The Japanese and the Jesuits - Alessandro Valignano in Sixteenth Century Japan (1992)

The Japanese and the Jesuits examines the attempt by sixteenth-century Jesuits to convert Japan to Christianity. Directing the Jesuits was the Italian Alessandro Valignano, whose own magisterial writings, many of them not previously translated or published, are the principal source material for this account of one of the most remarkable of all meetings between East and West. The Japanese and the Jesuits examines the attempt by sixteenth century Jesuits to convert the Japanese to Christianity. Directing the Jesuits was the Italian Alessandro Valignano, whose own magisterial writings, many of them not previously translated or published, are the principle source material for this account of one of the most remarkable of all meetings between East and West. Valignano arrived in Japan in 1579. In promoting Christianity, he always sought the support of the ruling classes, but an important part of his strategy was also to have the missionaries adapt themselves thoroughly to Japanese customs, etiquette and culture. He was insistent that they must master the Japanese language, and he brought to Japan a European printing press, which turned out grammars and dictionaries for the missionaries, and works of instruction and devotion for the Japanese Christians. Following Valignano's death, Christianity was proscribed and missionaries banished from Japan. This does not detract from his remarkable achievements. He understood perfectly well that foreign missionaries by themselves were not capable of converting Japan to Christianity, and one of his principal concerns was the training of Japanese Jesuits and priests, and breaking down the barriers between them and the Europeans. Few people have ever been more acutely aware of, or grappled more determinedly with, problems in Japanese-Western relationships. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 8 Notes......Page 10 Maps......Page 11 Orientation......Page 14 The ambassadors......Page 19 The Visitor......Page 33 Full and complete information......Page 42 Ships and sealing-wax......Page 55 The enterprise......Page 64 Friars from the Philippines......Page 92 High and low......Page 108 The alms from the China ship......Page 128 Rich and poor......Page 142 The press......Page 158 Japanese Jesuits......Page 174 The Japanese language......Page 191 Conclusion......Page 202 How land is owned and income reckoned in Japan......Page 206 How and why we got the port of Nagasaki......Page 214 Notes......Page 217 Bibliography......Page 238 Index......Page 242 The story of 16th-century Jesuits' attempts to convert in Japanese, taken principally from their leader's own magisterial writings. J.f. Moran. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [225]-228) And Index.