A fumi-e (踏み絵, fumi "stepping-on" + e "picture") was a likeness of Jesus or Mary onto which the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan required suspected Christians to step, in order to demonstrate that they were not members of the outlawed religion; otherwise they would be tortured or killed.

Nov 24, 2019 · This practice of stepping on Christian images - known as fumie - was widespread in the city of Nagasaki in the 17th century. Nagasaki, an important port city, was first introduced to Christianity...

Mar 25, 2019 · Literally “stepping on picture” in Japanese, a fumie was a likeness of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary. Religious authorities from the Tokugawa shogunate required suspected Catholics to step on the images to demonstrate they weren’t part of now outlawed Faith. The usage of fumie began in 1629 when the persecution of Catholics began in Nagasaki.

…out by such means as fumi-e, in which one was made to trample on an image of Christ or the Virgin Mary. The system of registration at Buddhist temples was instituted: all Japanese were required to register as parishioners to a parent Buddhist temple, called a danna-dera (“family temple”), which…

Mar 8, 2018 · They instituted the ‘fumi-e’ system — public rituals on a regular basis where everyone was ordered to trample on ‘fumi-e’ which were Christian images usually made of bronze depicting Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary. This system, introduced in Nagasaki in 1629, continued until February 12, 1858.

Feb 15, 2017 · I first learned about fumi-e (“stepping-on pictures”) while reading about the history of Christian art in Japan. These objects are bronze likenesses of Jesus, sometimes shown together with his mother, Mary, that the religious authorities of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan required suspected Christians to step on in order to prove that they ...

Jan 31, 2020 · The image in the British Library was sold as a kami fumi-e, or paper image made to be trampled on, supposedly used in the systemic persecution of Christians stemming from Tokugawa Ieyasu’s 1614 anti-Christian edict.

Feb 15, 2017 · This painting by Keiga Kawahara, ca. 1826, shows an e-fumi (“picture stepping”) ceremony in Edo Japan, in which a man proves his aversion to Christianity by trampling an image of Christ. Location: National Library of the Netherlands.

The fumi-e or "pictures to be trampled" that survived are usually bronze or brass religious plaques that typically depict scenes related to the Virgin Mary or the Passion of Christ such as the Crucifixion and the Pietà. Christianity was banned in Japan between 1639 and 1873.

The bronze fumi-e in this floor was used by Japanese officials during the 18th century to bring believers to deny their faith in Christ. It was a form of psychological torture as profound as the physical torture undergone by those who refused.