FYI February 05, 2020

  • Filed under FYI

On This Day

1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.
Kakure Kirishitan (Japanese: 隠れキリシタン, lit. ‘”hidden Christian”‘) is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Catholic Church during the Edo period that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.[1][2]
History
Kakure Kirishitans are called the “hidden” Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes. As time went on, the figures of the saints and the Virgin Mary were transformed into figurines that looked like the traditional statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas;[citation needed] depictions of Mary modeled on the Buddhist deity Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), goddess of mercy, became common, and were known as “Maria Kannon”.[4] The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Bible and other parts of the liturgy were passed down orally, because printed works could be confiscated by authorities.[1] Because of the official expulsion of the Catholic clergy in the 17th century, the Kakure Christian community relied on lay leaders to lead the services.

In some cases, the communities drifted away from Christian teachings. They lost the meaning of the prayers and their religion became a version of the cult of ancestors, in which the ancestors happened to be their Christian martyrs.

Kakure Kirishitan was recognized by Bernard Petitjean, a Catholic priest, when Ōura Church was built in Nagasaki in 1865. Approximately 30,000 secret Christians, some of whom had adopted these new ways of practicing Christianity, came out of hiding when religious freedom was re-established in 1873 after the Meiji Restoration. The Kakure Kirishitan became known as Mukashi Kirishitan (昔キリシタン), or “ancient” Christians, and emerged not only from traditional Christian areas in Kyushu, but also from other rural areas of Japan.[1]

The majority of Kakure Kirishitan rejoined the Catholic Church after renouncing unorthodox, syncretic practices. Some Kakure Kirishitan did not rejoin the Catholic Church, and became known as the Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians).[1] Hanare Kirishitan are now primarily found in Urakami and on the Gotō Islands.[2]

Read more ->
 
 

Born On This Day

1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 1975)
Joan Whitney Payson (February 5, 1903 – October 4, 1975) was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was also co-founder and majority owner of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets baseball franchise, and was the first woman to own a major-league team in North America without inheriting it.

Read more ->

 
 

FYI

Alice E. Mayhew (June 14, 1932 – February 4, 2020) was an American editor who was vice president and editorial director for Simon & Schuster.[1][2] Mayhew edited many notable authors, which include Bob Woodward, President Jimmy Carter, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Brooks, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Mayhew was known for publishing books about Washington, D.C., such as All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein using a genre which is known as a political narrative, a subgenre of creative nonfiction.[3]

Read more ->
 
 
 
 
The Guardian: Dozens of rescue workers killed in second Turkish avalanche At least 33 rescue workers killed and 53 injured during search for missing from earlier snowslide
 
 
 
 
By Joan Morris, The Mercury News: Charming video: Playful coyote, badger travel together in South Bay
 
 
 
 

By Leah Collins, CBC Arts: The look of love: invented in Toronto? The unexpected Canadian history of Harlequin romance covers
 
 
 
 

By George Dvorsky, Gizmodo: Skeleton Found in Submerged Mexican Cave Sheds New Light on Earliest People in America
 
 
 
 

By Leah Groth, Scary Mommy: Chiefs Player Celebrates Super Bowl Win By Paying For All Dog Adoptions At Local Shelter
 
 
 
 
Gastro Obscura: Green tea becomes pink with this special ingredient; ‘Fried Chicken Capital of the World’; Chocolate-Brewing Witches; Marlborough Pie and more ->
 
 
Gastro Obscura: Eat like a 1970s radical with the ‘People’s Philadelphia Cookbook’; Fry Bread House; Remembering the ‘Kiwi Queen’ and more ->
 
 
 
 

The Rural Blog: Floods made 2019 crop insurance payout highest in history; still-saturated soils in Midwest threaten more this year; Freelancers, a Cherokee and an Ozarker, win $100,000 for journalism about Native Americans and a migrant’s journey; Fact-checking the State of the Union, in which Trump committed to high-speed internet for all, ‘especially in rural’ and more ->
 
 
 
 

Today’s email was written by Annalisa Merelli, edited by Annaliese Griffin, and produced by Tori Smith. Quartz Obsession: Kali: The ancient feminist icon the modern world needs
 
 
 
 
By Joshua Eferighe, OZY: The First Pilates Studio Was an Internment Camp
Why you should care
Trapped on an island, Joseph Pilates put his time to good use.

 
 
 
 
The Passive Voice: Rewriting The Rules of Young Adult Fiction and more ->
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

Recipes

Little House Big Alaska: Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Shells Recipe

Betty Crocker Kitchens: Casseroles We Just Can’t Stop Eating

Betty Crocker Kitchens: Desserts for People Who Think Frosting is the Best Part