Nathan's blog
Japan mission history
I haven't posted in a very long while, so I thought that I would start the ball rolling again with some brief notes about mission in Japan. I have been trying to find our more about mission in Japan, so as I find more sources I'll keep the posts coming.
A basic history of mission in Japan
The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier began Christian mission in Japan in 1549. Since that time, Christianity has grown, particularly during Japan's transitional periods. However, when the country gained stability the growth stopped “and traditional culture and religious powers began to counter the Christian influence.”1
The century, 1549-1639, is often called the Christian Century of Japan. It saw great growth of Christians, about 300,000 by the end of the 16th century.2 A significant number of leaders showed interest in Christianity, however they soon began to see it as a foreign ideology and disruptive to society. The end of the Christian Century of Japan saw bloodshed, culminating in the Shimabara Uprising of 1637-38 with 40,000 massacred.
After the western powers broke Japan's seclusion policy Christianity again began to be introduced. In 1868 the Meiji Restoration restored power to the emperor and lifted official sanctions against Christianity in 1973. This opened opportunities for mission again in Japan; Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox were successful and in 1912 there were about 66,000 Catholics and 32,000 Orthodox. Protestants were also successful with about 90,000 Christians in 1913. Japanese Christianity, at that stage, had a number of leaders from the former warrior class, who were “intellectual, independent, non-denominational, and Bible-oriented.”3
Christian education had a notable influence upon society. However, nationalism and a revival of Confucianism and Shintoism led to government intervention. The Education Ministry, in 1899, prohibited religious education and worship in accredited schools, even as extracurricular activities.
After World War II, there was an influx of missionaries following General MacArthur's call for 1000 missionaries. This led to more than 200 Protestant denominations being established. Shinto ceased to be a state religion and a period of Christian resurgence occurred. The post-war Japanese church can be characterised by ecumenism and internationalism, but to all appearances this has not led to rapid growth. Christianity, with only 0.7% Christians of 127 million,4 still remains on the periphery of society with much work to be done.
1 A. Scott Moreau et al., eds., “Japan,” in Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (Paternoster Press, 2000), 513-514.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid. Some of these leaders were: Uemura Masahisa, Uchimura Kanzo, and Nitobe Inazo.
4 “CIA - The World Factbook -- Japan,” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html Estimated July 2008.
2009-03-19T21:53:22Z
http://www.claphams.info/blog/archive/2009/03/19/Japan_Mission_History/index.html