The “Hidden Christians” or Kakure Kirishitan went underground in the 17th century when the Tokugawa shogunate repressed Christianity from 1638 until the ban was lifted in 1873. In response, many Christian believers modified their spiritual practices to resemble Buddhist ones on a surface level, but which held hidden Christian meaning.

Depictions of the Virgin Mary modeled on the Buddhist deity Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), goddess of mercy, were known as "Maria Kannon". The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Bible and other parts of the liturgy were passed down orally, because printed works could be confiscated by authorities.

Approximately 30,000 secret Christians came out of hiding in 1873 after the Meiji Restoration. The Kakure Kirishitan became known as Mukashi Kirishitan or 'ancient Christians.' Some Kakure Kirishitan did not rejoin the Catholic Church and became known as the Hanare Kirishitan or 'separated Christians' and live on the Gotō Islands. Today, there are less than 100 Hidden Christians left on the island of Ikitsuki in Nagasaki, down from 10,000 in the 1940s.

In this episode, Christine Leong interviewed me to explain what I discovered about these “Hidden Christians”.