The Golden Country

by Shūsaku Endō, Francis Mathy (Translator)

The events described in this exciting and provocative three-act play, a companion piece to Endo's highly acclaimed novel Silence, take place in 1633, nearly a hundred years after Christianity was introduced into Japan. By this time, Japanese Christians were being cruelly persecuted by the government; every Christian searched out was made to apostatize or suffer a slow, agonizing death.

The central character of The Golden Country is Father Christopher Ferreira, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary. Given shelter by a Christian farming community, everyone looks to him for help, including one of his chief persecutors. When, after cruel torture, Father Ferriera apostatizes to the disbelief of his Japanese converts, the play reaches a climax that is later capped only by the courage, nobility and love of the martyrs. Father Francis Mathy's detailed introduction to this tightly constructed drama, which poses basic questions about the meaning of faith, love and fate, provides valuable historical background.

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Japanese Literature, Historical Fiction, Plays, Drama, Theatre

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Shusaku Endo (遠藤周作), born in Tokyo in 1923, was raised by his mother and an aunt in Kobe where he converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of eleven. At Tokyo's Keio University he majored in French literature, graduating BA in 1949, before furthering his studies in French Catholic literature at the University of Lyon in France between 1950 and 1953. A major theme running through his books, which have been translated into many languages, including English, French, Russian and Swedish, is the failure of Japanese soil to nurture the growth of Christianity. Before his death in 1996, Endo was the recipient of a number of outstanding Japanese literary awards: the Akutagawa Prize, Mainichi Cultural Prize, Shincho Prize, and Tanizaki Prize.
(from the backcover of Volcano).

Reviews

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is a retelling of the novel Silence. I felt that it shed another angle on the story and for that reason alone was very worth reading. The ending moved me to tears. Full review: Shūsaku Endō’s The Golden Country – More Reflections on Silence

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Shusaku Endo’s novel “The Sea and Poison” and this was my second encounter with him, as a play, and I found it manageably readable because I rarely read plays and it is quite impossible to compare reading the novel with the play. I think the play has primarily been written for actors to perform on the stage so that its audiences can appreciate it as a performing art in which they can experience all effects involved there, that is, its lights, colors, sounds, discourses, emotions, etc. Thus, reading this play would be essentially secondary due to its limited function or purpose of the author. However, its readers advised to read its companion novel “Silence” should understand more on the 1633 ruthless events as described in this play (back cover).

From this play, I first found these two new terms used in calling Japan interesting; the first being “golden country” (p. 24, passim) and the second “mudswamp” (p. 69, passim). One of the reasons is that I have never read or found them before in any short story, novel, tale, etc. translated from Japanese. Figuratively exemplified, the terms having marvelously been revealed Endo’s literary expertise might amaze his readers with different effects. As for the first, Hirata says, “ ... They have come to us in pursuit of a vision, in search of a golden country.” (p. 24) and in Act 2, Scene 2 Tomonaga talks about "the golden country" first mentioned by St. Francis Xavier while Inoue doesn't agree with the term (p. 64) and later he argues, “Inoue-dono, you said just now that the seed would not grow, in this mudswamp called Japan... But I, just like the Fathers, believe that Japan is the golden country.” (p. 69) These denote Hirata’s and Tomonaga's admirable, optimistic attitude in contrast with Inoue's contemptuous, pessimistic attitude toward the country.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endo's novel Silence stands as one of the most powerful works I've read over the last few years. After my third read (in preparation for Martin Scorsese's upcoming film adaptation) I stumbled upon The Golden Country. To be fair, Endo isn't a playwright by trade. This is most apparent during the first two acts. Nonetheless, acts three and four stand as a full and complicated picture of both Father Ferreira and Inoue's relationships with Christianity and Japan. The play offers some insight into the inner struggles of Inoue, showing a side of him only barely glimpsed in Silence. I highly suggest it, though only after reading Silence.

[Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and powerful companion piece to Shusaku Endo's masterpiece Silence filled, just as Silence was, with challenging ideas and deep wrestlings with the intricacies and the mystery of the nature of true faith, true love, and Christ's mercy. Easy to read but, emotionally challenging.

[WTD JR · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was like two different books or plays. The first part was ponderous to read. Dialogue was slow or trite and character development thin. The second part was very well crafted and around page 63 it gets interesting.

The book is about a priest- Father Christopher Ferreira, who goes to Japan to proselytize and is eventually given the chance to become a martyr or apostate.

Up until page 63 you get a sense of the cultural issues in converting Japanese to Catholicism. But from this page on, everything is laid bare. The author opines on the Japanese culture and Faith. A Japanese character- Inoue, claims that Japan is a mudswamp and true conversion is not possible. From there, we are shown why Inoue believes this- mostly through his own words.

An interesting component of the play is the self-exploration it induces. The good Father is forced to confront his inner strength and conviction as he is tortured. The author does a good job of putting this into perspective. It plays out as we read how various characters respond to this same trial.

Overall, it's a great play about man versus himself, his demons, his strength and the power of darkness. I was at first lulled into sleep but in the end I was left deep in thought.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout history, authors and playwrights have regularly teased out plots that explored the philosophical intricacies and emotional complexities of warfare, romance, political intrigues, espionage, and betrayal. Everyone from Shakespeare to Stephen King have been able to evoke complex characters who commit atrocities and wonder at their own complicated reasoning and fatalistic actions and consequences. There has been a dearth, in my experience, of martyr fiction. For a Christian, or anyone who has contemplated dying for an ideal without putting up a fight, this subject is one of the most thoroughly complex and untapped experiences common throughout human history. For as long as humanity has been fighting wars, they have been persecuting one another. We talk often of the complexities of racial, gender, nationalistic, and every other type of persecution that happens in our society. We often talk about the religious zeal of persecutors. We occasionally talk about people being persecuted for their beliefs in political or cultural ideals, but we never explore the complex position of those persecuted for faith in a God. We have been missing something instructive and core to our understanding.

In 17th century Japan, Christianity became illegal after a century of booming growth through Jesuit missionary efforts. As the last pockets of secret Christian devotees are weeded out and tortured to death or forced to recant, the leaders of the bureau for investigating Christians are eagerly searching out the last long-standing foreign missionary in Japan, Father Ferrara. A cast of wide ranging types are developed on the side of the Christian farmers hiding Father Ferrara and on the side of the inquisitors, showing a variety of motivations for those who wish to destroy the Christians and those who wish to keep their faith at all costs. When put to the final test, each must search his own soul to understand the questions of Christ’s character, God’s desire for his church when death and apostasy are on the line, and, most of all, His insistent silence in the face of His church being tortured and executed.

Endo was obsessed with the divide between his native cultural mindset and the religion he followed which was adopted from such a different worldview. In his mind, like that of his chief inquisitor in The Golden Country, the Japanese mindset seemed so poorly adapted to comprehend Christianity to its core that the task of converting the Japanese was an exercise in futility. While there is a lot to explore in terms of what commercial endeavors, imperialism, and manifest destiny might have muddied in the cross-cultural reception of the Christian religion, the most fascinating elements here are the personal motivations and complex philosophies of the characters on each side of the problem.

Christians don’t typically lean into the horror genre. For anyone attempting to make a serious commitment to God in their own heart, the concepts Endo leans into with such unflinching brutality will be more shocking and terrifying and necessary to explore than anything a horror novel makes available.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Golden Country is the prequel to Shusaku Endo's masterful novel Silence. It basically has the same plot, same tone, and same message, to the point of whole chunks of dialogue being lifted from Silence. A Portuguese Catholic priest lives in hiding in Japan, during an era where Christianity is criminalised. He administers the sacraments to Japanese Christians in secret, knowing that if they are discovered they could be executed or worse. As the tragedy unfolds, questions of faith, suffering, idolatry, colonialism, and secularism echo throughout.

So what separates Silence from The Golden Country?

Firstly, form. Silence is a novel, The Golden Country is a play. Secondly, while Silence focused on the perspective of the European priests, this play places greater emphasis on the Japanese Christians and their experiences. You also come away from the play with a deeper understanding of the novel's villains (Inoue and Ferreira), as their motivations and reasons for being are central to the story.

This beggars the question; which is better? That's a difficult question, as they are both so similar, and both so good. The format of The Golden Country makes it easier to devour, but also limits the potential for introspection and streams of consciousness that made the novel such an experience. They're both stellar reads, and while I don't think you need to read both, you definitely need to read one before you die.

[Rania · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Can only be appreciated if preceded by reading Silence. The play is more painful to read because it is more condensed and does not have all the details in the novel. It focuses only on Ferreira and Innoue as the main conflicting ideologies. The play itself does not have the strong form of the great plays but it makes up for it by not being a long one.

[Kathy Dough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golden Country

This play by Shusaku Endo, tells of the Christian martyrs in Japan in the 16th century. It's the first time I've ever heard of it and found it to be both interesting and horrifying at the same time.

[Naira · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Even though my lips frame a reply to their doubts, my heart no longer assents."
"Why do you remain silent? You are always still."

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is a companion piece to the novel Silence, a prequel in fact. The quality is a mixed bag but it offers decent insight into characters such as Inoue and Ferreira. 3.5 stars.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Golden Country is the better Silence. Both books explore similar themes, although this one is much shorter and has a different format, as it's based on a play. As for the themes, there is Gods (supposed) silence in the face of suffering, the question of whether Christianity can take roots in Japan, and whether Gods mercy extends to those who commit formal apostasy, and in fact whether He could demand, in His mercy, that one commits formal apostasy. Here, he explores them more efficiently.

The Golden Country is more hopeful, in my opinion. One of my main problems with Silence was that it portrayed martyrdom cynically, but there is none of that here. While Father Ferriera apostatizes, plenty of Japanese don't. There is even a young couple, a Christian girl and her lover, a soldier, who are initially about to be torn apart by their religious differences. In the end, he converts and they are executed together. So in one sideplot, love and faith both prevail, which gladdens me as a Christian and as a romantic.

I was impressed with the portrayal of Ieyasu. Shūsaku Endō shows the Japanese Judas in a tragic light, a persecutor who wants to fail and be proven wrong by his victims. In the end, it is his success at forcing Father Ferriera to apostatize that makes him despair. Shūsaku Endō took a few artistic liberties with both Ieyasu and Father Ferriera, but they serve the story well.

I do want to point out, after all this, that Silence is still a deeply atmospheric book with a very interesting narrative structure, and Golden Country won't give you the same experience.