It’s interesting… I don’t think I have ever heard this policy called “religious persecution” outright. I never quite thought of it that way, but I guess you’re right. Being Christian was punishable by death, and by some fairly gruesome methods too.

But you point out very accurately that this was not solely, or even primarily about religion. It’s not a matter of a Buddhist nation saying, “your religion is wrong, and we won’t tolerate it.” Rather, it has to do with maintaining social order, keeping the peace, and expelling those who are causing trouble. Christian missionaries in early 17th century Japan continued to bring their Catholic-Protestant war with them, and continued to threaten the social order. Most Japanese Christians converted by the missionaries were in the far south (Kyushu), in the domains most semi-independent and least loyal to the shogunate. So the notion of worrying about whether Christians would be more loyal to Jesus than to the Shogun was a fairly valid one, I would say.

When I think of “religious persecution”, I think of people being persecuted solely on the basis of their beliefs, solely because the majority believe something different and believe that this group is wrong. I think of people being accused of poisoning the wells, conspiring to control the economy and/or take over the world, any number of other totally bogus accusations that serve as basis for persecution. But when you consider the violence the Christians brought to Japan, the threat they posed to the social order, the complete and utter lack of respect they had for the native religions and culture… well, it is really all that inappropriate or surprising that they should be kicked out until they learn to behave themselves better?