St. Francis Xavier Memorial: Long before the Satsuma Seventeen Samurai and another change began in Kagoshima with the arrival of St Francis Xavier who brought Christianity to Japan. In the beginning many people in Japan converted to Christianity including some powerful Daimyo (Samurai Lord). Eventually the Shogun (the head Daimyo) felt so threatened by Christianity that he closed Japan to the outside world and persecuted the Japanese Christians. 1
In the Meiji restoration Christianity was allowed to be practised again, and the site in the photo above was the location of the St Francis Xavier church. Unfortunately this church was bombed in World War Two. The location is now a memorial to St Francis Xavier. 2
