Page "Kirishitan" Paragraph 23

The Jesuits in Japan had to maintain economic self-sufficiency because they could not expect stable and sufficient payment from their patron, the King of Portugal, the king allowing the Jesuits to engage in trade with Japan.

Such economic activity can be found in the work of Francis Xavier, the pioneer of Catholic missions in Japan, who covered the cost of missionary work through merchant trading.

From the 1550s to the 1570s, the Jesuits covered all necessary expenses with trade profits and bought land in India.