The Shimabara Rebellion

In Our Time: History

BBC

History

4.4 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Christian uprising in Japan and its profound and long-term consequences. In the 1630s, Japan was ruled by the Tokagawa Shoguns, a military dynasty who, 30 years earlier, had unified the country, ending around two centuries of civil war. In 1637 a rebellion broke out in the province of Shimabara, in the south of the country. It was a peasants’ revolt, following years of bad harvests in which the local lord had refused to lower taxes. Many of the rebels were Christians, and they fought under a Christian banner. The central government’s response was merciless. They met the rebels with an army of 150 000 men, possibly the largest force assembled anywhere in the world during the Early Modern period. Once the rebellion had been suppressed, the Shogun enforced a ban on Christianity and expelled nearly all foreigners from the country. Japan remained more or less completely sealed off from the rest of the world for the next 250 years. With Satona Suzuki Lecturer in Japanese and Modern Japanese History at SOAS, University of London Erica Baffelli Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Manchester and Christopher Harding Senior Lecturer in Asian History at the University of Edinburgh Producer Luke Mulhall

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.7	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:07.2	For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to bbc.co.uk-radio-4.
0:13.6	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:15.3	Hello, in the 1630s, Japan was ruled by the Takungawa Shoguns, a military dynasty, who
0:21.3	30 years earlier had unified the country, ending around 200 years of civil war.
0:26.9	However, in 1637, a rebellion broke out in the province of Shima Barra, in the southeast
0:32.3	of the country.
0:33.3	It was a persons revolt, following a few years of ban harvests in which the local law had
0:38.1	refused to lower taxes.
0:40.4	Many of the rebels were Christians and they fought under a Christian banner.
0:44.2	The central government response was merciless.
0:46.8	They met the rebels with an army of 150,000 men.
0:50.6	Possibly, the largest army assembled anywhere in the world during the early modern period.
0:55.8	Since the rebellion had been suppressed, the Shogun enforced a ban on Christianity and
0:59.9	expelled nearly all foreigners from the country.
1:02.8	Japan remained more or less completely sea-loved from the rest of the world for the next 250
1:07.9	years.
1:08.9	With me to discuss the Shima Barra rebellion, Arsotonos Suzuki, Lecturer in Japanese and
1:13.8	Modern Japanese History at the Sohosh University of London, Enika Bafeli, Professor of Japanese
1:19.1	Studies at the University of Manchester, and Christopher Harling, Senior Lecturer in Asian
1:23.6	History at the University of Edinburgh.
	...

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