Francis Xavier, later venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Spanish missionary that spread Christianity to Japan. He was born in the town of Xavier in present-day Spain and lead extensive missions into Asia.

In 1547, Francis met a Japanese man named Anjiro who was charged with murder which lead him to flee Japan. Anjiro taught Francis about Japanese culture which made the mission much easier. Xavier reached Japan in 1549 along with three other Jesuits guided by Anjiro, but was only allowed to enter a month later the same year. He was received in a friendly manner by the daimyo of Satsuma but on the following year the daimyo forbade the conversion of his subjects to Christianity under a death penalty.

Francis brought with him Christian paintings which he used to preach despite the large language barrier as Japanese was more different from Spanish than anywhere else he preached. In late 1550, he tried to visit the Emperor from Yamaguchi but failed. When he returned to Yamaguchi, the daimyo there allowed him to preach.

In 1552, Francis died from a fever at Shangchuan island while waiting for a boat to take him to the mainland.