Anjirō

Anjirō (アンジロー) or Yajirō (弥次郎, ヤジロウ), baptized as Paulo de Santa Fé, was the first recorded Japanese Christian. After committing a murder in his home domain of Satsuma in southern Kyushu, he fled to Portuguese Malacca and he sought out Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552) and returned to Japan with him as an interpreter. Along with Xavier, Anjirō returned to Japan with two other Jesuits, two Japanese companions, and a Chinese companion who had been baptized to Catholicism to form the first Jesuit mission to Japan.

Life

Meeting Xavier

Anjirō was originally a samurai of the Satsuma Domain, and was described to be "rich and of a noble extraction", but he killed a man and was forced to go on the run. In the port of Kagoshima, he met the Portuguese captain of a trading ship, Alvaro Vas, to whom he confessed his deed and described his hardships as an outlaw. Vas got him a job on a Portuguese ship, but Anjirō reported to the wrong ship and presented himself to Captain Jorge Álvares, a personal friend of Francis Xavier. Álvares took him to Malacca to see Xavier, since he felt Xavier was better suited to hear Anjirō's confession. Upon their arrival, however, they had discovered that Xavier had departed for the Moluccas. Disappointed, Anjirō boarded a ship that would take him back to Japan, but it encountered a storm and had to take shelter on the Chinese coast. There he met yet another Portuguese captain, who informed him that Xavier had returned to Malacca. This captain took Anjirō back to Malacca, where he finally met Xavier in December 1547.

Anjir

Anjir is a village in Afghanistan, about seven miles south of Chayab. At the turn of the 20th century, there were roughly 40 families there. There are roads there leading to Yang Kala by the Anjirak Pass, as well as another road to Daung and Ragh.

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