5 Horrifyingly Brutal Ways Japan Used To Destroy Christianity

300,000 Christians were killed & forced to trample on Christ.

In the mid-1500, Christians decided to spread Christianity in Japan but had they known the consequence, they would have made a better plan of approach.

The feudal lords did not welcome Christianity, taking firm steps against it — steps that would strike fear into the hearts of Christians.

When the feudal lords saw the new religion had started to gain popularity among the Japanese, these lords started to persecute the Christian.

Within 50 years, a freaked out lord rounded up around 26 missionaries whom he mutilated in public, crucifying them as a warning for the Christians who were in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Read along to learn more about the brutal ways the feudal used to trample Christianity.

1. Boiled And Burned To Death

Christians who didn’t renounce their vows were punished in various manners, and one of them was boiling or burning them alive in the hot spring of Unzen near Nagasaki.

This burning didn’t conventionally occur, but it was more of an event where people were gathered, including the families of the one who was to be burned and then the execution by burning began. This struck fear and warned others who were not willing to cooperate.

2. Crawl On All Four Naked, On The Streets Of Nagasaki

The governor of Nagasaki hated Christians and Christianity. He wanted to use any means necessary to put an end to them.

In early 1600 the governor launched a new campaign against Christians, and the purpose of this campaign was to mortify the Christians to such an extent that the people stopped following Christianity.

The governor went door to door searching for Christians while ensuring that each individual was identified as non-Christian. However, God forbid if anyone was identified as Christian, brutality began.

Women who refused to renounce were forced to crawl on the streets naked while being beaten, and this agony didn’t end until the women renounced or, in some cases, died.

3. Stepping On The Cross To Prove You Are A Non-Christian

Japanese authorities were always working on devising new plans to find and hunt Christians in the societies, and one of the schemes they planned involved walking on the cross.

Authorities made suspected Christians walk on the cross, which was made out of paper, later it was made with wood and remains of destroyed churches.

The final form was made of bronze. It was in the form of a tile which was made in Nagasaki — a tile with Jesus Christ on it.

The tile was presented to everyone men, women, children, slaves, and servants in each house, where the individuals were supposed to walk across it to prove they were not Christians. Babies who couldn’t walk were carried by their mothers, who had to ensure that their feet touched the tile.

People who refused to tread on the tile were Christians, and for that, they were taken for further persecution.

4. Throwing Christians Into Snake Pit

For most of us, these slithering ophidians are the worst nightmare. We cannot imagine being close to one, let alone a pit full of them.

During the dark times of victimization, it was common for the feudal Japanese to throw Christians into pits full of snakes.

Christians were thrown into these pits to bring about maximum fear and pain, and it was a matter of time until the individual was covered all over with these slithering serpents. The only way to come out of this suffering was to renounce or die.

5. Slowly Slicing With Bamboo Was One Way Of Inflicting Pain

Japanese used various tactics to inflict pain and torture Christian missionaries. Nagasaki’s chief commissioner had a key role — from roasting people alive to water torture to hanging weights on legs while they sat on a specially designed wooden horse or slicing missionaries with a bamboo saw.

Basically anything that can inflict excruciating physical pain and immense mental stress. These were just some of the commissioner tactics he used against Christians, and the schedule was only to get rid of Christianity in Japan.

However, the worse of his persecutions was when a pregnant woman was placed in a tub full of cold water where she was supposed to give birth to a baby.

What was the intention? Exposure in front of the mother’s eyes. This was not only heartbreaking but also made them question their lord.

He found joy when a Christian peasant was wrapped in dried straw, covered in oil, and set on fire. Their twists and turns were considered dancing, and this was called Mini Odori or the raincoat dance.

Final Words:

The Christians suffered the act of brutality in Japan for almost 300 years, and in these years, most of the Catholics were either killed, forced out of the country or went underground.

Christians who were left in all these years learned how to hide themselves and their beliefs, and after all these years of pain, agony, and suffering.

In 1873, Japanese Christians were granted their religious freedom by the Japanese government.

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