Japanese Naturally...
By Mizue Sasaki
血も涙もない
（長崎で）
ガイド：豊臣秀吉は26人のキリシタンの耳を切った上、はだしで大阪から長崎まで歩かせ、十字架にかけて殺したそうです。
客：なんて恐ろしい。秀吉という人は血も涙もないのでしょうか。
Chi mo Namida mo Nai
(Nagasaki de)
Gaido: Toyotomi Hideyoshi wa 26 nin no kirishitan no mimi wo feitta ue, hadashi de Osafea feara Nagasaki made arukase, jujika ni kakete koroshita so desu.
Kyaku: Nan te osoroshii. Hideyoshi to iu hito wa chi mo namida mo nai no deshoo ka.
(In Nagasaki)
Guide: It's said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi cut off the ears of 26 Christians, forced them to march barefoot from Osaka to Nagasaki and then crucified them.
Visitor: How terrible. Was Hideyoshi really such a cold-blooded person?
* * *
Chi mo namida mo nai means to be heartless, cruel and callous; to have no heart, to be unfeeling and devoid of affection.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the most powerful political and military leader of the 16th century. Hideyoshi, unlike Oda Nobunaga before him who had allowed Christianity to grow, chose to persecute believers of the foreign religion. Among the 26 mentioned above was a 12-year-old. Yoku, sonna chi mo namida mo nai koi ga deki mashita ne (I wonder how he could get away with such heartless and cruel behavior). This was in December of 1596. It must have been awful to have to walk barefooted, their hands were bound as well, all the way from Osaka to Nagasaki. Perhaps their faith gave them the courage and strength to survive.
A historian friend says, "Rare ga chi mo namida mo nai to iu no wa machigai desu (It's not right to say that he was heartless and cruel). He had his reasons for killing the Christians. He believed that Spain, after sending missionaries and increasing the number of believers in Japan, was planning the conquest of the country. Believing this, chi mo namida mo nai koi wo sezaru wo enakatta (he had no choice but to act in such heartless and cruel ways)." My friend was probably right. In the 16th century, Japan lagged behind Spain and Portugal in terms of modern technology. We may have Hideyoshi's policy to thank for the fact that Japan was not occupied by another country. Even so, Christianity survived. I suspect this has something to do with what the religion teaches.
Looking at the news recently I saw that a Chinese woman, who had escaped to Japan after being marked by the Chinese government in connection with the Tianamen Square pro-democracy movement was sent back to China where she was then put in jail.
While in Japan she had pleaded, "I'm not an illegal alien. I'm a political exile," The Japanese govern- ment still sent her back to China. On the television her mother was crying: "Ninon no seifu wa chi mo namida mo nai no desu ka. (Does the Japanese government have no heart, no feelings?)" They say she won't be able to see her daughter for at least 10 years. If the Japanese government sent her back knowing that she would be placed in prison, I don't see how one can avoid saying what it did was cold-hearted and callous (chi mo namida mo nai yarikata).
It is difficult for humans to sit in judgment of one another. Blood and tears-feeling, heart, emotion - are what we need.