ABSTRACT
“Kirishitan”, as early Christianity in Japan is popularly called, has been one of the recent crazes in this country. Antiques associated with Kirishitan are changing hands at exorbitant prices; artists have found themes in scenes and subjects concerned with Kirishitan; literary men have based their productions on legends and historic facts connected with Kirishitan; historians have been eager in rebuilding the history of Kirishitan activities out of those scanty documents and relics that escaped the thorough-going destruction carried out by the Tokugawa Government, when Kirishitan was considered by it a menace to the national existence of this island country.
