Christianity in Japan

Christianity in Japan is a religious minority, which constitutes about 1 million to 3 million persons. Nearly all known traditional denominations of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity are represented in the country today.

Christianity was introduced to Japan by Roman Catholic Jesuit missionaries who arrived in Kagoshima in 1549, led by Francis Xavier. By 1579, six regional war lords and approximately 100,000 of their subjects had converted to Christianity. Towards the end of the 16th century, Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto. The number of Christians had reached about 300,000 when the Tokugawa shogunate prohibited Christianity and expelled all foreigners in 1638. Many renounced their faith and others went underground. After Japan opened its doors to the West in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent to Japan from Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches. When religious freedom was restored after the Meiji Restoration in 1871, approximately 30,000 underground Christians came forward. Christian missionaries did not win large numbers of converts, but did influence education and the trade union movement as Japan modernized its economy. Today there are between 1 and 3 million Christians in Japan, representing nearly all known traditional denominations of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodox Christianity are represented in the country today.

History

The history of Christianity in Japan is commonly believed to have begun with the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier in 1549, but some scholars contend that there is evidence that Nestorian missionaries reach Japan by way of India, China and Korea in 199 C.E., and that Nestorian churches existed there in 400 C.E..

Roman Catholicism

Saint Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo

Roman Catholic missionary activities in Japan began in 1549, carried out by Portuguese-sponsored Jesuits and Spanish-sponsored mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. On August 15, 1549, Francisco Xavier (a Catholic Saint),, Father Cosme de Torres (a Jesuit priest), and Brother John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, along with a recent Japanese convert, Anjiro (Christian name, Pablo de Santa Fe). The warlords of Kyushu were interested in the weapons brought by Portuguese traders and open to the teachings of the Jesuits. Xavier left in 1551, but other Jesuits continued the mission and by 1579, six regional war lords and approximately 100,000 of their subjects had converted to Christianity. Towards the end of the 16th century, Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto. In 1597, as Christian influence was spreading in western Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an edict banning Christianity and crucified 26 Franciscans in Nagasaki. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1600, Tokugasa Ieyasu became the ruler of Japan and allowed the missionaries to remain, but in 1614 his government began to prohibit Christianity, concerned that Spain and Portugal were gaining too much influence within Japan. The Dutch, who were Calvinist, had set up a trading outpost in Japan and may have encouraged the suspicions of the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1626, missionaries were ordered to leave the country, and persecution of Christians began. In 1637 – 1638, approximately 37,000 peasants and dispossessed samurai rose up in the Shimabara Rebellion (島原の乱, Shimabara no ran). Many of them were Christians and the rebellion took on a religious character. Eventually the rebellion was crushed, with heavy casualties to government troops, and all the rebels were decapitated. Following the rebellion, Christianity was completely suppressed in Japan, and the Tokugawa shogunate enacted a policy of “sakoku,” complete isolation of Japan from foreign influences. Christians were heavily persecuted, and an estimated 3,000 were killed. Many of the 300,000 Christians in Japan renounced their faith, while others continued to practice their religion underground. Drawn from the oral histories of Japanese Catholic communities, Shusaku Endo's acclaimed historical novel "Silence" provides detailed fictionalized accounts of the persecution of Christian communities and the suppression of the Church.

After Japan was reopened to foreign interaction in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches, though proselytism was still banned. After the Meiji restoration in 1871, freedom of religion was introduced, giving all Christian communities the legal right to exist and spread their faith. After more than 200 years of persecution, about 30,000 underground Christians came forward.

In February, 1981, Pope John Paul II paid a visit to Japan, during which he met with Japanese people, the clergy and Catholic lay people, held Holy Mass in the Korakuen Stadium (Tokyo), visited the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, the Hill of martyrs in Nagasaki, town of the Immaculate founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe in Nagasaki and other places.

Protestantism in Japan

Divie Bethune McCartee was the first Protestant Christian missionary to visit Japan in 1861-1862. His gospel tract translated into the Japanese language was the first Protestant literature in Japan. In 1865 McCartee moved back to Ningbo, China, but others followed in his footsteps.

At first the Japanese responded favorably to the gospel in the late 1800s when Japan re-opened its doors to the West. This was followed by renewed suspicion and rejection of Christian teaching. Protestant church growth slowed dramatically in the early 20th century under the influence of the military government.

The post-World War II years have seen increasing activity by evangelicals, initially with American influence, and some growth occurred between 1945 and 1960. More recently there is some influence from Korean evangelists.

The Japanese Bible Society was established in 1937 with the help of National Bible Society of Scotland (NBSS, now called the Scottish Bible Society), the American Bible Society, and the British and Foreign Bible Society.Its activities were severely restricted during World War II, when it had to renounce support from the United States and England. After the war, from 1945 to 1948, 2,390,000 copies of the Japanese Bible were produced in the US and presented to Japanese people, followed by "the 10 million Bible distribution movement" from 1949 to 1951.

By some estimates, there are 3,000 Protestant churches in Tokyo, and 7,700 Protestant churches in Japan. Protestants in Japan constitute a religious minority of about 0.4% of total population (509,668 people). All major traditional Protestant denominations are presented in the country, including Baptists, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Pentecostals, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Lutherans, the Anglican Church, Methodists, the Presbyterian Church, Mennonites, the Salvation Army and some others.

Orthodox Christianity in Japan

Eastern Orthodoxy was brought to Japan in the 19th century by Nicholas of Japan (baptized as Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin), who was sent in 1861 by the Russian Orthodox Church to Hakodate, Hokkaidō as priest to a chapel of the Russian Consulate. Nicholas of Japan translated the New Testament and some other religious books (Lent Triodion, Pentecostarion, Feast Services, Book of Psalms, Irmologion) into Japanese. In 1970 Nikolai Kasatkin was glorified by the Patriarch of Moscow and is recognized as St. Nicholas, Apostle to Japan.

It is estimated that the Church has some 9,000 adherents in Japan today. Holy Resurrection Cathedral, also known as Nicholai-do, in Chiyoda, Tokyo is the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church.

World War II

Though the efforts of Christian missionaries resulted in few converts, they were able to influence education and the trade union movement in Japan. The 1930's was a difficult time for Christians due to increasing nationalism and government enforcement of the patriotic duty of attending Shinto shrines. In 1940, the Japanese military government enacted the 1940 Religious Bodies Law recognizing Christianity as an official Japanese religion along with Shintoism and Buddhism, but prohibiting church employees from receiving support from foreigners. Only Japanese subjects were allowed to serve as church executives. American mission boards were still permitted to pay the salaries of U.S. citizens working in Japan, and to aid the Japanese churches financially. Within six months, more than half of the 900-odd U.S. missionaries in Japan had left in response to this law and to the efforts of the U.S. State Department to evacuate American citizens from Japan. Japanese Protestants responded by merging 42 denominations into one, leaving out only the Roman Catholics, Russian Orthodox, Episcopalians (who refused to recognize the validity of the ministerial orders of the other denominations) and the Seventh-Day Adventists (who accepted only a Saturday Sabbath). Before Japanese Christians agreed to the government requirement that they take part in Shinto shrine ceremonies, they received written assurance from the government that the observance was purely patriotic and in no way religious. The new church changed the term for “God” from “Kami” (the word for the Shinto divinities which had been adopted by early Christian missionaries) to the honorific “Kamisama,” “Ainokami” (God of Love) and “Shu” (Lord).

Japanese Christianity Today

Since World War II the number of Japanese Christians has remained relatively stable. . Japanese Christians are a religious minority, constituting about 1 million to 3 million persons. Many of these live in western Japan where the early Catholic missionaries were active. Nearly all known traditional denominations of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity are represented in the country today.

There are no restrictions on evangelism or preaching about the gospel in Japan. Nevertheless, Japan remains largely unresponsive to Christian teaching. About 70 per cent of all churches have an average attendance of less than 30, though membership is double this figure. Many people work on Sundays and do not attend church every week.

Some Christian customs have become popular among non-Christians in Japan, such as the celebration of Christmas with Christmas trees and gift-giving and the celebration of Valentine’s Day. More than 60 percent of Japanese couples have “Christian”-style weddings, often officiated over by an actor dressed as a priest, in which the bride wears a beautiful white dress.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Cary, Otis. 1976. A history of Christianity in Japan: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant Missions. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co. ISBN:0804811776 : 9780804811774
• Drummond, Richard Henry. 1971. A history of Christianity in Japan. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
• Elison, George, Fabian, Christovão Ferreira, and Shōsan Suzuki. 1973. Deus destroyed; the image of Christianity in early modern Japan. Harvard East Asian series, 72. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN:0674199618 9780674199613
• Endō, Shūsaku. 1979. Silence. New York: Taplinger Pub. Co. ISBN:0800871839 9780800871833
• Handbook of Christianity in Japan. 2003. Leiden: Brill. ISBN:9004131566 9789004131569
• Paramore, Kiri. 2009. Ideology and Christianity in Japan. New York: Routledge. ISBN:9780415443562 9780203885628 0415443563 0203885627
• Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. 1955. Religions in Japan: Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity. Rutland, Vt: C.E. Tuttle Co.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia Article on Japan
• History of the Japanese Catholic Church by the Daughters of St. Paul convent; Tokyo, Japan
• Christianity is popular in Japan today, Orthodox Portal
• Japanese Living Bible
• Japanese Bible Society
• Christian Churches in Japan
• Online Japanese Bibles
• 2008 Beatification of Japanese Martyrs.

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