Trivia
- The name "Hidden" for the secretly held religious system of belief probably comes from the title that Christians once held in feudal Japan, "Kakureta Kirishitan," literally "Hidden Christians." First Catholics and soon Protestants as well were persecuted by the Tokugawa family after the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Catholics were treated much more brutally, and were publicly executed. Thus, many devout believers concealed their faiths and became "Hidden."
- The three religions in the novel are very similar to three actual religions: the "Hidden" are similar to Christians (although actual Christians do appear later on in the series), those who worship "the enlightened one" follow similar beliefs to Buddhists, and those who believe in the spirits of nature are Shinto (Japan's native religion).
- Takeo's real name, "Tomasu" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Christian name "Thomas", as the name of Hidden outcast Jo-An could be perceived as a variation of "John". Tomasu's sister, Madaren, is the Japanese version of Madeline, and his other sister, Maruta, could be a version of "Martha". Japanese Christians in the feudal era took Japanized Christian names.
- All of the titles follow the Japanese poetic style (haiku and waka) of 5 and 7 syllables.
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