Shimabara Rebellion

Timeline

1. 1635–1637Shimabara domain (Matsukura lands) · Nagasaki PrefectureShimabara domain lord Matsukura Katsukage imposed exorbitant taxes, and Amakusa domain likewise levied heavy burdens. The shogunate's ban on Christianity subjected Catholics to "hell torture" (scalding-spring torture) and forced fumie identification. Grievances deepened, and secret gatherings and armed preparations quietly took shape in villages across the peninsula.
2. 1637Shimabara Peninsula and Amakusa Islands · KyushuThe 16-year-old Amakusa Shirō Takenoshin was acclaimed as a messianic Catholic leader; peasant believers on the Shimabara Peninsula and the Amakusa Islands rose in arms simultaneously, killing deputies, seizing weapons, and within weeks gathering tens of thousands under the Catholic banner to declare war on the shogunate.
3. 1637–1638Hara Castle · Nagasaki PrefectureAbout 37,000 rebels and their families withdrew to the abandoned seaside cliff fortress of Hara Castle and held out behind its natural defenses. The shogunate mobilized over 100,000 troops to surround it; at the shogunate's request, warships of the Dutch East India Company bombarded Hara Castle from the sea—a rare case of European military force assisting Japan in suppressing a domestic revolt.
4. 1638Hara Castle · Nagasaki PrefectureWith food and ammunition exhausted, the shogunate forces launched a final assault; Hara Castle fell, nearly all defenders were executed, and Amakusa Shirō Takenoshin was killed in battle. Matsukura Katsukage was subsequently beheaded by the shogunate for dereliction of duty. The rebellion convinced the shogunate of Christianity's political threat, and it promptly accelerated the expulsion of the Portuguese and strengthened the sakoku system.