Popular image of students enrolled in Christian schools and the founding purpose of Christian schools – A study based on a survey of youth living in Tokyo/Kanagawa Prefectures

Abstract

Despite the popularity of Christian schools in Japan, Christians account for only 1.6% of the nation’s population. In the attempt to explore this inconsistency, we conducted an online survey in January 2020 to those between the ages of 15 and 29 living in Tokyo and Kanagawa. Our subjects include those who have enrolled in Christian schools, those who have some sort of affiliation, and those who do not have affiliation. We attempted to measure the difference in attitude by the degree of their affiliation. We focused on the notion of 'triple faith' which was proposed by Inoue and others. Many people in Japan believe in both Buddhism and Shintoism because neither requires a rite such as baptism. Christianity requires baptism, but that aside, in practice, many Japanese have triple faith including Christianity. Prosperity of Christian schools, preferences towards Christmas, and popularity of Christian-style weddings, all testify to this. This argument by Inoue and others conflicts with the common belief that Christianity never got a foothold in Japan. The results of cross tabulation of key questions and affiliation with Christian schools, combined with our interview results, show that those who have enrolled in Christian schools are more likely to have what may be referred to as triple faith. We have also provided a discussion on the possible reasons behind this finding.