japanese characters in French Jesuit colleges. It will then analyze the specificities of such plays in a broader context, as they can be seen in Théocharis, showing how and why French Jesuit theater not only actively incorporated ballet dances, but was also gradually influenced by concepts taken from French Classical Theater, such as “Bienséance.”
The twenty-six martyrs of Nagasaki, executed under the regime of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1597, were one of the first to receive this new title, and they remain a very special case in the history of beatification. Their accession to sainthood also represents the first officially recognition of saints from the territories newly discovered in the modern era. In addition, the process of their beatification was much faster than what happened with other contemporary martyrs, whether in the Indies or in Europe. It was indeed completed in 1627, only thirty years after their death.
This process also gives us the opportunity to analyze the rivalries which opposed the missionary orders: Franciscan and Jesuit. Indeed, it was initiated by the Franciscans, while the Company of Jesus remained at first in the background, adopting a very cautious attitude towards the very notion of accomplishing the supreme sacrifice in the apostolic act. The Jesuits, however, gradually changed their attitude, especially since the 1610s, but they did not fully embrace the new saints until after the beatification. In fact, the beatification process of the twenty-six martyrs owes much more to the Mendicant Orders. It truly started after the so-called Hasekura Embassy, a Japanese delegation engineered by the Franciscan Luis Sotelo, which arrived in Rome in 1615. Later, the official process was entirely in the hands of Friars Minor, especially during the apostolic tribunals created, in Asia and Mexico, in the early 1620s to verify the sanctity and the martyr of the twenty-six.
By giving a precise description of not only the historical context but also of the trials themselves, this article will examine the significant impact these events had in the rapid success of the beatification process of the twenty-six.
Keywords: Modern History, Beatification and Canonization, 26 Martyrs of Japan, Martyrdom, Society of Jesus, Franciscans, Mission, Vatican, Church Law
L’Imago primi saeculi (1640) est un important recueil d’emblèmes richement illustré, qui fut publié pour commémorer le centenaire de la fondation de la Compagnie de Jésus. Il comporte quatre images consacrées aux martyrs japonais, dont le langage symbolique, très particulier, n’a pas encore été étudié. L’objectif de ma communication sera de rechercher l’origine de cette iconographie dans la tradition emblématique précédente et de contextualiser ces nouveaux éléments emblématiques en regard de la stratégie des Jésuites de l’époque.
Imago primi saeculi est avant tout construit pour honorer la mémoire des précédents pères, notamment les figures héroïques comme Ignace de Loyola, le fondateur de la Compagnie, ainsi que François Xavier, l’apôtre des Indes, qui furent tous deux canonisés en 1622. L’on y trouve aussi des figures qui sont mortes comme « martyrs ». La mort en tant que « martyr » était une des plus importantes preuves de sainteté, et c’est ainsi que l’Imago primi saeculi est largement consacré à glorifier les exploits de ces véritables soldats de la mission.
Dans l’histoire des Jésuites, les martyrs du Japon, ont eu une importance décisive, car le pays ayant interdit le christianisme, après une courte période de tolérance, dès 1584, il était devenu un terrain idéal pour fournir de « véritables martyrs ». Les vingt-six missionnaires et chrétiens locaux qui avaient été exécutés en 1597 deviennent d’ailleurs les premiers saints d’outre-mer de la Compagnie, ainsi que les premiers martyrs de la mission asiatique reconnus officiellement, en 1627. Or, bien que ces derniers comptaient trois jésuites japonais parmi eux, la Compagnie, malgré une réticence initiale face au phénomène des martyrs en terre de mission, avait investi davantage d’efforts dans la béatification d’une autre figure majeure parmi les Jésuites tombés au Japon, le fameux père italien Carlo Spinola.
Quatre emblèmes dans l’Imago primi saeculi sont connectés avec une chaîne d’allusions conçue pour prouver la sainteté de Spinola, qui en est la figure centrale, et la seule à être nommée explicitement. Revenant sur le contexte de rédaction de l’Imago, j’analyserai ce discours symbolique en le situant dans la tradition emblématique plus large, et notamment le symbole du bûcher. Je montrerai également comment Spinola et les martyrs du Japon sont présentés comme un lien entre les temps de la première Église et l’ère de mission, ainsi que les motivations plus générales de la Compagnie dans sa mise en avant de ses martyrs.
Inaugurated in 1962, the Museum of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki and its accompanying monument are dedicated to the memory of the first saints born from the mission in Japan: the Twenty-six martyrs of 1597 (beatified in 1627, canonized in 1862).
Analyzing both the architecture and the nature of the collections of the museum, this article demonstrates how the entire structure was created, in the context of post-War Nagasaki, as something between a museum and a place of worship, and also as a “lieu de mémoire,” following the models of Jesuit spirituality, such as Louis Richeome’s “La peinture spirituelle,” or the “Spiritual Exercises.”
Palavras-chave: Mártires, Museu, Relíquias, Japão, Jesuítas, Nagasaki
Inaugurado em 1962, o Museu e Monumento dos Vinte e Seis Mártires são dedicados à memória dos primeiros santos nascidos da missão no Japão: os vinte e seis mártires de 1597 (beatificado em 1627, canonizado em 1862) .
Analisando a arquitetura e a natureza das coleções do museu, este artigo demonstra como toda a estrutura foi criada, no contexto do pós-guerra Nagasaki, como algo entre um museu e um local de culto, e também como um “lieu de mémoire”, seguindo os modelos da espiritualidade jesuíta, como a “La peinture spirituelle” de Louis Richeome ou os “Exercícios Espirituais”.
The history of the colonial experience has produced various results depending on the regions that were subject to it. In territories that fell under European domination, historians have tried to go beyond the conceptual framework inherited from the Christian West. However, in regions that did not suffer the same fate, such as modern Japan, this scholarly movement was not as influential.
A striking example of this can be found in the concept of “martyr,” which had become the main framework for describing the Christian experience in Japan in the modern period. Martyrdom, with its corollary notion of persecution, is indeed deeply infused with an ideology inherited from Catholic theology. Using martyrdom as a framework had a deep impact on the perception of the repressive measures engaged by the local authorities in Japan. Effectively, it narrowed the historical discussion to an essentially moral issue.
While in Japan, this idea of “martyr” was first rejected, it was reintroduced in the late 19th century, as a part of an effort to include the country in the circle of nations with a Christian past, and thus among those belonging to the “civilized” world. Such discourse became even more prominent with the idea of a “Christian century” proposed by Charles R. Boxer in the mid-20th century. Christianity has been an important influence on the religious and intellectual history of Japan. Nevertheless, the very idea of a “Christian century” has extremely Eurocentric connotations and was influenced, directly or indirectly, by theologically connoted notions such as “universal history.”
The same problem can be seen with the integration of the subject of Japanese Christianity in the field of global history. While this field tries to stay away from a West-centered perspective by analyzing transnational or cultural subjects, the same caution has not always been applied on a conceptual level. This article deconstructs such globalizing, and moral, discourses on the history of Christianity in Japan. It analyzes their ideological and sometimes political implications. At the same time, it sheds new light on recent progress made by Japanese scholars who have proposed new models that go beyond “global history.”
Indeed, during the 16th century, the Jesuits, the pioneer of the Catholic Mission in the newly connected world, kept careful records of their colleagues’ deaths as “martyrs” in Brazil, Florida, India, and especially Japan. This discourse of “martyrs” was mainly European rhetoric designed for contemporary European audiences to gloss over the unfulfilled work of Christianization, because it was an one-sided description of local incidents in the concerned areas from the standpoint of Christian missionaries. It was notably the case with Japan, where Christianity was seen as a heretic sect and even legally prohibited. Hence, Christian “martyrs” did not appear as heroes in local contemporary documents, but as criminals. In its essence, this term of “martyr” conveys a fundamental theological concept connected deeply with the primitive pan-European penetration of Christianity, and it was literary untranslatable into indigenous languages, which didn’t share the same Christian value and history. Shaping discourses of “martyrs” of Japan is thus perceived as inner-European religious propaganda.
Inner-contextualization by the Church of the Christian martyrs from Japan into Catholic Europe began with the beatification of the 26 martyrs in Nagasaki by the Pope Urban VIII in 1627. This group consisted not only of Europeans, but also of Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Mexican. They thus were the first case of beatification of non-European after the Council of Trent. If sainthood reflects the values of the culture in which they are perceived in a heroic light, as Peter Burke says, the officialization of their cult stood for a new ideal of sanctified death. Their crucifixion, inflicted to them by a pagan tyrant, “ignorant” of the true faith, offered the perfect setting to produce martyrs, as José de Acosta later analyzed.
The favor displayed by the Vatican office for these 26 martyrs draws a sharp contrast with the treatment to the contemporary Benedict the Moor, the Ethiopian “Black” saint, whose cult has begun in Sicilia right after his death in 1589 and whose beatification process preceded the 26 martyrs. While Benedict’s representations normally reflect his physical otherness, the iconography of Japanese martyrs, a very popular theme for the Jesuits after the beatification, conveys no rendition of their physiological features, and especially of their skin color. As far as I could observe in the remaining paintings, such as in Madrid, Munich, or Naples, and engravings, they are always depicted with a European-like physiognomy. Their imagery follows the model of the early Christian martyrs. My present research analyzes such discrepancies, and concentrates on the process of integration of these new martyrs of Missions in the Counter-Reformative Europe with the Catholic rhetoric and traditional religious iconography, and its implication in the Western world-view of the time.
L’Europe catholique post-tridentine a reconnu un renouveau du culte des reliques. Le Japon, du fait des « persécutions » menées par les autorités locales depuis la fin du XVIe siècle, fut une des principales terres de production de nouveaux corps saints, dont nombre furent acheminés en Europe. Les écrits missionnaires évoquent ces événements en mettant en scène une véritable quête des reliques où faits réels sont mêlés à une symbolique savamment travaillée pour évoquer les premiers temps de l’Église. Vénérées déjà dans les principaux centre de la mission en Asie, les reliques du Japon ont aussi eu un impact important en Europe. Elles y ont non seulement orné des églises, mais sont aussi devenues des sujets de pièces de théâtre, et elles ont aussi servi d’argument pour la béatification des premiers saints issus de la mission des Indes orientales.
La Europa católica post-tridentina reconoció un renovado culto de las reliquias. El Japón, debido a las “persecuciones” llevadas a cabo por las autoridades locales desde fin del siglo xvi, fue una de las principales tierras de producción de nuevos cuerpos santos, un gran número de los cuales fue llevados a Europa. Los escritores misioneros evocan estos hechos poniendo en escena una verdadera búsqueda de reliquias donde los hechos reales se mezclan con una simbólica trabajada de manera erudita par evocar los primeros tiempos de la Iglesia. Veneradas ya en los principales centros de misión en Asia, las reliquias del Japón tuvieron también un impacto importante en Europa. Éstas no solo adornaron las iglesias, sino que se volvieron también tema de obras de teatro, y sirvieron también de argumento para la beatificación de los primeros santos surgidos de la misión de Indias orientales.
Résumé français :
Le concept de « martyre » a eu un rôle décisif dans l’histoire de la mission à l’époque moderne. Or, l’utilisation d’une notion de ce type dans l’écriture de l’histoire, religieuse en particulier, pose problème, car il reflète un ensemble de conceptions et de valeurs culturelles comme religieuses, qui ne sont pas forcément partagées par l’ensemble des partis impliqués. Le processus de traduction de martyre au Japon, qui s’est déroulé en deux étapes, au XVIᵉ et XIXᵉ siècle, a ainsi engendré une distorsion, une acceptation postérieure d’une notion qui avait été pourtant été réfutée à l’époque des faits. Une analyse de cette situation offre toutefois un excellent point de départ pour déconstruire les cadres conceptuels préétablis et proposer un angle d’approche moins centré sur l’ « Occident », en se situant dans le prolongement des travaux de Saïd, Spivak ou encore Derrida.
Book chapters by Hitomi Omata Rappo
In 1627, the Pope, Urban the 8th, beatified twenty-six martyrs, who were crucified thirty years earlier, in Nagasaki, Japan. This beatification was exceptional, not for its sheer speed, but also because they were the first blessed from the new missionary territories. In permitting their cult inside the Franciscan and Jesuit orders, the Church not only recognized the value of their sacrifice. It also confirmed a certain view of Japan as the land of martyrs.
This book recreates the process which led to the formation, and the diffusion of such rhetoric on the Japanese martyrs in Europe. In doing so, it showcases a double perspective (“à parts égales”), built on a rigorous analysis of both European and Japanese sources. Integrating such stories to a broader historical and historiographical perspective, it clarifies the impact of the term “martyrdom” in the descriptions of Japan in Early modern Europe – showing how the missionary orders and the Church came to advertise the martyrs of Japan, and the ideological implications, as well as the world-view, such discourses gave birth to. Later, the rhetoric of Japan as the land of martyrs would be amplified and diffused all over the Catholic world. Such “reflections,” in iconography, literature, or even theater, produced an “imaginary Japan,” a land of heroic martyrs, tyrants, cruel executioners, or converted princes, which would haunt the whole modern period.
in 1865 and the persecutions that followed. This process culminated in the
beatifications of the martyrs in Japan and the official recognition of Christianity. In this context, the notions of Christian martyrs/martyrdom and persecution were accepted in Japan for the first time, and these terms became officially translated. After that, Japanese Christians started building a new identity through the construction of narratives on Christian martyrs. They especially tried to locate the alleged locations of the executions of martyrs in the early modern period. Such efforts resulted in the establishment of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki and the beatification and canonizations of various groups of martyrs (in 1981, 1987, 2007, and 2016), as well as the recognition of relevant locations as World Heritage Sites. After the Second World War, the martyrs of Japan were also linked to the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, a fact which was stressed during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Japan, becoming an important part of the identity of the city.
Keywords: the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki, Crucifixion, Jesuits, Mission in Japan, Antonio Gallonio, Justus Lipsius, Bartolomeo Ricci, Pedro Bivero
Théocharis is a late example of the tradition of theatrical plays on Japan in French Jesuit colleges. Such plays were made from the early 17th to the mid-18th century, a timespan similar to other, and especially German-speaking, European countries. Although drawing from similar themes and sources, French plays present a few key differences with their German counterparts, starting with the almost systematic presence of ballet dances in the representations.
This contribution will first provide a chronology of the martyrs plays showcasing Japanese characters in French Jesuit colleges. It will then analyze the specificities of such plays in a broader context, as they can be seen in Théocharis, showing how and why French Jesuit theater not only actively incorporated ballet dances, but was also gradually influenced by concepts taken from French Classical Theater, such as “Bienséance.”
The twenty-six martyrs of Nagasaki, executed under the regime of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1597, were one of the first to receive this new title, and they remain a very special case in the history of beatification. Their accession to sainthood also represents the first officially recognition of saints from the territories newly discovered in the modern era. In addition, the process of their beatification was much faster than what happened with other contemporary martyrs, whether in the Indies or in Europe. It was indeed completed in 1627, only thirty years after their death.
This process also gives us the opportunity to analyze the rivalries which opposed the missionary orders: Franciscan and Jesuit. Indeed, it was initiated by the Franciscans, while the Company of Jesus remained at first in the background, adopting a very cautious attitude towards the very notion of accomplishing the supreme sacrifice in the apostolic act. The Jesuits, however, gradually changed their attitude, especially since the 1610s, but they did not fully embrace the new saints until after the beatification. In fact, the beatification process of the twenty-six martyrs owes much more to the Mendicant Orders. It truly started after the so-called Hasekura Embassy, a Japanese delegation engineered by the Franciscan Luis Sotelo, which arrived in Rome in 1615. Later, the official process was entirely in the hands of Friars Minor, especially during the apostolic tribunals created, in Asia and Mexico, in the early 1620s to verify the sanctity and the martyr of the twenty-six.
By giving a precise description of not only the historical context but also of the trials themselves, this article will examine the significant impact these events had in the rapid success of the beatification process of the twenty-six.
Keywords: Modern History, Beatification and Canonization, 26 Martyrs of Japan, Martyrdom, Society of Jesus, Franciscans, Mission, Vatican, Church Law
L’Imago primi saeculi (1640) est un important recueil d’emblèmes richement illustré, qui fut publié pour commémorer le centenaire de la fondation de la Compagnie de Jésus. Il comporte quatre images consacrées aux martyrs japonais, dont le langage symbolique, très particulier, n’a pas encore été étudié. L’objectif de ma communication sera de rechercher l’origine de cette iconographie dans la tradition emblématique précédente et de contextualiser ces nouveaux éléments emblématiques en regard de la stratégie des Jésuites de l’époque.
Imago primi saeculi est avant tout construit pour honorer la mémoire des précédents pères, notamment les figures héroïques comme Ignace de Loyola, le fondateur de la Compagnie, ainsi que François Xavier, l’apôtre des Indes, qui furent tous deux canonisés en 1622. L’on y trouve aussi des figures qui sont mortes comme « martyrs ». La mort en tant que « martyr » était une des plus importantes preuves de sainteté, et c’est ainsi que l’Imago primi saeculi est largement consacré à glorifier les exploits de ces véritables soldats de la mission.
Dans l’histoire des Jésuites, les martyrs du Japon, ont eu une importance décisive, car le pays ayant interdit le christianisme, après une courte période de tolérance, dès 1584, il était devenu un terrain idéal pour fournir de « véritables martyrs ». Les vingt-six missionnaires et chrétiens locaux qui avaient été exécutés en 1597 deviennent d’ailleurs les premiers saints d’outre-mer de la Compagnie, ainsi que les premiers martyrs de la mission asiatique reconnus officiellement, en 1627. Or, bien que ces derniers comptaient trois jésuites japonais parmi eux, la Compagnie, malgré une réticence initiale face au phénomène des martyrs en terre de mission, avait investi davantage d’efforts dans la béatification d’une autre figure majeure parmi les Jésuites tombés au Japon, le fameux père italien Carlo Spinola.
Quatre emblèmes dans l’Imago primi saeculi sont connectés avec une chaîne d’allusions conçue pour prouver la sainteté de Spinola, qui en est la figure centrale, et la seule à être nommée explicitement. Revenant sur le contexte de rédaction de l’Imago, j’analyserai ce discours symbolique en le situant dans la tradition emblématique plus large, et notamment le symbole du bûcher. Je montrerai également comment Spinola et les martyrs du Japon sont présentés comme un lien entre les temps de la première Église et l’ère de mission, ainsi que les motivations plus générales de la Compagnie dans sa mise en avant de ses martyrs.
Inaugurated in 1962, the Museum of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki and its accompanying monument are dedicated to the memory of the first saints born from the mission in Japan: the Twenty-six martyrs of 1597 (beatified in 1627, canonized in 1862).
Analyzing both the architecture and the nature of the collections of the museum, this article demonstrates how the entire structure was created, in the context of post-War Nagasaki, as something between a museum and a place of worship, and also as a “lieu de mémoire,” following the models of Jesuit spirituality, such as Louis Richeome’s “La peinture spirituelle,” or the “Spiritual Exercises.”
Palavras-chave: Mártires, Museu, Relíquias, Japão, Jesuítas, Nagasaki
Inaugurado em 1962, o Museu e Monumento dos Vinte e Seis Mártires são dedicados à memória dos primeiros santos nascidos da missão no Japão: os vinte e seis mártires de 1597 (beatificado em 1627, canonizado em 1862) .
Analisando a arquitetura e a natureza das coleções do museu, este artigo demonstra como toda a estrutura foi criada, no contexto do pós-guerra Nagasaki, como algo entre um museu e um local de culto, e também como um “lieu de mémoire”, seguindo os modelos da espiritualidade jesuíta, como a “La peinture spirituelle” de Louis Richeome ou os “Exercícios Espirituais”.
The history of the colonial experience has produced various results depending on the regions that were subject to it. In territories that fell under European domination, historians have tried to go beyond the conceptual framework inherited from the Christian West. However, in regions that did not suffer the same fate, such as modern Japan, this scholarly movement was not as influential.
A striking example of this can be found in the concept of “martyr,” which had become the main framework for describing the Christian experience in Japan in the modern period. Martyrdom, with its corollary notion of persecution, is indeed deeply infused with an ideology inherited from Catholic theology. Using martyrdom as a framework had a deep impact on the perception of the repressive measures engaged by the local authorities in Japan. Effectively, it narrowed the historical discussion to an essentially moral issue.
While in Japan, this idea of “martyr” was first rejected, it was reintroduced in the late 19th century, as a part of an effort to include the country in the circle of nations with a Christian past, and thus among those belonging to the “civilized” world. Such discourse became even more prominent with the idea of a “Christian century” proposed by Charles R. Boxer in the mid-20th century. Christianity has been an important influence on the religious and intellectual history of Japan. Nevertheless, the very idea of a “Christian century” has extremely Eurocentric connotations and was influenced, directly or indirectly, by theologically connoted notions such as “universal history.”
The same problem can be seen with the integration of the subject of Japanese Christianity in the field of global history. While this field tries to stay away from a West-centered perspective by analyzing transnational or cultural subjects, the same caution has not always been applied on a conceptual level. This article deconstructs such globalizing, and moral, discourses on the history of Christianity in Japan. It analyzes their ideological and sometimes political implications. At the same time, it sheds new light on recent progress made by Japanese scholars who have proposed new models that go beyond “global history.”
Indeed, during the 16th century, the Jesuits, the pioneer of the Catholic Mission in the newly connected world, kept careful records of their colleagues’ deaths as “martyrs” in Brazil, Florida, India, and especially Japan. This discourse of “martyrs” was mainly European rhetoric designed for contemporary European audiences to gloss over the unfulfilled work of Christianization, because it was an one-sided description of local incidents in the concerned areas from the standpoint of Christian missionaries. It was notably the case with Japan, where Christianity was seen as a heretic sect and even legally prohibited. Hence, Christian “martyrs” did not appear as heroes in local contemporary documents, but as criminals. In its essence, this term of “martyr” conveys a fundamental theological concept connected deeply with the primitive pan-European penetration of Christianity, and it was literary untranslatable into indigenous languages, which didn’t share the same Christian value and history. Shaping discourses of “martyrs” of Japan is thus perceived as inner-European religious propaganda.
Inner-contextualization by the Church of the Christian martyrs from Japan into Catholic Europe began with the beatification of the 26 martyrs in Nagasaki by the Pope Urban VIII in 1627. This group consisted not only of Europeans, but also of Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Mexican. They thus were the first case of beatification of non-European after the Council of Trent. If sainthood reflects the values of the culture in which they are perceived in a heroic light, as Peter Burke says, the officialization of their cult stood for a new ideal of sanctified death. Their crucifixion, inflicted to them by a pagan tyrant, “ignorant” of the true faith, offered the perfect setting to produce martyrs, as José de Acosta later analyzed.
The favor displayed by the Vatican office for these 26 martyrs draws a sharp contrast with the treatment to the contemporary Benedict the Moor, the Ethiopian “Black” saint, whose cult has begun in Sicilia right after his death in 1589 and whose beatification process preceded the 26 martyrs. While Benedict’s representations normally reflect his physical otherness, the iconography of Japanese martyrs, a very popular theme for the Jesuits after the beatification, conveys no rendition of their physiological features, and especially of their skin color. As far as I could observe in the remaining paintings, such as in Madrid, Munich, or Naples, and engravings, they are always depicted with a European-like physiognomy. Their imagery follows the model of the early Christian martyrs. My present research analyzes such discrepancies, and concentrates on the process of integration of these new martyrs of Missions in the Counter-Reformative Europe with the Catholic rhetoric and traditional religious iconography, and its implication in the Western world-view of the time.
L’Europe catholique post-tridentine a reconnu un renouveau du culte des reliques. Le Japon, du fait des « persécutions » menées par les autorités locales depuis la fin du XVIe siècle, fut une des principales terres de production de nouveaux corps saints, dont nombre furent acheminés en Europe. Les écrits missionnaires évoquent ces événements en mettant en scène une véritable quête des reliques où faits réels sont mêlés à une symbolique savamment travaillée pour évoquer les premiers temps de l’Église. Vénérées déjà dans les principaux centre de la mission en Asie, les reliques du Japon ont aussi eu un impact important en Europe. Elles y ont non seulement orné des églises, mais sont aussi devenues des sujets de pièces de théâtre, et elles ont aussi servi d’argument pour la béatification des premiers saints issus de la mission des Indes orientales.
La Europa católica post-tridentina reconoció un renovado culto de las reliquias. El Japón, debido a las “persecuciones” llevadas a cabo por las autoridades locales desde fin del siglo xvi, fue una de las principales tierras de producción de nuevos cuerpos santos, un gran número de los cuales fue llevados a Europa. Los escritores misioneros evocan estos hechos poniendo en escena una verdadera búsqueda de reliquias donde los hechos reales se mezclan con una simbólica trabajada de manera erudita par evocar los primeros tiempos de la Iglesia. Veneradas ya en los principales centros de misión en Asia, las reliquias del Japón tuvieron también un impacto importante en Europa. Éstas no solo adornaron las iglesias, sino que se volvieron también tema de obras de teatro, y sirvieron también de argumento para la beatificación de los primeros santos surgidos de la misión de Indias orientales.
Résumé français :
Le concept de « martyre » a eu un rôle décisif dans l’histoire de la mission à l’époque moderne. Or, l’utilisation d’une notion de ce type dans l’écriture de l’histoire, religieuse en particulier, pose problème, car il reflète un ensemble de conceptions et de valeurs culturelles comme religieuses, qui ne sont pas forcément partagées par l’ensemble des partis impliqués. Le processus de traduction de martyre au Japon, qui s’est déroulé en deux étapes, au XVIᵉ et XIXᵉ siècle, a ainsi engendré une distorsion, une acceptation postérieure d’une notion qui avait été pourtant été réfutée à l’époque des faits. Une analyse de cette situation offre toutefois un excellent point de départ pour déconstruire les cadres conceptuels préétablis et proposer un angle d’approche moins centré sur l’ « Occident », en se situant dans le prolongement des travaux de Saïd, Spivak ou encore Derrida.
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Mis en ligne le 23 mai 2017
Accounts of this event had a massive impact in Europe, though some, like the French Protestant Agrippa d’Aubigné, doubted their veracity.
Following the Council of Trent (1562), the Jesuits had been conducting archeological studies of the crucifixion, as seen in the work of Justus Lipsius (1594), and this had a profound influence on the beatification of the twenty-six martyrs in 1627. Jesuit sources, such as Luís Froís, describe precisely the way the Japanese built and used their crosses and while the Jesuits, unlike the Franciscans, were at first reluctant to recognize the new martyrs, they did not completely dismiss their deaths on the cross. On the contrary, they included them, together with other crucified martyrs of Japan, in two illustrated books on the crucifixion, by Fathers Bartolomeo Ricci and Pedro Bivero (1608 and 1634).
The official proclamation goes so far as to cite the martyrs’ crucifixion as the main reason for their beatification. The cross was also a central feature of the new saints inside the Society of Jesus, as it became the defining iconographic element of the three Jesuits who were among the twenty-six. This presentation will show how the Jesuit view of the
cross paved the way for and helped promote the beatification of the twenty-six.
By studying the Jesuit reactions to their encounters with the gods and cults of Japan, and their interpretation in Europe, this presentation will show how the country gradually became the new incarnation of the idolatrous Orient. It thus replaced in many ways the Islamic world and Ottoman empire, while keeping the same associations to a vague, exotic, Orient and ancient Paganism.
While French humanists, such as Jean Bodin, Blaise Pascal or Voltaire, were relatively fast to recognize Islam as an acceptable other – a shift that matched the old French alliance with the Ottoman Empire –, this presentation will show that early 17th century sources, and especially missionary works, tended to blend both Japan, Islam and even Protestants in the same, negative category. This can be seen in the work of the Jesuit Louis Richeome, in his book “L'idolatrie Huguenote (Huguenots’ idolatry)” (1607). In this work, French Protestantism, the Huguenots, is defined as both “Idolatry” and “Heresy,” and directly associated to Islam.
This tendency to see the “idolatries” of Islam and Japan as a similar landscape continued until at least the end of the 17th century. A set of two statues, made before 1700, can still be seen in the Jesuit Gesu church, in Rome, the “Triumph of the Faith over Idolatry” and “Religion Defeating Heresy.” While heresy here represents Luther and Calvin, the statue of Idolatry, symbolized as a dragon, bears an inscription which reads as follows : “Kami, Hotoke, Xaca, Amida” – the names of a series of Japanese deities.
Analyzing this symbolic language as a direct continuation of both medieval anti-Islam propaganda and missionary discourses on Japan, I will show how, especially in French sources, both Japan, and the Ottoman empire – as the representative of Islam – found themselves, from a brief period, as the crossroads of a series of originally distinct narratives portraying them as two related variations of “otherness.”
国際研究集会：異端とその宗教的言説——日本と西欧の比較史学の試み
時；2019年3月4-5日（月・火）
場所：名古屋大学文系綜合館７階カンファレンスホール
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（上記地図のB４④）
言語：フランス語と日本語（議論を含めて全て同時通訳つき）
事前申込不要・入場無料
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On Sunday, fourth of August 1717, a play titled “Théocharis, martyr du Japon (martyr of Japan) was performed by the students of the Jesuit college Louis le Grand, in Paris. It is a play in five acts, written, in Latin. According to the French program printed for the representation, the story takes place in 1614 Japan, during persecutions against Christianity. It tells the tale of a young nobleman, who is executed by the king of the Bungo province, and dies as a martyr.
Théocharis is a late example of the tradition of theatrical plays on Japan in French Jesuit colleges. Such plays were made from the early 17th to the mid-18th century, a timespan similar to other, and especially German-speaking, European countries. Although drawing from similar themes and sources, French plays present a few key differences with their German counterparts, starting with the almost systematic presence of ballet dances in the representations.
This contribution will first provide a chronology of the martyrs plays showcasing Japanese characters in French Jesuit colleges. It will then analyze the specificities of such plays in a broader context, as they can be seen in Théocharis, showing how and why French Jesuit theater not only actively incorporated ballet dances, but was also gradually influenced by concepts taken from French Classical Theater, such as “Bienséance.”
Abstract
Since Luther’s Theologia crucis (1518), the crucifixion became an even more crucial issue in theological discourses. Following the official decision of the Council of Trent (1562), Jesuits were extremely active in promoting a Catholic answer to the Protestants’ theses. They thus created archeological studies on the crucifixion, as seen in the work of Justus Lipsius (1594). After him, the fathers Bartolomeo Ricci and Pedro Bivero wrote illustrated manuals on the same subject (1608 and 1634). This presentation will analyze such conceptions of the crucifixion built within the Company, and also showcase their concrete impact. When, in 1597, twenty-six Christians were crucified in Japan, the Jesuits were at first reluctant to recognize the new martyrs. Their decision to finally embrace them must be understood in the context of their studies on the Cross, a fact that explains why we find Japanese martyrs in both Ricci and Bivero’s books.
L’Imago primi saeculi (1640) est un important recueil d’emblèmes richement illustré, qui fut publié pour commémorer le centenaire de la fondation de la Compagnie de Jésus. Il comporte quatre images consacrées aux martyrs japonais, dont le langage symbolique, très particulier, n’a pas encore été étudié. L’objectif de ma communication sera de rechercher l’origine de cette iconographie dans la tradition emblématique précédente et de la contextualiser en regard de la stratégie des Jésuites de l’époque.
L’Imago primi saeculi est avant tout conçu pour honorer la mémoire des précédents pères, et notamment les figures héroïques d’Ignace de Loyola, le fondateur de la Compagnie, ainsi que François Xavier, l’apôtre des Indes, qui furent tous deux canonisés en 1622. L’on y trouve aussi une série de personnages présentés comme des « martyrs ». Le « martyre » était une des plus importantes preuves de sainteté, ce n’est pas un hasard si une bonne partie de l’Imago primi saeculi était de fait consacrée à glorifier les exploits de ces véritables soldats de la mission.
Dans l’histoire des Jésuites, les martyrs du Japon, ont eu une importance décisive, car le pays ayant interdit le christianisme dès 1584, après une courte période de tolérance, il était devenu un terrain idéal pour fournir de « véritables martyrs ». Les vingt-six missionnaires et chrétiens locaux qui avaient été exécutés en 1597 furent d’ailleurs les premiers saints d’outre-mer de la Compagnie, ainsi que les premiers martyrs de la mission asiatique reconnus officiellement, en 1627. Or, bien que ces derniers comptaient trois jésuites japonais parmi eux, la Compagnie, qui avait d’ailleurs fait preuve d’une réticence initiale face au phénomène des martyrs en terre de mission, avait investi davantage d’efforts dans la béatification d’un autre martyr jésuite tombé au Japon, le fameux père italien Carlo Spinola.
Les quatre emblèmes sur les martyrs japonais de l’Imago primi saeculi sont connectés à travers une chaîne d’allusions conçue pour prouver la sainteté de Spinola, qui en est la figure centrale, et la seule à être nommée explicitement. Revenant sur le contexte de rédaction de l’Imago, j’analyserai ce discours symbolique en le situant dans la tradition emblématique plus large, et notamment le symbole du bûcher. Je montrerai également comment Spinola et les martyrs du Japon ont été présentés comme un lien entre les temps de la première Église et l’ère de mission, ainsi que les motivations plus générales de la Compagnie dans sa mise en avant de certains martyrs.
The Japanese embassy of 1585 as a proof of the triumph of roman Catholicism
In spite of the abundant reports of the Christian mission conducted mainly by the Jesuits in the later half the 16th century, after the European “discovery” of Japan in 1543, the validity of such information was always questioned in the European society. Therefore, a Jesuit father, Alessandro Valignano, sent, in 1583, four converted Japanese boys to Rome as a living proof of their achievements in the Far East. The distance of their journey from Japan, the “alterity” of their appearance, or their fake title as “princes” served to demonstrate the triumphant spread of the “true faith.” Their arrival also had a certain impact in the European society, judging from the number and variety of the pamphlets made in several languages to announce their arrival to Rome.
Actually, it was nevertheless not the first time that “Asians” or the “others” from the New World came to Old Continent and were shown to the eyes of contemporary Europeans. Brazilian natives had been exposed as uncivilized barbarians in a procession in Rouen, in 1550. The first Japanese Christian arrived to Rome already in 1555, but was barely noticed. But it was different with this “Japanese embassy.” A particular attention was given to the scenography of their trip. They were depicted as ideal models of noble converts, and every city they visited saw magnificent baroque festivities, which attested not only of their status as envoys from the other side of the world, but also the central position of Rome in the Catholic world-view.
In this presentation, with the examples of these travelers who came from the Ends of the Earth to Europe, I will analyze the discourses built around such figures from afar and show their geographical and social origins were used to affirm the centrality of the Eternal City.
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souvent décrites en des termes aux tonalités très exotiques et au sens particulièrement vague : « Cami » et « Fotoqué ». Bien que ces déformations de mots japonais bien connus ne rendent absolument pas compte des véritables déités vénérées sur place à cette époque, ces expressions sont très fréquentes dans la plupart des écrits européens par les missionnaires ou encore les voyageurs laïc s’étant rendus au pays du soleil levant du XVIᵉ au XVIIe siècle. En effet, depuis que François Xavier, le premier missionnaire catholique arrivé au Japon, a inclus ces entités dans la très vague catégorie de « démon », c’est-à-dire d’ennemi du christianisme qui doit être vaincu, tous les autres missionnaires jésuites comme Alessandro Valignano, Luis Froes, João Rodriguez, ou encore Gaspar Coello ont fidèlement hérité de cette perception.
Ainsi, aucune tentative sérieuse de la réexaminer n’a été entreprise et l’on a continué à s’en servir pour décrire les dieux japonais dans l’Europe moderne.
Cette compréhension s’est diffusée notamment à travers les Literæ Annuæ, les
martyrologies de Pedro Moréjon et de Nicolas Trigault, ou encore l’Histoire de l’Archipel par Danielle Bartoli, des ouvrages publiés en latin ainsi que dans plusieurs langues vernaculaires de l’Europe. En outre, les fameux livres illustrés d’Atanasius Kircher et d’Arnoldus Montanus, qui contenaient de nombreuses gravures étranges et chimériques de ces « Cami » et « Fotoqué », ces noms sont devenus des synonymes de l’idolâtrie répandue dans les terrains d’action de la Mission d’outre-mer, autrement dit les territoires nouvellement connectés.
Comment peut-on expliquer la prolifération de ces images à la fois monolithiques et
artificielles de ces divinités japonaises, créées par des gens qui ne se sont jamais rendus au Japon ? Ce mystère peut être élucidé en partie à travers l’analyse d’une pièce de théâtre jésuite sur le Japon, où une scène entière reproduit une cérémonie idolâtre dédiée à « Cami, Fotoqué ». Il s’agit de « Chivanus, Bungi rex », qui fut rédigée par le jésuite Carlo Bovio, professeur au Collegio Romano. Jouée entre 1658 et 1662 à Rome, elle se fonde sans doute sur l’Histoire de Daniel Bartoli. De fait, l’imaginaire de cette pièce s’appuie essentiellement sur les récits de voyage antérieurs, et cristallise la conception des idoles japonaises comme le point culminant d’un paganisme dévoyé. En étudiant le texte en latin inédit, j’analyserai dans quelle mesure cette représentation s’appuie sur les récits hérités de l’Antiquité, à leur tour réimaginés par les humanistes de l’époque moderne, et comment ce prisme a contribué à orienter leur compréhension des témoignages de missionnaires et de voyageurs, déjà très biaisés, qui leur venaient de l’Archipel.
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The Quest for relics through the Mission in Japan (XVIᵗʰ -XVIIIᵗʰ century) / La quête des reliques dans la mission du Japon (XVIᵉ -XVIIIᵉ siècle), IN: Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions (ASSR), n° 177, juin 2017, p. 257-282
This presentation will analyze the concrete process that led to their beatification, following its course through the Vatican archives. It will especially show how the beatification was concretely conducted, through official courts established in Nagasaki, Macao, or even New Spain (modern-day Mexico). Such events saw repeated interrogations of witnesses, in some cases more than twenty years after the facts, in search for concrete justifications of their sanctity, and especially of their miracles. I will also discuss consequences of this exceptional event, especially for the Society of Jesus, through their cult, their iconography, and its impact on future martyr cases in the Japanese mission.
Martin Scorsese’s epic movie, "Silence," follows two seventeenth-century Jesuit missionaries as they travel from Portugal to Japan in search of their missing mentor, who is believed to have rejected Christ under torture. Based on Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 award-winning novel, Scorsese’s film delves deeply into the nature of culture, faith, and mercy.
Following a short break (with refreshments), a panel of international scholars will discuss the film and its central themes. The panel will include Robert Maryks, a scholar of Jesuits in film, and Hitomi Osama Rappo, a scholar of Jesuit missionaries in Japan, who will be joined by others for a lively discussion.