1 6 1 5 , ▁Tok ug awa ▁H id et ada ▁turned ▁his ▁attention ▁to ▁the ▁sole ▁remaining ▁cred ible ▁challenge ▁to ▁Tok ug awa ▁supre m acy . ▁Relig ious ▁challeng es ▁to ▁central ▁authority ▁were ▁taken ▁seriously ▁by ▁the ▁b ak uf u ▁as ▁ecc les iast ical ▁challeng es ▁by ▁armed ▁Buddh ist ▁mon ks ▁were ▁common ▁during ▁the ▁s eng oku ▁period . ▁The ▁Em press ▁Me ish ō ▁( 1 6 2 4 – 9 6 ) ▁also ▁had ▁grave ▁doub ts ▁when ▁she ▁heard ▁about ▁how ▁the ▁Spanish ▁and ▁Portuguese ▁were ▁sett ling ▁in ▁the ▁New ▁World , ▁and ▁thought ▁that ▁Japan ▁would ▁soon ▁become ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁many ▁countries ▁in ▁their ▁possession . ▁ ▁Protest ant ▁English ▁and ▁Dutch ▁trad ers ▁rein for ced ▁this ▁per ception ▁by ▁acc using ▁the ▁Spanish ▁and ▁Portuguese ▁mission aries ▁of ▁spread ing ▁the ▁religion ▁system atically , ▁as ▁part ▁of ▁a ▁claimed ▁policy ▁of ▁cult ur ally ▁domin ating ▁and ▁colon izing ▁Asian ▁countries . ▁The ▁Dutch ▁and ▁English ▁were ▁generally ▁seen ▁by ▁the ▁Japanese ▁to ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁separate ▁religion ▁and ▁trade , ▁while ▁their ▁I ber ian ▁counter parts ▁were ▁looked ▁upon ▁with ▁much ▁susp icion . ▁The ▁Dutch , ▁eager ▁to ▁take ▁over ▁trade ▁from ▁the ▁Spanish ▁and ▁Portuguese , ▁had ▁no ▁problems ▁rein for cing ▁this ▁view . ▁The ▁number ▁of ▁Christians ▁in ▁Japan ▁had ▁been ▁stead ily ▁rising ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁efforts ▁of ▁mission aries , ▁such ▁as ▁Francis ▁X avier ▁and ▁da