July 24, 1587

On July 24, 1587, the Japanese regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi, while in his cups, flew into a violent rage and ordered the immediate expulsion of all Christian missionaries from Japan. This decree, a sudden reversal of the tolerant policy that had allowed the mission to flourish since Francis Xavier's arrival in 1549, marks the first major state-sponsored attack on Christianity in Japan and the beginning of the persecution that forms the historical backdrop of Shusaku Endo's Silence. The edict was a shock to the missionaries, who had enjoyed a privileged position at the court of the Bakufu, and it initiated a cycle of violence, apostasy, and cultural conflict that would define the Christian century in Japan.

Background and Causes

The decree of July 24, 1587, was a dramatic and seemingly inexplicable reversal of policy. For decades, the missionaries had been on intimate terms with the architects of Japanese unification—Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu—who were motivated partly by a desire for trade with the Portuguese black ships from Macao, partly by a deep dislike of Buddhism, and partly by the fascination of these cultured foreigners. The missionaries held such a privileged position at the court of the Bakufu that their letters and reports are now the chief source of information for a period of history about which Japanese sources say little. Yet Japan, as the translator's preface notes, can be a land of schizophrenic change. What prompted this xenophobic outburst has never been adequately explained. The decree itself declared that the padres should not stay on Japanese soil and ordered them to return to their own country within twenty days.

Immediate Consequences and Reversal

Despite the severity of the decree, its immediate impact was surprisingly muted. Hideyoshi's anger quickly subsided, and most of the missionaries did not leave the country. The expulsion decree became a dead letter. Within four short years, there was a community of more than 200,000 converts increasing daily, and Hideyoshi himself was seen defying his own prohibition by strolling through the gilded halls of Juraku palace wearing a rosary and Portuguese dress. This initial failure to enforce the edict created a false sense of security, but the writing was on the wall. The decree established a legal and political precedent that would be revived with far greater ruthlessness by his successors.

Long-Term Significance and Legacy

The event of July 24, 1587, is the foundational moment of the persecution that structures the entire narrative of Silence. It is the first crack in the wall of tolerance, the moment when the state declared Christianity a threat. This decree, and the subsequent, more violent persecutions under the Tokugawa shoguns, created the conditions for the novel's central conflicts: the torture of Christians, the apostasy of priests like Christovao Ferreira, and the agonizing silence of God. The decree also established the legal framework for the later, more systematic persecution, including the use of informants and the reward system that would eventually lead to the capture of Sebastian Rodrigues. The swamp of Japan, as Inoue would later describe it, had begun to absorb and transform the foreign religion, and this date marks the beginning of that process. The decree's legacy is the world of the novel: a world of hidden Christians, secret organizations, and the constant threat of betrayal and death. The very concept of the 'fumie' test, the pit torture, and the systematic hunting of priests all have their roots in the political decision made on this day. The date is not merely a historical footnote; it is the moment when the silence of God, which so torments Rodrigues, first began to be enforced by the power of the state.