amulet-case

The amulet-case is a small container worn around the neck, typically used to hold religious objects or charms. In the context of the Christian Residence in Edo, it becomes a pivotal object that exposes the hidden faith of Kichijiro, the attendant of the apostate priest Okada San'emon (formerly Sebastian Rodrigues). During a search of Kichijiro's pocket at the Enclosed Guardhouse, the amulet-case he wore hung from his neck was found to contain an image to which Christians pay respect, with St. Paul and St. Peter on one side and Xavier and an angel on the other. This discovery, made in the Fourth Year of Enpo, immediately led to Kichijiro's imprisonment and interrogation about his native place and relatives, revealing he was from Goto and fifty-four years of age.

Discovery and Investigation

The amulet-case's contents were deemed highly suspicious by the authorities. When Kichijiro was summoned from gaol and questioned about the origin of the sacred object, he claimed that an attendant named Saizaburo, who had visited the Residence three years earlier, had dropped it and left it behind, and that Tokuemon, the Gate-keeper, had witnessed this. Tokuemon was called and confirmed the story, stating he had seen the scene one summer day during the airing of clothes. Crucially, when asked if he had received the object from Okada San'emon, Kichijiro denied it, explaining that there was no chance to get anything from San'emon because the latter was always attended by a couple of guards on duty whenever he saw him. This denial, however, did not quell the authorities' suspicions.

Consequences and Wider Investigations

The discovery of the amulet-case triggered a cascade of investigations. The faith of Hitotsubashi Matabe, who had been on familiar terms with Kichijiro, became suspect, leading to his imprisonment until Kichijiro explained himself. When Kurozaemon and Shinbe, who were said to have been in close association with Matabe, were examined, their persons were closely searched in the Study, with their clothes, outer sashes, loincloth, purses of pocket-paper, and amulets examined without exception. Lord Totominokami personally came to the Mountain Villa, summoned the three attendants to the Study to examine whether or not they were Christians, and commanded that all the tenements of the guards, the three Official Residences, and the Lodges be closely searched, with even wives and children told to undo their sashes and loincloth in front of the officer. The Buddhist images they kept were also examined. This search led to the discovery among old scraps of paper of a note of Christian words—Father, Archbishop, Bishop, Pope—in the dwelling of Sugiyama Shichirobe.

Significance and Thematic Resonance

The amulet-case functions as a material symbol of the hidden, persistent faith that the Tokugawa persecution sought to eradicate. It is a concrete object that carries the forbidden religion, much like the crucifixes, rosaries, and holy pictures that the crypto-Christians of Tomogi and Goto had preserved for years without priests. The amulet-case's discovery demonstrates that even within the closely watched Christian Residence, where the apostate priests were under constant guard, the faith could still be secretly maintained through small, portable objects. The authorities' extreme reaction—searching every person, every dwelling, and even the undergarments of women and children—reveals their deep fear of the invisible, internal faith that such objects represent. The amulet-case, like the fumie image that Rodrigues trampled, is a site of contested meaning: for the authorities, it is evidence of a crime; for the believer, it is a vessel of devotion. Its discovery and the subsequent investigations underscore the novel's central theme of the swamp of Japan, where even the most carefully hidden sapling of Christianity can be uprooted, yet the roots, embodied in objects like the amulet-case, prove extraordinarily difficult to destroy entirely.