Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

jeanleonino OP t1_j54pufm wrote

Reply to comment by TigBiddiesMacDaddy in TIL that during the Edo period in Japan Catholicism was outlawed and groups of Japanese catholics had secret rooms in their houses and they made statues of the Virgin Mary and other saints that would look like Buddhist statues by jeanleonino

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.

11

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/

6

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

4

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.

3

jeanleonino OP t1_j57sixv wrote

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

2