Extract the answer to the question from the following context. Question: When did Xavier first spread Christianity to Japan? Context: Historian H. Paul Varley notes the description of Japan given by Jesuit leader St. Francis Xavier (15061552): "There is no nation in the world which fears death less." Xavier further describes the honour and manners of the people: "I fancy that there are no people in the world more punctilious about their honour than the Japanese, for they will not put up with a single insult or even a word spoken in anger." Xavier spent the years 15491551 converting Japanese to Christianity. He also observed: "The Japanese are much braver and more warlike than the people of China, Korea, Ternate and all of the other nations around the Philippines."
A:
1549