Christianity was banned in Japan in 1614. This was about 65 years after it had been introduced to Japan. The last post told the story of the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of Franciscan priests and Japanese Catholics who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597. But that was just a preview. More executions followed, and after the ban Japanese officials went to extraordinary lengths to identify — and eliminate — all traces of Christianity in Japan. This purge of... Read more