Headstone of Yajiro?

　　I entered the empty ruin which consisted of only the outer wall and the roof. Immediately I discovered a wire-netting box as you can see in the following picture. Apparently it was for the protection of the place where St. Francisco Xavier's body was laid for nine months in the 16th century. At the same time, it seemed to be used as a donation box. It had six slots for coins. Peeping into the place, lots of coins were scattered.
　　The ships in those days were driven by the wind and they weren't able to navigate to the west without the westward wind. The cargo ship to Goa, in which Xavier had wanted to rest eternally before his death, had to wait for the wind for nine months to take his body to Goa. Consequently, his body was preserved in the church. His body was not embalmed, but didn't go bad. It was a kind of miracle, and it was one of the reasons why he was canonized.
　　I want you to focus on the rectangular stone plates leaning against the wall in the first picture. They were headstones collected around Malacca and used to be placed on the ground. One of them caught my eye on which the Jolly Roger was drawn.
　　I wrote about a Japanese whose name was Yajiro in the previous entries. He had lived his mysterious life in the 16th century and he was able to freely move between Japan and Southeast Asian countries. As far as I had learned, he showed up on the stage of history as a pirate and was influenced by Xavier. On the other hand, Xavier was inspired to visit Japan by his decency. Then Yajiro followed Xavier to Japan as an interpreter and disappeared into history after Xavier's death. Some historians insist that he got back to being a pirate and died as a pirate.
　　The tour guide pointed at the lower part of the headstone, where I found the incomprehensible word of "JAPONENSIS". Was that Latin? Anyway, I didn't understand the word, but I assumed that the word meant "Japanese". Was that the headstone of Yajiro? The tour guide didn't answer clearly. Is this headstone the evidence insisting that Yajiro had lived his pirate life after Xavier's death? When I stood in front of the headstone, I was inclined to believe this common view.
　　After coming back to my hotel, I looked into the history or origin of Jolly Roger on the net. As far as my study went, the Jolly Roger was invented after Yajiro's era. That is to say, this headstone can't get Yajiro's seal of approval. Was that an item for Japanese tourists to have fun? I don't want to assume in that way, and there might have been another Japanese pirate in Malacca after the Jolly Roger was in use.
　　Who was Yajiro, and who drove St. Francisco Xavier to propagate Christianity across Japan? He's really a man of unfailing interest.

(Vocabulary)
Jolly Roger  どくろと長管骨２本で構成された海賊のマーク
be inclined to believe  信じても良いような気がする
That means their produce gets the organic seal of approval.
つまり彼らの農産物はオーガニックであるとのお墨付きを得るということです。
unfailing 〈援助・支持などが〉 変わらぬ
unfailing support  変わらぬ支持
—unfailingly [副]   変わることなく

マレーシア旅行記：　セントポール教会にて
　
屋根と外壁だけが残るがらんとした教会の廃墟の中へ入った。すぐに一枚目の写真に写っている金網の覆いに気がついた。囲われている場所の約１メートルほど下にザビエルの遺体が９ヶ月間安置されていたという。上から覗いてみることが出来た。
　
当時の船は帆船で、西向きの風を待たねばインドへ向かうことが出来ず、９ヶ月の風待ちのためこの場所に安置されていた。この９ヶ月間、そして今も、何の処理もせずに遺体は腐敗しなかったという。これがザビエルが聖人とされた奇跡の一つ。もう一つ、注意して見てほしいものが写真にある。壁に立てかけてある石板は、周辺から集められた墓標である。地面の上に仰向けに寝かせておくものらしい。その中の一枚に目が留まった。海賊のマークだ。
　
少し前の記事でヤジロウについて書いた。１６世紀に日本と東南アジアを自由に行き来できた日本人である。日本で調べた限りでは、海賊として歴史に登場し、ザビエルに感化され、またザビエルはヤジロウの人柄、学識に触れて日本にあこがれた。ヤジロウは通訳としてザビエルに同行し、ザビエル亡き後、歴史から消えた。再び海賊に戻り、海賊として亡くなったと書いている歴史家もいる。
　
この墓標の下の方には日本人と書いてあるようだ。多分ラテン語だと思うが読めないので確実ではないが、多分日本人と書いてある。ではこれはヤジロウか？ガイドはわからないと言っていた。通説となっている海賊として亡くなったという根拠がこの墓石なのだろうか、、、、
　
この夜、ホテルに戻ってJolly Rogerの歴史をネットで検索した。どうもこのマークは１６世紀には存在していなかったと思われた。ということはこの墓石をヤジロウとすることには無理がある。日本人観光客向けの偽の墓標？とは考えたくはないが、Jolly Rogerが使われ初めて以降に日本人の海賊が実際にいたのかも知れない。ザビエルを日本へ誘ったヤジロウはどんな人物だったのか、興味は尽きない。

Comments

[KUMO]

Yes, I think so!

[Magrat]

Also the skull and bones on the tombstone looks like a coat of arms. There was quite a lot of it in heraldry, long before pirates started using it for their flags.

[KUMO]

Thanks again.
The headstone isn't Yajiro's.

[Magrat]

I think not. This is what I could found in Wikipedia (not that I trust it too much): Peter Martinez consecrated as the second bishop of Japan in Goa, 1595 and arrived in Nagasaki, 1596. He left in 1597 following the deaths of the 26 Martyrs of Japan. Died en route to Goa in February 1598.
There is also some more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Oita

[KUMO]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you. I wonder if he, Dominus Petrus, is Japanese or not?