Why Christianity was outlawed
After generations of civil war, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sought to unite Japan. Christianity’s ties to Portuguese and Spanish merchants, missionaries and Rome appeared politically dangerous. News of European colonization in the Philippines deepened fears that religion might prepare the way for foreign control.
In 1587, Hideyoshi issued a nationwide restriction on Christianity. Enforcement was uneven because international trade remained valuable, but the period of full openness was ending. The 1596 wreck of the Spanish ship San Felipe intensified suspicion and led directly to a public warning meant to frighten the Church.
The road to Nishizaka
Twenty-six Christians were arrested: six Franciscans, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese lay Catholics. They included missionaries, catechists, artisans, former samurai and three boys—Louis Ibaraki, Anthony Dainan and Thomas Kozaki.
In winter they were forced to travel hundreds of miles toward Nagasaki, marked for public disgrace. Yet the prisoners prayed, sang and encouraged one another. The journey intended to silence Christianity became a traveling testimony.
February 5, 1597
Twenty-six crosses stood on Nishizaka Hill above Nagasaki Harbor. From his cross, the Jesuit Paul Miki preached forgiveness and proclaimed Christ. The martyrs were executed by lances. Their witness became a defining memory for Japanese Catholics and they were canonized in 1862.
The executions did not immediately end the mission. But under the Tokugawa shogunate, control tightened. The 1614 edict expelled missionaries, destroyed churches and forced the Catholic community toward a choice between public apostasy and hidden faith.