Causes of the Martyrdom of 26 Saints
In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe, heading from the Philippines to Mexico, washed
ashore on the Tosa-Urato coast due to a typhoon.
Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi confiscated the ship’s vast cargo.
At that time, the navigator said that Spain first send Christian missionaries to increase
the number of believers, and then eventually conquer the country.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi heard this, he was shocked and ordered the capture of
Spanish Franciscan missionaries who were actively carrying out missionary activities
in Kyoto.
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Then, he ordered Ishida Mitsunari to execute Franciscan missionaries and Christians.
This was the beginning of the Martyrdom of 26 Saints in Nagasaki on February 5, 1597.