Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano was the Italian Jesuit who, more than any other single figure, shaped the strategy of the Christian mission in Japan during its golden age and, decades later, became the reluctant authority who tried to prevent the final, doomed wave of missionaries from entering the country. His vision of a totally Christian island in the north of Asia, purged of excessive foreign influence and entrusted to a local clergy, was the blueprint for the mission's greatest expansion. Yet by the time Sebastian Rodrigues and Francisco Garrpe reached Macao, Valignano had become the prudent Superior who, from his room overlooking the bay, opposed their journey to Japan with arguments that proved tragically prescient.

Vision and Strategy for the Japanese Mission

Valignano was the real architect of the Japanese mission, uniting Francis Xavier's enthusiasm to a remarkable foresight and tenacity of purpose. By the time of his first visit to Japan in 1579, there was already a flourishing community of some 150,000 Christians, whose deep faith inspired in Valignano the vision of a totally Christian island in the north of Asia. He understood that such an island must quickly be purged of all excessive foreign barbarian influence, and he set about founding seminaries, colleges, and a novitiate, promptly dispatching to Macao Francisco Cabral, who strongly opposed the plan of an indigenous Japanese Church. Under Valignano's direction, daimyos in Kyushu embraced the Christian faith, bringing with them a great part of their subjects, and a thriving Japanese clergy took shape. His dream was that of a sober realist, not a castle in the air. At one time, the missionaries seriously discussed whether their religious habit should be made of silk or of cotton, a detail that later struck Rodrigues as ludicrously distant from his own experience of hiding in an insect-infested ship dressed in peasant clothing.

Role as Rector of the College at Macao

By the time Rodrigues, Garrpe, and Juan de Santa Marta arrived in Macao on May 1st, Valignano had been Rector of the College there for ten years. From his room overlooking the bay, he spoke to them at length, stating plainly that he was obliged to refuse to send any more missionaries to Japan. The sea journey was extremely dangerous for Portuguese ships, and since 1636 the Japanese government, suspecting Portuguese involvement in the Shimabara Rebellion, had completely cut all commercial relationship with them. Furthermore, the seas neighboring Japan were infested by English and Dutch warships that opened fire on Portuguese trading ships. Valignano was deeply troubled by the dilemma of his duty as a Superior and the fate of the persecuted Christians, and he remained silent, resting his forehead on his hands, as the young priests pleaded their case. He told them that from the year 1633 all news from the underground mission had come to an abrupt end, and that Dutch sailors returning to Macao from Nagasaki related that Ferreira had been taken and tortured in the pit. The only thing that could be said with certainty was that Ferreira had been cross-examined by the newly-appointed magistrate Inoue, the Lord of Chikugo.

Warning About Inoue and the Nature of the Persecution

Valignano was the first to tell Rodrigues and his companions about Inoue, describing him as a person who was indeed a terror for the Christians. In comparison with the savagery of Inoue, someone like Takenaka, the former magistrate of Nagasaki who had butchered so many Christians, was no more than a simple-minded person. Valignano had a good deal of knowledge about Inoue from the last report sent by the Christians in Kyushu. Since the Shimabara Rebellion, Inoue had become for all practical purposes the architect of the Christian persecution. Quite unlike his predecessor Takenaka, he was cunning as a serpent, so that the Christians who until now had not flinched at threats and tortures succumbed one by one to his cunning wiles. Valignano also revealed the shocking fact that Inoue was formerly of the Christian faith and had even been baptised. He warned the young priests not to underrate the intelligence of the Japanese, who were well-versed in the art of controversy.

Reluctant Consent and the Departure

Despite his prudent opposition, Valignano was finally moved by the pleading of the three priests—especially that of Garrpe—and consented to their secret mission to Japan. He helped them obtain a big junk, though the ship was later found to be eaten up by white ants. He found twenty-five Chinese sailors for them, men who looked thin and wasted like sick men who had not eaten for months but whose wiry hands possessed incredible power. When Santa Marta fell severely ill with malaria, Valignano said that unless they left him behind for treatment, he could not give permission for the journey of the other two. The departure drew near, and Rodrigues reflected that Valignano, prudent Superior though he was, had finally consented. The die was cast.

Legacy and Thematic Significance

Valignano's role in the novel is that of the architect who built the mission's foundations and the gatekeeper who tried to close the door when the structure was collapsing. His vision of an indigenous Japanese Church was the most sophisticated strategy for Christianity's survival in Japan, yet it was precisely the failure of that vision—the inability of the sapling to take root in what Inoue and Ferreira would call the swamp of Japan—that the novel explores. Valignano's warnings about Inoue, his accurate assessment of the dangers, and his reluctant consent to the mission all frame the tragedy that follows. He represents the institutional Church's wisdom and its limits, the careful planning that could not account for the silent God and the suffering of peasants like Mokichi and Ichizo. His presence in the narrative is that of a distant, authoritative figure whose strategic mind had already foreseen the catastrophe that the young priests would experience firsthand.