Christianity In Japan Research Articles

Review of: Kiri Paramore, Ideology and Christianity in Japan

Review of: Kiri Paramore, Ideology and Christianity in Japan

Book Review: Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, 1549–1650

Book Review: Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, 1549–1650

The Perspective of Ebina Danjō's Japanized Christianity: A Historical Case Study

AbstractThis article approaches the topic of Japanese Christianity during the Meiji era (1868-1912). Missionaries introduced Protestant Christianity to the Japanese people after the end of Japanese national seclusion, and many of them converted to Christianity. This paper particularly focuses on Ebina Danjō, a Japanese theologian and a Christian leader. It examines his syncretistic Christianity, in which he combined some Japanese traditional religions with Christianity. This study first presents a historical background of Christianity in Japan during the Meiji era and biographical information of Ebina Danjō. It then explores Ebina's formation of his theological foundation. Finally, it discusses and evaluates how he established syncretistic Christianity.

Japanese Christianity in the Meiji Era: An Analysis of Ebina Danjo's Perspective on Shintoistic Christianity

This paper examines the perspective of Shintoistic Christianity of Ebina Danjo (1856–1937), a Japanese theologian, during the Meiji period, and how his view influences Japanese churches today. Based on the review of literature, this paper investigates the historical background of Christianity in Japan during that period, followed by key issues of Ebina's thoughts on Christianity with respect to his Bible interpretation, nationalism, and view of the Logos. Through the analysis of his perspective of Shintoistic Christianity, this paper presents some missiological implications.

The Brotherhoods (Confrarias) and Lay Support for the Early Christian Church in Japan

By the end of the sixteenth century, the Japanese mission had become the largest overseas Christian community that was not under the rule of a European power. Its uniqueness was emphasized by Alessandro Valignano since 1582, who promoted a deeper accommodation to Japanese culture. It was also understood by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who issued the first national anti-Christian laws while he was unifying the Japanese empire. The main reason the religious success of the Catholic Church in Japan was, undoubtedly, the engagement of many converts and their descendents. This article deals with the role of Japanese lay people within the Church, analyzing how individuals gave support to daily activities and how the communities strengthened themselves through the formation of brotherhoods. Japan was then the sole overseas country where all members of those confraternities were locals, in spite of the presence of a colonial elite. KEYWORDS: Portuguese - Japanese Christianity - local communities - brotherhoods (ProQuest-CSA LLC: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) The Portuguese sustained contact with the Japanese nearly a century (1543-1639).1 The main reason the regular visits of the nanbanjin ... (southern barbarians) to the islands was trade, since the Portuguese controlled much of the Sino-Japanese commerce several decades and founded two new and distinctive cities in the China Sea region: Macao and Nagasaki.2 The ships that sailed between those cities, however, did not carry only goods trade. They also brought men of different races, animals, many objects (such as glasses, chairs, buttons, or firearms), and scientific knowledge in areas such as geography, medicine, astronomy (see Nakayama 1969) and mathematics (Leitao 2000), which opened a new era in Japan. After centuries of isolation from Europe, Japanese civilization acquired a more accurate understanding of Earth and an awareness of contemporary technological developments.3 The Portuguese, in turn, were initially received by a medieval and anarchic society in the mid-sixteenth century, and were subsequently expelled a century later by a modern and centralized empire. The sengoku had been replaced by the taihei-an evolution that cannot be explained without reference to the nanbanjin contributions (Nosco 2003), who exhibited for once [...] a genuine international dimension in a period of Japanese history (Elison 1981, 60). Along with European trade goods and Western cultural influences a new religion also came to Japan. The propagation of Christianity was always one of the motivations which pushed the Portuguese during the Age of Discoveries.4 There was a sincere desire that Christendom would profit from those voyages, enlarging the areas and the populations under the leadership of the Catholic Church, and by the 1460s the Portuguese Crown acquired absolute control of overseas ecclesiastic activities. Later, from the middle of the sixteenth century, when private traders became more autonomous, pushing Portuguese influence to areas where state authority was weak, those adventurers also brought with them clergymen, just as the king's representatives had done before.5 Therefore, the arrival of Portuguese explorers to Japan in 15436 opened a new field to missionary activity, and the first clerics of the Society of Jesus landed in Kagoshima in 1549.7 Christianity in Japan A SUCCESSFUL MISSION The Jesuits were able to found a sizable community in Japan, which had about three hundred thousand baptized by the end of the sixteenth century. It was at the time the largest and most important overseas Christian community not under the control of a colonial power, as was the case with Christian missions in Mexico, Peru, Brazil, the Philippines, or India.8 Most Japanese Christians lived in Kyushu, but Christianization was not a regional phenomenon and had a national impact. By the end of the sixteenth century it was possible to find baptized people in virtually every province of Japan,9 many of them organized in communities. …

Editors’ Introduction: Christians in Japan

Editors’ Introduction: Christians in Japan

Japanese Immigrants and their Christian Communities in North America: A Case Study of the Fukuinkai, 1877–1896

On 6 October 1877, several Christian students living in San Francisco gathered and organized the Fukuinkai (Gospel Society) for Bible study and to encourage mutual concern and support among members who shared similar difficulties and struggles. In addition to being the first organization established by in the United States, it was regarded as Japanese student's cradle society, which provided supportive environment that enabled migrant students to continue their studies and cope with the challenges of living in American society. A review of the literature indicates that the Fukuinkai has largely been studied from the standpoint of church history or in relation to missionary programs and been seen primarily as an agent of assimilation into American culture. This case study reveals more complicated picture and indicates that the established interpretation needs to be re-examined. An analysis of the educational programs of the Fukuinkai shows that it cultivated hybrid activities among its members. It provided the context for students to reconsider and appreciate their own cultural values and heritage, but also nurtured consciousness through its social, political, and cultural ties with Japan. At the same time, it helped to develop consciousness of rights among members in their relationship to and involvement with the host society. KEYWORDS: Christian immigrants - Fukuinkai - transnationalism - racial discrimination (ProQuest-CSA LLC: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) THE STUDY of Christianity in Japan has often focused on the history of various mission churches and institutions or biographical studies of significant missionaries and well-known Christian leaders. The encounter with Christianity has not been limited to these domestic experiences often mediated by foreign missionaries. An important but often overlooked dimension of Christianity-particularly in its Protestant forms-is related to the experience of immigrants and students outside of Japan. Overseas migration is one way in which Christian activities and consciousness expand beyond single nation-state or region. A transnational approach is needed in order to explain some early developments among Christian immigrants overseas.1 For our purposes here, I define transnational Christian activities and consciousness as the political loyalty and cultural identity of de-territorialized Christians looking to single national territory. These religious activities and consciousness serve to maintain and intensify social, political, and cultural ties with the home country. A study of the Fukuinkai ... (Gospel Society), an important organization among early immigrants in the United States, will illuminate the nature of Christian consciousness and its role in shaping the development of Protestant Christianity in both countries during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. On 6 October 1877, several Christian students living in San Francisco gathered to form the Fukuinkai for Bible study and to encourage mutual support for life in America. The Fukuinkai was the first organization formed by living in America and can be considered a cradle society for students. It responded to the needs of migrant working students and provided supportive environment that enabled them to continue their studies in American society. The organization's activities and services included night classes, dormitories, meals, assistance in finding employment, and support for studying abroad. These programs were not just beneficial to Fukuinkai members. The various activities also nurtured vision and concern for the welfare of others outside of the organization. While the educational and missionary work by American Protestant churches among students during this time is often noted, it needs to be recognized that the Fukuinkai also played major role in the initial formation of the community. …

Campus Ministry in Japan

Students represent the most responsive group towards Christianity in Japan. Statistics show that in the post-war period, 61% of Japanese Christians baptised in water are of school age and a further 12.9% are baptised between the ages of twenty-three to twenty-six.1 While campus ministry groups are experiencing some measure of success, the issue still remains: how can the 2,760,000 university students in Japan be more effectively reached with the Gospel?2 Japanese society is changing at an unprecedented rate and this has important missiological implications for student ministry in Japan. This paper will seek to suggest ways of reaching the current generation of university students growing up under the powerful influences of postmodernism and globalisation.Yamamori, Tetsunao, Church Growth in Japan, (S. Pasadena, California, William Carey Library, 1974), p.125.The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology website, http://wwwwp.mext.go.jp/hakusyo/book/hpab200301/hpab200301_2_171.htmlccessed3rduly004t.05pm accessed 23rd July 2004 at 3.05pm.

Muscular Christianity in Japan: The growth of a hybrid

Tracing the unexpected influence of Thomas Hughes and Charles Kingsley in Japan, this paper explores the role muscular Christian ideas played in shaping Japanese attitudes toward sports and modernity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Taking over ideas brought by Western teachers and missionaries, Japanese Christians in the era of imperialism actively sought to counter Japan's narrow nationalism through hybridization of ‘traditional’ Bushido with muscular Christian ideology. While the nationalists won the struggle in the 1920s and 1930s, today's secularized notion of sportsmanship is shown to be a creation of the Japanese muscular Christians through their hybridization efforts.

The Inculturation of Christianity in Japan : A Case Study of Kirishitan in Neshiko(Japanese Acceptance and Understanding of Christianity : Kirishitan, Then and Now,Open Thematic Panels)

The Inculturation of Christianity in Japan : A Case Study of Kirishitan in Neshiko(Japanese Acceptance and Understanding of Christianity : Kirishitan, Then and Now,Open Thematic Panels)

Review of: Mark R. Mullins, ed., Handbook of Christianity in Japan

Review of: Mark R. Mullins, ed., Handbook of Christianity in Japan

Book Review: Handbook of Christianity in Japan

Book Review: Handbook of Christianity in Japan

Absolute Moral Norms and Human Suffering: An Apocalyptic Reading of Endo's Silence

Copper medal mounted on wooden board and used asjiimie, treading picture. Attributed toYuza, 1669. National Museum of Tokyo.* E-Jumi, picture treading ceremony. From Philipp Franz von Siebold's Nippon. After an original drawing by Kawahara Keiga between 1823—1829. *Both images reproduced from Joseph Jennes, CICM, A History ofthe Catholic Church 1 Japan (Tokyo: The Committee of the Apostolate, 19.59). William T. Cavanaugh Absolute Moral Norms and Human Suffering: An Apocalyptic Reading of Endo's Silence Can one person's sin be the salvation of another? To grapple with such questions is the price of admission to the murky moral world of Shusaku Endo's Silence. Endo is a deft practitioner of the art of ambiguity, perhaps as a result of his own conflicted identity as both Japanese and Catholic. He pulls the reader in different directions at once, so that the reader feels torn, torn open, torn apart. The novel leaves one wounded, but the wounds are not entirely of Endo's making. He lays them at the pierced feet of the God who chose to suffer with humanity rather than simply wipe the suffering away. It is this paradox of a suffering God thathaunts Fr. Rodrigues's and our attempts to make sense of a suffering world. The plot of the novel is harrowingly simple. The Portuguese Jesuit Sebastian Rodrigues makes a clandestine journey to Japan, eager to atone for the apostasy of his mentor, Fr. Ferreira. It is the seventeenth century, a time of fierce persecution of Christians in Japan. Rodrigues bravely faces martyrdom. When he is captured, however, the magistrate does not torture him, but substitutes three peasants in his place, telling Rodrigues that they will undergo terrilogos 2:3 summer 1999 98LOGOS ble suffering until he renounces the Christian faith for which he was willing to die. He must signal his apostasy by publicly treading on the fumie, a representation of the face of Christ, the face that has haunted his thoughts and inspired his embrace of martyrdom. There are many passageways through which we could enter this novel, many readings we could give. I want to enter by asking a question of a theological and moral sort: "Can Fr. Rodrigues's apostasy be seen as an imitation of Christ?"To explore this question I will raise the issue of absolute moral norms. Are there some acts that are always and everywhere wrong, regardless of the circumstances, or might compassion sometimes allow or demand that sins be committed for the sake of others? I will approach it in four steps. First, I will explore Rodrigues's actions as an imitation of the compassion of God. Second, I will examine Pope John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis Splendor on the question of absolute moral norms. Third, I will ask if it is possible to give up one's salvation for the sake of others. Fourth and finally, I will make some suggestions of how an apocalyptic reading of history mighthelp Christians to think about the suffering of others in the light of Christ. /. Rodrigues's Faith and God's Silence Fr. Rodrigues believes he knows what kind of a God he is dealing with. The face of Jesus that haunts his thoughts is not that of the mawkish Laughing Jesus of Warner Sallmann portraits, the huggable figure surrounded by lambs and little children. Rodrigues's Jesus is a man acquainted with sorrows, and Rodrigues goes to Japan in conscious imitation of him. Rodrigues knows that he faces possible martyrdom in Japan, but far from a deterrent, this fact becomes something of an incentive. He bravely comes to Japan to atone for his mentor Ferreira's apostasy, and to attend to the remaining Christians in Japan who, he is sure, desperately need what only he as a priest can give. Rodrigues is far from a coward. He is willing to die, an apocalyptic reading of endo s silence and though he fears capture, the touches of pride which Endo brushes into the portrait of Rodrigues intimate that the priest seeks martyrdom as a crown. When he comes to Japan, however, he finds his definition of martyrdom being altered. I had long read about martyrdom in...

Christianity in Early Meijji Japan

Christianity in Early Meijji Japan

'Earnest desires': The Iwakura embassy and Meiji religious policy

The impact of the Iwakura embassy (1871-3) on the course of subsequent Japanese history is worthy of consideration, but it is a question that defies precise quantifying. The issue of Christianity, however, has long appeared to be one area where impact is clearly identifiable: the protests of foreign governments persuaded Iwakura and his embassy to adopt a new, more tolerant approach to foreign religion, which was translated into the historic removal of the anti-Christian notice-boards in 1873. This article examines sources outside the much-used Beiō kairan jikki and finds this long-established view wanting. It is argued here that, far from 'enlightening' the leadership and so directly aiding the cause of Christianity in Japan, the Iwakura embassy had two effects above all: it confirmed the leadership in its anti-Christian stance and, ironically, did much to bolster the fortunes of Buddhism.

Brief Notices

BRIEF NOTICES Andrea,Alfred J. (Ed. and Trans.). The Capture of Constantinople: The Hystoria Constantinopolitana of Günther of Pairis. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1997. Pp. xiv, 194. $36.50 cloth; $16.50 paper.) Günther ofPairis (ca. 1 150-1210?), a Cistercian monk ofthe Alsatian abbey of Pairis, composed four known Latin works. By far the most famous of these was the Hystoria Constantinopolitana,a contemporary account of the Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) written before the end of 1205 and based on the recollections of Gunther's crusading abbot, Martin. Along with the memoirs ofGeoffrey de Villehardouin and Robert de CIari, Gunther's account is one of the most extensive descriptions of this pivotal event. But the Hystoria Constantinopolitana is more than that. Not content simply to report a series of remembrances, Günther crafted a sophisticated epic, using language and literary structure to place the diversion of the crusade and subsequent conquest of Constantinople within the context of God's mercy, judgment, and plan for humanity. As a piece of literature, the Hystoria Constantinopolitana represents a remarkable achievement of twelfth-century humanism. That a relatively unknown monk produced it in a smallish monastery in an out-of-the-way location makes it all the more remarkable. Despite its importance, the Hystoria Constantinopolitana remained devilishly hard to come by until very recently. It is hard to imagine someone better qualified to rescue this work from obscurity than Alfred J. Andrea. For many years,Andrea has trained his historical and linguistic expertise on the so-called "minor" sources of the Fourth Crusade, publishing definitive editions and translations of the works of the Anonymous of Soissons, the Anonymous of Halberstadt ,and the Devastatio Constantinopolitana. None ofthese,however, matches the complexity of the Hystoria Constantinopolitana. Rather than relying on older editions, Andrea went to the manuscripts themselves, producing a superior edition of his own, along with an English translation and extensive notes. Before it could be published, though, Peter Orth published his own excellent edition of Gunther's epic. What we have, then, with The Capture of Constantinople is Andrea's previous work minus the critical edition. What is left is far more than simply a lively and exacting translation. In an extensive introduction Andrea examines the life of Günther, the structure of the Hystoria Constanti607 608BRIEF NOTICES nopolitana, and its importance as a historical source. The introduction and translation are profusely footnoted with comprehensive references to related primary evidence as well as modern scholarly literature. It is the work of a scholar who is not only an expert on the text,but on the events that the text describes . With the publication of The Capture ofConstantinople,Andrea has taken a remarkable medieval text and made it accessible. Scholars will want to use this work alongside the Orth edition, not only for the copious references but also to take note of those points on which Andrea and Orth disagree on the text itself. For students and non-specialists, The Capture of Constantinople opens a new window onto one of the strangest events in crusading history, allowing them to examine it from yet another perspective. That is all to the good; for, as Andrea has written elsewhere,"the Fourth Crusade is too important and interesting to be left exclusively to professional historians." Thomas F. Madden (Saint Louis University) The Beginning of Heaven and Earth: The Sacred Book ofJapan's Hidden Christians. Translated and annotated by Christal Whelan. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 1996. Pp. xii, 135. $34.00 cloth bound; $16.95 paperback .) This short work represents a welcome addition to the field ofJapanese studies in the United States. Christal Whelan of the Department ofAnthropology in the University of Hawaii provides the first readily available translation into English of the Hidden Christians' sacred text, The Beginning ofHeaven and Earth (Tenchi Hajimari no koto). The book is divided almost equally into an introduction , the translation itself, and notes. The introduction contains an enormous amount of information on the beginnings of Christianity in Japan, the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians), the origins of the text, and thoughts on the diverse influences from East and West that surface in the document. All this background information...

Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses ed. by John Breen and Mark Williams

BOOK REVIEWS813 Tb be able to give the reader a general understanding of the long history of the CathoUc presence in Jamaica, Father Osborne begins with the Arawak Indian period and follows with their evangelization and the establishment of the institutional Church administered by abbots (a unique case Ui the history ofthe colonial Church) in 1516.When the island was taken by Protestant England Ui 1655 a new reUgious development took place; the Catholic Church was reduced to a secondary role in the colony. From that time untU the first haU of the nineteenth century, the Church merely survived, administered by charismatic missionary priests. In 1837 the island came under the Vicariate of Jamaica, British Honduras, and the Bahamas.The Jesuits' presence dates from this period. Also, when the island became a diocese in 1887, the first bishop was chosen from that religious order.At present Jamaica has been governed by a Jamaicanborn archbishop since 1971. Under the archdiocese are the suffragan sees of BeUze, Hamilton in Bermuda, Montego Bay, and Nassau.Although there is a significant Catholic population, the Protestant presence outnumbers them. Father Osborne brings together new information, interesting detaUs, and extensive research in this work.An ambitious project, it also has its loopholes.The author sometimes relies too heavUy on a single source of information, as when writing about Bishop Balbuena's presence in the see.Also, new research on the Arawaks' presence in the Caribbean was not utUized by Father Osborne. As a matter of fact, using Peter Martyr as a reliable source for the period is questionable , since he actuaUy wrote a secondhand account. It is my recommendation that the author, in a future edition of this valuable book, should update the bibliographic sources used for this work. Floyd McCoy San Juan, Puerto Rico Far Eastern Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses. Edited by John Breen and MarkWilliams. (NewYork: St. Martin's Press. 1996. Pp. xiii, 189. $49.95.) This significant volume brings together ten papers delivered at an international conference on Christianity in Japan held in St. Mary's CoUege, Strawberry HUl,Twickenham, England, in 1991 The authors, who include one Japanese, are all well qualified and share a deep interest in their subject. Most have teaching positions at universities in England or Japan. One, a Norwegian, teaches systematic theology at the University of Oslo. TheU special competencies vary from language and literature to history and religion. In addition, there is a very helpful introduction by the two editors, John Breen and Mark WUliams, lecturers in Japanese studies at two dUferent British universities, whose papers are also included.TheU introduction serves to present the relationship of each of the papers to the general theme of the volume: the encounter of Christianity with Japanese culture from the time of the arrival 814BOOK REVIEWS of the first Christian missionaries at the end of the sixteenth century to the present, a theme which they rightly observe has not received the attention it deserves in the scholarly world. The first four chapters are largely concerned with the initial missionary period .The first chapter, by Stefan Kaiser, presents the Japanese translation ofvarious Christian terminology from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The second, by Michael Cooper, treats western-style Japanese paintings of both secular and religious subjects during the early period of contact with Christianity. The tfúrd chapter, by OhashiYukUUro, offers some unusual perspectives on the earlyTokugawa persecution.The fourth, by StephenTurnbaU, identifies the elements of acculturation in a principal text, Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, of the Kakure Kirishitan (underground Christians). The next three chapters are related mainly to the period of restoration. Chapter five,by Joseph Breen, considers the historical significance ofthe Urakami incident as it affected the newly estabUshed Meiji government. Chapter six, by Notto R. Thelle, treats the importance of the Christian encounter with Buddhism from the same period to the present. Chapter seven, by Helen Ballhatchet , considers the conflict between the theory ofevolution and Christianity as realized in Japan in the late nineteenth century. The final three chapters are involved especiaUy with the modern era. Chapter eight, by Christal Whelan, examines oral and written sources of the Kakure Kirishitan to present their condition today...

A Vision Betrayed: The Jesuits in Japan and China, 1542-1742 (review)

514 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 Andrew C. Ross. A Vision Betrayed: The Jesuits in Japan and China, 15421742 . Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994. xvii, 216 pp. Hardcover $34.95, isbn 0-88344-991-9. This work by Andrew C. Ross represents a valiant attempt to tell the whole story of the Jesuit missionary efforts in East Asia from about the middle of the sixteenth century to the middle of the eighteenth century. Ross points out that while the special problems and separate events of the Jesuit enterprise in Japan and China have been studied by scholars, and their research published, the full story has not been told. His purpose in writing this book was to fill in the gaps. In general, Ross has succeeded in reconstructing the history of the unusual achievements of the pioneering Jesuit missionaries. He also manages to assign responsibilities fairly to Western organizations and individuals for the eventual failure of the Christian missions in Japan and China in the early modern period. As a Senior Lecturer in the History of Missions at the University of Edinburgh, Ross is also able to bring his knowledge of the history of early Christendom to bear in his evaluation of Jesuit policies and methods, and to declare that the Jesuits were the true followers of the tradition of the early Christian Church. He emphasizes that the Jesuits had great success in their policy of cultural accommodation, but they were eventually betrayed and their efforts defeated by the Europeanism of the Mendicants, by the conquistador mentality, and by the Portuguese insistence on its Padreado (Patronage) privileges. Ross sounds an appropriate warning by saying that at the present time "Europeanism is still alive and well, . . . [Some Westerners ] still unquestioningly assume the experience ofwestern European humanity to be definitive" (p. xv). They continue to claim that it is universally valid and should be adhered to by all people everywhere. This timely warning should remind his readers that the shrewd invocation of the "trade" or "human rights" issue by some Western politicians needs to be examined closely. Ross divides his account into two major parts in addition to an introduction, a brief survey of Japan and China at the time of the coming of the Portuguese and Spanish explorers, and a concluding chapter. The two major parts deal with the Jesuit and Mendicant activities in Japan (chapters 2-5) and the Jesuit experiences in China (chapters 6-9). Jesuit missionaries succeeded first in propagating the Christian message in Japan; hence, that history is treated ahead of China. In both Japan and China, Ross affirms that it was Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606), the© 1996 by University Jesuit Visitor to the East, who initiated a new missionary approach that was conofHawai i Presssistent with the Constitution ofthe Society ofJesus as well as die aim ofIgnatius Loyola and other founders of the Society. Under Valignano's leadership, Jesuits not only conscientiously respected the cultural traditions of Japan and China but Reviews 515 also discarded any trace ofEuropeanism. Ross stresses that Valignano wanted "to build in Japan a Christian Church that was Japanese and in China a Church that was Christian but also Chinese" (p. 43). The Jesuit efforts at adaptation or acculturation in Japan were frustrated by the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, who entered Japan from the Spanish Philippines. Ross notes that these Mendicant missionaries not only violated the customs and habits ofthe Japanese commoners and elites but also made implied threats ofSpanish military action against the Japanese rulers (p.74). The thoughtless and intolerant behavior of the Mendicants finally led to the repeated persecution ofboth Western missionaries and Japanese Christians in Japan. Fear ofWestern military conquest eventually gave the Tokugawa shoguns the excuse they needed to close Japan to foreign contact, although the Chinese and the Dutch were still allowed limited access to Japanese trade. In spite of the final suppression of the Christian religion in Japan, Ross notes that the Jesuit mission did achieve great success by converting to Christianity a large number of Japanese from all classes (p. 115). Turning to the Jesuit glory in China, Ross says that Valignano was totally committed to "the general principle of...

Hiroshima/Nagasaki as history and politics

Sometime during the U.S. occupation of Japan, General Douglas MacArthur, the supreme commander for the Allied powers in Japan, asked an aide to determine the number of Christians in Japan before and after the war. MacArthur was eager to know. In an effort to Christianize and so democratize the Japanese, he had encouraged hundreds of missionaries to come to Japan. He even authorized the use of military facilities to distribute one million pocket-size Bibles. If these efforts were not to be in vain, there had to be a significant increase in the number of converts. A report was duly prepared by the General Headquarters' Religious Division, which concluded that “the number of Japanese Christians was 200,000 before the war and 20,000 after the war.” Colonel Nugent, chief of the Civil Information and Education Section, anticipating his commander-in-chief's response, exclaimed “that's not enough”—whereupon one of Nugent's staff in the Religious Division became so furious that he added some zeros to the original numbers. Soon a happy MacArthur started boasting in his speeches that “Christianity is spreading all over Japan. Christians in Japan are now two million.”

Het Westen in de Japanse religie: Japans monotheïsme

Nowadays in many books about the relations between the West and Japan, much attention is paid to a philosophical dialogue of Zen and Christianity. An important problem in this dialogue, however, remains the non-Christian Japanese conceptualization of what is god. Monotheism reached polytheistic Japan from the West not before the 17th century. What has been the impact of these monotheistic ideas on the Japanese elite? In this article the author points out that many monotheistic tendencies in Japan came into existence due to the incubation period of these ideas in China and the interest of several Neo-Confucian intellectuals in the Chinese translations of Ricci and others which were smuggled into Japan by Chinese sailsmen. Monotheism became embedded in Japan’s polytheistic developments and changed its course. On the other hand this process turned Western monotheism into Japanese monotheism even in Shinto and many new religions. It is clear that Japan’s monotheism, though differing from Christian monotheism, became established among more than a third of Japan’s population, a figure forty times larger than the total number of Christians in Japan.