How often did “Better Life” uprisings take on a religious connotation in Europe? "When Adam plowed and Eve spun, who was the master?" - asked the followers of John Wycliffe in England and … destroyed the estates of their lords. But was there anything like that in Japan - a country that had fenced off at the beginning of the 17th century from the whole other world and adhered to strict rules of isolation until the appearance of the "black ships" of Admiral Perry. It turns out that a bloody uprising with a religious motive took place here, although among its reasons there were other circumstances and, above all, a banal hunger.
And it so happened that in 1543 a storm threw a Chinese junk on the coast of the Japanese island of Tanegashima, with two Portuguese on board. So the Japanese first saw the “southern barbarians” with their own eyes, got acquainted with their firearms and … with the Christian religion. Very soon the Portuguese - the Jesuits - came to the land of Japan. Active and practical people, they started by learning the Japanese language, got into the confidence of several daimyo and began to propagate faith in Jesus Christ. Actually, it was not very rewarding business. The Japanese were from birth convinced Shinto, that is, they believed in kami - spirits of nature.
Shimabara Castle. Modern look.
Then Buddhist beliefs were superimposed on this Shintoism, differing from monastery to monastery and from sect to sect. Moreover, some of these sects argued that it was possible to be saved - and the idea of salvation beyond the grave is the most important thing in any religion - without much difficulty. For example, it was enough for members of the "Pure Land" sect to proclaim a prayer appeal to Buddha Amida, as their salvation was guaranteed! That is, the cult practice of the Amidaists was very simple - repeat the magical nembutsu "Shamu Amida Butsu" (Glory to Buddha Amida) and that's it, all your sins are washed away from you. You could even say nothing, but just spin the prayer wheel with this inscription! But different sects turned to different social strata, but only the Christian idea turned out to be the most universal. Of course, the samurai, for example, found it difficult to understand God, who advised, after hitting the right cheek, to substitute the left one.
The main tower of Shimabara Castle.
But the peasant understood this very well. The number of Christians in Japan began to grow rapidly, and many daimyo became Christians too! The attitude of the country's government towards Christians was changing. They were simply tolerated, and missionaries were used as translators and intermediaries in trade with China and Europeans, then they began to oppress them in every possible way and even crucify them on crosses. The position of Christians especially worsened after many Christians supported Toyotomi Hideyoshi against Ieyasu Tokugawa. And if Ieyasu himself was a man of broad views and saw the benefit in the interpenetration of cultures, then his son Hidedata believed that Christian culture would destroy the age-old culture of Japan and therefore should be banned. Well, after the destruction of the Toyotomi clan in 1615, there was also a reason to persecute Christians - they are rebels, they are "bad Japanese".
Statues of the Bodhisattva Jizo decapitated by the rebels.
Bakufu Tokugawa, in the person of Hidetad who became the shogun, immediately called on all daimyo to oppress Christians, although many daimyo sympathized with them. For example, Matsukura Shigemasa, an active participant in the campaign against Osaka, was at first disposed towards Christians, but when the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu reproached him for his lack of service zeal, he began to persecute them so zealously, so that in the end he executed about 10 thousand people.
Shogun's troops climb the wall of Hara Castle.
Daimyo Kyushu Arima Harunobu supported and protected Christians. But after Sekigarah, his son Naotsumi was transferred from Shimabara to Hyuga, although many of his subjects remained in their former places. After the Battle of Sekigaharadaimyo, the Christian Konishi Yukinaga was executed by order of Ieyasu, and this also caused the displeasure of his samurai, who wanted revenge on the Tokugawa. All these people took refuge near Shimabara Castle.
One of the flags of the rebels with Christian symbols, miraculously preserved to our time.
Well, Matsukura continued to demonstrate his loyalty to the Tokugawa and offered … to attack Luzon (Philippines) and destroy the base of the Spanish missionaries, from where they sailed to Japan. The bakufu said yes, he borrowed money from merchants from Sakai, Hira-to and Nagasaki and bought weapons. But then the bakufu thought that, they say, the time for the overseas wars had not yet come and banned this enterprise. And then Matsukura Shigemasa died, and his son Katsuie had to pay the debts. He had no money, and he sharply increased taxes on peasants and began to collect them in the most ruthless way, which caused massive discontent. The situation in Shimabara sharply aggravated, and it is clear that rumors immediately spread among the Christian peasants that the apostle was about to come and save them.
Japanese peasants - arquebus arrows.
Masida Jinbei, one of Konishi Yukinaga's comrades-in-arms, a former devout Christian, together with Arima Harunobu decided that the opportune moment had come for an uprising against the Matsukura clan and … began to actively spread rumors about the imminent arrival of the Savior. Meanwhile, in the spring of 1637, the harvest was so bad that the threat of famine became a reality. And then another 16 peasants of Arim were taken into custody for the prayers offered up to Christ, that is, they suffered for their faith. Then they were executed, and … this is what became the reason for the general uprising. A mob of angry peasants attacked and killed the bakufu official, and then the peasants turned against the government and the wealthy Buddhist temples. The rebels killed the Buddhist priests, and then went to the Shimabara castle, demonstratively putting the heads of defeated enemies on poles. An uprising also began on the island of Amakusa, and there the rebels completely destroyed the government squad sent to suppress them.
Nambando-gusoku or namban-gusoku - armor of the European type, presumably belonging to Sakakibara Yasumasa. In general, outside Japan, only the cuirass and helmet were made, and all other parts were locally produced. Tokyo National Museum.
A Savior was needed, and Masuda Jinbei announced to them the son of Shiro Tokisada (Christian name - Jerome). They believed him, especially since, according to rumors, he again performed miracles, but the rebels, nevertheless, failed to capture the Shimabara castle. But they repaired the fortifications of the Hara castle, which was empty nearby, where about 35 thousand people soon gathered. The rebel army was led by 40 samurai, in addition, there were 12-13 thousand more women and children in the castle. All the rest were peasants, and many of them knew how to shoot with guns, since they were trained in this by Matsukura Shigemasa, who was preparing them for the raid on Luzon! The rebels hung out banners with Christian symbols on the walls of the castle, put up Catholic crosses and … all together decided to die for the faith!
Very funny "modern armor" katanuga-do ("monk's torso"), which belonged to Kato Kiyomasa, one of Hideyoshi's military commanders during the Korean War. The cuirass is made of sané plates connected by cords and a chased plate on the right side of the chest. Tokyo National Museum.
The Bakufu army numbered about 30 thousand people, and immediately suffered heavy losses when it tried to take Hara Castle by storm. Its defenders showed the enemy both courage and … amazing accuracy of shooting, killing one of the commanders of their opponents in battle. At this point, the authorities realized that “bad examples are very contagious,” and that the consequences of what was happening could be fatal for them. Therefore, to suppress the uprising, detachments of daimyo from Kyushu were gathered, and especially many former Christians who renounced the faith so that they deserve forgiveness in battle. Now the Bakufu army numbered 120 thousand soldiers, armed with cannons and arquebus, and again laid siege to the Hara castle.
The exposition of the St. Petersburg Museum of Artillery and Engineering Troops also includes samurai armor with a cross on the lapel of a helmet - fukigaeshi.
The rebels continued to defend themselves stubbornly and skillfully, and the Tokugawa soldiers did not succeed in destroying the castle. Then the bakufu turned to the Dutch for help and asked them to send a ship from Hirato, to bombard the castle with naval guns. In response, the rebels sent the bakufu a letter, accusing him of cowardice, in which they stated that it was capable of fighting them only with the hands of foreigners. And this accusation, and perhaps the fear of “losing face” in the eyes of the people, forced the bakufu to recall the ship. Instead, they found ninjas who were secretly ordered to get into the castle, but many of them were caught on the approaches, in the moat surrounding the castle, and the rest were captured in the castle, since they did not speak the Shimabara dialect and the language of the Christians there simply did not understand.
Suji-kabuto from 62 metal strips. Tokyo National Museum.
Kawari-kabuto - "figured helmet". Typical helmet of the Edo period, when decorativeness became more important than protective properties. Tokyo National Museum.
By mid-February 1638, the defenders of Hara Castle had used up almost all their ammunition and food. The commander of the bakufu troops Matsudaira Nobutsuna ordered to dissect the corpses of the killed defenders of the castle to find out what they eat, but there was nothing but grass and leaves! Then Matsudaira scheduled the assault on February 29, but the detachment under the command of Nabeshima climbed the castle walls earlier, so the battle for the castle took place on February 28. The battle went on for two days, after which the Hara castle fell. Shiro Tokisada died in battle, and the victors killed everyone in the castle, including women and children.
Saddle-kura and stirrups-abumi of a noble rider. Tokyo National Museum.
Nevertheless, in April 1638, the possessions of Matsukura were confiscated by the bakufu, and Katsuie, who took exorbitant taxes from the peasants and subjected them to torture and torture, was executed! After the suppression of the Shimabara uprising, ten generations of Japanese samurai did not know the war! Christianity was banned, but secret sects of Christians, although small in number and disguised as Buddhists, remained in Japan until the middle of the 19th century, when they were finally able to emerge from the underground.
In 1962, the film "The Rebellion of Christians" was made about the Shimabara uprising in Japan. Still from the film.
