The Gist of Japan Part 10

The Greek Church has had a flouris.h.i.+ng mission in j.a.pan ever since 1871. It is always spoken of here as the "Greek Church" or the "Greek Catholic Church," although it would more properly be called the "Russian Church," {166} as it was founded and is supported by the national church of Russia.

This mission is largely the result of the prodigious labors of one man--Bishop Nicolai Kasatkin. He first came to j.a.pan in 1861 as chaplain to the Russian consulate at Hakodate, but it was his desire and intention from the beginning to do mission work. For some years he was so absorbed in the study of the language that he made no attempt whatever to preach or teach. After he had been in Hakodate several years a Buddhist priest who came to revile him was converted through his influence. This man was the first convert to the Greek Church in j.a.pan, and was baptized in 1866. Three years afterward the second convert, a physician, was baptized.

The zeal of these converts, and Nicolai's own conscience, now incited him to throw his whole life and influence into the cause of a mission in j.a.pan. He was led deeply to regret that he had not done more to make Christ known to the j.a.panese, instead of giving all his time and attention to scholars.h.i.+p and letters. In 1869 he returned to Russia and began to agitate the founding of a mission in j.a.pan. The Holy Synod gave the desired permission the next year, and appointed Nicolai its first missionary. In 1871 Nicolai returned to j.a.pan and made his headquarters in the capital city, Tokyo. From this {167} time his active missionary work began, and in it he has shown himself a master.

Whether in the work of preaching, translating, financiering, building, or what not, he has been director and chief laborer. In 1872 a new priest, Anatoli by name, came out from Russia and ably a.s.sisted Nicolai for eighteen years, at the end of which time declining health forced him to return.

Nicolai again returned to Russia in 1879, and was consecrated bishop of the Greek Church in j.a.pan. At this time he began a work which had long been on his heart, viz., the collection of funds for the erection of a fine cathedral in Tokyo. This cathedral was begun in 1884 and completed in 1891. It is a magnificent building, by far the finest ecclesiastical structure in j.a.pan. It stands on an eminence from which it seems to dominate the whole city. The cost of this cathedral was $177,575, silver.

Here one may hear the finest choral music in the empire. Those who believe it to be impossible to train well j.a.panese voices have but to attend a service at this cathedral to have their ideas changed. A choir of several hundred voices has been trained to sing in perfect harmony, and the music is inspiring. Travelers who have heard the music of the most famous cathedrals and churches of Europe and America say that this will compare favorably with the best. The {168} development of music in the Greek Church of j.a.pan has been marvelous.

The work of this church, while scattered over the whole empire, is chiefly carried on in the cities and larger towns. Like the Roman Church, it refuses fellows.h.i.+p with the various Protestant bodies. Some men of note belong to it, and it is to-day recognized as one of the influential religious bodies.

A notable feature of its work is that it has employed comparatively few foreign missionaries. The burden of the work has been done by Bishop Nicolai and an able body of trained native a.s.sistants. At present there are only two foreigners in connection with it, and there have never been at any time more than three or four. While foreign priests have been little used, several of its native priests have been educated abroad.

This church has 21 native priests and 158 unordained catechists. It is now conducting work in two hundred and nineteen stations and outstations. It has one boarding-school for boys, with 47 pupils; one for girls, with 76 pupils; and one theological school, with 18 pupils.

The members.h.i.+p at the close of the year 1895 was 22,576, and the amount contributed for all purposes during that year was $4754.95.

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X

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN j.a.pAN

During j.a.pan's period of seclusion, when no foreigner dared enter the country upon pain of death, many G.o.dly people were praying that G.o.d would open the doors, and some mission boards were watching and waiting for an opportunity to send the gospel to the j.a.panese. When, in the year 1854, treaties were made with Western powers, and it became known that j.a.pan was to be reopened to foreign intercourse, great interest was at once manifested by the friends of missions in the evangelization of this land.

This same year the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America requested one of its missionaries in China to visit j.a.pan and examine into the condition of affairs there, with the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng a mission. At this time permanent {170} residence of foreigners was not secured, and it was doubtless for this reason that no progress was made toward the establishment of a mission.

The country was not actually opened to foreign residence until the year 1859, and by the close of that year three Protestant missionary societies, quick to take advantage of the opportunity offered, had their representatives in the field. The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States has the honor of sending the first Protestant missionaries to j.a.pan. It transferred two of its missionaries from China, the Rev. C. M. Williams and the Rev. J. Liggins. Previous to this time a few missionaries had made transient visits from China to Kanagawa and Nagasaki, and found opportunity to teach elementary English; but this work accomplished little.

According to the treaty with England, the four treaty ports of j.a.pan were opened July 1, 1859; according to that with America, July 4th.

Mr. Liggins arrived in Nagasaki May 2d, two months before the actual opening of the port; he was joined by Mr. Williams one month later.

On, October 18th of the same year the first missionaries of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Dr. and Mrs. J. C.

Hepburn, arrived at Kanagawa. A fortnight later the Rev. S. R. Brown and D. B. Simmons, M.D., of the Reformed Church in America, reached Nagasaki. {171} The Rev. Dr. G. F. Verbeck, also of the Reformed Church, reached Nagasaki one month later. Thus it will be seen that missionaries were sent here as soon as the country was opened to foreign residence, the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches of America beginning the work almost simultaneously.

The example set by these boards was soon followed by others. The American Baptists began the work in 1860, the American Board (Congregationalist) in 1869, and the American Methodists in 1873. From time to time other boards also sent representatives.

Although the country was now open to foreign residence, it was by no means open to the propagation of the foreign religion. All that the missionaries could do was to study the language and teach English. In this early period many of them found employment in the schools of the various daimios and in those of the national government.

The first years were very trying ones. The missionaries were in imminent danger of their lives; attacks without either provocation or warning were very common. Foreigners, and especially those who wanted to teach the foreign religion, were everywhere bitterly hated. The lordly samurai walked about with two sharp swords stuck into his belt, and his very look was {172} threatening. At their houses and when they walked abroad foreigners had special guards provided them by the government.

Great difficulty was at first experienced by the missionaries in employing teachers, because of the suspicion in which foreigners were held. Those who finally agreed to teach were afterward found to be government spies.

The government was still confessedly hostile to Christianity as late as 1869. Shortly before this time some Roman Catholic Christians who had been found around Nagasaki were torn from their homes and sent away into exile. The sale of Christian books was rigidly prohibited. The prohibitions against Christianity were still posted over all the empire, and were rigidly enforced. If a conversation on religious subjects was begun with a j.a.panese his hand would involuntarily grasp his throat, indicating the extreme perilousness of such a topic.

The following story shows what native Christians had to endure in some parts of j.a.pan as late as 1871. "Mr. O. H. Gulick, while at Kobe, had a teacher, formerly Dr. Greene's teacher, called Ichikawa Yeinosuke.

In the spring of the year named this man and his wife were arrested at dead of night and thrown into prison. He had for some time been an earnest student of the Bible, and had expressed the desire to receive {173} baptism, but had not been baptized. His wife was not then regarded as a Christian. Every effort was made to secure his release; but neither the private requests of the missionaries, nor the kindly offices of the American consul, nor even those of the American minister, availed anything. Even his place of confinement was not known at the time. It was at length learned that he had been confined in Kyoto, and had died there November 25, 1872. His wife was shortly afterward released. She is now a member of the s.h.i.+nsakurada church in Tokyo."

At this early period no distinction was made between Catholic and Protestant Christianity, and both were alike hated. There was no opportunity to do direct Christian work, and many of the supporters of missions at home were beginning to doubt the expediency of keeping missionaries where they were not permitted to work. Some boards even contemplated recalling their men. But the missionaries were permitted to remain and await their opportunity, which soon came. With the gradual opening of the country, and especially with the dissemination of a knowledge of foreign nations and their faith, the opportunities for work more and more increased and the old prohibitions were less and less enforced.

During the period of forced inactivity the missionaries were busily engaged in a study of the {174} language and in the writing of various useful books and tracts. At first Chinese Bibles and other Christian books were extensively used, the educated cla.s.ses reading Chinese with facility. The first religious tract published in j.a.panese appeared in 1867. One of the most important of the literary productions of the missionary body, Dr. J. C. Hepburn's j.a.panese-English and English-j.a.panese Dictionary, appeared in this same year. It was a scholarly work, the result of many years of hard, persevering labor.

The first edition was speedily exhausted, and a second was issued in 1872. The translation of the Holy Scriptures was also begun and gotten well under way in this period. Several separate portions of the Scriptures from time to time appeared. The first was the Gospel of Matthew, translated by the Rev. J. Goble, of the Baptist mission, and published in 1871. Dr. S. R. Brown had previously prepared first drafts of some portions of the New Testament, but unfortunately they were destroyed by fire. Translations of Mark and John, by Drs. Brown and Hepburn, were published in 1872.

This irregular, piecemeal method of translation was not satisfactory; so in order to expedite the work, and to elicit an active interest in it on the part of all the missionaries in the country, a convention on Bible translation was called to meet {175} in Yokohama on September 20, 1872. As a result of this convention the Translation Committee was organized. At first it consisted of Drs. Brown, Hepburn, and Greene.

Other names were afterward added. This committee was ably a.s.sisted in its work by prominent j.a.panese Christian scholars. The great undertaking was brought to a successful conclusion in 1880, when an edition of the whole Bible was published in excellent j.a.panese.

We have antic.i.p.ated matters somewhat. Let us now go back a few years and take up the thread where we left off. The work of the missionaries for a long time was fruitless, but the day of reaping was near. The first Protestant convert of j.a.pan was baptized in Yokohama by the Rev.

Mr. Ballagh, in 1864. Two years later Dr. Verbeck baptized two prominent men in southern j.a.pan. In 1866 Bishop Williams, of the Episcopal Church, baptized one convert. Who can tell the joy of these missionaries when, after so many years of hard work, they were permitted to see these precious fruits? From time to time others were baptized, but for many years accessions were rare. The first church was organized in Yokohama in 1872. It was left to draft its own const.i.tution and church government, and was a very liberal body.

During all this time the prohibitions of {176} Christianity were still posted over all the land, and the government had never officially renounced its policy of persecution. But the infringement of the laws was permitted, and gradually they became a dead letter. Many j.a.panese of influence and of official position traveled abroad, and learning of the status of Christianity in the countries of the West, and particularly of the att.i.tude of the chief nations of the world toward the persecution of Christians, exerted their influence to have these prohibitions rescinded. Especially did the strong stand taken by some Western governments influence j.a.pan in favor of toleration. Our own Secretary of State in Was.h.i.+ngton plainly informed the j.a.panese committee then visiting there that the United States could not regard as a friendly power any nation that persecuted its Christian subjects.

As a result of various influences, the edicts against Christianity were removed from the signboards in 1873. This was an event of the utmost importance to Christian work, for, although the infringement of the edicts had been for some time winked at, their very existence before the eyes of the people had a great deterring effect. The government announced that this action did not signify that the prohibition of Christianity was now abrogated. It declared that the edicts were removed because their subject-matter, {177} having been so long before the eyes of the people, "was sufficiently imprinted on their minds."

And yet their removal conveyed the idea to the people at large that liberty of conscience was henceforth to be allowed, and this virtually proved to be so. Persecutions ceased and the work was allowed to go on untrammeled. The object for which the church abroad had waited and prayed, and for which the missionaries on the ground had longed and labored, was at last realized. Joy and hope filled the hearts of the workers. The cause of missions had received a new and powerful impulse, which ere long made itself felt in a wide enlargement of its operations.

The work now went on much more rapidly. Soon a great pro-foreign sentiment sprang up. With the rapid adoption of Western civilization there grew up not only a toleration, but an actual desire for the Western religion. It became rather fas.h.i.+onable to confess Christ.

Some statesmen even went so far as to advocate as a matter of policy the adoption of Christianity as the state religion.

In this happy time Christian schools, which had sprung up like mushrooms over all the land, were filled with eager students; the churches and chapels were crowded with interested listeners; and large numbers were annually added to the church.

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But the pendulum had swung too far. About 1888 a reaction set in, caused largely by the impatience of the j.a.panese at the refusal of Western nations to revise the treaties on a basis of equality. A strong nationalism a.s.serted itself. Everything foreign was brought into disrepute. Christianity was frowned upon as a foreign religion, and the old native religions again came into favor. Attendance at Christian schools fell off almost fifty per cent.; the churches and chapels became empty; and few names were added to the church rolls. A sifting process began which very much reduced the members.h.i.+p. When Christianity was popular many had hastily and as a matter of policy joined the churches, who in this time of disfavor fell away. This reactionary feeling has lasted uninterruptedly down to the present, and in recent years the losses numerically have almost equaled the gains.

This reaction has in some respects worked good to the churches. The former growth was too rapid. Many unconverted men came into the bosom of the church. Such have fallen away; the church has been pruned of her old dead branches, and is now a livelier, healthier body.

In the judgment of some, this reactionary period is now on the decline.

The recent growth and progress of j.a.pan have been recognized by the West; treaty revision on a basis of equality has {179} been granted her, and the cause which brought about the reaction has thus been largely removed. For these reasons we may look for a gradual breaking down of the prejudice and opposition toward foreign inst.i.tutions and religion, though such a pro-foreign wave as swept the country during the eighties will not probably be experienced again.

In order to give a correct idea of the work now being done by the various missions in j.a.pan, It will be well to give a short sketch of each one separately. We will consider them in the order of their size and influence.

_American Board Mission_

This mission is conducted by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (organized on an undenominational basis, but now Congregational), and has met with great success. Begun in 1869, it is younger than either the Episcopalian, Reformed, Presbyterian, or Baptist missions, but has exerted a greater influence than any of them.

It has for years enjoyed the distinction of having more adherents than any other Christian body at work here. But there has been a large falling off in its members.h.i.+p, and during the past year or so very few new names have been added to its rolls. At the {180} close of 1895 the Church of Christ in j.a.pan (Presbyterian) was only about 62 members behind this body, and by the close of 1896 will in all probability be ahead.

This mission was especially fortunate in reaching a wealthy, influential cla.s.s of people, which has given it a position and prestige superior to the other missions. In the number of self-supporting native churches it has led all other denominations.

The first missionaries of the American Board to j.a.pan were Dr. and Mrs.

Greene. They arrived in Yokohama November 30, 1869, and, with the usual intermissions for rest, have labored here continuously since that time. Three years later the Rev. O. H. Gulick and wife, and the Rev.

J. D. Davis and wife, joined the mission. Since that time the number of missionaries has been rapidly increased until now it reaches 74.

The members.h.i.+p of the native church is about 11,162. There are 60 ordained native ministers and 54 unordained. There are four boarding-schools for girls, with 863 students. The most advanced of these is the Girls' School of Kobe, with a curriculum as high as that of most female colleges in America. There is also one school for the training of Bible-women.

The chief educational inst.i.tution of this body is the Dos.h.i.+sha University, in Kyoto. This {181} school is largely the result of the labors of Dr. Neesima, easily the first Christian preacher and teacher j.a.pan has yet produced. It is a large school, beautifully located and well housed. Last year only 320 students were in attendance, a great decline from former years. Unfortunately this inst.i.tution does not now exert the positive influence for Christianity that it formerly did.

Higher criticism and speculative philosophy have largely supplanted Christian teaching. The school is now entirely in the hands of the trustees (all natives), and the mission has no control over it whatever. Recently all of the missionaries of the American Board who were serving as professors in the Dos.h.i.+sha have, because of dissatisfaction with the policy of the school authorities, resigned.