June 5th

June 5th is the day the Tokugawa authorities raided the fishing village of Tomogi, arresting the village elder known as the Jiisama and setting in motion the chain of events that would lead to the water torture and martyrdom of Mokichi and Ichizo. This date marks the decisive rupture of Rodrigues' early, hopeful mission in Japan, forcing him to confront the brutal reality of persecution and the profound silence of God that would come to define his spiritual crisis.

The Raid on Tomogi

On June 5th, around noon, Rodrigues and Garrpe, hiding in their charcoal hut on the mountain above Tomogi, sensed something was wrong. Through the trees, they heard incessant barking of dogs, and from the east side of the copse they saw a cloud of white dust on the road skirting the sea. A bare-backed horse galloped wildly out of the village, and five men, clearly not peasants, firmly barred the entrance so that no one could escape. The guards had come to search the village. Garrpe and Rodrigues rushed back to their hut, buried everything that might betray them in the hole dug by Ichizo, and then descended through the trees for a clearer view. The village fell into an awful silence, broken only when the dogs began to bark again as the men who had formed the block rushed out. The Jiisama, bound tightly with ropes, was dragged along, reeling and staggering, as a samurai brandishing a whip led the way. The procession advanced along the road in the white heat of the sun and was lost from sight.

The Aftermath and the Hostage Crisis

That night, Kichijiro and Mokichi brought the details to the priests. The guards had appeared without warning, and the samurai herded the peasants together, declaring that unless they confessed to harboring Christians, a hostage would be taken. The Jiisama spoke up, insisting they paid their taxes and performed their burials at the temple, but the samurai pointed his whip at him, and his men threw a rope around the old man and bound him tightly. The samurai announced that an informer had told them of secret adherents to the forbidden Christian sect, and offered one hundred pieces of silver for information. He then declared that after three days, they would come for another hostage. The peasants stood silent, and the samurai rode off, the Jiisama bound and trailed behind the horses, falling and being dragged along. The incident created a split among the villagers: one faction insisted the priests should move to a different location, while the other, led by Mokichi, Ichizo, and Omatsu, vowed to protect them no matter what. On June 8th, the authorities adopted a new approach, sending an old samurai with a smiling face who advised the people to weigh the matter carefully and hinted at a tax reduction for anyone who revealed the names of Christians. When the peasants still refused, he demanded three hostages be sent to Nagasaki. The men of Tomogi debated fiercely, and Kichijiro, a stranger to the village, was pressured into going. Ichizo and Mokichi then volunteered to join him.

The Water Punishment and Martyrdom

On June 22nd, a procession approached Tomogi along the rain-blanketed road. Mokichi and Ichizo, their arms bound and heads hanging low, were surrounded by guards. They were fastened to two trees made into the form of a cross at the water's edge. The plan was for the tide to immerse them up to the chin, a prolonged suffering meant to deter other villagers. The officials left four guards to watch. Omatsu and her niece brought food, but Mokichi refused, saying he could endure no more, and asked that it be given to Ichizo. That night, the people of Tomogi gathered on the shore, and they heard Mokichi's voice, gasping out a Christian hymn: "We're on our way, we're on our way to the temple of Paradise." On June 24th, the drizzle continued. The tide receded, leaving only the solitary stakes. Mokichi's moaning, like that of an animal, could be heard intermittently. In the afternoon, the tide came in again, and the stakes seemed to sink into the water. The white foaming waves broke on the sand, and a white bird flew far away. That evening, the officials arrived and ordered the bodies to be burned and the ashes thrown into the sea, to prevent the Christians from venerating the remains. Rodrigues, watching from his hut, was overwhelmed by the misery of the martyrdom, so different from the glorious visions he had held. The monotonous sound of the dark sea gnawing at the shore became for him the sound of God's silence.

Thematic Significance: The Swamp of Japan and the Silence of God

June 5th and its aftermath crystallize the central themes of the novel. The raid exposes the vulnerability of the hidden Christian community and the impossible choices forced upon them. The water punishment of Mokichi and Ichizo, a slow, agonizing death, contrasts sharply with the heroic martyrdom Rodrigues had imagined. Their suffering, and the silence of God in the face of it, becomes the core of Rodrigues' spiritual crisis. The event also illustrates the novel's thesis about Japan as a "swamp" that absorbs and distorts Christianity. The authorities' tactics—using informers, offering rewards, taking hostages, and employing psychological pressure—are shown to be more effective than simple brutality. The raid on June 5th is the first major blow to Rodrigues' naive faith, forcing him to question the purpose of his mission and the nature of a God who remains silent while his followers are tortured and killed. The date thus marks the beginning of Rodrigues' long descent into doubt, culminating in his eventual apostasy.