Introduction
In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Regent of Japan, had vowed to stamp out Christianity after a Spanish sea-captain boasted that, to the Pope and the King of Spain, its spread was a step towards European conquest. The repression grew in savagery until, on December 17th, 1637, forty thousand Christians huddled together in the seaside fortress of Hara Castle, on the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula.
THE Christians, plundered and tortured beyond all human endurance,* fled from other parts, and, seeing that they had no choice between extermination and recantation of their faith, they gathered together to the number of more than 40,000, men, women and children, and took possession of the castle-town of Shimabara, which lies on the sea.*
The Government soon realized that the suppression of this outbreak would be no light task, and an army of 160,000 men, commanded by Itakura Shigemasa,* the most capable general of the time, was considered necessary to carry it to its end. The siege commenced in the last days of 1637.* Repeated assaults were made, but beaten back by the defenders, all of whom, knowing that there were no hopes of mercy in any form for those who were both rebels and Christians, fought with equal desperation and courage.*
The walls of the castle remained intact, and after the siege had lasted for over six weeks, after many men had fallen, and the end seemed just as remote as ever, the commander of the besiegers sent to the Dutch at Hirado for assistance.
* For the events leading up to the persecution of Christians in Japan, see Hideyoshi Changes His Mind.
* See Google Maps.
* Itakura Shigemasa (1588-1638) was formerly a personal aide to the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (r. 1600-1616), the ruler who had paused the persecutions and welcomed Englishman Will Adams so warmly. Shigemasa’s subsequent lack of success against the Christian rebels in Hara Castle prompted Tokugawa Iemitsu (r. 1623–1651), the shogun, to send Matsudaira Nobutsuna (1595-1662) to relieve him of command. Hoping to prevent this humiliation, Shigemasa led a rash assault during which he was shot dead with an arrow.
* The location was Hara Castle, today little more than earthworks near Minamishimabara in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture. See Google Maps.
* Many of the Christians were ronin, samurai who had fallen outside the accepted structures of the samurai warrior class, and they helped the rest to find the courage to defend themselves and to die with dignity. Nor were they quite leaderless. Amakusa Shiro (?1621-1638), who was barely sixteen at the time, was an inspiration throughout.
Précis
By the end of 1637, Christians in Japan had been suffering years of bitter persecution, and in desperation some forty thousand of them gathered from across the country in a seaside fortress at Shimabara, near Nagasaki. There they were besieged by land; but they resisted so stubbornly, that the Government sent to the Dutch at Hirado for a powerful gunship. (60 / 60 words)
By the end of 1637, Christians in Japan had been suffering years of bitter persecution, and in desperation some forty thousand of them gathered from across the country in a seaside fortress at Shimabara, near Nagasaki. There they were besieged by land; but they resisted so stubbornly, that the Government sent to the Dutch at Hirado for a powerful gunship.
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