Saisho Atsutomo
Christian samurai and martyr
Who they were
Leo Saisho Shichiemon Atsutomo was a high-ranking Japanese samurai of the diocese of Funai who was baptised on 22 July 1608 by the future martyr Father Jacinto Orfanell, a Dominican, and at once joined the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. When his feudal lord repeatedly tried to force him to blaspheme, Leo resisted with calm firmness and was condemned to death.
He went to his execution having handed over his weapons and dressed in ceremonial robes, knelt on a straw mat before a small image of the Deposition which he then placed on his chest, and told his beads with his right hand as he was beheaded on 17 November 1608, three and a half months after his baptism, at the crossroads he had himself asked for, as a sign of the Cross of Christ. Bishop Luis Cerqueira wrote to Pope Paul V that Leo "was ready to die rather than cease being a Christian" and that his death, met "with such assurance and joy," was something never before seen in that kingdom. He was beatified on 24 November 2008 with 187 other Japanese martyrs.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
Japanese samurai baptised shortly before his martyrdom, beheaded for refusing to renounce Christianity; beatified 24 November 2008 with 187 Japanese martyrs.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Santi, beati e testimoni (santiebeati.it) - Beato Leone Saisho Shichiemon Atsutomo, by Emilia Flocchini
- Wikidata Q11596264 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.