Penance in the Jesuit Mission to Japan, 1549-1562

The early modern Japanese Church developed syncretistic practices in which Roman Catholicism came to function similarly to Buddhism and Shinto¯. This study examines the development of such practices, with particular focus on penitential rituals. It argues that certain of these rites were produced in the very early years of the mission through extensive discussions between European priests and Japanese Christians. They were compromises that were both hard-fought and intentional.