Photo/Illutration The word “Escencia” is written on the base of the vase. It means “fragrant oil.” (Provided by the Nagasaki prefectural government)

NAGASAKI--A relic from the time of “hidden Christians” in Japan centuries ago is causing a stir here after the family that handed it down over generations allowed the artifact to be examined.

The item is a simple vase. But it is a word painted on the base that is causing a fuss. The word suggests the vase held fragrant oil used during Catholic Mass, and likely for a very important person.

The item is owned by a family that lives in the Sotome district, where Japanese Catholics were driven underground to avoid persecution during the Edo Period (1603-1867). Hidden Christians continued to practice their faith in secret at great cost to themselves.

The Nagasaki prefectural government speculated May 16 the vase might have been used in a ceremony for Konishi Yukinaga, a Christian feudal lord in the 16th century.

The prefectural government labeled the vase an important item, saying it offered an insight into how Christian churches in Japan operated as few records from the period survive.

The artifact is 25 centimeters tall and painted in three colors. It was made in China around 1600 and kept in a storage room.

As a “treasured item,” only the head of the household historically was allowed to view the vase, the owner said.

The vase was dubbed “Yokahito-sama” and used as an object to venerate when saying prayers.

Until now, it had not been known what the vase was for, the owner said.

While studying the vase, the prefectural government last year noticed that a foreign word, “Escencia,” is written in ink on the base.

The word means “fragrant oil.”

The prefectural government concluded the artefact was used for holy oil.

This suggests the vase featured in ceremonies such as consecration or celebration at Mass that only bishops are allowed to perform, prefectural government experts said.

Luis de Cerqueira was the bishop of Japan back then. He is said to have conducted a “confirmation” ceremony in the Amakusa Islands in 1599 to affirm Yukinaga’s religious faith

The bishop arrived in Nagasaki in 1598.

The vase was likely secretly moved somewhere after the Edo Shogunate banned Christianity in 1614, resulting in the expulsion of missionaries from Japan and the destruction of churches, said Yohei Kawaguchi, an official with the arts and culture division at the prefectural government who is also an archeologist.

He believes that Christians back then might have called the vase “Yokahito,” which means “good person,” to refer to the bishop, who presumably was the original owner of the vase.

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