by Shaun Curry
‘How?’
‘For each escapee, we will kill a woman and a child from their village. They need to understand we will repay any escape by killing their dearest ones.’
‘Please, no, Daimyo!’ Father Joaquim cried out in distress. ‘They have done nothing wrong. Take my life instead.’
‘Silence, or I will cut out your tongue!’
‘A clever idea, Father,’ Katsuie added as he leaned forward. ‘Let them feel the consequences.’
‘These dogs almost cost me my lands. It is only fitting their beloved should die.’
‘I want to be the one to deliver the message to Nagasaki,’ Katsuie announced. ‘Let me be the one to choose the women and children to perish.’
‘I approve your request, son,’ the Daimyo answered, smiling. ‘Speed your way to Nagasaki, and deliver the message. Choose your victims well.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
1 July 1626
Suetsugu’s Warehouse, Port of Nagasaki
‘I don’t think I can take much more,’ Chinatsu confessed to her long-time friend Etsuko as samurai forced the women outside their warehouse prison.
Etsuko took Chinatsu’s hand in hers. ‘Stay strong. Maintain your faith. We can get through this.’
‘But I’m so hungry, and I can’t sleep.’ Tears flowed down Chinatsu’s cheeks. ‘And my head hurts so much.’
Over the previous two days Deputy Suetsugu had chosen several women for exceptionally brutal torture in his effort to get them to recant. To achieve this goal, Suetsugu had set fire to Chinatsu’s hair. Etsuko studied Chinatsu’s blistered, hairless skull.
‘Stay strong,’ Etsuko answered. ‘Remember what Father said: “They cannot do more to us than God permits.”’
‘But why does God permit so much torture? They even scorched my eyeballs. I can barely see.’
‘Remember, our faith will get us through this storm. Our Lord is with—’
Chinatsu cried out in agony as a pole thumped both women on top of their heads. ‘I told you whores to shut up! No speaking.’ The guard rapped them once more.
As several women and most of the children cried, Deputy Suetsugu spoke up from the front of the courtyard, next to the water’s edge: ‘Welcome to another day of hell.’
Etsuko looked around at her fellow villagers. The psychological terrors they were suffering as they drifted in and out of sleep were every bit as horrible as the physical tortures they had endured over the last few days.
‘Yesterday, I set hair on fire,’ the Deputy declared. ‘Who has had enough? Who would like to recant this useless faith?’
None of the women or children spoke.
‘We can keep going until I have mutilated every one of you. I can remove your hands, your feet, your legs, your arms. I can cut off anything I want!’
Still no one spoke.
‘Or I can burn or puncture you. Whom shall we start with today?’ Suetsugu walked back and forth, sending fearful chills through each of the crouching women before him.
‘What about her?’ a senior guard asked as he pointed at Hatsumi, the prettiest woman among the villagers. ‘I think we have ignored her so far because of her good looks.’
‘You like her?’ the Deputy asked with a chilling smile as he recalled forcing himself on her in private. Several other samurai smirked.
‘Perhaps we can enjoy more private time with her,’ another guard smirked.
‘She’s pretty, is she not?’ He paused. ‘Perhaps she is too pretty,’ the deputy leered. ‘Perhaps we should make her less attractive.’
‘But, Lord Deputy, the guards enjoy spending time with her.’
‘Nothing lasts forever. Bring her here.’
Guards dragged a weeping Hatsumi before the deputy.
The deputy withdrew a wooden cross from a bag and threw it on the ground before her. Suetsugu stared at Hatsumi with cold eyes. ‘Step on it.’
‘No, I will not.’
‘Step on it or I will disfigure you,’ the deputy shrieked.
Hatsumi cried but said nothing.
‘Grab her and hold her tight,’ Suetsugu said to his guards. ‘Give me a knife.’ The Deputy-Lieutenant grabbed Hatsumi and in one motion cut off her nose.
She screamed in shock and pain and then fainted, falling to the ground face-first, where she lay motionless as blood pooled beneath her.
Suetsugu wiped blood from his knife and pointed it towards the faces of the other women and children. ‘This is what you get when you embrace this useless faith. Christianity will bring you nothing good. Recant this worthless faith before it brings you death!’ The Deputy then threw Hatsumi’s nose on top of her limp body. ‘From this moment forward, the torture will get worse. I promise, you will all break soon.’
Leaving the warehouse compound, Deputy Suetsugu commanded, ‘Put these bitches back in their cage.’
As the doors slammed shut and several women rushed to aid Hatsumi, Etsuko stepped forward to address the group: ‘Do you remember Father Joaquim’s sermon last month from the book of Matthew?’
‘Which one?’ Ayame asked, holding her two small children close.
‘Father Joaquim said, “Go to Jesus with your troubles.”’
‘I’m sorry, Etsuko. I’m too distraught to remember anything from last month.’
‘Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”’
‘Yes, I remember now.’
‘I have prayed for the Lord to give us rest,’ Etsuko said with a soft voice. ‘I pray for our survival.’
CHAPTER FORTY
2 July 1626
Chikuzen Province, Kyushu
Shigemasa pushed his men and his prisoners without mercy on their return. So long as there was daylight and they could see, the Daimyo pushed forward with no rest for anyone.
Under most circumstances, the fastest route to the capital from the southern part of Kyushu took eleven days. But Shigemasa insisted on getting there faster, no doubt to impress the Shogun.
When they arrived in Kokura in the far north, they met up with the rest of the Christian prisoners and Father Joaquim discovered that all the men in his village were still alive. For that he was grateful. With slouching, emaciated bodies, the men looked exhausted. Pale white in complexion, they coughed non-stop; some spat blood. But despite their poor health, it pleased them that Father Joaquim and the catechists had also survived. As they viewed their friends again, they smiled with upturned faces and gleaming eyes.
Joaquim reminded himself of a passage from the Bible: When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
As Joaquim reflected on its relevance, Miguel sidled up to him. Since Shigemasa had recaptured them, they had been forbidden to speak on pain of being beaten.
‘I’m sorry, Father – for everything.’
‘I know you are, Miguel, but you do not have to be.’
‘We could have escaped, but I ruined everything.’
‘Our village will survive. God has a plan for us. He will find another way.’
‘How? Daimyo Shigemasa caught us.’
‘I don’t know, Miguel.’
‘Soon, we will be in the Shogun’s hands, and then it will be over for us.’
‘These are tumultuous times, and your faith could well save your life.’
‘I will try, Father.’
‘Do not try, Miguel. Remember, faith is or it is not. Set your resolve and be unfailing about it.’
* * *
‘Are the vessels ready?’ Shigemasa asked, impatience clear in his question.
‘We only have one large ship, Lord,’ a retainer answered. ‘We could not locate any more.’
‘Our clan is travelling to the capital to see the Shogun, so fill the vessel with our most senior and experienced samurai and let us leave as soon as possible.’
‘Yes, Lord.’
‘How are our supplies? Do we have enough for the jour
ney?’
‘Yes, Lord. We raided several villages and took their food and water. Shall we load the Christians onto the vessel?’
Shigemasa contemplated the design and construction of a standard coast-hugging junk and considered where to stow the prisoners. Most shipbuilders in the region built junks of soft wood with multiple internal compartments, and bulkheads accessed by separate hatches and ladders. This would slow any flooding that might occur if the vessel was scuttled or damaged below the waterline; each compartment would be watertight.
‘Yes, put them below deck.’
‘At the bottom of the vessel, Lord?’
‘Yes, I don’t want them trying to escape by jumping overboard.’ Nodding as he contemplated his reward, the Daimyo added, ‘We need to keep these dogs alive. They are the Shogun’s property to slaughter now.’
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
2 July 1626
North Coast of Kyushu
Crammed into one of the junk’s dark bulkheads, Father Joaquim and his three friends had no way of knowing the time of day.
Despite the darkness, one thing the prisoners could sense was that they were in rough waters, and despite its solid build, the junk pitched with great force.
In the past, Father Joaquim had travelled over this portion of water, from the north of Kyushu Island towards the capital city, albeit under more pleasant circumstances. The sea stretched 300 miles from Kyushu to Osaka, and comprised five distinct basins linked by channels. The waters of the Seto-Naikai were a beautiful emerald-green colour, their irregular coastline dotted with hundreds of small islands. To the west, the Inland Sea connected to the Sea of Japan. To the east, three straits connected the Inland Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
Despite being below deck, Joaquim recalled the Inland Sea as one of the most beautiful parts of Japan, affording breathtaking views of coastal scenery, small fishing villages, and hundreds of small volcanic and granite islands.
But Father Joaquim suspected it was not the scenery that drew Shigemasa to travel via the Inland Sea, it was speed. It was clear the Daimyo wanted to travel the 300-mile distance as quickly as possible, and it was equally clear Shigemasa had no desire to treat them well while he did it.
‘This is despicable,’ Tonia wailed, as samurai dumped waste into their compartment.
‘I have no space to move. This is hell!’ Miguel lamented. ‘Why did I let my panic take over? I should have followed you through the fire.’
Watanabe said, ‘People make choices, Miguel.’
‘But why did I make such a bad choice?’
‘Choices based on fear are seldom the best choice. Love is the key, Miguel, and then you must trust.’
‘Words are easy,’ Miguel answered, frustrated. ‘It’s easy to talk about trust out of harm’s way. It is another thing to live it and walk into an open fire.’
‘I agree, Miguel,’ Father Joaquim replied as he nodded. ‘It is when the fire is strongest that you need to trust the Lord the most.’
‘I don’t need to be saved. Someone needs to kill those damned samurai!’
‘Revenge has no place in Christianity,’ Joaquim said. Trying to empathize with him, the Jesuit thought, perhaps Miguel would have been better off if he’d stayed in Portugal. He just didn’t seem strong enough for the mission in Japan.
* * *
Katsuie Shigemasa approached the edge of Nagasaki. Through the dark, he pushed his horse to its limits, desperate to deliver his father’s instructions to Deputy-Lieutenant Suetsugu as soon as possible. With feverish impatience, he forced his horse forward in the dark with fast jerky movements. With cloudy skies and no moonlight, young Katsuie could not locate the correct path up the mountain. Impetuously he decided not to wait until daylight, but to make his own path, knowing Nagasaki lay just on the opposite side.
Those damned Christians! We should just kill them all! Why stop at a few women and children? Katsuie thought. His horse resisted his forward commands, making the young man irritable and causing him additional frustration. He urged him on with kicks.
Again, Katsuie’s horse refused to climb the steep track. ‘Get up there, you stupid beast!’ Katsuie yelled. ‘Get up there!’
The horse attempted to turn around.
With all his strength, Katsuie lashed the horse with his whip as he kicked its side, forcing it up over the steep ground. As the horse and its rider reached the summit the animal lost its balance, and, along with Katsuie, fell onto the jagged rocks at the base of the path. The horse died at once. Katsuie, meanwhile, landed on top of the animal, bounced off, then smashed his head against more rocks. He lay unconscious and hidden on the dark side of the mountain.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
7 July 1626
Osaka, Settsu Province, Honshu
‘Come on, get up and move, worthless beasts!’
Father Joaquim forced his stiff muscles to move and reached over to give Master Watanabe a helping hand, imagining the difficulty older villagers might experience as they, too, sought to move their aching bodies.
‘Don’t make us wait! Get up and move, dogs!’
The prisoners made their way to the top deck, squinting at the harshness of the bright morning sunlight for the first time in five days. Father Joaquim’s eyes began to adjust and he tried to verify that all the men of the village were still present and accounted for.
‘March them to the main town square and wait for me there,’ the Daimyo commanded. ‘From the town square, we will prepare them for their death march.’
Dozens of samurai tied the Christians with ropes and shackles as Shigemasa strode with a triumphant gait into the heart of the city, followed by his highest-ranking retainers. The march through the streets of Osaka towards the main town square began, punctuated by whippings and beatings.
The sight of the Christian procession shocked Osaka’s residents. Christianity had been outlawed in Japan more than a decade earlier and most of the city’s children had never seen a foreigner before, their surprise evident by their open mouths and bulging eyes. Some toddlers ran to their mothers out of fear. In every direction, residents gasped at the march and stared in astonishment. Others shuffled back a step or two as the procession approached, not wanting to get caught up in what was happening. But Father Joaquim thought he saw empathy on the faces of many.
Among the crowd were dozens of what the priest thought were fellow Christians who seemed to bow to them discreetly, or gaze at them with sympathy. But most of the residents, either out of fear for their own safety or feigned disguise, threw waste at the Christians as they shuffled past.
When they arrived in the main town square, samurai herded them into a small circle and instructed them to await the Daimyo, who was visiting Osaka’s city hall.
Shigemasa, with his senior retainers and samurai carrying buckets of red paint, soon arrived, accompanied by high-ranking Osaka officials.
‘Stand them up!’ Shigemasa bellowed.
Osaka’s governor entered the square, surrounded by high-ranking Bakufu officials.
‘These Christians are criminals of the Empire,’ Shigemasa shouted to the growing crowd. ‘I will escort them to Edo, but first we will paint them red so all Osaka and all Japan will see them as criminals of the Empire.’
Dozens of samurai grabbed large paint brushes and slopped red paint onto the Christians, splashing it into their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths.
‘I paint them red so all can see that death and torture await them in the capital!’ the Daimyo roared.
‘Let this be a warning to any Christians among you,’ Osaka’s governor added as he stepped forward. ‘Recant your wretched faith before it is too late! Daimyo Matsukura Shigemasa will march these Christians to Edo, where the Shogun will torture and kill them. Who among you would like to join them?’ The Governor gazed at the gathered residents. ‘Who among you would like to own the belongings of any Christians in your midst? If you alert us to Christians, you may have their homes and their belongings. The Shogun will also pa
y in silver to those who inform us of hidden Christians. Who wants to become rich?’
Despite the mounting fear, no one spoke. Frustrated, the Governor approached a poor resident. ‘You! Would you like to become wealthy?’
‘Yes, Governor, I would,’ the old man replied, ‘but I do not know of any Christians in Osaka. It has been many years since I have heard of any.’
‘What about you?’ the Governor pointed to a woman standing nearby.
‘Christians disappeared long ago, Governor. If there are any left, they live in secret.’
Father Joaquim watched as the Governor walked back to face the Daimyo. The Governor said a few words to Shigemasa, bowed, and then walked away.
‘Let the death march to Edo begin!’ Shigemasa yelled. He signalled to his samurai. ‘Let this be the last day Osaka sees these mutts alive!’
The samurai grabbed the Christians by their ropes and dragged them down the street, causing some to fall in the process.
‘Get up!’ Shigemasa shouted. ‘You cannot stall your fate. You will all experience the most painful crucifixion known to man, and nothing can stop it.’
‘What will they do to us in Edo, Father?’ Miguel’s hands shook and his shoulders tightened.
‘I don’t know, Miguel. But the Lord walks with us.’
‘How can God allow this to happen?’ Tonia asked, as tears ran down her cheeks.
‘You must have faith during life’s storms, Tonia. That is how you know it is real.’
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
13 July 1626
Edo, Musashi Province
Shigemasa enjoyed showcasing his importance as he led his procession of samurai and prisoners along the Tokaido Road and past a myriad of other travellers. From well-connected government officials to the poorest peasants, they lined the busy gateway to the grand capital city.
Shigemasa puffed out his chest and raised his head high, marching with a macho strut, proud to be an important daimyo from the south. As his swagger continued, more and more people along the road took notice of him. Let them admire and revere me, he thought, as though he were the Emperor.