Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses ed. by John Breen and Mark Williams (review)

BOOK REVIEWS813 Tb be able to give the reader a general understanding of the long history of the CathoUc presence in Jamaica, Father Osborne begins with the Arawak Indian period and follows with their evangelization and the establishment of the institutional Church administered by abbots (a unique case Ui the history ofthe colonial Church) in 1516.When the island was taken by Protestant England Ui 1655 a new reUgious development took place; the Catholic Church was reduced to a secondary role in the colony. From that time untU the first haU of the nineteenth century, the Church merely survived, administered by charismatic missionary priests. In 1837 the island came under the Vicariate of Jamaica, British Honduras, and the Bahamas.The Jesuits' presence dates from this period. Also, when the island became a diocese in 1887, the first bishop was chosen from that religious order.At present Jamaica has been governed by a Jamaicanborn archbishop since 1971. Under the archdiocese are the suffragan sees of BeUze, Hamilton in Bermuda, Montego Bay, and Nassau.Although there is a significant Catholic population, the Protestant presence outnumbers them. Father Osborne brings together new information, interesting detaUs, and extensive research in this work.An ambitious project, it also has its loopholes.The author sometimes relies too heavUy on a single source of information, as when writing about Bishop Balbuena's presence in the see.Also, new research on the Arawaks' presence in the Caribbean was not utUized by Father Osborne. As a matter of fact, using Peter Martyr as a reliable source for the period is questionable , since he actuaUy wrote a secondhand account. It is my recommendation that the author, in a future edition of this valuable book, should update the bibliographic sources used for this work. Floyd McCoy San Juan, Puerto Rico Far Eastern Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses. Edited by John Breen and MarkWilliams. (NewYork: St. Martin's Press. 1996. Pp. xiii, 189. $49.95.) This significant volume brings together ten papers delivered at an international conference on Christianity in Japan held in St. Mary's CoUege, Strawberry HUl,Twickenham, England, in 1991 The authors, who include one Japanese, are all well qualified and share a deep interest in their subject. Most have teaching positions at universities in England or Japan. One, a Norwegian, teaches systematic theology at the University of Oslo. TheU special competencies vary from language and literature to history and religion. In addition, there is a very helpful introduction by the two editors, John Breen and Mark WUliams, lecturers in Japanese studies at two dUferent British universities, whose papers are also included.TheU introduction serves to present the relationship of each of the papers to the general theme of the volume: the encounter of Christianity with Japanese culture from the time of the arrival 814BOOK REVIEWS of the first Christian missionaries at the end of the sixteenth century to the present, a theme which they rightly observe has not received the attention it deserves in the scholarly world. The first four chapters are largely concerned with the initial missionary period .The first chapter, by Stefan Kaiser, presents the Japanese translation ofvarious Christian terminology from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The second, by Michael Cooper, treats western-style Japanese paintings of both secular and religious subjects during the early period of contact with Christianity. The tfúrd chapter, by OhashiYukUUro, offers some unusual perspectives on the earlyTokugawa persecution.The fourth, by StephenTurnbaU, identifies the elements of acculturation in a principal text, Tenchi Hajimari no Koto, of the Kakure Kirishitan (underground Christians). The next three chapters are related mainly to the period of restoration. Chapter five,by Joseph Breen, considers the historical significance ofthe Urakami incident as it affected the newly estabUshed Meiji government. Chapter six, by Notto R. Thelle, treats the importance of the Christian encounter with Buddhism from the same period to the present. Chapter seven, by Helen Ballhatchet , considers the conflict between the theory ofevolution and Christianity as realized in Japan in the late nineteenth century. The final three chapters are involved especiaUy with the modern era. Chapter eight, by Christal Whelan, examines oral and written sources of the Kakure Kirishitan to present their condition today...