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Religion15 August 1549 (landing at Kagoshima) – November 1551

Francis Xavier Lands at Kagoshima

Also called: Arrival of Christianity in Japan

The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier landed at Kagoshima and brought Christianity to Japan for the first time. He stayed a little over two years, travelling to Hirado, Yamaguchi, Kyoto and Bungo.

Portrait of Saint Francis Xavier — unknown Japanese artist, early 17th century, Kobe City Museum (Important Cultural Property)
Portrait of Saint Francis Xavier — unknown Japanese artist, early 17th century, Kobe City Museum (Important Cultural Property)

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Having met Anjirō (Yajirō), a man from Satsuma, at Malacca, Xavier resolved to evangelise Japan and, with the Jesuits Cosme de Torres and Juan Fernández, reached Anjirō’s home town of Kagoshima on 15 August 1549. The lord, Shimazu Takahisa, hoping for trade with Portuguese ships, allowed him to preach.

Xavier went on by way of Hirado and Yamaguchi to Kyoto early in 1551, hoping for the emperor’s leave to preach, but achieved nothing in the war-ravaged capital. Protected by Ōuchi Yoshitaka of Yamaguchi and Ōtomo Sōrin of Bungo, he gathered converts and left Japan in November 1551; he died in 1552 on Shangchuan Island off Guangdong while trying to enter China. Jesuit missions and the Nanban trade with Portugal grew together after him, and Kyushu produced Christian daimyo such as the Ōtomo, Ōmura and Arima.

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States at the time
Japan
Portugal
Places
Kagoshima, Heian-kyō

People

  • Francis Xavier1506 – 1552

    key figure · Navarrese Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Jesuits who, after missions in India and Southeast Asia for the Portuguese crown, landed at Kagoshima in 1549 and first brought Christianity to Japan

Before and after

Earlier
1543 Portuguese Reach Tanegashima and Bring Firearms to Japan
Later
1550 Northern Raiders and Southern Pirates

Themes that include this event