Kacper Koteda
Feast: 10 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Gaspar Koteda, a catechist, was beheaded at Nagasaki with the boys Francis Takeya and Peter Shichiemon, the day after their fathers had been martyred. The Holy See names him among the martyrs descended from the royal houses of Bungo, Arima and Hirado, with his aunt Blessed Apollonia.
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 catechist of royal descent beheaded for the faith.
- Conferenza Episcopale Italiana - Santo del giorno, 11 settembre (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 Q24953079 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.