Shūsaku Endō

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Endō's novel *Silence* was published in English in 1969 by Peter Owen Publishers. The novel has been adapted to film three times: a 1971 Japanese film directed by Masahiro Shinoda (for which Endō co-wrote the screenplay), a 1996 Portuguese film directed by João Mário Grilo, and a 2016 American film directed by Martin Scorsese. *Silence* received the 1966 Tanizaki Prize for the year's best full-length literature. John Updike, in *The New Yorker*, called *Silence* 'a remarkable work, a sombre, delicate, and startlingly empathetic study of a young Portuguese missionary during the relentless persecution of the Japanese Christians in the early seventeenth century.' The novel was notably compared to Graham Greene's *The Power and the Glory*, leading Endō to be referred to as 'the Graham Greene of Japan.' *Silence* was not immediately successful among Japanese Catholics, who were among some of the novel's harshest critics; instead, its popularity was boosted by 'left-wing college students' who saw a connection to the plight of Japanese Marxists.

Reader's Guide

The plot of *Silence* centers on the young Portuguese Jesuit priest Sebastião Rodrigues, based on the historical Italian figure Giuseppe Chiara, who travels to Japan to assist the local Church and investigate reports that his mentor, a Jesuit priest named Ferreira (based on Cristóvão Ferreira), has committed apostasy. Less than half of the book is the written journal of Rodrigues, while the other half is written either in the third person or in the letters of others. Rodrigues and his fellow Jesuit priest Francisco Garupe arrive in Japan in 1639, finding the local Christian population driven underground. To ferret out hidden Christians, security officials force suspected Christians to trample on a *fumi-e*, a carved image of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed by *ana-tsurushi*—being hung upside down over a pit and slowly bled. At the climactic moment, Rodrigues hears the moans of those who have recanted but are to remain in the pit until he tramples the image of Christ. As Rodrigues looks upon a *fumi-e*, a voice which seems to be Christ breaks his silence: 'You may trample. You may trample. I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot. You may trample. It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men's pain that I carried my cross.' Rodrigues puts his foot on the *fumi-e*. An official tells Rodrigues, 'Father, it was not by us that you were defeated, but by this mudswamp, Japan.'

Did You Know?

• Endō's novel *Silence* won the 1966 Tanizaki Prize.
• The novel was adapted into a 2016 film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson.
• The protagonist Sebastião Rodrigues is based on the historical Italian figure Giuseppe Chiara.
• The novel was compared to Graham Greene's *The Power and the Glory*, leading Endō to be called 'the Graham Greene of Japan.'
• The climactic moment of the novel features a voice that seems to be Christ saying, 'You may trample. You may trample. I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot.'

Theological Heart & Personal Wounds

Silence (1966) is a work of theological and historical fiction that emerged directly from Endō's own lived experience. As a Catholic writing in Japan, he knew religious discrimination firsthand. His time in France exposed him to a painful cultural gap, and a debilitating bout with tuberculosis deepened his understanding of suffering. These personal trials fed into the novel's central theme: a God who remains silent yet accompanies a believer through adversity. The protagonist, a young Jesuit missionary, endures persecution during the era of Kakure Kirishitan—the Hidden Christians—following the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion. Endō crafted this not as a simple tale of martyrdom but as an exploration of what it means to remain faithful when God offers no visible sign. The result, which critics have called his supreme achievement and one of the twentieth century's finest novels, won the 1966 Tanizaki Prize and established him as a writer whose faith was inseparable from his art.

Narrative Architecture & the Climax

Silence employs a deliberately fragmented structure: less than half the book is the written journal of its central character, Sebastião Rodrigues, while the remainder shifts between third-person narration and letters from other figures in the story. Rodrigues, a young Portuguese Jesuit modeled on the historical Italian Giuseppe Chiara, arrives in Japan in 1639 to investigate whether his mentor Ferreira—based on the real Cristóvão Ferreira—has committed apostasy. What he finds is a Christian community driven underground, where security officials force suspects to trample a fumi-e, a carved image of Christ, and those who refuse are killed by ana-tsurushi, a method of being hung upside down over a pit and slowly bled. The novel strips away any romance from martyrdom, showing only brutality. At the climax, Rodrigues hears the moans of those still trapped in the pit and hears a voice that seems to be Christ telling him he may trample, that Christ was born into the world to be trampled. He places his foot on the image. An official then tells him he was not defeated by the authorities but by Japan itself—this mudswamp.

Critical Reception & Unlikely Audiences

Despite winning the 1966 Tanizaki Prize for the year's best full-length literature, Silence initially faced sharp criticism from Japanese Catholics, who were among its harshest detractors. Its broader popularity was unexpectedly fueled by left-wing college students who saw in Rodrigues's predicament a parallel to the plight of Japanese Marxists under state pressure. The novel drew frequent comparisons to Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, earning Endō the nickname "the Graham Greene of Japan." In English-language criticism, John Updike praised it in The New Yorker as a remarkable, sombre, and startlingly empathetic study of a young missionary during relentless persecution. The scholar William Cavanaugh focused on the novel's deep moral ambiguity, noting how it depicts a God who has chosen not to eliminate suffering but to suffer alongside humanity. Published in English by Peter Owen Publishers in 1969, the book has since become the subject of extensive academic analysis, cementing its reputation as one of the twentieth century's finest novels and Endō's supreme literary achievement.

Adaptations Across Media

Silence has proven remarkably adaptable across artistic forms. In film, it has been brought to the screen three times: first in 1971 by Japanese director Masahiro Shinoda, for whom Endō co-wrote the screenplay; then in 1996 as Os Olhos da Ásia, directed by Portuguese filmmaker João Mário Grilo; and most recently in 2016 by Martin Scorsese, with a screenplay by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, and Ciarán Hinds. The Scorsese film premiered at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome on November 29, 2016. Beyond cinema, the novel inspired an opera of the same title, with libretto and music by composer and poet Teizo Matsumura, premiered at the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2000. In 2002, Scottish musician James MacMillan composed Symphony No. 3, subtitled "Silence," also drawn from the novel. Endō himself contributed a stage version titled The Golden Country, and the work has generated multiple other theatrical adaptations, demonstrating its enduring resonance across cultures and artistic disciplines.