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Jan Iwanaga
BlessedResearched
Feast: 10 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1550
Died
1619
Beatified
7 July 1867
by Pius IX
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
John Iwanaga was one of the ten companions of Blessed Thomas Koteda Kiuni, beheaded at Nagasaki out of hatred for the faith on the order of the governor Gonzuku; the Church remembers them on 27 November.
He is one of the 205 martyrs killed in Japan for the Catholic faith between 1617 and 1632 whom Pius IX declared Blessed on 7 July 1867.
The miracles
In 1867 Pius IX approved four signs in the cause of the 205 martyrs of Japan; the source does not describe them.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Japanese layman beheaded for the faith at Nagasaki.
Sources
- Conferenza Episcopale Italiana - Santo del giorno, 27 novembre (Martirologio Romano)
- Acta Sanctae Sedis 2 (1867), pp. 478-481 and 638-641 - decrees of Pius IX on the 205 martyrs of Japan (1617-1632)
- Directorio Franciscano (Franciscan Order, Spain) - Beatos Ricardo de Santa Ana y compañeros, mártires de Japón (beatification of the 205 on 7 July 1867)
- Wikidata Q24953303 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.