CHRONICLESOF RESEARCHERS AT SOPHIA SHINZO KAWAMURAProfessor,Department of History#19Professor Kawamura oversaw the Japanese translation of “Silence,” film director Martin Scorsese’s epic 2017 adapta-tion of a story by Shusaku Endo, and in the production of some scenes, he served as an historical advisor. He specializes in religious studies and history, and is a leading authority on the hidden Christians in particular.Two figures sparked Kawamura’s research into the Kirishi-tan. One was the Japanese priest of the 17th century, Petro Kasui Kibe. “Expelled from Japan by an anti-Christian edict,” explains Kawamura, “Father Kibe set forth for Rome alone to train as a priest. However, when he learned of the persecution the Kirishitan were enduring, he returned to Japan where he was mercilessly tortured. Father Kibe nonetheless refused to re-nounce his faith, and in fact it is said that he continued to encourage other Christians. Ultimately he was martyred. The story of his way of life overwhelmed me and is mainly what moved me to make the Kirishitan the subject of my research.”The other individual was Charles Ralph Boxer, the great British orientalist. “It was his book, ‘The Christian Century in Japan,’ which impressed me. It convinced me that people around the world should know more about the early days of Christianity in Japan.”Professor Kawamura’s experience of studying theology at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome also compelled him to research the history of the Kirishitan. At that time, he was living in a monastery neighboring the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the Society of Jesus—the same church that lodged the four young Japanese emissaries sent to Rome in the 16th century, known as the Tensho Embassy. “Living there, I, as a Japanese, came to feel that I just had to dive deeper into the history of Christianity in Japan.” Subsequently, Kawamura attended Georgetown University in the United States to earn a doctorate in history. “The envi-ronment there placed emphasis on taking a broad overview of history, which had been the inspiration for my research,” he reflects. “The history of the Kirishitan is a special field slightly removed from the mainstream of Japanese history. This opened up a path to approach it from the perspectives of both Europe and Japan.”Kawamura has his name on a variety of projects across both academia and the corporate world, energetically embracing research and speaking opportunities in Japan and across the globe.The Starting Point of Research into The History of Hidden Christians, Our Remarkable ForebearsResearching Kirishitan History Opens Up New Fields of InquiryProf. Kawamura speaks at the 75th anniversary symposium com-memorating diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Japan at Ponticia Università Gregoriana in Rome, October 201711Research
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