17th century in Japan

1603–1868 Japanese military government

period of Japanese history from 1600 to 1868, during the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate

final phase of the Sengoku period of Japanese history (1568-1600)

period in Japanese history

collection of laws issued by Japan's Tokugawa shogunate

The Japanese term , from Portuguese cristão (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.

thumb|The were a group that dressed in a peculiar style and spoke in a vernacular which matched their often outrageous behaviour. or were gangs of samurai in feudal Japan. First appearing in the Azuchi–Momoyama period (between the end of the Muromachi period in 1573 and the beginning of the Edo period in 1603) as the turbulent Sengoku period drew to a close, were either , wandering samurai, or men who had once worked for samurai families who, during times of peace, formed street gangs. Some, however, were also members of more prominent clans—most notably Oda Nobunaga and Maeda Toshiie.

thumb|Illustration of ana-tsurushi. thumb|Martyrdom of Paul Miki and Companions in Nagasaki with hole hanging

Catholic missionaries and followers executed in Japan during the 17th century

Christian missionaries who were martyred in Japan