Ana-tsurushi

The Ana-tsurushi, known in English as the pit torture or pit hanging, was the most effective and dreaded instrument of the Tokugawa Shogunate's campaign to eradicate Christianity in Japan. Invented or perfected by the magistrate Inoue, the Lord of Chikugo, this method of execution was designed not for a quick death but for a prolonged, unbearable ordeal that systematically broke the will of its victims, forcing them to choose between apostasy and a lingering, agonizing end. Its success in inducing the apostasy of Christovao Ferreira, the former Provincial of the Society of Jesus, sent a shockwave through the Christian mission and ultimately led to the fall of Sebastian Rodrigues himself, making the pit the central symbol of the state's power over the human spirit and the silence of God in the face of extreme suffering.

Mechanism and Physical Ordeal

The pit torture was a meticulously calculated form of physical and psychological assault. The victim was tightly bound around the body as high as the breast, with one hand left free to give the signal of recantation. They were then hung upside down from a gallows into a pit, which usually contained excreta and other filth, the top of the pit being level with their knees. To prevent a quick death from blood congestion, a small incision was made behind the ear, allowing blood to trickle out slowly. The pain was described by those who endured it as wholly insufferable, with no fire or other torture equaling its languor and violence. Some of the stronger martyrs lived for more than a week in this position, but the majority did not survive more than a day or two. One young woman, however, endured this for fourteen days before she expired. The torture was not merely physical; the isolation, the filth, and the constant, unrelenting pain were designed to erode the victim's mental and spiritual resolve.

Historical Application and Ferreira's Apostasy

From the beginning of the mission until the year 1632, despite crucifixions, burnings, and water-torture, no missionary had apostatised. The pit torture changed this record. Christovao Ferreira, the Portuguese Provincial, after six hours of agony in the pit gave the signal of apostasy. His defection was a cruel shock, as he was the acknowledged leader of the mission. The shock was compounded when it became known that he was collaborating with his former persecutors. Ferreira himself later described the experience to Rodrigues, showing the scar behind his ear and explaining that he had not apostatised because he was suspended in the pit, but because he was put in a cell and heard the voices of Christians hanging in the pit, for whom God did nothing. He stated that he prayed with all his strength, but God did nothing, and that prayer did nothing to alleviate their suffering.

Rodrigues' Encounter and the Final Test

For Sebastian Rodrigues, the pit torture was the ultimate test of his faith. After his capture, he was subjected to a period of relative comfort designed to weaken his resolve. The interpreter confidently asserted that he would apostatise that night, and the sound of groaning, which he first mistook for snoring, was revealed by Ferreira to be the moaning of Christians hanging in the pit. Ferreira, who had been imprisoned in the same cell, had engraved the words "Laudate Eum" on the wall, but he confessed that listening to those groans all night, he was no longer able to give praise to the Lord. He told Rodrigues that three unfortunate Christians were hanging in the courtyard, and that if Rodrigues apostatised, they would be taken out of the pit. Ferreira's final, devastating argument was that Christ himself would have apostatised for them. This argument, combined with the unending groans, broke Rodrigues' resistance, leading him to place his foot on the fumie.

Narrative and Thematic Significance

The Ana-tsurushi functions as the novel's ultimate test of faith and the starkest manifestation of the "silence of God." It is the physical embodiment of the swamp of Japan, a force that absorbs and destroys the Western, heroic ideal of martyrdom. The torture is not a glorious, quick death but a miserable, drawn-out process that reduces the victim to a state of animal-like suffering, forcing them to confront the apparent absence of divine intervention. The pit becomes a space where the theology of a triumphant, suffering Christ is replaced by a more ambiguous, compassionate Christ who speaks from the fumie, telling the priest to trample because he was born to be trampled on. The novel's resolution hinges on this redefinition of love and sacrifice, where apostasy, performed out of pity for the suffering of others, becomes a more painful and profound act of love than a glorious martyrdom. The pit, therefore, is not just a torture device but the crucible in which the novel's central theological crisis is forged and, paradoxically, resolved.