Shusaku Endo’s Silence and Christianity (1)


Shusaku Endo’s Silence and Christianity (1)
              Many people may think that Shusaku Endo’s Silence is a masterpiece and especially Western Christians may enjoy reading it and watching the movie. I would like to claim however that it is a poor work with an ingrained bias of the Christian. The author has spread a barbarous image of Japanese people throughout the world. This is a completely wrong image.
First I would like to provide you with information that the author lived a few hundred meters away from my present home. The first photo below shows his residential area. From this you may obtain a bit of image of where he wrote Silence. He used to walk around this neighborhood. So do I sometimes but I have never met him because he had died before I moved in. His close redactor lived nearby.
              A key point for fair evaluation of Silence is to know that Christianity had been banned in Japan for a long time before missionary Giuseppe Chiara, the model of hero Sebastian Rodrigo in Silence, landed in Japan. It should be understood that restriction on religion was widespread in the world including Europe. It is also true even today in some countries. One should not evaluate Silence from the viewpoint of a modern man with freedom of religion.
Giuseppe Chiara landed in Japan in 1643 but Christian missionary deportation was ordered in 1587. In 1597 Nagasaki crucified twenty-six Christians, who were later included among catholic saints. I would like to say that these were actually criminals because they violated the ban. To make the point clear suppose that a group of people who believe opium consumption is good for their health promote it in a foreign country which bans it and that this country has crucified twenty-six opium consumers/promoters. Then which are they, saints or criminals?
              Why was Christianity banned in Japan? Christians destroyed Japanese temples and shrines, enslaved many Japanese especially women, and tried to colonize Japan. Japanese rulers were once generous to Christianity, but after seeing these barbarous acts of Christians, they tried to exclude them form Japan. Ignoring these facts, Endo beautified Christianity and Christian missionary work.

Comments and questions are welcome.
kazuhiro.arai888@gmail.com

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