Ana-tsurushi (穴吊るし, lit. "hole hanging"), also known simply as tsurushi (吊るし, lit. "hanging"), was a Japanese torture technique used in the 17th century to coerce Christians ("Kirishitan") to recant their faith.[1] The victim was hung head-down by the feet.[1] Both Japanese and Western Christians are known to have been subjected to the torture.[1] One of the victim's hands would be held tight with a rope, but the other would be left free so that he could signal his willingness to recant.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Tsurushi.jpg/220px-Tsurushi.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Martyrdom-of-Paul-Miki-and-Companions-in-Nagasaki-%28made-c1635%29.png/220px-Martyrdom-of-Paul-Miki-and-Companions-in-Nagasaki-%28made-c1635%29.png)
The technique was said to be unbearable for those submitted to it, though some particularly resilient martyrs like Lorenzo Ruiz never broke under torture. The body was often lowered into a hole, itself often filled with excrement at the bottom.[1] Typically, a cut would be made in the forehead around their temples in order to let blood pressure decrease in the area around the head.[1] The aim was to "break their resolve" to renounce their faith or they would eventually die.[1] Sometimes there was a doctor to resuscitate them only to be tortured again.[1] An estimated 2,000 Christians died as martyrs.[1] Christians were let go after apostatizing, and in this way the Shogunate practically purged Christianity from Japan.[1]
A notable victim of this method of torture was Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino martyr to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Ana-tsurushi was made famous in the novel Silence by Shusaku Endo, where it is referred to as "anazuri".[2]
References
- Boxer, C.R. The Christian Century in Japan, 1549–1650. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1951. ISBN 1-85754-035-2 (1993 reprint edition).