#ThisDayInHistory: On This Day In 1597, A Group Of Early Japanese Christians Were Killed By The Japanese Government In What Is Today Known As The “The-Twenty-Six Martyrs Of Japan”.
Written by Olaide Adewale on February 5, 2021
On this day in 1597, a group of early Japanese Christians were killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to the Japanese society.
Those killed are today known as the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan.
They were a group of Catholics who were executed by crucifixionon February 5, 1597, at Nagasaki.
Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of Catholic Church in Japan.
A promising beginning to Catholic missions in Japan – perhaps as many as 300,000 Catholics by the end of the sixteenth century – met complications from competition between the missionary groups, political difficulty between Spain and Portugal, and factions within the government of Japan.
Christianity was suppressed, and it was during this time that the 26 martyrs were executed.
By 1630, Catholicism had been driven underground.
Two-hundred and fifty years later, when Christian missionaries returned to Japan, they found a community of “hidden Catholics” that had survived underground.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY IS A PRODUCTION OF Jay101.9fm
