E74 Christianity in Japan - The Priest and the Pirate

Gladio Free Europe

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In 1549, a Portuguese priest and a Japanese pirate disembarked on the port of Kagoshima with one purpose: to bring Christianity to the islands of Japan. They would be remarkably successful. Within 50 years, hundreds of thousands of Japanese people had been baptized, from lowly fishermen and merchants to powerful noblemen at the center of the shogun's circle. Yet after 100 years, almost all trace of this foreign religion had vanished.

This episode is this first of a series covering the history of Christianity in Japan, which is going to explore how this faith, once praised by no less than the great warlord Oda Nobunaga, came to be persecuted with a fervor rivaling the Spanish Inquisition being carried thousands of miles away in Europe. Liam and Russian Sam explore how the 16th century brought political and religious upheavals to both Japan and Europe. In the east, this came in the form of the Warring States Period, or Sengoku Jidai, when samurai, shoguns, and Buddhist warrior-monks fought for control of Japan. In the west, the Protestant Reformation split Europe apart and led to the formation of the Jesuits, a well-connected order of priests commanded to spread the power of the Catholic Church by any means necessary.

What caused the civil war that tore Japan into pieces? Why were many Japanese people so accepting of a foreign religion? And where do the pirates come in? All this and more in this week's episode of Gladio Free Europe.