Biography
Paul Ibaraki
About Paul Ibaraki
Paul Ibaraki was a lay catechist and interpreter for the Franciscans in Kyoto. Per Einar Odden describes his origins in an Owari samurai family and his baptism by Jesuits before becoming a Franciscan tertiary.
The same account remembers him supporting his family through a small sake brewery near the Franciscan community of Our Lady of the Angels. Despite limited means, he also helped people who were poorer. These details place his religious work alongside the practical responsibilities of earning a living and supporting a household. They do not establish an exact birth date or a complete chronology of his conversion.
He belonged to a family represented among the martyrs by more than one person. The Archdiocese of Tokyo identifies the young Louis Ibaraki as the nephew of Paul and Leo Karasumaru. Some later retellings confuse the relationships, so Louis should not simply be described as Paul’s son. Paul Ibaraki is also distinct from Paul Miki, the Jesuit preacher, and Paul Suzuki, another lay catechist remembered in the same group.
During the persecution ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the prisoners were publicly humiliated and taken from Kyoto toward Nagasaki. Matthew Bunson describes the long journey and the Christians who accompanied them. At its end, the condemned were bound to crosses and killed with spears. Paul’s story survives chiefly within this shared account, rather than through a substantial collection of his own writings.
The Japanese bishops record the execution at Nishizaka on February 5, 1597, and the group’s canonization on June 8, 1862. In Japan the Twenty-Six Martyrs are celebrated on February 5.
Their remembrance continues in parish life. Futamatagawa Church explicitly honors the Twenty-Six Martyrs as its patrons. Its March 2026 bulletin describes a candle procession held in falling snow, with participants carrying the names of individual martyrs. One participant represented Paul Ibaraki and reflected on keeping the light of faith alive. This documents his place within the parish’s collective patronage, rather than establishing a separate patronage of brewers or interpreters.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.