The of 1612 refers to the exposure of the intrigues involving the Japanese Christian ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' and retainers of the early

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

in Japan. The conspiracy, motivated by the Christian daimyō Arima Harunobu's desire to retake

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of the ...

lands in Hizen that were lost in the

Sengoku The was the period in Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as the period's start ...

wars, did much to shake the confidence that the Tokugawa regime placed on its Christian subjects, and was attributed as one of the reasons the Tokugawa eventually took an anti-Christian stance, which culminated in the

persecution of Christians The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point ...

throughout the country.

Background

In 1543, during the wars of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, the Portuguese landed in Japan for the first time, and soon spread Christianity throughout Japan from

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. Regional ''

'', or feudal lords, were eager to trade with the Portuguese for their European

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

, while the Portuguese saw the Japanese as potential converts to the Christian religion, preferring to trade with those who converted. Trade and religion thus tied, many ''daimyo'' became Christian, such that at the eve of unification of Japan by

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

in 1600, as many as 14 ''daimyo'' at the time were baptised. Even when some of those Christian ''daimyo'' supported Ieyasu at the decisive

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

, many other Christian ''daimyo'' rallied around the heir of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. In any case, the question remained for the unifier of Japan where the Christian lords' loyalties ultimately lay. Arima Harunobu, the daimyo of Hinoe Domain, became one of the most important supporters of the Church in post-Sekigahara Japan as Tokugawa Ieyasu became ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'' and purged his enemies, like the influential Christian lord

Konishi Yukinaga Konishi Yukinaga (小西行長, baptized under the Portuguese personal name Agostinho; 1558 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese daimyō who served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Known as a Kirishitan daimyo, he is notable for his role as the ...

. In the first decade of the

, Arima Harunobu was able to keep his fief and was given the right to send red seal ships to trade overseas. In one of these voyages in 1608, the crew of a red seal ship belonging to Harunobu became involved in a deadly quarrel in

Portuguese Macau Macau was under Portuguese Empire, Portuguese rule from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 until its Handover of Macau, handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of ...

after coming back from Cambodia to fetch a cargo of

agarwood Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from , ), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small Woodworking, hand carvings. It forms in the heartwood of ...

for Ieyasu, resulting in 50 Arima samurai being killed under the orders of the

Captain-major A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipient of these grants was called a (donatary), because he had been given the grant as a (donat ...

André Pessoa ( Red Seal Ship incident). The same captain-major came to Nagasaki on the '' Nossa Senhora da Graça'' to trade in 1609, and Arima Harunobu took this opportunity to seek permission from Tokugawa Ieyasu to avenge his dead men. Ieyasu acceded - although the Portuguese controlled much of the

Nanban trade or the was a period in the history of Japan from the arrival of Europeans in 1543 to the first ''Sakoku'' Seclusion Edicts of isolationism in 1614. is a Japanese word borrowed from Chinese ''Nanman'', which had been used to designate people fr ...

, Ieyasu sought to decouple the close relationship between that trade and Christianity. Arima Harunobu thereupon took a flotilla of 1,200 men to attack Pessoa in Nagasaki, and after a three-day engagement, the ''Nossa Senhora da Graça'' sank in an explosion bringing Pessoa down with it on January 6, 1610. However, this victory for Harunobu soon led to his downfall.

Intrigues

For Arima's part in sinking the ''Nossa Senhora da Graça'', Ieyasu not only rewarded Arima Harunobu with a prized sword, but also presented his granddaughter Kunihime (国姫) as wife for Harunobu's son Naozumi. This proved to be problematic for the Arima, as Naozumi had followed Christianity like his father and had married a Christian girl. Naozumi eventually repudiated his legitimate wife in favour of Kunihime, showing that, rather than standing by his faith and family, Naozumi opted to not risk offending Ieyasu. Harunobu apparently felt that his efforts during the ''Nossa Senhora da Graça'' incident warranted further rewards — namely the return of the territories Isahaya and Kōjiro (神代) in

Hizen Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

that the Arima lost during the

. To this end, Harunobu bribed Okamoto Daihachi (岡本大八,

baptismal name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious name, religious personal personal name, name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In Anglosphere, English-spe ...

Paulo), a Christian aide to the ''

rōjū The , usually translated as ''Elder (administrative title), Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a wh ...

Honda Masazumi (1566 – April 5, 1637) was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He later became a ''daimyō'', and one of the first rōjū of the Tokugawa shogunate. Masazumi was born in 15 ...

, who advised Ieyasu on affairs concerning the redistribution of fiefs. However, Okamoto took the money and did not follow through; instead, he strung Harunobu on by forging documents promising to reward Arima with the territories, then claiming that the reward had been revoked due to the interference of the Governor of Nagasaki Hasegawa Fujihiro. Harunobu, after seeking further assistance from a Jesuit priest on this matter to no avail, brought the issue directly to Ieyasu in 1612, bringing Okamoto's scam to light. At this juncture, Naozumi turned against his father and told Ieyasu of Harunobu's underhanded dealings with Okamoto. That the investiture of fiefs, a matter that defines the feudal relations of the Tokugawa shogunate, could be bought and sold was deeply troubling to Tokugawa Ieyasu. He sentenced Okamoto Daihachi to

death by burning Death by burning is an execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment for and warning agai ...

for forging shōgunal documents, but not before Daihachi had a chance to reveal that Arima Harunobu had conspired to kill Hasegawa Fujihiro. As the important port city of Nagasaki was governed directly by a shogunate-appointed official (rather than through a daimyō), this conspiracy was seen as an affront to Tokugawa rule. For this and his bribery, Harunobu was exiled to Kai Province in late 1612, and was ordered to commit suicide by ''

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

'' the next year. However, Harunobu refused to kill himself on grounds of his faith, and instead had his head cut off. Naozumi was allowed to inherit his father's fief for his part in denouncing Harunobu.

Aftermath

The fact that the perpetrators of this episode of bribery, conspiracy, forgery, and attempted murder were both Christians was not lost on Ieyasu. The retired shōgun was further incensed to hear that Christian followers had gathered at Okamoto's execution to offer prayers and sing hymns, cementing in his mind that the creed encouraged insubordination against the shogunate. Ieyasu later referenced this incident along with other executions of Christian criminals in 1614: In the same year as the Daihachi incident was uncovered, Ieyasu evicted the Christian servants of his household and forbade his vassals from following Christianity or risk having their revenues withheld. On January 27, 1614, the prohibition was extended to everyone regardless of class or origin, including all missionaries without exception. This order was unevenly followed by Ieyasu's vassals, as domains that were predominantly Christian or sufficiently far from the central did not interfere with their Christian subjects up to 1623. However, in Shimabara Domain (formerly the Hinoe Domain), Arima Naozumi apostatized and pursued a campaign of persecution of Christians, killing even his two half-brothers, aged 8 and 6. He was transferred to

Nobeoka 270px, Central Nobeoka City is a city located in the north of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 113,367 in 51272 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km². The total area of the city is . ...

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

in mid-1614, leaving behind a restive Christian population that would instigate the

Shimabara Rebellion The , also known as the or , was an rebellion, uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpo ...

in 1637.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * *{{cite journal, last1=Ribeiro, first1=Madalena, title=The Christian Nobility of Kyushu. A Perusal of Jesuit Sources, journal=Bulletin of Portuguese - Japanese Studies, date=2006, volume=13, pages=45-64, url=http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=36101302 1612 in Japan History of Christianity in Japan Corruption in Japan Document forgery Arima clan