Amakusa

Amakusa is a group of islands off western Kyushu, separated from the Shimabara Peninsula by narrow seas. Christianity spread among its communities in the sixteenth century, before the shogunate prohibited the faith. In 1637, heavy burdens and persecution helped provoke an uprising in Amakusa and Shimabara. Under Amakusa Tokisada, rebels crossed to the peninsula and held Hara Castle against shogunal forces until their defeat in 1638.