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The 26 Martyrs of Japan is a 1931 film released in Japan based on the martyrdom of twenty-six Catholic priests and layman in 1597. This silent film was produced by Seiju Hirayama, a Catholic landowner in Japanese-occupied Korea, who invested a huge amount of his personal fortune in producing this work, which was open to the public. Although it is a commercial film, it was produced under Hirayama's initiative with the cooperation of many people involved in the Catholic Church. It was the first full-fledged narrative film produced by the Catholic Church in Japan, which was in the process of becoming independent from the leadership of foreign missionaries during this period.