We will soon be listing a rare fumi-e, an antique Japanese icon with an unusual and disconcerting history. During a time of religious oppression in Japan, Christianity was illegal. Fumi-e (“stepping-on pictures”) were used by the Tokugawa shogunate as a test of allegiance: suspected Christians were ordered to trample an image of Christ or the Virgin Mary to prove they were not believers. Those who refused could face imprisonment, torture, exile, or death.
Because of their rarity and symbolism, they are sought after by collectors and museums. There are many categories of antiques and collectibles that shall remain nameless that we categorically will not deal in because we believe doing so is offensive and inappropriate. And so, keeping in mind the origin of the piece, we offer it with hesitation and a desire to show sensitivity to its meaning.
A fumi-e was an instrument of oppression—an object designed to limit religious freedom. Yet it maintains historical gravity. It tells a difficult story that deserves to be remembered rather than erased—especially within the history of Japan’s Kirishitan (“Hidden Christians”), whose communities preserved their faith under extraordinary pressure.
Fumi-e are also fascinating works of craftsmanship. Early versions began as painted or printed images; Fumi-e were in use from approximately the 1630s to the 1850 Japanese collections note the practice taking shape in the early Kan’ei era (1624–1643). But authorities soon shifted to other formats because repeated use quickly wore paper away. Today, surviving examples are “ita fumi-e,” cast metal relief plaques or medallions (often in bronze, copper or brass) mounted into thick wooden boards. Examples extant, while once possibly precisely cast and hand-finished, now exhibit a worn appearance and patina literally shaped by contact and time—an unsettling record of a policy carried out at the street level. The Tokyo National Museum describes a brass fumi-e cast in 1669 by Hagiwara Yūsuke for the Nagasaki magistrate’s office, emphasizing that these were officially commissioned objects, not folk curios.
Today, authentic fumi-e are valuable and sought after because they symbolize the intersection of art, state power, and the history of religious freedom. For some, they also stand as a reminder that faith can endure despite all odds.
To learn more about the fumi-e, see the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture exhibit notes on fumi-e and anti-Christian measures, the Tokyo National Museum collection and research pages, and Encyclopaedia Britannica’s overview of the policy context.