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Kichijiro is Rodrigues’s “Judas,” the man who constantly betrays Rodrigues yet wants to be forgiven. He is the foil to Rodrigues’s character and is instrumental in helping Rodrigues understand Christ’s mission. Rodrigues hires Kichijiro, who is often drunk, after he finds him wandering the streets of Macao. When Rodrigues questions whether Kichijiro is a Christian after hearing him mutter a Latin prayer, Kichijiro remains silent, but his secret is eventually revealed—he is a Christian and witnessed his family’s torture at the hands of the Japanese government’s brutal persecution of Christian peasants. Kichijiro, a broken man, apostatized to save himself from torture.

Kichijiro gains a fair degree of celebrity for bringing Rodrigues to his town, where the people have longed for a priest to come. Both Kichijiro and Rodrigues like attention from others and would like to feel the glory of being their peers’ “hero.” Kichijiro falters several times, betraying Rodrigues over and over by turning him into the authorities. Yet Kichijiro won’t leave Rodrigues’s side. He says that God made him weak, and he asks for Rodrigues’s pardon. Kichijiro shows that he is still a Christian in his heart since he is remorseful for his sins and won’t leave Rodrigues’s side. Kichijiro’s persistent beleaguering helps Rodrigues understand why Christ encouraged Judas’s betrayal of him so that he could fulfill his purpose of teaching about redemption and forgiveness.

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