The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-01-26

hear the ever ready taunt 81 beins 40.
Z pendonts Of foreigners The intell.c.
tual attachments. hish family connce-
tlons and independent spirit OF some
OF the first Japanese pastors have
! heightened the feeling
The Japanese Christlans--the best of
them-have said TO the missionaries,
! Your position as overseers IL our
churches rests only ON your possession
OF the keys Of the mission safe. Give
us the money. and with Il we will do
a greater work and do Il better" The
missionaries ON their side have felt
that the brief experience OF one gener.
alton OF Japanese Christians with their
youthful impressions and training IN
Buddhist thought was not sufficient
guarantee of the propagation of a right
faith. And SO they have chung To the
keys.
The agitation thus engendered has
gone on since 1883 with varying de-
grees of intensity, according as the pc
riodic waves OF anti-foreign feeling
were rising or subsiding. Lately. how
ever, and especially as the war DEM
onstrated Japan's ability to take care
OF herself, the conviction has deepened
| that even the wider evangelistic effort
made possible by American money
should be sacrificed to real and perma-
nent independence.
The leaders In the movement include
such men as Uemura and Ishiwara,
Miyagawa and Kogaki. the most re-
sponsible and orthodox ministers in
their denominations. 1t is also only
fair to say that they have the sympa-
thy OF some OF the most experienced
and farsighted missionaries.
This, however, does not alter the
fact that their action marks a distinct
crisis In the work of Protestant mis-
! sions In Japan, or that the vote that
! no church receiving aid from foreign
missions shall be recognized as a
church after 1907 reduces the Congre-
! gational and Presbyterian mission
aries to the position of scattered indl-
vidual workers with necessarily limit
ed and subordinate spheres of influ-
ence.
These two Christian movements are
direct effects of the war. To Occiden-
tails they also seem TO be I'm entire
harmony with the recent appearance
| or Japan within the circle of the great
Christian Powers. But they do not tell
the whole story.
1t is true that the war did much
TO strengthen Christianity in Japan by
proving the falsity of the popular
charge that Christians would not fight
and die for their country. It is alsc
true that large amount Of Christian
work was done in both army and navy
with the direct sanction of the author.
tiles and with the great encourage.
ment of an imperial donation, the frs
ever given In aid of distinctively Chris.
tan work. But. while all this is true
every day makes 1t clearer that tn,
one great lesson of the war, religious
ly considered, is that Japan stands pa
in her ancient Shinto beliefs
Exactly what is meant by Shinto-
the way of the gods"-it is hard t.
say. The best authorities on things
! japanese speak of the "Shinto reli.
gion;" but dozen years ago the gov.
eminent in instructions to the Edu.
cational Department stated that It was
rather to be regarded as a system OF
ceremonial rites, and that as such its
AFFAIRS had been placed under the di.
rection of the Board of Ceremonies OF
the Imperial Household rather thar
under the Bureau of Religions.
TIE tenets of this prehistoric cult ar,
so very primitive in their simplicity ant
stand In such sharp contrast to tn,
gorgeous elaborateness of Japanes
Buddhism that they uphold this idea
Shinto shrines contain no idols O.
image work of any kind.
Almost painfully bare, they harmon
lie perfectly with a system that is de
void of philosophical dogma and EN-
ploys only the simplest ritual. TIL,
circular metal mirror and the polished
sword within the shrine and the notch
ed strips of white paper dangling from
the straw rope before It are said I,
typify cleanliness of body and soul.
But there is more than this; for n
this mirror the devout Shintoist sees
not merely himself but rather sees
himself In the presence of the mighty
dead-the spirits of his own forefath.
ers, or of the heroes, local or imperial
to whom the shrine is dedicated. Thus
beginning as a reverencing OF ances-
tors,g II becomes practical hero wor-
ships and Its ruling dogma. feudal fl.
delity-the fidelity of the son to his
father. of the wife to her husband, OF
the subject to his Extraordinarily finds
ITS highest and most exacting appllca.
tion In worshipful devotion to the EN-.
peror, who in turn holds himself bount
to the spirits OF his heaven descended
ancestors, the founders of the Japanes,
race. Back OF all this, there is held
In recognition by the more intelligent
worshippers a vague idea Of one chic
god or providence.
During the Middle Ages this simple
cult was almost totally eclipsed by
Buddhism. At only two points in the
empire did the ways OF the gods" re-
main uncontaminated by the gaudy
i trappings OF the Indian religion.
i one Of the two places was Ise, now
known to all the world as the Mecca OF
the recent Thanksgiving pilgrimages OF
the Emperor, the Crown Prince and the
admirals o. the victorious fleet. It was
at lse 80 Japanese history tells us,
that the heaven descended line OF Mi
kados began, and the Great Shrine OF
Use Is believed to contain the sacred
mirror bestowed by the Sun Goddess
| on her imperial aon