Xavier - Xavier, Francisco de

Japanese: ザビエル - Ｘａｖｉｅｒ，Ｆｒａｎｃｉｓｃｏｄｅ

Year of death: 1552.12.3 (1552.12.3)
Born: April 7, 1506
He is revered as an apostle of the East and a saint who protects Christianity throughout the world, and he introduced Christianity to Japan. He was a Basque from the Kingdom of Navarre in the southwestern Pyrenees (annexed by Spain in 1515). At the age of 19, he studied at the College of Saint Barbara of Paris. In August 1534, he took vows of poverty, chastity, and pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Ignatius of Loyola and others at the cathedral in Montmartre, marking a step towards the founding of the Society of Jesus. In 1540, he was dispatched to Lisbon at the request of King John III of Portugal, and the following year he left the city as a "Nuncio to the Holy Father," arriving in Goa in May 1542. He placed emphasis on converting Indians to Christianity, and for this he respected Indian culture and customs and worked to adapt to India, compiling prayer books and catechesis in Malabar and Tamil, placing emphasis on early childhood education and establishing schools in various places, contributing to the cultural improvement of the local people. He was at odds with the colonial government, and exposed the corruption of officials such as the governor-general, and criticized the king's lack of enthusiasm in missionary activities. Gradually, his interest shifted to the East, and he arrived in Malacca in 1545, and the following year, he began evangelizing in the Maluku Islands. In December 1547, in Malacca, he met Anjiro, a native of Satsuma (Kagoshima Prefecture), and, with the hope of evangelizing in Japan, he asked the Portuguese captain Alvares to write a "Report on Japan" and worked to gather information. He invited Anjiro to Goa to study at Seishin Gakuin, where he compiled a doctrinal manual in Japanese. In April 1549, he set sail from Goa and landed in Kagoshima on August 15 of the same year (July 22, 1549) and sent a long letter to India on October 16 of the same year (November 5, 1549), known as the Grand Letter, reporting the information he had seen, heard, and collected during his two and a half month stay. It was translated into various languages as the first report that systematically introduced Japan to Europe, and after many editions, it became a valuable resource for Japanese studies. In Kagoshima, he met with Shimazu Takahisa and associated with Ninshitsu, the head priest of Fukushoji Temple, and gained about 100 followers there. He passed through Hirado and Yamaguchi and entered Kyoto in December 1550, but seeing that the city of Kyoto had fallen into ruin and the status of the Emperor had been tarnished, he gave up his intended purpose of obtaining permission to preach from the Emperor and debating with Buddhist monks at Buddhist temples, and left Kyoto after 11 days and returned to Yamaguchi, where he formally met with Ouchi Yoshitaka and obtained permission to preach, thus establishing the foundation for his missionary activities. In August of the following year, he was invited by Otomo Sorin to go to Bungo Funai (Oita City), where he gave his successor Torres the missionary policy and returned to Goa on a Portuguese ship. In order to spread Christianity in Japan, he could not ignore China, and in the following year, 1552, he arrived at Kamikawa Island near Guangdong, but he fell ill with a fever and died. He was canonized in 1622 (Genwa 8). There are 137 extant letters, and through them he instructed his colleagues in various regions. He required missionaries coming to Japan to study at the highest level and acquire scientific knowledge in preparation for debates with Buddhist monks. Frois, who met Xavier on his return from Japan, later described him as a perfect man. It is said that no other person in modern history has had as many biographies written about him as Xavier. A portrait of Xavier, discovered in 1920 at Senjiji Temple in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, is currently in the possession of the Kobe City Museum. <References> G.Schurhammer, J.Wicki, EPISTOLAE S.FRANCISCI XAVERII, vol.2; translated by Kono Juntoku, The Complete Letters of St. Francis Xavier

(Takashi Gonoi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1552.12.3(1552.12.3)
生年：1506.4.7
東洋の使徒・世界布教保護の聖人と仰がれ,日本にキリスト教を伝える。ピレネー山脈西南部ナバラ王国(1515年スペインに併合)出身のバスク人。19歳のとき,パリ大学の聖バルバラ学院に学ぶ。1534年8月モンマルトルの聖堂でイグナティウス・デ・ロヨラらと清貧・貞潔・聖地巡礼などの誓願を立てイエズス会創設の一歩を記す。1540年ポルトガル国王ジョアン3世の要請でリスボンに派遣され,翌年「教皇聖下の使節」の資格で同地を発ち,1542年5月ゴアに到着。インド人改宗に重点をおき,このためインドの文化・習慣を尊重してインドへの適応化に努め,マラバール語やタミール語の祈祷書と教理書を編集し,幼児教育を重視して各地に学校を作って現地人の文化向上に寄与した。植民地政府と相いれず,総督など役人の不正を糺弾し国王の宣教活動に対する不熱心を批判した。その関心は次第に東方に移って,1545年マラッカに至り翌年モルッカ諸島に布教。1547年12月マラッカで薩摩(鹿児島県)出身のアンジローに会い日本開教の希望を抱いてポルトガル人船長アルヴァレスに「日本報告」作成を依頼し情報収集に努める。アンジローをゴアに招いて聖信学院に学ばせ日本語の教理書を編集。1549年4月ゴアを出帆し同8月15日(天文18年7月22日)鹿児島に上陸。同10月16日(同11月5日)にインドに送った長文の手紙は大書翰といわれ,滞在2カ月半の間に見聞収集した情報を報じた。ヨーロッパに日本を体系的に紹介した最初の報告として各国語に翻訳され,版を重ねて日本研究の貴重な素材となった。鹿児島では島津貴久に謁し福昌寺住職忍室と交わり同地で100人ほどの信者を得た。平戸,山口を経て天文19(1550)年12月入洛したが,京都市中が荒廃し天皇の地位が失墜しているのをみて,所期の目的である天皇から布教許可を得て仏教寺院の学僧と宗論することを断念し11日間で離京して山口に戻り,大内義隆に正式に謁して布教許可を得,布教活動の基礎を作った。翌年8月大友宗麟の招きで豊後府内(大分市)に赴き,後継者トルレスに布教方針を授けてポルトガル船でゴアに帰還した。日本布教のためには中国を無視できず翌1552年広東付近の上川島に至ったが熱病にかかり病死した。1622(元和8)年聖人に挙げられる。現存する書翰は137通,書翰を通じて各地の同僚を指導した。日本に来る宣教師には仏僧との論争に備えて最高の学問を修め科学知識を身につけることを要求した。日本帰りのザビエルに会ったフロイスは後年彼を完璧な男と評した。近世史上,ザビエルほど多くの伝記が書かれた人物はいないとされる。大正9(1920)年大阪府茨木市の千提寺で発見されたザビエルの肖像画は現在神戸市立博物館が所蔵。<参考文献>G.Schurhammer, J.Wicki《EPISTOLAE S.FRANCISCI XAVERII》vol.2,河野純徳訳『聖フランシスコ・ザビエル全書簡』

(五野井隆史)

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