The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-03-11
CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN.


the Mikado he was asked what his
opinion was regarding the adoption,
by Japan, of the ideas and political
system of the West Grant advised |
the Emperor to make changes slowly.
There was always danger in hasty po-
liticaI change. The greatest of Ameri- |
can citizens, as he was regarded by |
the Emperor, would not have changed |
the feudaI system all at once, but |
would have proceeded cautiously, as
was done by England, where free !
dom slowly broadens down from
precedent to precedent. But Japan
was then in the vortex OF political |
change, and could not call halt. !
The feudal system went by the board,
despite Grants advice, and a new
order of peerage has been established,
modelled on that of Europe, to super
cede the feudal chiefs.
When King Kalakaua was received
by the Sovereign of Japan he gave
very different advice to the Emperor.
In effect, he said: Let your people
take part in the work of government
as speedily as possible" This was
sound constitutional advice, and it is
being acted upon. Japan will soon
have a representative Assembly, when
the people, through their delegates,
will participate in the government of
the country. The Hawaiian King
likewise remarked that the full recog-
milton of the independence of his
country by the Western Powers was
because Hawaii had accepted Chris
tianity. 1t was a Christian State,
and was as fully and completely in
dependent as the most powerful ma
ton of Christendom. This was evil
IDENTIFY the key to the solution of the
eXtra-territorial difficulty in Japan.
Should Japan officially become a
Christian nation there would be no
pretense on the part of the Western
Powers to establish and maintain
Consular Courts as they do in China,
Siam, Morocco, and even at CONSTANT
nople itself. And there is every prob
ability of this event happening.
The native press of Japan have re-
Gently taken up the point, and with
their usual astuteness, they discuss it
in very practical spirit. They de-
sire the absolute independence of their
country, but they see no immediate
prospect of it except by swinging into
the line of Christian States. Free
| thinkers almost to man, they only
look at the material advantages of
such change.
But outside testimony is not want
ing that Christianity is making rapid
strides in Japan. The Missionary
Herald for March contains a good
deal of uggestivepoints bearing upon
this. The editor states that Zone of
| the marked features Of the missionary
work in Japan is the fact that the
women are not only readily reached
by the truth, but they are coming
forward as fellow-helpers in the evan
gelistic efforts of the churches. The
contrast between the position of
women in India and Japan is very
great A recent letter from Miss
Dudley, of Kobe, says: Could you
have looked with us last month on a
congregation of women gathered in
| the Kobe church, where two hundred
and twenty-five were present, sixteen
different churches being represented,
the meeting being presided over by a
Japanese lady, wife of our Kobe
pastor, where all the business was
conducted by native women, and all
in an orderly, dignified manner, you
weuld feel as we do, that it pays to
work for this generation. 1t is simply
wonderful
Tn another paragraph the editor OF
this publication states that the pill
| grimages in Japan were lately decreas-
ing in popularity. The annual festi-
val of Nishi Hong Wanji, in Novem-
| Der last, drew from the country only
eight hundred and thirty-seven pill
grinns, in place of the usual ten
thousand of the preceding years.
The assigned cause is partly the fail
ure of Buddhism to hold its adj
herents, and partly the severity of
the times. The Japan Mail states
that the Project of the province of
| Cochi is much distressed on account
of the spread of Christianity through
out his province, and has expressed
his fears to Count Yamada, who
shares his distress in this matter. 1t
is said, however, that Count Saigo,
| to whom the facts were reported, was
as much pleased as the others were
displeased by the state of the case.
From these indications it is safe to
conclude that Japan will very speed
lily perfect its political and social
transformation by becoming Chris
tian empire That event would be of
incaIculable gain to Hawaii, which
could obtain industrial settlers from
Japan thoroughly imbued with the
precepts and moral sentiment of the
| Christian faith.
WE direct the attention of sugar
planters to letter from Thompson
Brothers, Kohala, in another part of