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天草陣図 19世紀写 / 東京国立博物館 所蔵

Shiro Amakusa

Considered the leader of the Shimabara Rebellion in the early Edo period, and later the teenager who came to symbolize the uprising

c. 1623–1638

Shiro Amakusa, also known as Shiro Tayu Tokisada Amakusa and Amano Shiro Hidetsuna, was a teenager considered to have been the leader of the Shimabara Rebellion early in the Edo period. In rebel materials of the time, he was known as Shiro and Shiro Masuda. According to one theory, he is said to have been the son of Yoshitsugu Masuda, a retainer of the Christian daimyo Yukinaga Konishi. Shiro is reputed to have learned to write at the age of 9, began his studies at age 12, and traveled to Nagasaki to study there. The name given to him at baptism is said to have been Geronimo. In Higo Province, where Yoshitsugu took up farming, the Christian faith had been on the rise among vassals and commoners of the domain alike, owing to Yukinaga’s influence. Even after the new daimyo prohibited Christianity, Christians outwardly renounced their faith while continuing to hold onto it as crypto-Christians. Residents of the Shimabara Peninsula and Amakusa Islands, burdened by the heavy annual land tax and persecution for their faith, came to extol miracles surrounding Shiro, who as a result became a figurehead of the uprising leading up to the Shimabara Rebellion. While barricaded in Hara Castle, Shiro is said to have preached and celebrated mass. The rebel forces resisted the armies of the Shogunate and daimyo, but all, including Shiro, were killed in a full-scale attack. Shiro’s decapitated head was sent to Nagasaki, where it was put on display, and his mother and sisters were subsequently executed. In 2018 the remains of Hara Castle, Oura Cathedral, and areas including Hirado, Amakusa, and Goto were given World Heritage status as “Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.”

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  • キリスト教伝来やキリシタン弾圧、有馬氏の拠点日野江城と原城などをテーマとし、キリシタン遺物も展示する。

  • 上天草市にある。旧天草四郎メモリアルホール。天草・島原一揆の歴史的背景、南蛮文化の影響などをテーマとする。

  • 天草コレジヨの開校や天草本の出版など、16世紀以降に天草河浦に伝えられた南蛮文化の資料を多数展示。日本初の活版印刷による天草本や、グーテンベルク印刷機(複製)を展示。南蛮船の模型、西洋古楽器の複製や、天正少年使節団の足取りをたどるビデオも見ることができる。

  • 天草市立天草キリシタン館で、収蔵・展示されている天草四郎の陣中旗。劣化を防ぐために、公開は年間30日間に限定され、通常はレプリカが展示されている。

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