ABSTRACT
The decision to send a number of young Japanese boys to Europe was made spontaneously in the autumn of 1581 by Alessandro Valignano, visitator (visitor or inspector) of the Jesuit missions in the East Indies, covering the area from Goa to Japan. Preparations for such an ambitious and dangerous undertaking were made hurriedly not long before the boys themselves left their homeland. Valignano left Japan in 1582 along with the boys. His purpose was to return to Europe to seek approval for his recommendations concerning Japan and the governance of the province of Goa, and also to seek rulings on matters relating to the Japan mission which were unclear in canon law, such as the sanctioning of marriage between Japanese Christian converts and non-Christian Japanese. Among Valignano’s novel proposals for the future governance of the Japan mission, was the stipulation that European Jesuits must accommodate themselves to Japanese manners and customs.
