ABSTRACT
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, and especially during the seventeenth century, information regarding Japanese customs and traditions started flowing into Europe and Italy in particular, especially Rome. The principal source documenting European perceptions of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Japanese culture and events are the missionaries' annual accounts to the Fathers-General of their order — though a considerable part of these accounts is taken up by tales of martyrdom. The Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is open to scholars, and is a treasury of invaluable materials, with archival documents of what was formerly the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. It also holds the Archives of the Sacred Congregation of the Index, whose offices it took over in 1917, and other minor collections, such as the documents from the Inquisition of Siena.
