The Japanese term Kirishitan (吉利支丹, 切支丹, キリシタン?), from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Modern Japanese has several ways of spelling Christian of which the most common are the noun form kirisuto kyoto キリスト教徒, and also kurisuchan クリスチャン. The Japanese spelling kirishitan キリシタン is used primarily in Japanese texts for the early history of Roman Catholicism in Japan, or in relation to kakure kirishitan, Hidden Christians. However English sources on histories of Japan generally use the term "Christian" without distinction.
Read more about Kirishitan: History, The Line of Demarcations Between Portugal and Spain, Propagation Strategy, Nature of Early Christian Community, Economic Activities, Military Activities, Early Policy Toward Catholicism, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and The Christian Daimyo, Expansion, Tokugawa Response, Christian View of Kirishitan History, Rediscovery and Return, Kirishitan Daimyo, Notable Kirishitans, In Popular Culture