Sophia Magazine vol.3 / SUMMER 2016

29/32

Takayama Ukon, or Dom Justo Takayama as he was popularly known, was a Japanese daimyo or feu-dal lord who died for his faith in 1615 in the city of Manila in the Philippines, and who was subsequently declared “Blessed” by His Holiness Pope Francis in January 2016. He was born in 1553, four years after St. Francis Xavier, a Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus along with St. Igna-tius of Loyola, first set foot in Japan to communicate the Catholic faith to the people of Japan.Around 40 years later, in 1587, an edict expelling missionaries from Japan was promulgated and, in 1614, a subsequent edict banning Christianity was issued. These edicts initiated a persecution of the Kirishitans for their religious beliefs, a situation that persisted until the start of the Meiji era in the 18th century. The earlier edict issued by Toyotomi Hideyo-shi commanded the Christian feudal lords to abandon their faith, but since Takayama Ukon refused to do so, he was deprived of his position as a lord. However, as he was still able to continue life as a lay Christian, he was successful in guiding many people including sev-eral feudal lords to the Christian faith. Being an in-dividual of outstanding intellectual caliber and being blessed with high cultural acumen and deep morality, he was able to exert a positive impact on the people of his day, but all the same, however, the second edict is-sued by the Tokugawa Shogunate obliged him to quit the country along with over 300 Christians, as a result of which he was in due course martyred in the Philip-pines in 1615.The late Fr. Johannes Laures, S.J. established in 1939 the Sophia University Kirishitan Bunko Library for the purpose of accumulating and conserving re-cords related to the study of the Kirishitans, includ-ing books published during their lengthy period of hardship. The library also houses a letter written by Takayama Ukon.The chief librarian, Fr. Tsutomu Sakuma, declared, “I think it a very important mission for a university founded by the Society of Jesus to conduct research on the Kirishitans.” He further added, “Justo Takayama Ukon took the lead in doing what normal feudal lords ruling their domains did not do, such as offering aid to people under their governance who were of low birth, and occasionally also assisting them with their funer-als. His deeds served to reinforce the Christian ideal of all mankind being equal before God, and they exerted a powerful influence not only upon his own people, but also upon the neighboring feudal lords. His faith, which in prayer dictated his actions, had a profound significance. This is due to its being that of a model Japanese Christian who lived in a Buddhist nation like Japan.”Far left: Statue of Takayama Ukon at the Catholic Church in Takatsuki Top middle: Kirishitan Bunko Library Left: A letter written by Takayama Ukon dis-played in Kirishitan Bunko LibraryEpisodeKIRISHITAN BUNKO LIBRARY3Fr. Tsutomu Sakuma, S.J.Professor, Faculty of TheologyChief Librarian, Kirishitan Bunko LibraryKirishitan Bunko Library The Kirishitan Bunko Library houses records linked to Kirishitans, Japanese Roman Catholics of the 16th and 17th century. It contains several valuable books and manuscripts written by the Kirishitans, including Blessed Takayama Ukon.29Catholic Heritage

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer10.2以上が必要です