A missão cristã japonesa, iniciada com a chegada de Francisco Xavier ao arquipélago em 1549, inaugurou o chamado século cristão no Japão. Foi um período bastante conturbado na história japonesa: guerras civis quase ininterruptas vinham assolando o arquipélago há décadas e os generais que foram capazes de colocar fim ao contínuo estado de conflito militar e unificar o reino Oda Nobunaga e Toyotomi Hideyoshi não conseguiram fazer com que seus descendentes herdassem suas posições. Ao fim, o clã Tokugawa tomou o poder e inaugurou o regime militar que ficaria conhecido como Tokugawa Bakufu e duraria por mais de dois séculos e meio. Para que esse novo regime fosse possível, uma série de estruturas legitimadoras foram forjadas. Como resultado, o cristianismo foi interditado e os reinos ibéricos banidos e proibidos de retornar aos portos japoneses. As ordens missionárias europeias foram testemunhas de todo esse processo e buscaram até o fim negociar com esse poder em formação, na tentativa de manter a missão cristã ativa. Dentre elas, a Companhia de Jesus foi a que mais atuou no Japão; por mais de quatro décadas, teve assegurado o monopólio da missão japonesa. Em 1593, no entanto, os franciscanos espanhóis iniciaram sua atividade no arquipélago, a despeito da forte oposição jesuíta. O que se busca compreender neste trabalho, através dos escritos produzidos por estes missionários e de algumas obras dos japoneses acerca do cristianismo, é como jesuítas e franciscanos desenvolveram a missão cristã no contexto da unificação do Japão, e, por outro lado, a forma como os japoneses se apropriaram desse cristianismo, incluindo a reação que o mesmo causou nos círculos intelectuais dentro e fora do Bakufu. / archipelago, in 1549, inaugurated the so-called Christian Century in Japan. That was an eventful period in Japanese History: almost uninterrupted civil wars stroke the country for almost a century and the generals who were able to put an end to the continuous warfare and finally unify Japan Oda Nobunaga e Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not make their offspring successors to the positions they achieved. In the end, the Tokugawa house took the power and inaugurated the military regime that would become known as Tokugawa Bakufu and would last for the next two and a half centuries. In order to make this new regime possible, some new legitimizing structures were forged. As a result, Christianity was banned, and the Iberian kingdoms expelled and forbidden inside the archipelago. The European missionaries witnessed all this process and sought until the very end to negotiate with these powers, in an attempt to save the Christian mission. The Society of Jesus was the Catholic order that most worked in Japan. For more than four decades it held the monopoly over the Japanese mission. In 1593, however, the Spanish Franciscans began their activity in the archipelago, despite the Jesuit opposition. What this thesis aims to understand, through the writings of these missionaries and some works of the Japanese about Christianity, is how Jesuits and Franciscans developed the Christian mission in the context of the unification of Japan, the way the Japanese appropriated this Christianity and the reaction it caused in intellectual circles inside and outside the Bakufu.

A missão cristã japonesa, iniciada com a chegada de Francisco Xavier ao arquipélago em 1549, inaugurou o chamado século cristão no Japão. Foi um período bastante conturbado na história japonesa: guerras civis quase ininterruptas vinham assolando o arquipélago há décadas e os generais que foram capazes de colocar fim ao contínuo estado de conflito militar e unificar o reino Oda Nobunaga e Toyotomi Hideyoshi não conseguiram fazer com que seus descendentes herdassem suas posições. Ao fim, o clã Tokugawa tomou o poder e inaugurou o regime militar que ficaria conhecido como Tokugawa Bakufu e duraria por mais de dois séculos e meio. Para que esse novo regime fosse possível, uma série de estruturas legitimadoras foram forjadas. Como resultado, o cristianismo foi interditado e os reinos ibéricos banidos e proibidos de retornar aos portos japoneses. As ordens missionárias europeias foram testemunhas de todo esse processo e buscaram até o fim negociar com esse poder em formação, na tentativa de manter a missão cristã ativa. Dentre elas, a Companhia de Jesus foi a que mais atuou no Japão; por mais de quatro décadas, teve assegurado o monopólio da missão japonesa. Em 1593, no entanto, os franciscanos espanhóis iniciaram sua atividade no arquipélago, a despeito da forte oposição jesuíta. O que se busca compreender neste trabalho, através dos escritos produzidos por estes missionários e de algumas obras dos japoneses acerca do cristianismo, é como jesuítas e franciscanos desenvolveram a missão cristã no contexto da unificação do Japão, e, por outro lado, a forma como os japoneses se apropriaram desse cristianismo, incluindo a reação que o mesmo causou nos círculos intelectuais dentro e fora do Bakufu. / archipelago, in 1549, inaugurated the so-called Christian Century in Japan. That was an eventful period in Japanese History: almost uninterrupted civil wars stroke the country for almost a century and the generals who were able to put an end to the continuous warfare and finally unify Japan Oda Nobunaga e Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not make their offspring successors to the positions they achieved. In the end, the Tokugawa house took the power and inaugurated the military regime that would become known as Tokugawa Bakufu and would last for the next two and a half centuries. In order to make this new regime possible, some new legitimizing structures were forged. As a result, Christianity was banned, and the Iberian kingdoms expelled and forbidden inside the archipelago. The European missionaries witnessed all this process and sought until the very end to negotiate with these powers, in an attempt to save the Christian mission. The Society of Jesus was the Catholic order that most worked in Japan. For more than four decades it held the monopoly over the Japanese mission. In 1593, however, the Spanish Franciscans began their activity in the archipelago, despite the Jesuit opposition. What this thesis aims to understand, through the writings of these missionaries and some works of the Japanese about Christianity, is how Jesuits and Franciscans developed the Christian mission in the context of the unification of Japan, the way the Japanese appropriated this Christianity and the reaction it caused in intellectual circles inside and outside the Bakufu.

Graduation thesis "Utilization of Japanese Traditions in Missionary Work: The Beginning of Evangelization in Japan" above all disserts on the first Christian missionaries in Japan and on their ways of adaptation to Japanese cultural conditions. It aims mainly at missionary work of the Jesuit missionaries in the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th century. The thesis mentions (for familiarization) an overview of spiritual traditions and religious streams. It also refers about the propagation of Christianity since the 19th century until the last few decades and outlines the relation of Christianity and traditional Japanese spiritual streams.

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The diploma thesis "Christian-Buddhist Polemic in Japan in the 17th century" deals mainly with the life and work of Fabian Fucan, one of the most noticeable figures of the early Japanese Christianity. The first part of the thesis is focused on the coming of Christianity to Japan, the mission and the subsequent persecution of Christians which later resulted in the final prohibition of Christianity in the country. The main part of the thesis puts brain to the analysis of two key works of Fabian Fucan - Christian apologetics called Myōtei Mondō and then anti-Christian treatise Ha Daiusu that Fucan wrote after leaving the Society of Jesus and becoming attached back to Buddhism. The final chapter pays attention to the phenomenon of "kakure kirishitan" ("hidden Christians"), i.e. groups of Christians who are the descendants of Christians secretly practicing during the Sakoku (literally, "closed country") period.

This thesis explores the history of Christianity and conversion to it in 16th and 17th Century Japan. It argues that conversion is a complex phenomenon which happened for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, it argues that due to the political context and limitations acting upon the mission, the majority of conversions in 16th and 17th Century Japan lacked an element of epistemological change (classically understood). The first chapter explores theories of conversion suggesting that conversion in 16th and 17th Century Japan included sorts of religious change not usually encapsulated in the term conversion including adhesion, communal and forced conversion. Moreover, it argues that contextual factors are the most important factors in religious change. The second chapter explores political context contending that it was the political environment of Japan that ultimately decided whether conversion was possible. This chapter charts the evolution of the Japanese context as it became more hostile toward Christianity. In the third chapter, the context of the mission is explored. It is argued that limitations acting upon the mission shaped post-conversion faith, so that changes to practice and ritual rather than belief became the mark of a successful conversion. The fourth chapter explores methods of conversion, the factors influencing it, and post-conversion faith more directly. It argues that Christianity spread primarily through social networks, but that conversion was also influenced by economic incentive, other realworld benefits, and Christianity's perceived efficacy. Building on Chapter Three, the final chapter also seeks to illustrate that the missionaries were not successful in their attempts to spur epistemological change or instil a detailed knowledge of theology or doctrine amongst their converts.

<p>Denna uppsats undersöker olika perspektiv av den föreställningsvärld och de myttraditioner som förknippas med Japans kakure kirishitan och kristendomens tidiga historia i Japan. Av speciell vikt är den värld som ligger bortom denna. Detta är inte heller främmande inom inhemsk japansk religiös tradition. Utifrån denna kontext kan vi bättre förstå varför man också i Japan har funnit undervisningen om frälsningen i livet efter detta lätt att ta till sig som målet för tron. Den japanska Mariagestaltens status har stärkts betydligt på bekostnad av Sonen, då hon på många vis har övertagit rollen, fått en gudomlig status och blivit en himmelsk härskarinna. <em>Deusu</em> är inte heller den allsmäktige gudom och fadersgestalt som vi känner genom kristendomen då han är tvungen att vända sig till en ängel för att få råd om hur människosläktet ska räddas.</p><p>Medeltida katolska traditioner har bevarats i <em>Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, </em>den enda doktrinära text författad av de underjordiska kristna själva.<em> </em>Det heliga dramat har dock i <em>Tenchi Hajimari </em>fått vissa japanska särdrag. Inför korsfästelsen pryglas till exempel Jesus med bambukäppar så hårt att de splittras. De skriftlärda som Jesus talar med i templet är inte längre skriftlärda judar utan buddhistiska lärare. <em>Tenchi Hajimari no Koto </em>kan framförallt vägleda oss att förstå samband mellan de underjordiska kristna och myter med koppling till kristendomen. Dessa har bevarats inom den lokala japanska folkliga traditionen fram till våra dagar. Den populära japanska buddhistiska modersfiguren <em>Kannon</em> har på många vis sammansmält med bilden av en Mariagestalt som förmedlas genom europeiska traditioner. Förvandlingen av Maria till Maria-Kannon har också inneburit att Mariagestalten har övertagit vissa buddhistiska egenskaper. Språkförbistringen beskrivs som en annan faktor som kan ha bidragit till den tidiga kristendomens förvandling i Japan. Buddhistiska termer, lånord och kristna symboler har sannolikt fått annan innebörd än den som missionärerna själv representerade. Gudsbegrepp och kopplingen till förfädernas roll inom religionen är påverkade av den lokala kulturen.</p> / <p>This essay examines different perspectives of the myth traditions and the world of faith among the Kakure Kirishitan, and the underground Christians of Japan. Of special interest is the coming world. However, the concept of afterworld is also familiar to the domestic Buddhist tradition. Being aware of this we can better understand why the teaching of salvation (and a life after death) is the most important target of faith also for believers within the domestic tradition. The only document from the time of persecution, compiled by the Kakure themselves, is the <em>Tenchi Hajimari no Koto,</em> ‘The Beginning of Heaven and Earth’, a text with topics covering the creation of heaven and earth, the angels, the fall of the ancestors of humankind, Mary, the life of Christ, and the end of the world. Even if the text is not a part of the living tradition of the Kakure Kirishitan today, <em>Tenchi Hajimari no Koto</em> can guide us, and help us to understand the relation between the Kakure Kirishitan of Japan and European Christian tradition. Myths referred to in <em>Tenchi Hajimari</em>, and other local myths related to European apocryphal tradition have survived until present days as tales in areas historically populated by underground Christians.</p><p>Gradually the faith of the underground Christians tended to move away from a god who was a strict father and judge. Instead they turned to a forgiving motherly “goddess” of indefinite tenderness, Mary. <em>Deusu</em>, the Father, is not the almighty and omniscient God we know from Christian traditions, instead he has to consult an angel about the need to save the humankind. The popular merciful Buddhist mother figure, <em>Kannon</em>, has in many ways fused together with the image of the Virgin Mary, rooted in European tradition. The transformation of Virgin Mary to a Maria-Kannon has infused the image with some Buddhist traits. Language confusion is described as another important factor of the acculturation of the Early Christianity of Japan. Buddhist terminology, loanwords, and the interpretation and use of Christian symbols, has most likely given the teaching a somehow different meaning, than the one represented by the early missionaries themselves. The domestic concept of gods, which connects the role of the ancestors to religion have also embraced Christianity. The faith world of Kakure Kirishitan is influenced by folk beliefs, Shintō, and the surrounding Buddhist tradition.</p> / Uppsatsen har skrivits inom ramen för masterprogrammet "Forntida religioner" som ges i samarbete mellan Högskolan i Gävle, Uppsala universitet och Högskolan Dalarna.

Denna uppsats undersöker olika perspektiv av den föreställningsvärld och de myttraditioner som förknippas med Japans kakure kirishitan och kristendomens tidiga historia i Japan. Av speciell vikt är den värld som ligger bortom denna. Detta är inte heller främmande inom inhemsk japansk religiös tradition. Utifrån denna kontext kan vi bättre förstå varför man också i Japan har funnit undervisningen om frälsningen i livet efter detta lätt att ta till sig som målet för tron. Den japanska Mariagestaltens status har stärkts betydligt på bekostnad av Sonen, då hon på många vis har övertagit rollen, fått en gudomlig status och blivit en himmelsk härskarinna. Deusu är inte heller den allsmäktige gudom och fadersgestalt som vi känner genom kristendomen då han är tvungen att vända sig till en ängel för att få råd om hur människosläktet ska räddas. Medeltida katolska traditioner har bevarats i Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, den enda doktrinära text författad av de underjordiska kristna själva. Det heliga dramat har dock i Tenchi Hajimari fått vissa japanska särdrag. Inför korsfästelsen pryglas till exempel Jesus med bambukäppar så hårt att de splittras. De skriftlärda som Jesus talar med i templet är inte längre skriftlärda judar utan buddhistiska lärare. Tenchi Hajimari no Koto kan framförallt vägleda oss att förstå samband mellan de underjordiska kristna och myter med koppling till kristendomen. Dessa har bevarats inom den lokala japanska folkliga traditionen fram till våra dagar. Den populära japanska buddhistiska modersfiguren Kannon har på många vis sammansmält med bilden av en Mariagestalt som förmedlas genom europeiska traditioner. Förvandlingen av Maria till Maria-Kannon har också inneburit att Mariagestalten har övertagit vissa buddhistiska egenskaper. Språkförbistringen beskrivs som en annan faktor som kan ha bidragit till den tidiga kristendomens förvandling i Japan. Buddhistiska termer, lånord och kristna symboler har sannolikt fått annan innebörd än den som missionärerna själv representerade. Gudsbegrepp och kopplingen till förfädernas roll inom religionen är påverkade av den lokala kulturen. / This essay examines different perspectives of the myth traditions and the world of faith among the Kakure Kirishitan, and the underground Christians of Japan. Of special interest is the coming world. However, the concept of afterworld is also familiar to the domestic Buddhist tradition. Being aware of this we can better understand why the teaching of salvation (and a life after death) is the most important target of faith also for believers within the domestic tradition. The only document from the time of persecution, compiled by the Kakure themselves, is the Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, ‘The Beginning of Heaven and Earth’, a text with topics covering the creation of heaven and earth, the angels, the fall of the ancestors of humankind, Mary, the life of Christ, and the end of the world. Even if the text is not a part of the living tradition of the Kakure Kirishitan today, Tenchi Hajimari no Koto can guide us, and help us to understand the relation between the Kakure Kirishitan of Japan and European Christian tradition. Myths referred to in Tenchi Hajimari, and other local myths related to European apocryphal tradition have survived until present days as tales in areas historically populated by underground Christians. Gradually the faith of the underground Christians tended to move away from a god who was a strict father and judge. Instead they turned to a forgiving motherly “goddess” of indefinite tenderness, Mary. Deusu, the Father, is not the almighty and omniscient God we know from Christian traditions, instead he has to consult an angel about the need to save the humankind. The popular merciful Buddhist mother figure, Kannon, has in many ways fused together with the image of the Virgin Mary, rooted in European tradition. The transformation of Virgin Mary to a Maria-Kannon has infused the image with some Buddhist traits. Language confusion is described as another important factor of the acculturation of the Early Christianity of Japan. Buddhist terminology, loanwords, and the interpretation and use of Christian symbols, has most likely given the teaching a somehow different meaning, than the one represented by the early missionaries themselves. The domestic concept of gods, which connects the role of the ancestors to religion have also embraced Christianity. The faith world of Kakure Kirishitan is influenced by folk beliefs, Shintō, and the surrounding Buddhist tradition. / Uppsatsen har skrivits inom ramen för masterprogrammet "Forntida religioner" som ges i samarbete mellan Högskolan i Gävle, Uppsala universitet och Högskolan Dalarna.