Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements

Chapter 2. The Social Sources of Christianity in Japan

11 CHAPTER TWO The Social Sources of Christianity in Japan C HRISTIANITY IN contemporary Japan consists of diverse subcultures. It includes the many church traditions transplanted by Western missionaries , numerous indigenous movements (churches or sects organizationally independent of Western churches), as well as the personal belief systems of Japanese inµuenced by Christianity but unaf³liated with any of its organizational forms. It may sound rather strange—especially to those from countries where many “mainline” or established churches have dominated the religious landscape for centuries—to refer to Christian subcultures in this way, given that less than one percent of the Japanese population are af³liated with a Christian church of any kind. Nevertheless, cultural diversity is one of the undeniable features of Christianity in Japan, although the size of most denominations or groups, admittedly, reminds one of the miniature bonsai plants or small gardens that Japanese have cultivated so remarkably for centuries. CHRISTIANITY MADE IN JAPAN 12 This chapter brieµy introduces the two primary sources of Christianity in Japan: ³rst, the transplanted churches and denominations from the West, and second, the independent Christian movements founded by Japanese leaders.1 Although this book is primarily concerned with the new indigenous Christian traditions, it is impossible to understand them in isolation from the imported traditions introduced by foreign missionaries. FROM ROMAN CATHOLIC TO PROTESTANT MISSION CHURCHES Although there is some evidence that Nestorian Christianity may have reached Japan as early as the thirteenth century,2 the ³rst historically veri³able encounter between Christianity and Japanese culture began in the mid-sixteenth century with the Roman Catholic mission to Japan. Accompanying the colonial expansion of the Portuguese and Spanish into Asia, Jesuit missionaries arrived in the archipelago in 1549. These missionaries met with considerable success, so much so that this period has been referred to as “the Christian century in Japan,”3 with the ratio of Christians to non-Christians probably several times higher than what it is today. In light of the macropolitical situation at the time, it is hardly surprising that many Japanese authorities came to regard Christianity as the deviant religion of incursive foreign powers with designs on Japan, and as a serious threat to the nation’s internal stability and national security. This ³rst encounter between Christianity and Japan “of³cially” ended by the mid-seventeenth century with government decrees prohibiting Christianity, ordering the expulsion of European missionaries, and mandating the systematic persecution of Japanese converts. Although the Christian success story was thereby brought to an abrupt end, the encounter with Christianity continued “unof³cially” for the next two centuries as the “hidden Christians” (kakure kirishitan) sought to survive in the hostile environment and secretly carry on the faith they had received.4 The second phase of mission to Japan began in 1859 (only six years after Commodore Perry persuaded Japan to open its doors to the West) with the arrival of the ³rst Protestant missionaries and the return of the Roman Catholics. This was a time of widespread confusion and chaos. The feudal order was disintegrating rapidly by the end of the Tokugawa period (1600–1868), and the new Meiji government had not yet begun to build the new social order. It was during this dif³cult transition period that missionaries arrived in Japan. It is important to recall that they did not begin their work with a “clean slate.” Christianity continued to be popularly understood as a heretical and evil religion (jakyõ). THE SOCIAL SOURCES OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN 13 Since the mid-nineteenth century over two hundred mission societies, representing scores of churches and denominations as well as numerous national cultures, have been transplanted to Japanese soil (see table 1 on pages 14–15). The missionary impulse has been especially strong in North America, with the United States and Canada being the home base for approximately one-third of all missionary societies that have been active in Japan. FROM TRANSDENOMINATIONAL COOPERATION TO DENOMINATIONAL MISSION CHURCHES Although Christianity in Japan today consists of a bewildering array of transplanted denominations and sects, the earliest Protestant missionaries initially made serious efforts to cooperate in providing a more united witness to the Christian faith. The ³rst Protestant church in Japan was organized along nondenominational (or transdenominational) lines in 1872 under the leadership of Samuel Robert Brown (Dutch Reformed), James Curtis Hepburn, and James Ballagh (both Presbyterian). Avoiding Western denominational labels, this church was called the Church...