The Shimabara Rebellion

Peasants of the Shimabara Peninsula and the Amakusa islands, most of them Catholic converts, rose against heavy taxation and abusive officials in 1637, joined by masterless samurai. A government army of more than 100,000 (some accounts say 125,000) besieged their stronghold at Hara Castle and called in a Dutch ship to shell it, with little effect; the castle fell to assault in April 1638, after its defenders had run short of food. The shogunate then enforced its ban on Christianity with new vigour.

The mechanism

WAR

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE RELEASES, AND THE ENCLOSURE THAT FOLLOWS EACH 1382 to 1694
• SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Shimabara Rebellion' · checked 19 September: Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Shimabara Rebellion'; Wikipedia, 'Shimabara Rebellion' (de Ryp; fall of Hara Castle)