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yourtemporaryBFF t1_j54q419 wrote

Watch the movie Silence.

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Freak_Out_Bazaar t1_j54peb1 wrote

It’s an interesting part of Japanese and Christian history. If it weren’t for the strict outlawing of foreign religions maybe Japan would have been a stronghold for Catholicism like South Korea and The Philippines

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ShalmaneserIII t1_j57qkr5 wrote

It would have required a lot of political upheaval, though- when the legitimacy of the government is based on the Emperor being divine, Christianity throws a wrench into things.

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jeanleonino OP t1_j57sq5k wrote

And... Christianity wasn't being brought in just for the religion sake. It was a way to open up the country for possible colonizers. Maybe there wouldn't be a Japan, but a British or Portuguese colony that would lose all its cultural roots.

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Freak_Out_Bazaar t1_j57w0te wrote

Japan would still exist. After all, South Korea, The Philippines and Mexico, exist. Beyond Europe I think it would be difficult to wipe out entire cultures

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jeanleonino OP t1_j580scd wrote

Not wipe, but completely change them yes - look at south east Asia, basically only Thailand survived intact.

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Shotgun_Sentinel t1_j586lmh wrote

Mexico and the Philippines are very much a Spanish colony in culture. Korea isn’t however.

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AngusLynch09 t1_j58cs7b wrote

Why would Japan have wanted to be a "stronghold for Catholicism" though?

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Kryptonthenoblegas t1_j58xkr1 wrote

I'm not sure how true it is but apparently prior to the ban catholicism was growing at a very rapid rate in japan, to the point every province had a catholic population of some kind. So I guess if you assume this would continue for some time, Japan would end up having a sizeable catholic population.

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TigBiddiesMacDaddy t1_j54pfk2 wrote

You should see what Japan did at the first church. They sold Yasuke back into slavery after killing Oda Nobunaga

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jeanleonino OP t1_j54pufm wrote

I am a history nerd... And I knew that part. But I never heard about the little statues and the hidden rooms they had in their own homes.

It's not that weird in history to treat other religions like this, but it's so curious how they valued* the clocks made by the jesuits, despite hating them. lol

edit: changed worshipped to valued, it was a luxury item in the Edo period, not a religious item.

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Lurker_IV t1_j575q05 wrote

Do you know about the 'magic mirrors' Japanese christians used to hide their faith?

https://www.kyotojournal.org/renewal/the-magic-mirror-maker/

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jeanleonino OP t1_j576ihl wrote

Holy fuck, this is awesome. No, I didn't know. This interview also corroborates one feeling I had from this TIL: maybe some religious mix together when people try to hide their religion. The syncretism there is so obvious, imagine an Amaterasu Virgin Mary haha

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Lurker_IV t1_j57feep wrote

Fun history tidbit: the Japanese used the magic mirror trick of using reflections to expose microscopic flaws in microchip manufacturing. The engineers credited magic mirrors as the inspiration for their invention.

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jeanleonino OP t1_j57sixv wrote

Does asianometry know that one? Haha that's an awesome story

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GodEmperorOfHell t1_j55vnwh wrote

You have to take into account the context. Imagine that in the United States, at the peak of the war on terror, people started converting en masse to Islam. A very strict government would see it as the enemy gaining traction in the home turf. Not unlike the conflict between Catholics and protestants in Ireland. The idea was to keep national unity and become free of foreign ideologies.

I am not saying they were right, just that it was not done on a whim. That aspect is even seen in the movie Silence (2016), that is why it's so brilliant.

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cikanman t1_j54rjot wrote

Catholicism was actually outlawed in Mosby countries including the American colonies.

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jeanleonino OP t1_j54s183 wrote

Well, yes. In different time and regions for different reasons.

At the same time, most Portuguese and Spanish remained catholic, and that's no small portion of the world. Almost all of the American continent and Southeast Asia

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cikanman t1_j5558p0 wrote

Just pointing out that it was not just the Japanese but many countries have banned Catholicism over the years. Many still do.

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jeanleonino OP t1_j556po9 wrote

Yeah, religion is a touchy point in civilizations, from way before Catholicism was a religion

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BaldBeardedOne t1_j5639xz wrote

Isn’t America two continents?

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jeanleonino OP t1_j566pc9 wrote

Depends. It's more generally accepted there's South and North America.

But here in Latin America you may also learn - depending where you are - that there's also Central America (between Mexico and South America).

If you look at tectonic plates, there's a Caribbean plate that covers most of Central America as well. But given its size most places will say there's only Central and South America. Even Enciclopedia Britannica

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Berrysbottle t1_j55pt3e wrote

Traditionalists who wanted to preserve the sodomy ring

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