Kami fumi-e

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 ORB 40/1061
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1688-1704
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 sheet Materials: Ink and colour on paper. Dimensions: 340 x 230 mm.

Scope and Content

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.

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.