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The Japanese forgot that Christians were human, when they persecuted Japanese Christians in the end of the 1500's and in the 1600's. In 1587, Hideyoshi, a powerful general of Japan, ordered all Christian missionaries to leave Japan. In 1597 Hideyoshi crucified 26 missionaries and converts. Ieyasu succeeded Hideyoshi in ruling Japan. At first he tolerated the Christians, but in 1614 he banned Christianity because he thought that Christians were a threat to his goal of establishing total control over Japanese society. At this time, there were approximately 300,000 Christians living in Japan. Ieyasu's son, Iemitsu, succeeded his father and claimed the title of Shogun. Iemitsu continued Christian persecution. From 1614-1640,
5000-6000 Christians were executed. From 1637-1638, a peasant uprising against their local lord erupted in the Shimabara Peninsula and the Amakusa Islands. Since the leadership of the rebellion was Christian, Iemitsu's distrust of Christians was reinforced. In 1639 he established an isolation policy that was created to isolate Japan from the rest of the world.
This attack against Christians shows that "Man can forget that he is human." Christians are human just like the rest of us.
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