About Christian Japan
The history of Christianity in Japan, told mainly through its Catholic side, from 1549 to today. Every fact cited.
How this site works
Every fact links to its source: scholarship, diocesan records and original documents. Where the sources run out, we say so.
Every sentence that states a fact points to a numbered source on its page. Tap the number to read the citation.
Labels for uncertainty
- Disputed
- Sources disagree. We give the competing versions and their sources.
- Tradition
- Handed down in the community or in later accounts, but not confirmed by a contemporary record.
- Unverified
- Claimed in a source, but we have not yet found independent confirmation.
Smaller differences between sources, such as a year, a day or a count, are given as a plain note rather than a label.