17th-century 17th-century-japan 17th-century-literature acceptance adaptation alienation ambiguity apostasy belief belief-system betrayal buddhism catholic-church catholicism christian christian-faith christian-fiction christian-literature christian-martyrdom christian-missionaries christian-persecution christian-theology christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism colonization conflict conflicted-faith conscience conversion convert cross-cultural cruelty cultural-adaptation cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-clashes cultural-conflict cultural-identity cultural-imperialism cultural-relativism culture culture-clash desperation determination doubt dualities east-asia east-meets-west east-west-encounter east-west-relations eastern-culture eastern-philosophy eastern-spirituality eastern-vs-western endurance ethics evangelism existentialism exploration exploration-of-faith faith faith-and-doubt faith-crisis faith-struggle faithfulness fiction forbidden foreigner forgiveness god guilt hidden-christians historical historical-context historical-drama historical-fiction historical-novel historical-perspective history human-frailty human-nature human-suffering humanity identity identity-crisis inner-conflict inner-conflicts inner-struggle inner-turmoil inquisition intercultural-communication internal-conflict internal-struggle introspection isolation japan japan-history japanese-culture japanese-history japanese-literature japans-hidden-christians jesuit jesuit-missionaries jesuit-priest jesuit-priests jesuits journey literary-fiction literature love loyalty martyrdom mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-ambiguity moral-conflict moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas moral-struggle morality nagasaki novel novels-set-in-japan oppression persecution personal-sacrifice personal-struggle portuguese portuguese-missionaries priests psychoanalysis psychological psychological-exploration questioning questioning-a-spiritual-path reconciliation redemption religion religion-and-society religion-and-spirituality religious religious-ambiguity religious-belief religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-doub religious-doubt religious-duty religious-exploration religious-faith religious-fanaticism religious-fervor religious-fiction religious-freedom religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-introspection religious-oppression religious-persecution religious-syncretism religious-tolerance resilience resistance sacrifice salvation samurai secrecy self-discovery self-reflection self-sacrifice shame shusaku-endo silence silence-as-a-theme silence-of-god silence-speaks sin spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spirituality struggle suffering survival temptation the-inquisition theological-exploration theology tradition transcendence trial truth ultracrepidarianism western-influence western-influences