Anjirō
1511–?
The fugitive who became Japan's first Christian — and Xavier's guide
Also written: Anjirō · アンジロー
A Satsuma man who fled Japan after a killing, met Francis Xavier at Malacca in 1547, and was baptized at Goa as Paulo de Santa Fé — the first Japanese Christian. He guided the mission to Kagoshima in 1549 and served as its first interpreter; his rendering of God as "Dainichi" seeded the mission's founding misunderstanding. He drifted back to the smuggling world after Xavier's departure and vanished from the record.
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