17th-century 17th-century-japan acceptance adaptation advocacy alienation ambiguity ambivalence apostasy belief belief-system betrayal buddhism catholicism christian christian-faith christian-fiction christian-literature christian-missionaries christian-persecution christian-theology christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism colonization compromise conflict conflicting-beliefs conscience conversion convert cross-cultural cross-cultural-exchange cultural-adaptation cultural-appropriation cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-clashes cultural-conflict cultural-identity cultural-imperialism cultural-relativism culture culture-clash doubt drama east-asia east-meets-west east-west-encounter east-west-relations eastern-culture eastern-philosophy eastern-religion eastern-spirituality eastern-vs-western eastern-vs-western-religion endurance ethics exile existentialism exploration exploration-of-conscience exploration-of-faith faith faith-and-doubt faith-crisis faith-vs.-suffering faithfulness fiction forbidden foreigner foreigners forgiveness god guilt hidden-christians historical historical-context historical-fiction historical-novel history human-nature human-suffering humanity identity identity-crisis inner-conflict inner-struggle inner-turmoil inquisition intercultural-communication internal-conflict internal-struggle internal-struggles introspection isolation japan japan-history japanese-culture japanese-history japanese-literature japans-hidden-christians jesuit jesuit-mission jesuit-missionaries jesuit-priest jesuit-priests jesuits journey literary-fiction literature love loyalty martyrdom mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-ambiguity moral-dilemma moral-dilemma. moral-dilemmas moral-struggle morality nagasaki novel oppression persecution personal-sacrifice personal-struggle portuguese portuguese-missionaries pride priests psychological psychological-exploration psychological-exploration. questioning reconciliation redemption religion religion-and-society religion-and-spirituality religiosity religious religious-ambiguity religious-belief religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-crisis religious-doubt religious-exploration religious-faith religious-fanaticism religious-fervor religious-fiction religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-oppression religious-persecution religious-syncretism religious-tolerance renegade-priest resilience resistance sacrifice salvation samurai secrecy self-discovery self-sacrifice shame shusaku-endo silence silence-and-spirituality silence-as-a-theme silence-of-god silence-speaks sin spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spiritual-struggles spirituality struggle suffering survival temptation test-of-faith theological-exploration theology tokugawa-period tradition translation trial truth ultimate-sacrifice western-influence