A kami fumi-e 紙踏絵, or paper image made to be trampled on, supposedly used in the systemic persecution of Christians stemming from Tokugawa Ieyasu's 1614 anti-Christian edict. The central image is of a severed head mounted on a cross. The head has curly hair drawn in red ink. Above the image is the word 'Christi'. The text on the righthand edge reads: 黒田家の定一切支丹破天連ヲ踏マザル者ハ獄門ノ事 (Kuroda-ke no sadame (jō). Hitotsu Kirishitan Bateren wo fumazaru mono ha gokumon no koto) ''1. Decree of the Kuroda family: Those who don't trample on the Christian bateren will be punished by gokumon [exposure of the severed head for several days''. This is followed by the crest of the Kuroda family, daimyo of Fukuoka. According to a note on the lefthand edge of the sheet it was produced during the Genroku Era (1688-1704). However, it is possibly a later reproduction.
Kami fumi-e
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- ReferenceGB 59 ORB 40/1061
- Dates of Creation1688-1704
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description1 sheet Materials: Ink and colour on paper. Dimensions: 340 x 230 mm.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Isseido Booksellers 6 March 2015.
Bibliography
For a discussion of thisitem see Pia Joliffe and MahliKnutson, ''Sacred images made to be trampled on: kami fumi-e from Japan'', British Library Asian and African Studiesblog (30 January 2020). https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2020/01/sacred-images-made-to-be-trampled-on-kami-fumi-e-from-japan.html.