Japan's Hidden Christians, 1549-1999

This volume is by the author ofThe Kakure Kirishitan of Japan: A study of their development, beliefs and rituals to the present day, widely seen as the landmark study on this subject. Stephen Turnbull here brings together in two volumes the most significant scholarly writings on Japan's hidden Christians published in recent times, encompassing a span of some 450 years of the Christian tradition in Japan. Remarkably, in many respects, the inheritors of this tradition continue to remain 'hidden' at the dawn of the new millennium. The author contributes a full introduction, in which he reviews the key elements of the collected writings and at the same time takes the opportunity to bring his own study up-to-date.