Would you revolt over eggplant? In November 1637, Japanese peasants of
the Shimabara peninsula and the Amakusa islands revolted. Afterwards, a
commission looked into the events and concluded that the rebellion
occurred because the Prince of Karatsu was more tyrannical than most. In
addition to the usual taxes, he added surcharges on the poor farmers
which included the best tobacco leaves and numbers of eggplant. To this
unbearable tax burden, he added cruelty and torture, especially of
Christians and their leaders and evangelists.
Because of the isolated situation of the peninsula and the Amakusa
islands, Christianity made greater headway there than in the rest of
Japan. The new Christians, with more zeal than understanding, were
filled with Messianic hope. Many joined the rebellion. It proved costly
to the future of Christian faith in the islands of the rising sun.
The lords of Nagasaki, who had recently departed for Edo (Tokyo)
rushed back to defend the city. In December, a force of 3,000 men
stormed Amakusa; all but 200 died in the offensive. During the fight,
Christians waved banners and shouted the names of Jesus and Mary.
Afterwards, they tore down Japanese religious symbols and raised
Christian ones in their place. The invocation of Jesus and Mary did not
bring victory in the next battle, however.
A thousand Amakusa survivors fled to join 35,000 rebels in Shimabara.
The rebels assaulted the principle government fortress and almost
captured it. Having failed, they holed up in the Hara fortress where
they were led by Masuda Shiro, a brilliant young strategist whose age is
variously estimated between fifteen and nineteen, and who went by the
Christian name Jerome (sometimes given as Jeronimo). Aided by severe
cold, they inflicted major defeats on the government forces. In one
night sally alone, they killed 2,000 of the government's 100,000 troops.
Despite its cannon, the government could not dislodge the rebels and
lost over 8,000 men in January and February while the rebels lost hardly
a soul. Japan asked a Dutch ship to shell the Hara Fortress, which it
did, but with little effect, except to lose two of their own men to
rebel sharpshooters.
But the end was inevitable. Having held out for four months, the
rebels ran low on food. Deserters reported this to the government.
Encouraged by the news, government forces began an all-out assault on
the fortress
on this day, April 12, 1638. It
took them three days to overcome the desperate peasants and their
Christian allies. Afterward, Christianity was strictly banned from Japan
as a troublesome religion.
Bibliography:
- Breen, John and Williams, Mark. Japan and Christianity; Impacts
and Responses. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England:
Macmillan, 1996, pp. 54-60.
- Brinkley, F. History of the Japanese People from the earliest
times to the end of the Meiji Era. Britannica, 1915.
- Gunn, Geoffrey C. "The Duarte Correa Manuscript and the
Shimabara Rebellion."
http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/earns/correa.html.
- Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo. Religion in Japanese History. New
York: Columbia University Press, 1966.
- Mullins, Mark. Christianity Made in Japan : a study of
indigenous movements. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
c1998.
- Northrop, Henry Davenport. Flowery Kingdom and the Land of the
Mikado or China, Japan and Corea. J. R. Jones, 1894.
- Paske-Smith. Japanese Traditions of Christianity. London:
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and co., 1979. pp. 49-100.
- Turnbull, Stephen R. The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan: a study of
their development, beliefs and rituals to the present day.
Richmond, Surrey: Japan Library, 1998.
- Various internet articles on Shimabara and on Masuda Shiro.
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