Apuntes del antiguo Japón en los documentos jesuitas de los siglos XVI y XVII

For almost a century (1549-1639), members of the Society of Jesus tried to evangelize Japan. From this contact between the Jesuits and the Japanese, the European religious produced a multitude of writings about the Japanese culture, traditions and people. The present article analyses the references to the ancient history of Japan that can be found in the documents produced by this religious order, as they constitute the first information about the Japanese past that was disseminated throughout Europe. In addition, the Jesuits studied with great detail and precision the main events that shaped Japan prior to their arrival, so their review have a great value to those who are interested in Japanese history.