RFI’s Paul Marshall wrote an essay in Religion Unplugged examining Japan’s long history of Christian persecution, and in particular, its forgotten 19th century martyrs. Marshall writes:

Several recent stories suggest that Japan is becoming more hostile to tourists. But most of these reports concern only particular popular tourist sites, especially those with a view of magnificent Mt. Fuji, where jostling crowds have failed to respect the mores of this famously polite society.

My experience has been the opposite. In visiting less foreigner-traveled areas this year, I found gracious hosts. I was welcomed and fell in love with the place and the people.

But, in one theme of this summer’s travels, the history of Japanese Christianity, I found a different issue. This is the ignorance not only amongst foreigners but also amongst Japanese themselves of that history, particularly the long history of persecution.

Some of this, especially the dire persecutions of the early 17th century, is better known through Shusako Endo’s gripping 1966 novel “Silence,” and then through Martin Scorsese’s longtime personal attempt to bring the book to the screen in his 2016 movie “Silence.” Both compelling works depart at times from the history, but they bring home the gravity and depth of the atrocities.

Read the full essay: “A Look Back In Time To Japan’s Forgotten 19th Century Martyrs.”