We took a day last week to go sightseeing around the city, and one of our last stops was at the Edo Era museum. Mr. Kato knew that I would appriciate it being a fan of history. There were some very interesting exhibits. This time in Japanese history is also some times called the Tokugawa period. Sadly the Tokugawa Shogunate persecuted Christians horribly. First they expelled them from Japan and then later, anti-Christian laws made life very difficult and many so called Kakure Kirishitan or hidden Christian communities arose. Many Christians were martyred

during this period. It was only in 1873 that the Meiji government withdrew religious sanctions, although freedom of religion was not specifically granted. Even the 1889 constitution of Japan guaranteed only qualified religious freedom"within limits not prejudicial to peace and not antagonistic to duties as citizens."