Japanese Church Research Articles

Just War and Anti-War: Two Stances of the Japanese Methodist Church toward the Russo-Japanese War

If the Christian Church prioritizes its existence and expansion, it will turn to the entity that approves of it and protects it. When the Modern Japanese emperor’s state approached the church as his grace, the Japanese Christian Church showed its gratitude and pledged its allegiance to the emperor. In the Sino-Japanese War, which assisted modern Japan in becoming an imperial-ist country, the Japanese Christian community was in favor of a war under the pretext of a “righteous war” to maintain a lasting peace in the East. However, during the Russo-Japanese War, when most of the Christians were actively in favor of the war, there were a few anti-war voices among small groups of Christians that had not been heard during the Sino-Japanese War. There was a tension that could not be easily resolved in the Japanese Christian Church. In particular, Gokyō, a Christian journal published by the Japanese Methodist Church, one of the major Protestant denominations, simultaneously presented two interesting and conflicting stances regarding the Russo-Japanese War (just war vs. anti-war). In this paper, we examine the diverging perspectives presented in Gokyō and explore various patterns of religion–war relations. Through this, we can see an example of two opposing arguments of just war and anti-war that coexisted and competed on the grounds of Christianity.

Подход Святителя Николая Японского к проблемам отношений Церкви и государства и определению статуса Японской Православной Церкви

This article examines Nikolai’s views on Church-state relations and the status of the Japanese Orthodox Church. These two questions are inextricably linked because having founded and developed the Japanese Orthodox Church, Nikolai sought to build up its relations with the Japanese state, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state, according to his understanding of the Orthodox ideal, and his views therefore had a direct bearing on his activities and the status of the Japanese Orthodox Church.The topic of Nikolai’s ideas about the status of the Japanese Church is poorly covered by the available literature, which predominantly adopts the simplistic view that Nikolai immediately tried to create a church that was as independent from the Russian Church as possible. This view, however, relies on individual comments taken out of context. The issue is important both in itself and for those who wish to investigate how far the potential indigenisation of the Orthodox Church can be stretched, as well as Nikolai’s views on the matter. The authors conclude that it would be a gross over-simplification to say that Nikolai supported an independent Japanese Church from the outset of his work in the country. In fact, he advocated close ties with the Russian Church for the foreseeable as a guarantee of the Japanese Church’s commitment to true Orthodoxy and fought actively against those who supported premature independence. While it is true that for pragmatic purposes, he would publicly express opinions in support of actual independence for the Japanese Church, this only took place during a period of growth in anti-Russian sentiment in Japan and he would only do so to protect the Church from attacks.

Competing Visions of Mission and Unity among Japanese Protestants and Missionaries in Japan (1859–1912)

AbstractAfter a brief clarification of terms, this article focuses on the early history of the minority Protestant movement in Japan around the turn of the 20th century, examining rival perspectives on mission and unity among certain Japanese church leaders and Western missionaries. The sudden rise of Japan as the regional political power in Northeast Asia strongly influenced both constituencies, albeit in differing ways. While Protestant missionaries imagined Japanese Christians as future agents in their strategy for world evangelization, Japanese Protestant leaders were more modest, focusing their energies on the development of an independent national church. They did hope that their theological “liberation” from British, Dutch, and German confessional traditions would inspire similar theological developments in “younger churches” elsewhere. In light of the Japanese case, the author turns to John 17 for a “post‐instrumentalist” proposal for Christian unity and mission grounded in the inner life of God and wonders if such a perspective may be better attuned to the polycentric ecumenism of this new era of World Christianity.

Orthodox kaleidoscope: focus on Japan

ABSTRACT This contribution addresses the theoretical and methodological issues proposed in the ‘Orthodox Kaleidoscope’ network. Based on five months of field research in Japan, the contribution argues that the experience of the Japanese Orthodox Church refracts some of the theological and organisational concerns of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) – of which it is a constituent part – and that it does so in ways that may help us move beyond our traditional approaches to the whole field of Orthodox studies, both Russian and otherwise.

Traços nipônicos no rosto do protestantismo brasileiro. Ensaio sobre a vida de João Yasoji Ito

A partir do ano de 1908, começam a chegar ao Brasil imigrantes japoneses que se dedicaram a agricultura e estabeleceram colônias principalmente no estado de São Paulo. Para lhes prestar assistência espiritual, decide vir também do Japão o missionário anglicano João Yasoji Ito, cujo empenho evangelizador se mostra eficaz, pois muitos se converteram. Ito desempenhou várias atividades em prol de sua missão e buscou que as comunidades que fundou não fossem reconhecidas como igrejas dos japoneses, mas se incorporassem à sociedade brasileira. Esse representa um importante episódio da história do protestantismo no Brasil, uma vez que essa história é geralmente ligada à vinda de missionários da América do Norte.

Sacred Space and Cultural Symbol: Cultural Exegesis of Japanese Church Architecture

ne of the many challenges of inculturation is cultural exegesis. Different cultures can have different understanding about the sacred expressed through their symbols. Church architecture is one of those symbolic expressions. Cultural symbols of church architecture can be interpreted merely as ornamental symbols of faith rather than an invitation for understanding the underlying context of religious experience within a particular culture. To avoid this, we need to find categories which can serve as methodological components for a proper cultural exegesis. This paper will attempt to apply three categories of nature, community, and cultural tradition as the standards to understand the sacrality of a cultural symbol. Through the application of these three categories into the architecture of Japanese church, we can find that cultural symbol embedded in church architecture serves more than as a bricolage expressing a symbolic identity of faith. Instead, it serves as a marker for cultural values being transformed through experiencing the sacred. Cultural symbols in church architecture is, thus, more about revealing the experience of divine transformation of a culture rather than its appropriation to the Christian faith.

The Propagation of the Japanese Congregational Church in Korea and the Governmentization of the Separation of the Politics and the Religion

The Propagation of the Japanese Congregational Church in Korea and the Governmentization of the Separation of the Politics and the Religion

From a “Foreign Religion” to a “Religion of Foreigners”: the Challenge of Contemporary Immigration to the Catholic Church in Japan

The presence of foreigner workers in Japan has had a great impact on the local Catholic Church. I will point out to data, which shows that the number of foreign believers has overtaken the number of Japanese believers. As a transnational religious institution, cooperation between the churches, which came from different countries, and Japanese Catholic churches would be the expected way to attend to the pastoral care of those Catholics. However, several conflicts have blocked that solution. Tensions and conflicts arise from the distinct understanding of organization of the local church and different command “centers” (such as National Bishops Conferences and the charismatic movement administrations). The article focuses initially on the intra-religious tensions resulting from the transplantation of a Pastoral Nipo-Brasileira—PANIB and the charismatic communities from Brazil to Japan. Further, I will show how the Catholic Church in Japan has adopted multiculturalism as the center of its policies of action aiming to become a model within Japanese society. All cases here presented have failed to offer an appropriate answer to the challenge of contemporary immigration with the Catholic Church.

日本人妻が出会った故郷 : 台湾の日本語教会と高齢者施設にて(移民と宗教を結ぶホームランドへのノスタルジア,パネル,研究報告,第七十一回学術大会)

日本人妻が出会った故郷 : 台湾の日本語教会と高齢者施設にて(移民と宗教を結ぶホームランドへのノスタルジア,パネル,研究報告,第七十一回学術大会)

Penance in the Jesuit Mission to Japan, 1549–1562

The early modern Japanese Church developed syncretistic practices in which Roman Catholicism came to function similarly to Buddhism and Shintō. This study examines the development of such practices, with particular focus on penitential rituals. It argues that certain of these rites were produced in the very early years of the mission through extensive discussions between European priests and Japanese Christians. They were compromises that were both hard-fought and intentional.

日本における礼拝指針の系譜

This study has been prompted by the recent discovery of the Chourou Kyokai Reihai Kisoku in the library of Tokyo Union Theological Seminary. With this new resource in hand, I intend to uncover how Japanese protestant churches have understood the meaning of worship service. In order to do so, this article introduces briefly the history of the directory for worship which was imported from the U.S. to the Japanese Presbyterian churches in the late 19th century. Then, I will analyze the directories of both countries, comparing their contents, differences, and characteristics. Also, I will examine what Japanese churches have or have not inherited from American churches and observe how such inheritance had been developed in Japan.

Perceptions about being Japanese and Christian in Canada

AbstractFor members of the Japanese ethnic church community in Canada, perceptions about being Christian are influenced and perhaps conflicted by beliefs from the homeland about being culturally and linguistically Japanese. Being Japanese in Canada (or any foreign country) also may mean having beliefs that are often influenced by the dominant Canadian culture such as through acquiring English, which may influence the relationship between the medium (language) and the message (Christianity) (

Christianity and Japanese in Post-Colonial Taiwan : The Case of an International Japanese Church in Taipei(Section 12,THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES)

Christianity and Japanese in Post-Colonial Taiwan : The Case of an International Japanese Church in Taipei(Section 12,THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR RELIGIOUS STUDIES)

Effects of sound source location and direction on acoustic parameters in Japanese churches

In 1965, the Catholic Church liturgy changed to allow priests to face the congregation. Whereas Church tradition, teaching, and participation have been much discussed with respect to priest orientation at Mass, the acoustical changes in this regard have not yet been examined scientifically. To discuss acoustic desired within churches, it is necessary to know the acoustical characteristics appropriate for each phase of the liturgy. In this study, acoustic measurements were taken at various source locations and directions using both old and new liturgies performed in Japanese churches. A directional loudspeaker was used as the source to provide vocal and organ acoustic fields, and impulse responses were measured. Various acoustical parameters such as reverberation time and early decay time were analyzed. The speech transmission index was higher for the new Catholic liturgy, suggesting that the change in liturgy has improved speech intelligibility. Moreover, the interaural cross-correlation coefficient and early lateral energy fraction were higher and lower, respectively, suggesting that the change in liturgy has made the apparent source width smaller.

Un-Autobiographical Autobiographies: Investigating the Life-Stories of Ten Elderly Nisei Christian Women at a Local Japanese American Church

Traise Yamamoto, a professor of English and a scholar of biographical studies, made the following remark in her book Masking Selves, Making Subjects (1999). She wrote, “Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) women's autobiographies are frustratingly un-autobiographical” (103). Yamamoto, who is a Japanese-American woman herself, saw the lack of personal disclosures and intimate self-reflections in many such works. This grounded-theory research on a group of elderly Nisei Christian women uncovered five oppressive influences from their life journeys, which may have discouraged the Nisei women from expressing and addressing human being's most basic concerns such as one's self worth and one's central philosophy of life.

The Doctrine of the Trinity and Modernity in the Japanese church from the Meiji Era to the present

The Doctrine of the Trinity and Modernity in the Japanese church from the Meiji Era to the present

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 Congregational Leadership Crisis Facing the Japanese Church

The Congregational Leadership Crisis Facing the Japanese Church

Book Review: Essays on the Modern Japanese Church: Christianity in Modern Japan

Book Review: Essays on the Modern Japanese Church: Christianity in Modern Japan

Essays on the Modern Japanese Church: Christianity in Meiji Japan

Essays on the Modern Japanese Church: Christianity in Meiji Japan