Luís Fróis

Luís Fróis (1532 – 8 July 1597) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and missionary who worked in Asia, most notably Japan, during the second half of the 16th century.

The priests who had been sent to make preparations for the christening were asleep when at midnight of the 24th, more than 200 persons (men, women and children) knocked at their door and declared that they wished to become Christians.

"Fróis became a priest and confessor in 1561 after completing his theological studies in Goa, where his talents for languages and writing were highly praised.

Fróis won Nobunaga's trust and was allowed to proselytise in the Kinai region, where he worked together with Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino and others, gaining a large number of followers.

After that, he was active in Kyushu, but in 1580, he accompanied the visitor Alessandro Valignano as an interpreter on his visit to Japan, and had an audience with Nobunaga at Azuchi Castle.

In 1583, he was ordered by the then Superior General to leave the front line of missionary work and devote himself to recording the activities of the Jesuits in Japan.

However, as Christian power grew, Hideyoshi became concerned by the attacks on Buddhism and Shintoism, as well as the slave trade of Japanese people.

Fróis witnessed firsthand the glory and tragedy, the progress and decline of Christian missionary work in Japan, and left behind valuable records of it.

A fictionalized version of Luís Fróis appears in the Capcom game Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams[7] and the Japanese light novel The Ambition of Oda Nobuna.

Historia de Iapam , manuscript page.
Plaque of Luís Fróis, Nagasaki - Japan