Francis Xavier Arrives in Japan (1549)

Francis Xavier, a Navarrese cleric and co-founder of the Society of Jesus, arrived in Japan on 27 July 1549. Accompanied by Anjirō and three other Jesuits, he was initially barred from entering ports until landing at Kagoshima on 15 August, marking the first Christian mission to the country.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta in 1506, was a Navarrese cleric who co-founded the Society of Jesus. As a representative of the Portuguese Empire, he led the first Christian mission to Japan, having previously served as the first Jesuit missionary in Asia.

Journey to Japan. After meeting the Japanese man Anjirō in Malacca in December 1547, Xavier left Goa on 15 April 1549. He stopped at Malacca and visited Canton before reaching Japan, driven by reports from Portuguese merchants that the Japanese were a reasonable people suitable for evangelization.

Arrival and Landing. Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549 with Anjirō and three other Jesuits. Despite arriving, he was not permitted to enter any port until 15 August, when he finally went ashore at Kagoshima, the principal port of Satsuma Province on the island of Kyūshū.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.