The Iberian black ships Kurofune laden with the word of God, guns, and goods influenced faith, culture and, commerce in Feudal Japan. The panel’s multi lingual/archival approach explores transcultural mediations achieved through communication and negotiations among Daimyos and competing Europeans enunciating transformations in political, diplomatic and cultural ties.

Aishwarya Sugandhi scrutinizes Jesuit Visitador, Alessandro Valignano’s internal advisory manual and other related texts to examine gift-giving customs within the context of the Japanese Mission and argues that the Jesuits attempts at understanding, mastering and wisely utilizing the custom for the honour and authority of the Jesuit Mission was purposeful.

Yurika Takano reconsiders the victimisation of the 26 Martyrs of Japan consisting of mostly Franciscan missionaries and followers, by analysing the political agenda resulting from internal conflict between Hideyoshi’s vassals in charge of foreign affairs. The analysis and investigation of the incident through the lens of politics and diplomacy lends this study a fresh perspective.

Finally, Maria Petrucci presents the fatal incident which occurred post the “Great Expulsion” promulgated by Tokugawa Shogunate that redirected Japan’s foreign policy and the future of Christianity in the Far East. The Japanese merchant Joachim Hirayama’s Shuinsen vessel carrying two Mendicant friars who were illegally trying to sneak their way into Japan, was captured off the coast of Taiwan by Anglo-Dutch fleets. Following two years of negotiations between Kyushu and Edo authorities, the Hirayama group was sentenced to death in 1622, eventually leading to the “Great Martyrdom of Genna.”

Negotiation, Diplomacy, Socio-Cultural Entanglements and the Jesuits’ strategic policy of gift-giving in Shokuho-Japan (織豊時代)

Aishwarya Sugandhi(Bukkyo University)

This presentation examines the emphasis laid by the Jesuits on gift-giving during the times of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The compilation of Alessandro Valignano’s Advertimentos in 1581, a classic example, ushered the development of a significant “Jesuit Code” of conduct and activities for Japan. These, I assert, embraced cross-cultural awareness together with deeper apperception of foreign etiquette. Early Jesuits’ diplomatic efforts, internal as well as in wider international contexts, included the custom of offering gifts in their agenda possessing a deeper understanding within the formula of this “Jesuit Code”.

Luís Fróis’s letter to Valignano prior to the latter’s visit to Japan advises the carrying of certain commodities that command value in the Far East. Valignano’s text in addition to other Jesuits’ material form the principle sources for examining the gift exchange customs within the context of the Japanese Enterprise. I argue that the Japanese custom of gift-giving is complex, and its power lay in the creation or maintenance of social relationships rather than mere transfer of goods from one party to the other. The Jesuits almost ritualized this custom by wisely employing it as a tool for negotiation, enabling communication across cultural boundaries and its potential was realized from the practical application of the Jesuits’ knowledge of Japanese gift-giving etiquette. The above also provided a launchpad, that transcended the bounds of maritime Asia, for the global circulation of commodities.

Reconsideration of the Martyrdom of the 26 Martyrs of Japan: From the Perspective of the Diplomatic Systems of the Toyotomi Administration

Yurika Takano(University of Tsukuba)

This paper investigates the background that led the Franciscans to constituting most of the victims of the 26 Martyrs of Japan in 1597 (Nihon Nijuu-Roku Seijin 日本二十六聖人), locating the cause for this in the diplomatic systems of the Toyotomi Administration (Toyotomi Seiken 豊臣政権). Although this martyrdom has to date been studied in the context of the religious persecution, its causes included political and diplomatic issues as well.

The internal political structure of the diplomatic system in the Toyotomi Administration was also the reason why Franciscans formed numerically the larger part of the martyrs. Franciscans representing the embassy of the Philippine governor-general and his companions were received into the domain of Hasegawa Sonin who mediated with Hideyoshi for them.

Conversely, the Jesuits were hostages from India, in a public position, thus not having a particular liaison who took responsibility for their actions; they were not under diplomatic but rather, administrative control. As a result of this difference, the mission in Japan developed into a political dispute between Sonin and the commissioners of the administration in Kyoto.

Hideyoshi first ordered the murder of all Christian priests in Japan. However, Ishida Mitsunari, one of the commissioners in Kyoto, changed the order of Hideyoshi to be limited to Franciscans for the defeat of his opponent, Hasegawa Sonin.

The Martyrdom of the Maritime Crew of Captain Joachim Hirayama

Maria Grazia Petrucci(University of British Columbia)

This presentation deals with a case of piracy perpetrated by an English ship in 1620. The relevance of this case lies in the fact that it has not been given the necessary attention that it deserves. Furthermore, it fell in the backdrop of the highly publicized martyrdom of September 10th, 1622 at Nagasaki where among the 26 victims, European priests were included as well.

The voyage of the ship aboard with Captain Hirayama and his crew began on the 27th of June 1620 travelling from Manila to Japan but on the 2nd of August in front of the shores of the Island of Taiwan the Japanese Shuinsen was suddenly attacked and looted by English corsairs who took everybody to Hirado. There the crew was interrogated, jailed and killed as martyrs. However, domestically and internationally, this event was utterly downplayed.

Was the participation of the English as corsairs the reason for which it received the downplayed treatment? And even so, why didn’t the Jesuits in Nagasaki denounce this early martyrdom? Those are the main questions related to domestic and international policy which this paper intends to answer. In fact, the ordeal suffered by the frigate Capitan, his second in command and most of its passengers in the following two years would sign a turning point in the Japanese history of international relations, as well as for Christianity in Japan.