Note 1 — Chapter LXI

Notwithstanding this fierce persecution—which, thus begun, culminated in the massacre of Shimabara (1637), and lasted as long as Christians could be discovered by the Japanese authorities—a considerable number of Japanese converts maintained their Christian faith, unknown to their rulers, handing it down from one generation to another until 1868, when their existence became known to the government, and for a time they were exiled from their homes, but were restored to them a few years later. This Christian church was at Urakami, about seven miles north of Nagasaki.