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. Unlike many Asian nations, there are no restrictions to evangelism or preaching about the gospel in Japan. However, despite early signs of growth, Japan remains largely unresponsive to Christian teaching. This reflects Japan as one of the most secular nations in the world per World Values Survey.

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. Still many of these people who cannot attend every Sunday are active in church during the week.

Roman Catholic Church in Japan

Saint Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo

The Roman Catholic missionary activities in Japan began in 1549, exclusively performed by Portuguese-sponsored Jesuits and Spanish-sponsored mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. Francisco Xavier (a Catholic Saint), Cosme de Torres (a Jesuit priest), and Father John Fernandez were the first, who arrived in Kagoshima with hopes to bring Christianity and Catholicism to Japan. Catholicism was subsequently repressed in several parts of the country and ceased to exist publicly in the 17th century. Drawn from the oral histories of Japanese Catholic communities, Shusaku Endo's acclaimed historical novel "Silence" provides detailed fictionalised 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 right to legal existence and preaching. Since World War II the number of Japanese Christians had been stagnant.

In 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.

Protestants 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 have followed in his footsteps.

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

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 Korea.^{[citation needed]}

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, the British and Foreign Bible Society.

By some estimates, there are are 3,000 Protestant churches in Tokyo, and 7,700 Protestant churches in Japan.

Orthodox Christianity in Japan

Eastern Orthodoxy was brought to Japan in the 19th Century by St. 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. St. Nicholas of Japan made his own translation of 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. His commemoration day is February 16.

In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Bishop Andronic Nikolsky as a Saint and Martyr; he was appointed the first Bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the archbishop of Perm during the Russian Revolution.

As of 2007, the leader of the Japanese Orthodox Church is His Beatitude Daniel (Nushiro), Metropolitan of all Japan and Archbishop of Tokyo, elevated to his seat in 2000. It is estimated that the Church has some 9,000 adherents today.

Holy Resurrection Cathedral, also known as Nicholai-do, in Chiyoda, Tokyo is the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church.

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.

de:Christentum in Japan it:Cristianesimo in Giappone

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