Expulsion of Missionaries

1. 6: Whose perspective does it reflect

1.1. It reflects Hideyoshi's perspective and how he views any infringement towards Buddha and his ridged class system as an offensive act and a potential destabilization.

1.2. It reflects Hideyoshi's fear of influence from the outside world and how he saw it as a destabilizing factor.

2. 7: Whose perspectives are challenged/ omitted?

2.1. The missionaries' beliefs and religion is openly challenged

2.2. The perspectives of the Christians that were told to leave Japan was omitted. According to Hideyoshi, they were doing an "illegal act", but the document does not state how they felt about their actions.

2.3. From the perspective of the local religion, or the government's stance on local religion, Buddhism. The local practitioners felt challenged with the monotheistic religion.

3. 8: Which questions can the source help me answer? Which can it not?

3.1. It could answer whether or not Japan (at the time) was a religiously acceptant country

3.2. It could also answer the question: "Did the ruler of Japan have unlimited power?"

3.3. Did the people of Japan agree with their ruler's decisions? Did they actually find Christianity okay? (Did not answer this question)

3.4. Did not tell about how the persecuted Missionaries felt/reacted.

4. 9: Results in change?

4.1. Yes, Christians (European missionaries) where expelled from Japan.

4.2. Christianity was "banned" in Japan now. People were to only to worship the Buddha or local "Kami".

4.3. Only people who did not "inhibit the teachings of Buddha" were allowed in Japan

4.4. Impacted social and economic trends in Japan; Japan also became more isolated from Europeans

5. 10: Reveals the Past - does this primary source reveal attitudes/beliefs of the past?

5.1. It shows how much Christianity had spread. (So much that it seemed a "threat")

5.2. It reveals that leaders in Japan were not at all acceptant of other people's beliefs and religions

5.3. It shows how people viewed change/other perspectives as dangerous, not only to their own religion, but also to the social and political structure of the time

6. Bibliography

6.1. Columbia University. "THE EDICTS OF TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI: EXCERPTS FROM LIMITATION ON THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY, 1587 EXCERPTS FROM EXPULSION OF MISSION ARIES, 1587." Asia for Educators | Columbia University. Accessed September 23, 2021. http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/japan/tokugawa_edicts_christianity.pdf

6.2. Trillium Lakelands District School Board - D2L Login Page. (2021). Activity 3: State of the World: 1450–1650 - Social, Economic and Political Context of Four Regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Americas). Trillium Lakelands District School Board - D2L Login Page

7. 1: What does it look like?

7.1. Bulleted list of information

7.2. Rewritten in a modernized/digitilized form so its actual look is unknown

7.3. Structured like a list of orders/laws

8. 2: Who wrote it? Why?

8.1. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (who was the ruler of Japan) wrote this as a way to monopolize on his ideal religion. He thought Christian Missionaries were a threat.

8.2. He also watched the rate at which Christianity was taking hold in other European countries and feared that allowing it to flourish in his country would upset Japan's strict class structure

8.3. He wanted to ensure Japan was as internally stable and secure as possible...and the missionaries converting his people threatened his 'vision.' He states in the document that "this cannot be tolerated any further".

9. 3: How does the author communicate ideas?

9.1. Hideyoshi addresses his ideas in bullet lists, with short, curt and authoritative word choice.

9.2. He makes it clear that the topic is not up for debate, using commanding words such as "must" and "cannot"

10. 4: What are the big ideas?

10.1. * Removing all Christainity from Japan

10.2. * Unifying Japan under one religion

10.3. * Stopping the Vassals from commending their land to the church

10.4. * Stop the "unacceptable" destruction of shrines/temples

10.5. * Anyone who hinders Buddha's teaching is NOT welcome!

11. 5: What ideas are left out?

11.1. The ideas that the common people might have had are left out, including the people who had been converted.

11.2. The ideas of the Missionaries are also left out, including what they believed what was important - converting people to Christianity.

11.3. The ideas of the local government officials or local merchants are also not mentioned