The Truth and Fiction of Xavier’s 1551 Meeting: As the Starting Point of Discovering Conceptual Similarities between Mahavairocana and the Prime Matter

This article asks whether the famous 1551 meeting between the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier, the daimyō Ōuchi Yoshitaka, and Shingon monks in Yamaguchi was the moment they identified a similarity between the Buddhist deity Mahavairocana and the Western philosophical concept of Prime Matter. It accepts the scholarly rejection of the traditional narrative that this theological equivalence was explicitly stated during that encounter, suggesting instead that the meeting served as a sensory “trigger” for a realization that only crystallized in Jesuit records years later.

The author agrees that the specific anecdote found in Luís Fróis’s History of Japan, which places the equation of “Dainichi” (Mahavairocana) with “Materia Prima” in 1551, is likely a later revision, possibly written around 1591. The work asserts that Xavier and his companions in 1551 lacked the detailed understanding of Buddhism required to make such a precise theological claim, noting its absence from Xavier’s letters of 1552 and the 1556 Summary of Errors, tentatively attributed to Baltasar Gago. Instead, the author proposes that the meeting was a pivotal historical event where the visual and material culture of the missionaries sparked the initial comparison.

The evidence rests on a close reading of primary sources, including the Complete Letters of Saint Francis Xavier and Fróis’s History of Japan. The author treats the claim that the similarity was pointed out in 1551 as a probable later addition, citing secondary research by Kawasaki and Matsuda who identified anachronisms in the original text. Conversely, the work accepts that Ōuchi Yoshitaka asked Xavier to wear a damask ceremonial robe and remarked that the priest looked like a “living image of one of our gods.” It also asserts that Xavier brought gifts including a clock, a three-barreled firearm, a mirror, damask, and crystal glass.

The article traces the genealogy of the two concepts to show their structural parallels. It asserts that the Western concept of Materia Prima originated with Plato’s Timaeus, was interpreted by Plotinus as the privation of the Good, and was incorporated into Christian theology by Augustine. Similarly, it asserts that the Buddhist concept of Mahavairocana as an all-encompassing, non-attribute entity derives from early doctrines of dependent origination and the Mahayana concept of emptiness (sunyata), later systematized by figures like Nāgārjuna. The author infers that the vibrant colors of Xavier’s vestments and his gifts may have evoked the image of the “Western Pure Land” and the golden Amitābha Buddha for his Japanese hosts, creating a context where a comparison of “form” and “color” became possible.

This work connects directly to the Nanban period through its focus on Jesuit missionaries and the material culture they introduced. It highlights the role of Xavier’s Japanese translator Anjirō, as judged by the historian Georg Schurhammer. The analysis draws on the records of Jesuits such as Luís Fróis, Brother Lourenço, Luís de Almeida, and Baltasar Gago. It specifically examines how the goods brought by Xavier—items like damask and crystal glass—may have functioned not just as diplomatic gifts but as catalysts for religious dialogue. The author suggests that the Shingon monks’ positive reaction and hospitality in 1551 were likely based on a perceived doctrinal consistency regarding these visual attributes, even if the specific “Materia Prima” equation was not yet formulated.

The article covers the period from Xavier’s arrival in 1549 to the formulation of the equivalence in letters between 1560 and 1562, explicitly leaving aside a detailed exposition of the differences between early and Mahayana Buddhism. It is most useful for readers interested in how Jesuit missionaries came to understand Japanese Buddhism and the specific historical evidence regarding the Yamaguchi meeting. By separating the later theological conclusion from the immediate historical event, the work offers a clearer picture of how cross-cultural understanding developed over time rather than in a single moment.

This is a journal article published in the Journal of the Research Institute for Christian Culture, Seisen University in 2026, spanning 24 pages. Written in Japanese, it is accessible to those who can read the language or utilize translation tools. It does not claim to be a definitive proof of the meeting’s outcome but rather a probable reconstruction of the sensory and intellectual conditions that made the later discovery possible.

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Related articles on Nanban.pt

• Francis Xavier and the Jesuit Mission in Japan
• The Portuguese in Yamaguchi
• The Chronicler: Luís Fróis and the 34-Year Report
• An Offering Refused: Buddhism, Kami, and Christianity in Japan, 1500–1700
• Brother Lourenço of Hirado: The Blind Minstrel Who Built a Church

Reviewed by Nanban.pt editorial, 2026-10-07.

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