Anjirō
Anjirō (アンジロー; died 1552), also known as Yajirō (ヤジロウ),[1][2] was the first recorded Japanese Christian, having been converted by the Jesuit missionary and Spanish Templar Francis Xavier in the late 1540s. Originally a samurai from Satsuma Domain, Anjirō murdered a man and was forced to flee. On reaching the city of Kagoshima, he went to the docks and admitted his crime to Alvaro Vas, the Portuguese captain of a merchant ship. Alvaro helped him get a job on another ship, but Anjirō accidentally reported to Captain Jorge Álvares, a friend of Xavier's who took Anjirō to Malacca in the belief that the missionary was better suited to hear the confession.[1]
Anjirō eventually met Xavier, and knowing how to speak Portuguese, he talked with Xavier about his home country and how the Jesuits would be able to convert more people there than he would manage to in Malacca. Anjirō later accompanied Xavier to the seminary in Goa,[2] where he was baptized, furthered his language training, and received catechesis. On 14 April 1549, Anjirō joined Xavier as his interpreter in his travels to Japan. They returned to Kagoshima and promptly began a mission there, though it was short-lived. Within a year of its founding, Xavier left Japan following an unsuccessful attempt to convert Emperor Go-Nara but was blown off course and died on Shangchuan Island just outside China. Without Xavier's leadership, Anjirō was the mission's head but its population plummeted two years later. Driven out by religious persecution, he became a wakō pirate and died in a raid in China.[1]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
