The Portuguese Jesuit Joao Rodrigues wrote of the Japanese:
“They are so crafty in their hearts that nobody can understand them. Whence it is said that they have three hearts: a false one in their mouths for all the world to see, another within their breasts only for their friends, and the third in the depth of their hearts, reserved for themselves alone and never manifested to anybody.”
This seemed to be a common criticism among missionaries, who were often frustrated by Japanese manners. “They learn from childhood never to reveal their hearts,” tutted the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. “They regard this as prudent and the contrary as stupidity—so much so that people who lightly reveal their hearts are considered fools, and scornfully called single-hearted men.”
