, born and also known as Dom Justo Takayama (c. 1552/1553 - 5 February 1615) was a Japanese Catholic daimyō and samurai during the Sengoku period that saw rampant anti-Catholic sentiment.

Takayama was baptized into the Catholic Church in 1564 when he was twelve, though he later became disenfranchised from his religion due to his actions as a samurai. He eventually renewed his faith after a coming-of-age ritual near the age of 20. He renounced his samurai status to devote himself to Christianity and was exiled to Manila in 1614, where he lived until his death two months later.

At the beginning of his beatification process he was declared a Servant of God. Pope Francis beatified him on 21 January 2016; the celebration was held on 7 February 2017 in Osaka with Cardinal Angelo Amato presiding on the pope's behalf.

Biography

Dom Justo Takayama was the eldest son (thus the heir) of Takayama Tomoteru who was the lord of the Sawa Castle in the Yamato Province.

During their domination of Takatsuki region, he and his father pushed their policies as kirishitan daimyōs. Several of their subjects converted to Catholicism under their influence. During his reign, Takayama destroyed numerous Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in both Takatsuki and Akashi.

However, Hideyoshi became hostile towards the Christian faith and in 1587 ordered the expulsion of all missionaries and that all Christian daimyōs should renounce their faith. While several daimyō obeyed this order and renounced Roman Catholicism, Justo proclaimed that he would not give up his faith and would rather give up his land and all that he owned. until 1614 when Tokugawa Ieyasu (the ruler at the time) prohibited the Christian faith which resulted in Takayama's expulsion from Japan. On 8 November 1614, with 300 other Japanese Christians, he left his home from Nagasaki. He arrived at Manila on 11 December 1614 where he received a warm welcome from the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos.

Memorials

thumb|Plaza Dilao, The center of the plaza is dominated by a statue of Dom Justo Takayama, who settled here after he was exiled from Japan in 1615.

At Plaza Dilao in Paco, Manila a statue of Takayama was installed in 1978. The site is the last vestige of the old town where some 3,000 Japanese immigrants lived in exile. The statue of Takayama depicts him in traditional samurai garb and a topknot. He is holding a sheathed katana pointed downwards, upon which hangs a crucifix.

The University of Santo Tomas has a copy of the Plaza Dilao statue in front of the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex building. It was unveiled and blessed on 28 March 2017.

On 21 December 2022 a resin image of Takayama was enshrined inside the San Miguel Church in Manila.

Beatification

His cause for sainthood started at a diocesan level which resulted in the validation of the process on 10 June 1994 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (CCS) were given all the boxes of documentation pertaining to the cause. The commencement to the cause saw him titled as a Servant of God. There had been failed attempts to start the cause in the past. The first attempt came in 1630 when the Manila priests decided to commence it, but this failed due to the isolationist Japanese policies which prevented the collection of the documentation that was needed; the petition was presented but was rejected. The second attempt in 1965 failed due to several errors being made. In October 2012, a letter was presented to Pope Benedict XVI asking for the cause to be re-examined.

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The positio dossier was submitted in 2013 to the competent authorities in Rome for further assessment. Takayama's cause was meant to confirm that he was a martyr because of the treatment he received and because he renounced all he had to pursue and profess his faith. Pope Francis approved Takayama's beatification on 21 January 2016; it was celebrated in Osaka on 7 February 2017 with Cardinal Amato presiding on the pope's behalf.

During Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda's visit to the Manila Cathedral on 21 December 2023, the cardinal disclosed investigations of possible miracles that would lead to Takayama's canonization.

See also

  • Naitō Julia
  • Persecution of Christians in Japan
  • 26 Martyrs of Japan
  • History of the Catholic Church in Japan
  • Caius of Korea

References

  • Samurai archives
  • Hagiography Circle
  • Takayama Ukon