Presentations

The Jesuits in Japan repeatedly informed in their letters that the issue of the soul's immortality attracted great attention to the Japanese intellectuals and much debate ensued. Indeed, remaining doctrinal texts (publications or manuscripts) by the Jesuits in Japan also give priority to this issue (just after the issue of God's omnipotence and oneness, and much before than the issues of Trinity or the Incarnation). Jesuits persistence on this issue is not only a reflection of their mission strategy to accommodate to the local interest, but also a reflection of their intellectual background in contemporary Europe over this topic. In Europe, Jesuits argued against philosophers who doubted the immortality of the soul. Besides philosophical demonstrations Jesuits also used the idea of probable cause to argue for the immortality of soul. Likewise, in Japan, they explained the soul's immortality not on the basis of demonstration but on the basis of probability or expediency.

Recent studies on editing, translation and publication processes have contributed much to our understanding of the vicissitudes of the Jesuit mission press and its products in early modern Japan. They revealed the Jesuits’ main preaching tools for introducing Christian teachings to their local novices. The other side of the story has yet to be elucidated. How did the Japanese novices use those printed materials? As important devices for the promotion of their religious faith and practice, the Jesuit books, once published, experienced multiple incarnations. In other words, they were continuously read, commented upon, summarized and transcribed by generations of clandestine believers. From the angle of the history of reading, this paper reconstructs these activities through both the reports of missionaries and the printed copies and manuscripts that survived several centuries of prohibition imposed by successive governments.