Junkyosha

[Machine Translation] In the early Edo period (1603-1868), when the Christian persecution intensified, Peter Kibe Kasui, born in Oita to Christian parents, set out for Jerusalem. He was hired by a merchant as a camel-drawn wagon to traverse the desert. It was a journey of pilgrimage to lands associated with the Bible in order to experience the miracles of Jesus. After five years, Peter finally arrived in Rome and became a Jesuit priest. He then boarded a ship bound for Japan, where the danger of death awaited him as he embarked on his missionary journey. This is a magnificent story that depicts the life of a true martyr and approaches the innermost depths of faith. The author's life's work, a newly written novel that has been 30 years in the making.

キリシタン迫害が激化する江戸初期、大分でキリシタンの両親のもとに生まれたペトロ岐部カスイは、エルサレムを目指す。ある時は水夫として海を往き、またある時は駱駝曳きとして隊商に雇われ砂漠を踏破する。それはイエスの奇跡を実感するため、聖書ゆかりの土地を巡礼する旅であった。五年をかけて、ペトロ岐部はついにローマに辿り着き、イエズス会の司祭となる。そして、宣教のため、死の危険が待つ日本を目指し船に乗った。真の殉教者の生涯を描き、信仰の最奥に迫る壮大な物語。構想三〇年、著者のライフワーク書き下ろし小説。