In the footsteps of Valignano, a Japanese delegation to visit the pope
The city of Shimabara celebrates the 400th anniversary of the first Japanese group in Europe, organised by a Jesuit missionary. The four youth will be present at the general audience of Pope Francis, dressed in a traditional kamishimo with hakama.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Arima seminary and the four young students who travelled to in Europe and the Vatican as ‘Tenshō Era ambassadors’, four other young people have been sent to Europe to represent the Heisei Era*.
Dressed in traditional clothes, kamishimo with hakama (pictured), the four will attend tomorrow’s general audience in St Peter's Square.
The eight-member delegation – the four students plus four chaperons – left Japan on Sunday (20 March). Shimabara City Planning Chief Yukio Ito led the group.
The young students are in Italy to strengthen the friendly relations with Chieti, hometown of the great Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano. They will be staying with local families and spend a period of study in the region.
Chieti and Fr Valignano come into the picture because the Tenshō Era delegation, literally the ‘Mission to Europe of Taishō Era Boys’, was the first Japanese diplomatic mission to Europe, made possible by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary as well as the Christian daimyo Ōtomo Sōrin, Ōmura Sumitada, and Arima Harunobu.
During their journey, which lasted eight years and a half (from 20 February 1582 to 21 July 1590), the envoys were able to visit Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
Led by the young Christian nobleman Mancio Itō, the group met Philip II of Spain, Francesco I de’ 'Medici, Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V, as well as numerous politicians, clerics and prominent individuals of the time.
* Heisei, meaning ‘peace everywhere’, is the current era in Japan, and came into effect after current Japanese Emperor Akihito succeeded his father Hirohito in 1989.
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