Ogin

Was it in the Genna [1615-24] or Kan'ei era [1622-1644]? This is a story of the distant past, in a time when the upholders of the teachings of God, when discovered, were crucified and burnt. As the government's persecution became more severe, the blessings from God seemed to have increased among the believers.

From time to time, angels and saints appeared in the shadows and dusky lights of the villages around Nagasaki. At one time, even Saint Juan Bautista was said to have appeared in the windmill hut of Miguel Yahei, a Christian believer of Urakami. At the same time, devils, too, frequented the village believers to interfere with their ascetic religious life, taking various forms like strange black men, imported plants and flowers, and vehicles made of woven bamboo. Even the mice which annoyed Miguel Yahei in the pitch-dark earthen jail, were said to be the devil incarnate. Yahei, together with eleven other Christians, was burnt to death in the autumn of the eighth year of the Genna Era [1622]. The following story is from the time of either Genna or Kan'ei.

A young girl, Ogin, lived in the mountain village of Urakami. Ogin's parents had died soon after they moved to the village from Osaka. Of course, being outsiders in the village, Ogin's parents had no knowledge of God's teachings. What they believed in was Buddhism; Zen, the Lotus Sutra, or the Pure Land, the teachings of Shaka Buddha. According to a French Jesuit, the clever genius Shaka wandered through China while preaching the teachings of a Buddha called Amida. Eventually, he came to Japan and propagated the same doctrines. In his preaching, our soul or anima, depending on the seriousness of our sins, will be reborn as birds, cows, and plants. Above all, Shaka had killed his mother at his birth. So his teaching was as great as his sin was. However, as mentioned before, Ogin's mother had no way to know anything about these things. She [and her husband] believed in Shaka's teachings even after they took their last breaths, and they were buried under the shade of a pine tree in a bleak graveyard. Ignorant of their future fate to fall into the inferno, they were still vainly dreaming of Amida's paradise.

Fortunately, Ogin was not affected by her parents' ignorance. Kind and merciful Juan Magoshichi, a village peasant and a devout Christian, had already sprinkled the water of baptism on Ogin's forehead, and given her the name Maria. She did not believe in the story of Shaka, who said, after his birth, "I am the only one above and below the heaven," while pointing at the heaven and the earth. Instead, she believed in the natural conception of "the most kind, and deeply merciful Virgin Mary."

She also believed in "Jesus who was crucified and buried deep under the great earth in a stone casket and revived three days later." As soon as the Trumpet for Investigation is blown, "The Honorable Lord with his great power and prestige will descend, and revive his people from their bodies of dust. Depending on their original soul, some will enjoy pleasures in Heaven while others will go to Hell together with the long-nosed tengu goblins." She especially believed in the holy sacrament which said, "Thanks to the Honorable Virtues of the Honorable Words. Although the color and form of the bread and wine are unchangeable, their essence will change into the Honorable Lord's Flesh and Blood." Differing from her parents' minds which were like a wild desert blasted by hot winds, Ogin's mind was a bountiful wheat field with native wild roses.

After having lost her parents, Ogin was adopted by Juan Magoshichi. His wife, Juana Osumi, was a kind and gentle woman. With this couple, Ogin spent happy days as she cared for the cows in the field, and harvested the wheat. Of course during such happy days she did not forget to fast and pray while remaining discreet. She was devoted in her prayers as she gazed at the crescent moon in the shadow of the fig tree by the village well. The prayer of this innocent girl was like this: "Oh, Merciful Honorable Mother, I pay my respects to you. Eve, the child of the wanderer, now calls on your honorable name. Please, with your gentle eyes, look at and view this vale of my tears. Amen."

Then, suddenly one night, the night of Christmas, a few government officers led by a devil came into Magoshichi's house where the fire of entertainment was burning in the great hearth and a cross was hung on the sooty wall for the special occasion. In the cow shed behind the house, the manger with water was prepared for the birth of Jesus. Nodding to each other, the officers bound the three, Magoshichi, his wife, and Ogin. But the three appeared calm as they resolved to endure any sufferings to save their soul. The Honorable Lord would surely send them his help. Besides, wasn't being caught on the night of the nativity enough to show them the blessings? All three were thus jointly convinced, even though they remained silent. After having tied them, the officers drove them on foot to the magistrate's mansion. On the way, the three went into the blowing wind of dark night simply uttering the nativity prayers. "Honorable Young Prince, born in the country of Beren (Bethlehem), where are you? Please accept our respect and praise."

Seeing that the three were caught, the devil rejoiced by clapping his hands. However, he was quite angry at their commendable resolution. As soon as he was alone, the disgusted devil spat, changed into a huge millstone which turned with the sound gorogoro, and disappeared into the darkness. Juan Magoshichi, Juana Osumi, and Maria Ogin were thrown into the earthen jail, tortured, and repeatedly pressed to renounce the Honorable Teachings of their Lord. However, their faith was unshaken, even in the tortures by fire and water. Even though their skin and flesh were torn, they knew the gate to Heaven was only one step of beyond the endurance of torture. When they thought of their Master's blessings for them, even the dark earthen jail appeared as glorious as Heaven. Moreover, noble angels and saints often came to console them. Ogin was especially blessed by such honorable visitations. She once saw Saint Juan Bautista scooping up many grasshoppers in both hands to offer her as food. Another time, the Archangel Gabriel, closing his white wings, offered her water in a beautiful golden bowl.

Now the magistrate knew nothing of the Master's teachings, nor those of Shaka Buddha. He simply could not understand why the three were so obstinate. From time to time, he thought all three were insane. If they were not crazy, they appeared to him to be like great serpents or one-horned beasts who were beyond human morality. Keeping such monsters alive would be against contemporary laws and jeopardize the security of the country. So the magistrate finally decided to keep them in the earthen jail for a month and then burn them at the stake. (Actually, the magistrate, like the general population, did not care if the whole matter was related to the security of the country or not. First, there were proper laws, and secondly, there were morals among the people. So there was no need to consider security. Nothing should be allowed to cause any inconvenience).

The three believers in God showed no fear on the way to the execution ground, which was located on the outskirts of the village, adjacent to the graveyard. After the three arrived at the execution ground, their crimes were announced one by one. The three were tied to large stakes erected in the center of the execution ground with Juan Magoshichi in the middle, Juana Osumi to his right, and Maria Ogin to his left. Due to the daily tortures, Osumi appeared much older, and the unshaved Magoshichi's cheeks were bloodlessly pale. Ogin, in comparison, looked unchanged. The three, standing on the piled firewood, still remained calm. A great many spectators surrounded the execution ground. And in the sky above, five or six pine trees spread their branches like canopies above the graveyard.

After all the preparations were finished, one of the officers came to the three, and said in a grave tone that they should take some time to decide if they were to give up or not the teachings of the Lord of Heaven. Moreover, if they rejected the teachings, they would be immediately freed. However, the three did not respond, but gazed at the distant sky, even with slight smiles on their lips. Silence prevailed for several minutes among the officers and spectators. Innumerable unblinking eyes were focused upon the faces of the three, but not out of sympathy. The spectators were anxiously waiting the instant when the fire would be ignited. The officers were completely bored by the tedious procedures for the execution and did not feel like speaking.

Suddenly, they clearly heard unexpected words. "I have decided to give up the Honorable Teachings." It was the voice of Ogin. Immediately, there was a roar among the spectators, which soon subsided when the sad-looking Magoshichi spoke to his daughter in a weak voice while turning his head, "Ogin! Are you fooled by the devil? With a little more patience, you can see the face of your Lord!" Before Magoshichi had finished, Osumi, too, spoke intensely to Ogin, "Ogin, oh, Ogin! You are possessed by the devil. Pray, pray!" Ogin did not reply, but simply gazed at the canopies of the pine trees over the graveyard beyond the spectators.

One of the officers ordered that Ogin's cords be loosened. Seeing this, Juan Magoshichi closed his eyes, as if giving up everything, as he prayed, "Omnipotent Lord, I will leave everything to your plan." The freed Ogin stood for a while as if stupefied. As she cast her glances at Magoshichi and Osumi, she knelt before them and shed tears without a word. Magoshichi still had his eyes closed, and Osumi avoided Ogin by turning her head away.

Finally, Ogin opened her mouth. "Oh, Father and Mother, please forgive me." She continued, "I have given up the Teachings. That was because I realized something while watching the tips of the canopy-like pine trees. My deceased parents buried under these trees were ignorant of the Teachings, and probably have fallen now into the inferno. On the contrary, I might be going to paradise by myself. How can I do that without my real parents? Therefore, I have decided to go to hell to join my deceased parents. So, please, Father and Mother, go to the place of Lord Jesus and Virgin Mary. Now that I have left the Teachings, I will not live anymore. . ." Ogin finished word by word and finally sank into sobs.

Now Juana Osumi began to shed tears on the firewood under her feet. Crying or lamenting for useless things like Ogin's situation was certainly not a proper deed for a believer who was about to enter Heaven. With a bitter expression, Magoshichi scolded his wife in a shrieking voice as he turned his head to her, "So you, too, are fooled by the devil. If you wish to abandon the Teachings, do what you want. But I will die alone." Osumi, swallowing her tears, shouted out her words at her husband, "No. I will come with you, but it is not because I want to go to heaven, I simply want to follow you."

For a long while, Magoshichi kept silent. His face appeared pale one moment and looked animated the next moment. Simultaneously, perspiration spotted his face. Now Magoshichi was watching his soul in the eyes of his mind, intensely watching the angels and devils who were fighting for his soul. If Ogin, who was sobbing under his feet, did not raise her face at that instant - - she had already lifted her face. Filled with tears, her eyes containing strange lights were staring at him. What was lurking under the sheen of her eyes was not only an innocent girl's heart, but the heart of all humans, "the child of the wandering Eve."

"Father! Let's go to the inferno! With me, Mother and my deceased parents are over there! Let us allow the Devil to take us there!" Finally, Magoshichi was defected.

This story, for generations, has been regarded as one of the most shameful incidents in the history of the numerous martyrs of this country. When the three defected from their faith, it was said that all the spectators, young and old, men and women, who knew nothing of the Heavenly Lord, hated them. That may have been because they were sorry to miss the execution at the stake. It was also said that the overjoyed Devil turned into a big book and was flying around the execution ground all night long. But I, the writer of this story, wonder if the Devil really had accomplished much.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa