A Look Back In Time To Japan’s Forgotten 19th Century Martyrs

In the early 17th century, Christianity was put under a ban lasting two and a half centuries, and Japanese people were repeatedly forced to prove that they were not Christian by trampling on a “fumi-e,” an image of Jesus on the cross, or of Jesus and Mary. Those who refused to do so were tortured to renounce their faith or, if not, be killed, often in hideously cruel ways.