Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
| 26 Martyrs of Japan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Died | 5 February 1597, Nagasaki, Japan |
| Means of martyrdom | Crucifixion |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church Anglican Church Lutheran Church |
| Beatified | 14 September 1627, Vatican City, by Pope Urban VIII |
| Canonized | 8 June 1862, by Pope Pius IX |
| Feast | 6 February |
The Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan (日本二十六聖人 Nihon Nijūroku Seijin?) were a group of Roman Catholics who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597, at Nagasaki. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of Roman Catholicism 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.
On August 15, 1549, St. Francis Xavier (later canonized by Gregory XV in 1622), Fr. Cosme de Torres, S.J. (a Jesuit priest), and Fr. John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan. On September 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a trade relationship with Europe.
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