In the Edo period, while faith was banned by the shogunate, a Japanese research team first examined a letter secretly sent to the Roman Pope by a Christian believer, and as a result, some letters were advanced to the finest Japanese paper. It was confirmed that the letters were stored with various techniques and that the signatures, such as samurai and merchants, which are considered to be influential people in the area centered on Kyoto, were written.
Experts say it is a valuable source of evidence that the believers continued their faith despite the severe crackdown of the Shogunate.
The survey was conducted on-site for the first time in January last year with permission from a team of Japanese Christian history researchers and others to investigate materials about Japan stored in the Vatican, where the Roman Curia is located. ..
Among them, while Christianity was banned by the Edo Shogunate, believers who had been hiding and continuing their faith in various parts of Japan sent a thank-you note in the 1620s as a thank-you message from the Pope at that time. I examined five letters called "Pope" using a microscope.
As a result, in one of these papers, the finest Japanese paper called "Gankinshi" is used, and the entire paper is painted with a paint called "gold paint" in which gold powder is melted, and the ink characters are fixed. It turns out that the technology is being used.
Furthermore, when the signature written in this letter was examined in detail, it was confirmed that he was a person who is considered to be an influential person in the area centered on Kyoto, such as samurai and merchants.
Professor Shinzo Kawamura of Sophia University, who conducted the survey, said, "It is a valuable document showing that some of the influential people in the area centered on Kyoto had a strong belief in Christianity despite being oppressed. ".
In the future, the research team hopes to continue on-site research and research by raising funds through crowdfunding.