Chapter Four - Flight

The Letter That Reached Frois

May of Tensho 7. Luis Frois was in Bungo. This missionary, who would leave his name to posterity through his vast records of Japan, had several years earlier transferred his missionary role in Kyoto to Organtino and was now focusing his efforts on activities in Bungo. A messenger arrived for Frois with urgent orders to return to Nagasaki.

According to the messenger from Nagasaki, a new Jesuit member was arriving from Macao, and Frois was instructed to meet with him without fail and receive a letter. Puzzled by the sudden request, Frois returned to Nagasaki.

The man arrived in Nagasaki on June 19th. The small man who arrived aboard the regular merchant vessel between Macao and Nagasaki offered only perfunctory greetings before presenting Frois with a letter.

"Father Frois. I am Thomas Costa, newly assigned to Nagasaki. I have brought a letter from the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Macao. Please examine its contents promptly."

Despite this being their first meeting, the man displayed a remarkably businesslike and arrogant attitude. His eyes had almost no visible whites, appearing round and black like bottomless caverns carved into a cliff face. The man seemed to be observing Frois intently from the dark depths of those cavernous eyes. However, Frois stiffened more at the words "Holy Office of the Inquisition" than at Costa's attitude and strangeness.

This was essentially an outpost of the Inquisition. No Inquisition office had yet been established in Macao. However, as Portuguese territory spread across the world, the network of the Inquisition was also expanding globally. The Holy Office of the Inquisition served as an antenna for heresy detection, extended to the frontiers of the expanding Portuguese sphere of influence.

No one in the Jesuit order expected good news from letters originating there. Those who ventured to undeveloped lands and risked their lives in missionary work. Those who monitored, captured, and dragged apostates before judgment. Though both served the same God, their directions were incompatible. Yet they were opponents who must never be directly confronted. The sender of this letter represented exactly such people to Frois.

Frois endeavored to maintain composure as he received the letter and read it while standing. The sender was Felipe Gomes, the head of that Holy Office of the Inquisition dispatched from the Goa Inquisition.

Macao, May 1577

To the Reverend Jesuit Father Luis Frois

May God's grace and peace always be abundantly upon you.

In the name of the Lord, I greet the Jesuit priest Luis Frois. I currently serve as representative of the Holy Office of the Inquisition here in Macao by appointment of the Goa Inquisition.

Now, there are reports that a woman calling herself Raquel, originally from Viseu, Portugal, has fled Malacca with a small group of followers and may currently be hiding in Japan, having passed through Macao.

Though this woman is a baptized New Christian, there is reliable evidence that she continues to secretly adhere to Jewish faith, making her a person of great suspicion of heresy. We are deeply concerned that such a person continuing to hide in heathen lands will greatly hinder your holy work of guiding the Japanese people, who are misled by false religions and immersed in idolatry, toward the Gospel of Jesus.

Should you obtain any information regarding Raquel's whereabouts or activities in your Japanese missionary work, we request that you immediately report to the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Macao. We pray from our hearts that through your efforts the order of holy faith will be preserved, and that woman, as well as the lost souls of the Japanese people, will be guided to the Lord's salvation.

In closing, we pray that the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be abundantly upon you.

Bishop of Macao and Head of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, Felipe Gomes

After finishing the letter, Luis Frois frowned and his face clearly darkened. Costa, who had been carefully observing this from the depths of his cavernous eyes, looked directly at Frois and inquired.

"Father Frois. What do you think? The whereabouts of this woman called Raquel. Have you heard anything?"

Frois immediately shook his head in denial.

"I have not heard anything. If such a woman were already in Japan, she would stand out considerably. The lands where foreigners can currently operate in Japan are limited. There are missionaries in those places. If there were information about such a woman, it should already be known to us. Are you certain this woman entered Japan? There is also the possibility she fled to Taiwan or Mexico. Her destination is not necessarily limited to Japan."

"Indeed. Father Gomes has considered such possibilities and sent similar letters to various regions. Father Frois, please first disseminate this information promptly to the Jesuits in Japan."

You are also a Jesuit, are you not? And did you not come to Japan for missionary work? Frois murmured this in his heart but did not voice it. His instincts whispered that he should exercise maximum caution with this man. Next month, High Priest Valignano would also arrive in Japan. The relationship with the Inquisition required the utmost care. Frois reminded himself of this. He would pray that this converso named Raquel had fled to some other country.

"Father Costa. I understand. I will immediately disseminate this information to the Jesuits in Nagasaki. Then I will send notification as quickly as possible to colleagues engaged in missionary work in various locations, including Kyoto. Once I have arranged everything, I will return to Bungo and continue my missionary work."

Lorenzo Ryosai

Around the time Frois met with Costa in Nagasaki and received the letter ordering the search for Raquel, Lorenzo Ryosai was in Kyoto. Lorenzo Ryosai also played an important role in Christian missionary work during the Warring States period. Luis Frois and Lorenzo Ryosai were bound by deep trust. When Frois was assigned to Japan, Ryosai was already playing an important role in Christian missionary work in Japan. Ryosai had been almost completely blind since birth. However, this man had been blessed by heaven with exceptional intelligence and hearing to compensate for his lack of sight.

From childhood, Ryosai could memorize everything he heard once. He stored countless stories, narrative songs, and comic tales from ancient and modern times, East and West, in his mind, and could draw them out at will according to people's requests. Ryosai used this talent to live as a biwa monk during his youth. People listened to the Tale of the Heike he narrated accompanied by the sound of the biwa. They were stirred by the Battle of Dan-no-ura they had never seen and learned life's transience from its rise and fall.

Ryosai was also special in that he had received direct instruction from Francisco Xavier, the founder of Christian missionary work in Japan. By the time Frois was devoting his efforts to Japanese missionary work, over thirty years had passed since Xavier's martyrdom in China. For the Jesuit priests assigned to Japan, Ryosai, who had received baptism directly from Xavier, possessed a divine quality that others lacked.

This was especially true for Frois. Frois's aspiration for missionary work in Japan was triggered by meeting the living Xavier in Goa, India, and hearing about Japan from him. Frois devoted his life to missionary work in Japan, following in the footsteps of the deceased Xavier. For him, the existence of Ryosai, who had lived in the same era as Xavier, could be said to be special.

And it was also Ryosai who taught Japanese to Frois. In learning Japanese, Frois was Ryosai's most excellent student. His outstanding linguistic ability achieved remarkable results in mastering Japanese, which had caused no small number of other missionaries to fail. Using the Japanese he had mastered, Frois recorded vast chronicles based on his experiences. These remain as rare historical documents to this day, conveying the Japan of the Warring States period as seen by a foreigner.

The letter requesting the search for Raquel from Frois reached Ryosai and Organtino at the Nanban-ji temple in Kyoto in July of Tensho 7. However, the letter was left lying on the desk in the administrative office of the Nanban-ji temple for some time and was not immediately opened. Ryosai and Organtino had more pressing matters.

At this time, a situation was developing in the shadows that could bring Jesuit missionary work in Japan to a halt and influence subsequent history. The life of the man who was the greatest protector of Christian missionary work in Japan was suddenly losing its brilliance. Who was this man? It was Oda Nobunaga himself, who had proclaimed "Tenka Fubu" (Rule the Empire by Force) and aimed to unify Japan.

Several years earlier, Nobunaga had defeated his long-standing enemy, the Takeda of Kai, at the Battle of Nagakute, making his name resound throughout the land. Nobunaga had permitted the Jesuits to establish the Nanban-ji temple and provided full protection for their missionary activities. Nobunaga's fate was directly connected to the future of the Japanese Jesuits. If Nobunaga fell, the path for missionary work in Japan could be closed. Moreover, Buddhist monks who harbored years of resentment against the Jesuits might incite military commanders to attack the Nanban-ji temple. Organtino in particular was in severe confusion.