1645

The year 1645, corresponding to the second year of the Shoho era, marks a period of sustained and systematic persecution of Christianity in Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The primary record of this year's events comes from the diary of Jonassen, a clerk at the Dutch East India Company's trading post on Dejima in Nagasaki. His entries detail the continued vigilance of the authorities, the discovery of Christian paraphernalia, and the grim fate of those who refused to renounce their faith, as well as the ongoing collaboration of the two most prominent apostate priests, Christovao Ferreira and Sebastian Rodrigues.

Discovery of Christian Objects and Executions

In July 1645, an image of the Virgin Mary was discovered in the house of a citizen in Nagasaki. The household was immediately sent to prison and cross-examined. The man who had sold the image was also searched out and examined. Jonassen notes that both Ferreira and Rodrigues, referred to as apostate Portuguese priests, were present at the inquisition. This was not an isolated incident; three months earlier, a coin bearing the image of a saint had been found in another house. The entire household was arrested and put to torture to make them apostatize, but they refused. Rodrigues, who was among the witnesses, appealed for mercy repeatedly to the government but was not heard. The man and wife and their two sons were sentenced to death. They had half of their heads shaven and were paraded through the town on the back of lean horses for four days. The parents were executed by being hung up by the feet, while the sons were put back into gaol after witnessing this sight.

The Role of the Apostate Priests

Jonassen's diary reveals the active role that Ferreira and Rodrigues played in the persecution. They were not merely passive observers but were called upon by the authorities to identify Christian objects and to provide intelligence. In August 1645, the Clerk of the Governor and his Assistants questioned Jonassen for a couple of hours. This was because Ferreira and Rodrigues had informed them that a decision had been made in Macao to send priests to Japan by Dutch vessels from India. According to Ferreira, the priests would hide themselves in Japan, engaged in lowly work as employees of the Dutch. The Clerk warned the Dutch firm that they would fall into grave difficulties if such a thing should happen. The Governor issued a statement based on Ferreira's testimony, which claimed that there were many Roman Catholics among the Dutch and in Holland, and that it had been decided that priests should enter the Dutch firm in Europe as workmen or sailors to sail to Nagasaki. The Governor commanded the Chief of the Dutch firm to investigate whether any Roman Catholic was among the officers and crew, and to report it. This led to a close inspection of a Dutch ship, with the authorities searching every chest in the corners.

The Fate of Christians and the Persecution Continues

The year 1645 saw the final execution of the two sons of the parents who had been executed earlier. On August 7th, they were bound and carried on the back of lean horses together with another victim, passing by the Dutch firm, to the execution ground, where they were beheaded. The diary also records the ongoing arrival of Chinese junks with cargoes of silk, porcelain, and other goods, indicating that trade continued alongside the religious persecution. Jonassen's entries for November and December 1645 are largely concerned with the arrival and departure of Chinese junks, the import of goods, and the routine business of the Dutch firm. However, the shadow of the persecution remains, as evidenced by an entry on November 29th, when interpreters showed Jonassen a Dutch verse printed under a picture of the Virgin Mary. They told him that Ferreira and Rodrigues said they could not understand the sentence because it was written in neither Latin nor Portuguese nor Italian. Jonassen recognized it as the 'Ave Maria' in Dutch, printed by a Belgian, but decided to keep silent until further inquiries were made, as the picture must have been brought in by a Dutch ship. The year ends with Jonassen's reflections on the two apostate priests, noting that only two remain alive: Ferreira, whom he calls blackhearted, and Rodrigues, who trod on a holy image. He expresses a wish for death on Ferreira, whom he accuses of ignoring God and causing trouble for the Dutch firm.