The revolt that reshaped Tokugawa foreign policy
In the autumn of 1637, peasants on the Shimabara Peninsula in western Kyushu rose in rebellion, sparking what would become the largest uprising of the Edo era (1603-1867). At the time, much of the population was Christian, the area having been ruled by devout daimyō who promoted the religion during the last decades of the 16th century. The Tokugawa shogunate, realizing that Christians could place their loyalty to the Church and fellow believers above their loyalty to the shogun, had banned Christianity in 1614. Shimabara’s daimyō, Matsukura Katsuie, zealously enforced this ban in his domain, executing believers and destroying churches.
Adding to the persecution, the peasantry struggled under the heavy taxation imposed by Matsukura Katsuie and his counterpart in Amakusa, Terazawa Katataka. Seeking funds to maintain Shimabara Castle and win shogunate favor through military contributions, Matsukura raised taxes despite poor harvests, ignoring the famines and droughts that ravaged much of Kyushu. Those unable to pay were punished and tortured. Starvation became widespread, and many families were reduced to eating grass and tree bark. As discontent grew, the region’s many rōnin—masterless samurai whose former lords had been dispossessed—began meeting secretly with local peasants to plan a revolt.
Although desperation to relieve the harsh taxation seemed to be the main cause of the uprising, one unfortunate overreach is rumored to have set it off. On October 25, 1637, Matsukura’s officials seized a peasant’s daughter as payment for overdue taxes, which provoked local villagers to attack the officials. This revolt grew and spread, eventually uniting thousands of peasants and rōnin.
Leading the rebels was Amakusa Shirō, a 16-year-old whose charisma and claims of divine visions inspired hopes of victory. Carrying crosses and banners bearing Christian prayers, the rebels attacked Tomioka Castle in Amakusa and then Shimabara Castle but failed to capture either. They withdrew to the abandoned Hara Castle on the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula, where they repaired its walls, strengthened its defenses, and began rationing what little food they had.
To quash the rebellion, the shogunate called upon daimyō from across Kyushu to provide troops, assembling an army of more than 125,000 men to besiege Hara Castle. It also enlisted the assistance of the Dutch, who sent the ship De Ryp from Hirado to bombard the fortress in January 1638. The shelling caused little damage, and according to contemporary accounts, the rebels mocked the besieging army, sending them a message asking, “Are there no longer courageous soldiers in the realm to fight us? Are you not ashamed to call upon foreigners against so small a force?”
The siege went on for three months. The rebel forces succeeded in a few brave attacks, but their lack of supplies gradually weakened their defenses. On April 12, 1638, shogunate forces launched their final assault. Three days later, Hara Castle fell. An estimated 37,000 rebels and sympathizers were slaughtered, their bodies buried among the ruins. The few survivors, mostly women and children, were executed or enslaved.
Amakusa Shirō was captured, interrogated by shogunate officials, and beheaded. His severed head was displayed in Nagasaki as a grisly deterrent to Christians and would-be rebels.
The rebellion also claimed the lives of some 4,000 shogunate troops. The Tokugawa government held Matsukura Katsuie responsible for the unrest that had led to the uprising. Later that year, he was executed in Edo, the only daimyō put to death by the shogunate during the Edo period. Terazawa Katataka’s Amakusa domain was confiscated, and he lived in disgrace in Edo until taking his own life in 1647.
Because of the slaughter, the Shimabara Peninsula was severely depopulated. People were brought in from other domains to resettle. All were required to register with Buddhist temples as part of the shogunate’s policies to identify and suppress Christianity. They were also subjected to periodic fumie, a practice introduced in 1629 in which people were required to step on Christian images to prove they were not Christians. Refusing to was punishable by torture and death.
Soon after the Shimabara Rebellion, the Tokugawa shogunate moved further toward national seclusion by expelling the Portuguese, confining the Dutch to the man-made island of Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, and tightening its control over foreign trade.
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