50 martyrs and 47 ronin

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ [the Lord] died for us” (Rom. 5:8 NIV).

50 martyrs

On December 4, 1623, 50 followers of Christ were marched from Nihonbashi at the center of Edo (old Tokyo) to a hill just outside the city gate, where they were bound to wooden poles and burned. On Christmas Day the horrific slaughter was repeated, when 37 others—including the wives and children of the 50, and some who had helped them in some way—were also executed.¹ It was one of the largest public execution of Christians in Japanese history and also one of the largest displays of loyalty to God.

On a cold winter morning almost 400 years later, I followed their path with a group of Japanese Christians and pastors. Snow blew in our faces as we endured the strong winds rushing between the buildings. Each of us held a piece of paper with the name of one of the martyrs from that day. My piece of paper read “Peter” Shozaburo. After eight hours, we approached the end of their journey in what is now Shinagawa, walking along the tracks of the noisy Yamanote Line and what used to be the coastline of Tokyo Bay. My body shivered. My feet ached. How much worse it must have been for the men on that day! All that remained of the city gate was a large stone foundation. All that remains on the martyrs’ hill is a small memorial stone hidden in the shadow of a large office building.

47 ronin

At the famous temple at Sengaku-ji, mere minutes away, lies the end of another march. On January 31, 1703, 47 ronin (samurai with no master) traversed heavy snow from the city’s center following the same route as the martytrs, carrying the decapitated head of their enemy in a bucket! They avenged the death of their master in what is now known as the Akō Incident. By order of the shogun, they committed seppuku (death by a self-inflicted stab to their bellies) at Sengaku-ji Temple, and were buried there on that hill. Today businessmen and women continue to visit the ronins’ graves to honor them for their loyalty.

Walking through the cold winter wind, I thought about these two groups of men, the 50 martyrs and the 47 ronin. Both marched to the edge of the city to show loyalty to their master. Both climbed a hill to their place of execution. The 50 followers of Christ marched for their heavenly Lord. The 47 ronin for their earthly lord. The 50 martyrs are all but forgotten, but the 47 ronin continue to be immortalized in movies, books, and art.²

Loyalty of Jesus

Walking that path, I thought about the similarities and differences with Jesus Christ. He, too, marched through the city and up a hill to his place of execution. He, too, was publicly displayed as a criminal. The crime of the ronin was murder. The crime of the martyrs was their faith. The only crime of Jesus was who he claimed to be. The martyrs and ronin gave their lives for the master above them, but Jesus gave his life for the sinners beneath him. Though Jesus is the master we should be serving, he lowered himself to serve us instead.

Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant . . . . He humbled himself by becoming [loyal] to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7–8 GWT with author’s addition). The biggest difference of all is that the loyalty of Jesus personally changes our lives, because his loyalty to the point of death was for us.

1. “Kirishitan Sites in Tokyo,” The web site of Russ Stutler, http://www.stutler.cc/russ/kirishitan.html (accessed April 20, 2023), section “Site 7. The execution hill at Fuda no Tsuji.”
2. The group of men who stayed behind at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to prevent further disaster were dubbed the “Fukushima 50” by the media. They were being compared to the 47 ronin, sacrificing their lives to regain lost honor.