17th-century 17th-century-japan acceptance adaptation alienation ambiguity ambivalence 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 confession 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 determination doubt duality east-asia east-meets-west east-west east-west-relations eastern-culture eastern-philosophy eastern-spirituality eastern-vs-western endurance ethics evangelism existentialism exploration exploration-of-faith exploration-of-human-suffering exploration-of-morality faith faith-and-doubt faith-crisis faith-struggle faithfulness fiction forbidden forbidden-love foreigner forgiveness god guilt hidden-christians historical historical-context historical-fiction historical-novel history human-frailty human-nature human-suffering humanity identity identity-crisis inner-conflict inner-struggle inner-turmoil inquisition intercultural-communication internal-conflict internal-struggle introspection isolation japan japan-christianity 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 psychological psychological-exploration questioning questioning-a-spiritual-path reconciliation redemption religion religion-and-society religion-and-spirituality religious religious-ambiguity religious-apostasy religious-belief religious-beliefs religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-crisis 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-sacrifice shame shusaku-endo silence silence-and-solitude silence-as-a-theme silence-of-god silence-speaks sin spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spiritual-struggle spirituality spirituality. struggle suffering survival temptation the-inquisition theological-debate theological-exploration theology tradition truth western-influence western-influences