A Handbook of Modern Japan

by Ernest W. Clement

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The references for this chapter are in general the same as those for the preceding chapter, except that, in place of the special papers on Shintō, should be substituted special papers on Confucianism by Knox and Haga in Transactions Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. xx. pp. 1-192; on Buddhism, by Lloyd in Transactions Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. xxii. pp. 337-506, and in “Every Day Japan”; and Nitobe’s “Bushidō, the Soul of Japan.”

“Japan To-day” (Scherer) contains an interesting chapter (vi.) of Buddhist sermons: see also Mitford’s “Tales of Old Japan.”

Dr. Knox, who is an authority on Confucianism, has given in his “Japanese Life in Town and Country” a few chapters (vi.-xi.) of interest in this connection; and he has also issued (1907) a valuable book, entitled “The Development of Religion in Japan.” Lloyd’s “Creed of Half Japan” is very suggestive.

CHAPTER XIX
JAPANESE CHRISTENDOM

Outline of Topics: Mediæval Christianity; Modern Christianity; missionaries; Japanese Christians; Christian literature; kinds and methods of work; churches and chapels; Sunday-schools; Christian education; Christian philanthropy; Young Men’s Christian Association and Young Women’s Christian Association; temperance and the social evil; interdenominational institutions; Japonicized Christianity; Christianity and business; Sabbath; Christianity and the press; Christianity and Christians in politics; simple Christianity; status of Christianity.—Bibliography.

THE great Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, was the one who introduced Christianity into Japan, in 1549; and the labors of himself and his successors were so faithful and successful, that at the beginning of the next century there were about 1,000,000 Christians in Japan. But political complications, internal and external, and religious jealousies, brought on a terrible persecution, in which the Church was practically extinguished. In 1638 the following edict was issued:—

“So long as the sun shall continue to warm the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; and let all know that the King of Spain himself, or the Christian’s God, or the great God of all, if he dare violate this command, shall pay for it with his head.”

And, all over the Empire, on special bulletin-boards, notices were published to the effect that this edict must be strictly enforced.[165] And yet, in spite of the shrewd measures employed to detect Christians, by compelling suspected persons, for instance, to trample on the cross or be crucified, in some sections the knowledge of the Gospel was handed down in secret from one generation to another; so that, when these edicts were removed in 1873, to a few here and there Christianity was not a strange doctrine.[166]

Just as soon as it was possible, under the treaties of 1858, for foreigners to reside in Japan, even under restrictions, missionaries began to enter (1859), and are now numbered by the hundreds. This count includes both single and married men, the wives (for in some cases the wife is worth more than the husband), and single ladies.

The work of the Greek Church has been carried on, except for a few years, so far as foreigners are concerned, by only one man, and even now has only two single men connected with the mission; but the remarkable personality of the late Bishop Nicolai and his tact in utilizing Japanese workers made a profound impression and neutralized the prejudice arising out of political animosity to Russia.

The Roman Catholic missionaries, both male and female, have been carrying on their work with the usual devotion and self-sacrifice in a quiet and un-ostentatious manner, and are overcoming to a large extent the inherited prejudice against the Catholic Christians of Old Japan. The present workers are mostly French, and number more than 200; they are scattered all over the empire, even in small places.

The principal Protestant denominations represented by missionaries in Japan are the Baptists, Congregationalists, Disciples, Episcopalians, Friends, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians (including Reformed), Salvation Army, and Universalists. There are in all over thirty different Protestant organizations at work in Japan, of all sorts and shades of belief; and there are several Independents, or free lances. The Protestant missionaries represent High Church, Low Church, and No-Church (Plymouth Brethren et al.); two regular Baptist societies (but only one Japanese Church), besides Disciples and Christians; six branches of the Presbyterian family, but all uniting in one Japanese Church; six branches of the Methodist family, now at work, with good prospects for success, to effect a similar union of their Japanese churches; three kinds of Episcopalians, with one Japanese Church; Seventh-Day Adventists; Dowie’s followers; Faith Mission; Christian Alliance; Scandinavian Alliance; German Liberals; the Young Men’s Christian Association; the Women’s Christian Temperance Union; the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor;—in short, the entire alphabet for a complete vocabulary of Christian activity. And the Mormons, too, have recently sent emissaries to Japan.

The missionaries have been, and are, a mighty force in New Japan, not merely through their preaching of the Gospel, but also through their practising of the Christian virtues; not only by their teaching of all-sided truth and wisdom, but also by their touching, their social contact with the people; not only by their logic, but also by their lives. They are vivid and impressive object-lessons of the ideal Christian life,—“living epistles, known and read of all men.” They are, in general, well-educated men and women, a noble company, respected and loved by the Japanese.

The Japanese Christians are not strong numerically; but they exercise an influence entirely out of proportion to their mere numbers. There are more than 180,000 nominal Christians of all kinds, who may represent a Christian community of at least twice that number. But, in spite of their faults and failings, due to the fact that they are less than fifty years removed from anti-Christian influences of the worst types, and are still surrounded by various hindrances,[167] they are also a noble body of men and women, loved and honored by fellow-Japanese and foreigners.

The Christian literature of Japan is truly voluminous, and is an important factor in moulding and elevating public opinion. The Bible has been translated into the Japanese language, and is widely circulated; it is published in many forms by the Bible societies. Until a few years ago, it was almost impossible to induce a non-Christian bookseller to keep the Bible on hand; for its presence in his store might prejudice him in the eyes of the public, and, besides, it was not easily salable. But such prejudice has died away, and a demand for the Bible has sprung up, so that it has become to the book-dealer a profitable article of his stock. Commentaries on the books of the Bible and theological treatises are numerous, and tracts are counted by the millions.[168] Christian magazines and books are published and obtain circulation. The Methodist Publishing House and several Japanese companies find the publication of Christian literature a profitable venture. There are daily newspapers, owned and edited by Christians, who use their columns to teach Christian ideals. And in 1901 was issued a popular novel, called “Ichijiku” (The Fig Tree), which is Christian in tone and teaching.

The work of foreign missionaries and native Christians in Japan may be divided into four kinds: evangelistic, educational, publication, and philanthropic. It is, however, very difficult and extremely unwise to attempt always to make and to maintain these distinctions; for these classes of work often overlap and supplement each other. The work, as a whole, is carried on much as it is in the West, except that the measures and methods must be more or less adapted to the peculiar conditions in Japan.[169] Thus Christianity is represented there by certain institutions, which, according to various circumstances, are flourishing in a greater or less degree in different localities, but which, as a whole, are exerting a tremendous influence upon the nation and are creating the ideals for Twentieth Century Japan.

There are hundreds of churches and chapels, but they are seldom indicated by spires and steeples pointing upward as signs of the doctrine which leads mankind onward and upward. For that reason they are not generally discovered by the “globe-trotter,” who tries to do Japan in a month or less, and is not usually looking for such things, but yet goes back to report Christianity a failure in Japan. Nevertheless, the churches and chapels are there,—perhaps in out-of-the-way places, on narrow side-streets, or even on the principal thoroughfares, and they may be only ordinary Japanese houses; but the work is going on there, quietly and unostentatiously. There is also a “gospel ship” (Fukuin Maru), cruising about the long-neglected islands of the Inland Sea.

In the churches and chapels, or in other buildings, or even in the private houses of foreigners and Japanese, are about 1,000 Sunday-schools, where the children are being instructed in the simplest truths of the Bible. They may not understand at once much of what they hear; but they gradually come to better and better ideas, and when they reach years of understanding, many of them fully accept the truths learned in Sunday-school.[170]

But the duty of the Christian propagandist is not completed by the conversion of unbelievers; it extends also to the training of these converts into a useful body of Christian citizens. It is unwise to rely entirely upon public education by a system so well organized even as that of Japan. If private schools under Christian auspices are useful, in America, they are an absolute necessity in Japan. It is dangerous to leave Christian boys and girls under the irreligious and often immoral influences of public institutions. As “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” it is supremely important to keep Christian Japanese youth under positive Christian instruction and influences during their impressible period. And it is also necessary to train up a strong body of Christian pastors and laymen, who shall be the leaders in the self-supporting Japanese church that is the goal of all missionary effort. Therefore the work of Christianity in Japan includes a system of education, with kindergartens and elementary schools, academies and colleges, universities and theological seminaries, and with a strong emphasis on the education and training of the girls and women.[171]

GOSPEL SHIP “FUKUIN MARU,” AND Y.M.C.A. SUMMER SCHOOL, DŌSHISHA, KYŌTO

But Christianity in Japan is also philanthropic, as it should be, and therein exposes clearly what Buddhism left undone. The latter was, as has already been said, proportionately “kind to the brute and cruel to man”; for it allowed humanity to suffer while it regarded animals as “sacred.” Christianity, however, has not only its Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but also its “Homes,” asylums, hospitals, refuges,—for the poor, the neglected, the widow, the fatherless, the sick, the insane, the outcast, the Magdalene, and the worst criminal. All such institutions it is carrying on in Japan; and most of them never existed there until Christians introduced them or Christian teaching inspired them. This may be predicated even of the Red Cross Society; for although the branch in Japan was first organized as an independent association, yet the very fact that the need of such a society was felt was due largely to Christian influence. Revenge and “no quarter” were the doctrines of Old Japan; but New Japan, aroused by the example of Christian nations, and inspired by the teachings of the Bible, now heartily supports the Red Cross Society, a Christian institution with a distinctively Christian banner.

When the forces that have made for true civilization and for righteousness are figured out, it will be found that the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association has been a very important factor. In Japan, as elsewhere, that work is unusually successful in gaining sympathy and forming a common platform on which all Christians may unite in valuable work. It has there both city and student associations, of which the latter are more numerous and powerful, but the former are increasing in number and influence. The work there is varied, as in other lands, and is constantly broadening out. The visits of Mr. John R. Mott have been peculiarly beneficial to the student class. In two special phases the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association in Japan has been most helpful,—in the establishment of Christian boarding-houses for young men in public schools, and in securing for public high schools and colleges Christian young men from America as teachers of English. And it is a matter of great rejoicing to all interested in the welfare of the girls in the public schools, and shops and factories,[172] of the large cities of Japan that Young Women’s Christian Association work has been started.

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and other Christian temperance organizations are fighting the same battles in Japan as in America. The old religions never made any attempt to check the tobacco, liquor, and social evils; they seemed to assume such to be inevitable. Even now the leadership in these social and moral reforms is almost solely in the hands of Christians. By their untiring efforts the public sentiment against these evils is rapidly growing, and various organizations, by public meetings and pages of literature, are trying to lift the people out of these “habits.” A bill prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors was made a law by the Diet, and one prohibiting the sale of liquor to minors is being pushed. By the indefatigable labors of a Methodist missionary, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and the Salvation Army, some 14,000 girls have been enabled to free themselves from their slavery in the brothels; some of these wicked resorts had to close up; and public sentiment was so vehemently aroused against this evil that the number of visitors to houses of ill-fame considerably decreased. And it is Christian teaching that has disestablished concubinage and is constantly working to purify the family life of Japan.

The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, the Scripture Union, and the Evangelical Alliance are other examples of interdenominational institutions which are doing much to minimize sectarianism and remind Japanese Christians that, in spite of minor differences, they ought to be and are really “one.”

Indeed, the Japanese converts are naturally much less sectarian than the missionaries, and can change their denominational affiliations without difficulty. The Japanese Protestants are coming nearer and nearer together by minimizing their differences and emphasizing their correspondences. For instance, the innate courtesy of Japanese Baptists makes them loath to insist on “close communion”; while with the Presbyterians and other Pedobaptists, “infant baptism” is unpopular. The Methodists, in their plan for a single church of all their branches, had to choose an ambiguous term for the title, instead of “Bishop,” of their chief official. The Friends cannot emphasize their anti-military doctrine among a people liable to conscription; and though High-Church Episcopal missionaries may be exclusive, their Japanese believers enjoy co-operation with other Christians. There will eventually be developed a “Japonicized Christianity.”

Christianity has already made an impression upon the commercial life of New Japan. The tremendous development of industry, trade, and commerce has required new business standards, and especially does it demand honesty and integrity. It is not infrequent, therefore, for companies and corporations to seek out young men trained in Christian schools, because they are most likely to be actuated by high ideals. The Sabbath, too, although Sunday is more a holiday than a holy day, is also proving to be a boon in business and labor circles, and is coming gradually to be observed more strictly. Christian socialism, too, is not without its influence in Japan.

There are a few Japanese newspapers which are owned, managed, and edited by Christians, and are working, in their way, to uphold Christian institutions. They are also striving to introduce into Japanese journalism higher ideals. There is a still larger number of papers, whose managers and editors, though not professedly Christian, favor Christianity, especially in its social and moral aspects, and have, for instance, given a hearty support to the crusade against the social evil. The influence of Christianity may also be seen in the elevation of the tone of the Japanese press.

The impress of Christianity has also been felt even in the political institutions of New Japan. The principle of constitutionalism found no encouragement in the philosophy of Old Japan, but is the fruit of Christian civilization. The doctrine of religious liberty, acknowledged in the Constitution, is of Christian origin. The old idea of impersonality, which recognized no value in the individual, but called him or her a “thing,” could not live long after the Christian teachings of individual worth, rights, and responsibility, and personal salvation became prevalent. These points illustrate some indirect, but important, results of Christianity in Japan.

There are also influential Christian men in public life. Every Diet contains a disproportionately large number of Christians, who may be counted upon on every occasion to stand up for right principles, and most of whom are very influential. The late Speaker Kataoka and Messrs. Ebara, Shimada, and Nemoto may be named as examples of Japanese Christian men in politics. In army and navy circles, on the bench and at the bar, in business, and in many other high positions, Christian men are among the most prominent, and are found even in “Cæsar’s household.”

Christianity is bound to become a greater power in Japan, but it will be a Christianity modified by native ideas and influences. It is the tendency of the Japanese less to originate than to imitate; to adopt, but also to adapt and to simplify. They are not inclined to metaphysical and theological discussions, and they care little for Occidental and accidental denominations differentiated by hair-splitting distinctions embodied in verbose creeds. They are, therefore, desirous of uniting Japanese believers upon a simple statement of the fundamental and essential truths of Christianity. They need less of dogmas and rituals, and more of the spirit of Christ in their lives. The people are superstitious and sensual, and need intellectual and moral training. Superstition can be dissipated by science, and sensuality can be conquered only by spirituality. The great mass of the people are still sunk in comparative ignorance and superstition, but are gradually being elevated by the spread of knowledge. But the Japanese public-school education is one-sided and imperfect, without a lofty and inspiring standard of morality. Christian education supplies all needs by developing a well-rounded and balanced intellect, and furnishing the highest and purest ideals of life. Theology is not wanted or needed in Japan so much as a practical and spiritual Christianity.

The condition of Christianity in Japan at the present time is quite like that of Christianity in the Roman Empire in the days of Constantine, who, himself a nominal Christian, “established” Christianity as the official faith of his empire. And yet, as Uhlhorn says,[173] “the ancient religion was still deeply rooted in the manners and customs, in the domestic and the public life.” And this situation Uhlhorn represents by the following illustration:—

“In this new city on the Bosphorus, Constantine set up a colossal statue of himself. It was an ancient statue of Apollo. Its head was struck off and a head of Constantine was substituted. Also, inside the statue was placed a piece of what was supposed to be the holy cross. This is a kind of mirror of the age. A heathen body with a Christian head and Christian life at the heart.”

This is a fair illustration of the condition of affairs in Japan at the beginning of the twentieth century. There is a heathen body, for the great mass of the Japanese (many millions) still cling to the old faiths. But there is a Christian head, because the leaders of New Japan are favorable to Christianity and its institutions, and are reconstructing the nation largely on Christian lines and with Christian ideals. And there is Christian life at the heart, for it is that life, as shown in the preceding pages, which is inspiring Japan with new ideas and ideals. And when we take into consideration how much Christianity has done for Japan in less than fifty years, we feel quite warranted in prophesying that within this twentieth century Japan will become practically a Christian nation.