Kichijiro-Mokichi-Ichizo relationship

The three men from the village of Tomogi—Kichijiro, Mokichi, and Ichizo—are bound together by a shared Christian faith and a shared crisis when the authorities demand a hostage. Yet their fates diverge radically, and the relationship among them becomes a stark illustration of the novel's central tension between heroic endurance and human frailty.

Origins and Shared Background

Kichijiro, Mokichi, and Ichizo all belong to the fishing village of Tomogi, a community of about two hundred households where the majority have received baptism. They are poor farmers who eke out a living cultivating potatoes and wheat in tiny fields, crushed by the harsh taxation of the magistrate of Nagasaki. For these peasants, Christianity offered a human warmth they had never known, and they have kept their faith alive for six years without a priest through a secret organization. Kichijiro, however, is not a native of Tomogi; he is a fisherman from Hizen who drifted to Macao and was brought back to Japan by the priests. His status as an outsider colors his relationship with the other two from the start.

The Crisis of the Hostage Selection

When the authorities demand three hostages from Tomogi after the Jiisama is taken, the villagers debate fiercely who should go. The name of Kichijiro is raised first, partly because he is a stranger and partly because many harbor the deep feeling that the whole catastrophe occurred because of him. The weakling falls into terrible confusion and begins to cry, finally breaking into abusive language against everyone around. But the others argue that he has no wife or children to abandon, and they entreat him with clasped hands until, from sheer weakness, he can no longer refuse. It is at this moment that Ichizo, the silent, stubborn man of about fifty who always wears an angry expression, suddenly speaks up and volunteers to go. Everyone gasps in amazement. Then Mokichi, the young man who had first welcomed the priests to Tomogi, declares he will join the other two. The three are thus bound together not by choice but by circumstance: Kichijiro dragged along by pressure, Ichizo by a sudden, unexpected courage, and Mokichi by a steady sense of duty.

The Interrogation and the Fumie

At the magistrate's office in Sakuradai, the three are questioned. Following the advice of Sebastian Rodrigues, Kichijiro is the first to place his foot on the fumie, the image of the Virgin and Child. Mokichi and Ichizo do likewise. But the officials notice the expressions on their faces—heavy and nervous breathing—and are not deceived. The officials then order them to spit on the crucifix and declare the Blessed Virgin a whore, a plan devised by Inoue. Ichizo grasps the fumie in both hands and tries to spit, but he is powerless; he cannot do it. Kichijiro hangs back, making no movement. At the fierce urging of the officials, a white tear overflows from Mokichi's eye and rolls down his cheek. Ichizo shakes his head as though caught in the throes of pain. Then both of them confess openly that they are Christians. Only Kichijiro, overcome by threats, gasps out the required blasphemy against the Virgin and lets fall the insulting spittle on the fumie. The relationship among the three is severed at this moment: Mokichi and Ichizo are imprisoned, while Kichijiro, the apostate, is set free and disappears from sight.

The Water Punishment and the Final Separation

Mokichi and Ichizo are sentenced to the water punishment on the beach of Tomogi. They are fastened to two trees made into the form of a cross at the water's edge, where the incoming tide will immerse them up to the chin. They do not die at once but endure two or even three days of utter physical and mental exhaustion. During this ordeal, Kichijiro does not appear. The two men suffer together, bound to their stakes, and Mokichi, gasping, sings a Christian hymn: "We're on our way to the temple of Paradise." Ichizo, the older man, can make no answer but occasionally moves his head. When Omatsu brings food, Mokichi refuses it, saying he can endure no more, and asks that it be given to Ichizo. They die within sight of each other, their bodies eventually burned and thrown into the sea. Kichijiro, meanwhile, has vanished, and the relationship among the three is completed in the starkest possible contrast: two martyrs who remained faithful to the end, and one apostate who could not bear the pressure.

Thematic Significance: The Strong and the Weak

The relationship among Kichijiro, Mokichi, and Ichizo embodies the novel's exploration of human strength and weakness under persecution. Mokichi and Ichizo represent the heroic ideal of martyrdom—the strong shoot that does not break. Kichijiro, as he himself later says, is a weak shoot that will never grow no matter what is done. The novel does not simply condemn Kichijiro; it presents his weakness as a tragic given, a fate as inescapable as the courage of the other two. The three men are born into the same village, share the same faith, and face the same test, but they are divided by an invisible line that separates the saints from the commonplace. Their relationship is not one of friendship or enmity but of a shared ordeal that reveals their inmost natures, and the gulf between them becomes a measure of the cost of persecution.