Kiku's Prayer: A Novel

by Shusaku Endo

  Consequently, it was only natural that they were able to outwit men like Ōkuma Shigenobu and Inoue Kaoru, having seen through their ploys. Skilled as they were in political disputation, these officials underestimated these totally illiterate peasants, certain that they would be crushed by the power of their glibness. They were dead wrong.

  Once again, the government office that had summoned the Urakami Kirishitans was forced to send them back to their homes. Needless to say, the officials could not push them any harder owing to the tenacious protests from foreign legations in Japan, who adopted the same attitude toward them as they had toward the shogunate.

  The peasants of Urakami were bursting with self-confidence. The rain had already stopped when they emerged in high spirits from the government office.

  A blue sky was visible in the west, a sign that the weather was going to improve.

  Just as before, the many families who had followed their loved ones from Urakami stood outside the gate, and when their relatives came out of the interrogation, they waved their hands and cheered loudly.

  Seikichi was part of the procession that came through the gate as someone at the front of the line, most likely Sen’emon, began singing a hymn.

  Let us go, let us go

  Let us go to the temple of Paraíso!

  As they filed out one after another, they all joined in the singing; the family members who followed behind them also began to sing.

  Seikichi relished an indescribable feeling of joy as he sang while he walked along the rain-drenched road. He was proud of the other Kirishitans who walked beside him. What they believed in was true. What they believed in had proven stronger than either the magistrate’s office or the government office….

  He strode forward, staring up at the blue sky visible between the gray clouds. It didn’t matter that his legs and body were being splashed by mud. And he didn’t even bother glancing at the spectators who stood on both sides of the road.

  But then he caught sight of Laucaigne and the other priests from Ōura standing amid the crowd. At their side was Kiku.

  People of every land, bless the holy name of the Lord

  Forever and ever.

  As he whispered the Latin prayer, Laucaigne gazed at the feet of the Kirishitans; they were covered in mud from walking along the road after the rain.

  Kiku, for her part, stared only at Seikichi.

  Seikichi is so strong…. Seikichi, who had not despaired despite what he had experienced at the magistrate’s office and the government office. Seikichi, who had not faltered. Kiku was even more powerfully drawn to Seikichi’s strength…. If only he weren’t a Kirishitan!

  Seikichi really is a man.

  Let us go, let us go

  Let us go to the temple of Paraíso!

  The triumphant singing voices were of course audible in the government office. Their interrogators—Inoue Monta, Machida Minbu, and Matsukata Masayoshi—also heard their singing.

  They each had a bitter look on their faces, but Governor-General Sawa Nobuyoshi was in an especially foul mood.

  “They’ve really gone too far,” Machida Minbu sputtered. “For mere peasants, they seem to understand our weaknesses all too well. I’m sure that’s because of what the Namban clerics have filled their ears with….”

  Inoue Monta also shared his views with Sawa. “If we do nothing to them, they’re bound to get cocky. What have you decided?”

  “Matsukata, what do you think?” Sawa asked.

  After thinking for a few moments, Matsukata proposed, “It seems to me we can’t really decide this here in the Nagasaki office. I think that Inoue and I should go to Osaka and seek the sanction of Lord Kido8 before we do anything….”

  A man had been skulking in front of the Nambanji for nearly half an hour.

  He stood stock-still, staring nervously at the church behind its fence. To avoid arousing suspicion he would leave for a while, then return to the same spot.

  It was Kiku who discovered him; every day between chores she looked toward the door of the church, earnestly hoping that Seikichi would make an appearance.

  Abruptly she cried out, “Ichijirō!” It was her cousin she had not seen in a long while. She raced outside and called through the fence, “Isn’t that you, Ichijirō?”

  “Ah!” In relief he wiped the sweat from his brow. “So you’re here after all. Just like Mitsu said.”

  “Mitsu’s still working hard at the Gotōya, isn’t she?”

  “Working her heart out.” Then abruptly Ichijirō gave her a dour look. He was not happy with this cousin; unlike his hardworking sister Mitsu, Kiku had stolen away from the Gotōya. “Why didn’t you send word to Magome that you were here?” His voice was menacing. “Do you have any idea how worried your mom and dad and Granny have been since you disappeared …? You probably haven’t given that even a single thought.”

  “But I knew they’d all be really mad at me if I told them…. Mitsu’s the only one I told that I’m working here.”

  She kept her eyes lowered as she tried to defend herself, but Ichijirō kept pressing her. “Have you … have you done something that would make everyone mad at you?”

  Kiku said nothing.

  “Why aren’t you answering? How am I supposed to know what’s going on if you won’t talk to me?” But Ichijirō knew full well the reason for her silence. He had heard everything from his sister.

  Still Kiku had nothing to say.

  “Are you still love struck with that boy from Nakano? That Kuro fellow?”

  “Ichijirō, what’s so bad about being Kirishitan?” Kiku suddenly raised her head defiantly and challenged him. “You probably don’t know that the times have changed, and one day soon the Kirishitans will be able to walk the streets freely. That’s why even when the government people called them in, they just let them go.”

  It angered Ichijirō to have his young cousin jabber at him like this, but he stifled his emotions. Kiku’s parents and Granny had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to bring Kiku back to Magome.

  “Even I know that much,” he nodded reluctantly. Then, after a pause, he said, “But not a single woman from Magome has ever married a Kuro from Nakano or Ieno. If you did something like that, everyone would point fingers at you.”

  “Point fingers? Why?”

  “Because they’d say you married a Kuro.”

  “I don’t care!” She spoke triumphantly, even proudly. “I don’t care what anybody says. I’m not doing anything bad. Pointing fingers at someone who hasn’t done anything wrong just means there’s something wrong with their heads!”

  “Listen, Kiku.” Ichijirō sensed that he was no match verbally for his cousin. “Doesn’t it bother you that you’re causing your parents and Granny to worry so much? Everybody is very concerned about you. There’s all kinds of good places to work without having to serve at this foreign temple. Come back to Magome for a while….”

  “I’m not coming back.” She flung her refusal back at him. “If I come back to Magome, they won’t let me marry a Kuro, so I’m not coming home.”

  “Kiku …” Ichijirō was stunned. “Do you really love him that much?”

  “I do love him …” I do love him. Kiku spoke the words forcefully, proudly.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know myself. But I know I love him.”

  “You won’t give him up, no matter what happens?”

  “I won’t.”

  Ichijirō involuntarily heaved a deep sigh. Since childhood it had been Kiku’s nature to persist obdurately in having things her way once she had made up her mind. If she said she wasn’t going to give Seikichi up, there was no way she ever would. If she announced she wasn’t going back to Magome, she would not be going back.

  “I see.” In reality, Ichijirō felt remorse in the depths of his heart. He had the distasteful memory of spying on the peasants of Nakano at the urging of the magistrate’s officers and the chief priest of the Shōtokuji. That regret now changed his at
titude toward Kiku somewhat. “I see…. If you’re that determined, I’ll pass the word along to your father.”

  “Then …” Kiku looked happy for the first time. “Then you’ll help me?”

  “I’m not saying I’ll help you. But …”

  But seeing the look on Ichijirō’s face, Kiku sensed that ultimately this cousin would become her ally. It was her woman’s intuition.

  Joy surged through her entire body.

  Now I can become Seikichi’s wife … !

  Kiku had no idea how Seikichi’s parents would feel about this. But she was happy. She was truly happy….

  1. Kawazu Sukekuni (d. 1868) served the shogunate in a variety of positions; his title at this time was governor of Izu. In 1863 he sailed as deputy delegate to Europe to participate in talks regarding the opening of the country. He was the last magistrate of Nagasaki, fleeing the city as described here when he received news of the defeat of the shogunal army.

  2. Matsukata Masayoshi (1835–1934) served the Meiji government as finance minister, as founder of the Bank of Japan, and as the sixth prime minister of the modern nation. In 1865 Machida Minbu (1838–1897) traveled to England with a group of fourteen other gifted young men to study for three years. He was the first director of the National Museum in Tokyo and, in later years, took Buddhist vows.

  3. Both men, like Petitjean and Laucaigne, were priests of the Société des Missions-Étrangères de Paris. Jules-Alphone Cousin (1842–1911) served as bishop of Nagasaki from 1891 until his death. Félix-Clair Ridel (1830–1884) did missionary work in Korea in the 1860s when the religion was still banned by the king. In 1866, when another missionary was executed along with around eight thousand Korean converts, Ridel fled to China and notified the French authorities about the massacre. A retaliatory French fleet moved on Seoul but was defeated by Korean forces.

  4. Sawa Nobuyoshi (1836–1873) also served as governor of Nagasaki and was one of the most ardent persecutors of the Kirishitans. He died of an illness at the age of thirty-seven.

  5. Inoue Monta (1836–1915) was initially an antiforeign activist who joined with others to set fire to the British legation in 1863. A close ally of Itō Hirobumi, the first Meiji prime minister, Inoue studied in London and later served the Meiji government as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Home Minister, and Minister of Finance.

  6. The five relationships are subject to ruler, child to father, wife to husband, younger siblings to elder sibling, and friend to friend.

  7. Ōkuma Hachitarō (1838–1922) was one of the most active and influential of the oligarchs who helped establish the Meiji government. Influenced by his reading of the New Testament and the American Declaration of Independence, he pushed for the shogun to cede power to the emperor, was elected to the first representative Diet of the new era, served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and twice served as prime minister (for four months in 1898, and from 1914 to 1916). He also founded the forerunner of Waseda University and served as its president.

  8. Kido Takayoshi (1833–1877) was an imperial loyalist who helped initiate many of the moves toward modernization under the Meiji government. He traveled with the Iwakura Mission (1871–1873) to the United States and Europe and pushed for the creation of a constitutional government. As an adviser to the throne, he oversaw the young Emperor Meiji’s education.

  SEPARATION

  THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS at Nakagawa were in full bloom, as though they were a manifestation of Kiku’s happiness. At night the blossoms were hazily lit by paper lanterns, and crowds of spectators passed beneath them.

  The calls of peddlers as they walked the streets selling cockles and clams were audible throughout the day. The month for the Kite Competition had again come to Nagasaki.

  In the fourth month, the new government in Tokyo, in receipt of a report from Sawa Nobuyoshi, held one of their frequent council meetings in the presence of the emperor and finally set out a policy for dealing with the Urakami Kirishitans.

  With this decision in hand, Kido Takayoshi arrived in Nagasaki as a government representative on the thirtieth of the fourth month to consult with Sawa, who had just been appointed governor of Nagasaki, on the best method to put the policy into practice.

  The decision was a cruel one that dashed the overly optimistic expectations of the Kirishitans. Even though it meant setting aside the objections from foreign diplomats, the government had decided to exile the Urakami peasants who were followers of the outlawed religion. The proposal of the hard-liners in the government, including Prince Arisugawa, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Kuroda Nagatomo,1 had emerged victorious: the Kirishitans were to be punished decisively, first, as part of their plan to create a Shinto-based national polity centered on the emperor and, second, to assert the country’s sovereign rights.

  Before departing from Nagasaki, Kido gave orders to Sawa to select 114 of the Kirishitans who had not apostatized and banish them to the three domains of Hagi, Tsuwano, and Fukuyama.2

  On May 21, without any notice, orders to surrender were transmitted via the village heads to households in Motohara, Nakano, and Ieno.

  “You are ordered to report to the Nishi Bureau tomorrow morning at 6:00 A.M.”

  When the notices arrived, Seikichi and some of the other young men merely laughed it off. “This is ridiculous! Just one more time we have to argue them down, and they won’t be able to do anything to us!” The fact that they had come back unscathed after their second interrogation had bolstered their confidence.

  Before dawn the following morning they set out for Nagasaki, accompanied, as they had been before, by family members. They passed over Nishizaka Hill and arrived at the Nishi Bureau in Nagasaki, but the gate was tightly shut.

  “Wait here!” Barked an official whom they recognized when he came out through the gate.

  “Lord Itō, we were commanded to be here at 6:00 A.M.,” Kumazō responded snidely. Kumazō was the first man who had apostatized during their initial incarceration, but now he was set on treating the officers as fools.

  “I don’t know anything about that. All I know is that the orders from the governor are that you are to wait here.” With that, Itō disappeared.

  Noon came and went. Still they were ignored. Evening came. The gate still did not open. Some of the Kirishitans seated on the ground began to mutter and complain. Just then, Itō Seizaemon reemerged.

  “We have no business with any of you who did not receive a summons. Go back to your homes right away. Leave!”

  But even after the 114 Kirishitans had gone into the government office, their families remained stubbornly in place. Without warning, several policemen armed with bludgeons came rushing out. Amid screams and angry shouts, the family members were driven away like animals. Nothing was the same as it had been the previous time.

  The 114 who passed through the gate of the government office also sensed inside that everything about the atmosphere this time was different from before.

  On the previous occasion, there had really been nothing harsh in the attitudes of the police. But this time they snarled, “Get out there!”

  They were taken to the courtyard and ordered to sit on the gravel. Soon an official appeared, opened up a scroll of paper with both hands, and began to read.

  “Whereas you are believers in a heretical religion and are in violation of Imperial law, there is every reason to punish you severely, but because you are illiterate peasants, out of the good graces of His Majesty you will be held in custody in distant domains.”

  He looked around at the group, then called out, “Sen’emon!”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Sen’emon and twenty-seven others will be held in custody by Lord Kamei, Governor of Oki and holder of a 43,000 koku3 stipend in Iwami Province…. Mojū!”

  Mojū did not respond.

  “Mojū and sixty-five others will be held in custody by the government steward, Lord Mōri, holder of a 370,000 koku stipend in Suō and Nagato Provinces
…. Moichi and nineteen others will be confined under the direction of Lord Abe, Chief Paymaster and holder of 110,000 koku in Bingo Province.”

  The 114 prisoners listened blankly to the official’s voice. What they were being told did not feel the least bit real to them. It felt as though they were having a nightmare.

  “On your feet!” The entire group stood up, but several of them staggered.

  We’re being sent to a far-off province….

  None of these 114 peasants had ever seen a place outside Urakami and Nagasaki. The hills and forests and terraced fields, the only scenery that Nakano and Ieno and Motohara had to offer, were an inseparable part of their daily activities, their very lives, in the same way that a snail cannot be separated from its shell. Their fathers and mothers, even their grandfathers and grandmothers, were born and raised, toiled and died, in these villages. Not one of them ever considered the possibility of leaving Urakami.

  “Move!”

  The group was herded out the gate. Beyond the gate, a column of soldiers carrying guns had appeared from nowhere. The family members who had followed them from Urakami had vanished like vapors.

  “Where … where are we going?” Sen’emon inquired of an officer who walked beside him.

  “You’ll be getting on a ship, so we’re heading straight for Ōhato.” The officer pointed toward the harbor.

  “We’re going to get on the ship right now?”

  “That’s right. Didn’t they just tell you that …?”

  This was the first moment it became real to them that they were being torn away from Urakami for the rest of their lives. The pain in their breasts felt as though they had been stabbed with a knife.

  The ocean at twilight was black, and Mount Inasa rose like a purple dome before them.