The Last Samurai: Portugal's 1637 Shimabara Uprising

In 1637, a rebellion of Japanese Christians and disaffected samurai in the Shimabara domain brought the Portuguese presence in Japan to a bloody end. Led by the teenage charismatic Amakusa Shiro, the rebels held out for months in Hara Castle against a 125,000-strong Tokugawa army. Lucas and Luna explore the uprising's roots in persecution under shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, the role of Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, and the brutal suppression that followed. They discuss the siege tactics, the rebels' desperate faith, and the aftermath: the final expulsion of the Portuguese and the imposition of sakoku, Japan's 250-year isolation. The episode delves into the complexities of the Shimabara Rebellion, where economics, religion, and samurai honor collided, and considers whether it was truly a Christian revolt or a peasant uprising with religious overtones. Drawing on primary accounts from Dutch traders at Hirado and the letters of the Portuguese, Lucas and Luna piece together the tragedy that sealed Japan's closed country policy for over two centuries. #ShimabaraRebellion #AmakusaShiro #HaraCastle #TokugawaIemitsu #JapaneseChristian #PortugueseJapan #Sakoku #NanbanTrade #JesuitMissionaries #Kirishitan #Samurai #PeasantUprising #Nagasaki #DutchEastIndiaCompany #Hirado #17thCenturyJapan #History #FexingoHistory #Portugal #PortugueseEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo