Christianity In Japan Research Articles

Secrecy and the transmission of tradition: Issues in the study of the “underground” Christians

D uring the seventeenth century as many as 150,000 for the most part poorly catechized and ill-prepared Japanese Christians went “underground” in response to persecution by the Tokugawa state.1 The story of these people and their successors— the so-called kakure Kirishitan (hidden Christians)—forms a colorful and oft-told part of the early history of Christianity in Japan.2 Perhaps as much as two per­ cent of the Japanese population had embraced the Christian faith by 1614，the year the religion was proscribed by the Tokugawa govern­ ment. Thousands of believers were martyred in the various persecu­ tions that preceded and followed this order, from the time that twentysix clergy and laypeople were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 until the final closing of Japan in 1639.3 During the waning years of the Tokugawa period，“after seven generations and more than two-and-a* The author wishes to thank Professor Miyazaki Ken taro for his extremely helpful com­ ments on an earlier draft of this article.

Book Review: Christianity in Japan, 1971–90. Successor to the Japan Christian Yearbook

Book Review: Christianity in Japan, 1971–90. Successor to the Japan Christian Yearbook

Book Review: Christianity in Japan, 1971–90 (Successor to The Japan Christian Yearbook

Book Review: Christianity in Japan, 1971–90 (Successor to <i>The Japan Christian Yearbook</i>

Review of: Kumazawa Yoshinobu and David L. Swain, comps. and eds., Christianity in Japan, 1971–90

Review of: Kumazawa Yoshinobu and David L. Swain, comps. and eds., Christianity in Japan, 1971–90

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:The Ideal of the Self‐Governing Church: A Study in Victorian Missionary Strategy, by C. Peter Williams.Bible Translation and the Spread of the Church: The Last Two Hundred Years, Philip C. Stine, ed.Zending en oecumene in de twintigste eenw. Handbock over de geschiedenis van zending en oecumene aan de hand van de grote conferenties en assemblées. Deel IIa; Van Ghana 1957/58 tot en met Uppsala 1968, by A. Wind. Kampen: J.H. KokThe Missionary and the Diviner, by Michael C. Kirwen.Christianity in Japan, 1971–1990, edited by Kumazawa Yoshinobu and David L. Swain.Jonathan Goble of Japan — Marine, Missionary, Maverick, by F. Calvin Parker.The Southern Baptist Mission in Japan, 1889–1989, by F. Calvin Parker.

Book Review: Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854–1899

Book Review: Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854–1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

LEARNING FROM SUFFERING, SILENCE, AND DEATH

The problem of suffering and the silence of God in the presence of evil has been powerfully portrayed by Shusako Endo in his historical novel Silence, about the seventeenth‐century persecution of Christians in Japan. The captors of an imprisoned priest, Father Rodrigues, try to get him to recant, as an example to others. Rodrigues has witnessed the martyrdom of several Japanese peasant Christians and keeps asking “Why is God silent in the face of the sufferings of these simple, faithful people?” He refuses to apostatize. Then an apostate priest is sent to see him, urging Rodrigues to renounce his faith. The ex‐priest argues that Christ asks a priest to give up everything, perhaps even his own salvation, for the sake of others. Rodrigues refuses and thus on the next day finds himself confronted with a dilemma: Peasant Christians are being tortured to death daily in front of his cell, and only his apostasy would stop their suffering. He cries, “Why is God continually silent while these groaning voices go on?”

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899. Notto R. Thelle

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsBuddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899. Notto R. Thelle James HeisigJames Heisig Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 69, Number 1Jan., 1989 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/488037 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1989 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

L. L. Janes in Osaka 1876-1877

Leroy Lancing Janes (1837-1909) is quite well-known as a pioneer American educator in early Meiji Japan. He was the father of the so-called Kumamoto Band whose members played indispensable role in the modern history of Christianity in Japan. It is, however, not true that we can have a good grasp of his whole life in detail. Thanks to newly published American Samurai (Princeton University Press, 1985) by F. G. Notehelfer, Janes has begun to show his real figure, especially in America, to us for the first time. But we cannot but admit that in spite of Notehelfer's magnificent work, what Janes did in Osaka and Kagoshima still remains in an uncertain condition particularly for the lack of the available materials on the Japanese side.This paper of mine aims to make his days in Osaka as clearly as possible, making use of the unknown materials preserved at one of the archives of Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.Leaving Kumamoto on Oct. 7, 1876, he entered into a contract with Osaka-Eigo-Gakko on Oct. 20. He taught chemistry and physics there from Nov. 1 to Apr. 10, 1877, when he had to resign owing to his illness and disappointment at the school.He came back home with his family in May, 1877, with the hope of visiting Japan again to be a professor of Doshisha, which, however, turned out in vain because of the divorce suit brought by his wife's father, H. M. Scudder. This suit actually brought him a social death.While he was in Osaka, he was requested earnestly to join the Japan Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to work at Doshisha where most of his former students were studying. But he would not respond to its call at that time, missing thus the last chance to work at Doshisha. In this sense his hesitation in Osaka became the Great Divide for his life, dividing it into those two parts, the first half filled with glory and the second with tragedy.

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854–1899. By Notto R. Thelle. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987. xii, 321 pp. $30.00.

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Book Review: Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854–1899

Book Review: Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854–1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899.

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899.

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899.

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan: From Conflict to Dialogue, 1854-1899.

The Teaching of English by Henry Wood: Its Significance in the Histories of Christianity and English Studies in Japan

Rev. Henry Wood, Chaplain of U. S. flag-ship “Powhatan”, taught English and some other subjects to nine interpreters at Nagasaki for 2 whole months of September and October, 1858. His teaching was a success: the students, who had already had certain knowledge of English, made proficiency in the studies. In the course of the teaching activities, Rev. Wood was able to find opportunities of telling his students about Christianity. The series of his letters to New York Journal of Commerce, quoted in Spirit of Missions, describe his experiences in detail, which are quite rare, valuable and interesting specimens of English teaching and learning at dawn in Japan.The sincere efforts made by Key. Wood in teaching English secured the confidence of the Governor of Nagasaki as well as the confidence, respect and affection of his students. This led Rev. Wood to believe that it would be possible for a missionary, who would come to Japan as a teacher of English, to transmit the truth of Christianity to the Japanese even under its prohibition. This was actually a confirmation of the statement on introducing Christianity to Japan made by Capt. A. H. Foote of U. S. ship “Portsmouth”, who visited Shimoda and Hakodate in 1857.Dr. S. W. Williams, a Presbyterian, and Rev. E. W. Syle of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who visited Nagasaki at that time on U. S. ship “Minnesota” with the aim of ascertaining the possibility of implanting Christianity in Japan, heard from Rev. Wood about his teaching experiences, and wrote to the Mission Boards suggesting early establishment of mission stations in Japan.The friendly feelings of the Governor and the authorities at Nagasaki toward Americans created by Rev. Wood's labors worked favorably for the first missionaries to come to Nagasaki.Teaching English to the Japanese became one of the major activities of the early missionaries, whose great contribution to the civilization of Japan has been highly appreciated.

Interdialogue between Buddhism and Christianity in Japan

Interdialogue between Buddhism and Christianity in Japan

A. Dohi : A History of the Protestant Christianity in Japan

A. Dohi : A History of the Protestant Christianity in Japan

Christianity: The Japanese Way. By Carlo Caldarola. Leiden: E. J. Brill (Monographs and Theoretical Studies in Sociology and Anthropology in Honour ofNels Anderson, Pub. 15), 1979. Preface, Bibliography, Index. 234 pp. Fl. 58.00. - The Image of Christianity in Japan: A Survey. Edited by James P. Colligan. Tokyo: Institute of Christian Culture, Sophia University, 1980. 152 pp. ¥2,000.

Christianity: The Japanese Way. By Carlo Caldarola. Leiden: E. J. Brill (Monographs and Theoretical Studies in Sociology and Anthropology in Honour ofNels Anderson, Pub. 15), 1979. Preface, Bibliography, Index. 234 pp. Fl. 58.00. - The Image of Christianity in Japan: A Survey. Edited by James P. Colligan. Tokyo: Institute of Christian Culture, Sophia University, 1980. 152 pp. ¥2,000. - Volume 40 Issue 2