"Fujisawa" (藤沢) means "Wisteria Creek."  It is located about 450 km north of Tokyo, in the southern edge of Iwate Prefecture: about 40 minutes away by car from the center of Ichinoseki City, Iwate.  Fujisawa-cho (Fujisawa Town) is a small rural district covering 122.82 square kilometers with the population of 11,000 (2004), which declined from at most 16,000 gradually over the last forty years.  The decline has been due to a falling birthrate, improved agricultural efficiency and a need for a young people to move to big cities for higher education and job opportunities.  To stop this tendency, a promotive committee tried to attracted factories to the area and provided improved community facilities now.  Fujisawa is mountainous with tree-covered hills and valleys.  About 21.7% of the town is farmland and 63.4% is forest.  Agriculture is the main industry, famous for apples and some vegetables while the town has become famous for traditional pottery.  In August Fujisawa-cho annually holds "Noyake Matsuri" (野焼き祭り; Outdoor Pottery Festival).  Many foreigners and famous potters come to the festival.
  
  Fujisawa has a long history since 3,000 years ago.  In particular, many relics of the Jomon Period have been found at Juumonji and Ainosawa.  The Ezo [蝦夷; or Emishi] people originally inhabited the ancient Tohoku District.  However, this area was conquered by Tamuramaro Sakanoue in 802 when Aterui the great hero of the Emishi and his chief staff More surrendered and were beheaded in Kawachi-no-kuni (河内の国; now southern Osaka).  Since then this area along the Kitakami River (北上川) was controlled by the central government based in Kyoto.  Later, this region was dominated by the Oshu-Fujiwara family (奥州藤原氏; 1085-1189), the Kasai clan (葛西氏, 1189-1590) and the Date clan (伊達氏, 1590?-1868).
  
  Many dramatic and historic stories have been handed down from generation to generation including the Battle of Kinomi (黄海の戦い, 1057) at the time of the Earlier Nine Wars (前九年の役, 1051-1062) in the northwest part of the town.  The Okago (大籠) area is well-known for its iron making and for the martyrdom of "Kirishitans" (Christians) during the seventeenth century (until 1560).  The importance of water transportation on the Kitakami River declined with the development of the railways in the 1890s and the railways did not service this area, which has badly affected the development of the area in the early twentieth century.  In 1950, four small communities amalgamated to for the single municipal government that is now Fujisawa-cho (Fujisawa Town).  For the time being Fujisawa-cho keeps its position as the single municipal government as well as Hiraizumi Town (平泉町) while other towns and villages both in County Higashi-Iwai (東磐井郡) and County Nishi-Iwai (西磐井郡) united to form the new Ichinoseki City (一関市) in September 2005.

IMAGE	IMAGE NO.	DATA
Okago		The Okago (大籠) area, located in the southeast part of the town adjoining Tome City (登米市) in Miyagi (宮城), is well-known for its iron making and for the martyrdom of "Kirishitans" (Christians) during the seventeenth century (until 1560).  Christianity was taught in Japan since 1549 when the famous Jesuit Francisco de Xavier (1506-1552) came to Kagoshima.  The introduction of Christianity into the region is said to be attributed to the Senmatsu brothers (千松兄弟), Daihachiro (大八郎) and Kohachiro (小八郎), who were invited by the Kasai clan (葛西氏) to Okago as refined ironworkers from Bitchu (備中; now Okayama) in the 1st year of Eiroku (永禄元年, 1558).  They learned the iron-making in Yamaguchi or Suo (周防) where many Catholic missionaries proselytize Japanese people while some of them also taught the Western technology including iron-making.  The brothers were probably baptized there.  They came to Okago to instruct the local people how to refine iron.  The brothers settled in Okago and gradually propagandized the local people, although it is quite doubtful that they could properly do missionary work from the beginning.  However, they were qualified as the leaders of the Tohoku Christians in the Tensho era (天正年間; 1573-1591).   After the decline of the Kasai clan, Masamune Date (伊達 政宗, 1567-1636) protected Ogago's iron-making industry and the local Christians until 1612 when the Tokugawa Shogunate strictly began to ban Christianity.  Still, Masamune tried to shelter the Christians from punishment until around 1620, mainly because the Date clan tried to protect the Christian ironworkers and his Christian retainers including Juan Goto (後藤 寿庵) and Tsunenaga Hasekura (支倉 常長), etc.  According to some local historical record, the missionaries propagandized about 30,000 only in the Date dominions (the majority of them in the northern part of Miyagi [now Fujisawa-cho and Tome City]).   As the Shogunate discipline was strained, however, more than 300 Christians were executed in Okago alone.  In Okago, the normal burial of the Christian martyrs was prohibited by the authorities; their corpses were exposed outside as they were executed for a long time.  Many surviving Christians, however, continued to pray for Jesus and Maria in secret, simulating Buddhists.  The last three Okago Christians were recorded in 1836: No Christians were officially recorded since then until the Meiji Restoration in 1868 when many Western consuls, with one voice, criticized the former Shogunate's anti-Christian policy.   The Okago Christian remains are scattered along the route 295 from the town center.
	fjs2005-001	(Saturday 7 May) Entrance Signpost of Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park (大籠キリシタン殉教公園), 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-005	(Saturday 7 May) Statue of Madonna and Child (by Mizuho Tsuchiya) in front of Okago Christian Museum, Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-006	(Saturday 7 May) Statue of Madonna and Child (by Mizuho Tsuchiya) in front of Okago Christian Museum, Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-007	(Saturday 7 May) Replica of "Dai-temba" stone (台転場) which reads "Namu Amida-butsu"(南無阿弥陀仏; O Buddha!  May his soul rest in peace!) originally located in Aomatsu, Okago where the authorities used to check if passers-by were Christians or not.  Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-008	(Saturday 7 May) Information board of the above replica of "Dai-temba" stone which reads "Namu Amida-butsu," Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-009	(Saturday 7 May) Replica of "Hashiba Kubi-zuka" (ハシ場首塚; mound for the gibbeted heads) originally located 100 m west of "the Execution-ground at Tokizo" (トキゾー沢刑場); after the execution the head was buried there with the guilt paper of believing Christianity.  Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-011	(Saturday 7 May) The monumental bell at the top of the hill, Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-012	(Saturday 7 May) Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Kurusu Museum at the top of the hill of Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago.  The three bronze statues in this museum were crafted by Yasutake Funakoshi (船越保武), a well-known Iwate-native artist who also designed this building.
	fjs2005-014	(Saturday 7 May) Message from His Holiness, Pope John Paul II which says:      His Holiness John Paul II paternally imparts His Apostolic Blessing to Sato Mamoru [town headman] and the visitors honoring the Martyrs on the occasion of the dedication of the Okago Kirishitan [Christian] Memorial Park as a pledge of continued divine protection.   Er Hedibus Vaticani, 18-IX 1995          In front of Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Kurusu Museum, at the top of the hill of Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-015	(Saturday 7 May) Okago viewed from Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Kurusu Museum at the top of the hill of Okago Christian Martyrdom Memorial Park, 28-7 Unazawa, Okago
	fjs2005-016	(Saturday 7 May) Landscape of "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (大柄沢洞窟; The Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago.  This legendary Crypto-Christian cave was discovered by a mowing worker in 1973, which created a big sensation among the Japanese people via mass media.  It is located precisely in the mountainside of Towa-cho (東和町) of Tome City (登米市), Miyagi while the owner lives in Fujisawa-cho, Iwate.  It is located in the far backward of Okago Catholic Church.  It takes one hour by walk from the church: go down the slope along the guard rail near the "Ueno-keijo" (上野刑場) site, cross the bridge over the stream on the prefecture border and continue to walk to the information board.   Light and a glove is highly recommended to bring with you!
	fjs2005-017	(Saturday 7 May) Information Board of "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago.  It says that in this area including Okago, Okamigawara (狼河原) and Magomi (馬込) Christian missionaries propagandized the local people who mainly worked in iron-making and plough-making since 1570s: After 1620 when the first Christian suppression occurred in Sendai, the Christians in this area gradually warned each other of the danger.  This cave was created in around 1621 when Rev. Francisco Barajar (Jap. name: Magouemon) came to Okago and engaged in missionary work in the Date dominions for over twenty years hiding himself moving from one believer's house to another: He was finally captured in Sendai in 1639 and died a martyr to his faith in Edo [Tokyo].  Since then it was said that most Christians moved to another place and that this cave did not seem to be used.
	fjs2005-018	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago.  The length of the cave is over 10 meters.  Nothing inside can be seen without light.
	fjs2005-019	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago
	fjs2005-020	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago
	fjs2005-021	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago.  The plain alter was made by excavating the rock.  The crypto-Christians in the early seventeenth century would have prayed for Christ and the Holy Mother secretly: The recent research proves that this secret Christian cave was functioned as a substitute of the church until 1639.
	fjs2005-022	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago
	fjs2005-025	(Saturday 7 May) "Okarasawa-dokutsu" (the Crypto-Christian Cave at Okarasawa), Okago
	fjs2005-027	(Saturday 7 May) "Matsuribatake Keijo" (祭畑刑場; the Execution-ground at Matsuribatake) site, near Okago Catholic Church.  This is the horrible execution for the Christians who tried to escape from the officers: Most of them were recaptured and shot dead.
	fjs2005-028	(Saturday 7 May) "Matsuribatake Keijo" (the Execution-ground at Matsuribatake) site, near Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-029	(Saturday 7 May) "Ueno Keijo" (the Execution-ground at Ueno) site, near Okago Catholic Church: It is widely called "Oshanagi-sama" (God of Young Tree).  In 1640 when 94 Christians were persecuted, people erected stone statues of "Jizo-botoke" (Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva).  It has been considered to be a sacred place since then: Later people also erected the statue of "Bishamon-ten" (the Buddhist God of Treasure, and Protector of the North Quarter of the Buddhist Heaven and Spirit of the Sun; Skt. Vaisravans) in 1798 and the statue of "Oshanagi-yama-gongen" (or "Hoso-shin") in 1831.
	fjs2005-031	(Saturday 7 May) "Ueno Keijo" (上野刑場; the Execution-ground at Ueno) site, near Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-033	(Saturday 7 May) Okago Catholic Church (カトリック大籠教会), founded in 1932 by "Okago Kirishitan Shiseki Hozon-kai" (大籠キリシタン保存会; the Society for the Preservation of Okago Christian Remains) with financial aid from Swiss Catholics.  There are few Christians in this area now, so a priest from a close church comes twice a month to have a mass for the martyrs.
	fjs2005-035	(Saturday 7 May) Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-036	(Saturday 7 May) Statue of the Holy Mother, Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-037	(Saturday 7 May) Inscription Stones of Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-039	(Saturday 7 May) General Information Board about the Okago Christians and the church, Okago Catholic Church
	fjs2005-040	(Saturday 7 May) "Jizo-no-Tsuji" (地蔵の辻; Crossing of Jizo [Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva]), Okago.  Also called "Mujo-no-Tsuji" (無情の辻; the Merciless Crossing).  It is located in the crossing of the Hidarisawa River and the Irisawa River, where 84 Christians died martyrs to their faith in 1639 and 94 in 1640.
	fjs2005-041	(Saturday 7 May) "Jizo noTsuji" (Crossing of Jizo [Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva]), Okago
	fjs2005-042	(Saturday 7 May) "Kubi-Jikken-ishi" (首実検石; Stone for Observing the Criminals' Heads), Okago.  It was said that the watch officer of the Date clan used to sit on this stone to observe Christians' execution.  It was also said that the Futamata River was dyed with blood of the martyrs.  This stone was originally in the bank of the Irisawa River and moved to this place across the road.

  For further information of the Juan Goto and Crypto-Christians,
   1. go to the Juan Goto and Crypto-Christians page.
   2. go to the Mizusawa page.
   3. go to the Ichinoseki page.
   4. go to the Tome page.
   5. go to the Azuchi page.

        

Copyright (c) 2005 Eishiro Ito.  All rights reserved.