James Kisai

James Kisai, also known as Diego Kisai (ディエゴ喜斎)[4] or Jacobo Kisai,[5] was a Japanese Jesuit lay brother and saint, one of the 26 Martyrs of Japan.[6]

Saint James Kisai
Statue of Kisai in Okayama Catholic Church in Okayama, Japan
Jesuit and Martyr
Bornc. 1534[1]
Tsudaka District, Bizen Province (now within Okayama Prefecture)
Died5 February 1597[2] (aged 62/63)
Nagasaki, Japan
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
BeatifiedSeptember 14, 1627 by Pope Urban VIII
CanonizedJune 8, 1862[3] by Pope Pius IX
Feast6 February
PatronageJapan

Out of the 26, Kisai, Paul Miki, and John Soan de Goto were the only Jesuits to be executed in Nagasaki on February 5, 1597.

Biography

James Kisai was born as Ichikawa Kisaemon (市川喜佐衛門).[7]

As a lay catechist intending to join the Society of Jesus, he was imprisoned along with 23 other Catholics in December 1596 in the aftermath of the pivotal San Felipe incident.[8] While he was in prison, Kisai and a fellow lay catechist John Soan de Goto gave their vows to Jesuit fathers John Rodriguez and Francis Pasia to enter the Jesuit order.[9] Shortly after, Kisai and the other imprisoned Catholics were forced to take a land journey during the winter time from Sakai to Nagasaki. Kisai and the others would eventually reach Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki,[10] where they were crucified and lanced to death on February 5, 1597.[8][11]

References
  1. "デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plusの解説". Kotobank (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. コトバンク-喜斎ディエゴとは
  3. Jennes, Joseph (1973). A History of the Catholic Church in Japan, from Its Beginnings to the Early Meiji Era (1549-1873): A Short Handbook. Tokyo: Oriens Institute for Religious Research. p. 245. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  4. Molinari, Paolo (1974). Companions of Jesus: Spiritual Profiles of the Jesuit Saints and Beati. Translated by Edmund Dignam; Joseph Gill; Charles Hand; Hugh Kay; Nicholas King; Michael McMorrow; Anthony Nye; Paul Symonds. English Province of the Society of Jesus. p. 49. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. de Lucena, Afonso (1972). Erinnerungen aus der Christenheit von Ōmura (in German). Translated by Josef Franz Schütte. Rome: Institutum historicum S.I. p. 193. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  6. "St. James Kisai, martyr of Nagasaki, Japan with Paul Miki". Catholic News Agency. EWTN News, Inc. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  7. Dewey, R. S., ed. (1889). The Pilgrim of Our Lady of Martyrs, Volume 5. Philadelphia, PA: Messenger of the Sacred Heart. p. 110.
  8. Murdoch, James; Yamagata, Isoh (1903). A History of Japan: During the Century of Early Foreign Intercourse (1542-1651). Kobe, Japan: Kobe Chronicle.
  9. Wiseman, Nicholas (November 1862). "Rome on the Day of Pentecost". The Dublin Review. Vol. LII. Thomas Richardson and Son. p. 55. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  10. "Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan". Discover Nagasaki. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  11. "St. Paul Miki and the 26 Martyrs of Japan, feast day Feb. 6". Catholic News Herald. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2020.


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