The Washington herald., 1908-05-03
CHRISTIANS IN JAPAN
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN.

Two years idLeF Ile RuSSld0 government
established a consulate at Hakodate, IN
1860 a young priest named Ivan came to
take charge of the consulate church.
This same priest. now the Venerable
Archbishop Nieolai OF Toxic has ever
since led the missionary movement for
his branch Of Christianity in japan.
While his japanese converts recognize
the metropoiitans of the Orthodox church
as supreme in ecclesiastical power, there
Is but one foreign priest besides the
archbishop. and there are thirty-eight
ordained japanese priests besides 16i
evangelists.
Undoubtedly the Christian Church in
Japan has greater influence in the
country to-day than the statistics Of
membership indicate, but it is also true
that many japanese who profess adher-
ence to Christianity are still largely in-
fluenced by ancient practices and
thought, and the influence of Shinto with
its ancestor worship is mighty in the
japanese mind. Notwithstanding this
fact, there are thousands Of earnest and
devoted japanese Christians who ars
firm in the belief that there is no other
hope for the future Of Japan than the
acceptance eA bHS tFt46tVh u NAtS A~D'F-s
Nazarene.
Eminent Japanese who do not profess
Christianity agree that the work done in
Japan by the missionaries has been OF
great benefit 10 the japanese people. and
has brought them nearer TO a realiza-
ton OF the ideal of the brotherhood Of
man. The japanese has received from
the American Protestant missionary, es-
pecially, all that he needed TO equip him
70 keep step with the progress OF mod
ern times. The missionary gave him
education, gave him medical attention
before the adoption of Occidental medi-
cal science by the Japanese-and in
structed him IN the ways OF the outside
world. Whether the particular japanese
who received these things did CT did not
accept the religion preached By the mis-
sionaries, he was always grateful and
always considerate. The missionaries and
the japanese live together on terms OF
such close fellowship that neither viii
permit criticism Of the other as a class.
II Is interesting as a historical study
to look into the early Christianity OF
Japan. In 1919. more than 30 years ago,
that prince of missionaries, st. Francis
Xavier, and his companion, Kasper, ar
rived In Japan. They came on the ad-
vice Of a Japanese refugee whom they
had met at the Portuguese colony Of Goa,
in India. They preached the faith with
all the feTvor Of that great age OF mis-
sioHs. and with such success that within
forty years there were 5000 Christians
IN the land, just twice as many as have
been gained in the last forty years. The
daimyos Of feudal lords OF one portion
OF the country espoused Christianity and
it became the popular religion among the
higher classes Of Central Japan.
But the Jesuits could not refrain from
mingling with politics. for separation
between the spheres Of church and state
was wholly incomprenensible 70 Euro
peans Of that epoch. Their activity in
political affairs became so great that the
ruling Shogun, who was the first Of the
Tokugawa family. whose last depOsed
scion is still living. began 10 suspect
them The Protestant Dutch traders,
who had obtained a slight advantage
with the government did not fail 10 en-
brace the opportunity to deal a blow 10
their rivals. hated both because they
were Catholics and because they were
Portuguese. They told the Shotgun that
the Jesuits had plotted 10 overthrow the
government and attach japan to the do
minion OF Rome That infuriated the
Shotgun and he began TO persecute the
Christians and prohibited the profession
of the faith on pain OF death. In the
years that followed Christians were
slaughtered wholesale. and in 1888 the
religion was wholly stamped out
IL was 2S5 years afterwar6 that the
present Emperor, in 1873, removed the pro-
hibition then placed upon Christianity,
but il is said that when the first mission
aries slipped into the country after Perry
opened it. they found a few persons who
kept up the ritual OF the Church Of Rome,
handed down to them in secret by their
forefathers.
Contrast the persecution Of that elder
day with the tolerance of this. Just after
the outbreak Of the war with Russia
there was a meeting in Tokyo Of the As
sociation Of japanese Religi0nists, which
passed a resolution justifying Japan's
position in the war. Side by side liz this
association were Shintoists. Buddhists,
Confucians, and Christians. The organI-
cation was made permanent under its
comprehensive title. and meets annually.
When mobs damaged some Christian
churches in Tokyo this association made
good the losses. intending thereby TO
emphasize the fact that the riots were
not religious and that the Shintoists and
Buddhists Of Japan are at peace with the
Christians.
tCopgdght. 1905 by Frederic J. Hsskin1
Tomorrow - The AngIo-Japsnese
Alliance.