tihxaxy of t:he 1:heolo0(cal ^tminavy PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PURCHASED BY THE HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND BV 3445 .H3 1914 Hagin, Fred Eugene, 1869- 1938. The cross in Japan THE CROSS IN JAPAN TRUMMING THE SHAMISEN THE CROSS IN JAPAN A Study of Achievement and Opportunity ITThiSJ^ BY FRED EUGENE HAGIN OCT 16 1914 Of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society ( Disciples of Christ ) Tokyo, Japan Illustrated New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1914, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave. Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street DEDICATION Dedicated to Myrtle, with affection and in gratefiil memory of the years spent together in college, in village pastorates, and on the foreign mission field. PREFACE IN writing the chapters of this book, I have kept in mind the ordinary reader at home and have tried to give him a bird's-eye view of the whole missionary situation in Japan as one missionary sees it. I have also endeavoured to give information for those who are eager to know more of Japan and of the Gospel's conquests in these Islands. The book has been written in the hope that praise may ascend to God for the victories attained, and that intercession may be offered for the final triumph. That it might make some contribution, if ever so little, in stimulating some other life in mission endeavour, has been my chief inspiration in venturing before the public as an author. I have been especially desirous to influence young men and young women who ought to become Student Volunteers and those, also, whom God has blessed with wealth, who feel accountable to Him as stewards. The great world problem of to-day is the problem of the spread of Christianity, that a growth in righteousness and godliness may be rapid and uni- versal enough to overtake and equalize the spread among all nations, of worldly wisdom, material power, discon- tent, and revolutionary ideas. Every contribution of a life or a fortune to missions is a direct contribution towards the peace, the tranquillity, and the well-being of the entire world. Our day of Gospel opportunity has never been equalled and no man can say that the day will be forever pro- tracted. Within a few decades, Asia will be covered with a network of railways which will bring to the dwellers of the most remote forest, mountain, or desert oasis all the accessories of our material civilization. The out- 7 8 PREFACE come will be that large sections of Asia, now dependent, will become politically independent, with their own schools, their own riches, their own industries, their own armies, all of which will beget a consciousness of power mixed with pride, which may contribute to a revival of idolatry readapted to satisfy Oriental reflections and traditions. To-day, these millions are teachable, and society, for the most part, is in a plastic condition. The missionary may go almost anywhere ; he will be protected and unmo- lested and he will be given a respectful, if not an enthusi- astic, hearing. But, a few years hence, great changes may come ! A few decades hence, and a billion in Asia will be thoroughly awakened, and if they awake to look upon the Crucified, the church must hasten to improve her heaven-given mission to exalt her Lord. Because my lot has been cast in Japan, I have not tried to make the impression that Japan is the only mis- sion field. However, I am deeply convinced that Japan, sentimentally, is just now affecting Asia more than does any other nation, Oriental or Occidental. The Chris- tianizing, therefore, of Japan would be a mighty leverage in the final Christianization of all of Asia. Though I have not written a book to please my fellow- missionaries, nor the Japanese, I confess that my ad- miration for both has grown during the reading and correspondence incident to preparing this manuscript. None will notice the defects of my book more than the missionaries, and yet I know that none will be more indulgent. The more I know of the history and en- vironment of the Japanese, the more I love them. The more I mix with them in the city and in the country, the more I see that the fiction of a great divergence between the East and the West is not only a miserable fiction, but it is a mischievous and hurtful fiction. I had hoped to mention every person who had in any way assisted me in the preparation of this book. I PREFACE 9 have preserved the names, but the greater number I can only mention en masse. My chief debt of gratitude is to B. C. Deweese, of Lexington, Kentucky, for reading the proof sheets. My debt for instruction during college days is thus enlarged by this act of kindness which is very much appreciated. I am not forgetful that it was Stephen J. Corey, a Secre- tary of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, and my wife, who persuaded me to write the book. I thank them both, notwithstanding the hours it has taken. I am grateful to J. H. Pettee and J. G. Dunlop for their contributed articles, v/ritten by request, which are printed in the Appendix. The map of Japan is the map pub- lished by the " Welcome Society of Japan." Special permission to use it was granted by K. Oshida, the Secre- tary of the Society. I most respectfully acknowledge my obligations to him as well as to Baron E. Shibuzawa, a Vice-President of the Society, for his intervention on my behalf. In soliciting information, perhaps I have taxed no one more than I have Gilbert Bowles. I will long remember his uniform kindness. Some of the pic- tures are from photographs donated by the Methodist Publishing House of Tokyo, and to them I acknowledge my indebtedness. The files of the Japan Evangelist and the issues of The Christian Movement have fur- nished much useful information which, for the most part, I have acknowledged in footnotes. I am especially grateful to John L. Bearing, editor of The Christian Movement in Japan, for furnishing the folded table of statistics to be found in the Appendix. I have left off honorary titles because they do not appeal to the ordinary man. It should be honour enough for any missionary to speak of him as we speak of Wm. Carey, David Livingstone, Alexander DufT, John R. Mott, Robt. E. Speer, or A. McLean. Fred E. Hagin. Tokyo. CONTENTS PART FIRST. THE FIELD I. Japan Our Neighbour 17 II. The Empire and Its People 25 III. Changes and Transformations 37 IV. Village and Country Life 45 V. The Social and Family Structure 53 VI. The Prevalence of Idolatry . PART SECOND. THE MISSIONARY 61 I. What the Missionary Has Done . . 69 II. The Unfailing Friend 79 III. Joys and Rewards of the Service . 87 IV. The Missionary's Home Life . 97 V. Touring Through Village and Byways 107 VI. Trials and Discouragements . • 117 VII. Furloughs and Journeys by Sea • 125 VIII. The Kind of Missionaries Needed . 135 IX. Some Ways of Service 143 X. A Few Well-known Missionaries . PART THIRD. THE KINGDOM 153 I. The Coming of the Kingdom . 163 II. The Growth of the Kingdom . • 173 III. The Winning of Souls . 183 IV. Illustrations of Christian Fidelity • 193 V. Christian Forces at Work • 203 VI. Different Missions at Work . . 213 11 12 CONTENTS VII. Christian Education .... VIII. Unity and Co-operation IX. The Converts and the Churches . X. Some Prominent Japanese Christians XL Some Incidents and Experiences . XII. The Future of Christianity . 225 235 245 255 265 273 PART FOURTH. THE OPPORTUNITY I. The Strategic Importance of Japan II. The Wide-Open Door . HI. Problems and Difficulties IV. Claiais for Sympathy . V. Japan's Need of Christ VI. Our Ability and Responsibility Appendix B. D. F. G. H. A List of Books Upon Japan, Written by Mis- sionaries (Part II, Chap. I) Baptisms by Protestant Missionaries Previ- ous TO 1872 (Part III, Chap. I). Sunday School Work in Japan (Part III, Chap. V) The Young People's Society of Christian En- deavour (Part III, Chap. V) The Conference of Federated Missions (Part III, Chap. VIII) The Imperial Oath of 1869 (Part IV, Chap. II) Governmental Grants to Christian Institu- tions (Part IV, Chap. II) Mission Work in Korea, Formosa, the Loo Choo Islands, and Among the Ainu Table of Mission Statistics for 1913 . Index 283 291 301 313 323 335 345 347 349 350 352 354 355 356 359 360 361 ILLUSTRATIONS Trumming the Shamisen and Third-Class Passenger Car \ On the Way to Worship the Fox God \ A Model Japanese Family .... Image of Buddha in the Mountains ) Bronze Buddha in Ueno Park, Tokyo ) A Sunday School in Kofu ) A Sunday School in Tokyo ) ' * Two Missionaries. Two Japanese Preachers, Organist A Rented Preaching Place at Chiba ) A Church Building in the Winter Time j Niju Bridge, Entrance to Imperial Palace ) Department of Justice, Tokyo j St. Luke's Hospital, Tokyo ) Chapel at St. Luke's r One of the Operating Rooms ) Faculty of Doshisha University, Kyoto . Miss Una Tsuda in Her Office at the Women English Institute, Tokyo .... Some of the Five Hundred Boys at Aoyama Okayama Orphanage and Its Children . A Buddhist's Grave Gateway into Asakusa Temple ) Main Shrine at Shinshoji Temple f Selections from Buddhist Scriptures ) A Buddhist Preaching Hall \ ' Map of Japan FACING FACE Title 38 54 62 90 108 112 128 144 174 194 226 246 274 302 326 344 NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF JAPANESE WORDS Sound the vowels and diphthongs as in Italian, that is (approx- imately), a as in " fa.ther." e " ' men. i " " " police. » o " (( 1' for." u as in ' " bush. » ai " the " y" of" my." ei " the " ay " of ' may.' au " the " ow ' ' of " cow. Distinguish long vowels from short, as in Latin; thus tori, "bird," but tori, "street;" zutsu, "[one, etc.] at a time," but zutsu, " headache." Sound the consonants as in English, noting only that g never has the " j" sound. At the beginning of a word it is pronounced as in "give;" in the middle it has the sound of English ng. Note, too, that z before " u" is pronounced as dz, thus Kozu (ko-dsu). Consonants written double are distinctly pronounced double, as in Italian. Thus amma, "a shampooer," soitnds quite different from ama, "a nun." (Compare such English words as "out- ness," " shot-tower.") There is little if any tonic accent, all syllables, except such as have long quantity, being pronounced evenly and lightly, as in French. For instance, the word ama givoi above sounds almost exactly like the French zvord " amas," and would not be under- stood if pronounced like English " armour." — From " Things Japanese," by Basil Hall Chamberlain. PART ONE THE FIELD I JAPAN OUR NEIGHBOUR Our country was the first Western friend to Japan, and means to be the last. — Andrew Carnegie, Founders' Day, 1912, p. 36. At every moment of our lives, we should be trying to find out not in what we differ from other people, but in what we agree with them. — Ruskin, " Sesame and Lilies." Geographically, Japan and America are neighbours. Our shores are washed by the same great sea. The Pacific is happily named in that it characterizes the friendly relations of our respective countries. — Viscount Sutemi Chinda, Japanese Am- bassador to the United States. There is no danger of war, but there is grave danger because the war debts are 26,000,000,000 dollars. One-third of all the money of the world is due on the war debt of Europe alone. — David Starr Jordan. The best gift the New Year could bring the American people would be a strict obedience to the divine injunction, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." — Governor Cole L. Blease, Christian Herald, January 3, 1912. The old isolation is gone forever for every people; and there is no greater obligation upon every nation to-day than to try to understand, and to enter into sympathy with, that which is finest and best in every other nation. — Seth Low, Hudson-Fulton Cele- bration, p. 44. Off the coast of Asia, 'mid the mighty ocean, Lies an Island Kingdom, strangely fair and bright; E'er the rising sunbeams touch the Asian Highlands All her isles are glowing in the morning light. First to catch the radiance of a brighter sunrise, Island of the Morning, beautiful Japan. — William E. Griffis, Japan Evangelist, Vol. X, p. 20. What then is our neighbour? Thou hast regarded his thought, his feeling as somehow different from thine; thou hast said, "A pain in him is not like a pain in me, but something far easier to bear." He seems to thee a little less living than thou; his life is dim, it is cold, it is a pale fire beside thine own burning desires. Thou hast made of him a thing, no self at all. Have done with this illusion. . . . Pain is pain, joy is joy, everywhere, even as in thee. — Josiah Royce. JAPAN OUR NEIGHBOUR FAR beyond the spot where the sun sinks nightly into the waves of the Pacific, and hundreds of miles below a spectator's line of vision who may stand upon the highest hill about San Francisco, are situated the islands of Japan. A view from the sea is a vision of emerald hills and rugged mountains whose summits are hidden by sporting clouds. The ocean's waves eternally pound against the granite promontories, copious rains keep the mountain streams fretting, and under a glaring sunshine are luxuriate mighty forests, fields of grain, evergreen trees, and blooming flowers. In the lowlands and mountain valleys are populous cities, numerous towns, and millions of homes. Near his home the farmer toils with spade and sickle. Within his home patiently labours the artisan who has filled the world with his lacquer, china, and tapestries. At daybreak the daring fisher sets the bow of his fragile craft homeward, laden with the spoils of the sea. Every- where are well-educated, well-dressed, and attentive of- ficials who respect the law and distribute the blessings of good government. Everywhere are troops of children who pre-empt the streets and, rain or shine, are busy at laughter and play. Everywhere are ambitious youths who would drop a decade out of their lives for a uni- versity training or a sojourn in England or the United States. And everywhere are coy maidens who stoop and shy while they lift the long sleeves of their beautiful kimonos to their eyes of jet, that they may blush and whisper within the shadows. These people constitute the real Japan. They live 17 18 THE FIELD more simply and economically than we, they are a little shorter in stature, a little different in colour, their reli- gions and their customs are different from ours, but they are our neighbours. A century ago the Japanese were about as well known as the hypothetical inhabitants of Mars. But time, prog- ress, and the remaking of maps has eliminated the ocean, has brought the West to the East, and has made the Pacific Ocean the grand terminal station of a western movement which has been gaining in celerity and im- portance for two thousand years. Providence has de- termined that Japan should lie on the far eastern border, and that the United States should close up the gap to the westward. This magnificent boulevard, which history has been constructing, is therefore in the act of com- pletion. This boulevard is a highway for the nations upon which will speed the commerce, the travel, and the intelligence of all people, and through which peace, good- will, and neighbourly feeling shall pulsate with the same warmth and constancy as the sun bathes the earth with his torrents of light. Notwithstanding our western origin, the front-door of the United States has opened towards the Orient. Cross over a line drawn from the coast of Maine to Porto Rico, and you may search the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, all the vast stretches of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and you will not find a section of land or a port of call subject to United States sovereignty. But go westward from this imaginary line and you will find Guantanamo, the Panama Canal, Tutuila, and the Philippines. Alas- ka's islands stretch in a long arm westwards. West- wards passes an ocean cable from San Francisco through Honolulu, Wake Island, and Guam to the Philip- pines. At Guam a line branches to Japan. Territory added both to Japan and the United States has made them neighbours. Guam is 1,342 miles from Yokohama and 1,506 miles from Manila. On the north there is JAPAN OUR NEIGHBOUR 19 but a stretch of a few miles between our possessions. Wireless cables from San Francisco without relays have been picked up in Japan. The Federal Telegraph Com- pany is already operating a wireless system for com- mercial purposes between Honolulu and San Francisco, and the system will doubtless be extended to the Orient. The steamship " Siberia " made the trip from Yokohama to San Francisco in ten days and ten hours. Commercially, as well as geographically, Japan and the United States are being drawn into the closest of ties. Yokohama, which is the port of call for Tokyo, after London, Paris, and Berlin, ranks fourth in the consular receipts remitted to the United States Treas- ury. Though Europe is composed of many nations, and China is a world in itself, Japan's exports to the United States exceed the exports to Europe or to China. Uncle Sam's payment to Japan last year for tea, silk, camphor, lacquer, and other importations was $80,607,469. Ja- pan's two great fields for export are China and the American continent. The general sentiment of the people in Japan is one of good-will and admiration for the United States. Among schoolboys, Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are the best known and most respected of for- eigners. The tie in Japan that binds the pupil to his teacher is very strong. The Japanese student carries a life debt of gratitude for all who have contributed to his education. It should not be forgotten that thou- sands in Japan to-day have been educated in America. Among them are leading teachers, editors, authors, and officials of state. The Government issues railway time- tables in the English language and has written the names of every railway station in English and Japanese. It is an uncommon thing for the Emperor to issue a statement over his own name. His messages to Parlia- ment are seldom more than two or three brief para- graphs. Notwithstanding the rarity and brevity of the 20 THE FIELD Imperial messages, the late Emperor, on several occa- sions, sent words of friendship to the United States. Preceding the visit and royal entertainment of our fleet in the fall of 1908, the Emperor issued an Imperial Rescript to his own people and cabled to America the following words : " The historic relations of good under- standing and genuine friendship with the United States, I account as a valued heritage of my reign, and it shall be in the future, as it has been in the past, my constant aim and desire to weld the ties of amity uniting the two countries in these indissoluble bonds of good neighbour- hood and perfect accord." The historic relations between Japan and the United States have been intimate and friendly. Japan has be- stowed medals and honours upon many foreigners, but her first monument, and for years her only one, was erected in honour of an American. Every ship that drops anchor at Yokohama passes close to the little bay with a sandy beach, where nestles the sleepy little town of Kurihama. North of the town is a monument, erected by Japanese, which stands some thirty-four feet in height. Upon it, carved both in English and Japanese, are these words : " This monument commemorates the first arrival of Commodore Perry, Ambassador from the United States of America, who landed at this place July 14th, 1853." It was the following year, on March 31, that Japan concluded her first foreign treaty, negotiated by Com- modore Perry and sealed by the Emperor's sanction. Townsend Harris was Japan's first instructor in modern diplomacy. The times were troublesome. There were no precedents and no time-honoured formalities to guide these beginnings of diplomatic exchange. To add to the embarrassment, Henry C. J. Heusken, Secretary of the United States legation, was assasinated in i860, and three years later the legation was set on fire. Disturb- ances increased until all the legations were removed to JAPAN OUR NEIGHBOUR 21 Yokohama for safety. A Japanese writer, in speaking of these times, says that it was due to the " patient good- heartedness " of Townsend Harris, " and self-sacrificing enthusiasm of Americans " that saved " Japan from the international rupture with the European powers." * William H. Seward, who was in Japan in 1870, was the first foreigner of distinction to be received by the late Emperor. When General Grant came a few years later, the Emperor for the first time shook hands with a foreigner.! It was General Grant who urged Japan to renounce her commercial treaties for the adoption of the tariff system. At the conclusion of the long interview he said : *' Japan has peculiar claims upon the respect and sympathy of mankind, and if she would assert her sovereign rights, she would find that her cause met the approval of mankind." During the war with Russia, the United States was sponser for Japan's subjects and interests in Russia and Manchuria. The peace docu- ments which brought the war to a close were signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The United States was the first to withdraw her legation from Seoul, and the first to sign the recently revised treaties with Japan. There is therefore a historic background of mutual trust and unselfish dealing which gives hope for the future. Though not bound by ties of blood to Japan, there is every reason why the relations of the United States should be as cordial with Japan as with England. Japan's commercial expansion, her independence, her advance in education, her patriotism are truly American. In the Spanish war " not a single reverse or disaster occurred. Not a single soldier, gun, colour, nor inch of ground was captured by the enemy." $ On a larger scale, Japan in the Russian war, on land and sea, won ♦Masuji Miyakawa, "Life of Japan," pp. 147, 150, 288. tjohn Russell Young, "Around the World with General Grant," pp. 529, 583. + Gen. Nelson A. Miles, in Cosmopolitan. m THE FIELD an uninterrupted series of victories. As neighbours, Japan and the United States have each much to respect in the other. As neighbours, both have a big contribu- tion to make to the Orient. As neighbours, both can best develop their commercial advantages in the unde- veloped fields bordering the Pacific. As neighbours, both can best escape the crushing burdens of militarism and pass on to their children the blessings and richness of peace. Seldom have words more eloquent and assuring ever been uttered than the words of Baron Uchida, Japan's former ambassador to the United States. It was at a banquet in New York City, in celebration of the new treaty, that the Baron said : " There have been wars of the Cross and the Crescent, of the Red Rose and the White, but the Sun and the Stars have never quarrelled in their courses, nor shall the two flags which bear those celestial emblems ever be carried in the hands of op- posing armies. It is unthinkable, impossible. . . . Our ambition is not to see our flag ' dominate the Pacific/ but to see the firmament that arches over that ocean hung with the mingled splendours of our two banners — the Star-spangled ensign of America and the Sun flag of Japan. . . . There is room in the spacious purposes of history for the glory of all." II THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE It is vain to expect governments to act continuously on any other ground than national interest. They have no right to do so, being agents and not principals. — Captain A. T. Mahan, " The Problem of Asia," p. 187. There shall be a perfect, permanent, and universal peace, and a sincere and cordial amity, between the United States of America on the one part and the Empire of Japan on the other, and between their people, respectively, without exception of •persons or places. — Article I of Perry's Treaty with Japan on March 31, 1854. The Pacific Ocean consists of over thirty-four per cent of the world's surface, and not only do more than one-half of the human race rest somewhere upon its littoral, but two-thirds of the undeveloped resources of the earth are in the lands upon whose shores its waters break. — Homer T. Lea, " Valor of Ignorance," p. 189. Slowly but surely the nation which the United States first won peacefully from her seclusion is fitting herself for the master work of the twentieth century. . . . This is nothing less than to act as the mediator between East and West, as recon- ciler of the Oriental and Occidental civilizations. For this Humanity waits. It can come about only by mutual moral betterment. — William E. Griffis. Brave little people, of large aims, you bow Too often and too low before the Past; You sit too long in worship of the dead. Yet have you risen, open-eyed, to greet The great material Present; now salute The Great Future, blazing its bold trail Through old traditions. Leave your dead to sleep In quiet peace with God. Let your concern Be with the living, and yet unborn; Bestow on them your thoughts, and waste no time In costly honours to insensate dust. Unlock the doors of usefulness; and lead Your lovely daughters forth to larger fields Away from jungles of the ancient sin. But oh, the sorrozu of the undertone The zvail of helpless weeping in the dawn From lips that smiled through gilded bars at night. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox. II THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE IN the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, " some twenty-five words suffice to tell the world all that anybody cared to know about Japan." * Since then an immense library has been written about Japan, and much of it is already out of date. A mis- sionary, some years ago, wrote home, " This is a nation living without pure water, soap, milk, butter, apples, potatoes, meat, chairs, tables, and music." Not long ago there were no railways in Japan. Now there are 6,008 miles. t Besides there are telegraph lines, telephones, and a fine postal system, which will collect bills, deliver advertisements, give interest on deposits, and deliver by parcel post anything from a broomstick to a bushel basket. The railways take every precaution to preserve life. No passenger steps on a track, and at all country cross-roads a woman stands with her red or white flag. At most large towns one can purchase from the car- window, lunches, fruit, milk, tea, or liquors. Japan's main area consists of many islands, which reach like an elongated quarter moon from southern Saghalien to Formosa. The main island looks small on the map, but has a stretch of 704 miles from Tokyo to the western end, and about as far to the northern end. Besides the main islands, there are the Kurile, Loochoo, ♦Price Collier. t In addition to the mileage in Japan proper, where the tracks are on the three-foot-six-inch gauge, there are 726 miles in Korea and 606 miles in Manchuria. On the Continent Japan has adopted the standard gauge. There has been talk of widen- ing the trackage in Japan, but the execution of the project would entail an expense of several hundred million yen. 25 26 THE FIELD Pescadore, and Bonin groups. Including Formosa, there is an area of 162,372 square miles, more than half of \^ which is in the main island called Hondo. The popula- tion is 53,000,000, and has increased at an amazing rate since the beginning of the Meiji era. Korea, which was annexed in 1910, has an area of 80,000 square miles and a population of 13,797,545, all told. Japan has spent vast sums of money both in Korea and in her leased areas in southern Manchuria. In Korea, railways, tele- graph lines, currency reform, and hospitals for every province have been projected. Dalney, in the Liotung peninsula, has become a large city built in modern style. Tokyo, the capital city, as seen on the globe, is just opposite the region of Rio de Janeiro. It is the fifth city of the world in size, climbing up to the three million mark. It has almost every modern convenience save sewerage and adequate fire protection. Next to Tokyo is Osaka, the great manufacturing centre. Kyoto, a former capital, is a beautiful city near the mountains, with many famous temples. At the magnificent Buddhist, temple near the station, one can see the immense cables, five inches in diameter, made from women's hair con- tributed for the temple's construction. Nagoya is a great city which manufactures considerable china for Amer- icans. Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama are noted ports v^pf call, always visited by tourists. One day, in far less time than it takes to make the statement, I noticed at a street corner in Tokyo three little maids, each with a babe on her back ; two boys on stilts; several students; two girls, one with a scarlet belt and her companion in a purple silk dress; a one- legged man on crutches ; numerous men and boys pulling carts; a man blowing a horn selling bean curd; three bantam hens and their lordly rooster disputing the right of way; a boy on a bicycle delivering for a big depart- ment store ; three heavy loads of old lumber, each pulled by a man; an old woman bent with age; a man with THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE 27 a stiff neck; a ragpicker, who hustled out of the way of an imported auto which dashed past. Boys and girls stand at the street corners selling papers ; cigar stores have just put in their appearance; and sometimes the streets are blocked by people reading the returns from the wrestling matches just as Americans crowd under some newspaper's baseball bulletin. One is never out of sight of mountains in Japan, and hence but fourteen per cent of Japan's land is under] cultivation, whereas England has twenty-three per cent,] and France fifty-five per cent. The cultivated areas are in the lowlands, hugging close to the sea, or in the rapidly rising valley lands which always have their rivers and streams. These streams are harnessed by a well-planned system of irrigation. Descending rap- idly, the waters are dispersed here and there into the terraces or lower flats for the thirsty rice fields. Of late the more accessible forests have been cut either for lumber or charcoal. America is receiving Japan's white oak and railway ties by the shipload. " Ofiicial figures show that sixty-eight per cent of all Japan's territory- is still covered with forests or is being cultivated in the interests of afforestation." * Japan's main source of income is her agriculture. In an exceptional year like 1912, the estimated rice crop was 55,293,945 koku (one koku equals 5.13 bushels). Besides her rice, Japan has a considerable income from her tea, her silk, and some income from tobacco and camphor. Some silver, copper, gold, and iron is found, as well as petroleum and large deposits of coal. Vast fortunes could be made from her fish, if properly cured and canned in such a way as to suit Western tastes. As fruit of all kinds grows in abundance, this likewise could be made a source of considerable revenue. The climate is damp, and there are many rainy and cloudy days. Japan reaches from the far north to the * Japan Chronicle, May 6, 1911. 28 THE FIELD far south, and hence she has all the extremes of tem- perature. In north and northwest Japan the snow reaches great depth. In these towns neighbours visit one another by digging tunnels through the snow in the streets, and the pedestrians above can look down into second-story windows. Every summer there are one or two destructive typhoons. Every few weeks, light sleepers in the capital are aroused by a genuine earth- quake which makes timbers creak and the crockery rattle. As there are many volcanoes in Japan, there are also many hot springs, some of which have great medicinal ^yalue. Near Karuizawa, where hundreds of mission- aries usually retire from the heat of the plains for a few weeks during the summer, is the noted volcano, Asama. The eruptions of smoke and steam from this mountain are daily seen ascending, sometimes to the height of a mile or more. When we consider that the Japanese are trying to live from a cultivated area of half the state of Ohio, it is no wonder that the people are poor and heavily taxed to hold their place as a first-class power. Everything is taxed that is taxable. There is a land tax, a house tax, an inheritance tax, and an income tax on yearly incomes which amount to $200 and above. There is a tax on merchants, artisans' shops, bicycles, autos, wagons, carts, railway tickets, street car tickets, receipts, deeds, and real estate documents. Patent medicines are taxed ten per cent. Besides these sources of income, the govern- ment has taken over most oi the railroads and likewise has a monopoly on salt, camphor, tobacco, and telephone and telegraph lines. A farmer pays a yearly tax of eight per cent on the value of his rice land. " With regard to the capitalist landowner, it is estimated that if he has a gross income of Yi,70O (£176) per annum, his taxes amount to about Y900 (£90)." * There are some multimillionaires in Japan, but the pos- * Arthur Lloyd, " Everyday Japan," p. 133. THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE 29 sessions of the average home are very small. The Jiji newspaper estimates that there are only i,oi8 persons in Japan who are worth more than $250,000.* The heavy taxation, coupled with a population growing rapidly with scant resources, contain problems both serious and per- plexing for statesmen. The government is a constitutional monarchy, where the main power has rested since 1889 with the Em- peror, his Elder Statesmen and Privy Council. The Cabinet of ten members is selected by the Premier, who is chosen by the Emperor. The Houses of Parliament consist of 379 members in the House of Representatives and the House of Peers, which includes " 16 princes of the blood, 13 princes, 29 marquises, 17 counts, 17 viscounts, 56 barons, 172 Imperial nominees (for dis- tinguished services in war and peace), and 45 repre- sentatives of the highest taxpayers." f The courts have competent judges, who are allotted considerable power by law. There is no jury system and no system of political control by parties as has been developed in Eng- land and the United States. Though bureaucratic in form, the government has always had the best interests of the people at heart. The late Emperor, before his death, contributed $750,000 toward the poor and charity hospitals, which has been augmented by other donors until it has grown to $13,000,000. Japan is greatly hindered in her educational and com- meircial efforts by the use of the Chinese system of ideographs. Some eight to ten thousand of these char- acters are in use in the daily newspapers. A schoolboy must waste years of his time to memorize and to be able to write these characters with a brush. Without con- stant practice, even Japanese forget them. Besides these Chinese picture words, there are two alphabets (invented by the Japanese), which are strangely mixed up with * Quotation from Japan Evangelist of January, igi2, p. 39. ■\ Independent, April 25, 1912, 30 THE FIELD Chinese characters in common print. A typewriter, therefore, for the Japanese language is impracticable. Several attempts have been made at typewriter con- struction, without success. There is a gain, however, be- cause Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese quickly master the language of their neighbours. They all pronounce the same character differently, but the meaning remains the same in whichever country a Chinese character is read. Japan has a compulsory system of elementary educa- tion, in which children, both boys and girls, whose births have been reported to the Government, must attend school for six or eight years. After leaving the ele- mentary grades, the boys and girls are separated. The boys are provided a five years' course in the Middle Schools, and the girls a four years' course in Girls' High Schools. There are three Imperial Universities for men, and many special schools of all sorts for both sexes, such as: Normal, agricultural, industrial, com- mercial, nautical, military, medical, art, language, mu- sical, and religious. In many cases tuition has to be paid at the governmental schools, but most of the elementary schools are free.* The newcomer to Japan takes notice of the customs which are new and strange, particularly the class which is directly opposite to the Occidental way. He will note that the carpenter pulls his saw and plane, and appro- priates for himself all the shavings and scraps of wood ; that he turns screws to the left, puts locks on upside down, and uses his feet, when required, as well as his hands. A man hitches his horse by a rope wound around the horse's two front legs, and if a farmer, he walks with his horse instead of riding on the load. A barber shaves * The latest governmental reports give 443 kindergartens, 26,084 elementary schools, 305 middle schools for boys, 178 higher girls' schools, and 8 colleges as the last step into the Imperial Universities. THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE 31 out the hairs of the nose and ears and frequently shaves off the eyebrows of his female customers. The needle is pushed upon the thread, the candle is pushed upon the spike, and the match is pushed across the box. Bells are usually struck with the blow of a hammer or a swing- ing pole. A reader begins at the back of his book, at the right-hand side of the page, reads downways with a singsong, audible voice. A Japanese seldom kisses. Handshaking with foreigners is in its awkward begin- nings. The good old fashion was a bow with the head to the floor, or if standing, a bow so low that the bower frequently rubbed his shins to hold his equilibrium. As a rule, Japanese eat but little meat, for it is too expensive. A handful of chopped beef will do for a family. At chicken or duck shops you can buy a leg, or a wing, or a gizzard, to suit your fancy. Bear is still found in the more remote mountain fastnesses, and deer and wild boar are sometimes on sale in Tokyo. Near the coast-line fish are abundant and cheap. Salmon, sar- dines, mackerel, herring, shark, octupus, and tunny are commonly on sale. A great variety of vegetables is seen in Japanese markets the year round. Sweet potatoes, beans, cabbage, squash, eggplant, lotus root, and many varieties of leaves and tubers unknown to the reader are eaten. The long white radish, two feet in length and two to three inches thick, is everywhere used in Japan. It is cooked, pickled, or dried in strips. All relish, and all can afford this loud-smelling appetizer. From the noble's mansion to the lowly cottage by the roadside, the chief article of food is rice. You can see the baby nip- ping the sticky kernels from his fingers with the same satisfaction that the hungry labourer crams great chunks between his molars. The children of Japan are not different from the children of the United States. They cry the same and just as loudly. They laugh the same and they play the same. Their beautiful eyes, their plump cheeks, their S2 THE FIELD frank and trusting ways pull on your heartstrings just the same. True, they are dressed differently, and every colour of the rainbow is drawn upon to ornament their silk or cotton kimonos. Their hair may be clipped so that goatees like a turkey gobbler's may hang down from the rear or the sides or the top of the head. Their eyes are universally black and so is their hair. They may go bare-legged the year round and their unwiped noses may flow most of the time, — yet here, just as in America, they, whose angels do always behold the face of the Father, have a striking similarity, a winning in- nocency, an impulsive abandon, whether in a fight or in play. While the American boy delights to kick tin cans into deformity, the Japanese kicks at stones and sticks with a similar delight. Japan is a paradise for husbands. Occidental brothers know little of the pleasurable tyranny with which the Oriental master reigns as domestic king. The wife will never think of eating the evening meal till her husband's return, even if he is delayed till midnight. As she left him at the door when he departed, so is she there to greet him on his return — she takes his gloves, his hat, his coat, claps for the servant to bring the firebox, pours out his tea, worries over the bath, lays out a change of clothes, and all the time she entertains her lord with the most agreeable of feminine loquacity. The new civil code has made a big step forward in its consid- eration of the rights of women. But custom is stronger than law, and women will continue to suffer under the Confucian and Buddhistic conceptions for years to come. Her rocky soil and her growing population will of neces- sity force Japan upon the sea and make her a great manufacturing country if her millions are to subsist. Al- ready her merchant marine consists of 1,308,446 tons, against that of 2,033,100 tons for the United States.* * These figures, taken from the Shipping Year Book for 1913, are for seagoing steamers of 100 tons gross. THE EMPIRE AND ITS PEOPLE 33 The west coast of South America and the United States, Australia and the isles of the Pacific, and ports of call from Yokohama to London and Antwerp, are regularly visited by Japanese ships.* Manufactures are in their incipiency, but if the Japanese now manufacture moving pictures, phonographs, soaps, perfumeries, pens, lead pencils, silks, cotton goods, hats, stockings, printing presses and steam engines, it would be no risk to say that they will compete for world markets along every line that they may find to their profit and liking. Changes are coming over the East ; great changes that are irresistible. China, with souls enough to populate a planet, is now in motion. Japan like a citadel stands out in bold outline by day, and by night her illuminations flash and glimmer, seen by the millions of Asia from afar. The United States has insular possessions in the Orient which give her commercial and financial inter- ests which will increase with the years. But our country may as well try to plug the Amazon or pump the Gulf dry as to dream of shaping the Far East. The great Republic, however, may contribute mightily toward the final course of the strong currents now in motion, by acting as a friendly, trustworthy, and sympathetic neighbour. * Most of Japan's merchant marine is at the service of the government in time of war. It reached, in 1913, a subsidy of $5,415,347. Ill CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS When we arrived in Japan, in the autumn of 1873, there was not, in the whole Empire, a single preaching place. The one church of a dozen members met on the premises of a missionary under the protection of the United States flag. — M. L. Gordon, "An American Missionary in Japan," p. 45. Full fathom five, thy father lies : Of his bones are coral made ; Those are pearls that were his eyes : Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change. Into something rich and strange, — Selected from " The Tempest." What has been called her rise in the scale of civilized nations, except in so far as international power is concerned, has been, after all, little of a rise. It has only been a change of front, and the application of mental and moral powers in new directions, which enabled her successfully to assert claims which pre- viously she had been content not to make. — Henry Dyer, "Japan in World Politics," p. 141. By the advice of the United States Minister Harris, the Sho- gunate, in the spring of i860, equipped a large number of young aspirants for governmental honours and sent them abroad to pursue various courses of learning and to familiarize them- selves, each in his own specialty, with every branch of modern civilization. Sixty-five of these Japanese students after com- pleting their respective courses returned permeated with the best learning of the age, as the bearers of modern enlightenment in their country. — Masuji Miyakawa, "Life of Japan," p. 212. " Japanese have keen intelligence, noble and courageous hearts, obliging dispositions, politeness of manners and inclinations dis- posed toward that which is good. Those who have known them, have decidedly preferred them to all the other peoples of Asia, and it is only their lack of the true religion that prevents them from competing with the nations of Europe." Words of Gon- zales, when introducing an Embassy sent by Nobunaga, to the Pope. — " Eastern Asia : A History," p. 149. Ill CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS THE Athenians in Paul's day delighted " to tell or hear some new thing." The Japanese are prone to hear, see, or use new things if they become convinced that they will be pleased or benefited thereby. They do not intend to be behind in anything. Olympic games, a race for the South Pole, Shimose powder, flying machines, and a thousand other items would fail to com- plete the list of their activities. Years ago, a Japanese from the country came to Tokyo on a visit. It is the custom on returning from a long journey, to carry back many presents to friends and relatives. The most in- teresting item on this occasion was a box of foreign cake. As this new and strange item of Western diet had to accommodate a large circle of friends, it was cut into small bits, chewed deliberately, and swallowed under the high pressure of a volition determined to be abreast of the times. The cake proved to be a box of Mason's shoe blacking. Since then, the donor of the cake has educated one daughter in America and has made good in his efforts to outdo his forefathers. Every year, every decade, brings changes to Japan. I was talking with a veteran missionary some weeks ago who saw the late Emperor's Procession which ac- companied him in his first journey from Kyoto to Tokyo. The Emperor was entirely shut in within a magnificent box-like canopy which was born upon the poles of car- riers. No one ever dreamed then of ever looking upon his face. But since then, both he and the present Em- peror have frequently been seen while driving through the streets in a carriage or appearing openly at state and 37 38 THE FIELD public functions. The Emperor's chrysanthemum party is one of the occasions which is usually honoured by the Imperial presence. It is a time when foreign ambas- sadors are kept busy recommending their own nationals to the Japanese foreign Department as worthy of mixing with the nobility of the land. But a few years ago, every one walked, or floated leisurely down the rivers in a boat. A few of the more delicate and aristocratic were carried about in a basket called a kago. Now the fast express with dining-car and sleepers goes rushing through the rice fields. In Tokyo, where the speed limit for any vehicle is ten miles an hour, chaufifeurs at a safe distance from the police speed up to thirty miles an hour. Cyclists to-day, instead of the two-sworded Samurai, are the terror of the aged and little children. At busy corners one must sidestep for electric cars and rubber-tired jinrikishas, whose pullers have exchanged their warning yell for a nickel-plated bell. Tokyo has changed since the opening of the century. Streets have been widened, sidewalks made, as well as roads paved with wood blocks and asphalt. The uni- form one, or two storied buildings are being replaced in busy centres by buildings of brick and stone, with a frame-work of structural steel, finished with elevators and slate-roofs. A new central station over a thousand feet in length, is being built in Tokyo. At night, the outlines of the prominent buildings gleam with electric bulbs, and variating electrical advertisements flash out the excellences of Yebisu Beer and Lion Tooth Powder. Tokyo is crowding out into the adjoining rice fields and wheat fields. Land has risen in valuation until even the oyster beds of Tokyo Bay have become the founda- tions of dwellings and factories. Rising land values are driving the poor from their former haunts and have made many a poor farmer near the suburbs independ- ently rich. In 1883 the Methodist Episcopal Church TJilKD-CLASS PASSEXGER CAR ON THE WAY TO WORSHIP THE FOX GOD CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS 39 bought twenty-five acres of land for $2500. Here they located several schools and built a number of missionary homes. To-day, the city has grown around the com- pound and the land has risen in value to $375,000. Country life, while moving very much as in the days of Abraham, is experiencing its changes. Paper in the windows is giving place to glass. Tin and zinc are used for fences and roofing. Small towns are introducing electric lights or acetylene gas. Their dry goods stores cater to the youth in the way of neckties, white shirts, kid gloves, straw and felt hats. In the country, one en- counters Standard Oil Company's tanks, Singer Sewing Machines, Worcestershire Sauce, Milkmaid Brand of condensed milk, French perfumery and great quantities of American cotton and flour. What are these articles but proof that if the nations can stop fighting long enough to get well acquainted, every nation will invite all other nations to contribute, in a commercial way, the best that it can produce for its own comforts, support, and enjoyment ? Commercially, industrially, and financially, none but a specialist could note the changes inaugurated or brew- ing in Japan. Great plants of brick are being erected where once the fox and the wild duck ignored the patient farmer at his toil. lyeyasu, some three hundred years ago, limited the size of Japan's sea-going boats and re- stricted them to coasting and river traffic. In the last ten years an Osaka Steamship Company has made Tacoma a port of call, and the Oriental Steamship Com- pany has joined hands with the Western Pacific to share with the Harriman Railway legacy the profits of the Pa- cific Ocean traffic. Heavy purchases of real estate in Shanghai have been made by Japanese buyers. Steam trawlers have been brought out from England to compel the sea to surrender more of its abundance of fish. Japan has changed governmentally and geographically in the last twenty-five years. The promulgation of the 40 THE FIELD Constitution, the establishment of Parliament, the right of suffrage, even if to a few, were significant and epoch- making changes. The absorption by the Government, of the control of various industries to weather the strain of a great national debt and its obligation of interest, the increases in the Army and Navy, the extension of edu- cation, the outlays upon public works, are actions of state new and radical in themselves and pregnant with prob- lems for statesmen. Formerly epidemics of cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and smallpox carried away multitudes. These are now cared for by scientific nursing in well-equipped hospitals. The people are better fed, better clothed, better housed, better educated than formerly. Back of all change and move- ment, is the spirit of the people; but these changes in- evitably are introducing a change in the spirit and temper of the people. A man who has resided some fifty years in Japan told me that the most striking thing that he had noticed in the last two score of years was the change in the temper of the people. He said that formerly the people were submissive and humble, but now a marked spirit of self-assertion is everywhere in evidence. To- day, the coolie on the street car will jostle a well-dressed gentleman where, but a few years ago, he would have given his superior a margin of several feet, in passing on the road. The Government's uneasiness over so- cialism and the beginnings of a campaign against the Yosh- iwara System are proofs that great changes have taken place in the moral and mental temper of the people — changes which will continue until the whole social system based upon Confucius, Buddha, and feudalism is en- tirely reconstructed. The encouraging feature is that the Japanese them- selves are not satisfied with themselves. Following the anarchistic plot and the execution of twelve of the ring- leaders, a heart-searching that had been going on for years received a mighty forward impulse. Great dailies CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS 41 and magazines find room for many earnest and learned articles bearing upon morality and religion. " In the fulness of the times " God has sent His Gospel to Japan. Formerly, the crucifix was trampled upon but now one can seldom pass through a department store without seeing on sale the picture of the crucifixion. Ten years ago the New Testament was on sale in but a few stores in Tokyo, but now so popular has it become that it can be bought in scores of places and in most parts of the city. A decade ago Christmas was a celebration known only among the Churches and Sunday Schools, but now mer- chants have caught up the idea, and every year Christmas decorations and Christmas attractions are offered to many who know little of the word, except it is a Christian festival. A traveller in an interior town passed a store on Christmas Eve and heard from the door the strains of " Silent Night," played by an imported music box. A decade ago one heard nothing on the streets but the chants of Buddhistic devotees and at night nothing but the weird and vociferous attempts of students in their ex- pressions of poetical agony. Now it is not an uncommon thing to hear Gospel songs, or bits of them, sung by students, children, and messenger boys. In a temple yard in a mountainous district, far removed from Tokyo, I once heard a troop of little girls singing ** Bringing in the Sheaves." The other day some children who were standing before a fox shrine, sang " Jesus Loves Me." To-day the Japanese are not only receiving the Gospel, but the Government's subsidized boats are carrying the Gospel heralds and their letters to and fro on the At- lantic, the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The Chiyo Maru, on which I once crossed the Pacific, belongs to Japan's naval reserve. Perhaps I could pay no higher tribute to Japan's push and ability than to mention a few things about the ship, which impressed me. Its wireless outfit was the first I had ever seen. The oper- 42 THE FIELD ator was a graduate of the Imperial University. He seemed to handle the snappy, restless fiery energy and handled his instruments with as much ease as a house- wife her dough and rolling pin. The Chiyo and her sisters are the only merchantmen on the Pacific which have turbines and use oil for fuel. The doors of the water-tight bulkheads have electrical connections with the bridge, and in time of danger, they can all be closed instantaneously and simultaneously by fthe officer in charge. The Chiyo is equipped for comfort in tropical or frigid weather. Powerful fans drive the cool or the hot air to every part of the ship. The parlours are sump- tuous to a degree seen only in the palaces of kings. Large sections of the iron work and machinery were shipped from England, but the joining was done by Japanese workmen at Nagasaki. They have searched the entire world for the very latest in ship construction. Inevitably, such acuteness and ap- preciation of what is best and valuable will carry them further than the world of things. They will ultimately come to see that the Nazarene is the One altogether lovely, the only Sinless One, the only Bread of Life that can satisfy the heart hunger of a nation. In the beginnings of the modern eflfort to Christianize Japan, the mission- aries toiled for thirteen years before the first church was established. But now, every year new preaching places, new Sunday Schools, new churches, newly graduated pastors, are dedicated to Him who rules in righteousness. IV VILLAGE AND COUNTRY LIFE Custom forms us all; Our thoughts, our morals, our more fixed belief, Are consequences of our place and birth. — Hill. Princess and Lords may flourish or may fade, A breath can make them, as a breath has made, But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied. — Goldsmith. The peasant proprietors are disappearing, and we are getting a class of landlords — and absentee landlords at that — who live in the towns and rent the lands they have acquired to the sons of the former peasant proprietors, of whom many have sunk from the tenant farmers to day labourers. — Arthur Lloyd, " Every Day Japan," p. 294. April transforms your whole land into a pink orchard, while azaleas perfume every garden and verded glade. Each suc- ceeding season brings some new enchantment in Nature's prog- ress around the calender, till autumn consummates the whole with its display of crysanthemum blooms and the gorgeous scarlet panoply of the maple. — Col. C. P. Bryan. If you listen you will hear from East to West, Growing sounds of discontent and deep unrest. It is the just, the progressive-driven Plough of God, Tearing up the well-worn custom-bounded sod, Shaping out each old tradition-trodden track. Into furrows — fertile furrows, rich and black. Oh, what harvest they will yield. When they widen to a field ! Let the wise man hear the menace that is blent. In this ever-growing sound of discontent. Let him hear the rising clamour of the race That the few shall yield the many larger space ; For the crucial hour is coming when the soil Must be given to, or taken back, by Toil. Oh, the mighty Plough of God — Hear it breaking through the sod ! — Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Cosmopolitan, February, 1913. IV VILLAGE AND COUNTRY LIFE THE contrast between the American farmer and the Japanese farmer is very marked. The Amer- ican may have a piano in his parlour and electric lights in his barn. He pays a minimum of taxation and not frequently has an auto, not to speak of steam ploughs and threshers. His Japanese neighbour has no time for music, no barn for implements, and as a rule he has no cattle, hogs, or sheep. He seldom has a bank account, seldom goes a league from home, seldom has a rest day, and seldom appears in other than his working clothes. Instead of great ranches and sections of land, 46 per cent of Japan's farmers own less than one acre and 2 per cent less than two acres. * Formerly, the farmer gave a grain tax based on land area. Now he pays a money tax based on land valua- tion. Both the tax and land values have increased, owing to the late Russian War. Added to increased taxation is the increase of more than half a million chil- dren yearly which must be fed from the overcrowded farming areas. The result is that the small farmer is forced, by debt, from his farm, to seek food and shelter in the cities. Thither flock his girls as maids and nurses, and his boys as day-labourers or apprentices. The father frequently becomes a tenant or day-labourer on the little heritage handed down from his forefathers. The average of tax arrearage that resulted in governmental sales of farms in 1906 was 423^ cents. If a farmer becomes a * The author is indebted to an article by Prof. R. Nagai, which appeared in the Shin Nippon, translated by the Japan Times; also to the Japan Year Book. 45 46 THE FIELD tenant on his own farm he gives 57^^ of the rice yield to the landlord, buys the fertilizers and pays all the running expenses of the farm. Guano, compost, nitrates, and manure cost the farmers of Japan $83,000,000 annually. The real Japan of to-day is found in the country and smaller villages. Japan's millions are fed and her national credit is sustained by the man with the hoe. The farmer and the fisher are the mainstays of the army and the navy. The homy-handed, sunburned cottagers with their straw-roofed houses, straw sandals, and straw hats, furnish a good balance of conservatism, which serves as a bulwark in these days of stress and change. Country life has been less affected by Christianity than city life. It is in the country, among the fisher folk and the hamlets of the mountains, that Japanese life can be observed to-day very much as it could have been seen fifty years ago. There are 8,944,693 houses in Japan and 5,410,004 are the homes of farmers who constitute 60 per cent of the population. Nothing could be more interesting to an Occidental than a journey on foot or a ride in a stage through a country district. He will always be in sight of mountains, always in sight of homes and living beings. Japan's cultivable area is less than 20,000 square miles. (West Virginia's area is 24,645 square miles). The bulk of the people on this small area not only live, but by their frugality and patriotism have pushed Japan to the forefront as a first-class power. The traveller will notice here a field flooded with water; there a field of growing rice; ad- joining it a small patch of wheat, greens, sweet potatoes, beans, tobacco, millet, mulberry. Fifteen per cent more of the land could be thrown into cultivation if the numer- ous footpaths and raised boundaries of plastered earth were turned to cultivation, and if improved methods of irrigation were introduced. A country landscape presents a pleasing variety of colours. Countless shades of green are mixed with the VILLAGE AND COUNTRY LIFE 47 silvery sheen of paddy fields, the black of earth, and the gold of ripening grain. There is a crowded compactness of trees, houses, and fields. There is a labyrinth of roads, of footpaths, of shrines and cottages. Yonder, on a hill crowned with pines, is a long series of stone steps leading to a Buddhist temple. By the side of the temple, in a little plot of ground fringed with bamboo, are the moss-covered stones, brown with age, which mark the resting-place of the dead. We pass on the road many idols, and we frequently see in the yards of the farmers a private shrine, and sometimes, within the yard is the family burying ground. The eaves of the straw-roofed dwelling sometimes extend out four or five feet and under them will be piled the bamboo trays for the silk cocoons, bundles of straw, piles of twigs and branches for the kitchen fire. When the farmer piles his straw in the open he usually ties it in bundles to a slender tree with a sharp slant to shed the rain. The house is frequently hidden by a dense tangle of trees. The bamboo, the pine, the camelia, the plum, and the persimmon can usually be seen. Occasionally, a farmer can aflford a horse and a harrow. The horses are hardy, stout, and vicious. The head is large, the shoulders well-formed, the hoofs are small, and the hips ill-shaped. The more gentle can be led by a rope, but quite often, when worked in the fields, the horse is propelled by a six-foot pole tied to the bit at one end and directed by a man at the other. In the fields, winter or summer, rain or shine, the farmer, the mother, the son, the daughter, and the grandparents work up to their knees in muck and water. In mid- summer, maidens not infrequently have their heads and faces all but concealed by a coarse cotton cloth. The explanation of this mystery of sex and white muslin is the preservation of their complexions. The Japanese maiden thinks just as much of a mirror and precipitated chalk as does her Western sister. 48 THE FIELD At a country village you will find a post-office with a telephone, barber shop, and a schoolhouse. There is usually a fire-alarm which consists of a bell, suspended at the top of a perpendicular bamboo ladder. If of good size, the village will have several temples. In the yards, the children play during the day and thither gather the old dames who spin their yarns and croon to the babies on their backs. There will also be a good hotel, a bath- house, and several stores. A few rich men may reside in the village and if so, their houses will be tiled, their fences will be kept in good repair, and some of the build- ings will be plastered on the outside with a coating of pure lime. There is no hurry and no commotion in coun- try life. The biggest event of the day in a village is the coming of the mail-man with the dailies, or the passing of a stage. Events extraordinary would include a death, a marriage, the return of a soldier, or of a student who had completed the course of some advanced school. The soldier and the student are held in the respect that ap- proaches reverence. Occasionally, a peddler or a troop of travelling singers will pass the town. A good-sized town will have its own theatre. The head man of the village, the doctor and the school-teacher, are the leading men. Among them should be mentioned the money- lender, who, though a necessity, is unpopular and oft- times thoroughly hated. The Japanese word for pawn- broker, when pronounced, has a sound suggestive of ice or a lion's den. In the experiences of the people they are not dissimilar. The Japanese broker for small loans wants 50 per cent and upward. How much he is in demand may be judged from the fact that in 1907 while 1,505,857 farms were exchanged by purchase, 660,161 were acquired by mort- gage. In 1904, the first year of the war with Russia, the acquisitions by mortgage were 883,146. The tiny Japanese farms are more like town lots than anything VILLAGE AND COUNTRY LIFE 49 else. In Japan proper the average rice field is only one- eighth of an acre. It is not the Government's taxation alone which is making paupers of many of Japan's farmers. The bind- ing law of etiquette is likewise a cause. A funeral is always a big expense. Presents are always exchanged and debt is frequently incurred. When the father gives his daughter in marriage he likewise gives a dowry of clothes and certain articles of furniture that may burden him with debt for the rest of his life. A farmer of my acquaintance borrowed $300 to properly equip his married daughter, and he estimated that it would take him fifteen years to pay the debt. If you spend a day in a village, you will notice that every one is at work. They take time for an occasional smoke, for a cup of tea, and courteous greetings by the way, but every one works. There is a village matron grinding rice with two stones. Out of the flour she will make her cakes which are in much demand by the school children. There comes a man with a bundle of freshly cut rice on his back, leading a horse with every- thing but head and legs concealed by a stack of the same precious harvest, which it carries on its back. Before long, his wife and mother will pull the straws through an iron tooth comb and his daughter-in-law will beat the rice heads with a flail. Later on she will winnow the grain by tossing it into a flat basket against the wind, which blows the chaff away. The next door, several women will be at work at a loom, or, if in season, they will be whirling a big spool which is drawing the silk threads from the cocoons which are dancing madly about in an iron bowl of hot water. Formerly, the farmer could not sell his land nor could he vary his crops, which had to to be planted according to the will of his feudal lord. Now he has more freedom. He is better fed and is better cared for in every way. Most of them can afford a rice diet, but beans, millet, 50 THE FIELD barley, and sweet potatoes are drawn upon when the rice box has a scant supply. It is not an exaggeration to say that if the Japanese farmers had the unused land between fences, bordering our American railways, and rural roads, they would pay off the nation's debt and their own private debts in a few years' time. This is the class in Japan to-day which is unevangelized. They constitute the bulk of the pilgrims who, by the tens of thousands, flock annually to the sacred mountains, shrines, and distant temples especially noted for power to cure diseased bodies, give comfort to troubled souls, and rest for the unhappy spirits of the departed. Go to the home of the farmer or the villager and he will treat you courteously. Though ever so poor, he will set out his cup of tea, accompanied by some pickles, sugared beans, or cakes. He does not fret. He is cheery, industrious, and law-abiding. The American or the Englishman, who gives the tithe of a tenth to God, has the satisfaction that he has done considerable, cer- tainly far above the average giver. It is safe to say that the average Japanese farmer must give a third of his crop to convert it into money to pay the governmental, prefectural, and other taxes. Besides this, he has calls for aid from relatives, and he gives to his temples and shrines. Where in the world to-day is there a class num- bering 30,000,000 who live on so small a margin, who make such heavy contributions to their Government, and yet are so patient, so uncomplaining, so loyal, so intel- ligent, so open-hearted. THE SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURE As we have so- often tried to point out, the education of this country is so conducted as if its chief aim consisted in the training of mind and body in obedience. — The Japan Times. The evil I wish to speak of is that our people from ancient times thought so much of the duty of obedience that they forgot to respect the individual rights, and this must be classed among our shortcomings. — Count Okuma, The Japan Advertiser. Even to-day Christianity is eyed with suspicion by so-called patriots and Imperialists. It is branded as an enemy of national morality. At the very least, Christianity is charged with not up- holding the good customs and traits handed down from olden times. — Tasuku Harada, International Review of Missions, Jan- uary, 1912, p. 81. Japan is a mettled charger, saddled and bridled, but who shall mount and guide her? She has had many a master, Shakamuni — Confucius — the rule of the knight — but all alike are unable to curb her. Christ alone can master and rein her to a worthy goal. — G. M. Fisher. So long as man is not valued as a human being, but solely ac- cording to his accidental position in society, woman must be re- garded in the same way. She is valued, first as a bearer of offspring, second, as a domestic. And when such conceptions prevail as to her nature and function in society, defective ideals as to morality in the narrower sense of this term, leading to and justifying concubinage, easy divorce, and general loose morality, are necessary consequences. — Sidney L. Gulick, " The Evolution of the Japanese," p. 260. As to what concerns religion, Japan is the realm of the Kami that is of Sin, and the beginning of all things, and the good order of the government depends upon the exact observance of the ancient laws of which the Kami are the authors. They can- not be departed from without overthrowing the subordination which ought to exist of subjects to their sovereigns, wives to their husbands, children to their parents, vassals to their lords, and servants to their masters. The laws are necessary to main- tain good order within and tranquillity without. — Nideyoshi's edict of 1592, expelling Catholic Missionaries, quoted in "Japan in World Politics," p. 11. THE SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURE IF one would arrive at an understanding of the na- tional and individual traits of the Japanese, if he would be temperate when praising their virtues and just when condemning their immoralities, he must know the social system. It is a complex order which has united the Japanese as one family into a compact nation. Stated in its briefest form, this system is based upon the relation of the inferior to the superior, and ethics rather rest upon the service which the inferior renders and the paternalism which the superior bestows. This law of the superior and the inferior is most com- monly stated under the terms of filial piety and loyalty; loyalty standing for the relations of a subject to his ruler, and filial piety for the service in the family. This is a Japanese abbreviation of the five relations taught by Confucius, namely, — ruler and subject; father and son; husband and wife; elder and younger brother; friend and friend. Formerly, the Japanese were divided by a rigid caste system into the governing classes, soldiers, farmers, artisans, and next to the lowest were the mer- chants, and below them were the scavengers or outcasts. There was no intermarriage. The use of a family name was not granted to farmers, artisans, or merchants. A farmer was a serf who could neither buy nor sell land. Ofttimes the sufferings of the farmer class were very great. In 1644 Sakura Sogoro, himself a farmer, came to Tokyo to appeal directly to the Shogun. His efforts were rewarded with the crucifixion of himself and his wife and the death of his three children. The soldiers had nothing to do with business. They 53 54 THE FIELD and their families were fed by the feudal lords out of the heavy tribute laid upon the common people. By a soldier's right, he could cut down one below him with a sword, and he always exacted the most abject salu- tations from those below him. Thus, by the teaching of Confucius, as well as by the divisions of society into the superior and the inferior, authority and submission became the basis of character, and the dominant char- acteristic of society and family life. The Japanese are naturally affectionate and loyal, and though the Chinese teaching was an imported article, it has become a vital part of Japanese life to-day, as is always in evidence by the exercise and show of authority by every superior and by the servile obedience of every inferior, Japan has its gods, its religions, its ethics of many sages, but all combined are less potent in their lives, than the in- fluence of their own living and dead. Ancestor worship on the one hand, combined with the loyalty due living superiors on the other, is the strongest spiritual and social force in the Japan of to-day.* We all know that our Creator has placed within every heart a natural moral bent and every conscience is en- dowed with some elemental rules, " Thou oughtest " and ** Thou shalt not," but alas ! we are all creatures of education and environment. What the multitudes do and what custom is established, becomes a general law to all but the stoutest hearts. Formerly, Japan had no Ten Commandments, no Sermon on the Mount, no Christ who demanded the forsaking of all that the soul might follow Him. There was no spiritual Kingdom of God, no conversion, no prayer, " Thy will be done on earth." In their minds, a heaven where Christ reigns to attain * " In conformity with the spirit of the ancestor worship cult observed both by court and people, special attention is devoted by the Imperial Household to preserving and keeping in due state the mausolea and tombs of the Emperors and members of the Imperial family." — p. 27, Jafan Year Book, 1912. A MODEL JAPANESE FAMILY THE SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURE 55 which the martyrs gladly suffered sword and flame, did not exist. These spiritual forces in every Christian's heart have exalted truth for truth's sake, the necessity of purity because He was pure, the worship of God alone because He only is worthy of worship. Instead of these spiritual forces in the minds and the lives of the Japanese, there is the elder brother or sister, the master over the servants, the husband above his wife, the father over the whole family, and the feudal lord, the Shogun, or the Emperor over the whole nation. It was under the teaching of Confucius, under the despotism which grew out of it, under the struggle for bread, under the grip of the superior, it could be seen, sword in hand, that Japan has had unparalleled deeds of devotion, sacri- fice, and heroism ; and on the other hand, when the master has been cruel, licentious, or covetous, she has suffered un- der criticisms as sad as they have been true. There can be no question but that from the side of the inferior obedience, humility, service, sacrifice unto death, can be seen to-day and can be read in the annals of Japanese history. Children obey and revere their parents. Sub- jects are law-abiding and respectful to officers of state. Wives are models so far as their self-surrender, their motherly virtues, and domestic qualities are concerned. But the system in practice has no proper way of enforcing the obligations of the superior or of putting proper checks on his authority or power. Theoretically, of course, there are the Constitution, the law, the courts, but prac- tically obedience was so thoroughly grafted into the lives of all and is yet so taught in the homes and the schools, that, generally, the order of the superior is not questioned. This accounts largely for the many divorces. A relative interferes from dislike or mercenary reasons and husband and wife, though they love, must part. A Japanese writer mentions a case which, though rather extreme, illustrates the negative side, or the abuse of the authority which the superior holds. " Recently I 56 THE FIELD heard of a man who was in straitened circumstances, and by scheming, succeeded in marrying his daughter into a family, hoping to get hold of money to help him out of his difficulties. But the people of the house re- fused him assistance and his next move was to insist on his daughter being divorced. At last he accomplished his design and promptly sold her as a prostitute." Three months ago I met a bright girl who was maid at a hotel where I frequently stopped in the country. I knew she must be a new hand, so I asked her her age, her home, and why she had gone so far for work. She was twenty-two years old and her home was in Tokyo. Her elder brother had borrowed $8.50 from an agency, and her service as a maid had been turned over to the agency as security until the money should be returned. She was light-hearted but remarked that such a custom was " no good." To-day Japanese society is divided into the nobility, the gentry, and the common people. The nobles, in all, number a little less than one thousand. In the order of their rank, they consist of princes, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons. The Japanese have great respect for their nobility. One night at a hotel I had given the check for my hat and overcoat to the clerk, when sud- denly he dropped the brass check as if it had burned him. He rushed across the corridor, knocking another coat and hat to the floor en route. This was all on account of a genial baron whom the boy had noticed waiting for his coat. The baron was wholly unconscious of the wild assault on space which had been made in his behalf. Slowly but surely changes are at work which are level- ling the people. When the samurai laid aside his two swords, it meant the breakup of the old divisions of society. When the factory and the railway came, it meant a radical change in family life. In olden times, framers, artisans, and the eta (the outcasts), who con- stituted the bulk of the people, stayed in one place, and THE SOCIAL AND FAMILY STRUCTURE 57 for generations their descendants followed the occupa- tions of their fathers. A family council used to be an easy thing, and the elder brother could exact his rights when his brothers and sisters were at his elbow. But to-day, with the increase of population, the struggle for bread, the larger opportunities for all who can leave the family fireside, have come changes in the family system. The Japanese family did not consist of father, mother, and children. The family was a unit consisting of many relatives and many who were adopted into the circle. The family was kept up both by adoption and concubinage. * Business and convenience rather than blood and love was at the basis of the old family system. The family looked after its orphans and there were no beggars, or at least there were few in the land. An individual was not free to buy, sell, marry, or travel, without the con- sent of his superior, or a family council. While this is largely true to-day, it is beginning to pass away, for a new individualism is coming from the reading of Western books and the adoption of forms of Western civilization. The expansion of the nation and new laws and ways of living are making for individual liberty. It is a question, however, if morally the people have been benefited by the momentous changes which have been going on in society. The new danger is that liberty may run to license. It will not be a surprise if in the future there are violent and troublesome instances of self-assertion both by individuals and by groups of in- dividuals. The imperative need is a commanding morality by which the people can shape their lives ac- cording to the new opportunities, new responsibilities, and new temptations which confront them. Young men * Even the Imperial line which claims to have existed from Jimmu Tenno, covering a period of twenty-five hundred years, has resorted to adoption and concubinage, for its own perpetua- tioo. 58 THE FIELD and women who go far from the parental home either for study or work, are a matter of concern for statesmen as well as parents. Nine years ago, Baron Iwasaki said : " But unless we now turn our attention to the nourishing of our moral nature, how will it be possible to place our progress on a sure and permanent basis ? " * On the publication of the Root-Takahira Agreement, Count Okuma said: "Taking advantage of the publica- tion of the note, I would sound a warning to the nation. As a state, there may be nothing in Japan to morally deserve blame; but as a people, Japan may not wholly escape being looked down upon by foreigners, on moral and intellectual grounds." Especially since the twelve anarchists were hung, there has been a great searching of hearts. Some would revert to the classics for the Orient has had her Senecas and her Epicuruses. But a Japanese writer says : " This revival of the classics is like placing a mirror behind us when we would see our- selves." On all lines — material, mental, and moral — a great mixing process has been going on. A new age has come and a new era of spiritual change. Japan's statesmen will be as much concerned with in- ternal problems as with international diplomacy. The papers, the magazines, and reports of governmental con- ferences have increasing reference to the moral better- ment of the people. This is most hopeful and promising. A Japanese editor once wrote : " Our country is our idol and patriotism our first doctrine. From the Emperor downwards, the majority have no other religion." Loyalty and filial piety are not empty words in Japan. Their full meaning can only be grasped as one becomes acquainted with the hearts and the experiences of the people. * Japan Times. VI THE PREVALENCE OF IDOLATRY Christ's rest is the rest of living peace, lifting upwards. The priests in the temple, sitting still, and the old women who worship are at rest, but they have no aspiration. It is stillness without uplift or strength. Their religion is indolence. — A Japanese Opinion, " Missionary Principles and Practice," p. 350. Pass over the earth, you may discover cities without walls, without literature, without monarchs, without palaces and wealth ; where the theatre and the schools are not known ; but no man ever saw a city without temples and gods, where prayers and oaths and oracles and sacrifices were not used for obtaining pardon or averting evil. — Plutarch. Anglo-Saxon civilization is that towards which Japanese aspire and to which they are approaching. This is of the greatest importance for us. The missionaries have been ex- ponents of this civilization. There is, however, much yet to be done ; for, from the religious point of view, Japan is in a starving condition. It is most important to have good food and good drink. — A Japanese Opinion, " Christian Movement." It is a fact of immense importance that of all the religions mentioned in the Bible, all have died except the Christian. We read of Baal and Ashtaroth, and Chemosh, Bel, and Nebo; but no man anywhere now bows at their name. We read in the annals of Egypt about Amen, and Kneph, and Khem, and Seti, and Ra, and Turn ; but silenced forever are their praises, de- serted and in ruins are their temples. — Alvah Sabin Hobart, " Religion for Men," p. 121. The Japanese word Kami, translated " gods," has perplexed foreign scholars not a little, for our word " god," or " deity," means too much for the word Kami, which is by no means equal in the minds of the Japanese to our high and holy God. . . . For instance, in the first part of the Kojiki a peach is addressed as a Kami, or god, a certain sword is considered to be a god, a toad gives advice to the gods ; a pheasant deity is mentioned, and a colossal crow guides Jimmu in his Eastward march. — J. C. Calhoun Newton, "Japan, the Country, Court and Peo- ple," p. 47. VI THE PREVALENCE OF IDOLATRY A TRAVELLER who lands at Yokohama, who walks upon the stone ballast and among the roomy ware- • houses built upon lots wrested from the sea, who visits the stores groaning under the treasures of art, who takes notice of the newspapers, the schools, the govern- mental buildings, will be impressed with the nearness to which Japan has approached our own national life. Further travel and investigation will impress him with the virility, the earnestness, and the activity of Japan's religions, and, if he be a Christian, the prevailing idolatry will make him feel that, though a first-class power, Japan stands spiritually in an isolated position. Wherever he goes, he finds temples and shrines more numerous than police boxes and post-offices. Few are in decay; most are kept in good repair. A traveller just from India and China, who had visited a leading temple in Tokyo, was impressed with the numbers and enthusiasm of the worshippers who crowded to the temple's altars. He said, " I have never seen the like anywhere." The temples are always open, but there are festal days when special trains and extra electric cars cannot carry the congestion of worshippers. Adjoining the temples, or within the temple courts, is usually a space for little shops where tea, lemonade, cakes, candies, trinkets, souvenirs, charms, idols, and rosaries are sold. Fortune tellers and story tellers both amuse and dispense destiny. Begging priests regularly visit their own constituency and chant a section of Buddhist scriptures in exchange for coppers or gifts of rice. Wandering priests make their circuits with idols and shrines on their backs. In times of sickness and distress, after a death and after a birth, the services 61 62 THE FIELD of a priest are usually indispensable. In summer time, pilgrims chosen and sent as representatives of a village or family wander far from home to worship in many a distant temple and climb many a sacred mountain. These pilgrims usually have a staff in their right hand, with its jingling rings, a big umbrella hat of straw, straw sandals, and a square of matting swung over their backs to shield them from sun and rain. They invariably carry a rosary. It is not exclusively the farmer or the peasant who keeps alive the idolatry of the past. A certain manu- facturer goes in his auto daily to worship his chosen god. A noted professor, in spite of his learning, bows to his image of stone. The department of shrines and temples is a bureau of the Japanese Government. Most every home has its god-shelf, and they who can afford them have exquisite shrines overlaid with gold leaf. Shrines and idols may be seen at cross-roads, in the fields, on the hilltops, or in shady retreats. The toys, the art, the literature, the history of Japan are interwoven and intertwined with idolatry. Their customs, their play, their festivals, their stories, their theatricals refer back to the times when the border line between the human and divine was dim, back to the times when mountains talked, winds cried, and the sun and moon were born as a babe is born. A neighbour's little girl at times plays she is a Buddha, at which times she sits motionless, with her little limbs crossed and her eyes closed. How could it be otherwise ? The crowds go to the temples. Thither went their relatives and an- cestors. Thither went their heroes, their warriors, their statesmen, their rulers. Many of these have passed into the Japanese pantheon, and to this day they retain their seats among the gods. Such is Gongensama, who was leyasu, the great Shogun. Such is Hachiman, who was Ojin, the son of an Empress. Such is Temmangu, who was Sugawa, a statesman and a scholar. THE PREVALENCE OF IDOLATRY 63 There seemed to have been no limit as to what might slide over into divinity. Trees, stones, and mountains, as well as snakes, horses, monkeys, and foxes have all come in for honours. The fox god is one of the most popular in Japan to-day. I was at a noted fox shrine, on a rainy day, when a man, dressed in his silks, squatted before a dark recess in the ground and prayed his prayer to the cunning little denizens of mythology. How many are actually adherents of idolatry no one can say. There is no formal admission or excommunica- tion. There are no rented pews. One can be a Buddhist, a Confucianist, a Shintoist, all at the same time, and pay tribute regularly to half a dozen gods or goddesses. There are the nominal worshippers who swing with the crowd. There are the devout ones, who are painfully conscientious. I met an elderly woman at Minobu, in central Japan, who had come all the way from Korea to worship at her favourite mountain. She made the trip yearly. Among the hundreds who came and re- turned while I was at a certain temple, I was most impressed by a woman of about thirty years of age. With clasped hands and bowed head, she incessantly repeated her short prayer. There was all the pathos of a heart wrung by anguish. She told me that the name of her god was Daishi, but I could get no inkling of her woe. There is an increasing number of agnostics, to whom the whole phalanx of idols is ridiculous. They often assert to their foreign friends that Japan's idols are relics, and her temple compounds but the playgrounds of children and the museums of a hoary past. Among these agnostics are men of the larger cities, who are well read and who have travelled extensively. They are as clever, genial, and refined a lot of men as one could meet in any section of the world. Politically, financially, diplomatically, and internationally, these ag- nostics are the spirits who sustain Japan's prestige as a great world power to-day. Any number of them will 64! THE FIELD speak German and English or French and English. They hold diplomas from the world's great universities and can talk freely about the pyramids, the Monroe Doctrine, flying machines, the new Swiss code, Hamlet, or radium. Such, as a rule, are not idolaters — but they constitute the minority. Striking averages, one is impressed that the general conception of divinity is inferior and pantheistic. One occasionally sees an old idol built into the wall, or it may be broken and ready to fall. Second-hand stores have a thriving trade in idols. The Hypothec Bank, in advertising its twenty-yen debentures, represents the god Daikoku pouring out showers of money. His companion god, Yebisu, is a trade-mark for a noted beer. A musical company represents Buddha leaning over to catch the strains issuing from the horn of a phonograph. The Uran magazine recently advertised a comedy of the gods, in which the seven gods of happiness were revised so as to include Billiken (supposed to be the American God) and Mrs. Billiken. Their gods are sometimes pun- ished and beaten. A man was once praying to Inari, the fox god. He said : " Give me cunning and I will give you half of all the money I get." A friend said : " You have promised too much; Inari will be satisfied with less." The supplicant replied : " Shut up ! Don't you know if Inari sama gives me cunning enough to get wealth, I will be cunning enough to keep it ? " While one meets occasionally a carelessness, a light- heartedness, and even levity on the part of the people in the treatment of their gods, there is, after all, a serious vein which is the predominating one. Religious liberty was promised by the Constitution, yet on the day of its promulgation, Mr. Mori, the advocate of such liberty, was assassinated by a Shinto fanatic for having, as was alleged, raised the curtain of the shrine at Ise with his walking stick.* *Otis Carey, "A History of Christianity in Japan," Vol. II, p. 82," THE PREVALENCE OF IDOLATRY 65 Just two months ago five hundred and fifteen persons were inducted into the holiness of Buddhism by touching a golden razor at a temple in Tokyo. When the new arsenal was built at Oji, a fox god was removed from his ancient seat. Sickness, death, and frightful dreams were visited by him upon the perpetrators till the popular clamour grew so loud that the god was restored to his original place, and a day of rest was granted to the la- bourers of the arsenal. Two years ago was dog year. The superstition is that individuals born in that year will at some time die from the bite of a dog. It was also by chance a year of dreadful floods. Charms and magic powders were sold to immense crowds, with a guarantee of escape from all calamities. At Suitengu's shrine (sea-god), both in Tokyo and Yokohama, people trampled upon one another and some were killed in the mad rush for the idol's panacea. At Kudan, in Tokyo, the report was that sixty people were carried away on stretchers to hospitals and some were crushed to death. What does it all mean? It means that the Japanese are a very religious people. It is an incontrovertible truth that the world by wisdom knows not God, for " how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard ? " Every idol, every temple is but a token that the Japanese are groping after the Father of light, but likewise every temple, every idol is a proof of how far they have wan- dered. " The glory of the incorruptible God " is changed " for the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things " one sees in Japan to-day. The houses of prostitution leading to or close by some of the most noted temples and shrines is but a twentieth-century edition of conditions in Paul's own day. Let us remember, however, that there are many who are first who shall be last and last who shall be first. Japan has this in her favour, that though morally led by the non-godly Confucius, and religiously blighted fey m THE FIELD atheistic Buddhism, her heart still has hope, her masses pray, and they believe that death does not end all. Were I to choose between the idolatry of Japan and some of the gross forms of materialism taught in the West for the base of a State or Society, I would choose the idolatry just as a starving man would prefer grass, bark, and berries to gravel, ashes, and dirt. Candidly, my sym- pathies are more with the idolator than the author who sits in an easy chair, surrounded by the blessings and protection of a Christian civilization, who suavely and confidently writes a book to prove that there is no Father God, no Christ His Son, no Revelation, and that our whole moral, volitional, and intellectual life is the irre- sistible or accidental result of a violent process — the debris of molecular fireworks upon the cortex under our scalps. A Christian can make no apology for idolatry, and yet in the long absence of a true revelation, conditions in Japan are eloquent and pathetic in their witness to the tenacity with which the human heart clings to the great realities of life and being. The wonder is that long ago they had not abandoned hope, prayer, and every concep- tion of deity, and sunk to the depths of materialism that denies either angel or spirit. Let no Christian adopt a " holier than thou " attitude toward the idolaters of earth, for we stand by faith. By the grace of God, Anglo-Saxons are what they are reli- giously. With humility and gratitude we must acknowl- edge that by a westward sweep of the Gospel, the idol- atry of our forefathers, their Wodens and Thors were overturned to give place for the Divine Man of Nazareth. Our own history, as well as Japan's idolatrous condition, proves the unfailing accuracy of the Great Teacher who said, " Neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him." PART TWO THE MISSIONARY I WHAT THE MISSIONARY HAS DONE Everywhere in life, the true question is, not what we gain, but what we do. — Thomas Carlyle. Even so ye also, when you shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do. — Luke xvii. lo. Unto the man of yearning thought, And aspiration, to do nought, Is in itself almost an act. Being chasm, fire, and cataract, Of the soul's utter depths unsealed: But woe to thee, if once thou yield Unto the act of doing nought! D. G. ROSSETTI. Such names as those of Brown, Hepburn, Verbeck, and Greene are not only household words in New Japan, but were it not for the violation of private confidence, the writer could show how, in grave crises of state, their advice was sought and followed. Dr. S. R. Brown trained some of the very first of the young statesmen of New Japan. Dr. J. C. Hepburn has healed tens of thousands of her people. — William Elliott Griffis, " Introduc- tion of American Missionary Work in Japan," p. ii. Don't tell us what you have, show us what you have done. Don't point out what you own, but demonstrate what you have achieved through your own efforts. It requires exactly the same amount of brains to fall into a fortune that it takes to fall into a puddle. What have you created — what did you give the world that it never before possessed — with what ideas have you fertilized ad- vancement — what enthusiasms have you aroused — what have you done to make us hope harder or strive farther — what seed of inspiration have you planted — what fight have you fought in the name of the common good? — Herbert Kaufman, Los Angeles Times. WHAT THE MISSIONARY HAS DONE LIVING, teaching, preaching Christ, always, every- where and under every circumstance, is the object ■^of every missionary's life. However, in a land that is non-Christian and formerly was anti-Christian, the attainment of this ideal is only accomplished by a division of labour. Some become master builders, some must be hewers of wood and drawers of water, if an enduring temple be erected to God's praise. Missionaries as great and as resourceful are living to-day in Japan as have ever served the Church in any mission field. But there is nothing dramatic about their lives because Japan has advanced as a nation, and upon the Japanese Church is falling the mantle of leadership. Dewey, without the naval engagement ofif Manila, would have passed into obscurity. The battle made his repu- tation, but his character and efficiency had been deter- mined previously by years of quiet service. The missionary brought to Japan the musical scale and songs of good cheer. The first gospel song that was translated and sung was " There is a Happy Land." The translator was Jonathan Goble, a missionary of the Baptist Church.* To-day several hundreds of thousands know the songs of Zion. Just now, not far away, some one is playing on an organ " Shall We Gather at the River ? " Two hundred thousand copies of the Union Hymnal have been sold and thousands of copies of the * The same Mr. Goble invented the man-pulled vehicle with two wheels, called the jinrikisha. He applied to the Japanese government to have his invention recognized and rewarded, but no governmental action was taken. 69 70 THE MISSIONARY Sunday School Songs. The first missionaries thought they would have to invent a musical scale to fit the Japanese voice, but to-day one can hear Japanese quartets carrying all the parts from tenor to bass. Japan's ancient songs stir the soul, but they appeal to grief, passion, and despair, and are sung in a minor key. The missionaries have taught Japan to sing of love, of hope, and of Heaven. What genius of to-day could trace the effect of Luther's Translation upon the German race, or the reach of the Authorized Version upon English-speaking people ? The missionary's greatest work has doubtless been the trans- lation of the Word of God. The translation of the New Testament was completed in 1880; the Old Testament in 1888. The permanence of the last fifty years of Christian effort in Japan is made doubly sure because a few of all classes are reading and studying the Bible. It is the timely leaven which will transform the literature and regenerate the heart of the nation. " One of the first lessons which came to Japan through foreign missionary propagandism was the awakening of Buddhism to new life." * The immorality of idolatrous priests has been rebuked by the introduction of Christian ethics. Successful methods of Christian work have been adapted by the Buddhist; for competition with an edu- cated Christian ministry they have established many schools. The essence of many a priest's address on ethics has been extracted from the Bible. Much that counts for good in the ancient faiths has been magnified and energized for millions of souls because of a power and an influence emanating from the Cross. A young Japanese student concluded a talk to some missionaries at Karuizawa by saying his chief objection to the education that missionaries were giving the women of Japan was that the graduates " think too much and talk too much." He was simply championing the old * William E. Griffis. WHAT THE MISSIONARY HAS DONE 71 ideal which would make woman a toy, a servant, a nonentity. Through Christianity the women of Japan have come to a new consciousness, a new dignity, a new liberty. Japanese women, in many respects, have en- joyed privileges above their Oriental sisters; but they look to Christianity for the banishment of concubines and the establishment of a real home, a home wherein the mother takes her place at her husband's side, shares with him the respect due from son and daughter, and is shielded by him from interfering relatives. The missionary has always stood for the religious lib- erty of the people. Their presence, their spoken or written words have contributed much towards the tolera- tion now enjoyed. Before the signboards against Chris- tianity were removed. Dr. R. S. Brown drew up an appeal through the Evangelical Alliance to the nations of the world. This was signed by all the missionaries in Japan. About this time (1871) a company of fourteen commis- sioners left Japan for a tour of the world. They visited the capitals and chief cities of the United States, England, Holland, Germany, Russia, France, Belgium. David Thompson, an American missionary still at his post in Tokyo, was the interpreter and financial agent for the Commission. He took a copy of the above appeal, which in New York City he showed to Philip Schafif. In London the appeal was shown to an assembly of The Church Missionary Society, who had called Mr. Thomp- son for a conference on the situation. At Berlin he showed it to Pastor Prochnow, and mailed a copy to Bismarck. The Embassy of 1872, under Prince Iwakura, and the sweeping changes which followed from the investigations of the Embassy, make it a most important item in the governmental and historical development of the country. The visit of the Embassy was the direct result of the advice of Guido F. Verbeck, an American missionary who was at that time serving Japan as the president of '72 THE MISSIONARY the Imperial University. Japan's gratitude to Verbeck was shown by an Imperial Decoration and exceptional freedom of travel for himself and family. At his death a company of soldiers and many officials were sent to escort his body to the grave, and His Majesty, the Emperor, expressed his sympathy by a gift of 500 yen. Missionaries have made valuable contributions to the literature concerning Japan and things Japanese. The first English- Japanese dictionary was issued by Dr. Hep- burn. For the general reader, one of the best books on Japan is a handbook of " Modern Japan," written by Ernest W. Clement. " The Evolution of the Japanese," by Sidney L. Gulick, is a masterly presentation of the moral and social aspects of Japanese life. " Japan, the Country, Court, and People," is another good book, with ample historical information, written by J. C. Calhoun Newton.* Two women deserve mention who have made a valua- ble contribution to the Christian literature of Japan, namely. Miss E. E. Dickinson and Miss Georgiana Baucus. The latter lady was returning home from her furlough when she met Miss Dickinson in Palestine. Opportunities for Christian work in Japan so impressed them both that they returned to Yokohama together, where they have since made their home. Here, at their own charges, they have created a new and much appre- ciated literature which, in its religious as well as artistic aspects, appeals especially to the Japanese. The United States government has spent $2,(X>o,ooo and Massachusetts $7,000,000 in an effort to exterminate the gypsy moth. It is said to have been introduced in the United States by the carelessness of a chambermaid who unlocked and opened the windows of a screened room of a university professor who was experimenting with * See Appendix A for books on Japan written by those who are or have been missionaries. WHAT THE MISSIONARY HAS DONE 73 silk spinning caterpillars.* Henry Loomis, Japan's mis- sionary entomologist, discovered the parasite called the Ichneumon Fly, which kills the gypsy moth. He received in this connection the thanks of the American Secretary of State, on the recommendation of Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, because of his service to the American public. The editor of the Boston Watchman wrote, " This discovery by a missionary promises to save the people in this country more than all the missions in Japan have cost." During a short residence in Cali- fornia, some years back, Mr. Loomis introduced into America the cultivation of the Japanese persimmon, by distributing some 50,000 grafts among Southern and Pacific states.! Judge W. W. Marrow was a member of the legislative committee which prepared the first Peace Conference resolution passed by the American Congress. He said at the Laymen's Missionary Convention at San Francisco : " The present missionary movement lies at the very basis of the future peace of the nations." The missionaries are active supporters of the Peace Societies in Japan. Gil- bert Bowles, as secretary of the American Peace Society of Japan, has been especially active in these lines. He is an authority on the question, and his services are not only appreciated in Japan, but known in America and other countries. In the early days the missionaries were the promoters of most of the eleemosynary work of a public character. Their work even in recent years is not inconsiderable. A little boy found in the snow at the home of Miss Frances E. Phelps led to the opening of " The Sendai Christian Orphanage." Miss K. Youngman was influential in founding the " Meguro Leper Hospital." In Japan, ♦ See article by Wm. L. Altdorfer, in Los Angeles Times for September 21, 1912. t Mr. Loomis, in 1881, was made agent of the American Bible Society, in which capacity he served thirty years. 74 THE MISSIONARY some 133,000 die annually from consumption. Allen H. Faust has made an impression on Japan by his activities on the behalf of the sufferers of this disease. His book in Japanese, entitled " The Great Enemy of Society," was placed in a list of eighty-five books which the Educa- cational Department of the government recommended for popular education. On Thanksgiving Day, 1905, a company of mission- aries met in the home of M. B. Madden, Sendai, to start a movement in aid of 680,000 starving Japanese. The crops of Mayagi, Fukushima, and Iwaki provinces were a complete failure. Thousands wandered from home in the snow and subsisted upon a nourishment of acorns and a broth made from roots and grasses. This com- mittee of missionaries * sent cable calls for help to the United States, Germany, England, Spain, France, Italy, Hongkong, Singapore, and Australia. They also started a vigorous campaign for help among foreigners in Japan. The committee not only received and distributed a large sum of money, but its appeals resulted in still larger gifts, which came from Germany, England, China, and the United States. When Japan opened her treaty ports, her chief fears were the influx of opium and missionaries. But all during this dreadful winter, when the rice harvest of 51,000,000 koku the previous year had fallen to 38,- 000,000, the missionaries who exposed themselves through snow and cold demonstrated that their presence in Japan was of practical value. Some years ago, Hugh G. Murphey of Nagoya opened up a campaign against brothel keepers. It was a long and hard fight against the combined power of money and corruption. His heroic efforts resulted in the famous Regulation No. 44 of the Home Department in October ♦The committee, consisting of the following, were all mis- sionaries save Mr. Forrest, who was a teacher in a government school : W. E. Lampe, C. S. Davison, C. Jacquet, J. H. DeForest, M. B. Madden, C. A. Forest, Wm. Axling. WHAT THE MISSIONARY HAS DONE 75 of 1900, by which the iniquity was crippled and thou- sands of girls set free. Mr. Murphey has told, in " The Social Evil of Japan," a thrilling tale of his experiences with the princes of sin. The Salvation Army cham- pioned the cause, and they, as well as sympathetic Japa- nese lawyers and editors, contributed their part in the beginning of a reform movement that has grown in breadth and in intensity. Near the city of Kumamoto, in Kyushiu, is a temple dedicated to Kato Kiyomasa, who was a great persecutor of Christians and a warrior of the Sixteenth Century. This man was deified because he was supposed to have been cured of leprosy by repeating the words " Namu myoho renge kyo," the magic words of the Nichi Ren sect of Buddhism. Hence it is that this temple has al- ways been a resort for lepers. Miss H. Riddell, who came out as a missionary under the Church Missionary Society, visited this temple and was much moved by the sight of their sufferings and their vain calls for help. She at once began a relief work for them, which has resulted in her splendidly equipped compound at Kuma- moto, called " The Hospital for the Resurrection of Hope." The despair and wretchedness of idolatry at Kumamoto's noted temple, contrasted with the hope and fruitage of love given in the name of Christ, has no better illustration in all Japan.* * There are 30,000 lepers in Japan. The missionaries were the first to establish asylums for their aid. The agitation in their behalf, led by Miss Riddell, resulted, in 1907, in the government establishing five leper asylums for leper beggars. Miss Riddell's institution, founded in 1895, is a thoroughly equipped hospital, in which there is a doctor, a steward, a chaplain, and three nurses. Among the leper patients is a guild of twenty mem- bers, which meets daily for intercessory prayer for the sick, the suffering, and the lost all over the world. II THE UNFAILING FRIEND Lord , pardon what I ha\'e,been,_§aactify what I arn^ordeji that 1 sl mlt "5e, "th at Thine be the glory and mine the etgnjal "saivationr ^ ~~ The great apostle of the Gentiles could do nothing without that Living Force and that ever Present and Beloved Person. We must acknowledge our complete weakness, and sterility also in our work unless He is ever in our midst, in our hearts and lives, and at suitable times, openly confessed. — Josephine E, Butler. I would not dare to come to Thee, All worldly prospects blighted, And lay upon the altar of the crucified, A life the world has slighted; But, in life's dewy hours. With bright hopes on the wing, My life, my love, my all, To Thee, I bring. — Mrs. Mary Holbrook Chappell, Japanese Evangelist, Au- gust, 1912. If Jesus Christ is a man. And only a man, I say, Of all mankind, I will cleave to him. And to him will I cleave alway. If Jesus Christ is a God, And the only God, I swear, I will follow Him through Heaven and Hell, The earth, the sea, and the air. Personally, I have no more use for a dead Christ than I have for a molten image. The Christ who once did loving deeds and does them no more, who once spoke words of comfort, but has been silent for centuries, means nothing to me. A Christ who could heal the sorrows of the body and soul once, but whose power has perished thousands of years ago, is no Christ for me. It is the Christ whose fellowship I can share, and whose presence I can realize in the fellowship of those who love Him, that I want ; the Christ who in danger says now, as once He said : " Fear not, I am with thee." — Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell, " A Man's Helpers," p. 75. 11 THE UNFAILING FRIEND. THE missionary who goes out to the field goes forth strong in the Lord and in obedience to his authoritative command. But Httle does he dream how much the presence of the Lord is imperative for his success and continuance on the field. Before he sails, and some time after landing, there are many things which combine to make him strong and hopeful. There is the vision of multitudes for whose salvation he has of- fered himself. There are the final farewells and the blessings of hundreds who may have shaken his hand and wished him " Godspeed." There are in his mind such great men as Carey, Livingstone, Morrison, and Verbeck, whose memory inspires and whose victories make the new recruit eager for the fray. But as weeks pass into months, and months into years, the foam of his enthusiasm breaks on the rocks of rugged experience. Things seen are not as things read about. Things encountered are not as things dreamed about. The haste and sweep of action formed and determined upon are now met by many delays. " The Hero," " The Saint," " The Sacri- ficing Soul " — that friends had whispered in his ears at home, he finds on occasions which increase with pro- voking acceleration, to be a fiction of the admiration of the many who, for the most part, have now forgotten him. But long before this full discovery of his real self, the missionary has found his true source of power. For- merly, he had recited the words : " And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Some significance of course attached to the promise, but now 79 80 THE MISSIONARY they have a new meaning. They shine with an increas- ing brightness. They take on hfe. He sees not only an ancient promise, not simply a spiritual stay for the pietist, but he sees a contract that is daily fulfilled in all of his experiences. Jesus becomes banker, and backer, as well as Over Lord and great High Priest. He looks up to the Risen One as " faithful and true," crowned with many diadems, clothed " in a garment sprinkled with blood," and " on his garment and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords." He sees the Holy One, the Chiefest among the thousands, and altogether lovely, waiting to see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. He sees the one who was near Stephen, who called forth Paul, who was near Paul at Corinth, and said to him : " Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace." " Lo, I am with you always " grows in meaning, grows with experience, grows in preciousness. The missionary comes to believe that the Sovereign of the Nations is really interested in his own spiritual Kingdom, interested now, working now, and if necessary, he will move the earth and shake the foundations of heaven to bring about His triumphal reign from east to west and from sea to sea. The missionary's success, all things considered, is in the measure that he works with his Divine Partner and can stay his soul when weary, upon the breast of the Nazarene. Be it in Japan or any other field, few missionaries would remain long were it not for the One who lives, who works, who reigns. Jesus is in reality the mainspring, the motor of energy, the cataract of power in all missionary endeavour. The missionary in Japan, as in other fields, sees the multitudes who throng the temples, but were it not for Christ, these multitudes would cease to excite his sympathy. Just as one is lost in the immensity of starlit space, just as the mind is staggered in attempting to encompass its vastness, just so the missionary is overwhelmed by the surging sea of THE UNFAILING FRIEND 81 idolatry about him. Will the tide ever ebb? Whither will they go ? What are we among so many ? And then there emerges the scene near Galilee where the multi- tudes were fed, and later when Peter heard, " What is that to thee, Follow thou Me." Then conscious of a Divine presence with whom all things are possible, he recalls " That many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven." He thenceforth takes heart. A new courage, a new grip, a new unction is gathered by a look into the face of the Lord. There- after he scatters far and wide the good seed, and deep into the hearts of men he buries the Gospel leaven, believing though he sees it not, that the whole shall be leavened and the harvest shall come thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold. The missionary in Japan, as elsewhere, has inspiring experiences when great crowds press around him to hear the word of God. But it must be confessed, as to Japan, that great crowds are not the ordinary experience. The audiences are usually small. Though courteous treatment is the rule, yet the missionary is conscious of an undercurrent of feeling that he is the agent of another superstition, that he is presumptuous in proposing an absolute religion; that he might better stay at home or return and work among sinners of his own land. At these times, he recalls One who came from a far country, who toiled where He was not wanted, who was ugred to depart. Who against the most bitter hatred and opposition, persisted in doing what His Father had sent Him to do. And so the missionary toils on, not because he is wanted by the multitudes in Japan, or is invited by them to Japan, but because Christ sent him, and be- cause precious ones for whom Christ died must know of the great redemption, know it immediately, and know it everywhere, whether in the city, town, or mountain retreat. 82 THE MISSIONARY If the multitudes about the missionary were left free to follow the natural cravings of their own hearts, if it were possible to let each one choose between the Man of Sorrows and some hideous idol of unresponsive stone, the work would be done and done quickly. But there are family restraints, traditional prejudice, national con- ceits, buttressed by centuries of experience and educa- tion which must be corrected, removed, or allayed, before the many may join in an open anthem of " Blessed is he that Cometh in the name of the Lord." At such times, the missionary recalls the prejudice, the conceit, the re- straint about them who heard Jesus in His own day, and how few really became His disciples. A few years later, churches were multiplied, and out of the same seemingly dead and unresponsive mass came many who went every- where, preaching the word. It is not within himself that the missionary finds his source of power, but it is in the Captain of his salva- tion. Back to Christ, back to His promises, back to His prophetic words relating to the spread of the Kingdom, and the actual account of that spread during nineteen centuries of the victories of heralds and martyrs — here is his source of power and thus, too, he exclaims, " I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." It is not because of any special sanctity, or of any rare goodness that the missionary leans upon the Unseen Arm. It is because of his weakness, it is because of the difficulties, because of discouragements, that he is braced by the words, " Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I remember one hot summer's day when I was riding on a train in a third-class car. It was just after sun- down and one by one my fellow passengers left the car as station after station was passed in that wearisome mountain journey. Left alone, a feeling of loneliness came over me. What was I doing ? What had I done ? What could one perspiring, tired missionary — just one—* THE UNFAILING FRIEND 83 one so imperfect, accomplish? What could he do to stem the tide of idolatry? With the hosts of unbelief reinforced by a yearly birthrate of many tens of thou- sands, how little indeed would the brief day of one mis- sionary's effort avail! Just then, a kerosene light flick- ered, and went out. Then another sputtered and but faintly lighted the car. Gloom increased with the dark- ness until the last light went out, when my fainting heart rallied to look to the One whom I had forgotten. Doubts vanished, faith rallied, and again the promise, " Lo, I am with you always," filled my soul with assur- ance and soothing peace. Though the car was dark, I involuntarily sang for joy the praises of Him who can still tempests and who has pledged Himself that the Holy Spirit " will convince the world, of sin, of righteousness, of judgment." The words that came to me that turned my darkness to day were : " Jesus, Thou truest, Thou brightest and fairest, Worshipped by angels above. Enter and seal for Thyself my heart's portals Seal by Thy fathomless love. " Dearer than all to me, all to me, Jesus, Dearer than life, friend or kin ; These with fond hopes and all else may fail me, Thou ever faithful hast been. " Save me and guide me, though often I wander, Lift me and win me away, Out of myself, wholly into Thy presence, Wholly for Thee and for aye. " At home or abroad, on the land or the ocean. Wherever Thy Spirit may lead, Oh, grant that my soul forever, my Jesus, On Thee, the true manna, may feed. 84. THE MISSIONARY " Help me to bear and to do Thy good pleasure ; To tell of Thy wonderful grace; To tell it on earth and sing it in heaven When I bow at Thy feet, face to face. " Keep very close to me, close to me, Jesus, Let me within Thee abide ; Wash every stain and break down every idol; Ever keep close to my side. Stripped from every missionary's heart all that pertains to vanity or deceit, let it stand out in its full and humiliat- ing nakedness before God, and who is he who will not confess that it is by the grace of Christ that he is what he is and where he is? Christ will never have His true place in the world until the world and Christ have their true place in the heart of the Church. When Christ, as Supreme Lord, is enthroned in the heart of the Church, then will it cry, " Hasten, oh God of Harvests and thrust forth more reapers. Unite Thy Church in the Holy Unity of Father and Son that the World may be- lieve." The Church may have its feasts and socials, but it must not forget that God's great table is, for the most part, sur- rounded by empty chairs, waiting to be filled by mil- lions who hunger for the Bread of Life. The Church may lavish thousands of dollars upon art, architecture, and all that aesthetic taste can conjure to make colours blend, and pillar and arch conform to harmonious pro- portions, yet it ought to feel a great burden of debt to God — the obligation to send forth master workmen who, from the great world quarry, even out of every nation under heaven, are constructing God's true temples. Ill JOYS AND REWARDS OF THE SERVICE You can do anything if you smile and keep your teeth to- gether. As dew is drawn upwards in rain to descend, Your thoughts drift away and in destiny blend. You cannot escape them, or petty or great, Or evil or noble, they fashion your fate. I should not like you, if meant by God to be a great missionary, to die a millionaire. I should not like it, were you fitted to be a missionary that you shrivel down into a King. — Spurgeon. It should be emphatically reiterated that the issue of the Chris- tian campaign in Japan hinges upon the Japanese Christian forces incalculably more than upon the foreign mission. Any missionary policy that puts the missionary's work above, or out- side the Japanese Church, or that relies upon the number of missionaries more than upon their quality and their ability to work congenially with the Japanese, will stir up strife and end in disaster. — Edinburgh Conference, 1910, Vol. I, p. 66, When a resolve or fine glow of feeling is allowed to evapourate without bearing practical fruit, it is worse than a chance lost: it works so as positively to hinder future resolu- tions and emotions from taking the normal path of discharge. There is no more contemptible type of human character than that of the nerveless sentimentalist and dreamer, who spends his life in a weltering sea of sensibility, but never does a con- crete manly deed. — William James, "Talks on Psychology and Life's Ideals," p. 70. The understanding is not the sole authority in the sphere of moral and religious belief. Rationalism has been defined as " A usurpation of the understanding." There are moral exactions and dictates which have a voice not to be disregarded. So likewise are there instinctive, almost irrepressible, instincts of feeling to be taken into account. It is the satisfaction of the spirit, and not any single organ or function of the soul, which is felt to be the criterion of full-orbed truth. — George P. Fisher, " The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief," revised edition, p. 19. Ill JOYS AND REWARDS OF THE SERVICE MANY of the joys of the missionary's life are common to all who labour in the vineyard of the Lord. Some of the missionary's joys are unique and most of them stand out prominently, because necessity and prudence compel the missionary to magnify his joys and minimize his sorrows. The missionary de- serves no credit for being an optimist. A pessimist or an optimist he will surely become. The optimist sticks, triumphs, and has pleasure in his work. The missionary is not a superstitious individual, but of all men he is liable to see spooks. On these occasions the optimist tightens his belt, knocks the spook in the solar plexus, then laughs the telepathic nonsense out of memory. A daily once told how a little yellow dog tied up a whole railway division for five hours. The dog ran into the despatcher's office and the despatcher thought the dog was mad. The despatcher just took time to hold up every train on the division and then he and the operators vacated the office. A policeman who came later, found the dog was not mad and chased it away. The despatcher then returned and the trains moved on. Missionaries sometimes see yellow dogs. Usually they are little and sometimes they are mad, but they are scared away by one joyful yell of the optimist. The unrest of Buddhism in Japan to-day is a joyful in- dication to us missionaries. When I erected our Church in north Tokyo, across the street from an ancient Buddhist temple, they at the same time erected a modern kinder- garten building. I passed a Buddhist hall the other day, which looks for all the world like a church building ; 87 88 THE MISSIONARY in fact I inquired: "What new church is that?" Buddhism knows that it must dress up and brace up or be swallowed in the onward moving swell of Christian effort. They are singing Buddhist songs to our Christian tunes. They have introduced preaching services and a marriage service. They have opened Sunday Schools and Orphanages. A new movement among Buddhists does away with idols, priests' robes, and all the outward trappings of superstition. Buddhism has been driven to found higher schools of education. It recognizes in Christianity no ordinary force and it is clear to the leaders that the potential influence of the Cross is so great that they must radically change their plans or lose their hold upon their own followers and upon the nation. We especially rejoice in the way the knowledge of God's word is being extended throughout the land. But a few decades ago a Japanese would have run from the Bible as from a rattlesnake. Ten years ago there were very few stores in Tokyo where a Bible could be purchased ; but the demand has now become so general that ordinary bookstores have placed the Bible in stock. It is a great joy to preach Christ in one's own tongue. It is a greater joy, after years of labour, to make Him known in a new tongue. I well remember my first sermon in Japanese. After it was completed, the thought came over me that I had conquered after a hard fight. I looked back through weeks and months of effort and waiting which had run into years. I looked forward into the future to the open gate wherein stood fifty millions of the earth's representative people, waiting for the life- giving word. I had been practising upon my bookcases, but with these thoughts, a wave of emotional joy came over me, which compelled me to be seated, because I was too happy to stand up. Paul said : " Yea, making it my aim, so to preach the Gospel not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation." It was his JOYS AND REWARDS OF SERVICE 89 rule " To preach the Gospel even unto the parts beyond you, and not to glory in another's province in regard of things made ready to our hand." This is a joy peculiar to the missionary. Last year I went with a Japanese friend and preached in a town of two thousand, which had never had a sermon, a Christian talk, or a visiting minister, since the morning stars sang together. But two months ago I was in a town of four thousand, within twenty-five miles of Tokyo, which, saving one visit of ten years before, had never heard the Gospel. To be face to face with a soul who is seeking Christ, to be the first to tell of His love and salvation, while a very solemn responsibility, is, at the same time a joy beyond which there is none greater. The Japanese minister can speak his own language better than the missionary. He can stand the climate better, live more economically, understand his own people, their customs and their history better than the foreign missionary. The ultimate evangelization of Japan must rest with the Japanese themselves. It is a joy to be liv- ing in a day when God has called forth from this people not only some twelve hundred ministers, but to notice that among them is a growing band of leaders, who have strength and ability. Among these leaders may be men- tioned Masashisa Uyemura, who ministers to a good-sized church in central Tokyo. He has made a helpful and lasting impression upon Japan for Christ's Church. He preaches in a commodious modern building and his church is rich in good works. I attended the services on an Easter Sunday. Mr. Uyemura's sermon was on the res- urrection of Jesus. It was beautiful because of its sim- plicity and rich because of its faith. When we can have a hundred men his equal and a hundred churches as strong, it will be a happy day for the Kingdom of God in Japan. The audience of this church has an average of 286 in the morning service and 66 at night. The total contributions for last year were $2621.28. The total 90 THE MISSIONARY membership is 890. Of this number, 41 are in foreign countries, 163 in country places, 131 come regularly. The balance is composed of 43 children, 267 men, and 245 women. Time and again I have been impressed, and joyfully impressed, with the readiness with which God's sheep in Japan catch the call of the Good Shepherd. They know His voice. Just as the rose to the sunshine, just as the babe to his mother's breast, just so hungry hearts the world over turn to Christ if He is lifted up before them. Like the dovetailings of a cabinet-maker, Christ fits into the needs of every heart. Japanese are always impressed by the ethics of Jesus, and His sinless life is ofttimes the searchlight that awakens within them the conscious- ness of sin. A student said : " Of all our studies, ethics is the most tedious. Our teachers tell us we must be honest, truthful, virtuous, — all of which we know very well, but they impart to us no moral power to do these things." This is the great defect of Japan's moral teach- ing. The transforming power of Christ in the lives of the Japanese who have accepted Him, is our best eviden- tial argument. What we see before our eyes magnifies both our joy and our faith. It is a joy to feel that we are known, trusted, and loved by the Japanese. The language is a great barrier. Much of race prejudice arises from the fact that aliens do not know one another. When I first came to Japan I thought I would love the Japanese. But curiosity and national conceit on my own part, and difl[idence and secrecy on their part, made the cultivation of love a matter of growth. The more I came to know them, the more I learned to love them. It was four or five years, however, before I could feel that I was really taken into the innermost heart of my nearest Japanese friends, which was about the time the language ceased to be a barrier in conversation. Now, secret and con- fidential matters pass between us freely. In an hour of A SUNDAY SCHOOL IN KOFU A SUNDAY SCHOOL IN TOKYO JOYS AND REWARDS OF SERVICE 91 spiritual or material need we can fall back upon our Japanese friends in the same way that we can rely upon those who are American born. The new ties and friendships do not annul our love of home nor weaken the cable of interest that binds us to our native land. It is an inspiration which has a sus- taining power in times of stress or weakness to feel that relatives and acquaintances at home are interested in us, love us, and bear us up to the throne of God. Cortez burnt his ships and Caesar his bridges, but such a course means defeat to the missionary. The missionary body is like the vanguard of an army. The army may be leagues away, but the line of communications must be kept open. If wires are cut, then signal flags and rockets are neces- sary for the unity and safety both of the army to the rear and the guard at the front. The successful travelling man of to-day keeps in touch with his house. His house, be it a factory or a whole- sale store, keeps in touch with him. The missionary has come to distribute spiritual goods for the church. He is not the agent of a mission board. He is the agent of the church. He must at once create a demand for his spiritual commodity and furnish the supply. Breaking away into new territory is no easy job. Letters from the homeland come as bracers, spurs and stimulants. Sometimes we receive letters from home which come like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day, like a gushing spring in a desert land. Most people forget that missionaries are human. We like to get natural letters, letters from the heart, informal and full of news. Tell your missionary of your last revival. Tell him how your city knocked out the saloon. Tell him confidentially how you got soaked through your recent rubber plantation investment. Tell about the new baby and the colour of his hair, if he has any. If a new book of special worth has just come to your library, tell him the publisher that he may buy it. It need not always be a 92 THE MISSIONARY religious book. " Travels in Arabia," " Pigs is Pigs," or " Why Jim Sunday remained a Bachelor," would help to bring exhilaration, humour, and romance into his life. It is a joy to feel that one is the messenger of the churches, but it is a greater joy to feel that God has sent us forth, and that angels are looking on, and that we are fulfilling a 1900-year-old prophecy : " And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all nations." We delight in our work because it is God's work. The world places no value on our efforts now. So it has been with many an artist's canvas. One century later, two centuries later, the dusty and faded painting has sold for a fortune. We plant, many others water, and God all along will give an increase and place an ultimate estimate on our labours, which no one can truly value now. We rejoice in the immediate fruit of our labours, but the larger joy is in the harvest to come. Angels, if they could envy, might well envy and covet our position. We stand at the beginnings of a tiny stream; we can count the pebbles along the shore; we can number the trees and name the shrubbery; but this tiny Christian stream in Japan will flow on. It will widen, deepen, gather volume, and become a mighty river. The mis- sionary in Japan is not throwing his life away. His ef- forts will not be extinguished by famine, by war, or tidal wave. The best of his life, the truth that he has taught, will enter into the formation of this mighty na- tion now in reconstruction. Heaven is all right for the weary and storm-tossed, — but for a place of work, for a place of joy because of victories wrought in Christ's name, there is no spot in the universe comparable to this world of ours. Not only the poor, the sick, the maimed, but likewise the sin-enslaved are always with us and whenever we will we " can do them good." If it were not for the weakness of our own vain hearts and the excruciating limits of pain, one might wish to sip from JOYS AND REWARDS OF SERVICE 93 the cup of immortal youth and remain here on God's footstool as long as there is evil to overthrow or cap- tives to be set free. Back of, and underneath, our joy is our faith. In a sense, our joy's measure is our faith's proportion. The general who has the map of the territory, who has the secret plans of the enemy, who has men and guns, am- munition and provisions, may well rejoice. We can prove nothing, we can demonstrate nothing as a general may state to his council of war. The cable of an elevator may be black and greasy; it may not be inviting to the touch, nor brilliant as jewels are brilliant, but cut your cable and down goes your car. Even so, faith is a small item. It is much ridiculed and often takes a humble seat at the throne of knowledge, yet the whole mis- sionary enterprise hangs on the faith cable. Cut it, and missions would vanish as sound into the air. William Salter said : " As the essence of courage is to stake one's life on a possibility, so the essence of faith is to believe that the possibility exists." We believe in Jesus, in His resurrection, in His divinity. To us they are facts. We do not place them in the category of possibilities. And yet, after all, we walk by faith and not by sight. If I did not believe in the verities of the New Testament I would not remain in Japan thirty days. We are not here to spread a new moral culture, to dethrone Buddha from his seat in the heart of the nation, or to place the crucifix above or below a lotus blossom. We have been sent by the King of kings, that His mild and saving sway may bless the hearts of all who take up their Cross and follow Him. Thus our joy, its be- ginning, its maintenance and its fulness are not in our- selves or our own works, but in " Jesus Christ ; whom not having seen," we " love ; on whom, though now " we " see him not, yet believing," we " rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory." IV THE MISSIONARY'S HOME LIFE The missionary stations are the outposts of Christian civiliza- tion. Each missionary, with his home and his staff, forms a nucleus about which gathers an influence far in excess of the numerical list of converts. — William H. Taft, Laymen's Mis- sionary Convention at Washington. It seems to me that if the Japanese are to be Christianized as a whole that missionaries will have to be more devoted in their work. They will have to take part less in social affairs and give themselves heart and soul to their heavenly mission. — Arch- bishop NicoLAi, Japan Evangelist, March, 1912, p. 108. O Lord, Brother and Friend, Redeemer and King! The wise men brought to Thee in Thy babyhood jewels and spices, frankin- cense and gold, and myrrh. Show me what I can give to add lustre to Thy crown, to rejoice Thy heart on high, and every- thing in me and of mine shall be a joyful sacrifice to Thee. The daily life of a missionary is not only a constant sermon, but to a certain extent, an exposition of Western ways. It would be worth while to send Christians to the Orient merely to show the fulness and richness of a Christian life, for, after all, the example of an upright person, living a life of service according to the Christian ideal, is more eloquent than any sermon — it is the unanswerable argument in favour of our religion. — Wiluam Jennings Bryan. Oh, my son, life does not consist in the abundance of things possessed but in the character one has. The best character is formed under discipline, so you must learn self-control. Sin always hurts. Garfield said to himself, " I must always be with Garfield, so it is important that he be right, for I do not want to be tied to bad company." Remember, Harry, my boy, that wherever you may go you will have Harry Garst, Esquire, a companion, so do what you can to make him such a person as you enjoy. — Charles E. Garst, in a letter to his son. IV THE MISSIONARY'S HOME LIFE THE missionary, in going to a foreign land, neces- sarily brings a great many changes into his own life and imposes upon his family a way of living that is strange and unknown in his own country. If he is to hold up in the stress of work, do his best, and abide many years on the field, it is imperative that as little change be introduced into his way of living as is possible. The first missionaries to Japan had many hard- ships and inconveniences in travel, dwellings, and food which have all disappeared to-day. It is fortunate for the missionary and his work that, so far as his living is concerned, he can live in Japan to-day very much as he would live at home. The Japanese are great travellers. They know how foreigners live in their respective lands. The whole movement in Japan is decidedly foreign in all that per- tains to dress, food, and the furnishings of the home. Hence, Japanese have little respect for the missionary who would come to Japan and reside, eat, and dress as do the poorer Japanese. Such a missionary would be marked as inferior, and his influence be greatly cur- tailed. Years ago, when we were coming to Japan, an elderly lady elicited a promise from us that we would carry her compliments and good wishes to a friend of hers who had gone out before us as a missionary. On inquiry as to the whereabouts of the friend, we were dreamily told that she was in Jerusalem. Another party wanted us to hand over a letter to a friend in the Philippines. When it comes to drawing a picture of the daily life 97 98 THE MISSIONARY of the missionary, his home and surroundings, the ma- jority of people at home miss the mark as widely. There are still individuals who think a missionary should live in a tent or cave in the mountains; that his best days should be spent sweltering in the tropics, dreaming of the comforts of icebergs and a diet composed of snow- balls, or that his sole allowance should be rice enriched with grasshoppers or fish eggs; as for a bed, he may have his couch upon the floor, consisting of grass and pine-needles ; as for books, he needs none, unless it is " Josephus " and Foxe's " Book of Martyrs." Such a missionary might survive in some sunny and fruit-em- bowered island, surrounded by coral reefs, in the south Pacific, but not in Japan. Some missionaries live in a foreign dwelling, some in a Japanese home. It is the purpose of most mission boards to house their missionaries in foreign dwellings. Our first dwelling was foreign built. It had two stories and a yard that covered five-twelfths of an acre. Within the yard were trees and shrubbery. Save the three winter months, there was always some tree or plant in bloom. Around the yard, after a time, we were enabled to erect a six-foot galvanized iron fence. The fence marked a boundary line between Japan and Amer- ica. Without the fence flowed the busy traffic of Tokyo. We could hear the shouts of children who played in the streets, the cry of the street hawker, and all around by day and night the beat of temple drum and bell. Within the fence we had our own little world. Here our chil- dren played in the yard and rolled upon the green grass. The missionary's dwelling is his castle. He has pic- tures on the wall which have been brought from America. Usually he has a morning worship in English and an evening worship in Japanese. Through the home he cap- tures for the King of kings many a curious caller who may have come to practise his English upon the family. After a journey of many days in the country, living on THE MISSIONARY'S HOME LIFE 99 Japanese food and sleeping on the floor, the missionary returns to his home, to the laugh of his own children, to a foreign mattress and Irish potatoes. The mission- ary's home and what it contains stand for more than a dwelling. In miniature, it is his only representation of his native land and life. Here he breathes his own atmosphere. Here he can do and speak as he pleases. Hitherward, when oppressed by the prevalent idolatry, when touched by a feeling of pity, because of scenes of poverty and sin, he can flee as to a city of refuge. " Home, sweet home " has a large meaning and a peculiar charm in a foreign land. However, there are croakers who set other frogs croaking if an oil painting, an Estey organ, an easy couch, or a window adorned with potted plants is found in a missionary's home. A lady from the United States once dined in a mission home which had pheasant for dinner. The pheasant in that part of Japan cost ten cents, and a chicken would have cost fifty cents. The lady, who had received freely of the hospitality of the mis- sionary, returned to America and said that she believed less in missions than ever because of the extravagance of the missionaries. In New York City a pheasant toque hat costs twenty-five dollars. In China, where a certain missionary lived, pheasants were on sale for five cents apiece. A wealthy man in the States, who was support- ing this missionary, asked him to give the items he had had for dinner on a certain day. As pheasant happened to be their meat item on that particular day, the ignorant rope-holder dropped the missionary and his support. The missionary who resides in a Japanese house may be fairly comfortable if glass doors and windows are set in place of the airy paper or wooden doors ; if heavy paper is spread under the straw mats and if oilcloth is placed upon the halls to keep out the damp and cool winds of winter. He may have his stoves, but the pipes must be supported by wiring them to upright poles 100 THE MISSIONARY placed in the ground. I cannot forget going into a mis- sionary's home in north Japan during the month of January. It was a Japanese house^ heated, to be sure, by stoves, but the cold air found easy access, so that you could see your breath in every room. In the sitting room v^as a cradle; there was a little pillow; there were the tiny spreads and the dainty ribbons attractively hung. Love had been busy and anticipation ran high awaiting Heaven's best gift. And when it came, the young mother would not have exchanged her home for a palace. The problems connected with child life and their edu- cation are most complex on the mission field. The mother must be school teacher, seamstress, and hostess for frequent guests and many callers. Mission Boards should have combined long ago in the establishment of schools in every great field, for the education of the children of missionaries. Large sums are spent for the education of aliens from the kindergarten to the uni- versity. Occasionally a family will retire from the field for the education of the children rather than face the problems of separation and limited income. There are some things, however, which are gained by the general lack of educational facilities. The children gain by being with parents in their tender years. The parents gain from the cheer of child life and the smiles which help to banish the loneliness of isolation. Again, the community about the missionary's home gains be- cause there in their midst stands the silent and potent influence of a Christian home. The children of mission- aries reflect the lives of their parents, with whom they are thrown so exclusively. They pick up the Japanese language readily and are frequently found imitating the manners and customs of their surroundings. Though foreign born, they have every mark of the home-born child. Especially in theology are they precocious. A little girl, during her blessing at the noon meal, said, THE MISSIONARY'S HOME LIFE 101 " Lord bless these potatoes, and help them to be thankful to us for eating them." A little boy, far in the interior of Japan, at his evening prayer, always named a long list of persons upon whom he would solicit the Divine favour. One evening he closed his prayer thus : " And Lord bless the Buddhists and help us to wipe them off the face of the earth." Two little boys in Tokyo had been forbidden to make purchases on the Lord's Day. Shortly after they came home on the forbidden day with a sack of bananas. They became penitent and knelt to ask for forgiveness. After a joint confession, one thus concluded : " But, Lord, we thank you for that nice ripe banana you let us eat on the way home." A child now in his teens, when about seven years old had a discussion with another boy who had been reared in India. The debate settled upon the nationality of God. The boy from India, raised under British influence, declared that God was an Englishman. The other boy said he was American. The discussion waxed hot and hotter until the mothers interceded to save them from blows. Two little girls on Sunday were at play hauling stones. Their mother reminded them that it was Sunday, but they surmounted the diffi- culty by saying : " But, mamma, we are playing it is Saturday." Missionaries sometimes bring out their furniture from the United States. If they do not, they must buy at second-hand stores or depend upon furniture made to order. The import duty is very high, hence an invoice and cost of any articles, new or old, should be reported both to the Consul and the Receiving Agent at the port of entry. Clothes, quilts, books, pictures, nicknacks, and kitchen utensils should always be brought. Any mis- sionary in Japan could put to good use, if he had them, a phonograph, a kodak, a typewriter, a bicycle, a magic lantern, a sewing machine, and a musical instrument. They can be bought in Japan, but if already in posses- sion, they should be brought. lOa THE MISSIONARY Missionaries, as a rule, have servants. We have two in our home. The girl has been with us twelve years, the man ten. They became Christians in our own home. They are married now, and have a sweet little boy who calls me his good papa. These two servants of ours have their own servant to take care of the boy. Servants in Japan are as thick as flies. It is a poor Japanese indeed who cannot have a servant. A boy who called the other day said that there were three in the Japanese family where he served, but they had only five servants. Go to a store and buy ten yards of muslin. You order from the clerk, he orders his assistant^ and the assistant will order his servant, and after waiting and waiting, the bundle is brought, goods measured, cut, tied in a pack- age, change brought, and so forth. Time consumed, ten minutes. We pay our servants, all told, twelve dollars and a half a month, and they feed and clothe themselves. They do our washing, ironing, buying, cooking. They save us more than their pittance amounts to every month ; they save our nerves and time, so that we are free to give ourselves to the work for which we were really sent. No mastifif could be more faithful than our male servant. He goes on errands, sends telegrams, is the escort of the wife and children at night, and a handy man for anything all day long. I was in a palatial home not long ago, in the United States, furnished with mahogany furniture, velvet carpets, silverware, lace curtains, etc. The owners had an automobile, horses and carriages, a telephone, a laundry near by, a grocer, a baker, and candlestick maker. Yet the dear wife of this home could not even afford one servant! (Took their meals across the way). And you ask, pray tell us how can a mis- sionary afford servants ? Well, that belongs to the mys- teries of the Orient. The missionary's home serves as an auditorium for all sorts of gatherings, sewing classes, cooking classes, and religious meetings for women; sometimes the whole THE MISSIONARY'S HOME LIFE 103 church will gather for a social ; sometimes there is the celebration of a marriage; sometimes there are classes for inquirers and classes for the study of English. At all times, day or night, the door must be open for callers. Sometimes it is a fellow-worker who has called for con- sultation and sometimes it is a Christian who has called for a word of encouragement; sometimes an earnest seeker comes to be courted to the narrow way ; sometimes it is a stranger comes as on an exploring expedition, or investigation of the foreigner and his ways. A great deal of precious time is wasted in this way, yet some- times a few hours seemingly spent in vain bring in big returns. One night a friend called with two young men whom he introduced as his acquaintances. They came about 4:30 P.M., stayed to supper, and tarried till after nine o'clock. They had learned about Christianity and had the beginnings of faith, but they had not come to the point of a full surrender to Christ. We wasted no time on ordinary civilities. We turned at once to the Scrip- tures and read many portions of the Acts of the Apostles. We knelt and prayed together. They were very much in earnest and wanted to receive baptism that night. It was a wintry night and a steady rain had been falling for some hours. Notwithstanding, we went down to a riverside and there, in the rain, by the light of a lantern held under an umbrella, I baptized those two boys. One was the son of a wealthy man. He is to-day one of Japan's most successful and bold evangelists. The other boy entered college to prepare for the ministry. He no doubt would be preaching to-day had not consumption driven him from school back to the mild climate of his father's house. TOURING THROUGH VILLAGE AND BYWAYS It is easy for the fool, especially the learned and scientific fool, to prove that there is no God, but, like the murmuring sea, which heeds not the scream of wandering birds, the soul of humanity murmurs for God, and confutes the erudite folly of the fool by disregarding it. — J. Service, quoted in " The Chris- tian View of God and the World," p. 74. I dreamed I was in a churchyard at midnight. Overhead I heard the thunder of distant avalanches and beneath my feet the first footfalls of a boundless earthquake. Lightnings gleamed athwart the church windows, and the lead and iron frames melted and rolled down. Christ appeared and all the dead cried out: "Is there no God?" And Christ answered: "There is none. I have traversed the worlds, I have risen to the suns, with the milky ways I have passed athwart the great waste of spaces of the sky; there is no God. And I descended to where the very shadow cast by Being dies out and ends, and I gazed out into the gulf beyond and cried, 'Father, where art Thou?' But answer came none, save the eternal storm which rages on. We are orphans all, both I and you. We have no Father." Then the universe sank and became a mine dug in the face of the black eternal night besprent with a thousand suns. And Christ cried: " Oh, mad unreasoning Chance ; knowest thou — Thou knowest not — where thou dost march, hurricane-winged, amid the whirl- ing snow of stars, extinguishing sun after sun on thy onward way, and when the sparkling dew of constellations ceases to gleam as thou dost pass by? How every soul in this great corpse-trench of a universe is utterly alone." And I fell down and peered into the shining mass of worlds and beheld the coils of the great Serpent of eternity twined about those worlds ; these mighty coils began to writhe, and then again they tightened and contracted, folding round the universe twice as closely as before ; they wound about all nature in a thousand folds, and crashed the worlds together. And all grew narrow and dark and terrible. And then a great immeasurable bell began to swing and toll the last hour of time, and shatter the fabric of the universe, when my sleep broke up, and I awoke. And my soul wept for joy that it could still worship God — my gladness and my weeping and my faith, these were my prayer. — Jean Paul Richter. V TOURING THROUGH VILLAGE AND BYWAYS UP to 1899, freedom of travel and residence in Japan was limited to a few cities. In these cities the consuls of each nation looked after his own nationals, and, so far as sovereignty was concerned, Japan relinquished all her rights over foreigners as long as they remained within the specified cities. This pro- vision, called extra territoriality, was very humiliating to Japan. Great was the rejoicing of her statesmen when it was abolished in the new treaties of fourteen years ago. And great, too, was the joy of the mission- aries, because henceforth they could travel beyond the twenty-five-mile limit around the port cities. Formerly, if they went farther they had to secure a passport. Now, the whole Empire is opened to the messenger of the Cross. In no land may one travel more safely. There are no brigands in the mountains nor will lone robbers hold up a stage at night. I was riding with a veteran missionary, on the main line from Tokyo to Kyoto not long ago, and he remarked how things had changed. " It does not seem long ago that I took this same journey of three hundred miles by jinrikisha," he said. The missionary's main dependence when away from the railway line, and when too tired to walk, is the stage, the bicycle, or the jinrikisha. The country highways are smooth and well kept. Everywhere the jinrikisha man is available, who, rain or shine, will run with you at a lively pace. Occasionally he may tip you over and apologize, even when he skins his shins and you fall on top of him. I have disembarked from jin- rikishas in every conceivable fashion, but the most ex- 107 108 THE MISSIONARY hilarating is to tip directly over backwards. With re- lays, one can easily make one hundred miles a day on level roads. Notwithstanding the fact that the jinrikisha's centre of gravity is unnecessarily elevated, they are pref- erable to the ordinary one-horse stage. How I do love these rollicking, four-wheeled beehives, with leather straps used in the similitude of springs! My last ride was in company with twelve others who were jammed tightly into our boxed cell. The driver mounted and shouted, his assistant blew his horn, and off we flew. We contented ourselves on the fact that we could wiggle our toes and fingers and blink our eyes. One ambitious lady passenger hooked her towel over a stay above and clung to it wildly while she carried on an audible con- versation, notwithstanding the rattle and bang of our lurching schooner. What a relief it was when our hansom got stuck in the mud on the shady side of a hill. Some of us rolled out and had the luxury of stretching our muscles in helping our sweaty, balking horse out of his dilemma. Sometimes a missionary may float down a river in a boat or sometimes his track may lead over a chain of mountains. In either case, the scenery would be enchanting, and everywhere the evidences of idolatry will make him feel that his mission is a worthy one. At an elevation of seven thousand feet, with a gorge below and a cliff above, I called the attention of my porter to a banner that waved in the mountain breeze. He said it was an offering to the god of the mountain. Another time our boatman suddenly bent over the edge of the boat, washed his hands, and scooping some water into his palm, he emptied it into his mouth and rinsed it briskly. He then clapped his hands and seemed to be talking to some one among the trees on the shore. In a bend of the river we had come close to a shrine, and this explained it all. One Lord's Day, not far from my hotel, I saw a shapely TOURING THROUGH YHLLAGE 109 mountain some two miles away. The mountain's dense growth of pine looked inviting. As I had not been long in Japan, I decided to retreat thither and thus rid myself of the sight of idols and temples. I began the mountain's ascent. But here was a shrine. I left the main road to follow a path, but where it joined another path there was another shrine. Clambering up over roots of trees and rocks to the main road again, I found a good-sized temple. On inquiry, I found that on the mountain sum- mit was another temple. This Sunday's experience taught me that it was impossible to get away from idol- atry in Japan, and that, furthermore, the most beautiful retreats and attractive sights had long ago been dedi- cated to the memory of the dead, and the gods. Wherever you may go in Japan you will find good hotels. Tourists on the main routes of travel can be cared for in foreign styles. The missionary on his tours puts up at a Japanese hotel, at which he usually pays from fifty cents to a dollar for supper, bed, and breakfast. In addition, about twenty cents is paid for tea money as a present to the hotel keeper and five or ten cents is given to the maid who has served the food and looked after the room. Both on arrival and departure, the pro- prietor and a number of servants come to the front door, and with many bows and oft-repeated words, the guest is made to feel that he is an important individual. On arrival at a hotel, the first act is to remove one's shoes. If an old customer, he is led to his own room and imme- diately he is served with tea and cakes or fruit, and a firebox with some live coals of charcoal^ upon which is a pot of hot water that is left to simmer away its welcome in voluminous clouds of steam. As there is no furniture to bother and no bedsteads, the traveller can roll on the floor and rest his limbs till called for the bath. The bath is heated daily and kept hot till late at night. The Japanese always wash with soap and rinse off on the outside of the tub, then everybody steps into 110 THE MISSIONARY the same water tub and comes out perspiring, with the skin reddened by the congestion of blood. A Japanese always wets his towel before wiping. His towel serves as handkerchief and washrag. He will tear it up for string or bandage. He may tie it about his head in place of a hat, and a farmer girl will tuck her towel about her tresses as a shield from the dust and the sun. A Japanese hotel is always cleanly, but is noisy and lacks privacy. Paper doors are poor protection from the wind, the rats, or a snoring neighbour. You never know when your bedroom door will slide open and be entered by boy or maid. It is all done so politely and innocently that it is useless to make a fuss. I can for- give everything of a Japanese hotel but the fleas. Mos- quito nets bar the friendly mosquitoes, but even flea bags are stormed and entered by the bloodthirsty knights who tickle, bite, and vanish. A missionary lady of well- established honesty declares she murdered two hundred and forty fleas in one night, and the sheet was converted into a battlefield, strewn with the remains of the gory victims who stole her sleep. Formerly no foreign food was procurable in the interior, but in the last few years milk, beefsteak, bread, jam, and crackers can be found in the markets, but a missionary usually prefers a Japa- nese diet because it is cheaper and less trouble to the hotel keeper. Lily bulbs, chrysanthemum flowers, toad- stools, and even grasshoppers are served to enliven the digestion. Counting grasshoppers, one missionary claimed to have eaten ten, another twenty, while a third ate all that were given him, humorously remarking that " he would now be able to preach the Gospel with as much power as John the Baptist." Sometimes the hotel is used as a meeting place. One missionary, who had gone regularly to a neighbouring city, had always been given a room in his hotel for the preaching services. One day, however, the proprietor refused to grant permission either for singing or preach- TOURING THROUGH VILLAGE 111 ing. Nothing daunted, the missionary and Japanese pastor retired to their room and began to play on a baby organ. First one paper door and then another slid open until there was quite a volunteer audience. Even the proprietor came to listen to the music. Then the mis- sionary artfully asked the Japanese pastor to tell him briefly what he thought of Jesus and the Christian reli- gion. The two therefore entered into an animated con- versation, and even the proprietor tarried and listened attentively. A missionary will usually draw a better crowd on a tour than a Japanese, unless he be a Japanese of con- siderable note. The missionary, being foreign, has a per- sonality that excites curiosity and he is likewise blind to opposition and hopeful under difficulties. A missionary on one of his tours * was interrupted in his preaching by a Buddhist opponent, who said that in Japan they had thousands of gods and that the assertion that God is one was unreasonable. The missionary breathed a prayer for Divine guidance, while the controversalist said that there must be a god for the ocean, another for the wind, another for the soil, and so forth. When it came the missionary's turn, he asked : " Is there a carpenter present ? " Yes, there was one. " How many tools have you ? " asked the missionary. The carpenter apologized because he was poor and very unskilful, but finally said that he had at least twenty-five tools. The missionary then asked if he could use them all. And the carpenter replied that he could. The missionary then said : " God is the infinite one who made all things. Even a man can handle twenty-five tools. He knows them by name and there is no confusion in their use. God made the sun as His tool to give heat and light. He made the moon as a similar tool for use at night. The wind and rain are also his tools to cause the rice, the grapes, the pine, and the bamboo to grow. A carpenter is not needed * G. W. Van Horn. 112 THE MISSIONARY for every tool any more than a god is needed for every object or energy in nature." The objector was thus si- lenced and the missionary proceeded to speak of the com- passionate One who is not very far away from every one of us. Sermons on these occasions need to be of an ele- mentary kind, filled with the Christ story, set forth and illustrated in the imagery and vocabulary best known to the auditors. One missionary had a sermon on " What Christianity has and has not." On a chart that every one could see he had written two columns. In the first column appeared the words : " A living God, a Saviour, a Bible, a Church, atonement, forgiveness of sins, a future world, eternity. Holy Spirit, missionary work, prayer." In the second column were written : " Idols, sages, tradition, shrines, penances, cunning devices, nir- vana, divination, transmigration of souls, pilgrimages, beads." A missionary,* after visiting some twenty-five places, writes : " In one city a Buddhist priest whom we visited said : ' There must be some change in Buddhism if it is to meet the demands of the age.' " At the next point " a Buddhist priest was sending four children to our Sunday School." At the next city the Christians had secured a lot in the centre of the town for a church building. At another, three sisters received baptism. At a seaside city he says, " I met Brother Noto, a man of beautiful faith, who has been a Christian twenty years. As he goes about the country selling cotton goods, he talks Christianity and sells Bibles." At Tsurugaoka he writes the following : " A young man of a wealthy family came six miles to be with us and attend the meetings. He told us that having recently lost his wife and only child, he had decided to end his miserable existence by committing suicide. Then as never before the thought came to him, ' After death, what ? ' Seeking an answer to this question, he visited the Buddhist priests, but they * R. A. McCorkle, in Missionary Intelligencer. A RENTED PREACHING PLACE AT CHICA A CHURCH BUILDING IN THE WINTER TIME TOURING THROUGH VILLAGE 113 only talked and talked until he knew less than before. * Now/ he said, * I have come to you. Can you give me peace ? ' Long we talked and prayed together. He bought a Bible and hymn book and went away that night, saying : * I have found the way to peace ! ' " VI TRIALS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS To you it hath been granted in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer in His behalf. — Philippians, i, 29. I wrote down my troubles every day And after a few short years, When I turned to the heartaches passed away I read them with smiles, not tears. — John Boyle O'Reilly. But all through life I see a cross Where sons of God yield up their breath; There is no gain except by loss, There is no life except by death. A sound acorn will become a first-rate tree wherever it has a chance to take root. If there is a rotten streak in you — if privation can intimidate you — if desire has gained mastery over will — if the prospect of sweating and whetting can abate your enthusiasm, opportunity is wasted upon you. Quitters and quailers are misfits all the way from the stone-heap to the throne. — Herbert Kaufman. On the farm we have an old and young dog belonging to my brother. The young dog comes up to my house twenty times a day ; he is constantly looking for excitement, and follows us wherever we go. He engages in many unnecessary fights and carries many unnecessary scars. He makes many fruitless dashes after rabbits, and digs for hours and days to get at foxes in their dens in the hills, with no success. But the old dog, having been a long time out in the world, knows that little of interest is going on, and spends much of his time sleeping in the sun. The old dog has accepted a hint from Nature; it is a pity men are not equally wise. — E. W. Howe, Independent, June, 191 1. VI TRIALS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS THE missionary to Japan comes to a well-governed country, where life and property are secure, where travel is easy, and most of the things ob- tainable at home can be secured. He is not in danger of panther, crocodile, nor tsetse fly. The climate is neither torrid nor frigid. He will not be kidnapped for a ransom nor need he flee to the range of a warship's cannon to escape mob violence. Physical sufferings, narrow escapes, and the romantic side of missionary life are seldom experienced in Japan. Yet missionaries in Japan have their discouragements, which belong almost entirely to the psychical realm. Discouragement as well as ill-health drives many a mis- sionary from the field. Worry, homesickness, and the blues bring on ill-health, all of which in turn are aggra- vated by disease. A sound body and a cheery disposi- tion are valuable assets which can be drawn upon for a long life of missionary service. A sage of Greece said, " Know thyself." Missionaries who come to Japan are well known in their own com- munities. They think they know themselves and believe that they are known. They know their own names and their own photographs; they know their own purposes, their past histories, and their future hopes. They know how they have glided along the old tracks, just where the curves were, and where they used to put on brakes. But coming to a new land, the missionary's most humili- ating experience is to discover that he did not know him- self and to feel that his friends never knew him. " The crucial problem has been to make yourselves," said Hud- 117 118 THE MISSIONARY son Taylor to a group of missionaries. Self is the great- est problem and the most prolific source of discourage- ment on the mission field. A newly arrived missionary, within a few months has experiences of which he never dreamed. If he is over-sensitive, apprehensive, loqua- cious, so gullible that he believes everything, and so obdurate as not to accept advice, he will come to think, with the poet — " Life is not as idle ore But iron dug from central gloom And heated hot with burning fears And dipped in baths of hissing tears And battered by the shocks of doom To shape and use." A most discouraging thing is the seeming waste of time, or rather the extravagant use of it, in order to accomplish a very little. A striking illustration is the study of the language. David Thompson said to a young missionary, that after twelve years of study on the lan- guage it would get easy. After twelve years had passed, he laughingly remarked to the same missionary, " During the next twelve years it will become easier." Waiting, waiting, waiting ! " Let no one beat you at waiting," is good advice for every missionary. Whatever it be — a building, the establishment of a new station, the educa- tion and graduation of the young evangelist — time and prayer seem inextricably and necessarily bound together. It takes time for matters to pass through a sub-com- mittee of the mission; time for the whole mission to consider and pass upon an important item; time to consult the mission society at home, only to be told, perchance, that more time is necessary for the churches are behind in their gifts ; or a big and exhaus- tive appropriation has just gone to some other mission field. TRIALS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS 119 The crying need in Japan to-day is a larger force of enthusiastic evangelistic pastors. There is a scarcity of concentrated and able young men preparing for the min- istry. Every evangelistic missionary has felt the dis- appointment of failing to see some chosen Timothy reach the goal. One young man, vi^ho entered a Bible school full of zeal, had to retire because of marrying into a family opposed to Christianity. Another gave up and went back to his teaching. Another took up with a scheme which he was sure would prove a great material blessing to his country. Another retired under an accusa- tion. Others are lost, though not always permanently, because of study in foreign lands. Our first convert we hoped would enter the ministry. He did his own choosing and has become a merchant prince. One of the last young men I talked with about the ministry has just graduated from the Imperial Uni- versity. I interceded that he become a " fisher of men." But he said he could not bring sorrow to the hearts of his parents, as he had been chosen to be the head of the family. The thought of alienation and banishment from home outweighed his consideration of what he could do for Christ and Japan. It is a distressing thing to have a fellow-worker fall or go astray. This is true where the churches are strong and the workers many, as they are in the home land. It becomes a calamity on the mission field where the churches are juot forming and where the workers are so few. Separation from loved ones at home is often a source of heartache. A mission family located in an interior city, where there are no foreigners or fellow-mission- aries, is most apt to feel the banishment from their own kin and countrymen. During their first years of isolation, and before the growth of warm attachments which spring up later f«r their Japanese friends, these missionaries are apt to recall the words of the Psalmist : 120 THE MISSIONARY " By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion . . . How shall we sing Jehovah's song In a foreign land ? " It is often said to-day that space is annihilated and that the time is near when there will be no more sea. Yet cables are costly. A picture cannot talk. Thought may bridge an ocean in an instant, but parents left at home are not thus united to their children. Compli- ments to our inventive progress do not fill vacant chairs. Missionaries entail upon their parents no more of a burden than consuls, merchants, or officers of the Army and Navy who have left their firesides. Yet neither missionaries nor foreign merchants can be with their parents in sickness, nor, even were they millionaires, could they reach their bedsides till death or convalescence would have made a journey at sea unnecessary. One lady missionary received a cable telling of her mother's illness. Leaving her husband, she took her young babe and boarded the first steamer for home. At the last moment before the boat lifted anchor she changed her mind and landed on shore with her babe and baggage just before the ship sailed. A few days later another cable came saying her mother had passed away. I never shall forget a mother who entertained me in her home in west South Carolina. She had several children near her, but the only one she talked about was the one far away. He was a son, an officer in our Navy. He had been away for years, but in the mean- time the mother-love had not abated. She showed me his picture ; she showed me his very last letter. With her face all aglow with emotion she told me he was coming home soon, home to live with her for a few months. Her mother-love had many plans to make him comfortable. Though wrinkled and grey-headed, her face TRIALS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS 121 shone with a youthful lustre, and no maiden could have spoken more rapturously of her lover than that mother talked of the son who was far away but coming home. On all mission fields the young and middle-aged are in the majority. There are many single women and a few unmarried men. Hence the missionaries who have children old enough to send home for high school or college education are in minority. But such as have their children in the home land, either because of sickness or education, must expect to endure heart strains and have their faith put to the test. Sometimes a mother will be with the children in the home land while the father for years sticks to his post on the field. Some- times one or two of the children will be left at home while the mother remains with the family at the front. God seems to show a special favour for the families which are broken for the Gospel's sake. Though the young life may droop at times for the maternal breast, it becomes stronger and more self-reliant. There is a development of character and a result which is very satisfactory. Bishop Thoburn has said that in his experi- ence of forty years he has never known of a child who has not turned out well who has been separated from his parents at work on the field. The Saviour was not speaking figuratively when he said, " Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands for my sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." The novelty of missionary life soon wears away. New scenes become old and strange sights become common; monotony unto weariness often fastens on one's soul. Memory may call one back to pleasurable things in the home land which time and distance have magnified into 122 THE MISSIONARY an idealism that is often unreal and untrue. At these times the missionary must endure " as seeing Him who is invisible." He must recall the words of his Lord, who said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive ; " " he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto eternal life ; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may- rejoice together." Let every man have his due. Let us intercede that the blessings of heaven may rest upon every effort, every institution, every man, woman, or child who is working to make the world better or toiling to supply its needs. The musician, the artist, the philosopher, the scientist, the inventor, the manufacturer, the farmer, the carpenter, the sailor, the shoemaker are doing good and spending useful lives which they can well spend as unto the Lord. But when I look out upon the world's misery and sin, when I search for the ripest field, for the fields where the reapers are fewest, when I look up to the Christ enthroned and canvass my own limited gifts, given for one brief day, I say : " Let me, if it pleases God, be a foreign missionary, or if otherwise by some effort, prayer, or gift of mine, in my stead may many more hasten to strengthen the thin, broken, and scattered battle-line at the front." VII FURLOUGHS AND JOURNEYS BY SEA The theatre of commercial and political activity in this cen- tury is the Pacific Ocean. — Arthur H. Smith. In hitting blows hard enough to impress the Far East or Mid- Africa, we must certainly develop greater energies with which to do the tasks at our very doors. The history of the church teaches clearly and conclusively that the missionary epochs have been the time when the home church has been most powerfully stimulated. — John R. Mott, "The Pastor and Modern Mis- sions," p. 49. It is the opinion of all who have paid any attention to the progress of the world that the Pacific Ocean will, at not a very distant date, become one of the prmcipal theatres of commercial and political activity; in other words, that events in the Far East will become more and more matters of world interest as time progress. — Count Hayashi. I would be true, for there are those who trust me; I would be pure, for there are those who care ; I would be strong, for there is much to suffer; I would be brave, for there is much to dare. I would be friend of all — the foe — the friendless; I would be giving and forget the gift; I would be humble, for I know my weakness; I would look up — and laugh — and love and lift. — Howard Arnold Walter, Harper's Bazar. God hath so many ships upon the sea ! His are the merchantmen that carry treasure, The men-of-war, all bannered gallantly. The little fisher-boats and barks of pleasure. On all the sea of time there is not one. That sailed without the glorious Name thereon. So I, that sail in peril on the sea With my beloved, whom yet the waves may cover, Say, God hath more than angel's care of me And larger share than I in friend or lover. Why weep ye so, ye watchers on the land? The deep is but the hollow of His hand. — Carl Spencer. VII FURLOUGHS AND JOURNEYS BY SEA OUR Lord said that repentance and remission of sins shall be preached in His name unto all na- tions beginning from Jerusalem. Few ships sail from Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, or South- ampton but among the passengers are missionaries going out to the uttermost parts of the earth. A journey by sea to-day is not the long wearisome experience of one hundred or even fifty years ago. Double or quadruple propellers make these modern monsters of the sea in- dependent of wind or rudder. The traffic of the North Atlantic is but a prophecy of the development that will surely come to the North and Central Pacific, when in no distant day busy shuttles of commerce shall bind more closely the awakening Orient to the manufacturing Oc- cident. Men make ships for the Naval Reserves or for gain. God uses them that great walls of international barriers may fall, that the printed page of truth and His living messengers may scatter the gospel leaven everywhere. The first journey of a missionary from the home land to some distant field is an experience never to be for- gotten. When Dr. Thompson came to Japan in 1863, he sailed on the " Belle of the West " for Shanghai via Cape of Good Hope. The boat was 1,200 tons and it took 149 days for the journey. In these days twelve to eighteen days is usually consumed in a passage from the West Pacific coast to Yokohama. The best boats range from ten to twenty-seven thousand tons.* * A family needs several months for the preparation of baggage and freight; 360 pounds of baggage is allowed to each adult on 135 126 THE MISSIONARY Our railway journey from the Central States to Van- couver was by far the most tiresome part of the journey to Japan. When we came at last alongside the graceful ship which was to bear us across the Pacific, we thanked God who had brought us thus far on our way. Aboard the " Empress of China " we found awaiting us letters and postals from relatives and acquaintances. Among them was a bunch of letters with specifications as to which letter should be read for each day of the journey. At last the gongs were sounding. Friends and relatives hastily said their last kind words. Ropes and cables are cast off, the propellers whirl, and soon we are headed out for the open sea. The ship, its cargo and its pas- sengers, depend upon one man, the captain. The Steam- ship Company will not trust its investment to chance, to the caprice of wind and wave. Our globe, as it rushes on through the pathless ether, is not left to chance, to the caprice of comet or wandering star. " He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust." The heavens are the work of God's hands. Among the pas- sengers were Sir Ernest Satow, England's Minister to China; Sir Thomas Jackson, the great financier, and Prince Ouchtomsky, gentlemanly in heart, as well as princely born. He it was who, some years later, during the war, was to write in an American journal how Russia would crush Japan. Two weeks later, we dropped anchor at Yokohama in the rain. The warm, moist air of Japan was in strik- ing contrast to the cold bracing winds we had met en route off the Behring Sea. The Japanese coolies, with their straw raincoats, straw umbrella hats, and bare legs, a through ticket, for example, from Indianapolis to Tokyo. If there are children, the main difficulty is the question of laundry. Trunks are divided into " wanted," which go into the state- room, and " not wanted," which go into the ship's baggage room. Two days' grace at the port of sailing is a good margin to allow in a long journey by rail, because of washouts or other delays. FURLOUGHS AND JOURNEYS BY SEA 127 their shouting, and their jabbering, their queer little boats skilfully guided by a single rear oar, the green hills in the distance, the strange houses, the stranger looking jinrikishas and the smiling and bowing little men who were to whirl us to our station and later on to our home in the suburbs of Tokyo, these and many other things we saw that first day, combined to make us feel that we were indeed strangers in a strange land. A feeling of helplessness and humility came over us. In America we had had farewell receptions. Crowds had come to see us off. Our departure had been noticed in the local newspapers. Hundreds of hands had clasped ours in a fervent " Godspeed." But when we got to Yokohama, saving the two missionaries who met us and welcomed us warmly, our coming seemed to have been unknown. The dailies had no editorial comment on our arrival. Just as a drop of water is lost in the ocean, we seemed to have been swallowed by the thousands of strange- looking people who thronged the busy and noisy streets of Yokohama and Tokyo. Missionaries soon learn the names of Pacific steam- ships. Their arrival and departure are usually scheduled a year ahead. They bring the mails, they carry home our remembrances, they bring our reinforcements, they carry back the sick and those who have earned a rest in the homeland. The ships have a history and a record. Mis- sionaries have their favourite ships just as a racer has his favourite steed. After a lapse ranging from five to eight years, missionaries are given a furlough of one year in the home land. This is not true of Catholic mis- sionaries, who go out to the field to live and die without ever seeing friends or home again. The journey home is expensive. The loss to the work on the field is con- siderable. Nevertheless experience has proven that the furlough is necessary and brings big compensations. First of all, it gives the missionary a rest and a chance to recuperate in health. It would astonish the reader if 128 THE MISSIONARY he could know how many missionaries are retired before their furlough time comes, because of sickness. The missionary is continually constrained to overreach and work beyond his strength. Overworking and discour- agement rather than the climate are prolific sources of breakdowns. Again, the missionary for years has been giving and scattering spiritual food and mental energy. He min- isters, but is not ministered unto. In the home land, there is a Christian atmosphere rich in spiritual power and laden in many ways, which contributes to the spiritual upkeep of every Christian. Heaven of course is just as near the mission field as the home land. But on the mission field the missionary stands alone in human rela- tions. There are counter winds of custom, there is an atmosphere which is idolatrous, there is the effect of masses who go the other way, who do differently and think differently than we are taught to do and think in the living oracles. Ofttimes the missionary goes home so discouraged he half vows he never will return. Such missionaries, as a rule, are the most eager to return to Japan, for they find that America is not the paradise of their periods of gloom and blues in Japan. Seldom is a missionary's furlough a period for rest. In my own case, I was sent touring among the churches. An almost daily diet at church suppers of pickles, cold pork, fried cakes, and cheese made me long for some of the savoury, smelly dishes of Japan. In Chicago, reckless busmen all but killed me twice; at Hopkinsville, the night-raiders turned my liver luminous; in a Tennessee town, I was nearly drawn into the vortex of a negro knock-down; in a Texas town we had to call on a Methodist and Presbyterian to pass the basket. Worse than these experiences is the daily ordeal of talking with host or hostess for several hours after bedtime. They have questions to ask of encyclopaedic range, and a curiosity that is impossible to satisfy. A story goes that NIJU BRIDGE, ENTRANCE TO IMPERIAL PALACE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, TOKYO FURLOUGHS AND JOURNEYS BY SEA 129 when a number of missionaries were being assigned for entertainment at a convention, one lady said, " Of course, I will entertain some missionaries, but I want one who has been mutilated by cannibals and almost eaten." So the Committee sent her a Mr. Gnawedoff and Mr. and Mrs. Eaton. Sometimes we are almost blistered by hand- shakes. In a California town, the throng who shook hands numbered two — janitor and pastor. There is more meaning in a handshake than in palmis- try and more styles than bumps in phrenology. There is the sweaty, oily kind, the kind that won't let go ; the stiff elbow kind with no elbow joint-water; the one-pinch kind with arm poised high and much akimbo; the timid kind with three fingers up to the middle knuckle ; the kind with one swing up and down with a bang ; the wrenching kind like a farmer after a nubbin of corn; the corpse kind, unresponsive, and as interesting as shaking a bootjack. There was one handshake I never can forget. A dear old lady at Beatrice, feeble with age, dropped a quarter into my palm and whispered, " It is all I can spare, but take and use it for Japan." I took it and breathed a prayer that God might multiply it ten thousand times, and He answered the prayer at Wichita. Ah! these handshakes, let them go on, every one of them. Sweaty kind, hang-on kind, wrenching kind! They are Japan's most precious asset. They will shake " The East is east and the West is west " into nothingness — for they, the East and West, are meeting in these handshakes. We want more bows and smiles in Japan. We want more handshakes and smiles in United States. Not at banks, not at docks, not at custom houses, but through the churches spread the message, " There is one God and Father of all," " All ye are brethren." For nearly six months before our return to Japan, after our first furlough, our rooms had been selected on the steamship " Manchuria " which sails from San Fran- cisco. As is usual with missionaries sailing from this 130 THE MISSIONARY port, representatives of our church were down at the wharf to wave us their kind farewells. At sunset the second day at sea we passed through our armoured cruiser fleet on its way to Honolulu and Samoa. There were seven cruisers. Each cruiser had a slate-colored torpedo boat destroyer astern, towed by a ten-inch cable. The "Manchuria" passed within a few hundred feet of the flagship " West Virginia." Both decks were swarm- ing with real Americans. The marine band played glee- fully, while we all shouted, and waved our hats, and handkerchiefs. That evening, as we left our squadron far behind in the gathering twilight, and one by one the stars came out, it seemed as if our whole earth were a tiny toy floating in God's unfathomed ocean of creation. How transient things of time became ! A peace and joy inexpressible came over my soul! By God's grace in a new and more precious creation of eternal and God- like spirits, I had been sent upon a mission, the im- portance of which surpassed the sweep of every distant sun. And thus I lay me down to sleep in my berth, grateful and content, thinking of loved ones hidden below the eastern horizon. The cold, stiff wind we faced in leaving the Golden Gate was forgotten at Honolulu. Here the air was balmy, and soft zephyrs which had kissed many a palm and scent-burdened bloom passed on to sport with the breakers whose dazzling whiteness marked the parting line be- tween the deep blue of the ocean and the restful green of Oahu's tropical profusion. That same evening, as we lifted anchor, to the west was the sinking sun, just touching the briny blue, and golden glory was splashed all over the western sky. To the east, resting upon the mountains, were dark storm clouds, in front of which a rainbow stood out bold and high, circling from Punch Bowl to Diamond Head. Nestled within these contrasts of colour, lay the ship and its wharf. The boat's decks, the gangway and landings were FURLOUGHS AND JOURNEYS BY SEA 131 swarming with living souls from many lands. Standing space on deck was littered with the petals of bouquets and wreaths, which, with a kiss or a smile, friends had thrown to one another. And all the while Honolulu's band was playing some favourite air. There seemed to be no colour-line, no race-line. The occasion really seemed typical of heaven — for here were beauty of landscape, safety of harbour, common interest, love, and good-will. Would that each one there that day could have passed on to his own countryman the same spirit and the good cheer of the hour. But our ship is in motion. We circle around to the westward and swing out farther and farther from the gem of the Pacific, which soon disap- peared in the gathering dusk. Under the inspiration of what we saw, heard, and felt that night our prayer as- cended that race prejudice might be obliterated, that wars and preparations for them might cease, and that every man the world over might call every other, neighbour and friend. VIII THE KIND OF MISSIONARIES NEEDED Send me anywhere, provided it be forward. Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things. — R. L. Stevenson. Many a missionary is at his best in leading and at his worst in following. He is apt to be impatient of restraint, good in initiative, but poor in team work. And yet team work is indis- pensable to the highest success. — Arthur J. Brown. Dare to look up to God and say: Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt; I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee ; lead me where Thou wilt ; clothe me in any dress Thou choosest. — Epictetus. Could I live my fifty years over again, I should wish to change much early and late and in the middle distance, as to personal action and zeal ; but I would not change my occupation or desire anything happier or nobler in ideal. — Archdeacon MOULE. If you strike a thorn on a rose, Keep a-goin' ; If it hails or if it snows, Keep a-goin'. 'Taint no use to sit and whine When the fish ain't on the line Bait your hook and keep on tryin', Keep a-goin'. When the weather kills your crop, Keep a-goin'. When you tumble from the top, Keep a-goin'. S'pose you're out every dime; Gettin' broke ain't any crime; Tell the world you're puUin' fine. Keep a-goin'. VIII THE KIND OF MISSIONARIES NEEDED THE missionary comes uninvited to Japan. If he begins as an iconoclast or shrinks into his shell with a " holier than thou " attitude, he may not expect inquirers or converts. The fact that he is an American, a Christian, or that he has for years prepared especially to spend and be spent in foreign service, counts but little in the minds of those to whom he is sent. I was giving out tracts in a park one day to a Japanese who asked me my line of merchandise. It was hard to con- vince him that I had taken so long a journey from my own land unless for gain or profit. The missionary's real mission has nothing similar with which it can be compared in the ordinary life of the people. Christianity may be all right for the foreigner, but why he wants to spread it in Japan remains an unanswerable question with many who are unacquainted with the power of the Gospel. The missionary who comes to Japan must earn his spurs. He must begin at the bottom of the ladder to climb. Introductions are unasked by the people and un- necessary. He will be found out and rated pretty well at market value. His work and the impression he makes will be in the measure of his toil, his character, his patience. Past successes and honours attained at home seem to be mercilessly cut away. He begins a freshman again in a new university of experience. It is all-impor- tant, therefore, that the missionary body be a picked body. Mission boards who select the candidates should have in mind the characteristics of the Japanese as well as Japan's prominence and influence throughout the whole Eastern World. 135 136 THE MISSIONARY " A better selection of missionaries is needed, and they need a more thorough knowledge of the language, litera- ture, religions, and history of the country than is usually the case now; also, thorough self-identification with the people, devotion to them, and intenser evangelistic zeal are demanded by the situation in Japan." * Besides good health, a liberal education, and faith in God and His word, the missionary should bring along in his own personality a special influence or in his attain- ments a specialty that would give him a place of com- mand in any community in the home land. The Japanese are quick to detect merit and worth in any line. They are drawn instinctively to men and women who are richly endowed with personal force and exert it quietly, kindly, and irresistibly. A personality that will draw, not repel, that will attract, not displease, is one of the best gifts for a missionary in Japan. Some specialty, be it in music, letters, linguistic ability, gymnastics, mechanical or scentific attainment will give the mission- ary a leverage of power that will be useful all through life. The missionary who does not love the Japanese is doomed to failure. Though he speaks like a Japanese, " but have not love, . . . sounding brass or a clanging cymbal " would accomplish as much and be less ex- pensive. Evil he will see around him and provoking things he will experience, but " love never faileth " be- cause it is " not provoked, taketh not account of evil," believeth and " hopeth all things." The missionary comes to introduce the reign of love. He comes as a repre- sentative of the most loving and lovable of the race. If he fails in love, he has failed miserably and finally. For three hundred years the Japanese have had the custom of tea-drinking. Dating farther back are cere- monies which sprang up in the misty past. Much of their life is determined by set formality. Their daily * David B. Schneder. THE KIND OF MISSIONARIES NEEDED 137 courtesies are as natural and as necessary as their eating and drinking. The missionary need not be a slave to all their habits, but to a certain extent a natural courtesy and easy conformity to the more ordinary customs will do much to win favourable attention and open the heart's door for the coming of the invisible Guest. What may seem to the foreigner a burdensome formality, may be to a Japanese an essential duty or act of propriety. For- tunate is the missionary if among Jews he can " become as a Jew " that he " might gain the more." " Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves," though centuries old, has lost none of its importance. The missionary in Japan builds not only for to-day but for the centuries. Will his work stand as the pyramids ? Or as a palace of ice, beautiful in winter, will it melt with the first flush of spring? Christianity in Japan is yet in its icipiency. Wise master-builders are needed in laying the foundations broad, deep, and strong. " Work- ers who can adapt themselves to a highly sensitive, intensely patriotic, and distinctively self-sufficient peo- ple " * are especially needed. It is lamentable, yet it is true, that an unwise act or an indiscreet remark of a missionary may bring on a world of trouble and undo the work of years. The idea that missionaries are an- gelic in spirit and infallible in their methods is a mistake. Our wings have not sprouted, and " we err in human blindness " though '"' we struggle to be just." " It is of primary importance that the missionary have a large endowment of common sense. Nothing else will make up for inefficiency in this. It alone gives power to adapt oneself to the new environments and to live under changed conditions. . . . The missionary also needs to a great degree the power of self-control. He should be a cool, conservative man, able to govern him- self under all circumstances. He must not be moved to excessive labour by the present needs of the work, * C. A. Clark, "An Appeal from Japan." 138 THE MISSIONARY but must exercise self-restraint, husbanding his strength for future tasks." * It will be fortunate if the missionary has a vein of levity and can fall back upon a cheerful and sunny dis- position. Serious and sincere he should be, but a serious- ness whose tension can never be broken by a laugh is apt to wander into gloom and discouragement. Con- scientious he should be, but he must make due allow- ances for the consciences of others, concede that they may be as conscientious as he, and grant them due and impartial treatment, and sometimes defer to the con- sciences of another. The missionary in Japan should be well read in world- wide missions before he comes to the field. He should be familiar with the difficulties, the opposition, and persecutions that met the early church before it tri- umphed in the Roman Empire. If he have in mind that the onward sweep of the Kingdom of God is by genera- tions and centuries rather than by months and years, no negative experience can dampen his optimism or introduce doubts of ultimate triumph. During the intro- ductory period of language study, there is no time for reading, but there will come a time when the missionary must read or wither intellectually and spiritually. He cannot hear the lectures or sermons of the world's great specialists. He cannot attend Chautauquas or summer courses at universities. The only way he can satisfy his hunger, to get filled up with what the throbbing and advancing Occident is thinking and doing, is through his periodicals and books, which are all too few- Thousands of letters go home from the missionaries to entertain, enlighten, and inspire individuals and so- cieties in the churches. But seldom, very seldom, does a book, a periodical, or letter come to balance the ac- count. One missionai*y mother who was recently in our home had a little bundle of sixty unanswered letters * R. B. Peery, " Gist of Japan," pp. 204-205. THE KIND OF MISSIONARIES NEEDED 139 from different parts of the United States. The mission- aries feel that they have some debtors in America, after paying the deficient postage of their correspondents and mailing them letters and documents per request, as long as the Constitution of the United States. I was told by a Japanese friend, a bosom friend, with whom I had exchanged confidences, that I ought to study the Japanese heart. He complimented me about this and that, but said that I must know more of the inner life of the Japanese. I thanked him and agreed with him. The conversation took place about seven years ago and, I am still studying the Japanese heart. Every missionary must make the national life, the daily life, the heart life of the people his study. It is not an easy task. Much is learned by personal contact. Much may be gathered from their history, much from their periodicals. In conversation with a Japanese, I have never recited a Japanese poem, mentioned the name of Hideyoshi, re- peated the chant of the Nichiren sect, or alluded to some current incident, but that a new point of contact, a new interest, a new warmth was immediately noticeable. Without intense labour and long concentration, nothing worthy can be accomplished on the mission field. Wil- liam Seward Burroughs worked for twelve years on his adding and listing machine. Time and again he de- molished his model and began anew. The more intricate parts of his all but human machine he cut with tools handled under a microscope. The missionary likewise may expect many failures, but should persist. His spirit- ual tools will not work in a haphazard way. He will not bungle into success. He must endure. He must run for a long time and not be weary. He must hang on and go on no matter how long and steep seems the way. If his road takes him to an impassable ravine, he must loop around it, and though he seems to be going backwards, he must not halt. Such a missionary, who enters for a long, steady pull, who waits a little for his 140 THE MISSIONARY second wind and reserves some energy for the last spurt, will finish his race at the end of the years, a happy and easy victor. The missionary must be a man of God. His suf- ficiency must be in Christ, and his reward must be His " well done." His faith must be able to leap over the obstructions of sense and sight, and carry him frequently to the feet of Him who rules with all authority and at whose command are the infinite resources of power. He is to live Christ as well as teach Him. Perfection in the language, so necessary and desirable, a faultless rhetoric, and a pleasing address, will be as non-effective in moving souls as stones shovelled into a stove for pro- ducing heat, unless the fruits of the spirit ripen and fall abundantly and in unending measure. The missionary comes from a land where things are done in haste, where telegrams announce great in- gatherings, where every day in the year magnificent church buildings of brick and stone are erected. No wonder if he catches the spirit of the times and measures success by numbers and cubic yards of masonry. Sup- porters of missions and mission boards are eager for results, and there may be impatience and criticisms if the missionary's reports do not reach up to the popular expectation. Missionaries are needed who have faith in the power of the leaven, who know the divine law of progress, " first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Jesus said : " The kingdom of God Cometh not with observation, neither shall they say lo, here ! or lo, there ! " The missionary must take his stand on the invisible, irresistible reach and power of Christ's personality and truth, and, unmoved by the craze for arithmetical display, must be confident that the spir- itual harvest will follow the sowing of the good seed, as certainly as the Empire of night vanishes with the songs of the morning. IX SOME WAYS OF SERVICE Happiness is a great love and much serving. — Olive Schreiner. Who does the best his circumstances allow. Does well, acts nobly; angels could do no more. — Young. Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all the chords with might ; Smote the chord of self, that, trembling, passed in music out of sight. — Tennyson. Love seeketh not itself to please. Nor for itself hath any care, But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in hell's despair. We must remember that it was not by interceding for the world in glory that Jesus saved it. He gave Himself. Our prayers for the evangelization of the world are but bitter irony so long as we only give our superfluity and draw back before the sacrifice of ourself. — M. Francois Coillard, Love puts not off the pursuit of duty till it attain the pos- session of glory. There is no rocking this babe to sleep, but in the cradle of the grave. A soul that loves much will work much. The injunctions of love are not grievous, but precious. — William Secker, " The Nonesuch Professor," p. 359. Tact is the life of the five senses. It is the open eye, thq quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lusty touch. Talent is power, tact is skill ; talent is weight, tact is momentum ; talent knows what to do, tact knows how to do it; talent is wealth, tact is ready money. Take the greatest optimists — bald people ! First and last they have spent more money on hair restorers than Mr. Morgan or Mr. Rockefeller owns, and never has a lost hair been restored. It may be an humble comparison, but lost years, energies, ambi- tions, and such are as unrecoverable as lost hairs — neither effort, nor quackery, nor sighing can bring them back. — Saturday Even- ing Post. IX SOME WAYS OF SERVICE WHEN a missionary reaches the field, his ges- tures and his words are ridiculous to all save a few friends. He must begin as a baby be- gins, both on the language study and mission decorum. The first way to be of service is for the missionary to be patient during the process of readjustment. Possibly the church he left in America looked upon him as a leader. He may have been petted and honoured. But on the field, he finds that matters of importance are set- tled by the council and vote of his fellows, and that he can move no faster than the mission body thinks best for him and the whole work. Then, too, there is a Japanese community whose capacity, indirectness, and supersensitiveness he must consider. The new mission- ary is more often a follower than a leader ; he must give up much and learn the virtue of waiting. On any field the missionary meets with many dis- tractions. He must be careful of his time and firm in the execution of more important things. Just how to strike a balance, just how to render a due proportion of time and attention to his work, to his recreation, to his family and friends, to his study, to his correspond- ence, to his general reading, to his callers, to his classes, to his travel, to his sermons, to his private inquirers, or a score of other things, is a difficult task. Touring is a hard but blessed work, for it brings glad tidings into new towns and villages and comforts scattered bands of Christians surrounded by an idolatrous community. A missionary just back from a short jour- ney reported : " Six sermons preached, eighteen hours 143 144. THE MISSIONARY of English work, one hundred and fifty miles of travel on the bicycle, one hundred on the train, six points have been visited, and at least six hundred have heard the word." * When I. H. Correll did the first preaching in the city of Matsumoto in 1878, it took him seven days to reach the city. He was called thither by a friend whom he had taught secretly at Yokohama. This friend had asked permission for Christian services, and the city officials wrote in big letters with red ink across his application, " We have no authority to grant the per- mission for the preaching of Christianity." But they held their peace as the church there to-day is witness. Since 1899, Japan has had a Gospel Ship with an experienced sea captain and missionary in charge, Capt. Luke W. Bickel. The islanders he visits call his two- masted schooner " The Jesus Ship." A railway official said, " Yes, I have read in the daily papers of her work for the island people of our country. A strangely per- sistent, energetic religion is that of yours." The first boat and its twenty-five-foot motor launch was the dona- tion of R. S. Allan, of the Allan Line of steamships, as a memorial of his mother, f Captain Bickel and his workers labour in 420 towns and villages, 62 rented preaching places, and 52 Sunday Schools, with an enrol- ment of 3,500 pupils. Sometimes services are held aboard ship. A ship's newspaper is regularly mailed to hundreds of homes. A great opportunity is afforded in Japan for tract distribution because of the general intelligence. The average home is but scantily supplied with reading ma- terial. One missionary gets as many as a thousand let- ters and cards yearly, inquiring about Christianity, be- * H. H. Erskine, Missionary Intelligencer, September, 1912. t Captain Bickel has just built a new boat which has auxiliary engines of 120 H. P. The length is 120 feet and beam 24 feet. The boat, which is a brigantine rig, serves as a training ship for such marine students as can be accommodated aboard. ^^^^^^^^ •^ r ± ' " 1 ^iPw ^Jll ■jifillf gJBJIpi ■ ■■■■ ■ Sr. I.l'KlCS IlOSl'lTAI., '|■()K^•() CHAPEL AT ST. LUKE S ONE VV THE (li'ERATl.W; ROOMS SOME WAYS OF SERVICE 145 cause of the tracts he has distributed. Miss Eliza G. Tweedie and Miss Ada B. Killam have distributed tracts by the hundredweight. They have been welcomed espe- cially for talks on temperance at elementary schools, and in no case has the principal ever refused them permis- sion. As an illustration of the power of Christian lit- erature, Professor Yano, of Sendai, asked Galen M. Fisher to recommend a text-book on John, The pro- fessor organized a class for the special study of John with the help of the book recommended, and seventeen out of the class were baptized during the year. The growth of socialism in Germany is augmented by social- istic literature. " During the year the socialists held 30,000 meetings and distributed 23,000,000 leaflets and 2,500,000 pamphlets." * It is a pity for any missionary to be outdone by a socialist because of lack of funds. The Sunday School is a tremendous power for driving the wedge of truth into the lubberly log of unbelief. Sunday Schools can be opened most anywhere in Japan and the rooms filled with little children. The Japanese are indulgent to their children, and by way of a child, entrance can be had into the homes and hearts of a:ny community, however anti-Christian. Some years ago Christian workers entered the slum district of Osaka and tried in vain to rent a room for a Sunday School. The prejudice was so great that they could not find a roof to shelter them, so for four weeks they held a Sunday School in the street. In a month's time the change in the children was so marked that many homes were offered for Sunday School meetings, rent free. A church stands in the community to-day as the result. When Jesus was on earth. He healed many sick, deaf, and blind. This was what they wanted and He gra- ciously responded to their requests. The missionary in Japan is constantly urged to teach English, and many missionaries have used to great advantage this universal * American Review of Reviews, July, 191 1, 146 THE MISSIONARY desire for English language study, and by means of the friendships so formed have won many souls. H. E. Coleman has eight classes in English Bible study. As he teaches in the private university founded by the noted Fukuzawa, he has a splendid chance to draw about him a superior lot of young men. Among his boys he has organized a brotherhood band upon Bible study, friend- ship, and Christian character. Another missionary draws thirty teachers from the city schools to his home weekly, the attraction being his English library. Perhaps the most noted Christian effort in Japan, based upon the teaching of English, is the Palmore Institute, situated in the heart of Kobe. It was founded in 1886, in Kobe, by Dr. W. B. Palmore, editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate. In the midst of the classes held from seven to nine p.m., one-half hour is given to Bible instruction or Christian lectures. The yearly enroll- ment is between six and seven hundred. In a few cases missionaries have paid for space in daily newspapers and advertised the claims and promises of Christianity. Albertus Pieters, of Oita province, had 438 applications for free literature within three months. " One man wrote in distress of mind on account of the loss of his wife; still another because his lusts were too strong for him." One young woman " had been so impressed by what she had read that she could not wait another day but came right over to get further instruc- tion." * Recently a deputation of ten, headed by the village school teacher, came from a region thirty-five miles away to inquire about Christianity. They had read Mr. Pieters's study of the life of Christ, which ap- pears every other day in the newspaper. A great and pressing opportunity is afforded to men, and especially to women, in the thousands of labourers who are flocking from the country to the cities to engage in factory work. Japan has about a million factory em- * The Japan Evangelist, August, 1912. SOME WAYS OF SERVICE 147 ployees, and the number increases every year. For some years, Miss Susan Bauernfeind has befriended the work- ers at a cotton-thread spinning mill in Tokyo. There are 6,000 employees, one-half of whom are girls; 2,000 of the girls reside in the factory dormitory, twenty girls to a room. The factory in question is well managed, but ofttimes the treatment of the girls in the factories is distressing.* Japanese policemen are under the small wage of eight dollars a month, during the first ten years of service. They are given a two months' training previous to their appointment as police. It is in these training schools that James Cuthbertson and wife have found special oppor- tunities to sow the gospel seed among the policemen of Tokyo and four other cities. They were loaned for the work by the Evangelistic Band. Miss E. R. Gillett, associated with two Japanese evan- gelists, has developed a successful railway mission to the thousands of men in the shops and larger railway stations. She and her assistants have been given passes, and meetings are held all over the Empire. At some two hundred stations, regular meetings are held in the club rooms, where the officials welcome gospel addresses. The missionary meets a great many young people who never forget him, perhaps because he is the only for- eigner they ever addressed. If such names and resi- dences are preserved, a great opportunity is given for the cultivation of faith by correspondence and tract distri- bution. R. P. Gorbold's work in this line has so de- veloped that he has secured the services of a stenog- rapher. Copies of his own letters, as well as the messages * This example of what a woman can do originated by one of the officials asking for a Sunday School. For two years it met in his home. The work has so developed with the years that Miss Bauernfeind's mission is just completing a $S,ooo church and a kindergarten building on the grounds provided by the factory. Two thousand factory hands were at her last Christmas exercises. 148 THE MISSIONARY of his correspondents are carefully preserved in large envelopes. A missionary can always increase his efficiency and sometimes multiply it many fold by interesting young men or women to devote their lives to Christian work. Miss Lavina Oldham has been quite successful in per- suading young men to enter Christian work. She has led, all told, seven Japanese into the ministry, some of whom have attained remarkable success and won scores of converts. Every missionary in Japan is more or less the medium of information to the country which sent him forth. His letters from the field and his addresses while at home, on furlough, do much to correct erroneous notions, break down prejudice, and awaken interest in missions. None know the shady side of their respective mission fields better than the missionaries, yet none are more charitable even to partiality than they. The Japan Evan- gelist for English readers contains many fine articles written by the missionaries, and gives an interesting monthly summary of mission work in Japan.* Perhaps no missionary has been more widely known as a friend of Japan or more beloved by its people be- cause of his courteous and able articles and speeches, than the late John H. DeForest. A Japanese daily said of him, " To our minds, Dr. DeForest's work was worth more than Perry's sixteen battleships, in cementing friendship, and in this sense we extend to him, our now national benefactor, warm welcome hands." t The Em- *The Japan Evangelist was first published by W. E. Hoy in 1893. Foreign readers can secure this monthly for $1.50 a year, postpaid, by sending a New York draft to the Methodist Pub- lishing House, Tokyo. fThe following quotation is worthy of consideration because of the friendships which would result. Fraternity and good- will are big assets in evangelization. " In addition to Christian scholars from abroad, Japan needs to be visited by Christians of less specialized training— men of standing in business and SOME WAYS OF SERVICE 149 peror decorated him with the fourth grade of the Order of the Rising Sun. On his last return from America an immense crowd congregated at the station to meet him and advertised their welcome with banners, lanterns, and fireworks. The slums in every large city in Japan are open doors wherein are the ignorant, the distressed, and the sin- burdened awaiting some angel of mercy. Years ago Miss Alice Adams, while passing through the slums of Okayama, was moved to pity when the dirty little urchins jeered at her. She retaliated by opening a Sunday School which has grown into a day nursery, a day and night school provided with sewing and manual-training classes, and a hospital which gave 16,000 treatments last year. A government inspector who was shown through the compound and told of the lives that had been re- formed, remarked, " The Imperial Government is aware . . . that such results are achieved only as the result of Christian work." * H. V. S. Peeke says in his printed quarterly letter: " Machinery, public meetings, tracts, etc., have their use, but I am confident that, after all, the real work must be done at the closest range, by a large number of devout men and women, paid and unpaid, and that visiting for hours around a brazier and a devout and constant use of the legs are indispensable." Calling is an effective part of a missionary's work. It is a work in which a lady missionary has peculiar advantages, however, be- political worlds, leaders in industry and applied science. They could do much for the spread of Christianity by coming into intimate contact with Japanese. . . . Would it not be but a carrying out of the underlying spirit of the Laymen's Missionary Movement which declares that its members must give not only money but voluntary and personal service for the evangelization of the world." — President Harada's article, International Re- view of Missions, January, 1912, p. 95. *A Social Settlement in the Slums of Okayama, Missionary Review of the World, December, 1912. 160 THE MISSIONARY cause of a more ready access to the home and because Japanese women are usually found at home. In every mission some one or more must devote a very considerable time as mission secretary and treasurer, to keep up the financial and official correspondence of the mission with the home Board. The Japanese Gov- ernment has given a charter to all missions which have applied according to Japanese law, by which the mission can hold its own deeds to lands and buildings.* The management of mission property, the reporting to the government, and the paying of taxes and insurance premiums, consume much time, but thousands of dol- lars are saved for the mission whose business department is well managed. The middle schools and schools for higher education are a great field for any soul-winner. The educated classes have but little prejudice against Christianity and students especially are open to the approaches of any missionary or English teacher who is looked upon as an epitome of all that the Occident knows or can do. A Y. M. C. A. English teacher, in speaking of his own opportunities, says : " I know of no other work any- where, in which a fellow can make his life count for more. I doubt if any missionaries have such oppor- tunities, and I feel certain that no college graduates can step into work that brings bigger results." f What missionary has not felt the lamentable limita- tions of his own strength? What missionary has not wished a thousand times that he were the equal of a band one hundred strong, that night, as well as day, he might answer every call, enter every door, and vigorously cut wide swaths in the golden fields bending and waiting for the harvesters? And will the harvesters come? Or must the harvest wait and the reapers faint for weariness ! * No single individual, if he be a foreigner, can hold a deed to land, although he may be able to lease lands, t Quoted by H. Loomis, in The New Era. X A FEW WELL KNOWN MISSIONARIES What you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. — Emerson. I do not know of any man who requires more big thinking or more statesmanlike action than the missionary.— F. M. Rains. Now is the time we firmly believe for you to bestir your- selves and manifest the seriousness of your purpose. You simply must not furl the banner for Christ! Nay, rather, you should lift it up and advance and proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God on earth. — S. Ebina, Japan Evangelist, April, 1909, p. 129. It was the Jew who brought the gospel to Rome, a Roman that took it to France, a Frenchman that took it to Scandinavia, a Scotchman that evangelized Ireland, and an Irishman that, in turn, made the missionary conquest of Scotland. No people have received Christianity except at the hands of an alien. — Alva W. Taylor, "The Social Work of Christian Missions," p. 41. Cannot you go to Christ to-day and find the idea of yourself in Him? It is certainly there. In Christ's thought at this mo- ment there is a picture of you which is perfectly distinct and separate and clear. ... If you give up your life to serving and loving Christ, one of the blessings of your consecration of yourself to Him will be that in Him there will be open to you this pattern of yourself. You will see your possible self as He sees it, and then life will have but one purpose and wish for you, which will be that you may reahze that idea of yourself which you have seen in him. — Phillips Brooks. If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies. Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good or talk too wise ; If you can dream and not make dreams your master, If you can think and not make thought your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster. And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can fill each unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run — Yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And which is more, you'll be a man, my son. — RuDYARD Kipling. X A FEW WELL-KNOWN MISSIONARIES MISS MARY E. KIDDER, of the Reformed Church, was the first unmarried woman ap- pointed by a mission board for service in Japan. Previous to her coming, in 1869, Miss Caroline Adri- ance was in Japan for a short time at her own charges. Miss Kidder came with S. R. Brown and wife and pro- ceeded with them at once to Niigata. They were car- ried in palanquins and were sixteen days making the journey. A guard of nine soldiers accompanied them. Some time after her return to Yokohama, she opened a girls' school at Ise Yama, under the patronage of the governor of the province, who furnished her the house and a covered jinrikisha with two men to pull her. By 1875, the school grew into the well-known Ferris Seminary. In 1873, Miss Kidder was married to Edward R. Miller, who survives her and publishes the periodicals that she edited so creditably for years. Mrs. Miller was a queenly woman, from whose face every grace shone. From years of experience, filled with kindly deeds, she had come to know the truth of the Saviour's words, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." Years ago, tidings of the lamentable condition of Eu- rasian girls in Japan reached the ears of the Woman's Union Missionary Society of America. It was not long till this parent organization of Women's Missionary Boards had consecrated Mrs. Mary Pruyn, Mrs. Louise H. Pierson, and Miss I. N. Crosby for their work in Yokohama. A few months after their arrival, in 1871, they opened their school for girls. For a while it was 153 154* THE MISSIONARY known as the American Mission Home, but in later years it has been called the " Kyoritsu Jo Gakko." Mrs. Pruyn, after serving as superintendent, returned to the United States. Since her departure. Miss Crosby has served as superintendent. By her orders the buildings were so well constructed that the carpenter said that even if an earthquake or storm should roll them down the hill, they could not break apart. Miss Crosby is a born manager, a successful teacher, full of wit, life, and faith. In her twoscore years of service she has spent but two years in the home land and she has seen more years of actual mission service than any woman living in Japan. Miss Clara A. Converse came to Japan in 1889, leaving a very important position in Vermont Academy to under- take the building up of the Mary Colby Home, a Baptist school in Yokohama. This school had been but little more than started by her predecessors, and it was her work to organize, develop, and build up the institution. Through her wise leadership, the school has become one of the best girls' schools in Japan. The school buildings and ground secured in the early years of her management were so inadequate for the growth of the school, that recently a large tract of land has been se- cured in the country near Kanagawa and a splendid plant has been established. The influence of Miss Con- verse over the girls under her care has been very un- usual, and a large number of them have been trained by her to fill very important posts as teachers and in other walks of life. The graduates of the school have been much sought after as teachers in the Government schools. Miss Bertha Clawsen was born at Strawn, Kansas. When a girl, she lost both her parents and was thrown upon her own resources. After graduation from the Tri-State College at Angola, Indiana, she taught for six years previous to her coming to Japan in 1898. Thus A FEW WELL-KNOWN MISSIONARIES 155 her experiences have combined to make her an efficient teacher, as well as patient, tactful, and resourceful in character. After serving both in Akita and Osaka, she was called to Tokyo, to the presidency of the Margaret K. Long Girls' School, named in memory of the mother of R. A. Long, a prominent Christian and philan- thropist. The school, which began in a rented building in 1905, moved into the new building on its dedication, October 11, 1907. The school has several departments, a Girls' High School, a Training School for Bible Women, a Kindergarten, and a Department of Home Economics. Miss Ruth Frances Davis, the World's Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union representative in Japan since 1908, is a graduate of Boston University. Her father is a Methodist minister. Her mother, Mrs. Edith Smith Davis, is National and World Superintendent of Sci- entific Temperance Instruction in the W. C. T. U., who was sent by our government as one of the twelve dele- gates to the Anti-alcoholic Congress at The Hague. Miss Davis inherits her parents' ability and is highly gifted as a writer and popular speaker. Her enthusiasm and capacity for work are unusual. She has made extensive tours throughout the Empire and has successfully car- ried out a prize Temperance Essay Contest among students in the Middle Schools of Japan. Charles E. Garst was born in Bacon, Ohio. It had been his mother's prayer that he might be a minister. He was educated at the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, and at West Point. During his studies at West Point, he came across the editorials of Isaac Er- rett, the Editor of the Christian Standard, and thus be- came a Disciple of Christ. In 1883, in company with his wife and Mr. and Mrs. George T. Smith, he reached Yokohama and opened the first work of his mission in Akita. From that time on, he devoted himself to country evangelism. Rain, snow, exposures, and privations never 156 THE MISSIONARY turned his purpose. After his death a company of mis- sionaries found a scroll hanging on the wall of an inn in a mountain village. On the scroll were written the words, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The missionaries were told that a tall foreigner by the name of Garst had tarried for the night some years before, and the innkeeper so admired his skill in writing that he had asked for a memento of his visit.* Bishop John McKim was born in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1852. After graduating at Griswold College, he was married to Miss Nellie A. Cole, a minister's daughter. In 1879, he came to Japan as a missionary of the Amer- ican Episcopal Church. Bishop McKim, during his resi- dence in Osaka, organized the mission of his church in the provinces of Yamato, Omi, Iga, Ise, and Wakasa. In 1893, he was elected Bishop of Tokyo and was con- secrated to his office in St. Thomas Church, New York City. For a time he was the only bishop of his church in Japan. Though the work was in a more or less dis- organized state, by his patient and wise leadership the mission was developed, and strategic points were opened between Tokyo and Aomori. He has received several degrees, the latest of which was conferred upon him by Oxford University in 1908, in recognition of his ability in promoting the establishment of the church in the Far East. As a man, Bishop McKim is characterized by un- selfishness, deep spirituality, and good judgment. William Imbrie was born in New Jersey and is a graduate of Princeton University and Princeton The- ological Seminary. After a brief pastorate in the United States, he came to Japan as a missionary of the Presby- terian Church, in 1875. During most of his life in Japan he has been a teacher in the Theological Depart- ment of Meiji Gakuin. Among his writings are a " Life of Christ for Theological Students " and several com- * " A West Pointer in the Land of the Mikado," the biography of Mr. Garst, written by his wife, has just come from the press. A FEW WELL-KNOWN MISSIONARIES 157 mentaries. In 1890, he received the thanks of the Synod, for writing the " Confession of Faith of the Church " ("Church of Christ in Japan") and for work upon its Constitution and Canons. In 1909, the Emperor con- ferred on him the Fourth Degree of the Order of the Rising Sun. Mr. Imbrie is an able champion of evan- gehcal faith and an eminent missionary leader. Daniel Crosby Greene was the first missionary of the American Board to Japan. He is therefore looked upon as the Father of the Mission, but this means much more than that he was chronologically first on the field. What the Elder Statesmen are to Japan, he has been and is to the mission. Mr. and Mrs. Greene arrived in Yokohama November 30, 1869. First in Kobe, and later in other stations, he has been associated with the beginnings of the Congregational Mission Work in Japan. In Yoko- hama, 1 874- 1 880, he contributed largely to the success of the translation of the New Testament. Since 1890 he has resided in Tokyo, where he has been a tower of strength to the mission by his work on committees and by his close touch with the Christian leaders. As the first editor of The Christian Movement, he has done much to familiarize the West with the relation of Chris- tianity to New Japan.* Julius Soper arrived in Japan in 1873, and is one of the charter members of his mission. At the first annual meeting of the mission he was appointed to reside in Tokyo, which has been his residence most of the time. He has given nearly forty years of faithful service to the Methodist Episcopal Church in Japan. His genial spirit, ready use of the language, and great willingness to serve every good cause, have combined to bring him in great demand. For a number of years he was the head of the Theological School at Aoyama, Tokyo. He has had connection with many important movements *He is at present the president of the American Peace Society in Japan and has received a decoration from the Emperor. 158 THE MISSIONARY springing up in New Japan and to the Temperance move- ment he has given special care and effort. At a recent Annual Temperance Gathering in Tokyo (which gather- ing was also a farewell to Mr. Soper, as he was about to return to America on account of Mrs. Soper's health), a number of experienced leaders spoke of him as the Father of the Temperance cause in Japan. D. B. Schneder was born in 1857, at .Bowmansville, Penn, After graduating from Franklin and Marshall College, in 1880, he entered the Eastern Theological Sem- inary of the Reformed Church, from which he graduated in 1883. Both in college and in the seminary he ranked very high as a student. In 1887, he reached Japan and entered at once upon his duties as teacher in the North Japan College started by W. E. Hoy, now resident in China. Since 1901, he has served as its president, and it is largely due to his faithfulness, tact, good judgment, and fine scholarship that the college has attained its well- known reputation and success. During his furloughs, he has visited Germany twice for study. He has translated Schaff's " The Person of Christ " into Japanese and pub- lished in pamphlet form a series of lectures on Buddhism. Mr. Schneder is an able essayist and champion of Chris- tian education. Capt. Luke W. Bickel, the son of Dr. Philipp Bickel of the Baptist Publication House in Cassell, Germany, was born in Cincinnati, in 1886. He attended school at Cleveland, Hamburg, and Berlin and was educated with the idea of going as a medical missionary to Africa. However, he was sent to sea because of ill-health and spent some years in service on the Atlantic Ocean, where he worked up to a captain's position. His sudden turn to Japan in 1898 was as sudden as his turn to the sea. There are unmistakable evidence that God shaped this man's life for a special service among the unevangelized islands of Japan. Captain Bickel is a tall man with a sunburned face. His faith is as boundless as his energy, A FEW WELL-KNOWN MISSIONARIES 159 and the measure of his love is best computed by his work. His ship flies the American flag and is kept busy among the islands of the Inland Sea. Captain Bickel has a field of a million and a half of people. It is his rule to go where no one else has gone, to visit every island and village, welcome or no welcome, and to preach the gospel to all classes without partiality. Galen M. Fisher was born in Oakland, California, in 1873, of New England parentage. He graduated from the University of California in 1906. After graduation he served the Boston Association as Metropolitan Student Secretary. Accepting a call from the Interna- tional Committee of the Y. M. C. A. to represent them in Japan, he arrived in Tokyo in January, 1898. As senior secretary of the International Committee's force in Japan, Mr. Fisher has achieved great success. He has had special relations to the movements resulting in the Army work, the raising of fifty thousand dollars for student hostels, in 1907, and two hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars for hostels and other buildings, in 1910. He has shown marked ability in editorial work and in the development of Bible study among the Student Associa- tions. He has represented the Japanese Union at the W. C. S. F. Conferences at Versailles, Zeist, and Tokyo and the International Committee at the Edinburgh Con- ference. Archbishop Nicolai, Japan's greatest missionary, has had few equals since Paul's day. He was of royal de- scent, and was born at Melyoza, Russia, in 1836. His mind was turned to Japan by reading the diary of Rear- Admiral Golownin, who had been in Japan in 181 1. Though young, he was appointed in i860 as chaplain to the newly opened Russian Consulate at Hakodate. He journeyed overland across Siberia, and after spending the winter at Nicolaievsk, he reached Hakodate in July, 1861. In April, 1868, he secretly baptized his first three converts. The first convert was Takuma Sawabe, a 160 THE MISSIONARY Shinto priest, who had burst into his room with the in- tention of kilHng him as an enemy of Japan. The young chaplain persuaded him that he could not justly condemn Christianity without studying it. The bigoted priest yielded to the suggestion and thus came to faith. By 1872, when the first Protestant church was established in Yokohama, Pere Nicolai had already baptized more than a score. In his fifty-two years of missionary service, much of the time he was the only foreigner. From the first, only ten other missionaries were asso- ciated with him. He translated the New Testament, be- sides several books of the Old Testament. He read and wrote with ease the most difficult of Chinese ideographs. His labours were prodigious; he loved the people, and upon the Church and its clergy he has left an ineradicable impress of his towering personality.* * Interesting articles about Archbishop Nicolai were published by C. F. Sweet, in the January issue of the International Re- view of Missions for 1913, and by David S. Spencer in the Japan Evangelist, March, 1912. PART THREE THE KINGDOM I THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM The Bible has been the basis and mainspring of the Anglo- Saxon development for the last three centuries, having moulded its morals, lifted its legislation and its jurisprudence, and inspired its literature.— Whitelaw Reid. Now understand me well: It is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary. — Walt Whitman. The most atrocious of all monopolies is found in the conduct of the man, the church, or the nation which, through opposition or indifference to missions, monopolizes the knowledge of Christ. — Robert E. Speer, quoted in " A Man's Religion," p. 212. OLD JAPAN, 1868. The evil sect called Christian is strictly prohibited. Suspicious persons should be reported to the proper officers and rewards will be given. — Edict of Shoganate. NEW JAPAN, 1889. Japanese subjects shall, within limits not prejudicial to peace and order and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief. — Imperial Constitution. It also should be recorded, perhaps, that the Emperor of Japan received the President of the United Society of Christian Endeavour in a private audience, an honour which is very rarely accorded and which was by no means a personal honour, but indicated the good-will of the Emperor toward America and toward the Christian institutions represented by the visitor. — "The Story of the Year," p. 35. The Western form of Christianity was no perplexity to me. I did not expect to have a Japanese form. Our ships, trains, schools, offices, system of government, system of medicine all have Western forms. We are used to accepting ideas and methods and generally take forms. Our students of science and philosophy have not been especially perplexed by the Western form of these sciences. — A Waseda University Student, quoted in Japan Evangelist, April, 1912, p. 172. THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM SCARCELY had Japan's treaty ports been opened in the summer of 1859, and scarcely had the ink on her newly formed treaties dried, till a number of Protestant missionaries, under regular appointment, en- tered Japan. J. Liggins was the first. He was followed by C. M. Williams. Both were representatives of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. Dr. Hepburn and wife, of the Presbyterian Church, arrived at Kanagawa in October. He was followed by three missionaries, with their wives, of the Reformed Church, namely, S. R. Brown, Dr. D. B. Simmons, and G. V. Verbeck. Other missionaries followed, and thus the work of faith began by a few American missionaries has grown to mighty proportions. After five years of labour, on the 4th of November, 1864, the first convert was bap- tized.* James Ballagh had a Buddhist teacher by the name of Yano Ryuzan. Together they had translated the Gospel of John, which Mr. Ballagh purposely under- took that the work might lead to his teacher's conver- sion. Great was his joy when at last he baptized him in the presence of Dr. Hepburn and Ryuzan's family.f Up to the close of 1871 there had been five baptisms in west Japan and six in central Japan, not quite one * See Appendix B for record of the first baptisms. t The author has been greatly assisted in preparing this chapter by a "History of Protestant Missions in Japan," by H. Ritter; the second volume of a " History of Christianity in Japan," by Otis Carey ; the proceedings of the Osaka Conference in 1883, wherein is Dr. Verbeck's " History of Protestant Missions in Japan." Details about the first converts were furnished by James Ballagh. 163 164. THE KINGDOM a year since the missionaries had first come. A big event was now at hand — the organization of the first Protestant Church in Yokohama on March lo, 1872. The year opened with a week of prayer. Japanese students, mis- sionaries, and residents in Yokohama attended the meet- ings. The Acts of the Apostles was studied and ex- pounded. The meetings so grew in interest that they continued two months. Young Japanese who had come to the missionaries to learn the secrets of Christianity that they might oppose it, now prayed so earnestly that it was the common remark, " The prayers of these Japa- nese take the heart out of us." Some of them were pupils of James Ballagh. He had the pleasure of bap- tizing nine who, together with two other converts, were organized into the first church. The name of the church was chosen by the Japanese. One missionary proposed the name " Choro Kwai " (Elder Church), but Mr. Ozawa, one of the converts, objected, as it was not found in the Bible. So they settled on the " Church of Christ in Japan." A young man who later became Bishop Honda, and another, Mr. Kumano, who is the present secretary of the Meiji Gakuin (Schools), were among the charter members. Later on a little stone building was erected for the church. The structure is still standing, not far from the American Consulate. The first religious tract, as well as the first book of importance (a Japanese-English Dictionary) was issued by Dr. Hepburn in 1867. The first book of the New Testament issued in Japan was the Gospel of Matthew, translated by J. Goble of the Baptist Mission, in 1871. The year 1873 was a momentous year for missions. February 24, the decree was issued which resulted in the removal of the signboards against Christianity, which for two and a half centuries had stood at every important cross-road. A notable event of this year was the presentation by Dr. Hepburn of a copy of the English Bible to the Emperor, also a copy of his Japanese- THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM 165 English Dictionary. The formalities were arranged by United States Minister De Long.* The same year, the second Protestant church in Japan was organized in the capital. It was a Presbyterian church of eight members, who chose David Thompson as its pastor. Again this same year the old-style calendar was substituted for the Gregorian. Kant said : " The existence of the Bible as a book for the people is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced." In 1872, the mis- sionaries appointed a committee to translate the Scrip- tures. The New Testament was completed in 1880, and the Old Testament in i888.t From 1859, counting wives, but fifty-one missionaries had arrived in Japan. In 1873, forty-five missionaries reached Japan, for a great door of opportunity had opened by the removal of the anti-Christian edicts. Thus, after fifteen years of bold endeavour and praying, with tears, the missionaries had moved forward as God had opened the way. The Christian wedge had been driven so firmly and deeply into the log of idolatry that a big split began which has lengthened and widened with the years. Two men belonging to this period must be mentioned because of the far-reaching contributions which their labours made to the establishment of Christianity in Japan. They are Capt. L. L. Janes and Joseph Hardy * In the year 1898, the Emperor was presented with the com- plete Bible in his own tongue, through the intermediary of Count Okuma, the Premier. t At a large audience, when announcement of the completion of the Bible translation was made, Dr. Hepburn said : " What more precious gift, more precious than mountains of gold or silver, could the Christian peoples of the West give to this nation? May this Sacred Book become to Japan what it has come to be for the peoples of the West — a source of life, a messenger of joy and peace, the foundation of a true civilization, and of social and political prosperity and greatness." — ^John H. De Forest, " Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom," p. 108. 166 THE KINGDOM Neesima. Singularly enough, the streams of influence emanating from their lives were to meet in Kyoto in the school which has since grown to the proportions of a university. In 1872, a school was opened in Kumamoto by the prince of that province, in which Captain Janes, a graduate of West Point, was employed as a teacher. With a strategy worthy of a general, he said nothing about Christianity until two or three years had passed. Then, armoured with the language and ties of friend- ship, he invited some of his pupils to a study of the [Bible. With a masterful passion he urged them to accept Christ. Boys who hated the Bible entered the class, saying, " Knowledge of the enemy is the first step towards victory over them." One Sunday, on a hill near Kumamoto, forty of them met and made a covenant and signed their names on an " oath paper " to preach the Gospel even if they lost their lives. Thirty endured the persecutions which followed this noted meeting. Most of the thirty entered the newly founded Doshisha at Kyoto to prepare for Christian work. They grad- uated from the first class, becoming " evangelists, pastors, teachers, and editors." Thus the infant church was strengthened by a providentially prepared band of intel- ligent and earnest workers. Joseph Hardy Neesima was the gift of God to Japan. We should pray for more such gifts. He was born in Tokyo. A spell of measles threw him out of the naval school he was attending, and one day at a friend's home he found a Chinese translation of " Bible History by an American Missionary." The spell of measles and the Bible history fixed his career. He ran away to Hakodate and was secreted in a ship bound for Shanghai. The death penalty was always visited upon any Japanese leaving the land in those days. But at the risk of his life he was determined to learn more of the God who had made heaven and earth. At Shanghai he was taken aboard a ship bound for Boston. The ship's owner THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM 167 was Alpheus Hardy, Chairman of the Prudential Com- mittee of the American Board. Neesima wrote thus of his voyage to America : " Every night, after I went to bed, I prayed to God : Please ! don't cast away me into miserable condition. Please ! let me reach my great aim." * He reached his great aim. He graduated at Andover. His tears and his persistence won five thou- sand dollars, which led to the founding of the Congre- gational school at Kyoto. Before his appeal at Rutland, the Committee were lukewarm on the subject of a school for Japan. His return to Japan was like Paul's de- parture from Damascus. Henceforth he was to know nothing among his own people save Christ and Him crucified. In his own personality he embodied the energy of a score. Handsome offers of a governmental position did not move him because God had chosen him to move the nation. None but the pioneers know of the perils and hard- ships of the early days. Here is a part of a tender missive received by some missionaries in Kyoto : " To the four American Barbarians, Davis, Gordon, Learned & Greene; we speak to you who have come with words that are sweet in the mouth but a sword in the heart, bad priests, American barbarians, four robbers. . . . Japan being truly flourishing, excellent country, in ancient times when Buddhism first came to Japan those who brought it were killed; in the same way you must be killed." Signed " Patriots in the peaceful city ; Believers in Shinto." Idolatry made every effort, by lectures, by pam- phlets, by government pressure, to oppose and obscure the light of the Cross. A society called " Yaso Taiji" was organized to exterminate Christianity. Buddhist and Shinto priests went throughout the land organizing sister societies and speaking against the faith. " One priest travelled about the country urging the people not * Arthur Sherburne Hardy, " Life and Letters of Joseph Hardy Neesima," p. lo. 168 THE KINGDOM to use kerosene oil, since it came from a foreign land." * It has been a big jump from that day to the other day when a Buddhist priest helped D. Norman distribute a lot of Christian tracts to a train-load of Buddhists re- turning from their favourite temple at Nagano. A few summers ago, a Y. M. C. A. Summer Conference was held in a Buddhist Monastery near Komoro. A mis- sionary said the other day that he and his friends were free to distribute tracts at temples, to the crowds who gathered at festal times. Some of the delusions which prejudiced the people then, some of which still remain, can be noted in the answers made to Joseph Cook, a Boston lecturer, who visited Japan in 1882. In re- sponse to the question, " What are the chief objections made by educated natives in Japan to the acceptance of Christianity ? " ten pastors and teachers in Kyoto re- plied : " They think that Christianity will destroy patri- otism, filial piety, loyalty to the Mikado, give rise to reli- gious wars, become secret means of foreign interference. They regard the supernatural elements of Chris- tianity as an outgrowth of superstition and to be antag- onistic to modern sciences. They confound Protestant- ism with Roman and Greek Catholicism." Among the chief hindrances among the lower classes, the following was given : " The fear of offending the Government and their friends, the observance of the Sabbath, ancestorial worship, simplicity of Christian worship, dislike of change, strictness of Christian morals, sacrifices and ob- stacles inherent to Christian profession, f God's providences are seldom seen so clearly, and the timing of His providences to the needs of His king- dom have never been more in evidence than in the last fifty years of Japanese social and political history. For example, in April, 1876, Sunday was observed by gov- ernmental decree as a rest day, for the first time. The *Otis Carey, "Japan and Its Regeneration," p. 91. t Otis Carey, " History of Christianity in Japan," Vol. II, p. 162. THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM 169 Government's foreign employees, as well as the staffs at legations and consulates, refused to give up their seventh day of rest. Hence the Government, out of necessity, rather than as an act of courtesy to Christian- ity, enacted the edict. In the early days the burying grounds were in the control of Shinto and Buddhist priests. As they were then appointed by the Government and stood in the rank of officials, they did not fail to make trouble when Christians came to bury their dead. In 1875, Messrs. Ogawa and Okuno, two Christian teachers of missionaries, were arrested because they had assisted in the interment of a Christian at Ueno cemetery in Tokyo. They were reprimanded at court and fined $1.50 apiece. In 1884, by an edict of the Government, its appointment of priests was abolished. As a conse- quence, troublesome rules about registration and burial likewise lapsed, and the door of religious liberty opened wider. It swung clear open when at last, on February II, 1889, the Constitution was promulgated, and the Emperor gave to his people religious liberty. The clause reads: "Japanese subjects shall within limits not preju- dicial to peace and order and not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious belief." From the coming of the missionaries to the granting of the Constitution was just thirty years. What eventful, inspiring, and marvellous years they were ! The Cross which had been hated and trampled upon was again lifted up, that its healing beams might shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. The first Lord's Day after Perry had cast anchor in Japan his crew sang across the bay : " Before Jehovah's awful Throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy : Know that the Lord is God alone : He can create, and He destroy." 170 THE KINGDOM That song has never ceased to echo and reverberate among Japan's hills and mountains because to-day tens of thousands have caught up the refrain : " We are His people, we His care, Our souls, and all our mortal frame ; What lasting honours shall we rear, Almighty Maker^ to Thy name ? " It is as natural for human souls to move into sympathy for the Crucified One as for the magnetic needle to swing northward. Christianity has met the needs of men as no other faith, and before its onward sweep and light-flooding movement, other faiths pale as the candle, as the firefly's glimmer under the rising orb of day. Japan has sought for the world's treasures and found them. She has knocked at the temples of the world's wisdom and the doors have opened to her. She has now set her face toward the light. The Light of the world will dispel all her darkness. All that is worthy in her people, her land, her laws, and her customs, will take on a new glory just as cloud, hill, and valley dress themselves with a changing splendour when the rays of the morning sun stream from over a range to the eastward. Will Christ yet be King? Will these millions bow the knee and " own Him Lord of all ? " As Lord Nelson replied when a sailor asked him about the issue of the battle of the Nile, so the missionary replies: " There is no doubt about it ; the only question is who will live to tell the story." II THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM I believe that fifty years hence our Christianity will control the minds high and low and form a standard of morals through- out the whole country.— I. Miyagawa. I have no doubt but that the Kingdom of God in Japan will move forward with a sweep that will surprise and gladden the whole Christian Church.— Bishop M. C. Harris. During the last forty years Christian young men and women have been fighting on the one hand with the prepossessions and prejudice of the people, and on the other hand with Buddhism and Confucianism with European positivism, pantheism, ma- terialism, agnosticism, and American mammonism. — D. Ebina, the Japan Evangelist, October, 1907, p. 352. It is Christianity that has begotten the conviction that the individual has a worth equalled by nothing in Heaven or on earth except God, and that if a man loses that worth, then it profits him nothing even though he gained the whole world. — ■ D. Ebina, Christian Movement, 1910, p. 320. .^ When I heard that the Christianity teaches the chastity of men and women, I was satisfied and desired to become a Chris- tian. If it has done nothing more for Japan than this it has made a great contribution to the social reform of the nation. — A Japanese Christian's Testimony, Christian Movement, 1910, p. 299. Thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Thou art a conquering God. We claim for that work upon earth and for the accomplishment of Thy will the same irresistible power that brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the Sheep, Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. — Mrs. Thomas S. Gladding. God is working His purpose out, as year succeeds to year; God is working His purpose out and the time is drawing near — ' Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be, When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea. From utmost East to utmost West, where'er man's foot hath trod. By the mouth of many messengers goes forth the word of God; " Give ear to Me, ye continents, ye isles give ear to Me," That the earth may be filled with the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea. — ^Written for the Lambeth Conference. II THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM THERE is no arithmetic or measuring rod for cal- culating the growth of the Kingdom. The darkest hour of the church may break into the glory of a noonday splendour. The Cross was followed by Pentecost. Stephen's martyrdom was the beginning of the churches all over Palestine. Nero's cruelties gave way to Constantine's partialities. The selfish church which for centuries forgot the pagan world, God has stirred into action by spirit-filled men, from Carey to Mott. Japan, once arrayed against the Cross, has given way to the will of God who decreed that " Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah." When Perry came knocking at the gates of Japan, the Lord of Mito sent a protest of ten items to all the Daimios of the land.* The second article contained these prophetic words : " Notwithstanding the strict interdic- tion of Christianity, there are those guilty of the heinous crime of professing the doctrines of this evil sect. If now America be once admitted into our favour, the rise of the faith is a matter of certainty." If the author of those words were living now, he would think that faith has certainly risen. More than a thousand Japanese are preaching it and many thousands as patriotic as the Lord of Mito " are guilty of the heinous crime of pro- fessing the doctrine." The growth of the Christian Church in Japan, with all its schools, churches, converts, and benevolent institu- tions, is the more wonderful when we consider that it has all come about in the lifetime of a number of mis- *"Life of Japan," p. loi. 173 174. THE KINGDOM sionaries who are still among us. James H. Ballagh, who baptized the first convert and organized the first church, has passed through fifty years of service. David Thompson, who baptized some of the first converts and was the first pastor of the second Protestant church organized in Japan, has celebrated his fiftieth anniver- sary. More interesting than a talk with a war veteran or a traveller from some distant or unexplored land is an hour spent with these men or with a Greene, a Miller, a Correll, a Miss Crosby, a Miss Kidder, or some wife who yet lingers near the grave of her fallen brave who was sure of our day of victory even when assassins flour- ished their knives and missionaries moved about under armed escorts. An encouraging sign which has contributed to the growth of the faith is the change of sentiment toward Christianity. The condemnation of it, which was once so universal, remains mainly among those who have not had opportunity to know its meanings or its fruits. Baron Kato, an enemy of Christianity, said : " Last year, after the burning of the Yoshiwara quarters in Tokyo, the Christians stirred up wide public discussion of the abolition of licensed prostitution. I detest Christianity but I heartily approve the agitation of this abolition question. Last year, when Christian believers and Christian magazines were vehemently agitating the ques- tion, why was it that the educators who were connected with the girls' school, and who were continually talking about chastity, showed the utmost indifference ? " * The Christian cause has won favour because of the high moral standing given the Christian and his faith, A prominent writer said in a newspaper that nine-tenths of the Buddhist priests were immoral. Whether so or not, there is no denying the fact that the Christian minister is esteemed morally far above the ordinary priest. Ac- cording to newspaper report, a thief who had stolen * Quoted from Naigai Kyoiku Hyoron, February 12, 1912, p. 14. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 175 some bonds became penitent after the Emperor's death. To insure the safe return of the bonds, he broke into the kitchen of a Christian preacher's house and left them on the floor. Some poHcemen who were searching the satchel of a man in a hotel, for stolen articles, gave it up when they ran across a New Testament. After the great fire in Osaka, in 1912, the mayor, who was not a Christian, selected Christians, who went out two by two to seek out the needy and to cause funds to be dis- tributed for their relief. The good works, the benevolence, the deeds of kind- ness done in Christ's name throughout the length and breadth of the Empire were something new to Japan. Hospitals, rescue-homes for fallen women, leper asylums, orphanages, homes for ex-prisoners, charity schools and kindergartens, as well as schools for girls, had their beginnings with Christian leaders, who set the pace, furnished the models, and stimulated both the Govern- ment and the ancient religion into action. If the reader will read Appendix " G " of this book, he will learn that the Japanese Government entertains more than a good opinion of many of these Christian institutions. One of the missionaries to whom Japan has acknowl- edged its debt of gratitude is Dr. John C. Berry, who started the first nurses' school at Kyoto.* The spread of the English language and Japan's inti- mate relation with English-speaking people have been helpful factors in Japan's Christianization. Notwith- * It was Dr. Berry's report, after visiting the prisoners of Japan, that led to prison reformation all over the Empire. The Japanese ambassador, Viscount S. Chinda, who recently presented him with an Imperial Decoration, said : " In recognition of your eminent and distinguished services during your sojourn in Japan, looking to the promotion of her material well-being, notably your signal contribution towards the improvement of medical and sanitary organizations, and of the system of prisons in which you have taken keen and kindly interest to the grateful tnemory of the Japanese people." 176 THE KINGDOM standing the agnostic element in English literature, all who read it are bound to be impressed with the influence of Jesus and its vocabulary of things distinctly Chris- tian. About one-third of all Japanese pastors can read English books. There are about twenty-five Christian teachers employed in the governmental schools who teach through the English language, and an addition of twenty-three teachers procured under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., who teach English, solely, and out of school hours are free to teach and spread Christianity at pleasure. Among the converts are quite a few of the educated and respectable part of the community. There are many officials and students. Most of them are now young, but the day will come when, as heads of families, or holding positions of influence and responsibility, they will be able to do manifold more than now. A computation based on the aggregate membership of a certain church in Tokyo shows that there are 224 officials, 153 teachers, 94 doctors, 442 merchants, and 582 students, totaling 1,495 against a balance of 1,826 of miscellaneous or un- known occupations. As a whole, the agricultural, indus- trial, and fisher classes have scarcely been touched; but even so, the potential force and leavening power of the church in Japan is far greater than it would be if the present members consisted solely of farmers, fishers, and factory or day labourers. The first twenty-five years of mission work in Japan was given to seed-sowing, the winning of converts, and the establishing of schools. The last twenty-five years has had no abatement of Gospel preaching, but the rapid growth in converts has not been so marked as during the first twenty-five years. But there has been a very solid growth, characterized by better organization, better methods, better helps, and an encouraging spirit of Chris- tian unity. There has been a marked growth in the spirit of independence and benevolence which has resulted in THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 177 many healthy churches which are self-governing and wholly self-supporting. The activity of these Japanese churches and their leaders is a cause for thanksgiving. In the chapter, " Christian Forces at Work," is given a brief mention of many organizations organized within the last ten years, in which Japanese Christians take the lead. The tem- perance society is a notable example; the Japan Sunday School Association is another illustration of the earnest- ness and wisdom of Japanese who are eager to toil for every cause that will please their Lord and establish His kingdom. In considerating statistics, it should not be forgotten that in mission lands there are large numbers who, like Nicodemus, are friendly to Jesus but non-committal. Among their number are thousands who have attended Sunday Schools and educational institutions when young. Many others there are who can never forget the kindness shown them when they were inmates of a Christian orphanage, hospital, or a charity school. There are others who, in their travels abroad, have come into touch with Christian homes, and still others who in one way or another have come into close contact with the missionaries. I was riding on the train the other day with a young man whom I had taught in an English Bible class at the Oriental College. As it had been some years since I had seen him, I asked him if he had become a Christian. He said, " No, but I have a Christian wife, and though I am not a Christian myself, I want you to know that no one can come into close touch with a missionary, as I have, and not be a different person afterwards." Ernest W. Clement said : " The teaching of Christian- ity has already caused considerable improvement in the way of elevating marriage from its low standard to a holy rite." * The Japanese themselves, in giving a result ♦ " Handbook of Modern Japan," p. 6i. 178 THE KINGDOM of Christian work in Japan, mention the emancipation of women as one of the most striking changes. A Chris- tian wife usually walks beside her Christian husband, and in the Christian home the wife has freedom of action and affectionate consideration from her husband and her children. A day of rest on Sunday is gradually gaining a hold in Japan. In this regard the church has had to array herself against ancient custom, which is still strongly supported from selfish and economic considerations. It is no small item in counting the growth of the kingdom that there are over one thousand places in the strategic centres of Japan where every Lord's Day little bands gather for prayer^ preaching, and singing the songs of Zion, whose sweet and assuring refrains go on rever- berating into an ever widening circle of hearts. It will be an immense advantage for the church when a seventh day of rest is quite universally observed in Japan. The tourist who passes through the land will not be impressed with the number of church buildings nor their size, having come from a land of cathedrals and newly built churches of which many single edifices cost more than the total valuation of the churches and preaching halls of this land. And yet, any one who takes the pains to locate the buildings dedicated to Christ in all larger cities, will be surprised at their number, and if he is interested in the Cross, he will be greatly encouraged. The growth in the number of church buildings and the increased outlay for them contributed from Japanese sources is a healthful sign. The first Christian newspaper, started by O. H. Gu- lick, ®f the American Board, was issued December 29, 1875. The next paper, The Glad Tidings, was started by Miss McNeal, of the Woman's Union Mission Board. Mrs. E. R. Miller, the next editor, improved it with a supplement called " Little Tidings." Both are still cir- culated, the issues running to 180,000 copies each year. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 179 From these beginnings, Christian printing plants and Christian bookstores have been established. Christian editors are employed on a number of daily papers. Ex- cluding Sunday School periodicals, seventy-four dis- tinctly Christian periodicals are published in Japanese and eleven in English. Outside of the books issued from Christian sources, the reading public has an interest in the Cross which shrewd publishers do not disregard. At least thirty books on Christian fiction have been recently published. Some of these books have been quite popular and have been reproduced on the stage. " Nomiko " is one that has been translated into English. Within a Buddhist cemetery in Yokohama, on a mossy brown stone, are written the words, " If I love Him, when I die He will take me home on high." They were the last words of a Mrs. Shimoka, a saint who passed away many years ago, singing the words of the second Christian song that had been translated. In- cluding the sales of millions of Bibles and several hun- dred thousand hymn books. Christian literature has made a great advance over the day when Dr. Martin's " Chris- tian Evidences " and the New Testament in Chinese or Dutch about exhausted the list that a Japanese could read. The indications are that the next ten years will see a growth of Christianity in Japan hitherto unequalled, possibly unequalled anywhere in the world. And what if the very opposite should be the result — shall we de- spair? No, not in the least. Sooner or later, the Cross will win its way and " Every tongue shall confess." The inextinguishable, victorious elements of the Cross have been indelibly impressed upon my mind because I lived for seven years at 'j2 Myogadami Machi, Tokyo. Tradi- tion says that the lot was the site of a prison where 180 THE KINGDOM Catholic martyrs were confined before their execution on the opposite hill, which is called to this day, " Chris- tian Zaka," or " Christian Hill." Near the foot of the hill, facing it, is a rough gravestone which marks the grave of the servant of a foreign priest. This priest was imprisoned for many years, and although he died a natural death in his prison near the gravestone, thousands of Japanese and thousands of his companions gained a martyr's crown. Just opposite the grave there now stands a Student Hostel erected by the Y. M. C. A., and not far away are churches and Sunday Schools whose presence demonstrate the persistence of our faith and are prophetic of the day when the kingdom shall have grown to earth wide pre portions. Ill THE WINNING OF SOULS The work of love, like a circle, begins anywhere and ends nowhere. Even so I say unto you that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. — Luke xv, id. Men who work can only work for men, And, not to work in vain, must comprehend Humanity, and so work humanly, And raise men's bodies still by raising souls, As God did first. — E. B. Browning. Where'er a single slave does pine, Where'er one man can help another. Thank God for such a birthright, brother. That spot of earth is thine and mine; There is the true man's birthplace grand, His is a worldwide fatherland! There are loyal hearts and spirits brave, There are souls that are pure and true, Then give to the world the best you have And the best shall come back to you. Give love, and love to your heart will flow — A strength in your utmost need ; Have faith, and a score of hearts will show Their faith in your word and deed. — M. S. Bridges. Whatever be its creed — whatever be its sect — from whatever segment of the globe its visions arise. Virtue is God's empire, and from this throne of thrones He will defend it. Though cast into the distant earth, and struggling on the dim arena of the human heart, all things above are spectators of its conflict or enlisted in its cause. The angels have their charge over it — the banners of archangels are on its side, and from sphere to sphere, through the illimitable ether and round the impenetrable darkness at the feet of God, its triumph is hymned by harps which are strung to the glories of the Creator! — Bulwer. Ill THE WINNING OF SOULS IT is not easy for one at home to get a conception of the situation that confronts the missionary in his efforts to win souls for the Kingdom of God. Some Americans take it for granted that Japan is already fairly Christianized, while others believe that the masses are treading upon one another to hear the Gospel. Neither case is true. The multitudes in Japan are intel- ligent and zealous adherents to idolatry. If we would seek for the haunts of large crowds, we must go to temple compounds or their approaches. At home, eighty per cent of the converts are from those who have been taught in Sunday Schools. Conversion, especially during revivals, is largely a matter of quickening and persuasion. In Japan but occasionally do we meet one who has had a Christian father or mother. Like a pioneer ranger, the missionary must go to vir- gin forests, fell the logs, split them, and prepare by hand the shingles, the flooring, the siding that shall enter God's growing and holy temple. The converts who join the churches do not enter them until they have been thoroughly taught and questioned as to their faith. The process may take days, weeks, or months, according to the previous knowledge of the inquirer. A young student who had been studying the New Testament and cate- chism for three months asked for baptism. He happened to ask the missionary, " Do you mean to tell me that all this that you have been teaching me is true ? " Six months later he came to believe and was baptized. A few missionaries approve of an immediate decision on first hearing the Gospel ; such, however, is the exception. 183 184 THE KINGDOM During a protracted effort, it is usual to ask those who have any interest in Christianity, who want to investi- gate, or become Christians, to raise their hands or sign cards with their names and addresses. These inquirers are then given Hterature, are called upon, and gathered into classes for regular instruction. In Japan, by far the larger number in the churches are being won by the personal contact of Japanese evan- gelists, Bible women, missionaries, or by the work of individuals, as Andrew won Peter. Some concrete in- stances will illustrate the process better than abstracts or general references. One winter, during the holidays, a missionary family had gone to Atami for rest. This beautiful place is well protected by mountains and balmy breezes from the black current of the Pacific make it agreeably warm the year round. One day while they were walking along the road which skirts the sea, they met a young man to whom they were immediately drawn. They exchanged cards and invited him to their home and church in Tokyo. A couple of months later he became a Christian. Two years afterwards he was asked to go into details and tell just how it was that his interest in Christ and the Church was aroused. He said that three years before he had read the life of General Gordon and was much impressed with his saintly life. It was some time later that he met the missionaries at the beach, and was much pleased with the kindly treatment given him. He coupled what he had read of Christ's life^ reproduced in the life of General Gordon, with what he had seen of Christ's influence in the life of a missionary, and he concluded that Jesus, to have exerted such a power, must have been more than a man, and at least the Gospels were worthy of investigation. Then he read, " believed, and obeyed." The young man in question is a graduate of the Imperial University, and for years was superin- tendent of a Bible School. It would be hard to find THE WINNING OF SOULS 185 in any land a sweeter spirit, a more conscientious heart, and a more sacrificing life. One day, at my English Bible class, at a college near my home, I had taken for my study the model prayer which Jesus taught His disciples.* About twenty students were present; a couple were Christians and the remainder were Buddhists of no faith in particular. I urged upon them the need of prayer, claiming that it was the natural function of every heart and that they ought to pray the best prayer they knew to the Father of Spirits who watches over us all. Apparently I had made no impression, and I returned that rainy night somewhat depressed. That same evening five of the young men came to my home and expressed a wish that they might know more of Jesus, and an hour was set for them to come weekly for study and instruction. The result was that in less than two months the five were received into the Church. One summer's day, about six miles from home, I was caught in the mountains by a violent thunder-storm. I was thoroughly drenched to the skin. The mountain torrents arose rapidly, and fearing, too, that dusk would fall before I could return to my home, I concluded to stop at the first house which would give me shelter. After a tramp of a mile or more, I found a straw-roofed cottage which was occupied by a farmer and his wife, who seemed to be leading an easy life away in the heart of the mountains. It took considerable persuasion to get * The manuscript for this chapter was completed eighteen months before it was put into typewritten form, for the reason that the author, by many visits to missionary friends, made every effort to secure suitable illustrations, that he might exclude his own experiences. These conversations with missionary friends have convinced him that the actual tale of missions and the most wonderful instances of Christ's power and love work- ing through His truth, can never be told in a book, for the reason that few missionaries are willing to tell, or have pub- lished, what God has wrought through them. 186 THE KINGDOM them to admit me as a guest, chiefly because they feared I would not be made comfortable in their humble quar- ters. At last I prevailed upon them, and right royally did they care for me. The storm continued for two days and I remained a grateful prisoner. Near their home was a small stream which had swollen into a raging flood. It tore down the gorge at no gentle rate. Now and then a massive boulder would plunge down to lower levels, and bounding down with companion boulders, the canyon echoed and re-echoed like some fabulous game of tenpins played by sprites of the storm. The first night in the home I learned much of its family history. The wife was born from a family which had seen prosperous days during the time of the sho- gunate, and she was fairly educated. Years before, a New Testament had fallen into her possession, and this she had read until she had become quite familiar with the Gospel story. At times she used the Lord's Prayer when her soul sought rest upon the bosom of the Father the New Testament portrayed. It was easy to urge upon her the call of the Master. On the third day the storm had ceased, the sun shone brightly, and the mountain stream had become sane again. Upon the woman's con- fession of faith, I had my reward for the storm's delay by baptizing her " into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." If Japan were an ill-governed country, if property and life were insecure, if there were no written tongue, if pest ran riot and unsanitary conditions prevailed, if ignorance and violence reigned, the missionary would be welcomed as the superior man. Apart from his mes- sage through orphanage, hospital, or printing press, he would make many debtors who would abandon prejudice and turn a willing ear to his preaching. However, none of the above-named social or governmental conditions obtain in Japan. The missionary brings nothing but himself and his home. He brings nothing but his per- THE WINNING OF SOULS 187 sonality, his moral life, and the story about Jesus. I am glad that it is so. The progress may be slower but it will be more substantial. The usual adjuncts of mis- sionary work are less in Japan than in other fields, but for this very reason the missionary can intensify, can bring the Gospel in its fulness and in its rawness to bear upon the human heart. I was told that there is a Baptist minister preaching to-day who was won to faith by the joint influence of a Japanese minister's sermon on " God is Love " and a sermon by John H. DeForest on " Sacrifice," in which he mentioned Horace T. Pitkin's death at Paotingfu, who with nine other missionaries and four little children were slain by the Boxers.* Not every effort is attended by success. A young law student had been coming to my home off and on for a year. We spent many hours together over the Bible. I called in Japanese friends who are expert in soul- winning; still he remained an unbeliever. Another young man I have known for years and love and trust him like a brother. We correspond and treat each other as if of one blood or kin. More than one has hoped and prayed and waited for his conversion. Though friendly to the Church, as yet, he is a stranger to its blessings. I know of a lady who lives in an elegant home. She has every material comfort, yet she is far from happy. She had attended special meetings for women, had studied her Testament, and thus came to believe on Jesus and asked for baptism. But her husband, a radical op- ponent of Christianity, said he would divorce her, take * When Pitkin's body was found, " the hands were found not bound but uplifted as in prayer. And one of his last messages was the word home to America about his little boy praying that when he was grown he could come back to China and take his father's place."— Robert E. Speer, " Young Men Who Over- came," p. 56. 188 THE KINGDOM her children, drive her from home, if she obeyed Christ. The poor woman decided to stay with her children and give up the Church, but she said to a friend, in speaking of her husband, " I praise God that he cannot take my faith from me." One young man who spent an evening in my home never called again. Our conversation drifted to the sub- ject of sin. I said that the Bible teaches that all men are sinners. He became indignant at once and informed me that he was not a sinner. Try as I would, I could neither explain nor allay his resentment, and he went away with the boast that he was not as other men were. The Japanese idea of God is different from our belief in the Father who made the world, yet it is higher and greater than the universe which He created and main- tains. Pantheism is the best term to describe their con- ception of deity. Their gods and goddesses have the same freaks and passions as are found in Roman mythol- ogy. It was only by a long process that the descendants of Abraham came to grasp the true conception of God. It will be the work and education of many years before the Japanese nation comes to a general belief in one holy and all-compassionate God who hates sin, yet loved the sinner unto the tragedy of the crucifixion. One night I was teaching a small class of inquirers the ninth chapter of John. They smiled when I told them it was true. Whereupon I pointed them to John viii, 46, and Mark xiv, 9, and asserted that the sinlessness of Jesus and the Gospel's proclamation according to the prophecy of Jesus, were things that they could see and that they could not question. They seemed deeply im- pressed and had nothing further to say. A student of a Buddhist college, who was first to break the silence, which he did by asking me to locate Paradise. I told him I could not do it to his satisfaction, but if he would locate his own soul, or our own solar system, I would make the effort. He laughed, and then asked, if in THE WINNING OF SOULS 189 turning the other cheek a Christian would not be doubling the sin of the sinner. I told him even a dog would have mercy upon his meek opponent, and that Christ expected more of the ordinary knocker than from the dog. I had a unique argument with a student who seemed hungry for spiritual food yet was entangled in a maze of mental absurdities. Hoping to find some ground in common upon which we could take our stand, I suggested that we could not doubt our own personalities. He suavely said he doubted that he or I had any existence. I warmed up a little and brought forward my reserves. *' Well, grant that you and I are non-existing, you cer- tainly believe in mathematical fact. For example, two and two are four." He said that two and two could just as well be five as four, they did not necessarily equal four. In my own weak heart I had to struggle against the desire to call him a fool. Through grace I called him a prince, and said if he would study Christ's life, and give His commandments a fair test by keeping them, he would come to know the doctrine. IV ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FIDELITY They conquer who believe they can. — Virgil. God is no respecter of persons : but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him. — Acts x, 34, 35. I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.— Eccle- SIASTES ix, II. Religion is the one means whereby a man can be changed from bad to good. Charity can change him from poor to rich; philanthropy can change him from hungry to filled; county councils and local rates can change him from homeless to housed ; but nothing except religion can change him from bad to good. Let society try to see if they can do it. — Harold Begbie, "The Ordinary Man and the Extraordinary Thing," p. no. One ship drives East, another drives West While the selfsame breezes blow ; 'Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales. That bids them where to go. Like the winds of the air are the wars of the fates. As we journey along through Life ; 'Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal. And not the storm or the strife. — Peloubet's " Select Notes," 1912. In almost any subject your passion for the subject will save you. H you only care enough for the result, you will almost certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich; if you wish to be learned, you will be learned ; if you wish to be good, you will be good, only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them with exclusiveness and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly. — William James, "Talks on Psychology and Life's Ideals," p. 137- IV ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FIDELITY " 1 "XO they stick?" is a question often asked con- I 1 cerning the converts on the field. Of course J--^ they stick. Such a question is really an im- peachment of the Gospel and the human heart, where the good seed is sown. The general testimony is that the converts are as faithful as they are in the home land and more so when the adverse circumstances are fully taken into consideration. There are many lapses among converts who are hastily received into the Church. Lapses are few where time is taken to teach the in- quirers, where the sincerity and reality of the faith is put to test. One missionary reported that in the last few years he has had a hundred and five souls as the reward of his labours. Not one has fallen away. One of the number fell into sin, but repented and was restored. In the United States, about one in three is a pro- fessed believer in Christ. In Japan there is one Prot- estant believer (full church member) to seven hundred and twenty-three of the population. The great majority, therefore, is non-Christian, and a very considerable num- ber pronounced anti-Christian. It is not an easy thing to stand alone. It is not an easy thing to move against a crowd. Buddhism is not dead. Millions in Japan to-day look to it as the only true religion. Alienation, persecution, or disinheritance is almost sure to be the lot of one who enters the Church from a devout Bud- dhist family. I know a seamstress who, in passing a church was attracted by the singing. She became interested from that time on and finally became a Christian. Her mother 193 194 THE KINGDOM scolded her, shut her in her room, withheld her food, and finally became sick herself from worry and vexation when her daughter jumped out of the window and at- tended the church. In another family, the husband was a Christian and the wife an intense Buddhist. On the death of their child they had both a Christian and a Buddhistic funeral. The mother's heart was so touched by the Christian songs and assurances of immortality that she was won over to her husband's faith. Churches and preaching places are not as numerous in Japan as in Christian lands. There is not the freedom for individual action that there is where Christ reigns. If a Christian wife is forbidden by her unbelieving husband to attend church, she must obey her husband. Though the hus- band be willing, if the mother-in-law forbids, she gen- erally obeys her mother-in-law. The parents' rule over the child is supreme, even though the latter may have a family of his own. It takes great faith and an heroic heart to break from the family custom and remain an alien to its counsel, its protection, and its affections. Some years ago a young Buddhist priest was baptized. When he made it known, it made a furor among his rela- tives. He had been chosen to succeed his priest uncle in the superintendence of several temples, and to inherit a considerable sum of money. A family council was called. Father, uncle, and elder brother all urged him to give up Christ and the Church, but he could not be moved. He wrote to a friend : " I am now at my parents'. They are persuading me to become a Buddhist priest again but I can resist it very easily. ... I am full of strength and able to suffer any persecution for our Lord's sake." This young man was disinherited and driven from home with nothing but one suit of clothes on his back. But God has prospered and blessed him in manifold measure above all that he lost for his faith. There could not be this fidelity and loyalty to Christ MISS UNA TSUDA IN HER OFFICE AT THE WOMEN S ENGLISH INSTITUTE, TOKYO CHRISTIAN FIDELITY 195 without an intelligent and all-embracing surrender to Him. One official, who is a Christian, said : '' Our people need to see the real Christian life, so I endeavour that all may know as I go in and out of my office that I am a Christian." An earnest young man of the country sold his skirt (which students usually wear) that he might buy a good-sized Bible. Another young man left a good position in the Arsenal that he might be of use for his Lord. He now pulls a cart throughout the country, sells Bibles, and makes Christ known for the first time to thousands of farmers and country mer- chants. One Japanese girl at death fell asleep praying; another while urging her relatives to turn to the Lord. Another girl was asked whether she was afraid to go. She replied : " No, but I want you all to come soon, for it will be lonely without you." She then sang away the time until the angels bore her spirit home. A young Japanese preacher gave a sermon on Christ. There was much about self, but little about the Lord. An elderly woman in the audience, who had been a Christian for years, said to him after the sermon, " If one would lift up Christ, he must put himself to the rear and Christ to the front." Mrs. Laura D. Garst tells of a faithful Christian woman of some sixty years. When a little girl, her elder sister became ill. She promised her idols half her life period if they would restore the health of her sister. She sold some of her clothes, and bought presents with the proceeds for a priest who had promised that her sister would live. When the sister died, she protested against her burial, thinking she must be alive. After she was convinced of her sister's death, for three days she neither ate nor slept. She abandoned her idols and for years searched for a god who could answer prayer. When she became a Christian, her relatives persecuted her and children on the streets vilified and stoned her. Nothing could turn her. Trials have enriched her life, 196 THE KINGDOM her character is above reproach, and her face is adorned with every Christian grace. The following is a quotation from a letter from a bright young man, who most industriously and carefully studied the New Testament before becoming a Chris- tian. He is now a leader in one of the churches in Tokyo. The quotation is a part of a letter written from his home in the interior, shortly after he entered the Church. " All my near relations being enthusiastic Bud- dhists, on hearing I am a Christian, all dislike me, but such a cool treatment is a due cost to pay to go to heaven. In the beginning of this year I lost my lovely mother, and in the end I lost my relations' sympathy. H I were not a Christian my Hfe would be a most miserable one, but now the light in my heart helps me to proceed forward in the wilderness with a hope." There is a woman in Tokyo who has been a great sufferer. For some years she was compelled to move about with her family from city to city, yet she never lost her faith. She keeps her mind on Christ and de- lights in singing her hymns. Without Christ's aid she firmly believes she could not endure the pain of her af- flicted body. One time when the doctors were ready to give her an anaesthetic for an operation, she said : " Wait a moment; while I commit my body to you, I must commit my spirit to my Maker." Years ago a man who was a charcoal dealer became a Christian. He has made considerable money with the manufacture of soap and is now engaged in the banking business. His faith has grown with the years. He is a faithful observer of the Lord's Day and a loyal sup- porter of the Church. When his church needed to erect a permanent structure, he sold some of his property in Osaka and gave it to the church — a sum which about paid for the church lot, which cost five thousand dollars. The first two candidates baptized by A. D. Hail in l88i were active supporters of the Church until the day CHRISTIAN FIDELITY 197 of their death. The first became a preacher. He de- clined any foreign support and maintained himself and family by selling doughnuts and Bibles. His useful life was cut short by an attack of pneumonia, contracted from exposures by carrying supplies to the needy at the time of a great flood. The second man also became a preacher. Both his wife and daughter gave themselves to Christian work. His wife, when a girl, had been sold, against her will, by her elder brother, to a life of shame, but she managed to escape and fled to the shelter of a missionary's home. She was given a Christian edu- cation, and until the day of her death, both in body and in spirit, glorified her Lord. A certain Buddhist priest, who was master of a temple of four hundred supporters, became interested in Christ. He was privately taught by a missionary and finally baptized. It meant a life of poverty in exchange for a life of ease. He supported himself by becoming a po- liceman. His younger brother, angry and disgusted, sought to turn him from Christ. After several letters of remonstrance had come from the indignant brother, he, too, became a Christian, won over by the kindly spirit and teaching of his Christian brother. Further- more, he graduated from an American University, and is to-day a professor in Japan, and by his gifted tongue and pen is a power in propagating the cause he once despised. Another priest was the superintendent of some six temples. During one of the periodical festivals, when the idols were propitiated by the gifts and incense of- fered by crowds of devotees, this priest became disgusted with the immorality of his fellow-priests and the follies of idol-worship. He vowed he would never worship another idol and threw away the family god given him by his father. When a boy in Tokyo, he had heard a sermon preached by Bishop Nicolai, and once in a hotel he had slid aside the paper door and listened to a sermon 198 THE KINGDOM by J. B. Hail. The good seed must have slowly sprouted, for, after two years of gloom, following the festival above-mentioned, he walked a hundred miles to Osaka, in order that he might hear from A. D. Hail the way of salvation. Mr. Hail at first feared that he might simply be looking for employment. So he taught him for a month and let the man walk back home. After a time the man walked back again over the hundred miles of mountain road to the missionary's home. There was no question about his faith^ so he received baptism. For years this devoted man has been a preacher. He often refers to the two years of wandering before his baptism, saying, " No one can understand the lonesome heart I had." J. L, Bearing tells of an earnest man who attended the Baptist Seminary to prepare for the ministry, v/ho always carried a small Bible in the sleeve of his kimono. He completed reading the Old and New Testaments in six months. Ofttimes, after others had retired for the night, he would go to the summer house in the school grounds where he would pray long and earnestly in audible prayer. After he had taken the full course, he returned to his own district, where he had formerly been a policeman. By his zeal., his piety, and kindness he turned many to the Cross. Throughout the region he was known by the name of Sekiyu (which, interpreted, means kerosene), a complimentary term given him be- cause he was a great light-bearer, and because kerosene oil was the best light that remote region could afford. His ministry was cut short by a fatal illness, and just as he breathed his last he lifted his eyes and said : " Heaven, Cross, Saviour ! " Another man, who for some years has preached the word, was in his youth a priest in a Buddhist temple. His mother thought it would give peace to the spirit of his dead father if he became a priest. Some years after, he found a copy of Matthew among his father's CHRISTIAN FIDELITY 199 books. A friend who was a Christian, in speaking about the book, said that it told of Jesus who was the only per- fect man and the only Saviour of the world. This angered the young zealot of Buddhism. He began a careful study of Matthew, that he might find flaws to refute the assertion of his friend. Jesus, to his surprise, arose in his own admiration above that which he had always had for Buddha and Confucius, till at last he exclaimed, " My Lord and my God ! " He and a com- panion were the first to be baptized in a town of five thousand, and some years later he returned to the same city to preach the Gospel. A. D. Hail related the following experience which happened when on a tour with his wife and children to the city of Tanabe. It was a long journey on foot, and about sundown he was met in the road of a wayside town by a man with a little girl and a girl-baby on his back. This man urged him to tarry for the night in his own house, and the missionary gladly accepted the invi- tation. The next day, on reaching Tanabe, a Christian girl informed him that his hostess on the previous night was her sister. She had taught her, and she had already asked for baptism. They sent, therefore, a messenger, saying that on the following day Mr. Hail would return and baptize the woman who had kept them over night. But the plan caused a storm of opposition, led by the woman's mother-in-law, so the baptism was deferred till the next visit of the missionary. In the meantime, the woman declined to offer the rice and pray to the family gods, and this made matters still worse. Her husband proposed that she go through the prescribed motions but pray to her own god instead of to the idols, but she rejected any act of dissimulation. Before the missionary could return, the woman was carried away with an attack of cholera. She died professing faith in Jesus to her relatives and, to their astonishment, sang her favourite Christian hymns till she breathed her last. 200 THE KINGDOM Her husband's family for generations had been pros- perous brewers. Just two years after her death, her husband's brother turned to Christ, and her own hus- band followed with the good confession shortly after. It meant a great financial loss to both brothers. Her own husband became a milk-merchant and the brother became a minister. Her two little girls lived to graduate from Christian schools — one becoming the wife of a Christian teacher and one the wife of a minister. Even the mother-in-law responded at last to the call of the Good Shepherd. At her baptism, with tears streaming down her face, she said, " Oh, that my poor daughter- in-law whom I persecuted so could only have lived to have seen this day ! " V CHRISTIAN FORCES AT WORK A tradesman in the slums of London was once asked if he approved of the Salvation Army, and he promptly replied, " No, I don't, but I know that God Almighty does." — Japan Evangelist, December, 1912, p. 592. In this world the one thing supremely worth having is the opportunity, coupled with the capacity, to do well and worthily a piece of work, the doing of which is of vital consequence to the welfare of mankind. — Theodore Roosevelt. Boys and girls, big and little, dull and bright, dirty and clean, but mostly as full of fun as a box full of kittens, are being weaned away from idols and superstitions to a knowledge of God and His love. — Capt. Luke W. Bickel, " The Log of the Gospel Ship," p. 46. So far as human eyes can see, even the foreign missionaries who share in the evangelization of Japan must continue in full swing for another fifty years, and when even then comes and the whistle blows and the labourers leave the works, I think there will be some choice workmen who will be asked to stay and do " overtime." — J. G. Dunlop, Christian Movement, 1910, P- 351- What, then, is the end of the Sunday School? Character training for service in the extension of the Kingdom. There we have an end worthy of a lifetime effort, worthy of the church at work in the greatest thing which God permits man to do. — ■ Charles D. Trumbull, " The World Call to Men of To-day," p. 231. The opening of English literature to the mind is the opening of a window towards fresh air and sunshine and magnificent new vistas of thought and feeling. The careful study of Eng- lish literature is in itself a liberal education to the mind trained only in Japanese thought. — Miss Alice Mabel Bacon, Japan Evangelist, 1902, p. 4. This truth comes to us more and more the longer we live — that on what field or in what uniform or with what aims we do our duty matters very little, or even what our duty is, great or small, splendid or obscure ; only to find our duty certainly and somewhere or somehow, to do it faithfully makes us good, strong, happy, and useful, and tunes our lives into some feeble echo of the life of God. V CHRISTIAN FORCES AT WORK IT is the genius of Christianity to organize men and inspire them with the spirit of its Founder. Through faith in Him they do the works which He did and even greater works, because He sits at the right hand of Authority and Power. In considering the growth of Christianity in any mission field, it is not enough to count the number of churches and converts, teachers and schools. An estimate should be made of the full fruitage, for like a magic tree bearing fruit in abundance and of diversified kinds, Christianity bears its fruit. And the fruit being good, men are irresistibly drawn to respect the tree, " for the tree is known by its fruit." Buddhism, Brahminism, and Mohammedanism may be likened to the manufactured trees of an artist, in a museum. They do not of themselves bear such fruitage as the Salvation Army, the Red Cross Society, or the Y. M. C. A. True, the hospital and orphanage have of late been adopted by non-Christian faiths, but they fit in little better than a lot of real peaches or pears tied on to a show-tree of coloured fibre, cloth leaves, and flowers of wax. In making a brief survey, therefore, of forces at work for the good and the Christianization of Japan, apart from institutions which are distinctly governmental or national in character, it is very noticeable that move- ments which have for their object the uplift and bless- ing of society, have rested back upon a Christian be- ginning or are maintained by a noticeably large number of Christians. In the temperance work, Ando Taro has been the 203 204. THE KINGDOM President of the Temperance League for many years. During 1886 to 1889, while he was Consul at Honolulu, he became a Christian, and ever since has been an earnest and hopeful advocate of the temperance cause. He gives all his time to the work and, besides supporting himself, gives of his own money to the cause and travels over the whole empire, speaking in schools, churches, and theatres. The National Temperance League, organ- ized in 1898, has a membership of ten thousand and circulates a monthly called the Light of Our Land. Japan's greatest tax upon her national strength is the great throng who fall yearly into a consumptive's grave. " The Anti-Tuberculosis Society of Foreigners in Japan " was launched September 3, 1912. It aims to scatter information which will lead to the prevention and cure of tuberculosis. The society originated at a conference of missionaries in Karuizawa. The White Cross Society, an anti-tuberculosis move- ment, was organized by Japanese Christian physicians in 191 1. They have circulated many tens of thousands of pamphlets and have made thousands of gratuitous visits upon the sick. They have established a hospital among the pine trees in the balmy air which blows in from the sea near Kamakura. The Japan Purity Association was organized July 8, 191 1. The president and vice-presidents are Christians. The society publishes a magazine and has, through its public meetings, conducted a spirited campaign against the Yoshiwara System. The society was greatly helped by a five months' visit from Maurice Gregory of London, of international fame. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded April 15, 1902, and is affiliated with the American Society. It holds monthly meetings. Among other things it endeavours to provide drinking troughs for animals and have fish and fowl killed out of sight of children. CHRISTIAN FORCES AT WORK 205 Japan has its Peace Forum, which was organized in 191 1, upon the visit of John Wesley Hill, President of the International Peace Forum. There were present at its organization Viscount Kaneko, Baron Sakatani, Nemoto Sho, a member of Parliament, Bishop Honda, and Presi- dent libuka. The American Peace Society of Japan is composed of Americans residing in Japan. It was organized Jan- uary 30, 191 1, in Yokohama, in the rooms of the Foreign Board of Trade, the president of which, D. H. Blake, presided at the first meeting. The American Am- bassador, Mr. O'Brien, said at the meeting : " There is no cause under the sun why there should be distrust between the people of these two countries." The Japan Peace Society was organized in Tokyo, May 18, 1906, with Hon. S. Ebara, a Christian, as its first president. With the co-operation of the American Peace Society, it publishes a magazine. Both societies encourage the observation of the third Sunday in De- cember as Peace Sunday. Inazo Nitobe, who visited the United States on a lecturing tour, was sent by the " Japan Branch " or " The Japanese Society " of New York City.* His visit was reciprocated by the lectures of Hamilton Wright Mabie, sent by the Carnegie Endow- ment for International Peace. The beginning of the Salvation Army in Japan was in 1895, when the first officers arrived and opened up work on Ginza Street, Tokyo. The Army has won the confidence and support of many eminent men in Japan. In its beginning, the work was not understood and quite *The exchange of lectures had its beginning in the kindly and persistent effort of Hamilton ?Iolt, editor of the hide- Pendent. While in America, Professor Nitobe, who speaks ex- cellent English, spoke 166 times. While a student in the Imperial University, he made a specialty of English literature, that he might contribute his part in bringing across the Pacific a friendly feeling of interest between Japan and the United States. 206 THE KINGDOM a few of the workers were imprisoned for a short time. Commissioner Hodder and Lieutenant Colonel Yama- muro carry the chief responsibility for the work in 25 cities besides Tokyo. There is a total of 40 Army corps and 167 officers. The good works they carry on is legion. Among them may be mentioned a training school for cadets, 2 rescue homes for girls, i home for ex- prisoners, 4 homes for workmen, i hospital, and 2 sea- men's homes. In their social relief work during one year, they furnished 56,269 beds, 97,688 meals, and col- lected $7,635 through their Self-denial and Thanks- giving funds. The poverty in the large cities and the social problems which grow more momentous yearly, give the Salvation Army a field in which, as experts, they can wisely and beneficently carry bodily comfort and hope to great numbers who cannot be reached in any other way. What Christian advocates are doing by tongue and pen, Lever Brothers, of Port Sunlight, England, makers of Sunlight Soap, propose to do in a practical way near Osaka. They have bought about forty acres of land and will develop a great manufacturing plant. They will give their employees " a six-day week and an eight-hour day, model cottages, educational and recreational pro- visions, a share in the profits, pensions, gardens to culti- vate, and, in general, an object lesson in Christian en- terprise." * The project has an enhanced value as an object lesson when one considers the great expansion that Japan must make industrially, and that present meth- ods are one hundred years behind the times. Medical missions, which receive much attention in most mission fields, are limited in Japan, owing to many private and governmental hospitals. The success, there- fore, of St. Luke's Hospital in Tokyo, sustained by the American Episcopalians, is wholly due to excellent man- agement, real efficiency, and the use of the latest sci- *W. M. Vories, in Japan Evangelist, February, 1913. CHRISTIAN FORCES AT WORK 207 entific appliances. The institution was started in 1895, and reopened in 1900. There is accommodation for 80 in-patients. From 100 to 150 out-patients are treated daily, most of whom are charity cases. The hospital supports a nurses' training school and a first-class phar- macy which does a big retail and export business. Dr. Theo. Bliss, a graduate of the Cornell College of Medi- cine, has charge of the medical department. Dr. R. B. Teusler is the chief surgeon and business manager, to whom the success and the enlargement of the hospital are chiefly due. In one of the parlours can be seen, within a large glass case, a beautiful bouquet which was a donation of the late Emperor, as a recognition of what the hospital has done. Several score of missionaries owe their lives or their soundness of body to this institution of mercy. Missionaries who otherwise would have been compelled to return to the home lands for treatment, have been cared for at St. Luke's, and thus Mission Boards have been saved thousands of dollars. The Christian pulpit has become an established thing in Japan. On many week days, as well as Sundays, the missionaries and the Japanese ministers can be found at public halls, hotels, or private homes, telling " the old, old story." Just as New York has its Jerry McCauley mission and Chicago has its Pacific Garden mission, so Japan has several missions which have services six nights in the week, and one hall in Kanda, Tokyo, is open nightly the year around. The Evangelistic Band's nightly service in Kobe will soon be carried to a new mission hall located in the centre of the haunts of sin and pleasure, where fre- quently 60,000 pass in and out of the music halls and theatres. The Baptist Tabernacle in Tokyo, where Wm. Ax- ling and his staff of workers daily toil, is another illus- tration of evangelistic zeal. Besides the regular preach- ing services, there are lectures, social meetings, special 208 THE KINGDOM evangelistic efforts, Bible classes, and meetings for in- quirers. The Tabernacle publishes a magazine and sup- ports a reading room, a social room for games, two English classes, a children's club, and a nursery for children whose mothers are away at work. Another worthy work is that carried on by W. P. Bun- combe and co-labourers at Whidborne Mission Hall, in the busiest part of Tokyo. It was founded in 1896 and was named in honour of F. Whidborne, who donated the land. It is supported by the Church Missionary Society. After the open meeting, composed of those who have entered the hall from the street, those desiring to inquire more particularly about Christianity are given special Bible readings and instructions in an upstairs room. Sixty thousand tracts and leaflets are given out annually at the hall. The Sunday School work in Japan is well organized and is a mighty power for good.* The first union effort in Sunday School work was made by the Methodists and Presbyterians. H. M. Landis and T. M, MacNair worked jointly on the first united Sunday School period- ical, which grew out of a Sunday School paper edited by E. R. Miller. Since the angels sang at our Saviour's birth, it is doubtful if any songs have given greater joy in heaven than the songs which are being sung by the Sunday School children and are caught up by an ever increasing multitude in Japan, China, India, Africa, the Levant, and the Isles of the Sea. Since 1893, Japan has had its Christian Endeavour Union. The first Japanese Endeavour Society organ- ized was at Okayama, in 1888. The headquarters of the work is at Kyoto. There are three secretaries, who work respectively in western, central, and eastern Japan. An annual convention is held, and a monthly magazine is published. Counting both junior and adult societies, * See Appendix C for contributed article by John G. Dunlop, a leader in Sunday School work. CHRISTIAN FORCES AT WORK 209 there are 170 all told. An annual grant-in-aid of $1,000 is contributed by the World's Union.* About thirteen-fourteenths of the Bibles issued by 27 of the leading societies are put out by Anglo- Saxons. Great Britain sends out about three-fourths of the output of these societies. The translation and distribution of Bibles in Japan is at the very founda- tion of all the Christian work in the country. Besides the Japanese translation, there are special translations which can be read by the Ainu and the islanders of the Loo Choo group. The American Bible Society works mainly in eastern and northern Japan. The British and For- eign Bible Society and National Bible Society of Scot- land distribute in western and southern Japan. The two latter societies have distributed 3,500,000 copies or portions of the Bible since their work commenced in 1875. They recently sent out 26,000 Bibles to the police of twenty-eight of the provinces of Japan. The Japan agency of the American Bible Society was established in 1876. They have sold since the beginning, 2,642,541 portions of Scripture, and last year they had forty-nine colporteurs in their employ. Since 191 1, a committee of which Daniel Crosby Greene is chairman, has been at work on a revision of the New Testament issued by the Yokohama translation committee. A version of the New Testament by Pere Ragnet, of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the translation by Archbishop Nicolai, have had large sales. No complete commentary on the Old Testament has yet been issued in Japanese. There are commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Amos, and pos- sibly other Old Testament books. D. W. Learned, of the American Board, has given the Church in Japan a complete commentary on the New Testament, which he later completely revised, * See Appendix D for contributed a*ticle by J. H. Pettee, an active supporter of the Endeavour Society. glO THE KINGDOM The Japan Book and Tract Society has put into cir- culation 1,101,876 tracts, according to its last annual report. The society is a combination of the committees of the American Tract Society of New York and the Religious Tract Society of London. Of the books it has sold, " Martin's Evidences of Christianity " heads the list and " Pilgrim's Progress " comes next.* The entire Christian community in Japan is under obligations to the Methodist Publishing House of Tokyo, which has a store well stocked with Christian and mis- cellaneous books in English and Japanese. It carries on a first-class printing plant, from whose press about 5,000,000 pages are issued monthly. The other Christian publishing houses in Japan are the Keiseisha, of Tokyo, the Seikokwai Shuppansha, of Kobe, and the Fukuinsha, of Osaka. A new organization has just come into being in Japan called " The Christian Literature Society of Japan." It is an outgrowth of the Committee on Christian Lit- erature of the " Conference of Federated Missions." The society will be incorporated and render a service for Japan much the same as similar societies organized years ago in India and China. " Next to the living Christian comes the printed page. The intellectual grapple, it is safe to say, will take place here preeminently. Sermons and lectures do not afford time for that deep, long-sustained logic and criticism by which error can be adequately exposed and truth ex- pounded. The human voice, likewise, cannot reach tens of millions who live in towns and villages and even in cities, who have no interest in the new way and cannot be attracted to the churches." f * The Christian Movement in Japan, 1910, p. 572. t Sidney L. Gulick, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 255. VI DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK Is the reunion of Christendom, we cannot help asking, finally to come as a reward for the missionary devotion and sacrifice of the church? — Dr. James S. Dennis, "The New Horoscope of Missions." The Roman Catholic Church in many ways appeals to Japanese aesthetic feelings more than Protestantism, but the idea of be- k)nging to an institution directed from Europe by a foreign chief is repugnant to the majority.— Sir C. Eliot, "Letters from the Far East," p. 177. Christian faith is a grand cathedral, with divinely pictured windows. Standing without, you can see no glory, nor can imagine any, but standing within every ray of light reveals a harmony of unspeakable splendours. A people who say that they do not believe in foreign missions are usually quite unconscious of the indictment which they bring against their own spiritual experience. The man who has no religion of his own that he values, of course, is not inter- ested in the effort to make it known to others. One of the strongest evidences of the forebearance of the All Merciful Father is not so much His longsuffering towards rebellious sinners as his patience with party strife and sectional spirit among those who profess to be imitators of Christ, and even claim the high honour of being his heralds and repre- sentatives. — Gideon F. Draper, Tokyo Missionary Conference, 1910, p. 122. If there were such a temple in which light came only from one small aperture in the roof, people would not unite if they tried to gather in different parts of the temple, but only if all of them tended to the light coming from the roof. The same with truth. Truth and only truth can unite mankind. — Auto- graph Letter of Leo Tolstoi to Doshisha University, May 2, 1910. The native church, equipped for its work, recognizing no master but Christ, answerable to no other ecclesiasticism, guided by the spirit of God, is the immediate end in view of the mis- sionary and the mission, the missionary society, the church at home, so far as the foreign field is concerned ; the immediate end, in order to the ultimate end, the establishment of the Kingdom of God.— Edwin Bliss, "The Missionary Enterprise," P- 195- VI DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK AMERICAN Episcopalians (Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States) have a prosperous L work centring in Kyoto and Tokyo, superin- tended by Bishop H. St. George Tucker and Bishop John McKim. The Kyoto District has fifty-six churches and preaching places. Among the schools and institu- tions are a girls' high school, two industrial schools for women, a hospital, two orphanages, and a school for feeble-minded children. Since 1893, the Tokyo District has grown from fifteen places where services are regu- larly held to fifty. St. Luke's Hospital has been re- peatedly enlarged. St. Paul's College (Rikkyo Gakuin) has seven hundred boys and St. Margaret's Girls' School two hundred and twenty-five in attendance. There are five other schools, besides sixteen kindergartens. Baptist mission work in Japan began under Jonathan Goble, who laboured from i860 to 1873. He had visited Japan in Perry's fleet and thus became impressed with the country's needs. The next missionary was Nathan Brown, who came at the age of sixty-five. In a short time he had completed a translation of the entire New Testament, eighteen months before the Committee's ver- sion was on the market.* The work of the Baptists has been chiefly evangelistic. They were late in starting their schools. * See H. Ritter, " History of Protestant Missions in Japan," p. 224. Dr. Brown's version has been highly regarded by the Japanese because of its close adherence to the original Greek. Before he came to Japan he had spent twenty-four years in Burmah and Assam and had translated hymns and portions of the Bible into both the languages. 213 214 THE KINGDOM The Baptists (Southern) began their work in 1889, by the coming of John W. McCollum and John A. Brun- sion. Their force of nineteen missionaries and twenty- two Japanese workers are located mostly in the island of Kyushu and adjacent parts. Their Fukuoka Seminary was united with the Yokohama Seminary, and is now known as the Japan Baptist Theological Seminary. By the help of the Judson Centennial Fund, they hope to establish a number of kindergartens and schools for boys and girls. Catholic missions are laying deep and broad founda- tions in Japan. The awful persecutions at the opening of the Seventeenth Century never entirely obliterated Catholicism. There are five dioceses, Nagasaki, Osaka, Shikoku, Tokyo, and Hakodate. Their labour and suc- cess can be seen by the conversion of 66,909 converts, 142 foreign missionaries, 67 foreign teachers and other workers, 185 foreign women in schools and charity work, 40 schools, 5,459 pupils in the same, 23 orphan- ages with 1,114 inmates, 9 hospitals, and 176 Japanese men and women consecrated to Christian work.* Congregationalists opened their work in Kobe by the coming of D. C. Greene and wife in 1869. The mission consists of about sixty members, and has stations at Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Okayama, Niigata, Sendai, Mat- suyama, Maebashi, Tottori, Miyazaki, Sapporo, and Tokyo. The chief educational institutions are : Kobe (Girls') College, a woman's evangelistic school, a kin- dergarten training school, Matsuyama Girls' School, and five kindergartens. Many of the missionaries teach in the academical and theological departments of the Japan Christian University of Doshisha, founded in Kyoto by the famous Neesima. Church of England in Canada. — T. C. Robinson, who opened the work at Nagoya in 1888, was the first Canadian to be supported by his church in Canada. In * Statistics for August, 191 L. DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK ^15 191 1, by action of the general Synods of Japan and Canada, a new diocese to be supported by Canadian Episcopalians was formed from the prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, Nagano, and Niigata, and the following year, H. T. Hamilton was consecrated as the first bishop. The mission works in a needy field where they have twenty Japanese evangelists, ten Bible women, two kinder- gartens, a hostel for girls, and a school for the blind at Gifu. The Christian Convention (American) opened work at Ishinomaki, North Japan, in 1887, by the coming of D. F. Jones and wife. Tokyo, Sendai, and Utsonomiya are centres of work. A non-denominational Consumptive Aid Society was formed by one of the churches. The Church Missionary Society began work in Japan by the coming of A. Ensor to Nagasaki, in 1869. C)saka, the next point, was opened in 1873 by C. F. Warren. There are now 3 bishoprics, 18 stations, 68 out-stations, 79 missionaries, 21 Japanese clergy, 146 male and female helpers, and 10,036 baptized adherents. The headquar- ters of the mission is at Osaka, where they have a flour- ishing middle school of 600 students, a girls' high school, a theological school, and a school for Bible women. The Disciples of Christ are working mostly in evan- gelistic lines in the cities and towns near their four stations, Akita, Sendai, Tokyo, and Osaka. Their work has been hindered owing to the late establishment of their educational institutions. Considerable expansion in evan- gelistic and school work will be made when Japan's por- tion of the Million Dollar Equipment Fund, recently raised in America, has been turned into spiritual values. The mission has three kindergartens, two children's day schools, a middle school for boys, a Bible school, and a school for girls. The Evangelistic Band is composed of missionaries from various churches and Japanese workers. It does 216 THE KINGDOM not establish churches, but being interdenominational, it aims to assist wherever invited. Special effort is made to reach the common people, the industrial and agri- cultural classes. The Band issues two monthlies — the Christian News has a circulation of 17,000. The Band is supported by a board in England, of which Hon. B. F. Buxton is chairman. The Evangelical Association was organized in 1876. There is a force of 11 missionaries, 2y Japanese preach- ers, and 12 Bible women. The church membership is 1,100, and over 3.500 are in their Sunday Schools. The work centres around Osaka and Tokyo. The mission has a good record for work attempted and accomplished. The Free Methodists first came in 1903 (Wesley F. Matthewson, August Youngren and their wives), but their work had been started in 1895 by a Japanese named Masazi Kabibara. The principal work is in Osaka, the islands of Awaji and Akashi. A school for evangelists is maintained in Osaka. The Greek Catholic Church (Orthodox Church of Japan) is the spiritual harvest of the labours of one great man. Archbishop Nicolai, who died February 16, 1912. His successor, Bishop Sergui, was on the ground a short time before the death of the great Russian apostle, and made a tour of the entire field. The 266 churches have a membership of 33,377, which contribute over $10,000 yearly towards self-support. The baptisms for 1912 were 1,019. The headquarters of the mission are in Tokyo, where a massive cathedral, situated in the heart of the city, lifts its dome high in air. The Hephzibah Faith Mission carries on a work at Theatre Street, Yokohama, among the poor. Last year they had nightly meetings, save during August. They sold or gave away 25,000 tracts and 2,225 Bibles and portions. Lutheran Missions. — An earnest band doing effective work in Japan represents the great Lutheran Church. DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK 217 Considering the ability of the home churches, the equip- ment and number of missionaries is limited. Four mis- sions labour in this group, namely : Foreign Board of the General Council of the Lutheran Church of Amer- ica (North), the Mission Board of the United Synod (South), United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Evangelical Lutheran Association of Fin- land. The Methodist Episcopal Church Mission was organ- ized in Yokohama, 1873. The charter members were Dr. R. S. MacClay, J. C. Davison, Julius Soper, and M. C. Harris. At this first session stations were estab- lished in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagasaki, and Hakodate. The early years of the mission were difficult. In 1883, revival power was manifest, beginning in their schools. Growth was then more rapid until 1888, when the con- servative tide set in throughout Japan and opposition increased. In 1898, the one mission was divided into two Conferences, West Japan and East Japan. The mis- sionaries maintain their organization, working in co- operation in evangelistic work with the Japan Methodist Church, and conducting independently school work and publishing work. The Methodist Protestant Mission began its work in Japan in 1880. The first missionary was Miss Harriet Britain ; the second, Fred C. Klein. Besides the Nagoya, the principal centre of the work where they have a col- lege, there are stations at Tokyo, Yokohama, Shizuoka, and Hammatsu. In Yokohama there is a girls' school and a boys' English school. There are three kinder- gartens and an enrollment of three thousand in the Sun- day Schools. The Methodist Church (South) Mission was started in 1886. It has stations at Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Oka- yama, Hiroshima, Miyaichi, Nakatsu, Oita, Uwajima, and Matsuyama. They have a girls' school at Hiro- shima and at Kobe a Bible women's training school, 218 THE KINGDOM a large evening school, and half-interest in the Kwansei Gakuin with theological college and academic depart- ments. The Methodist Church (Canadian) Mission was strategically located in the very heart of the main island of Japan. From the start they have had a number of educational institutions, as well as orphanages at Kana- zawa and Shizuoka. Their Central Tabernacle in Tokyo has been a great centre for all kinds of lectures and edu- cational meetings. The recent expansion of this mission is the result of a visit of T. E. E. Shore, the general secretary of the Board, who came to Japan to plan for retrenchment, but changed his views after careful and deliberate examination of conditions on the field. The Oriental Missionary Society, established in 1900, gives special attention to the training of a native min- istry. About two hundred evangelists have been trained and about thirty stations have been opened. It has Bible training institutes in Tokyo and Seoul. The city mis- sion halls of the society, which are open every night of the year, give a practical training ground for their Bible students and many souls have been won. The society aims at a widespread diffusion of Gospel literature, and they have undertaken to put a Scripture portion and a Gospel tract into every home in Japan. The Omi Mission, which began with William Vories, has grown to number five Americans and sixteen Japa- nese workers. They have nine buildings. A Gospel launch is being built and a training school, a kinder- garten, a sanitarium, and several other works are pro- jected. It aims " to demonstrate the possibility of co-operation and union efforts among different denomina- tions and races of Christians." Mr. Vories was formerly Y. M. C. A. English teacher in the city of Omi. Forty per cent of the students joined his Bible classes and forty per cent of the graduating classes were baptized. Buddhistic persecution arose and he was driven out of DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK 219 the school, into his present work. It was a sorry day for the Buddhists when they opposed Vories. The Presbyterian Church in the United States founded their mission in Japan through Dr. J. C. Hepburn, in 1859. It now numbers seventy-two members, of whom thirty are unmarried women. The mission has mission- aries located in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Fukui, Tsu, Asahigawa, Wakayama, Tanabe, Hiroshima, Kobe, Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, Otaru, Sapporo Dairen, Ryuzan, Port Arthur. It carries on five high schools for girls and young women, a training school for men and one for women, a number of primary schools and kinder- gartens. In union with the Reformed Church in Amer- ica, it carries on the Meiji Gakuin, which comprises a high school for boys, a higher, and a theological depart- ment. In company with the missions of the other Pres- byterian and Reformed Churches, it is connected with the Nihon Christo Kyokwai (Church of Christ in Japan). The Presbyterian Church (Southern) opened its mis- sion in Japan, in 1885, with the coming of R. B. Grinnan and R. E. McAlpine. After visiting Nagoya and Kochi, they chose the latter city for the centre of the mission's labours. Emphasis has always been placed upon direct evangelism. They have founded a theological school in Kobe, a girls' school at Nagoya, and an industrial school for girls in Kochi, where there is a large and prosperous church. Their missionaries are living in seven cities, around which a large work is being done. The Reformed Church in America (Dutch Reformed) Mission has a glorious and renowned history. It began in 1859 with the arrival of Brown, Verbeck, and Sim- mons at Nagasaki and Yokohama. The mission labours in parts of Kyushu and the Provinces of Izu, Shinshu, Morioka, and Aomori. The Reformed Church in the United States (German Reformed) Mission began in Tokyo, in 1879, with the arrival of A. D. Gring and wife. Their staff of thirty 220 THE KINGDOM missionaries are mostly located in Sendai, where is lo- cated their Miyagi Girls* School and North Japan Col- lege. In evangelistic lines they have fifty-one out-sta- tions, thirty-one evangelists, and twelve Bible women. The Friends' Mission work centres around their girls' school in Tokyo and the Friends' Meeting-House on the school grounds. A number of Friends reside in Tokyo, who, though not missionaries, contribute to Christian work. There are six evangelistic points near the city of Mito. The Association of Friends outside Japan have planned to develop an anti-tuberculosis settlement. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel began its work in Japan, in 1873, in Tokyo, W. B. Wright and H. C. Shaw being the first missionaries. In 1876 H. J. Foss and F. B. Plummer arrived and opened a new mission in Kobe. Since then the society has opened work in a large number of cities and towns. In 1877 they started work in the Bonin Islands, where there is now a flourishing church with a handsome church build- ing. The Guild of St. Paul, which was founded by Bishop Bickersteth, works in close connection with the Community Missions of St. Andrews and St. Hilda. In Tokyo there is an orphanage, a girls' high school, and several other institutions. In Kobe there is a girls' high school and a school for English-speaking boys. The Seventh Day Adventists' Mission was opened by Elder Granger and Mr. Okihara, who came from Cali- fornia. They opened work at Yoyogi, a suburb of Tokyo. The mission plans to erect several buildings for the accommodation of their work and workers. They have made a specialty of tent meetings, which they have held in various cities of Japan. The United Brethren have baptized a thousand people. They have fourteen Japanese pastors and three mission- ary families. Their theological students are sent to Doshisha University, where they co-operate by furnishing one foreign and one Japanese teacher. DIFFERENT MISSIONS AT WORK 221 The Universalists started their work in 1890. Their Blackmer Girls' Home is located near the Woman's Uni- versity. The church membership is about five hundred. The superintendent, G. I. Keirn, travels extensively, lec- turing and distributing literature. Within three years he has passed out four hundred thousand tracts. The Yotsuya Mission consists of W. D. Cunningham and wife and twelve Japanese workers. They have six Sunday Schools and six preaching places in the city of Tokyo. Their Tokyo Christian has a large circulation in the United States. There have been 254 baptisms since 1902. The Zoshigaya Mission was opened by J. M. Mc- Caleb, who came to Japan in 1892. He has, besides his evangelistic work, a student's hostel in Tokyo, which accommodates about forty. He and other missionaries associated with him are sustained by offerings from churches mostly in the Southern States. VII CHRISTIAN EDUCATION ' We Japanese should fully appreciate the debt our civilization owes to Christian missionaries in the education of our girls. This great contribution should be written in full in the history of the new Japanese civilization. — Sekiji Nishtyama, The Open Court, July, 191 1. There must be a succession of highly trained Christian scholars, such as are supplied by a great university and are found in it, who would co-operate with and encourage one another. If they could not fight the battle successfully, who could? We must get hold of the thought-life of the nation, and a Christian university is necessary to accomplish it. — T. H. Haden, " A Christian University for Japan," p. 13. The ideal for Christian education in Japan is that it should be abreast with government education in buildings and equip- ment, teaching force, and in scientific method. In addition, it should be pervaded by the Christian spirit in such a way that the product of the schools may be a noble, active, efficient Chris- tian manhood that will be a power in guiding the destiny of the nation. — D. B. Schneder. In 1871 the Tokyo Girls' School was established, and in 1874 the Girls' Normal School, known as the Ochanomizu School; both of these were planned by Viscount Tanaka. This is really the beginning of girls' education in Japan. The field of women's education was opened up and tilled by missionaries. Then came Viscount Tanaka and sowed the seed. Even after it had germinated and started to grow, missionaries cultivated it side by side with the Government. — Prof. Rikitaro Fujisawa, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 341. The services of Christian schools to society at large and the Christian Church, have been abundant and valuable. . . . Their influence has inspired the new literature of Japan, has vitalized its new civiHzation with spiritual ideas, and has been prevailingly on the side of righteousness and purity in national, family, and private life. Christian education has given birth to the Christian Church, has supplied it with leaders, literature, and hymnology, and has made possible well-nigh every form of its manifold activities.— Albertus Pieters, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 169. VII CHRISTIAN EDUCATION A SCHOOL is an arsenal where raw material called brains is worked over into machines for the discharge of ideas. Each brain is given its own melting pot. Not every casting is a success and some fine-looking machines are chiefly engaged gather- ing dust and rust. Some machines make a lot of noise, firing in all directions, but seldom hitting a mark. But most of them do good service as field guns or rapid firers. Not a few come out, the long-range type, with a sixteen- inch bore, and rip great rents in the redoubts of ig- norance and shatter the castles of superstition, folly, and fear. Idolatry, graft, special privilege, despotism, lust, vanity, intemperance, and the war-demon have no concern for popguns — even a ship-load of them. What they hate and fear are these long-rangers, men who fire ideas weighing a ton or more and who will not be silenced. And these are the kind of men, Japanese men, the Church needs in Japan. To make them we must have a great Christian university with an endowment of several mil- lion dollars. This need is the paramount need of Chris- tian education in Japan to-day. In a country like Japan, Christian schools are not only a necessity, they are the pillars and the foundation stones of the great Christian temple. When one considers that Japan has a literature dating back more than a thousand years, and customs and intellectual bents which antedate the creation of its literature, the need of Christian schools to change the thought of life, to anchor new ideas and ideals, is both urgent and beyond controversy. Fortu- nately for Christian missions in Japan, in less than ten 825 S26 THE KINGDOM years after the establishment of the first church, several schools for boys and girls were established, which have grown to encouraging proportions. From these schools have gone forth men and women who to-day are leaders and champions of the Cross in Japan. Since the beginning, about 25,000 boys and as many girls have received Christian education in Japan. Of the graduates, fifty per cent of the boys and eighty per cent of the girls have gone out Christians.* There are about one hundred Christian schools in Japan for both sexes above the elementary grade, with about 10,000 students against 600,000 in the governmental schools above the elementary grades. There was a time when Christian schools made a good showing because of manifest efficiency. They attracted students who had ability, not because of Christianity but in spite of it. But alas, Christian schools have not advanced with the advance of the people and the governmental schools.f There is better equip- ment in the governmental schools and very able teachers. Not only does the Government pay a comparatively high salary, but at the end of fifteen years any governmental teacher or school official can draw a pension of twenty- five per cent of his salary for the rest of his life. If the Government were ever so friendly toward Christian * See Splendid Review of Christian Education in Japan, by D. B. Schneder, The Christian Movement, 1912. t " If the falling behind of the Christian schools is not checked, it is no exaggeration to say that within twenty years Christian scholarship will be an inconsiderable factor in the thought and higher life of the nation." — President Tasuki Hara- da, Japan Evangelist, November, 1912, p. 533. "Alongside of the large Government system with its thousands of students, a com- paratively small number of Christian schools, often with ill- adapted buildings and insufficient equipment, cut a very small figure indeed, and exert correspondingly little influence on the trend of the national Government." — B. D. Schneder, Japan Evangelist, November, 1912, p. 532. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 227 schools, some discrimination against them would have to be made because^ owing to limited funds, they have failed to keep abreast of the times. A mission school which can furnish better teachers and equipment than a secular school should be taxed to its full capacity. If Japan were a wealthy nation, the opportunities for Christian education would be limited to students who are Christians or friends of the Church, but owing to the necessity of foreign loans and limited resources, the Gov- ernment can scarcely build enough schools to overtake the growing population and advance in the science of education. What, therefore, is a national loss is a gain for the Christian schools. Instead of retrenchment, Christian educators should advance and improve the op- portunities which God has given them in Japan. Dr. Okada, Minister of Education, is quoted as saying: " Japan possesses a public debt amounting to Y2,ooo,- 000,000, and is in financial distress. I think it is most necessary, therefore, to encourage private educational in- stitutions so that these may be able to supplement the Government schools." A Japanese college president says : " There is nothing at this juncture in which the friends of missions in America and Great Britain can do a greater service to Christianity in Japan than by liberal aid in the establish- ment of well-equipped and as far as possible, sufficiently endowed Christian educational institutions of a higher grade." * Though there is great need for the enlargement of Christian education, it is encouraging that the last ten years have seen a hundred per cent development in the schools of school attendance. Albertus Pieters, an au- thority on the subject, gives the names of twenty leading papers and magazines which have editors-in-chief or assistant editors who have graduated from Christian schools. He says of the graduates of Protestant schools : ♦President K. libuka, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 307. SaS THE KINGDOM *' Three per cent are in the ministry or in some other form of Christian effort, twelve per cent are teachers, five per cent officials, twenty-eight per cent business men, farmers, etc." * Sometimes the friends of foreign mission work object to the large sums expended in education and advocate exclusive effort to evangelistic effort. It must not be forgotten that the object of every Christian school in Japan is primarily the spread or establishment of the Kingdom of God. A Japanese ministry must be pro- vided and Japanese leaders must be won and educated. No missionary thinks of going to the field without a thorough education. Much more in a land where Bud- dhists have their own schools up to their university must there be a constituency of Christians who have been trained in an educational atmosphere and educated out of much that is old and false into the truth which is ever new. One thing is very noticeable in Japan to-day, that the missions which were late in establishing their schools have few self-supporting churches and few great leaders. On the contrary, missions which for a generation have had their schools, have grown in the number of converts, the number of independent churches, and with a just pride can point to eminent spirits which would be an honour to any nation. From the very beginning, special attention has been given to the training of men and women for Christian work. There are 17 training schools for Bible women, having 243 students. There are 455 boys preparing for the ministry. One school worthy of special mention is the Theological School founded by Masashisa Uemura, in 1904. Nothing could be more ideal and encouraging than for a Japanese min- ister himself to be the inspiring cause and trainer of other ministers, and to manage his school solely with Japanese teachers and Japanese gifts, as is the case with this school. * The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 160. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 229 Schools for boys are divided into eighteen middle schools, six higher or collegiate courses, twenty-three theological and Bible training schools, and two schools have courses which give them the rank of universities, namely, Rikkyo University, sustained by the American Episcopalians, and Doshisha University, whose begin- nings were with Neesima and the American Board. There are twice as many schools for girls as for boys, there being but one Christian school for young men north of Tokyo, and none between Kobe and Nagasaki. The most flourishing schools for boys are the middle schools, which have a course of five years which follows the six or eight years spent in elementary schools. One of the latest middle school plants is the well-equipped school of the Lutherans at Kumamoto, designed for 400 students. They had, at the opening, 255 applicants where they could accommodate but 100. Among the most noted boys' schools may be mentioned the Doshisha at Kyoto. It has likewise a school for girls. Both schools have passed into the hands of the Japanese and are managed and are being enlarged with great success.* There are over 1,000 students in both schools and twenty-five acres in the school's grounds. The Kwansei Gakuin, in the city of Kobe, is situated on a beautiful site of twenty-three acres overlooking the sea; $150,000 is being spent in the enlargement of ♦The alumni of Doshisha have recently subscribed $150,327 towards endowment, and $15,000 towards the running expenses. On the walls of the president's room at Doshisha is the follow- ing autograph letter from ex-President Roosevelt, written at Sagamore Hill, December 25, 1910: "I send Christmas greetings to the students of Doshisha College, and I sincerely wish all success in life for them and for the gallant nation of which they are citizens. May they keep the old virtues of Japan at the same time that they gain the new virtues demanded by Japan's new position as one of the leading nations of civilized mankind. Courage and integrity, gentleness and strength, good judgment and patient perseverance, may all these qualities be theirs." 230 THE KINGDOM the school; $27,500 was spent on their new middle school building. Any visitor at this school, walking over the newly laid Oregon pine floors, will be im- pressed that the directors believe in Japan and its edu- cational opportunities. The North Japan College of the Reformed Church in the United States, at Sendai, was established in 1886. Its middle school department meets in a magnificent school building and has more applicants than can be accommodated. A peculiar responsibility and oppor- tunity is bestowed upon this school, as it is the only Christian institution for young men in all of northern Japan. The Aoyama Gakuin, now managed by the Japan Methodist Church, had its beginnings in 1878. It has a magnificent school campus and a good equipment for the 850 boys and girls who are in the school. The Gov- ernment has recognized the worth of its collegiate depart- ment in giving its graduates in English teachers' licenses without examination, a favour likewise shown the Doshisha. Rikkyo Gakuin had its beginnings in a school for cate- chists, established by Bishop Williams, in 1878. The middle school is in a flourishing condition, owing in part to its location in the thickly populated part of Tokyo and its thorough equipment. A large tract of land has been purchased at Ikebukuro, North Tokyo, whither the University and theological departments will be removed. The Meiji Gakuin of Tokyo had its beginnings in schools taught by James H. Ballagh, Dr. S. R. Brown, John C. Ballagh, and M. N. Wyckoff in Yokohama, and therefore may be called the oldest Christian school for boys in Japan. After the school was moved to Tokyo the boys were dressed in grey suits with brass buttons. It was the first school to use a uniform. Bishop Honda, Uemura, libuka, and Kumano are well-known Christian CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 231 leaders who were won through these missionaries or their schools. The Meiji Gakuin has turned out a number of excellent and influential men. A former daimyo (a feudal governor) said to a mis- sionary : " Your preaching and schools for boys are good, but if you have the welfare of our country at heart, you will educate our women." There is a wide gulf intellectually between the men and women of Japan, one reason being the lack of higher education for girls. To Miss Mary E. Kidder, a missionary of the Reformed Church in America, belongs the honour of founding the first Christian school for girls in Japan. In 1870, she received six girls, four of whom had previously been taught by Mrs. J. C. Hepburn, and opened her day school at Iseyama, Yokohama. Beyond the primary grades, four years is about all the education the daughters of the well-to-do families receive. In spite of conservatism and the social order which underrates female education in Japan, the eco- nomic situation is driving girls and women from their retirement to various professions and ways of labour. In meeting the competition of men who have the ad- vantages both of education and the partiality shown mas- culinity in Japan, the woman who must earn her way must be educated. If female education is necessary for success financially, much could be said for the moral and Christian education of the girls who are to be the teachers and mothers of the millions yet to be born. A man on the train said to a missionary's friend : " That girl yonder has attended a Christian school." He was asked how he knew, and he replied : " I can tell by her actions. She has the carriage, the modesty, and the grace of all such girls." Girls from Christian schools go forth to be teachers, Bible women, wives, and min- isters, and mothers whose children are nourished in the Christian faith. The time has come when a " College for the Christian Higher Education of Women in Japan " 232 THE KINGDOM is greatly needed. Just as a great Christian University is needed for men, so such a school would open up larger fields for service and increase the power and reach of women who have both ability and consecration. One of the noted schools for women is Kobe College, founded by the American Board in 1875. For the last twenty years Miss Susan A. Searle has been its presi- dent. After the course in the academy of five years, there is a regular college course of four years. The school grounds occupy a beautiful and valuable site in the heart of the city. The buildings are attractive and well arranged. The largest girls' school is at Hiroshima, superintended by Miss N. B. Gaines. Counting the pupils from the kindergarten up, there are 808, all told. There are 42 teachers, 7 of whom are foreign. The school has a splendid kindergarten training department for teachers. The beginnings of the school were in a Buddhist temple, with a class of ten pupils. The women of Japan are making a valuable contribu- tion to the establishment of the church through their work in elementary schools and kindergartens. All told there are 8,757 httle children in these day schools and kindergartens. Miss Mary Rioch has for years con- ducted one of these day schools in Tokyo. About 300 children are in daily touch with Christian influence. The origin of the school, as many of its kind, was with a woman's heart wrenched by the faces of little tots grow- ing up amidst poverty and ignorance. There are 62 kindergartens in Japan. The first was organized by the Presbyterians in Kanazawa in 1885. One of these little kindergarten girls coming out of a temple was asked by her teacher if she gave money to the idols. Her reply was : " No ! I gave a sen to a poor man. I wouldn't give anything to those stones. I am very little, but if two or three of us pushed at once we could tumble them down." VIII UNITY AND CO-OPERATION There are men and women who will unite on a particular thing who will not consent to unite for the whole program. — Raymond Robins, Tokyo Address, February ii, 1913. It is only on the basis of the New Testament that there is any hope of ultimate reunion amongst the divided parts of the Christian Church.— Bishop P. K. Fyson. Unless we get together and teach Protestant Christianity to work together like one body upon our common problems, we are all of us going to get whipped in the end. — Fred B. Smith, Tokyo Address, February 11, 1913. The practical power of the Young Men's Christian Association on foreign soil is recognized by the Church, and by foreign gov- ernments, as of a value clear beyond calculation or statement.— S. D. Gordon, " Quiet Talks to World Winners," p. 142. On one occasion a Presbyterian, an Anglican, and a Baptist went to a wealthy Methodist to ask him to increase his sub- scription. Imagine a Methodist up against that kind of combina- tion ! . . . Only one thing could happen and that thing hap- pened. He gave a magnificent subscription to missions. — Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910, p. 191. You cannot express adequately a one God in a divided church. If you and I are to make known the unity of God, the unity of the human family, the unity of the Christian Church, the unity of the Gospel of the world, we need a great and noble and adequate symbol that adequately embodies the Christian con- ception. — Robert E. Speer. In the Middle Ages the Church was a unit. All thought and spoke the same things. But that was not a unity of life and of intelligent loyalty to Christ. It was the unity of the grave- yard, where all the heads and all the feet are turned in the same direction. . . . There is room for thought and opinion ; the truth is, we cannot be true to Christ and permit others to think for us. . . . Our ground of unity is in Him and not in our opinions or in our reasoning processes. — Archibald McLean, " Where the Book Speaks," p. 233. VIII UNITY AND CO-OPERATION " "I^T EITHER for these only do I pray, but for them j^^ also that believe on me through their word; -i- ^ that they may all be one ; as thou Father art in me and I in thee ; that they also may be in us : that the world may believe that thou didst send me." Thus did our Saviour pray but a few hours before He was crucified. The drawing power of the One who was lifted up seems to have been conditioned upon the unity, the oneness of those who believe and the preaching of the Gospel to every creature. The world as a whole does not believe in Him. The reasons, however, are clear — the divisions of the Church and her failure to forget herself in the passion to exalt and proclaim her Lord. Whether it be a lot of ants working together in a forest or a lot of men inspired by a great national inter- est, there is power in unity. And this power is ac- celerated just as we rise from mere animal or intel- lectual life to the realm of the spiritual. Missionaries and mission work have given the whole Christian world a new vision of the need and the power of unity. Not that the missionary deserves any credit; the movement for unity is of necessity laid upon him. At the gathering of the delegates to the World's Student Christian Fed- eration in Tokyo, Mayor Ozaki said : " Whereas, you delegates gathered here from twenty-five nations, despite differences of language, race, and nationality, are one in heart, one in purpose — one in every sense; brothers could not be more united. As for this wonderful unity, we outsiders know not how to emulate it, but we 235 236 THE KINGDOM humble ourselves and show our deep respect for you all." * The failure of a larger union from the very start of the work in Japan was due not so much to the Japanese or the missionaries as to the fact that churches and their representative boards at home opposed a wholesale let- ting down of denominational bars. To this day it goes without saying that a larger union of Christian forces in Japan would obtain were it not for the same con- servatism and reluctance to yield on the part of each denominational constituency in the home land. The Japanese, as a rule, are not much befuddled by the differences presented by the different churches, f In fact the differences are not pressed to the front. It is quite a difficult task for the missionary or the Japanese preacher to lead a soul out of a labyrinth of Oriental philosophy, out of the negation of Buddhism into the clear and strait way that leads to the Cross. There is an exhaustion attending this effort, a joy in victory, and a solicitude for the future development of the con- vert that presses Christ to the front and directs the be- liever solely to Christ. There is no desire or occasion to press denominational distinctions in theology. The missionaries of the churches are thrown into very close contact. The Japanese preachers likewise from national instinct band together. The mighty host of sin and idol- atry is so numerous that like an army in action there is no time for any unnecessary baggage, nor is there time for aught save vigilance, defence, and attack against error and unbelief. ♦World's Student Christian Federation Conference, 1907, p. 177. t It will not be at all surprising if new sects spring up in Japan. The fertile mind and independent spirit of the Japanese will be sorely tempted to go the way of all Christian history. But such Christian bodies will be of their own making and will grow out of their own psychical bent and from their own religious experience. UNITY AND CO-OPERATION 237 The first Protestant church organized in Japan was through Presbyterian influence, yet the church members adopted the following statement : " Our church is not partial to any sect, believing only in the name of Christ in whom all are one, and believing that all who take the Bible as their guide, diligently studying it, are Christ's servants and our brothers. For this reason all believers on earth belong to Christ's family of brotherly love." * The same year (1872) at a convention of missionaries in Yokohama, a resolution was adopted which was re- markable for its manifest and bold stand for Christian unity. The above-mentioned church took as its name, the " Church of Christ in Japan," which its sister churches still retain. The first churches established by the Amer- ican Board were given the name " The Church of Christ." The churches established by the Disciples have always been given the same name. The Japanese churches which were established by the different missions of the Presbyterian Church have all been united into a compact corporate body. The same is true of three Methodist churches and all churches of the Anglican faith. The missions represented by these three bodies are therefore necessarily brought close together and are practically one in Japan. Missions of other churches similar in church organization and theology will doubt- less arrive in the near future at a working basis which will eliminate waste and contribute the added strength and joy which follows from obedience to the Divine plan. Since 1902, the missionaries of most of the missions in Japan have been united in a way which grows more effective and important every year. This form of union for more effective service was first called " The Standing Committee of Co-operating Missions," and was later * Otis Carey, " A History of Christianity in Japan," Vol. II, P- n- 238 THE KINGDOM changed to " The Conference of Federated Missions." * A yearly meeting of the members is held in January, which acts as a clearing house for the business con- ducted during the year by the executive committee and other standing committees. An important part of the Federated Missions' work is the yearly issue of a book called The Christian Movement in Japan, whose first issue was in 1903. It is loaded with valuable matter that every student of missions should have, f The " Union Hymnal," which has passed through thirty-six editions, is another product of united efforts. The hymnal's compilation and publication originated at the conference of missionaries in 1900, when a resolution was adopted looking toward " the use of a common hymnal by the Christians of Japan ... in view of the great importance of laying this foundation of unity among the Christians of Japan whatever be their ec- clesiastical connections." $ A missionary woman says that even in non-Christian homes, if there is an organ or a piano the hymnal is frequently found. Whether it be a hymnal, Bible translation, work against the white slave traffic, the world's Sunday School Association, the World's Student Christian Federation, or any other big step forward for God and the race — the big things must be done and can only be done by planning and moving together. In considering the stupendous proposition of world evangelization — the momentous issues and difficulties in- volved — it is regrettable that some international and inter- denominational body or committee representative of all * See Appendix E for further details. t This book is published in cloth and paper covers. The issue usually has over 500 pages. " The tenth annual issue of The Christian Movement in Japan is more than its name implies, for in addition to its complete survey of the progress of Chris- tianity, it covers Japanese domestic and colonial politics, social reforms, etc." — The Independent. X See Report of Conference, p. 43. UNITY AND CO-OPERATION 239 the churches, all the missionaries, and their mission boards, had not come into being decades ago. A provi- dential step was taken at the Edinburgh Conference in 1910, when the Continuation Committee was appointed which may develop into this much needed committee or body.* Following the visit of John R. Mott, who visited the Orient in behalf of the Continuation Committee, impor- tant conferences were held in Tokyo, f which resulted in the organization of an auxiliary Continuation Committee for Japan. The initial work of the Committee will be a nation-wide evangelistic campaign to extend over a period of three years. Eighty per cent of the people are in the rural districts, of which ninety-six per cent is an unworked field. As eighty per cent of the whole population are not directly reached, the missionaries have * At the Edinburgh Missionary Conference, Sir Andrew H. L. Fraser, chairman of the commission on co-operation and the promotion of unity, moved a resolution which resulted in the adoption of a Continuation Committee, by which the Conference, in its spirit, purpose, and work, will be continued. The Con- tinuation Committee of thirty-five members was thus appointed. It has its Executive Committee and ten other special committees. On the Continuation Committee are ten members from America, ten from the British Isles, ten from the continent of Europe, and five as representatives from Asia, Africa, and Australia. " All that the Committee asks is the opportunity to serve, and it wishes increasingly for advice and suggestions as to how best it may serve those who are working in the one great cause." — Mrs. Louisa Creighton, International Review of Missions, Vol. II, No. 5. The Committee will not deal with " matters which are con- cerned with the doctrinal or ecclesiastical differences of the various denominations." " Its work will be purely consultative and advisory and in no sense legislative or mandatory. The value of its recommendations will depend upon the experience and reality and truth behind them." See John R. Mott's article about the Continuation Committee in pamphlet form, or as published in International Review of Missions, Vol. I, No. i. t See Findings of the Continuation Committee Conferences, held in Tokyo, April 3-11, 1913. 240 THE KINGDOM asked that the number of evangelistic missionaries be doubled. If Protestant churches cannot unite as churches, their members can unite in organizations which lay emphasis upon good works. Temperance, purity, and social reform associations, Endeavour Societies, and Laymen's Move- ments have had the blessing of God because they have been enthused and empowered by the dynamic energy of unity exerted for the whole church and the whole world. Among the organizations in Japan which have their dis- tinctive work, yet which make for unity, may be men- tioned the work of the W. C. T. U., the Y. W. C. A., and the Y. M. C. A. The Woman's Temperance Union of Japan was organ- ized in 1895. It has 89 organizations, 4,000 Japanese members, and 6,000 children in the Loyal Temperance Legion. It is entirely self-supporting, save the salary of the foreign representative. Two monthlies are issued, one for women and one for children. Several splendid institutions are supported by the organization. Among them are the Florence Crittenton Rescue Home in Tokyo, which gives a shelter and Christian atmosphere for fallen women and unfortunate girls; a home for sailors in Kure, and a rescue home in Osaka, which can accommo- date one hundred homeless and unemployed girls and women. It is in large measure due to the efforts of this society that non-smokers are on the express trains between Tokyo and Yokohama and on the Kobe express ; that every soldier and sailor was provided with a com- fort bag during the time of the Russo-Japanese war; that scientific temperance lectures are being given largely throughout the schools of Japan. The Young Woman's Christian Association began its work in Japan after an invitation had been sent by the la- dies of Yokohama and Tokyo to the World's Convention in London. The National Committee issues a monthly UNITY AND CO-OPERATION 24.1 magazine and holds an annual summer conference. Miss Michi Kawai, a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, and Miss Tei Ninomiya, a graduate of Smith College, as well as seven foreign secretaries, give their time to the association. The association pays special attention to the girls in government schools, for whom they have built two student hostels and conduct twenty Bible classes. The membership and the number of associations are in- creasing rapidly. Besides work for students, the association has work for girls employed in offices, hospitals, and factories. A new building will be erected in the heart of Tokyo, where young women as students or business employees may receive the social, educational, and spiritual assist- ance so much needed in a great world city where greed, lust, and the love of pleasure exact their yearly tribute of young lives. The work of the Y. W. C. A., which was not organized until 1905, is still in its pioneer stage. A careful study of the field has shown that there is a large opportunity and pressing need for Christian work among the ever increasing numbers of wage-earning women as well as the intensive work among the thou- sands of girls who flock for education to the schools of the larger cities. In 1897, the thirty student associations of the Y. M. C. A. which had sprung up were united in a national union, and in 1903, all the associations in the country, both city and student, were amalgamated into the present Japanese Y. M. C. A. Union. It has at present seventy associations, with about 7,300 members, besides 2,300 in the railway department in Korea. In Japan proper there are twenty-seven buildings in fifteen different cities, valued at $318,800, of which the Japanese contributed $22,952. Among the donors are Baron Kanda, Baron Iwasaki, and Baron Mitsui. The most striking events in the history of the move- ment have been the great work among the soldiers during 24a THE KINGDOM the Russo-Japanese war; the conference of the World's Student Christian Federation at Tokyo; and the relief of the fire sufiferers at Osaka. The work among the soldiers did not a little to recommend Christianity to the conservative official classes and to break down the preju- dices of the country districts from which the soldiers were largely drawn. The prestige thus won by the association led the railway authorities of the country to welcome similar work among the railway employees. At present there are three secretaries working under their auspices among the seven thousand Japanese employees of the Government railways of Korea. One of the latest devel- opments of the movement is the self-supporting magazine — The Pioneer — which finds its way quite widely among the educated young men. The visits of John R. Mott, secretary of the World's Student Christian Federation,* have always been marked by large and fruitful meetings for students. The most recent forward steps have been the sending of Seijiro Niwa, the veteran secretary of the movement, to develop the work in Korea, and Secretaries Hibbard and Morise to Dalney, the capital of Japanese enterprise in Manchuria. The fact that the Japanese Government in Dalney has given at nominal cost a splendid site for the building shows how deeply it feels the need of what the association can do for young men in Manchuria. The fixed policy of the movement in Japan from the first has been to make it indigenous and thoroughly Japanese in its control. The International Committee of the As- sociations of North America has, from the first, gen- erously supplied men and secured gifts, but the authority and ownership have always been vested in the Japanese movement itself. ♦ Mr. Mott visited Japan in 1896, 1901, 190)7, and 1913. IX THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES The salvation of Japan depends largely upon the Japanese. Can you find a St. Paul among them? Only with such a man can you hope to save Japan. — Wm. T. Stead. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice : and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. — John x, i6. It is a question whether there is not in the Oriental nature, and at its best, especially in its aspects of reverential worship, of contemplative insight, of sympathetic attachment to the un- seen, and of responsive loyalty to Christ, which may enable it to contribute an added charm and a winsome attractiveness to the Christian world. — James S. Dennis, "The New Horo- scope of Missions." The surest ground of hope for the comparatively early Chris- tianization of a considerable proportion of the people is the fact that within a generation of the founding of the first church Christianity has become naturalized, has given birth to leaders comparable in character and ability to those of the West, and has created several aggressive, self-governing bodies. — Galen M. Fisher, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 391. In a home for discharged prisoners, established in Tokyo by a Christian, Taneaki Hara, 1,117 persons have been cared for since its establishment thirteen years ago. This number has included 801 burglars, 74 murderers, 49 incendiaries, 141 pros- titutes, and 73 vagrants. About 500 of these former jailbirds have been restored to a reputable life, 123 have died, and only 113, or about ten per cent, have returned to a criminal life. — Tasuku Harada, International Review of Missions, January, 1912, p. 90. Selfishness is the source of all evils, but Christianity teaches love as the first thing. God is Love ; Christ, who hung upon the cross, is the embodiment of love ; we human beings are all brothers, and to us the one great commandment of life is love to God and to each other. If we love our neighbour as we do ourselves, all the social problems of the world will be easily solved. — Gunpei Yamamuro, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 298. IX THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES THE enduring, life-giving things which shall never pass away, are the words of Jesus. He said : " In secret spake I nothing." His Gospel is for every man. It is a public Gospel with a breadth as wide as the race, and a reach beyond the limits of time. All that the Gospel requires is hearers in an open field, who are not prejudiced by the fanaticism of false teach- ers or intimidated by the sword. The victory of the Gospel is assured in any land if once the people have a chance to turn their attention to the Cross and know its message of love to human depravity and of salvation by grace. Though the masses in Japan are still unacquainted with Christianity, yet the proportion in high circles who respect it or are obedient to its precepts is strikingly large. The former wife of Prince Katsura, who was thrice Prime Minister, was a member of the Congrega- tional Church. The wife and mother of Baron Goto, an ex-Cabinet minister, are church members. Judge Noboru Watanabe, head of the Supreme Court in Korea, is a Christian. Admiral Uryu, who opened the war with Russia, was educated at Annapolis and joined the church when living in New Haven. In 1908, out of three hun- dred and eighty members of the Japanese House of Representatives, fourteen were Christians. For some years before the death of Prince Ito, his private secre- tary was a Christian. Even from the very first, the influence of Christianity upon the Japanese Government has been more than is generally known. The Iwakura Embassy of 1872, which 245 S46 THE KINGDOM had much to do in shaping Japan, was launched by a missionary. At Washington the embassy picked up Nee- sima as an interpreter. Kinkichi Kataoka, a member of the embassy, served as President of Japan's Lower House of Parhament for six years, and was a most devout Christian. The noted Imperial oath was drafted by Yuri Kosei, who was a disciple of Yokoi Shonan, whose pro- nounced Christian views cost him his life. Many of the middle classes and but few of the common people have entered the church. One of the chief reasons is his- torical in its origin. For more than two hundred and fifty years the people were taught that Christianity was the synonym of all evil and to accept it was a treasonable act always punished by death. The removal of mis- conceptions about Christianity which were promulgated under the Shogunate must necessarily be slow in a land where the people are intensely patriotic and manifest a unique loyalty to the Imperial House.* In a country town the chief man gave us permission for holding preaching services provided we said nothing against the Imperial decrees. From the day that the multitudes of Japan, who are composed of fishers, farm- ers, and artisans, are convinced that Christianity is not anti-governmental, there will be an unparalleled triumph of the Cross. The converts, as a whole, are poor in this world's goods and many of them have but the rudiments of an * The reverence of the Japanese for their Emperor, and the sanctity with which his person is regarded, probably surpasses that of any other nation in the Twentieth Century. I have never heard but one Japanese say in public that he hoped that the Emperor would become a Christian. But once have I ever heard a missionary in public speak of the Emperor's conversion. He had grown grey in missionary service, and before a large audi- ence of Japanese he said : " I am determined to pray for the Emperor's conversion as long as I live. And should I live to see it, like Simeon I would say, ' Now, Lord, lettest thy servant depart in peace.' " THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES 247 education. Most of them are lacking in the experience which makes for world success and are without the influ- ence which goes with authority and age. During the Civil War, the enrollment of Union soldiers was 2,778,- 309, counting re-enlistments. It was the young who dared break from home and abandon the pursuit of wealth and pleasure; 2,000,000 of this number were under 21 at the time they took up arms and 884,891 were 16 years of age.* Any visitors to the Church of Japan, be they in the country or city, will be impressed with the fact that it is the young who have dared break away from custom and tradition and resist the protest of priest and relative. It must not be forgotten that the converts who are organizing into churches and struggling to support their pastors, live, in many instances, in communities which are opposed and sometimes hostile to the Cross. The wonder is that they hold out against petty persecution and win the respect of their opponents. The Christian in the home lands has every advantage of the well- organized Church, the advantage of a voluminous Chris- tian literature, the lifting power of lectures, Chautauquas, and conventions. When we consider the lack of these helps on the mission fields, it is a marvel that the con- verts, so lacking in knowledge, are so rich in faith and that the churches, many of which are no larger than a Sunday School class at home, accomplish so much. Japanese Christians reverence the House of God. They always bow their heads for a short prayer when entering the church and always sit after the benediction for an instant of silent prayer. To be a Christian means to abandon all intoxicants, and the use of tobacco is gen- erally condemned. Christmas time and Flower Day in May or June are occasions when the churches are over- crowded by the friends and relatives of the children of the Sunday Schools. Originality and independence * Youth's Companion. 248 THE KINGDOM crop out on every hand. A Japanese who drew fourteen pictures representing the Good Samaritan, sketched the wounded man as a Japanese, the Good Samaritan as a Chinaman, and the priest as a Shintoist, and the Levite as a Buddhist. The experiences of the Christians have often impressed me with the oneness of the race and the universality of the Gospel. A man who became a Christian said, " The sense of sin led me to Christ, but it was the mutual love and sympathy of Christians that led me into the Church." Another wrote, " The love of God seemed to me something to be specially grateful for. As I was educated a strict Shintoist, the idea that God should love men was new and strange to me." * A Christian boy wrote his spiritual father : " You may congratulate me on my marriage. My home I know will be very humble, but I pray that from it may go a ceaseless influ- ence for Christ and for the redemption of my people." f An aged Christian, dying of cancer, said : " I have fin- ished all my work. I am ready to go and waiting for God's call, but I am glad to wait and pray." The good works of the converts and the churches have a genuine Christian stamp. A young brewer who was won to Christ sold his brewery, but there was left on his hands a lot of casks filled with native beer. After a little reflection, he removed the stoppers and emptied the liquor into the gutter.^ A millionaire money lender of Osaka, who went by the endearing name of " Satan," was all but killed by a thief. A church near by prayed for his conversion and sent messengers to console him and win him to the faith. In his statement at his bap- tism he said : " The people of Japan must have a religion, and they are beginning to find, as I have done, that * Selected from an article by Albertus Pieters, Japan Evati' gelist, April, 1912. t " World Wide Evangelization," p. 389. i London Conference, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 297, 299. THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES 249 Christians live up to their professions. They have good habits and perform good deeds." * Tomijiro Kobayashi, the originator of Lion Tooth Powder, always carried a New Testament in his pocket after his conversion. He gave away a hundred thousand dollars in public gifts, besides many private donations to the Church and to the poor.f It is worth a journey across the Pacific to visit some of the self-supporting and entirely independent churches in Japan. Twenty-two per cent of the organized churches are wholly self-supporting and sixty-seven are partly self- supporting. A visitor to the church where Tsuneteru Miyagawa preaches, in Osaka, will find not only a live church but a flourishing Sunday School, which meets in a specially erected Sunday School building. I can never forget a visit to the Ginza Methodist Church near Hibiya Park. The pastor said during his sermon : " The burden of our preaching has been the revelation of the Father. Henceforth we must exalt Christ : Christ the Heart of our religion, Christ our moral exemplar, Christ our Saviour, Christ the Son of God." At the close of the sermon they sang " Rescue the perishing." Then a member of Parliament arose and said he was sure of the victory of Christianity in Japan and hoped that they could soon crowd the church with Christians." The churches which are independent and striving for self-support have shown a sacrificing spirit and a will- ingness to give. Especially have the pastors of such churches shown fortitude and faith. I know of two churches which in gratitude to their pastors have paid all their expenses in a journey around the world. I know of a little Presbyterian church which struggled to buy a building lot. The lot cost $1,300. An officer, the rich- est man in the congregation, who had a sum total of $2,500, gave $400 towards buying the lot. I know of * George Alchin, Japan Evangelist, April, 1909, p. 146. t H. Loomis, Japan Evangelist, April, 1909, p. 158. 250 THE KINGDOM a Japanese farmer, a member of a weak little church, who pays the pastor's entire salary. The growing output of Christian literature emanating from Japanese sources is a tribute to the intellectual ability of Christian leaders. Such institutions as the Okayama Orphanage, the Doshisha, the Bible School established by Masashisa Uemura, and the Middle School maintained by Soroku Ebara are striking evidences both of consecration, intellectual power, and executive force. " No education is complete without the training of man's spiritual nature. No manhood can be symmetrically de- veloped apart from religious ideas." These words, ut- tered by a Japanese educator, ring true to our own ideas. The churches which have been established have re-* spected the doctrines and church government of the mother churches which sent forth the missionaries, but there is no slaving conformity to foreign models or dic- tation. Most of the churches have joined in a " Federa- tion of Protestant Christian Denominations in Japan." In the past, many problems have grown out of the rela- tions of the missionary to the Japanese preachers and churches. In some cases a little friction has been unavoidable. On the whole, the policy of missionary co-operation with the Japanese has reached a settled state in which, along- side efficient Japanese churches, the missionary has his place as an educator, a pioneer evangelist, an adviser, helper, and soul-winner. The resources and strength of the Japanese churches of necessity are expended in the home field. However, they have sent a few of their evangelists as missionaries to Formosa, Korea, Man- churia, and Hawaii. Besides the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, there are four well-organized Japanese Churches which have become a power in the land. They are affiliated with the Anglican, Methodist, Congrega- tional, and Presbyterian bodies. The Holy Japanese church (Nihon Sei Kyokwai) be- THE CONVERTS AND THE CHURCHES 251 came an organized body when, in 1887, the foreign mis- sionaries of the American Episcopal Church and those of the EngHsh S. P. G. and C. M. S., with their baptized Japanese converts, were organized into one body. There are seven bishops, all of whom are foreigners, and about eighty Japanese and an equal number of foreign clergy. Just as soon as it is possible to replace the foreigners, this church will become entirely Japanese automatically. The present law is that when twelve self-supporting churches in a district desire it, a Japanese will be consecrated bishop for them. The Japan Methodist Oiurch was formed by the union of the evangelistic work in Japan representing the mis- sions of the Methodist Church in Canada, the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It was after the Russo-Japanese War that the Japanese members of these three churches peti- tioned for a union of Methodists. The several General Conferences of the home churches consented and sent two commissioners to Japan from each denomination. A General Conference was held in Tokyo, in 1907, which organized and set in motion the new church. A disci- pline was prepared and all the necessary boards and commissions were established.* The Congregational Church is one of the largest and most influential in Japan. From the first, the spirit of independence and self-support has been strong. By 1890, out of sixty churches, forty-two were self-support- ing. A home missionary society was founded in 1878. The large contributions and church membership of this body is partly due to the eminent leaders which came out of the " Kumamoto Band " and partly due to the policy of the American Board, enriched by a century of experience. * At this conference, by an almost unanimous choice, Yoitsu Honda was consecrated the first bishop. After his death, Yoshi- yasu Hiraiwa was chosen as his successor. 252 THE KINGDOM The Church of Christ in Japan (Nihon Christo Kyo- kwai) was organized in 1877. From the beginning it has been ecclesiastically entirely independent of any for- eign church. It is Presbyterian in its polity and has a Synod comprising seven presbyteries, extending from the Hokaido to Manchuria and Formosa. The Church has a Board of Missions, which carries on evangelistic work and helps congregations to become self-supporting. The Church has a simple evangelical Confession of Faith, and it is a member of the Alliance of Presbyterian and Re- formed Churches. The Church leads in contributions for evangelistic work and the Church membership is the largest of any Protestant body. SOME PROMINENT JAPANESE CHRISTIANS We are hated by magistrates and priests, but we have planted the standard of truth here and will never more retreat.— Joseph Hardy Neesima. Each man is born a hero and an oracle to somebody, and to that person whatever he says has an enhanced value. — Emerson. The greatest need of present Japan is said to be an economic development, but the basis of economic development is con- fidence and confidence will only come as the fruit of moral and religious education, based upon Christianity. — Soroku Ebara, a Member of the House of Peers. n a man will climb higher than his fellows he must expect to be sometimes solitary; his reward is the ever-widening view, though the path be rougher and the air more biting than in the lower altitude. — John M. Tyler, " The Whence and Whither of Man," p. 200. I have a Japanese friend and brother-minister who shames me every time I met him by the books he reads and the mental progress he is making. He gets only thirty-five yen a month from his church, and he does not get that. His library is only a small fraction of mine, but in quality it is superior. — J. G. DuNLOP, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 355. Every great personality reveals a part of what it is only when seen in those it influences. The more powerful a personality a man possesses and the more he takes hold of the inner life of others, the less can the sum total of what he is be known by what he says himself and does. — Professor Harnack, quoted in " Modern Discipleship and What It Means," p. 42^ It may be easy to show the reasonableness of Christianity, but to instil true Christian spirit into the heart of the people is not an easy task. We can show them more easily the folly of other religions, but to build up a true Christian church requires a long time. As it was in the time of the apostles and prophets, so it will be in Japan, that except a certain grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it abideth by itself alone. Unless a great many precious lives shall be spent in this difficult and great work, we cannot hope much for its results. — Hiromichi Kozaki, " The World's Congress of Religions," p. 237. X SOME PROMINENT JAPANESE CHRISTIANS THE first women who left Japan for a foreign country were five girls who reached the United States in 1872. They were sent in company with the Iwakura Embassy; their ages ranging from seven to sixteen years. Miss Ume Tsuda, who was the young- est,* took a special course at Bryn Mawr College. For some years after returning to her native land she taught in the School for Noble Girls. But she felt that she had a larger mission, and so she borrowed $250, rented a little house, and started an English school for girls. She opened with twelve day scholars and three boarders, and used her bedroom, parlour, and dining-room for recita- tion rooms. Miss Tsuda's success is the old story of vision, faith, and audacity. Her school to-day, known as the Women's English Institute, is crowded to its utmost capacity and has a plant valued at sixty thousand dollars. f Her graduates who teach English in governmental Normal Schools are accepted without examination. Miss Tsuda was born in Tokyo and is a member of the Epis- copalian Church. As she has spent about fifteen years of her life in the United States, her English is faultless. She is cheerful, enthusiastic, and energetic. But the secret of her life is her willingness to sacrifice, as all *The other girls were, Ryo Yoshimasu, Tei Ueda, Stemazu Yamakawa, who studied at Vassar, became a Christian and is now Princess Oyama, the wife of the noted general; Shige Nagai, who took the musical course at Vassar, became a Christian and is now Baroness Uryu. t From the first, Miss Tsuda had a friend, Miss Alice Bacon, author of "Japanese Girls and Women," who believed in her, encouraged her, and helped in her school. 255 256 THE KINGDOM who know her and the inside history of her school can testify. At what seems in Japanese eyes the extremely ad- vanced age of eighty, Mrs. Kaji Yajima, known as the Frances E. Willard of Japan, is the efficient principal of the Joshi Gakuin, a Presbyterian school for girls, and is also honoured head of the Japan Women's Christian Temperance Union. From the date of the founding of the society, about twenty-five years ago, Mrs. Yajima has divided her time between school duties and the pro- moting of the W. C. T. U. She recently presented the mayor of Tokyo a petition against the Yoshiwara sys- tem, signed by ten thousand names which she had se- cured herself. She was won to the Christian faith by her association with Mrs. M. T. True, while eng'aged as a teacher in Graham Seminary. Mrs. Yajima, who was born in Kumamoto Province, comes from a good family, who bore the name of Tokutomi. Intellectual capacity so marked in her long and useful life is likewise exhibited by two of her brothers, one of whom is a noted author and another a prominent editor. In 1906, by invitation, she attended the World's W. C. T. U. convention in Boston. She has shown her people that a woman with a noble purpose can find a career for herself outside the limitations of the home circle.* One of the most remarkable men of Japan is Juji Ishii. He is a man of great faith, great works, and great love. He was born April 7, 1865, ^t Takanabe, on the island of Kyushu. For a time he held to the Catholic faith, but afterwards joined the Congregational Church at Okayama. He was by nature kindly and benevolent. George Muller visited Japan in 1886, and reports of his orphanage at Bristol helped Mr. Ishii to decide to devote his life to saving children. At this time he was within four months of graduation as a medical student, but he gave up his school and burned some of his medical * See Japan Evangelist, January, 1913, p. 28, PROMINENT JAPANESE CHRISTIANS 257 books that he might not be tempted to neglect his God- given work. His first orphan was a boy of eight years, named Sadaichi Maebara, whom he rescued from beg- gary. Three months later, in the fall of 1887, he rented a part of a Buddhist temple, into which he moved with his family and two other orphans, a girl of three and a boy of five, whose parents had died of cholera.* To-day his faith and his orphanage, known all over Japan, is an eloquent testimony of the power of the living Christ. At one time he had as many as twelve hundred children under his care, and he has never refused a needy appli- cant. He has adopted the cottage system, and for the cultivation of independence and self-support maintains a farm of seven hundred acres, and a printing plant in the city of Osaka. Gumpei Yamamuro, the Japanese leader of the Salva- tion Army, was born August 7, 1872, in Okayama Prov- ince. He had a good mother who, though unacquainted with Christianity, prayed to her gods that her son might be a good man. As eggs were a luxury enjoyed only by the rich in her community, she made a vow never to eat eggs as long as she lived that her son might become a blessing. At the age of fourteen he came to Tokyo and a little later was converted by hearing the street preaching of some students. Though busily en- gaged as a printer, he became a soul-winner from the start and devoted many nights to preaching on the street. Hearing of Neesima and his school, he decided to go to Kyoto for an education. Though he had no funds, he reasoned that God was able to care for him. A fellow- student by the name of Seitaro Yoshida, poor like him- *The Rev. J. H. Pettee, D.D., was almost from the first Mr. Ishii's counsellor and helper in this work, as also the channel through whom contributions from foreign friends helped in pro- viding the institution with buildings and funds for other pur- poses.— Otis Carey, *' History of Christianity in Jaj)an," Vol. II, p. 197. 258 THE KINGDOM self, befriended him and went to self-denying extremes to assist his friend, Yamamuro, who nevertheless at times was compelled to subsist on water and sweet pota- toes. While in Kyoto he learned of the Salvation Army through " In Darkest England and the Way Out." The movement appealed to him as the best organization for reaching the common people. He became one of the first cadets and ever since has stood as the champion of the poor, a zealous pleader for Christianity and an inde- fatigable worker for purity and righteousness.* Yugoro Chiba was born at Sendai, 1870. After grad- uating from several schools in Japan, he went to the United States and completed his education at Colby College, Maine, and Rochester Theological Seminary. After returning to Japan, he taught in Duncan Academy, Tokyo, previous to his service as dean of the Girls' School at Doshisha. From 1903 to 1910, he spent in the Island of Kyushu, where he laboured as a general evan- gelist and editor, and afterwards as President of Fukuoka Theological Seminary. The last few years he has spent in Tokyo as Dean of the Japan Baptist Theological Seminary. In the field of literature he has published a book called " The Social Teachings of Jesus," and is now bringing out a volume on " Systematic Theology." In 1910, he represented the Baptists of Japan at the Edin- burgh Missionary Conference. In 191 1, he made another trip to Europe as a representative of the Japan Y. M. C. A. He has the degree of Doctor of Laws, conferred upon him by Mississippi College. Mr. Chiba's solid worth and well-balanced life have been fully demon- strated as a preacher, teacher, and writer. Kakujiro Ishikawa was born at Ashikaga, Tochiji Province, in 1867. After his education in Tokyo, he went to the United States and attended University Col- lege in San Francisco. While a student in the city he was baptized by M. J. Furgerson, and became identified * See Japan Evangelist, December, 191 2, p. 592. PROMINENT JAPANESE CHRISTIANS 259 with the Disciples of Christ. For a time he taught in an English night school, maintained by the ladies of the Twelfth Street Christian Church. After a course in the Ohio State University, where he made a specialty of English, he returned to Tokyo and taught for a time in Waseda University. During his employment in the No- ble's College, he received the rank of Jiirokui from the Imperial Household department, for meritorious service as a teacher of English. At the founding of Drake Bible College and Middle School, sustained by his church at Takinogawa, Tokyo, he resigned his position in the Noble's College and became President of the Boys' School and teacher in the Theological Department. During the Centennial Convention of the Disciples in Pittsburgh, in 1909, he was in attendance by invitation and spoke in many of the churches of the Central States. His services have been invaluable as a leader and teacher in the estab- lishment of the school known as Sei Gakuin. He is a teacher of ability, an earnest preacher, and a wise coun- sellor. Joseph Sakunoshin Motoda * was born February 22, 1862, at Kurume, Kyushu. Twenty years later, for the sake of an English education, he entered Saint Timothy's School, Osaka. After some months of careful study of Christianity, he was baptized by the head of the school, Theodosius S. Tyng. From the very first he showed the qualities of leadership and won many of his fellow- students to Christ. Previous to his departure for America in 1886, he served as a catechist of the Episcopal Church and determined to enter the ministry. In the United States he received the degree of M.A. from the Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, and later on, the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He spent a year at Columbia, working in touch with the Charity Organ- ization Society of New York City. Since his return *The author's sketch is based upon an article written by J. Armistead Wilbourn, in the Japan Evangelist for March, 1913. 260 THE KINGDOM to Japan in 1896, he has served as Head Master of St. Paul's College in Tokyo. He is a leader in his own church, a prominent representative of Christianity, and a man of influence in governmental circles. He has, on various occasions;, journeyed to America, India, China, and all parts of the Japanese Empire. He is an able public speaker in English and Japanese and an author of Japanese books. Takeshi Ukai was born at Matsue, Shimane Province, in 1865. After attending school in Tokyo, he went to San Francisco in 1885, and the following year was bap- tized by Dr. F. J. Masters. After his call to the ministry, he spent a year and a half in Hawaii as an evangelist among his countrymen. He then returned to America and spent five years at Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, where he graduated with honour in 1894. The following year he returned to Japan. He is an illustri- ous example of what a Japanese pastor of ability and faith can do. He is now serving his third pastorate at the Giza Methodist Church in Tokyo. The artistic church building is modern in every respect and is a fitting monument to the energy and good judgment of Mr. Ukai. For two years he served as general secretary of the Sunday School Association and travelled through- out the islands of Japan, holding institutes and arousing enthusiasm. During a short pastorate at Kamakura, he built the " Gibson Memorial Church." " He is affable in manner, painstaking in business, and always deeply interested in the welfare of others, especially the mem- bers of his own flock." * Hiromichi Kozaki was born in the city of Kumamoto, in 1856. After the persecutions which broke out against Captain Janes and his noted band of Christians, he joined the band and was one of the class who entered the college at Doshisha. After graduation, he served as * Julius Soper's sketch of Mr. Ukai in the " Children of Japan for Christ and the Church." PROMINENT JAPANESE CHRISTIANS 261 a minister in Tokyo, where he founded the Congrega- tional Church at Reinanzaka, in 1879, ^^^ the Bancho Church, in 1886. Following the death of Neesima, he was for seven years President of Doshisha. After de- voting two years to evangelistic work, he returned, in 1899, to the Reinanzaka Church, where he has laboured up to the present time. There are five hundred and thirty names on the roll, and about half of the number reside in Tokyo. Among the members are three members of Parliament, several government officials and directors of corporations. At the Parliament of Religions in Chi- cago, in 1893, Mr. Kozaki was Japan's only Christian representative. At the same Parliament, six Buddhists and one Shintoist, dressed in their priestly robes, spoke for the dying religions of Japan. In 1879, in company with others, he had part in the organization of the first branch of the Y. M. C. A. in Japan, in the city of Tokyo. It was he that coined the word Seinenkai, by which name the Y. M. C. A. is known in Japan. He is a clear thinker, an able essayist, and an author of many books on Christianity.* In 1906, he made an extended tour of the Pacific Coast, speaking to Japanese from Van- couver to San Diego. He is the honoured head of the Sunday School Association of Japan, and was sent by the Association to the Convention at Zurich, Switzerland. Kajinosuke Ibuka was born on the fourth of July, 1854, at Wakamatsu. His father was a soldier of rank, who served as a colonel during the War of the Restora- tion, during which the entire family was shut up within the besieged castle of Wakamatsu. After the fall of * Mr. Kozaki has published many valuable books, and stands to the forefront as a defender of the faith. Among his pub- lications are : " The Essential Nature of Christ," " Religion and Politics," " Reasons for Faith," " Religion and Morality," " The Resurrection of Jesus Christ," " The State and Religion," " Christianity and Our Constitution," which is a defence against the charges of Prof. Hiroyuki Kato, an agnostic and a pro- noimccd enemy of Christianity. 262 THE KINGDOM the castle, young Ibuka went to Yokohama and entered a Government school, where he met Dr. S. R. Brown. It was through him that he was led into the Church, and was baptized by him in January, 1873. Those were the days when timid spirits fell through the sieve of perse- cution, and only a few rock-like characters were bold enough to stand out publicly and alone. In 1878, he was ordained a minister, after graduation from the Union Theological School in Tokyo, maintained by the churches of the Presbyterian faith. In 1890, he went to America for study at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Owing to the resignation of Dr. J. C. Hepburn, he returned to Tokyo to become the president of the school known as Meiji Gakuin, which position he has uninterruptedly occupied since 1891. The fol- lowing year Rutgers College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. As a public speaker in the English language few Japanese are his equal. He has had connection with many national and international movements and has made several trips to America and Europe, the last one being as a delegate to the World's Sunday School Convention at Zurich. XI SOME INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES If there were only one Christian in the world and he worked for a year and won a friend to Christ, and these two continued to win each year another, and every man thus brought in the Kingdom led another every year, in thirty-one years every person in the world would be won for Christ. — Japan Evangelist, March, 1903. A traveller once came into my study in Japan, pulled out his notebook, and said : " Now tell me all about our mission work in five minutes." He had been four weeks in Japan seeing the sights, and had failed to present up to that time his letter of introduction. He was to sail the next day. I declined the task and advised him to sail without the information — J. O. Spencer, " World Wide Evangelization," p. 387. Who is a missionary? He who hears the Saviour's last command, " Go into all the world, the Gospel preach And all I have commanded you, go teach — And so disciples make in every land," And hearing this, tho' it demand The giving up of home and love and native land, The breaking of all ties men hold most dear — " Thy will be done," he says, " and tho' the way is drear, God will give strength and love and cheer — I go, — and trust all to His guiding hand." Who is a missionary? He whose eyes, Hke Christ's, gaze on the whitened field — Who sees the dearth of workers to reap the priceless yield; Who feels the need of haste, for life at most is brief; And these we meet to-day, to-morrow may be beyond relief. Ah ! Shall there be to-morrow for us here, who can say? " The night is fast approaching," work to-day— and pray ! Mrs. Maude W. Madden. XI SOME INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES BEFORE the electric street-car line had been laid from Tokyo to Yokohama, a short line had been in operation between Omori and Kawasaki sta- tions. As these stations were already connected by rail- way, there was no apparent reason why the street cars should be crowded and at times overflowing. The line wound its way lazily in and out among the rice fields, but the reason remained a mystery to me, until one day I boarded the line for an investigation. The electric car carried me toward the sea, where stood a stately temple dedicated to the god Daishi. The mystery was thus solved. Pilgrims came here to worship in such numbers that a street-car line had been built on their account and it was paying good dividends. That day I learned that electricity can be as useful for idolatry as Christianity. Since then, I have seen temple compounds lighted by electricity, others roofed with zinc and slate, still others built exactly like our churches. In west Japan the Bud- dhist priests have drawn pictures upon the temple walls, illustrating the experiences of the Prodigal Son, and they tell the story as a Buddhistic gem. Thus we have Western invention, Western church methods, and even portions of our Scriptures appropriated for bolstering and propagating idolatry. Back in 1871, a Japanese teacher, Einosuke Ichikawa, who had taught Dr. Greene and O. H. Gulick, was ar- rested at night. Both he and his wife were thrown into prison. He was suspected of leaning toward Chris- tianity, hence the Government spirited him away and he died the next year from his privations. The missionaries, 265 266 THE KINGDOM the American Consul, and Mr, De Long, the American Minister, made every search for him, but their efforts were in vain. The next year Prince Iwakura was in Washington urging a revision of treaties, but at the council board it was stated that the revisions desired could not be granted to a nation persecuting Christians. Persecution was denied, but as Mr. De Long was present, and cited the instance of the Ichikawas, Prince Iwakura could make no defence. Not many months afterwards, the edict boards against Christianity, which had stood throughout Japan for two hundred and fifty years, were removed. When the Ichikawas were thrown into prison, there was not a Japanese preacher, not a Japanese church building, nor even a single congregation in the Empire. A few years ago, at the Y, M. C. A. Auditorium in Tokyo, there was assembled an audience of four or five hundred Japanese Christians besides scores of Japanese ministers of the Gospel. A feeble old woman was led to the front of the platform and introduced. The whole audience arose and gave her the Chautauqua salute. She was none other than Mrs. Ichikawa, who had lived to see a better day — a day that she had scarcely dreamed possible when in her prison cell. For some time after the peace terms had been signed which closed the last war, General Kawamura remained at the front. The other generals had returned, as had most of the regiments which had guarded boundaries and communications. One day I found an immense crowd at Shimbashi (Tokyo) station, held within the lines by the police. I asked an official at the station what it all meant. He replied : " Have you not heard that General Kawamura returns to-day? He is the last to return from the front." I replied : " No, I have not heard it. Are the other generals out on the platform to greet him ? " To my surprise they were all there. A sudden impulse seized me to see these great generals of a great war. Their courage, their wisdom and power SOME INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES 267 might be contagious. I passed elegantly dressed ladies, ambassadors from different nations, military attaches, princes, and the nobility of the land. In a group by themselves stood Oyama, the general-in-chief ; near him was Nogi, who took Port Arthur; Kuroki, who chased the Russians from the Yalu, and the dashing Oku and Nodzu of Mukden fame. There they stood, the gallant and brave who had fought and won and yet had given to their Emperor the glory. Soon the special train whistled, and as it approached, the gaily dressed crowd rushed forward. Hats went off; everybody bowed and smiled; they gave him a royal welcome because he had returned — a hero, the last general from the seat of a great war. I did not join the crowd, for time and earth seemed to have sped away. The consummation of the age had come, and all nations were standing before the throne of God! Instead of broadcloth, swords, medals, and epaulets, angels in shining raiment were about the Lamb ; veterans, too, were there, who had fought and won on the side of the Lord. Martyrs were there also, and a noble band who had sown with tears beside all waters. And just as Japan's Imperial band burst forth in a tumultuous welcome, the only missionary there that day prayed that he and every other soldier of the Cross might be welcomed by the Great King as victor, and in the end receive a more royal welcome than General Kawamura received at the railway station. When we landed in Japan, not a Japanese was at the boat, but seven years later, when we departed for home, a crowd was at the station and a score or more journeyed with us for eighteen miles to Yokohama and stood on the great steamer's deck till the last gong was sounded to say their last and affectionate farewells. The scorner of missions, be he Japanese or American, never fails to assert that our converts are hirelings. But these true souls were not hirelings. They were as worthy and in- dependent as any who like to call themselves the chil- 268 THE KINGDOM dren of Dai Nippon. It was no formality, this parting on the boat. One lady came a journey of eighty miles. One man came from a city fifty miles away. He was in poor health and should not have made the journey. Like those of our own blood, they said their good-byes and wished us a speedy return. It was not easy to leave them, yet a new longing for home swelled up within our breasts as we lifted anchor at Honolulu and our liner began slowly to move out of the harbour for San Francisco. Just then the band was playing " Home, Sweet Home," and the Stars and Stripes were gracefully bending to the breeze. Gentlemen used their handkerchiefs freely and many a lady strewed pearly tears among the jewels of her necklace. Just as the band struck an air that mother had taught me when a boy, I threw formality to the winds, wiped my own eyes, and rejoiced that I was nearing my native land where people could laugh, cry, talk, write, buy, sell, marry, travel, free from all the tyranny of custom, police, or family supervision. One time when alone in Tokyo, I was visited by a Chinese student of some social standing in his own land. He was a graduated lieutenant and expected shortly to return to China. He carried a sword and over a beautiful suit ornamented with brass buttons, he wore a long, black cloak. It was not long until this fine look- ing Chinese was on his knees, begging to stay a few days in our home that he might see with his own eyes how foreigners actually lived. , I was amused at his importunity and admired his audacity. I tried to put him off by explaining that as my family was away he could see nothing of our real home life. However, his enthusiasm and persistence finally won the day and I admitted him to the best the house could afford. That evening as we knelt at worship there were one Japanese, one Chinese, and one American. We used the Japanese language, as that was the only one we all knew in common. SOME INCIDENTS AND EXPERIENCES 269 The Scripture selection was from the second chapter of Luke. The aged Simeon said : '' For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel," The words of Simeon had thus moved around the world, had bridged the centuries, and had suffered nothing from transla- tion and re-translation. According to prophecy, repre- sentatives of three great Gentile nations that night thought on the wonderful salvation which is coming so timely, so providentially as a light to lighten the whole Orient, Some months ago, a number of our missionaries and Japanese ministers joined in a strenuous campaign in a city near Tokyo. One night, about io:oo p.m., I walked down the street about two blocks to where the Buddhists were holding forth in a similar protracted effort. Be- sides their priests, they had a number of students from their own University in Tokyo. Their meetings were held in an open park adjoining our preaching-place. Two great paper lanterns and many smaller ones, cast a dim light over the audience. The priest who addressed the crowd was dressed in a magnificent silk robe. Bands of gold cloth hung over his shoulder. His talk was eloquent, smooth, and pleasing but he lacked earnestness. He was applauded by the auditors at the close of his address and they dispersed immediately as the lights were blown out. Our own preaching continued full blast at least a full half-hour after the Buddhists gave up for the night's rest. We had a larger crowd, electric lights, and a hall that was equally suited for rain or shine. But what impressed me most was the contrast between the speakers. The minister then speaking de- livered his message with a fiery zeal, with a surety of faith, and with a loving persuasion which certainly, gripped, if it did not convert the listeners. James H. Ballagh was the first missionary in Japan to be given a celebration for fifty years of service. The 270 THE KINGDOM celebration took place in Yokohama (1911), upon the site where the first church in Japan had been founded. On this occasion, in speaking of the growth of the Japanese Church, Julius Soper said : " I never dreamed that I would see with my eyes, or hear with my ears, the won- derful things that God hath wrought in Japan." When Mr. Soper came out, there were only a hundred and fifty Japanese believers in the entire Empire. D. C. Greene said, that when he came out as a young man years before, he had come " prepared to serve God for fifty years without seeing a single Christian." The snowy-haired patriarch, James Ballagh, with tears in his eyes, with trembling hand, and yet with form erect, and spirit exultant, stood before the audience * of five hun- dred Japanese Christians, some of whom he had baptized on the same day that the first church was organized in Japan, and said : " I would not trade my position for the Emperor's. I would not exchange my position for any other man's position in the wide world." Young reader, to whom God has given health, faith, education, and a talent to be of some use in the extension of the King- dom of Heaven, would you lay at the feet of the King at last a record that you had turned grass and corn into cattle and hogs, a record that you had turned gold into bonds and more gold, a record that you had turned brick and mortar into skyscrapers, or would you present a record that you had turned by your money or by your voice, many to the Lamb of God, and thus aided in turn- ing a mighty nation heavenward, Godward? * After the audience had been dismissed and dispersed, a dozen or so of the young men of the city, Christian men, emerged from a side room, captured Mr. Ballagh, and boosted him several times well into the air. Not one of them enjoyed the exercise more than the smiling, white-haired veteran. XII THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY Don't ever prophesy unless you know! — James Russell Lowell. Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. — Thomas Carlyle. We also dare to predict that by 2001 Shinto will have entirely disappeared as a religion. Buddhism will have lost its hold upon the people and Japan will have become practically a Chris- tian nation. — Ernest W. Clement, "A Handbook of Japan," p. 288. Upon the ephermal Is presses the eternal Ought. Behind this Ought presses the soldier of God, and under that pressure all things change, all things rise and fall — fall only to re-arise in a restless reaching for the ideal. — A Writer in the Cosmopolitan. Japan is on the highway to a Christian civilization. Her rapid advance calls for special thought. Her military power and in- creasing wealth will all come to naught without Him who is the Prince of Peace. Her call is the call of the race. — F. M. Rains. We Christians need accordingly to gird ourselves for the mighty struggle of the future. These are not indeed likely to be struggles of flesh and blood — of the sword and rack, but struggles of thought, of keen dialectical debate, with compact systems of theology and philosophy. — Sidney L. Gulick, The Christian Movement, 1910, p. 252. The missionary work of the world is a fundamental work, underneath all educational and all political advancement, and all humanitarian progress ; and the missionary thought is the living thought to-day in the best minds of Protestant Christen- dom; and we are to trust God for the future. — Dr. Richard S. Storrs, " Addresses on Foreign Missions," p. 29. An immoral nation goes under, sooner or later. But a nation, on the other hand, composed of vigorous, intelligent, healthy, and moral people — no matter how old its history or how enormous its heritage — stands, sure and steady, against every attack; noth- ing can destroy it. — Harold Begbie, " The Ordinary Man and the Extraordinary Thing," p. 49- XII THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY A THOUGHT is quicker than a beam of light and reaches farther. It is as penetrating and elusive as the ether. It would be easier to lift a globule of mercury with a pair of tongs than to uproot an idea that has once commended itself to the intelligence and affections of a people. It would be a strange result that a nation which has taken the sun as its national ensign should finally reject the Son of moral and spiritual light. In contemplating the future of Christianity in any land, the superhuman element must never be forgotten. When the time came for Christianity to spread among the Gentiles, God chose Paul. When the time came to break from mediaeval superstitions, God sent Luther. When the time came to make the last grand advance, God thrust forth William Carey. And so we can " be of good cheer," for our Lord has " overcome the world." " Behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own." When looking toward the future, it is encouraging to recall the providences of the past. Every advance in the government of Japan has been a blessing for the cause of Christianity. Missionaries and Japanese Chris- tian workers owe a great debt of gratitude to those Japanese patriots who have devoted their genius and shed their blood for their country and for the right, who, in a sense, have become martyrs for the Kingdom 273 ^74 THE KINGDOM of Heaven. Prince Iwakura was blamed for the removal of the signboards against Christianity and barely escaped assassination by jumping into a moat in the darkness. Count Okuma had his limb torn off by a bomb. Lord li Kamon, who negotiated with Admiral Perry, was killed, and Yokoi Shonan, who pleaded for the toleration of the Christian faith, was slain, and so was his friend, Sakuma Shozan.* The Church, therefore, outside of itself, has a most valuable asset for all future contin- gencies in the inborn sense of justice and right, and the fearless abandon for its defence and execution in the hearts of a host of Japanese, whether Christian or non- Christian. A fraction multiplied by a fraction gives a disappoint- ing result. Fractional and imperfect men cannot be lifted and inspired by fractional men. More men are needed whose capacities run up to the thousandth place, — men like Stephen, who made a commotion in Jerusa- lem; like Paul, whose zeal was greater than the shores of the Mediterranean, who was at home before bar- barians, philosophers, and the courtiers of kings. Owing to conservatism and the rising tide of nationalism, it is probably a blessing that so far no towering champion of the faith has been born, or at least has not appeared among the Japanese. Great, good, and brilliant men the Japanese Church has produced, but not a commanding genius like their own Kobodaishi, a Nichiren, or a Ninomiya Sontoku. Japan needs a central Christian University; she needs an additional force of hundreds of Japanese preachers and foreign missionaries; but more than these she needs a great Christian champion, * " I have ever been an advocate of allowing foreigners to own land in Japan. Some years ago when the excitement over this question ran high, my advocacy of this policy was the cause of a bomb being thrown into my carriage, which so shat- tered my leg as to lead to its amputation." — Count Okuma, North American Review, February, 1905. THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY 275 as fearless and irrepressible as a Tolstoi, as zealous and as devout as a John Wesley, with the intellect and culture of a Calvin or an Alexander Campbell. That such a man will soon appear, there can be no doubt; and such a man's work must always be considered as a great gain in bending the balance of future measurements. One great difficulty in making a forecast of the future is a characteristic of the Japanese. They do not move singly so much as they move together. The current of their life does not flow steadily as a stream, but like as a dam gathers for days and then breaks in a mighty rush ; so these quiet citizens of the Island Empire of the Pacific wait and wait and gather their spiritual or political forces into the mass, and then they hurl it forward with an enthusiasm and momentum which is irresistible. So far the Church has been gaining converts singly; but the dam of conservatism, of prejudice, and of national- ism, which is suppressing a host of souls, will some day break, and then, and not till then, can the true story of the work of fifty years of Christian missions be told. Jesus said : " Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." Few who have lived among the Japanese will mention docility as a prominent characteristic. And what docility there was is buried under an avalanche of world success, trampled under by the struggle for riches, the struggle for bread, and all but forgotten in the search for happiness and worldly wisdom. And yet their discerning minds and aesthetic tastes, bent on " seeking goodly pearls," will some day find " one pearl of great price," and in that day no people will make a more sweeping surrender that they may buy it. In measuring the advancement or computing the probable spiritual growth of any people, it must not be forgotten that all psychical changes come slowly. Any man can change his clothes and ornament himself with a red necktie and a stand-up collar at pleasure. The 276 THE KINGDOM same man may know the woes of the drunkard, yet it may be a lifelong struggle to gain the mastery over his appetite, or to hold a violent temper in check. If, there- fore, the growth of an individual be slow with every advantage of Christian surroundings, we should not ex pect too much of millions of individuals who live in an atmosphere where the rays of Christian influence have just begun to penetrate. In America and England, the press, the pulpit, the school are powerful factors in influencing public opinion and public morality. In Japan, the press as a whole deals fairly with Christianity, but of course it could not be called Christian. As to the pulpit, Christian speakers are in such a small minority that idolatrous priests all but monopolize everything that enters the nation's heart. As to the school, we have a similar situation. The teachers, if not zealous Shintoists or Buddhists, are either Confucianists or pronouncedly agnostic, and, as a whole, have been opposed to Christianity. In Japan there is a fourth organ of influencing public opinion, and that is the Government through its various departments. The Department of Education in many ways during the past has shown an unfriendly attitude to Christianity, and in the last few years the army and navy have shown hostility to Christianity, notwithstand- ing the fact that both in the war with China and the war with Russia, Christian soldiers, sailors, and officers have stood at the front in deeds of heroism and loyalty to their country. For some years to come, the Govern- ment in Japan will be a stronger factor in determining the spread of Christianity than the press, the school, or the advocates of religion. This is because the press is not entirely free, because all schools are subject to the control of the central Government, and the Government likewise has supervision over many details pertaining to priests and temples, while Christian churches and work- ers, so far, are given little consideration. THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY 277 Now that Korea has become a part of the Japanese Empire, Japan's Christianization is related to the status of Christianity in Korea. The world-famous Korean Conspiracy Trial has brought both Korean missionaries and Korean converts into prominence. In the summer of 1912, the District Court of Seoul tried 123 prisoners on a charge of attempt to kill the Governor General, Terauchi, and found 106 of them guilty. The prisoners, mostly from North Korea, said in open court that they were tortured to give the confessions upon which they were condemned, which confessions, if reliable, would implicate certain missionaries in the murder plot. Among the convicted were eminent Korean Christians, such as pastors, teachers, elders. The case was brought into the Appellate Court, which acquitted 99 of the prisoners and sentenced 6 of them to five and six years imprison- ment. One of the prisoners, who was sick, could not appear in the Appellate Court. In behalf of the six con- demned men, the case was carried to the Supreme Court, which annulled the judgment of the lower court and referred it back for retrial. Whether the courts finally convict, pardon, or acquit all the accused, the affair has been most lamentable. Perhaps no one circumstance in fifty years of mission history in the Orient has been so serious.* There are two important spots in the Japanese Empire. North Korea is most strategic and likewise vulnerable from the point of Imperial defence. Tokyo being the heart of the Empire, is the capital city, where any internal disorder would be most in evidence. In these two locations prudential reasons therefore urge that the missionaries and Christian converts be very wise, very blameless, very prayerful. The Church of the future will have a long contest * Of the 123 arrested, 86 were Presbyterians, 8 Methodists, 2 Congregationalists, i Roman Catholic, 22 of no religion, and 4 whose faith is unknown. 278 THE KINGDOM with the old faiths before they yield their hold or influ- ence upon the masses. Christianity will have to face not only the philosophies and the popular apologetics which have been developed in behalf of the ancient faiths, but in addition it will have to meet all the pet infidel theories of the modem Western world, with which Japanese priests have become familiar. Some time back I noticed the bookcase of a Buddhist graduate of Yale. It was filled with modern books on theology and phi- losophy. Among the rest were Ladd's " System of Phi- losophy," Paulsen's " Ethics," Fisher's " Church His- tory," and the Encyclopedia Britannica. The champions in this intellectual contest of the future will be the Japanese and not the missionaries. It is a hopeful sign that the Japanese Church has developed men of talent and faith who are able to contend for the faith in magazine, pamphlet, and book. There is some- thing grand — ^yes, awe-inspiring, about these self-sup- porting and independent churches which are appearing all over Japan. They are the foundations upon which God purposes to erect all the glorious superstructure of His Church in these islands. They are the centres, the dynamic centres from which will radiate the spiritual energies which will save and transform Japan. Though these churches are few in number and poor in this world's goods, it is no wonder that priests, satiated by luxurious living and surrounded by all the glittering trappings of idolatry — it is no wonder that they fear these Gideon bands and are apprehensive for the future. A Buddhist priest said recently : " We are in very great trouble and do not know what to do. Christianity has hitherto been without recognition and influence . . . but by the recent action of the Home Department, Christianity has been elevated to the top, and we must now hustle or we will be left without following or influence." A decade or more ago Japan was confident that she could get along without any religion. One statesman THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY 279 said : " I do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism which is almost universal in Japan." An editor said : " We do not need religion of any kind. What we want to insure a glorious future for our beloved coun- try are armies and navies, commerce, manufacture, and modern education with plenty of natural science in it." Such statements are no more openly advocated. Rather has religion come to be considered a necessary medicine for the cure of moral maladies. This decided swing to religion, even as an expedient or help for the state, is very encouraging. Christian workers now have an op- portunity for work which, if utilized in full, will affect the future materially. If the Church of Christ in Japan is given but a few more decades of tranquillity, freedom of speech, and even as much welcome and interest as is generally shown now, there will be little occasion for any one after these decades have passed to write a chapter on the future of Chris- tianity, for the thing hoped for will have come. In that day some Japanese Christian will say, as of old Tertullian said to a Roman official : " We are but of yes- terday and yet we have filled every place belonging to you, cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your very camps, your tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum — we leave you your temples only." PART FOUR THE OPPORTUNITY THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF JAPAN The place to bring power to bear is at the point where power can be most widely distributed; and surely so far as the Far East is concerned, Japan is that place.— John R. Mott, "The World Call to Men of To-day." Japan is the gateway of the Orient and is to-day exerting an influence upon China greater than the combined influence of all the European nations. Western civilization is likely to enter China through Japan.— William Jennings Bryan, "The Old World and Its Ways." Japan is peculiarly fitted to become, in mental and moral, no less than in material civilization, the mediator between the Oc- cident and the Orient. Whether we will or not, the words still ring in our ears: "Japan leading the Orient — but whither?" — Edinburgh Conference, 1910, Vol. I, p. 51. The situation in the whole Orient, in fact, constitutes one of the most splendid opportunities and at the same time one of the gravest crises in the whole history of the church. With every passing year the opportunity is slipping farther from her grasp. I make bold to say that her victory or defeat in Japan will largely determine the future of Christianity in the whole Far East. — Tasuku Harada, International Review of MissionSj January, 1912, p. 97. This earth too small. For love divine? Is God not infinite? If so, His love is Infinite. Too small ! I One famished babe meets pity oft from man More than an army slain ! Too small for love ! Was earth too small to be of God created? Why then too small to be redeemed? — Aubrey De Vere, quoted in " The Christian View of God and the World," p. 320. It is extremely desirable that American Christians should once more exercise the solicitude for the spiritual condition of this island empire that was so marked a feature of their attitude when the country was first opened up in the fifties and sixties. . . . That special effort should be put forth to make plain to missionary volunteers the urgent call to self-sacrificing service presented by the unevangelized millions of Japan — a call second to none other in the world. — Presbyterian Missionaries in Council, August, 1910. THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF JAPAN PORT ARTHUR is some thousands of miles from St. Petersburg, and, strictly speaking, always was outside the Russian Empire. However, its fall, more than any event in a hundred years, has changed the destiny of Russia. The citadel, compared to Russia's vast area, is inconsiderable, yet its hills and valleys are pregnant with power. The rocks of Port Arthur, though worthless to the miner or the farmer, are of priceless value from the point of strategy. There are multitudes in the home lands who are unconcerned as to the struggle now going on in the Orient between Christian and idola- trous forces. Japan is remote both from Europe and North America, the strongholds of Christianity. Both from the standpoint of population and area, Japan is small. However, Japan is the Port Arthur of Christen- dom. The Church cannot be indifferent to this strategic field. As the battle goes in Japan, so may the destiny of Christianity in eastern Asia for centuries be deter- mined. Japan, geographically, is strategically located. The an- cestors of the Japanese were not placed in the sands of the Sahara or the ice fields of Greenland, because God had a great mission for them to fulfil elsewhere. " The extent of the country is not large, while its soil is not particularly fertile and its natural resources not con- spicuously rich. And yet in wealth, in commerce, in manufacture, in science and literature, in military and naval matters ; in short, from whatever point of view you regard it, Great Britain occupies a unique and proud position in the world as the greatest of the European 283 284? THE OPPORTUNITY powers." With the change of a few words, what this writer said of England may be said of Japan and eastern Asia. But Japan lacks what England has had for cen- turies, and that is the power and influence of the Bible and the Church. The limited area for cultivation has driven the Japanese upon the high seas. Especially in the Far East, at such ports as Singapore, Hongkong, or Shanghai, scarcely a day passes that some Japanese ship does not enter or leave port. The expansion of the Japanese merchant marine is the outcome of natural and economic causes, but it is likewise indicative of power and intelligence. From either power or intelligence goes forth the author- ity and ability to influence others either for good or for evil. Japan's victory over Russia, her paternal government, her schools, her industries, and the fact that she is the only Asiatic state that has attained to world leadership, has given her a prominence and a preeminence which is acknowledged throughout all Asia. Asiatics from east to west praise her advancement. Many of them are studying the secrets of her achievements, and some are fearful of the power which she has attained. A mission- ary statesman of India said : " Formerly England and America influenced the thought of India more than any other nation. But now Japan takes precedence of any other country." And how will this tremendous force which Japan wields to-day in the eastern consciousness be directed? The bent, the sweep, the permanence, and the beneficence of that force will depend upon Japan's moral and religious foundations. The overmastering desire in Japan is to be abreast with the best. Her special commissions, her travellers, her students have searched the world over for the newest, the latest, and most useful. Consequently the industries, the commerce, the schools, and the social life have changed and are changing with the years. With the STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF JAPAN 285 reception of much that is good and serviceable, they have imported some things which cannot be counted as bless- ings. Among them may be mentioned the negations of materialistic thought, the carelessness which overturns old landmarks, and the vanity that all truth has been dis- covered and written in recent books. A writer,* speak- ing of the last few years, says : " It may also be com- pared to a seed-time in which all kinds of seed, good, bad, and indifferent, have been brought here and planted in such a way that for the present all are growing and all are yielding some fruit, each according to its kind. Still the harvest is only in its most incipient stages ; hence its ultimate yield can only be computed by the eye of faith." Nowhere else has modern learning entered an Oriental land to the extent that it has entered Japan. Here the traveller is seldom out of sight of a schoolhouse. Science and well-established laws of physics and psychology have brought about a growing doubt in the old religions. If Japan is to make an important and helpful impression upon Asia, she must acknowledge the overlordship of Him who is the Light of life. Unless there is a rapid and spirited advance of Christianity, the readjustment of idolatrous faiths to meet modern thought and the bolster- ing of nationalism so dominant in Japan, may seriously impede and long delay the final triumph of the Cross. Intelligent priests have not only visited China and Tibet in the interests of Buddhistic study and revival, but New York and London have furnished theoretical and prac- tical fields where the strength and weaknesses of Chris- tian churches could be investigated in order that the more vital features might be grafted into their temples. It may be remote, but there will come a day, notwith- standing the present diplomatic understandings of Japan with certain Western powers, when there will be a close drawing together of the nations of the East. Witness to-day the ties of friendship between England and the * J. M. T. Winther, Japan Evangelist, 1912. 286 THE OPPORTUNITY United States. It was not always so. Stronger than paper contracts is the tie based upon a common language, religion, similarity of custom, and identity of interest. To-day China may entertain certain fears of Japan, and for years to come they may not see eye to eye, but ulti- mately the similarity of literature, ethics, customs, and interests, — commercial and racial^ — make it reasonable that Japan and China should stand together. Japan got a good start in the race which leads toward modernization and will doubtless maintain her place in the lead. It will mean, therefore, much for the millions of Asia and Asia's relation with the rest of the world, if Japan's temples shall have become cathedrals of the most high God and if anthems of praise shall ascend to Him where once was heard the chant of priests and the mellow boom of temple bells. The East understands us better than we understand them. They have sat in the seat of the learned. They have most studiously investigated, experimented, and rummaged through all that pertains to our homes, our schools, our factories, our governments. We have not done the same in the East, because the West has not felt the need. We have been too busy and too satisfied with ourselves. Occidentals in the East run up against an all but insurmountable barrier in the language. There is neither occasion nor opportunity to enter the family circle of an Oriental. Secrecy and taciturnity are usually back of the politeness and courtesy shown the foreigner who travels or sojourns in the East. These conditions are reversed when the Oriental comes to study the West — the home life, the language, society, religion, and the engines of our power. In the final Christianization of the East, it can be best done by Orientals and must be done by Orientals. It will be an immense gain for the Cross when the day comes that any one Eastern nation is Christianized. It would be an incalculable gain if Japan should be the first. Some STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF JAPAN 287 nation is needed, and it must be an Oriental nation, to act as a medium, an interpreter, and a connecting link between the West and the East. There is no nation better fitted for this service than Japan, and in fact Japan is already rendering such a service in certain lines. If any one doubts this statement, let him look over the registrars of foreign students in Japan and let him take into account the Japanese teachers, editors, and special- ists who have already gone to the nations of eastern Asia. The strategic importance of Japan, therefore, is enhanced from the missionary's point of view, because Japan, be she Christian, un-Christian, or anti-Christian, is already affecting eastern Asia through this interchange of men in the intellectual world, not to speak of impressions made about Japan on the continent, through the medium of newspaper reports, books, and moving pictures. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, who could have por- trayed the expansion of the British Empire or the influ- ence of England upon the world? Within a few years there has been a great expansion of the Japanese Empire. The last twenty-five years have recorded a steady and rapid advance in the influence of Japan in the concert of world-power. Who shall say that Japan has reached the limit of her expansion or the maximum of her diplo- matic energy ? For the very reason that Japan's civil arm and commercial range have been extended over millions who are alien to her language and blood, it is important that she have a constructive religion of hope and moral perfection, both for herself and for lands acquired or leased under her sovereignty. Here lies Japan's weak- ness, whether looked at internally or externally. Unless she accepts Christianity, there is no other faith equal to the requirements. Religion is not an item of manu- facture. Though ingenious and clever, no Japanese will be able to patch up a substitute for the Cross. There is one very significant item which will count powerfully for the Christianization of Japan. For forty 288 THE OPPORTUNITY years Japan has had her face more toward the Occident than the Orient. There is no express purpose or secret intention of becoming Occidental. Such a thought was far from the plans of the statesmen at the dawn of the Meiji Era. But since the opening of the last era, a new generation has been born and matured. A second gen- eration has been born and is in the act of maturing. From these two generations there have come many who have parted with the sprites and ghosts of Japanese super- stitions. These have travelled and read enough to know much about Occidental weaknesses — the greed, the haste, the commercialism, and the pomp of militarism. And yet, though they constitute the minority, they have been keen enough to observe that our happy homes, the honour shown women, the care for child life, the optimism of youth, the prosperity of labourers, the opportunities for advancement open to every one, the songs of triumph and hymns of immortal hope are due to one great cause — the Nazarene. It, therefore, will not be a surprise if some day Japan finds that she has drifted westward further than she intended and in all humility cries, " Nazarene, thou hast conquered." Thousands in Japan, and among them are leaders of state, have come to the time when they are asking them- selves what shall we do with Jesus, " who is called Christ ? " Upon this decision hangs the peace, the tran- quillity, the life, the destiny of Japan. No non-Christian nation in the last thousand years has had a better oppor- tunity to accept Christ. Of the non-Christian nations, few if any could rise higher or be greater blessed by Christ's abundant life; and by rejecting Him not one would suffer more severely. These are momentous days for Japan. Japan, and not Christ, is on trial. The prize is so great and so much is involved in Japan's decision that the entire Christian world ought unitedly and inces- santly pray — God Save Japan. II THE WIDE-OPEN DOOR It is now, I believe, generally recognized that if Japan, in any true sense of the word, is to be Christianized in this generation, a very large increase in the force, both foreign and native, is an absolute prerequisite. — E. A. Van Dyke, Japan Evangelist, February, 1912. The moment which we are now living is a critical moment, or perhaps the most critical moment that has ever been in the history of the non-Christian races — most significant and weighty upon their fate and their future. — Ambassador Bryce, Men and Missions, November 18, 1909. In no country in the world is there given a freer hand in the propagation of any religion, the workers being fully pro- tected by the Constitution. In a country like Japan, where the state and people are governed by a spirit of nationalism, the principles of Christianity are most suited. It is to be hoped that missionaries will redouble their energies and zeal in pro- moting the welfare and happiness of the Japanese. — Kokumin Newspaper Editorial. Ye Christians o'er the sea, In homes where Christ is free Pray for Japan. Pray that her sons may stand For Christ a noble band, Pray for this favoured land, Pray for Japan. Pray for her liberty From dark idolatry, Pray for Japan. Pray that her daughters all May heed the Saviour's call ; Pray that her temples fall. Pray for Japan. Pray for Christ's love to win Power o'er this country's sin. Pray for Japan. Pray that her praise ascend To God, the nation's Friend, His mighty Word defend, Pray for Japan. — Mrs. Carme Hostetter Smeyser. II THE WIDE-OPEN DOOR FIFTY years ago there was not a single Japanese convert, not a church nor a school building; not a single hymn had been translated, nor had any portion of the Scriptures been published in Japan. A little band of missionaries, who were watched by gov- ernmental spies, were struggling with the language, and every conceivable hindrance and obstruction was laid in their way. Christianity was both hated and for- bidden. Prison and death threatened any one who should ever be found conversing or corresponding about Christianity. But with the passing of fifty years, what marvellous and sweeping changes have come. The atti- tude of the Government and of the people and of the priests of ancient religions have all changed. That all these changes should have taken place in the experience of a number who are still standard bearers in our midst is a matter for which we can but praise God and say, " What hath God wrought? " One of the most striking changes is the gradual re- moval of prejudice against Christianity. Men like Bryan, Torrey, Hall, Heinz, Brown, and Mott have been given ovations in various cities, and tens of thousands have listened to their full and frank statement of faith in the Nazarene. The college which Neesima founded was recently given the rank of a university. Eminent educators and officials were present. " Letters and tele- grams of congratulation were received from Prince Yamagata, Count Inouye, Count Okama, Viscount Uchida (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Prince Katsura, Count Matsukata, Baron Shibusawa." * In April, 1907, * H. Loomis, " The New Era in Japan,"' 291 292 THE OPPORTUNITY Japan had her first international convention of any char- acter. It was the conference of the World's Student Christian Federation. Special receptions were tendered it by the city, by Count Okuma, by Baron Goto, and greetings were sent to it by conferences of Buddhist and Shinto priests. A telegram from Prince Ito read : " As- sure them of the lively interest I take in their conference, which will ever remain one of the most memorable events in the history of Japan. It ushers in a new era in the history of intercourse between the East and the West." The World's Sunday School Commission, headed by H. J. Heinz and Frank L. Brown, on their way to the Zurich Convention, spent six weeks in Japan ; the entire party of twenty-nine members was enter- tained by Count Okuma and given an elaborate banquet by Baron Shibusawa. At Tokyo, as well as many other cities, the party was given hearty receptions at chambers of commerce and churches, where they pleaded the merits of the Sunday School. When I was a boy I used to spend hours in a black- smith shop situated across the street from our home. The bellows and the sparks which the smith wholly dis- regarded were always a wonder to my youthful mind. But the most striking impression was how vigorously he beat the iron while it was hot. Not a minute was wasted. He never paused to talk or take a smoke, but blow upon blow he fairly rained upon the plastic iron. And Japan to-day is in a plastic condition. Every door is open, and opportunity stands beckoning in the cour- teous words of statesmen and in the sweet face of every child. Through good and evil report Christianity has re- ceived a tremendous lot of advertising in the last few years. A university professor has written a book on " The Evils of Christianity." A Buddhist priest who bought a Bible, said he wanted to learn something about the religion which " every one was making such a fuss THE WIDE-OPEN DOOR 293 about." It has not been long since twelve anarchists were put to death and many others imprisoned for a serious plot whose details were never given to the public, owing to a secret trial. Among the number were two who had been church members. One had been formerly expelled and the other had lost his faith. For a time, some Japanese preachers were suspected and their move- ments were watched by special detectives. The leader of the band, who was among the number sentenced to death, wrote a book which was published. Its title was " The Non-Existence of Christ." And thus it became known through the length and breadth of Japan that the banner of the Cross and the red banner of anarchy could never be borne by the same hand. The visit of General Booth, in 1907, was an occasion never to be forgotten. Since the visit of General Grant, it is doubtful if any foreigner has ever received such an ovation. Crowds, which on various occasions num- bered more than ten thousand, assembled at stations to meet him. He passed under welcome arches, and in the skies above the explosion of fireworks announced to multitudes that he, the leader of the Salvation Army, was one whom the nation delighted to honour. When Oklahoma was opened years ago, a great crowd was gathered on the border-line for the grand rush. When the day came, away they went, some on foot, some on mules, some in buggies, and some in lumber wagons. When they arrived at their coveted patch of dirt, they wasted no time in staking out their claims. Oh, that the Church of the living God were as wise and as earnest to-day for the Kingdom of God as were those squatters for their homesteads! In Japan to-day, one finds the Mohammedan proselyter, the literature of the The- osophist, the advocate of every theory known to the Twentieth Century. The hearts and the ears of the people are not only open, but there is a growing sympathy and 294 THE OPPORTUNITY inclination to regard the religion of Jesus as the best of all.* A mighty boost for the Christian cause was the mem- orable Conference of three religions in February, 1912. It is too early to judge of the full significance of the conference, but it is safe to say that the immediate effect has been an immense gain for Christian forces. The Conference was called by Takejiro Tokonami, the Vice Minister of Home Affairs, after securing the approval of the Cabinet and Elder Statesmen. He had travelled in the Occident and is the author of a book in Japanese called " Impressions of Europe and America." He be- came convinced that henceforth the Government cannot afford to ignore religion entirely if the state be strong and morally sound. f So he took the bold step of calling the Conference. There were thirteen Shinto and fifty- one Buddhist priests, and seven representatives of Chris- * The present religious condition of Japan presents before our eyes an epitome of the religious development of the human race. Fetichism, Shintoism, Buddhism (with its manifold divisions), Unitarianism, Deism, Pantheism, Naturalism, Athe- ism, Agnosticism, Spiritualism, Socialism, and anarchy, all reli- gions and movements are represented here, a grim spectacle of a nation's struggles. — Bishop A. Lea, Missionary Review of the World, September, 1912, p. 701. t At the time of the Conference of Religions, several state- ments were given by Mr. Tokonami, among which are the fol- lowing: "It is felt necessary to give religion an additional power and dignity. At present moral doctrine is inculcated by education alone, but it is impossible to inculcate firmly, fair, and upright ideas in the mind of the nation unless the people are brought into touch with the fundamental conception known as God, Buddha, or Heaven, as taught in religion. . . . The pri- mary intention in holding the Conference is to direct attention to religion as a necessary means to the highest spiritual and moral welfare of both the individual and the nation. For a number of years this matter has not been given the importance that properly belongs to it; and the primary purpose of the Conference is to reassert that importance. . . . Shinto and Buddhism have long had a recognized place as religions of the THE WIDE-OPEN DOOR 295 tianity.* The number representing the churches, deter- mined by the Government, were manifold more than they should have been had the representation been based upon the actual number of their respective constituencies. The Buddhist priests came in their official robes, and at the banquet after the Conference, ate at a separate table set solely with vegetable delicacies. The Confer- ence was an announcement to the world and to every Japanese that Christianity had officially, at least, won full and worthy recognition. Scarcely had newspaper comment about the Conference ceased until the nation was saddened by the Emperor's sickness. The whole nation humbled itself in prayer. All day and all night great crowds, numbering thou- sands, could be found in the park below the Emperor's Palace, beseeching with tears that their beloved sov- ereign might live. Multitudes who had abandoned prayer now flocked to temples and shrines for intercession. And thus His Majesty, the Emperor, who in life had bestowed Imperial gifts upon his children, even in death con- tinued to bless them in that the hearts of millions were sobered by a great national sorrow. Their sorrow was softened by gratitude because of the sincere evidences of sympathy expressed by numerous letters and tele- grams of condolence from the noble and great of all nations. Especially the envoys to the Imperial funeral sent by Germany, England, France, Spain, and the United States impressed Japan that Christian powers have a Japanese people. Christianity should also be accorded a similar place." Reviews of the Conference may be found in the March and April Japan Evangelist for 1912, and the Journal of Race De- velopment, October, 1912. *The names of the Christian delegates were libuka, Hodda, Miyagawa, Chiba, Motoda, Honjo, Ishikawa, representing re- spectively the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Congregational, the Baptist, the Episcopalian, the Roman Catholic, and the Greek bodies in Japan. 296 THE OPPORTUNITY gracious and kindly spirit as well as the commercial and military element.* When the late Emperor, Meiji Tenno, had ascended his throne, he gave the people an Imperial Oath of five articles,! in which he decreed that " knowledge and learning shall be sought after throughout the whole world," and " all purposeless and useless customs being discarded, justice and righteousness shall be the guide of all actions." He took for the special name or character- istic of his reign the word Meiji, which means enlighten- ment, which, in one word, embodied the fifth article of the Imperial oath. The reigning Emperor has chosen the word Taisho for the special word for his reign. As the word Taisho means Great Righteousness, Christian workers, there- fore, have reason for thanksgiving, because Taisho is but the embodiment in a single word of the fourth article of the oath of his father. It is an indication that the noted Imperial Oath is not forgotten, that the Constitu- tion will be maintained, and that His Imperial Majesty will exalt righteousness and look with favour upon every effort or movement in harmony with so exalted an ex- pression of his sovereign reign. In 1905, during the Russo-Japanese War, the Emperor gave his first gift to a Christian institution, $5,000 to the Y. M. C. A. work in Manchuria. From a letter of thanks sent by General Terauchi, then Minister of War, we read : " I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks for your noble services." For six years past the government has given $5,000 yearly to the Y. M. * Germany was represented by Prince Henry, the Emperor's brother; England by Prince Arthur of Connaught; France by Lieutenant-General Lebon; Spain by Prince Don Alfonso D'Or- leans, and the United States by Hon. Philander P. Knox, Secre- tary of State. t See Appendix F for articles in full, taken from a translation found in " Life of Japan," p. 179. THE WIDE-OPEN DOOR 297 C. A. in Seoul and $i,ooo yearly to the Christian orphan- age at Okayama, besides many other donations in various places.* These donations for Christian work by the Gov- ernment, coupled with the lives of worthy and eminent Christian men in the Imperial service, have been mighty factors in the recommendation of Christianity. Out- spoken words of praise have been published far and wide, which have helped to arrest attention and gain a hearing for the Gospel. Baron Maejima, a former postmaster-general, said : " When I look about me to see what religion we may best rely upon, I am convinced that the religion of Christ is the one most full of strength and promise for the nation and the individual." A counsellor for the Government, Kosuke Tomeoka, said : " When I was eighteen years old, owing to my belief in Christianity, I was expelled from my home and na- tive city, but Wonderful as it may seem, all of my family and some of my relatives have since repented of their sins and believed in Christ. . . . We cannot expect to elevate and deepen our nation's morality without Christianity, not to speak of the reformation of society." Just as the duckling takes to the water, just as the bird to the air, and just as the rose turns its petals to the kisses of the sun, so the heart of man ever turns to Jesus, if but Jesus he may see, if but Jesus he may know, if but upon Jesus he may have the opportunity to believe. God has opened the doors in Japan wider than the most optimistic dared to dream forty years ago. Just think of it ! Fifty-three million standing in the door, waiting, waiting! There is little more that we could ask on the part of the people or the Government in the way of opportunity. " All things are ready ! " But the sad, sad thought is, — where are the labourers? Who shall give the message, " Come to the marriage feast?" * See Appendix G for list of the Imperial household and gov- ernmental gifts. Ill PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES There are very sobering problems lurking in the Far East, and if Christendom would deal wisely with them there is no better, safer, and easier way to forestall possible trouble than to annex spiritually Eastern hearts in the bonds of the Gospel, and thus to show in the spirit of our diplomacy that we are disciples of " The Golden Rule." — James S. Dennis, " The New Horoscope of Missions," p. 187. It would be an easy thing for the whole church, or even half of the church, to take Jesus fully out to all the world. But may I tell you now plainly that it won't be an easy thing? Somebody will have to sacrifice if the thing is to be done, and that somebody will be you if you go along where the Master calls. — S. D. Gordon, " Quiet Talks with World Winners, p. 278. Oh, it is hard to work for God, To rise and take His part Upon the battlefield of earth And not sometimes lose heart! Workmen of God ! Oh, lose not heart But learn what God is like; And in the darkest battlefield Thou shalt know where to strike. For right is right, since God is God, And right the day must win ; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin. In conclusion, it is important for every one concerned to realize that the Christianization of Japan is no holiday task; indeed, it is certain to be a long and severe campaign. Since Christianity assimilated Greek thought and conquered Roman civilization, it has never faced a task so stupendous as that of the conquest of the Orient. Japan, with all her progress in the arts and crafts of civilization and all her friendliness toward Christian ethical standards, is far from being a Christian na- tion ; indeed, she is in some respects more anti-Christian than at any time since the placards proscribing The Evil Sect were removed in 1873. — Tasuku Harada, International Review of Missions, January, 1912, p. 97. Ill PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES THE reader of this book, who may have stood above the Whirlpool below the Rapids at Ni- agara, will remember the eddies and cross- currents in the water below. The irregular movements and the back currents of the waters as shown by the bobbing and diving of logs, represents the religious and moral situation to-day in Japan. It must not be for- gotten that the waters flow on and that the big movement is the forward movement. However, it may look dis- tressing and sometimes very discouraging if we simply look on the surface. Occidentals must not forget that conservatism, ancient prejudices, and fears against Chris- tianity yet remain in Japan. Calculation must be made of the millions upon millions who are ardently bound to the old faiths, and a further fact, that Christianity is uncompromising and calls for a surrender more sweeping than either Buddhism or Shintoism would ask. With these things in mind we can get a little the idea confronting the statesman of Japan, who seeks to strike a balance and be liberal and just with the Christian forces which constitute, in reality, but a small propor- tion of the population. As an example, two years ago " the Educational and Home Ministers, in their addresses, dwelt upon the im- portance of paying respect to Shinto shrines, and told the Governors that they should take steps to encourage the time-old custom of reverencing the native deities." * The result was that all over the country children were ordered by their school teachers to go to near-by shrines * Japan Times editorial, April i6, 1912. 301 802 THE OPPORTUNITY for worship. Christians became alarmed. And even non-Christians pondered if it were not unconstitutional. The incident should not be judged as a movement against Christianity; but coming as it did, just after the trial of the anarchists, it was a desperate move on the part of the Government to stay the rising tide of immorality and lapse of religious faith. The incident showed that the Government was more solicitous for religion than the people, who needed to be boosted to approach heaven by the only route familiar to them. There are two problems, either of which may at any time come to prominence. The one is Shintoism, the other is the desire on the part of many Japanese for a composite religion containing the best of Buddhism, Con- fucianism, and Christianity. Such Japanese would agree with the Bahaist that " all religions derive from one single divine source. The form which each has assumed is of little consequence. What is essential is the fundamental truth it enshrines. The Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, are all the word of God." There are two forms of Shintoism, the one popular Shintoism, termed a religion, and the other a Shintoism which has the patronage of the State, which has of- ficially been dismantled as a religion and is govern- mentally considered simply a national cult. But the masses of Japan practically draw no lines of separation between these two forms of Shintoism. A Japanese writer says of the State Shintoism : " Its connection with the Imperial House and with ancestral worship gen- erally, gives it great strength." Another writer says : " Christianity condemns the worship of the Ise gods as idolatry and thus undermines the basis of our State." The matter came into prominence when Prof. B. H. Chamberlain, a well-known scholar and author on things Japanese, published an article on " The Invention of a New Religion." * Professor Chamberlain affirmed ♦The article appeared first in the Literary Guide. GATEWAY INTO ASAKUSA TEMPLE MAIX SHRINE AT SHINSHOTI TEMPLE PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES 303 that : " Mikado worship and Japan worship " were at the basis of a new religion in process of being developed in Japan. Professor Chamberlain quoted Baron Oura, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce as saying: " If it is considered that our country needs a religious faith, then I say, let it be converted to a belief in the religion of patriotism and loyalty, the religion of Imperialism — in other words, to Emperor-worship." A member of the House of Peers recently wrote : " In Japan the Em- peror is the direct descendant of Ameno-minakanushi-no Kami, the centre of the world. Hence the Imperial family, being a divine race, is entirely different from races of other Japanese." * The semi-divine or divine character given the Em- perors of Japan by some men of eminence, as well as many among the common people, has doubtless had its influence in delaying the spread of Christianity. Nor can we but sympathize with such as do not know the love of Christ and the blessings of His spiritual sway, if some Japanese have misgivings when foreigners speak about a Jewish peasant as King of Kings, who asks for a surrender of all, even life itself. Happily Christian leaders and Christians in general have conducted them- selves so discreetly that none, even their enemies, have been more loyal to the Imperial House. Last year the Sunday School Convention at Tokyo marched from a mass meeting to the park below the Imperial Palace. Each child carried a green flag on which was the em- blem of the Cross. There was a Christian chorus of fully five thousand, who sang " Jesus Loves Me " and " Hail to the Flag of Beloved Japan." A balloon was sent up with a streamer bearing the words " God Is Love." They shouted their banzais for His Majesty, the Emperor, and sang the national anthem, and there in plain sight above them was hoisted a red ensign as the Imperial recognition of their patriotism. * See Japan Advertiser, April 12, 1912. 304. THE OPPORTUNITY There is a strong nationalistic temper in Japan which on three occasions has had a profound and insistent expression upon religious issues. The first was the incorporation of Shinto deities some centuries ago in the Buddhist family of gods. The second was the per- secution against Catholicism, running a little over two and a half centuries. The third is the popularity of Shintoism, manifested in the revival of Shinto burial rites, marriage ceremonies, and the expulsion of Bud- dhist relics and idols from Shinto temples some years ago. Alongside a strictly evangelical church conform- ing in non-essentials to Japanese temper, there has, in late years, developed a danger that a mongrel sort of organization may be formed, claiming to be Christian, and yet liberal enough to admit traditions, ethics, and rituals dear to the heart of Shintoists, Buddhists, and the Confucianists. A Japanese writer says : " The attempt to extend the power of Christianity by adapting it to the nation to make it acceptable by conforming to national customs is like building a house upon sand. This is Christianity without the Cross." * However, that such a compromise organization may appear in the future is within possi- bility because of the imitation of Christian methods and a national desire for a religious compromise. Count Okuma said at the World's Student Conference, in speaking of the Japanese : " And if I am not mistaken, their contribution will not be limited to Christianity nor to Buddhism or Confucianism, but they shall create a universal religion." f * Japan Evangelist, May, 1905. t Student Christian Federation Convention, Tokyo, p. 186. As noted in the Advertiser of September 20, 191 1, a Buddhist writes : " I am not satisfied with the union of the various sects of Buddhism, but advocate a union of Buddhism and Christianity." Hiroyuki Kato says : " I think it is not impossible to harmonize Christianity and Buddhism. Indeed, if we take the spirit without adhering to the letter — for it is the letter that killeth PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES 305 It is said that the Buddhists have revised the song, " Jesus Loves Me," and they sing it " Buddha Loves Me This I Know." There is a Young Men's Buddhist Association in Japan as well as a Young Men's Christian Association. This imitation of things Christian is a con- fession of weakness, and yet Christians cannot be un- concerned for the passing of things Christian with a Buddhist stamp has the evil of all counterfeits, the folly of all patchwork.* " No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment," and yet the Japanese may try the experiment on an extensive scale — who knows? The evangelization of Japan is a proposition beset by problems not to be encountered in preaching the Gospel to the natives of a coral island or to a tribe hidden in some mountain fastness or tropical forest. Japan is a world in itself, and the victory for Christianity would reconstruct the art, change the literature, modify the vocabulary, introduce a new standard of ethics, a new view of life, of God, and immortality. The inertia of what is old and thoroughly rooted in habit, life, and thought is too often a hindrance to the establishment of and the spirit maketh alive — I believe that this harmony is already an accomplished fact. This thought grows deeper the more religion is studied scientifically. I believe that I am a Christian and a Buddhist at the same time." — See Japan Evan- gelist for July, 1912. " Whenever we come to consider the subject in all its relations we cannot help feeling as if we were gazing on the last stage of a happy termination of the long-pursued hostilities between Buddhism and Christianity, now going hand in hand in reconciliation and harmony, even draw- ing to a happy day of union." — Japan Times, April 15, 1910. * " Do you know the way the people are talking now in Tokyo and this vicinity about Christianity? Do you understand why it is harder than usual to get ' the man in the street ' to listen to the Gospel message? It is because more than ever the idea is abroad that Christianity and Buddhism are not very unlike and that one is as good as the other." — A Japanese writer, Japan Evangelist for November, 1912, p. 524. 306 THE OPPORTUNITY the Church. Nor is the conservatism of the past the only thing which taxes the wisdom and strength of the Christian teacher. The printing press, which has given us milUons of Bibles, has flooded the world with infidel and anti-Christian thought. There is not a doubt, there is not a destructive criticism, not an adverse current emanating from a Rousseau, a Haeckel, a Spencer, but sooner or later it reaches and spreads over Japan.* So, coupled with the pantheism, pessimism, and mythol- ogy which is natural to the East, the Christian worker is confronted by the books of Westerners which de- throne the Christ and scoff at the revelations of proph- ets and apostles. There are multitudes in Japan who have never recov- ered from the hatred and fear of Christianity that began with the persecutions of leyasu. " The Evil Sect " is still, by many, considered most dangerous. Christianity goes under the title of " The foreigners' religion." It is often considered abstract, difficult, and buried in the intricacies of philosophy and hidden within a forest of literary leaves. Sometimes the more ignorant, who think all foreigners are made of gold, imagine that Christianity and money are inseparably connected, and hence being poor themselves, they can have no relation with Chris- tianity. A wide misunderstanding which obtains even among scholars and officials in high circles is that Chris- * Scarcely had the missionaries gained a foothold in Japan when translations of anti-Christian literature appeared, which have increased with the years. As far back as 1882, during the visit of Joseph Cook to Japan, the following answer was given to his question as to what books opposed to Christianity were most read by educated Japanese : Buckle's " History of Civilization " (translated), John S. Mill's Works, his "Essays on Religion" and "Utilitarianism" (translated), Huxley on "Protoplasm" (translated), Draper's "Conflict Between Science and Religion" and " The Intellectual Development of Europe," Thomas Paine's •'Age of Reason" (translated), Ingersoll's "Lectures on Gods" (translated), Herbert Spencer's Works, Bain's Works. — Otis Carey, "A History of Christianity in Japan," Vol. H, p. 162. PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES 307 tianity is simply a unique system of ethics which sparkles, embedded in Jewish superstition. The new life, the all- supreme Lord, the surrender to Him, they have missed, and thousands miss them who yearly visit our churches and preaching halls. Socially, Japan is organized on the Confucian model of high and low. There are steps and grades which are indicated in everyday speech, and the attitude which those of rank hold toward those below them. In Christ we are placed on the same level. In the Kingdom of God " one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren." But Japanese custom that forbids the inter- mingling of high and low is so strong that the Church has lost the active participation of many from higher circles, and others who have come to faith dread pub- licity and contact with the crowd, and hence never enter the church, nor obey its ordinances. The average church audience in Japan is small. The assembling for weekly or tri-weekly worship is a new thing in Japan. The native religions were content with a few yearly or monthly festivals, and an occasional visit to a temple, according to the mood of the wor- shipper. The Japanese mind is serious, and for contem- plation, instead of a crowd, they prefer isolation and solitude. Again, punctuality is an irksome and im- ported thing which a Japanese thoroughly dislikes. There are few people of leisure anyhow, and their home is seldom left without some one v/ho remains as a care- taker. Farmers do not leave their fields till the sun sets, and merchants and artisans, who know no Sabbath, seldom shut their doors until ten or eleven at night. The struggle for existence is most intense. The glamour of new riches and the interest and the glory of a wide, wide world, which has just opened for Japan, has ob- scured the vision of God and stilled the voice of the soul. Another difficulty is the pronen^ss of a Japanese to 308 THE OPPORTUNITY reason thus : Westerners have their faults and do evil. Christianity is the rehgion of Westerners, and, therefore, Christianity is at fault. I went into one country district where Christianity had a bad name because it was the religion of Russia, and because of the persecution of Japanese on our Pacific Coast. Any indignity amount- ing to violence upon the person of any Japanese abroad would do more harm in the creation of prejudice than many missionaries could undo. The fact would be cabled or spread in Japanese papers by correspondence within a month. The lives of some residents in port cities, of some for- eign sailors ashore, and of some tourists who visit Japan, so far from recommending Christianity, are a disgrace to the nations of their birth. In the grand total, these pleasure lovers and social derelicts of the West count powerfully toward pulling down the very temples we are striving to erect. Charging the sin of foreigners against Christianity seems an unwarranted conclusion. Especially do the heavy armaments of Western nations seem to the Oriental mind wholly inconsistent with the religion which is supposed to dominate Western coun- tries. The Oriental does not pause to consider that the majority in so-called Christian lands never enter a church or cathedral. Nor does he reason that war, like slavery and intemperance, antedated Christianity and therefore cannot be called a fruit thereof. The ignorance that does not know and the immorality that prefers darkness, must ever be the two chief hin- drances to the Cross in every land. There are sins and immoralities in Japan which keep many away from Christ because of the sweeping surrender required of every Cross-bearer. John said : " And the light shineth in the darkness; the darkness apprehended it not." If missionaries and Japanese evangelists, tracts and Bibles were immediately furnished in such numbers that every one in the land could have a chance to know the Gospel, PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES 309 multitudes would surely reject it. They did in Christ's day. John says again : " Men love the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil." Count Okuma said : " The evil I wish to speak of is that our people from ancient time thought so much of the duty of obedience that they forgot to respect individ- ual rights, and this must be classed among our short- comings." The power of the family over the individual in Japan is little understood in the West. If there were the same liberty of action in Japan that there is in the United States, it is probable that our converts would be double or treble what they are. Especially school teachers and officials of all sorts have a great influence over all who look up to them, either for instruction or orders. A wife rarely joins the church without the con- sent of her husband. One lady wrote to England and obtained her husband's consent before she would receive baptism. Another waited till she heard from her husband, who was abroad, and as his letter forbade her joining the church, she obeyed him. Even a grown man dreads to break with the family traditions and go against the wish of father or elder brother. A bright young man, who has a family, recently turned to Christ. His father's family was founded three hundred years ago, and in all the years, he was the first to confess Christ. He has held out against considerable ridicule and constant opposition. " The trolley wire attached to loaded cars would soon be snapped if an attempt was made to haul the cars by direct traction ; but the same trolley wire can be charged with an invisible force that will move all the cars of a great city, loaded to their utmost capacity." * And so with the conversion of Japan, The task is so great and the problems are so numerous, that the work is beyond our strength and wisdom. But God can charge His church, His Gospel, and commission His Spirit with an * Seth Low, Hudson-Fulton celebration speech. 310 THE OPPORTUNITY anthority and power that will move all Japan Zionward — ■ Heavenward. The traveller in Japan sees the exposed sides of many precipitous mountains worn by floods and tilted by up- heavals. These mountains have been shaken by earth- quakes until the massive granite has been cut and chopped like mincemeat under the butcher's cleaver. There are problems confronting the Church in Japan to-day which seemingly may block the way of the Cross and hinder multitudes who should travel in the King's highway. But so surely as God reigns, these bold and threatening peaks shall be broken. They shall crumble into debris. " The hills shall be levelled. The valleys shall be exalted." The King shall come in His beauty and Japan's millions shall cry : " Hossana, blessed be the King of Israel who Cometh in the name of the Lord." IV CLAIMS FOR SYMPATHY A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich; A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong, Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense of service which thou renderest. — E. B. Browning. The Father of light takes no pleasure in the children of darkness. He is not accustomed to carry souls to Heaven as mariners do their passengers to their port, who shut them under the hatches, so that they cannot see whither they go. — William Secker, "The Nonsuch Professor," p. 364. If there were just one last lost soul left in the world, and that one were in the heart of Africa, and the only way it could be reached was for Trinity Church of Boston to move thither bodily, it would pay for us all to go. — Phillips Brooks^ quoted in " A Man's Religion," p. 232. It should be ours the oil and wine to pour Into the bleeding wounds of stricken ones; To take the smitten and the sick and sore. And bear them where a stream of blessing runs. Instead we look about — the way is wide, And we pass by upon the other side. Has America no message for the strong and the masterful races of the non-Christian world? I like the Japanese the more because they are united, ambitious, and aggressive. I do not defend their vices any more than I defend the vices of my countrymen ; but I want to see the Japanese united with the best people of Europe and America in the service of Christ. — Arthur Judson Brown, The Journal of Race Development, July, 1912, p. 91. The greatest evils of the world are impurity and inequality and hopelessness. Men do not know the character of God, and therefore they are unclean. Men do not know the love of God, and therefore they are not brothers. Men have never felt the thrill of the life of God, and therefore they are without hope, and despair alike of the days that are and the days that are to be. — Robert E. Speer, Men's National Mission Congress, 1910, p. 238. IV CLAIMS FOR SYMPATHY THE impression has been widely spread in Chris- tian lands that mission work in Japan has about reached its end, and many a saint has checked Japan off the prayer list. The material success of Japan has contributed to the misconception of the real needs of Japan. The country's schools, the civil order, the merchant marine, the standing army, and powerful dreadnaughts have caused many to reason that such a nation is well able to look after its own spiritual destinies. Ten years ago a missionary of reputation said that by 191 2 the missionaries could each return to his own coun- try, but the optimist's vision overreached by a number of decades. Previous to the reaction of 1888, mission- aries of the early eighties talked in the same strain, that their work would soon be finished. A few years ago, many leaders among the Japanese, in no uncertain terms, made it plain that they could do the work and that no more missionaries would be needed. Many missionaries half-believed that the Japanese workers, few as they were, could man the field and extend the borders of the Kingdom. But a change has come in the opinion of Japanese and the missionaries, for the vastness of the work undone and the scarcity of workers, both Japanese and foreign, make it imperative that an urgent call be made for more missionaries. And a worthy equipment must be furnished, because with the advance of the nation the present equipment grows yearly more insig^ nificant. Supposing that the missionary force be held for soma years without an increase. Such a policy would in reality 313 314 THE OPPORTUNITY be a decrease because of the rapid increase in population and because of the increase both in numbers and the efficiency of believers in the idolatrous faiths which grow in power because of better organization and modern ways of propagation, such as schools, literature, public speak- ing, and house-to-house visitation. Though it is a marvel that the Christian forces in Japan have accomplished as much as they have, yet the work has scarcely begun. To advocate a halt in mission work would be a grave mistake, based either on misin- formation or indifference to Japan's needs. Laying aside sentiment, let us consider some hard facts relative to Protestant missions in Japan proper. Every Protestant Christian in the land could be crowded into the Colosseum as it stood in the First Century. More than one-third of the church members are non-resident, leaving 52,972 resi- dent Christians in all the Empire.* These could easily be given seats or standing room in a modern American baseball pavilion. If we allow, on the average, that 125 persons can be seated in the preaching places in Japan, where preaching is carried on at least six times a year, and include the churches partly and wholly self-supporting, we have 2,025 such churches and preaching places which would accommodate 253,125 souls at one sitting, or less than the population of Minneapolis. There is a force of 1,785 Japanese workers, including Bible women, ordained and unordained ministers in Japan. Each would thus have a parish of 29,692 souls, were they distributed according to the population. It must be remembered that many of these workers are young and inexperienced. It is a logical and unanswera- ble statement that the evangelization of any land must be completed by the native force. But where is the native force ? But where is the native force in sufficient * Reported by G. W. Fulton at the Federated Missions Con- ference, 1913. CLAIMS FOR SYMPATHY 315 numbers to be found in Japan? Since the beginning, several decades ago, there have been, all told, but 924 graduates from all the seminaries^ and not all of these are in the service now, because of death or retirement. A young man of marked talent can usually draw double or treble the salary in the world that the Church could pay him as a minister. The last account showed that there were 406 mis- sionaries, including women as well as men, in the evan- gelistic service in Japan. This gives but one evangelistic missionary for 130,541 of the population. In several of the more unevangelized provinces, as Nagano, Niigata, and Yamanashi, there are 193,096 people for one evan- gelistic missionary. In the United States, there is one minister or priest for every 531 of the population.* In the United States there are 150,455 Sunday Schools, or one for 599 of the population. In Japan there are 106,500 Sunday School teachers and scholars — 1,588 schools, or one Sunday School for 39,659 of the popula- tion. The yearly increase of the population through newly born babes is six times the children enrolled in our Sunday Schools. f There are two Protestant Chris- tians in the United States for every nine of the popula- tion; in Japan there is but one full church member for every 723 of the population. However, it must not be forgotten that there are towns and country districts of ten thousand and upwards where no one can be found * The Christian Herald almanac for 1913 estimates that there are about 173,000 ministers, 222,000 churches or societies, and 36,303,592 believers for all faiths in the United States in 1910. This would give one minister or priest to an average of 210 members per church, or one minister for 531 of the population of 91,972,226 souls. t In 1909, the population increased 665,667. In 1908, the increase was 769,174. The official statistics for population from 1900 to 1909, respectively, are 44,825,597, 45,446,369, 46,041.768, 46,732,876, 47,219,566, 47,678,396, 48,164,761, 48,819,630, 49,588,804, 50,254,471. 316 THE OPPORTUNITY who ever had faith in Christ or ever bowed the knee to Him. In view of the above facts and similar ones that could be stated, it is little wonder that the leaders of the Canadian Methodist Church had decided to double their missionary force within five years.* For years and years to come there will be work in Japan for missionaries who are sympathetic, patient, humble, unselfish, whose one passion is love for the people, whose one purpose is to exalt Christ before them. And what a wonderful people the Japanese are! They have their faults, but the bulk, the overwhelming majority, are loving, honest, brave, sympathetic, religiously inclined, and bear up under life's burdens with a cheer and face life's mysteries with a trust that deserves a better hope than their priests and fortune-tellers can invent. Besides erroneous ideas about mission progress in Japan, there is another thing which may have diverted the interest of some Americans from the Christianization of Japan, and that is the wild rumours of war — a war for which there is no cause. Let all who may have been aflPected by these newspaper sensations remember that Japan's interests lie to the westward. Westward are the immense territories and populations of the Dragon and the Bear. In 1923, the leases in Manchuria expire. The Siberian Railway has been about doubled, and the Orient is in a very chaotic condition. With whomsoever Japan may disagree in the future, everything indicates that she can in no way afford to alienate or be alienated from the United States. One-third of Japan's exports *The missionaries of the Canadian Methodist Church, in a special convention at Karuizawa in 1909, drew up a plan to double their force of missionaries and to quadruple the number of Japanese pastors in the next five years. They had at that time, counting missionaries on furlough, a missionary force of thirty-nine. This they determined to increase by forty. The native ministry, counting probationers, was forty-two, and this they proposed to augment by 160 additional workers. CLAIMS FOR SYMPATHY 317 go to the United States, and, like England, more and more will Japan need a sure American base for food- stuffs and raw material. Let it be noted that these war rumours often orig- inate on the continent of Europe which would profit most from the estrangement of the United States and Japan. A war rumour may sometimes serve diplomacy by diverting attention from an important corner of the international checkerboard to one less important, or it may be but a conscienceless banging on the linotype to increase the sales of a daily newspaper. Every time that Arizona, Colorado, or Idaho digs an irrigating ditch, Japan lays down new keels to import more of American wheat and cotton. And every time that Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles adds a hundred thousand to their population, Japan increases tenfold more and covers more hills with tea and mulberry bushes that her own children may be fed from the sales of tea, silk, cloisenne, and other art products to the United States. Japan needs our sympathy because upon her rests painfully heavy the burden of armaments and because Western powers in the economic or martial subjugation of all of Asia have taught Japan the power of gold and the sword. Japan's much desired treaties on an equality were not granted till after the war with China, and resi- dent ministers were not raised to the rank of ambassadors till after her war with Russia. A Japanese of note said : " A nation, in order to maintain her independent position in the midst of international rivalries, must command sources of power which will inspire other nations not simply with respect, but fear." * A young Japanese ac- quaintance of mine said that when a small boy in school, his teacher told the class that China was in the right in the Opium War, but that England conquered by weight of force. He then decided that he would become * Baron Kaneko, in the North American Review, November, 1904. 318 THE OPPORTUNITY a statesman if he could and thereby help to establish the power of Japan, for it seemed to him that might and not right was the final appeal among the great world powers. Japan needs our sympathy because her large popula- tion, crowded upon a small area, is being impoverished to support her large army and navy. Why does not Japan segregate all her lepers, house all her insane, furnish telephones to all applicants, and give every aspir- ing youth a chance for an advanced education that will fit him industrially or mentally to earn his way? The answer is, because of the burden of armaments and the interest on war loans. Yesterday Tokyo had a heavy snow, and in the slush and ice, I saw many a footprint where, protruding beyond the cloth or straw sandal, the bare toes had left their impress. One mother who walked in front of me was bare-legged to the knees and bore a wee babe on her back. She belonged to the class who, of late, in large numbers, have committed suicide rather than face cold or starvation. Japan has tried hard to get ahead in the world and deserves the praise she has received in wholesale fashion, but mission leaders must not place her beyond sympa- thetic consideration. The rising tide of unbelief and the shaking of moral foundations has resulted in a turn to conservatism and the past. As an example, the suicide of General Nogi, the night of the Emperor's funeral, became a national event which called forth praise that was practically universal. His funeral was attended by thousands. A popular ceremony was given in his honour, culminating in Shiba Park, Tokyo, in which more than a thousand Buddhist and Shinto priests took the lead, dressed in their official robes. There have been great religious gatherings in Europe and America, but where can be found the equal of the enthusiasm displayed when a million pilgrims attended the ten days' celebration at Kyoto, in 191 1. It was the CLAIMS FOR SYMPATHY 319 650th anniversary of Shinran, a founder of a sect of Buddhism. He had received posthumous honours during the reign of the late Emperor. A special station had to be built to accommodate the visitors. Money was squan- dered lavishly on the special robes worn by the zealots who could afford them. One thousand persons paid over $100 per robe, and one hundred and twenty gave $5,000 per robe.* Many were crushed to death in the crowds. An eyewitness said, " The devotion of the people to Buddhism and its leaders is nothing less than mar- vellous." And yet with all the pomp of idolatry, the burning of prayers, the chanting of priests, the elaborate services for the dead, — the vital question is. What does it really do for the living? A member of the Japanese Parlia- ment said : " Since the war with Russia, the public senti- ment has inclined to profligacy, levity, and vanity, while social manners and morals have become debased." f A friend of the Japanese says : " Religion is excluded from the schools. There is practically no religious instruction in the homes. The educated portion of the population is already largely naturalistic and agnostic. Few educators have any use for religion at all." % Japan claims our sympathy because of her dire need of Christ and utter helplessness without Him as the future will show, unless there is a speedy spread and acceptance of the Gospel. Now is the time to pray for Japan. " We are as much bound to pray while on earth as angels are to praise while in heaven." Astronomers tell us that but one part in 2,735,000,000 of the sun's fiery energy reaches the earth, the balance wandering into space. But what would our earth be without this incomprehensible fraction of the sun's light and heat? * Missionary Review of the World, September, 1912, p. 701. f Japan Chronicle's translation, January 27, 1909. t D. B. Schneder, quoted from the Edinburgh Missionary Con- ference, Vol. I, p. 67. 320 THE OPPORTUNITY Despise not thy prayer and its power to bless when energized by the way of the Heavenly throne. Japan needs large sums of money for the erection of Christian schools, especially a great central Christian University. " Government and public schools have ad- vanced a hundred paces, while Christian education has taken but a few faltering steps." * Recently, I read in an American paper, of our harvest of three billion bushels of corn and one and a half billion of oats and wheat, enough to fill a river bed from Chicago to New York.f Christians may share God's harvest, but not His rewards and favour, except " the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." Before the world gets in motion, a big motion toward the millennium, larger sums of money must be consecrated to God. The Kingdom of God is not of this world, and yet money is needed to propagate, to educate, to print and distribute the truths which are the essence of Christianity. The whole Orient to-day is shifting and changing. Destructive and constructive forces are at work. Crises, great moral crises, are in the process of shaping, or just at hand. Society is like the waters of a bay in the dark, whose waters rush this way and that, churned by two opposite currents — the old and the new. Into this vortex, into this centre of world interest, God has thrown some thousands of His missionaries. Each one is a light- bearer, each one is a distributor of life-belts. There are plenty of ways to lend a hand. The brave and resource- ful soul will find ten times more than his hand can do. * President Tasuku Harada, quoted, Japan Evangelist, Novem- ber, 1912, p. 532. t Christian Herald, November 27, 1912. V JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST Man's willingness is God channel to the earth. — S. D. Gordon, " Quiet Talks on Prayer." Until we make some real impression on the agricultural and trading classes, the backbone of the nation has not been reached, so far as the evangelistic work is concerned. — Bishop Evington, Edinburgh Conference, 1910, Vol. I, p. 57. Link yourselves as early as possible with some great cause that has conflict before it. If you do not help that cause, that cause will help you to your manhood. — John Bright. Since the revolution, Western politics and legal codes have been utilized, but to religion no attention has been paid. This is like making an image and leaving out the soul, or painting a dragon and forgetting to put in the eyes. Such a deformed civilization cannot long continue : therefore it is of the greatest importance to supply the lack. — KoDO Kozaki, The Christian Movement. The Japanese are intellectually in the foremost files of time, but morally and spiritually groping and distressed. A few years ago Japan was like a buoyant, ingenious boy, sure that Western science and philosophy would solve all problems. To-day Japan stands disillusioned and on the verge of cynicism, a mature man, solemnized by failures, perplexed and seeking some sure word of life. What but full-orbed Christianity, represented by manly men, proclaiming a life-giving Gospel, can hope to cope with this need? — Selected from "Japan To-day and To-morrow," Japan Evangelist, September, 1912. God give us men ! A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands; Men whom the lust of oflRce does not kill ; Men whom the spoils of life cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and will, Men who have honour, men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking! Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty and in private thinking. — J. G. Holland. V JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST THERE is something unspeakably sad about Japan. She was the first Oriental nation to shake off the isolation and lethargy of the past. Her keen in- tellect scented within one decade great tendencies and fundamental truths which other nations have failed to grasp after centuries of contact with the West. She has openly and by the wholesale accepted the material and scientific results of Christian nations.* They, by natural processes of toil and growth, developed their tools, inven- tions, systems of education, researches, and mastery of nature. These have been freely passed to the Orient, and Japan was the first to accept and use them. Fur- thermore, she is given an honoured place at the table of international council, and renewed treaties assure to her opportunities world-wide. But over against this acute- ness of discernment, valour in war, and adaptation of the new, is the failure to recognize the fact that it was Christ who lifted the West from barbarism; that what is best in our civilization, most worthy and potent in our psychic life, is due to the Nazarene. Can new wine be put into old bottles? The heart of Japan, her spirit and her ethics, are in her own past. If she preserves what is best of the new and the old, she must have Christ. * The Perry Expedition brought a present to Japan of " rifles and gunpowder, the electric telegraph, the steam locomotive and train, the telescope, life-boats, stoves, clocks, sewing machines, agricultural implements and machinery, standard scales, weights, measures, maps, charts, the works of Audubon and other Amer- ican authors."— From Griffis' "Life of Matthew Calbraith Perry." SU THE OPPORTUNITY She could not equip her army with the bows and arrows of feudal times, and much less can she equip her rising generations to weather the storms of atheism, agnosti- cism, nihilism, and epicurianism, with the mythology of the days when her own small horizon set the boundaries for the ends of the world. A Japanese writer said : " Japan is beginning to ques- tion the source of moral authority, and wonder where she will go for certainty." The people are breaking from their old faiths. An agnosticism is spreading, which neither furnishes peace for the soul nor security for so- ciety. Buddhism and Confucianism furnish Japan with many ethical rules, as well as spiritual impulses which did service in mediaeval days, in the time of twilight, but with the passing of the night, a purer light is needed to illumine and guide the nation. The factories of Japan, her ships on the high seas, the rapid growth of the larger cities, the ease of travel with which many move about for education, labour, and pleasure, have all combined to weaken the influence of the home and under- mine the family and social structure of Japan. The rich and those who have moderate means have developed a taste for luxuries which has grown in a marked degree within the last few years. Eiderdown quilts, costly jew- elry and furs, automobiles and pianos, mahogany furni- ture and delicacies for the table are imported from all parts of the world. With the spread of luxuries has come graft and corruption, both in politics and business, which is effecting many in higher circles. With the change in the family, the growth of individual knowl- edge, the ease of travel, and the love of pleasure, has come an assertion of rights which is manifest in the strikes of students against their teachers and of work- men against their employers. While Japan scored tremendous victories against Russia, the bill for powder, shot, and shells stands at about a billion dollars. With advancing prices, and a JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST 325 balance of foreign trade against Japan, her annual inter- est is a tremendous strain upon the people. But Japan's greater loss is the moral loss which followed in the wake of the war. Since the war, there have been instances of violence and crime unchronicled since the beginning of the Meiji Era.* And since the war, socialism has as- sumed a rampant and destructive attitude, which, while checked by the police, is as dangerous and nihilistic as Russia's worst. Patriotism in Japan is the passion which acts as the unifier and preserver of the nation. But Japan's patri- otism, ethics, and religion will undergo a severe strain by contact with the more destructive elements of western thought. This strain may pass to the danger point if their people cry for bread or if a serious reverse in the future should be the outcome of the late territorial ex- pansion. The frequence of divorce, the toleration of con- cubinage, and the yearly tribute of innocent girls sold by parents and guardians, under a fictitious wage advance, to the shame and slavery of brothels, are incontrovertible truths of Japan's need of moral regeneration. A farmer is fined five dollars if he touch a leaf of his own tobacco grown for a government monopoly, but an ancient cus- tom allows a greater liberty in the sale of his own flesh. The profits from the tobacco monopoly and the Govern- ment's fees from the Yoshiwara system (as commonly reported) are about equal, viz.: $25,000 yearly.f * " That post-bellum Japan is witnessing a serious increase in crime, the prison statistics go to prove, and the fact is generally admitted and adversely commented on by specialists. Such an increment is part of the price that nations have to pay for the martial glories of Imperialism, but, unhappily, poetic justice is at fault, inasmuch as the burden invariably falls most heavily upon the shoulders of those who are least able to bear it, and who are least responsible for its creation." — See Japan Adver- tiser editorial for June 26, 1912, t The better and more progressive Japanese are as ashamed of the entire system as we as a nation are ashamed of dynamiters S26 THE OPPORTUNITY Country districts are tranquil and law-abiding, but a new moral force is needed to quicken and save. The corruption and inadequacy of old conceptions is illus- trated by the following: In a certain town, a boy and girl were left destitute. There were relatives who were comfortably situated, and though urged to support the homeless children, they refused to do so. Hence, a vil- lage council was called, and after some consideration, it was decided to send the boy as a beggar among the eighty-eight Buddhist shrines in Shikoku, and the girl was to be placed in a house of prostitution. Among others who attended the council were a Buddhist priest, a Shinto priest, a doctor, a schoolmaster, and the post- master. They all approved the plan, save the post-master, who was a Christian. Through the timely intervention of his telegram to Christian friends, the boy was appren- ticed to a printer and the girl sent to a well-known Chris- tian orphanage. Japan's spiritual needs are seen in the frequency with which young men have committed suicide from the pes- simism which comes from doubt and the futility of super- stitions. Kegon Falls, near Nikko, where the water plunges into a rock chasm two hundred and fifty feet and negro burnings. There is this difference, however — the Yoshiwara system is Hcensed under governmental supervision, as obtained in England down to 1886, in eighteen of the largest naval and military centres and the territory within a radius of fifteen miles of each. By Japanese law, a girl is free below eighteen, and she can become free if enslaved, by reporting her desire at a police station, but the debt remains as an obligation. Even if she knows the law, her egress is difficult, and her sense of parental loyalty is fully as enslaving. By law, the written consent of the nearest relative must be obtained before entering upon her miserable life. There is an awakening conscience against the evil, led by Christian forces. Here and there a brave Japanese official has taken a heroic stand. The Governor of Osaka, after a fire which destroyed some of the licensed houses within the city, decreed that no more brothels should be erected within the burned area. SELECTIONS FROM BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES A BUDDHIST PREACHING HALL JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST 327 below, has been a favourite place. The police have guarded the spot to stay the suicide mania. A transla- tion of Misao Fujimura's last words, who was the first student to cast himself over Kegon Falls, are found below.* A number of students have thrown themselves into the crater of Asama volcano. I was walking near its base one day when I noticed the farewell words of a student, written with a lead pencil on a thin board which had been nailed to a tree. A number of us read it and we concluded that it was a joke, but later on the suicide was confirmed. Another student, who had grad- uated with high honours, threw himself into Asama's sulphurous crater. A few words from his last letter will exhibit the frank despair of a soul without God : " How miserable is this world of human beings ! Where is hope to be found? Where may peace be sought? What is glory? What is rank? All around is emptiness and solitude ! " f *' Student depravity " is a topic frequently discussed in magazines and editorials. Public writers do not at- tempt to conceal their concern, and there is no denying the fact that so far a remedy has not been found. These students are to become Japan's leaders, and in less than a generation they will fill every important place in the complex and expanding life of the nation. " Where is * " How slowly earth's life lapses ! How vast the distance be- tween heaven and earth ! With a five-foot body man wishes to measure immensity. What authority in the least has Horatio's philosophy? The true meaning of everything in the universe can be spoken in one word — incomprehensibility. I bear this grief in my bosom, and its agony leads me to death. Standing on the point of a rock, there is no sorrow in my heart, for at last I see that the greatest pessimism and the greatest optimism agree." t " The pessimistic tinge of Oriental thought is due to the feeling of helplessness which causes the world and experiences to appear as a great procession of shadows full of suffering and evil." — Paul S. Reinsch, North American Review, January, 1905. 328 THE OPPORTUNITY hope to be found ? " This is not only the dying lament of a student, but it is the verdict of millions in Japan, who have searched in vain among all the gilded temples and the mute images of idolatry.* The smoke of Japan's factories should not dim the perspective of her shrines and idols. The shriek of her locomotives and the clang of her electric cars should not drown the mournful chant of her priests, who, as blind guides, offer neither hope nor salvation. This year, sev- eral hundred thousand little babes were born in Japan. Next year, more will be born, and the next. And whither will these tender lives be led? Will they hear the voice of the Good Shepherd? With our present force of workers, few of them will ever hear his loving invitation. The combined Protestant church member- ship is less than a fifth of the yearly increase in popu- lation. In Japan the situation is unique in that the converts have been mostly from the educated classes and the de- scendants of the old warriors. In the early days, they were mostly won from the soldier class. In recent years, many of the student class and a class that may be called transient, who are little burdened by the obligation or opposition of family ties, have come into the Church. A most pressing need is a big advance to reach entire homes among the farming and industrial classes. Christianity needs to lay its foundations broadly and deeply in the hearts of the common people. Victory for the Cross will not be assured until Jesus has won his way into the hearts and thoughts of the masses of Japan. When our Lord said that repentance and remission of * " The large number of beliefs founded on mythical zoology — the delirium tremens of paganism — which daily sway the thought and actions of millions of the Japanese, seems to be unknown, not only to the average tourist in their country, but also to most public speakers addressing audiences of Japanese." —William E. Griffis, "Dux Christus," p. 103. JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST 329 sins be preached in His Name among all nations, be- ginning at Jerusalem, His command and His prophecy- implied the use of speech which could be understood in common both by the speaker and the hearer. When Paul went from city to city he found not only synagogues but Jewish communities wherein were proselytes who understood the vocabulary of the Old Testament. A dif- ferent situation confronts us in Japan to-day. There would be more converts if the message were intelligible. We are still in the process of creating a Christian vocab- ulary and literature. This work is especially the task of the Christian press and our Christian schools. Because of the lack of equip- ment and enlargement, our Christian schools do not stand where they did some years ago. The Government schools have advanced all along the line. Because of this, and the lack of a corresponding advance in Christian schools, they are actually limping behind in the important work which they, and they alone, can do. A committee of twenty, appointed by the Japan Christian Educational Association, said in a report to Dr. Goucher : " What is most needed for the firm establishment of Christianity is a thoroughly good system of secondary and higher edu- cation, including a university." The Church of Christ would bless Japan and best intrench herself for the intel- lectual struggle which must precede the supremacy of the Cross, by establishing a great Christian University, which, sustained by all the missions, would represent, mould, and defend the higher thought of the Japanese Church.* * " My observation and discussion of the matter with a num- ber of representative men have, during the past few years, made me feel increasingly that a first-class Christian University is the greatest single requisite for the advancement of the Christian movement in Japan." — G. M. Fisher. " The same law operates in Japan as in the West. The men who are producing the literature of Japan are those who are teaching in the Universi- ties or who have had University training, but it is not Christian 330 THE OPPORTUNITY In no other non-Christian nation is the ability and the desire to read so advanced as in Japan. The land should be flooded with Christian literature. A riper and more opportune time will never come. More masterful books written by Japanese are needed, which will appeal to the intellect, the heart, and the moral sense of readers. Such books should present the evidences, the history, and the vital parts of Christianity. And another class is needed to show the inadequacy of Shintoism, the limitations of Confucianism, and the decrepitude of Buddhism to meet the requirements of the nation, groping as it is for funda- mental moral standards, perplexed about all religions, yet hungry for God. The bulk of missionaries and Japanese workers are found in the larger centres. Not a man can be spared from these most strategic points, but large reinforce- ments of missionaries and Japanese evangelists are needed to spread the Gospel in country, towns, and vil- lages. Towns of ten thousand can be found in many provinces in which no Christian work is done. The prov- ince of Niigata, against a population of i,857'775> has a total of 500 resident Christians. Six towns over ten thousand have no form of Christian work, not to mention many towns below ten thousand and hundreds of villages. Up and down the land in other provinces there are hun- dreds of such places where a Christian song has never been sung, where a Bible has never been seen, and where a Christian prayer has never been uttered. Japan's pressing need of Christ is evident from a com- parison of the Christian and non-Christian forces. There are 71,770* Buddhist temples and 137,134 Shinto Literature. On the other hand, its presuppositions, its stand- point, its attitude are distinctly unfavourable to Christianity. And further, this literary output is increasing in volume and in intellectual mastery every year that passes." — T. H. Haden. * Besides the 71,770 temples called Btitsuji there are 36,743 other Buddhist temples Butsudo. In these latter there are no officiating priest and no burial grounds. While they belong to JAPAN'S NEED OF CHRIST 331 shrines, a total of 208,904. Against this we have 831 organized churches and 565 church buildings. The Shin sect of Buddhism (and there are about two score sects all told) has 19,531 temples and 15,195 priests. The Sodo sect has 14,215 temples and 9,890 priests. A total of 58,831 priests and temples for the two largest sects of Buddhism. Against this total, there were 73,226 Protestant communicants in 1913. The total priesthood of the ancient faiths of Japan is 67,248. Against this we have 962 missionaries, including wives, 1,354 ordained and unordained Japanese preachers, and 431 Bible women. About one-seventh of the missionaries are ab- sent from the field on furlough or sick leave, and about one-tenth of the remainder is non-effective because of language study or other reasons. The effective force would therefore be about three-fourths of the total num- ber of missionaries. About one-third of the whole force are the wives of missionaries, who spend much of their time with their children or in domestic affairs. The male missionaries in Japan this year number 328. Reducing this by one-fourth we have 246 men as the effective force. As a considerable number of these are engaged in school work, the active force for direct evangelism is too small. The need therefore of a large increase in the missionary force must be evident to every one who loves Japan and who prays for its Christianization. We see, in Japan, old wooden Torii (temple gate- ways) replaced by granite, old temples freshly adorned and new ones gilded. We can see continuous streams of living souls who at temple portals throw the coin, tap the gong to arouse the God, then bow their heads and clap their hands in prayer. We know that Dagon is still enthroned. We think of the Cross of the patient no particular sect of Buddhism, they are resorted to for wor- ship as they have their idols which differ according to locality. The influence of these 108,513 Buddhist temples upon the mil- lions of Japan is not inconsiderable. 332 THE OPPORTUNITY Christ, of the tardy Church. We cry for more reapers. We reconsecrate ourselves : " Give me Thy heart, O Christ ! Thy love untold, That I like Thee may pity, like Thee may preach. For 'round me spreads on every side a waste Drearer than that which moved Thy soul to sadness." As of old, the Son of man stands where multitudes pass, and He cries : " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." As of old, He has compassion for multi- tudes " distressed and scattered as sheep having no Shepherd." To you and to me He says : " The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth more labourers into his harvest." VII OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY Christianity is a product of which the more we export the more we have at home. It is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish. — Matthew xviii, 14. All that we have done is but a skirmish — the big battles against ignorance and wrong and darkness are before us. — Herbert Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1913. But a reason that does no thinking for itself, and a con- science that flings aside no temptation and springs to no duty, affection that toils in no chosen service of love, a religions senti- ment that waits for such faith as may come to it, simply nega- tive their own functions and disappear. — Martineau, quoted in " The Problems of Philosophy," p. 76. We are at the parting of the ways. The final outcome may be the decay and extinction of Western civilization, or it may be a new epoch in the evolution of the race, compared with which our present era will seem like a modified barbarism. — Walter Rauschenbush, " Christianizing the Social Order," p. 40. Can we dream of anything nobler and finer than this divine commission which our Lord gave to His church? Is there any exploit of chivalry, any glory of military achievement, any attainment of scholarship, any service of culture, even any height or depth of patriotic or humanitarian sacrifice, which can com- pare in simple beauty, grandeur, and worth with this superb min- istry, in God's name, and at Christ's command, to the soul life of humanity ? — James S. Dennis, " The New Horoscope of Missions." p. 23. We know the paths wherein our feet should press. Across our hearts are written Thy decrees, Yet now, O Lord, be merciful to bless With more than these. Grant us the will to fashion as we feel. Grant us the strength to labour as we know, Grant us the purpose, ribbed and edged with steel, To strike the blow. Knowledge, we ask not — knowledge Thou hast lent, But, Lord, the will — there lies our bitter need, Give us to build above the deep intent The deed, the deed. —John Drinkwater, quoted in Japan Evangelist, August, 191 1. VII OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR a long time the ancients supplied us with The Seven Wonders of the World.* They were of the massive, immovable sort which could be seen by the eye and cost much money and sweat. But these wonders have been revised. The editor of the Popular Mechanics Monthly wrote to about one thousand sci- entists and men of note for their vote on what they con- sidered the real seven wonders of the world. The ma- jority of votes stood for : the wireless, the telephone, the aeroplane, radium, antiseptics and antitoxins, spectrum analysis, and the X-ray. The next revision will show the triumph of the human heart regenerated by the truth, the love, and the power of Christ. There will be so many wonders that seven plus seventy times seven will not complete the list. In that day, every idol will have fallen and every temple will have been rededicated to the. worship of God the Father. Swords and armour plate will be turned into sewing machines and steel granaries to hold the fruitage of earth, because the energies of man shall be turned to subdue the earth, so that " the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." The treas- ures of wealth will be laid at Jesus' feet and man's intel- lect will be employed to banish pain and ignorance. Even the poor will have an instrument for praise, for " the tongue of the dumb shall sing " and " sorrow and sighing shall flee away." f * They were the Pyramids, Pharos of Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Statue of Jupiter by Phidias at Athens, the Mausoleum of Arte- misia, the Colossus at Rhodes. t In this last chapter the author has in mind not only Japan 335 S36 THE OPPORTUNITY From the middle of the Fifteenth Century to the middle of the Sixteenth Century, providential events occurred as starters in this last great crusade. The Protestant reformation, the invention of printing, the discovery of America, the landing of colonists in the new world were extraordinary and necessary events in preparation for the modern missionary propaganda.* One hundred years ago it was an impossibility to get far into the pagan or Mohammedan world. Little was known of Africa away from the coast line. Turkey and other Moslem states were shut tight. Japan, China, and Korea were sealed to all traders, travellers, or mission- aries. But to-day doors are open everywhere and some are ofif their hinges. " When Stanley started, in 1874, for his journey of nine hundred and ninety-nine days across Africa, in the course of seven thousand miles he never met a Christian." f But to-day both Africa and Asia are being belted by railways and lines of mission stations. When Carey sailed for India in 1793, there was but one republic in the world. To-day there are twenty-four republics and an equal number of constitutional mon- archies.J Just as despotisms have fallen and man for but all mission fields. How can one intelligently pray " Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven " unless his heart feels for all who stray? While Japan is the most strategic mission field, Korea is the ripest, China the greatest, Tibet the most remote, India the most pitiable, the Levant the most impregnable, and Africa the darkest. * The Diet of Worms was in 1521 ; Gutenberg's Bible was printed in 1450-1455; the French Huguenots led in the first at- tempt at settlement within the United States at Port Royal, South Carolina, in 1562. tJohn R. Mott, "The Pastor and Modem Missions," p. 13. $ " Of the fifty-six principal countries in the world, twenty-four are governed by constitutional monarchs, twenty-four have adopted a republican form of government, seven are under an absolute monarchy, and one (Tibet) is ruled by an oligarchy.— The Christian Herald Almanac, 1913, p. 37^ OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 337 the first time has come to know the world's geography, invention has given us the wireless, the ocean cable, the fast express, and floating castles of the sea. And thus faster and still faster, more and still more, are sent forth Bibles, hospitals, schools, and missionaries to make Christ known. At the end of the first century 500,000 converts had been won, but there were few church buildings, few portions of Scripture were in circulation, and but few of the wealthy and mighty had been called. As the result of this last century of mission effort, there are 4,249,623 baptized Christians, 24,092 missionaries, and 111,862 native workers. But in spite of progress and success, we have not whereof to boast. Near a billion in idolatrous lands are still out of Christ and the greater part have no means of hearing of Him. A billion ! Few can grasp even the cold idea of a million, but people a million with souls and then do it one thousand times. Who but God can know the tragedy of a billion lost? Who but the Crucified can know the awful footing of the long column where there is registered the tears, the sin, the hopelessness of a billion souls without God and strangers to His love! We have the machinery and the equipment for mis- sions which the early Church did not have. But they excelled us in faith and personal sacrifice to make the glad tidings known. In spite of our missionary statistics, running into the millions, it must be confessed with heartache that our averages are pitifully small. In the United States, " over one-third of the congregations and parishes take no part in the expansion of Christianity beyond our borders. And what to my mind is the most serious, the average contribution at present is about seventy cents." * Last year the United States gave $14,- 942,523 to foreign missions, which is not quite one- fiftieth of the poultry products of the L^nited States, ♦John R. Mott, " Men and Religious Measures," Vol. IV, p. 311. 338 THE OPPORTUNITY and is just about equal the price of one super-dread- naught. There are thirty-three women in the United States who have an annual income of $30,250,000, if we compute a five per cent return on their fortunes. We are building magnificent temples in the United States, twelve every day in the year, but the true temple of God is the human heart. The Almighty who spread out the milky way cannot be pleased with brick and mortar and clanging bells of brass, or even paid soloists and organists, if the Church neglects the parting words of his Son, and is indifferent to the tears of millions of wandering sons whom He would make joint heirs with His Beloved. If we believe the Book and own the Lord- ship of Christ, then our faith and work ought to measure up to the world's needs and our own opportunities. God has broken down every barrier. Millions cry — and wait while they cry — beseeching, " Give us life, give us life ! " And yet the majority of Christians rock along just as if what ought to be first can be put last, or attended to any time in the next thousand years. Centuries ago, shortly after the Turks had captured Jerusalem (a.d. 1076), a French monk made his pil- grimage to the Holy Land. Here he was mistreated, and with a heavy heart he beheld the sepulchre of his Lord in the hands of infidels. He made his appeal to the Patriarch at Constantinople, but Constantinople itself was none too secure, and so this man of small stature and contemptible appearance said, " I will arouse the martial nations of Europe in your cause." And he did. Kissing the feet of the Roman pontiff and securing his approval, he went from city to city and from town to town. He bore a heavy crucifix and went bareheaded and barefooted, with a coarse garment thrown about his body. With an enthusiasm as contagious as a flame, and with a vehemence as irresistible as a spring flood, he joined Urban II in a campaign that aroused Europe, shook it out of well-worn social ruts, and hurled its OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 339 armies for two hundred years against the Turk and Saracen. And why ? The people thought and the thou- sands shouted, " It is the will of God ! It is the will of God ! " With all the opportunities awaiting us in Christless lands, and with the men, the ability, and the heaven-given authority to enter in His name — oh, that there were a Peter the Hermit to move us to prayer, to sacrifice, to the gentleness of love and the healing ministry of preaching the Gospel " unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people." Led by the Spirit of God, they who coined and de- fended the phrase, " The evangelization of the world in this generation " conferred a blessing on the Church and the unredeemed of every generation. The phrase tersely expresses the privilege, the ability, and the duty of the Church. Since our Lord gave the great commission, there has not been a proposition for the Church so full of faith and challenge. It proposes a test of love for the lost and of loyalty to our marching orders. It is the only thing that would call forth the unused power of the Church and clothe her with a battle armour that would be glorious and all-conquering. Let the man of the world smile, and enervated the- ologians stagger under the proposition if they will, we are fast approaching the time when, by Gentile, Jew, or Oriental, every creature, family, and tribe shall hear the Gospel of the Son of God. The daring audacity of the watchword is enough to give old Satan the shivers. Let the Church march out with a serious purpose and thor- ough equipment to set the millions of earth free, and we will see lively times down on this footstool of God. The glorious day of victory will not come without a stupendous struggle. To sit in idle comfort and con- template the pleasurable prospects of the millennium, contributes neither an hour nor a dollar nor a prayer towards its dawn. There are some easygoers who have it settled in their minds that the time has just about 340 THE OPPORTUNITY arrived when we can rush into victory tucked away in a sleeper on a train de kixe. Such have forgotten that the tranquillity enjoyed by the messengers of the Cross to-day rests back on the preponderance of power held by the so-called Christian nations. No calculation can be made of Asia's final atti- tude toward the Christ until it is master of its own riches, armaments, and political activities, internal and international. If the granting of constitutions and the rise of republics mean anything, they mean that power belongs to the majority, to the masses. If this be so, who can be sure that England's beneficent reign over India will last another hundred years? Who can say that upon the basis of a common religion Afghan, Per- sian, and awakened Turk may not within this century have their triple alliance ? To-day we say as we measure ability and opportunity, " We can do it if we will," or " We can do it and we will." But we should not presume too much for the morrow. If we look back to the tumult at Ephesus, back to Jerusalem which for envy crucified the Lord, back to Imperial Rome which sought to destroy the only thing that would have saved itself from destruction, or upon Turkey which for centuries has resisted the leaven which would have arrested its own disintegration — we learn facts that are true for every age. Any marked success of the Church begets opposition. " I came not to send peace but a sword." The Church can make no compromise with lust, vanity, selfishness, or superstition. The Gospel makes a sweeping demand that the unre- generated man resists. And where units of such men are gathered into millions and given power unrestrained, if they fail in argument or threat against the Church, they usually seek to destroy it during the incipient stages of its growth. There are special reasons why Canada and the United States should take the lead in this era of the world's OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 341 evangelization. God's providences and special grace have been openly displayed in their behalf. He has given them the garden part of the great continent which He con- cealed till the proper time approached. Then he peopled it and blessed it with riches and peace. In the coming of the Huguenots, the Pilgrims, the Friends, God tem- pered the cupidity of explorers and the vanity of men who ever seek new and unsettled fields because of plunder or adventure. We to-day are the children of a brave and noble company who flocked to America for the glory of God, for the free interpretation and spread of His Kingdom. We would be untrue to the blood that is in us if we failed to push still farther westwards the boundaries of the Kingdom of Heaven. The border-line between the United States and Canada is dismantled of forts. Instead of terminal stations for the quick massing and dashing of troops,* nothing more dangerous can be found than custom houses, grain ele- vators, and depots jammed and crammed with the ex- change of factory and farm. Like an immense moat, God has thrown the oceans around America that it may rest secure from invasion, and that it may, without dis- traction, turn its fabulous energies and resources into the ways of peace for the world's spiritual enrichment. Before his death, Vice-President Sherman said : " Our nation possesses but seven per cent of the area of the earth and yet, industrially, we about equal one-half the balance of mankind. We have twice as much life insurance as half the rest of the world and half as much money on deposit in our savings banks as all the rest of * " Europe is only a little greater in extent than the United States, but within this comparatively narrow space, wherein 400,000,000 persons daily wage the painful fight for their daily bread, more than 3,500,000 men are under arms, day in, day out, withdrawn from peaceful labour and training only for battle against one another." — Colonel Richard Gadke, " Peace and Disarmament," in McClure's for November, 1910. S42 THE OPPORTUNITY the world. Our expenses for education are two-thirds as much as is spent by all the rest of the world. One-third of the revenue collected by governments is ours, while our debt is but one-thirtieth of the debt of the world." He further said : " Ambition is inspired by opportunity. Ambition and opportunity have inspired and developed genius." And it may be truly said of Canada and the United States if their riches and world-wide opportunity to serve Christ develop no inspiration of sacrifice and no genius in gospel conquest^ then from them " The King- dom of God shall be taken away " " and shall be given to the nations bringing forth the fruits thereof." Covetousness is as great a sin as sensuality. A churcR member who steals chickens or gets tipsy deserves the condemnation of the congregation. We have developed a conscience on temperance and hen coops. We need a personal and widely distributed conscience on missions. Our craze for division of labour has given the missionary and the mission boards the missionary conscience, and has allotted the money monopoly to bankers, millionaires, and installment investors in autos. The professed Christian who does not give or cannot be educated to give for missions for which his Lord gave up Heaven and life itself, in very truth needs the Gospel, the prayers of saints, and the pity of angels. Dull of heart and shockingly depraved, he will not be convinced of his re- volting selfishness till the day when the King says, " In- asmuch as ye did not unto one of the least of these ye did it not to me." While visiting the Christian Orphans' Home in St. Louis, I had just entered a room where there were a score or so of little ones, when they all made a rush for me, an entire stranger, and with upturned faces and outstretched hands, they cried, " Boost me ! boost me ! " These fatherless ones wanted most what they had most missed — the caresses and tosses of a man. So one by one I took their little hands, few of which had lost the OUR ABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 343 dimples of tender years, and grasping each one under the arms, I gave them a boost into the air and a hug on the way down. Each Httle face beamed with satis- faction as they saw their mates, one by one, get the much coveted boost; and how different are men from children? Is it not the boost of affection, the touch of love, which this world most needs and craves? Jacob A. Riis tells a tale of a young Dane * who had come to America to seek his fortune, and it came by the way of hunger, cold, and the kick of New York City's police, as he was driven from sleep with the orders, " Get up there ! Move on ! " One night found him in the cold rain on the bank of the North River, listening to " the swish of the dark tide and thinking of home." But darker thoughts came into his brain, for the world seemed against him and he was tempted to seek an end to his miseries with the night and the river below. Just then his little pet dog whined. It was a little black-and- tan castaway, now, like himself, wet and forlorn. It climbed up on his lap and licked his face as much as to say, " Don't do it ; I am here, and I love you if no one else does." It was nothing but a dog love, but it was sufficient to give him the needed boost upwards. Clasping the dog in his arms, he ran away from the darkness and the tempter, away to the lights of the city and the mission God had for him. The world, God's lost M'orld, needs your boost, your love-touch. God was in His Son and through His Son He sought and still seeks the straying that they may find penitence and hope nestled close to His fatherly and compassionate breast. And God calls you and me to go with His love message — go anywhere and everywhere — go even if it costs. In the last great day our pedigree, the colour of our skin, our degrees in lodge or school, will count but little. What will it matter then if we owned stock in the Pennsylvania Railway or sailed in a ship or flying ma- *" Making of an American," illustrated edition, pp. 10-71. 344 THE OPPORTUNITY chine? The pertinent and vital issue will be whether we have done any boosting or whether we have turned any darkness into light or helped Christ draw a soul heavenward by the cable of truth made secure by the love-coupling. God wants me and He wants you to be a co-labourer with Him in winning back His prodigal world. He wants us to fight the good fight against everything and everybody who opposes His great work. Then at no distant day we can stack our arms, break ranks, and join with the multitudes in the shout of vic- tory. The universe itself will reverberate with the tu- multuous jubilation. The hosts who have burned their idols will shout as " the voice of a great multitude " ; the victorious Church will catch up the shout " as the voice of raany waters " ; all the angels and intelligences about the throne will join " as the voice of mighty thunder- ings, saying. Hallelujah : for the Lord our God, the Al- mighty reigneth." The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." APPENDIX APPENDIX A {See Part Two, Chapter I) A List of Books Whose Authors Are or Have Been Mission- aries IN Japan Awdry, Mrs. Frances : Daylight for Japan. Atkinson, John L. : Prince Siddartha ; The Japanese Buddha. Armstrong, R. C. : Just Before the Dawn. Albrecht, George E. : Translation of Ritter's History of Prot- estant Missions in Japan. Batchelor, John: The Ainu of Japan; Ainu and Their Folk- lore; A Grammar of the Ainu Language; An Ainu English- Japanese Dictionary. Ballagh, Mrs. Margaret T. K. : Glimpses of Old Japan, 1861- 1866. Brown, S. R. : Japanese Language. Carrothers, Mrs. C.: The Sunrise Kingdom; Kesa and Saijiro. Carey, Otis: Japan and Its Regeneration; A History of Christian- ity in Japan, 2 vols. Clement, Ernest W. : A Handbook of Modern Japan ; Chris- tianity in Modern Japan ; Japanese Floral Calendar ; Hildreth's Japan As It Was and Is, Revised and Annotated. Campbell, William : Formosa Under the Dutch. DeForest, John H. : Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom. Davis, J. D. : Joseph Hardy Neesima. Dening, Walter: Life of Toyotomi Hideyashi ; Japan in Days of Yore; High School Series of Readers, 6 vols.; Anglo- Japanese Readers, 4 vols.; Specimens of Translations; Sum- maries and Essays for Asiatic Society and many periodicals. Faulds, Henry : Nine Years in Nippon. Gordon, M. L. : An American Missionary in Japan ; Thirty Eventful Years in Japan. Gulick, Sidney L. : Evolution of the Japanese ; The White Peril in the Far East. Garst, Mrs. Laura D. : A West Pointer in the Land of the Mikado. Gring, Ambrose D. : Eclectic Chinese-Japanese English Dic- tionary, 347 348 APPENDIX Hepburn, Dr. J. C. : A Japanese-English and English- Japanese Dictionary. Hail, A. D. : Japan and Its Rescue. Imbrie, William: English-Japanese Etymology; The Church of Christ in Japan. Kitchin, W. C. : Paoli, the Last of the Missionaries. Knapp, Arthur M. : Feudal and Modern Japan. Knox, George William : The Spirit of the Orient ; Japanese Life in Town and Country; Development of Religions in Japan. Lloyd, Arthur: Kenshin's Vision; The Creed of Half Japan; Every-Day Japan; Wheat Among the Tares; Praises of Amida; Shinran and His Work. Lampe, William E. : The Japanese Social Organization. Murphey, U. S. : The Social Evil in Japan. McCauley, Mrs. F. C. (pseudonym, Frances Little) : The Lady of the Decoration ; Little Sister Snow ; The Lady and Sada San. Mackay, George L. : From Far Formosa. Madden, Mrs. Maud W. : Golden Chopsticks and Other Japa- nese Children's Songs. McCaleb, J. M.: From Idols to God; Christ the Light of the World. McLean, Miss M. : Echoes from Japan; Open Doors in Japan. Moore, H. : The Christian Faith in Japan. Miller, H. K. : History of the Japan Mission of the Reformed Church. Noss, Christopher: Text-book of Colloquial Japanese (Based on Lange's Lehrbuch). Newton, J. C. Calhoun: Japan, the Country, Court, and People. Pieters, Albertus : Mission Problems in J"apan ; The Educa- tional System of Japan, Prepared from Official Sources. Pierson, Mrs. L. H. : The Progress of a Mission in Japan. Peery, R. B. : The Gist of Japan; Lutherans in Japan. Scherer, J. A. B. : Young Japan ; Japan To-day. Schwartz. H. B. : In Togo's Country. Verbeck, G. F. : A Synopsis of All the Conjugations of the Japanese Verbs ; History of Protestant Missions in Japan (as contained in Osaka Conference Report). Vories, William Merrell : A Mustard Seed in Japan. Weaver, Mrs. Gussie C. : The House that a Jap Built. Warren, C. F. : Japan and the Japan Mission of the C. M. S. APPENDIX 349 APPENDIX B {See Part Three, Chapter I) The Record of the First Baptisms by Protestant Mission- aries IN Japan The baptism of Yano Ryuzan in November, 1864, was men- tioned in the Chapter " The Coming of the Kingdom." The next baptisms were two brothers. Eleven years before their baptism one of them, who was a government official, was patrolling the harbour at Nagasaki when he found a little book floating on the water which proved to be a copy of the New Testament in Dutch. Not being able to read it, he sent to Shanghai and bought a copy of the New Testament in Chinese. The official was commonly known by the name of Murata Wakasa. He imperilled his own life when, some years later, he called upon G. F. Verbeck to teach him the Scriptures. A servant by the name of Motono acted as a messenger in carrying questions back and forth between Mr. Verbeck, who resided in Nagasaki, and Murata's home. His brother Ayabe became interested, and they were both baptized by Mr. Verbeck May 20, 1866. The same spring Bishop Williams baptized Shimura of the Province of Higo. The next baptisms were in May, 1868. They were K. Ajiki (name later changed to Awadzu), the retainer of Zeze Honda, and K. Suzuki, a re- tainer of Lord li of Hikone. They had received private in- struction under James Ballagh and were baptized by him. The homes of these two young men were on the opposite sides of Lake Biwa, but they were not known to each other till they met in Yokohama. The next baptism was by G. F. Verbeck, the same summer. The candidate was a Buddhist priest who had suffered in various prisons because of his faith. In February, 1869, David Thompson •baptized an old lady and two young men. This woman and Mr. Thompson had been present at the baptisms of K. Ajiki and K. Suzuki, previously mentioned, which took place in Dr. Hep- burn's Dispensary. The two baptized by Mr. Thompson were Kojiro Suzuki and Y. Ogawa. Both became active Christians, the former serving as an evangelist in the Presbyterian Church. Some confusion has evidently arisen in the minds of historians between the K. Suzuki baptized by Mr. Ballagh and the Kojiro Suzuki baptized by Mr. Thompson. The Suzuki baptized by Mr. Ballagh went with a band of students to Europe in the 350 APPENDIX capacity of an official. Following these first ten converts, bap- tized in Japan, there was one more before the baptisms which led to the organization of the first church, namely a Mr. Nimura, baptized at Nagasaki by George Ensor, a missionary of the Church Missionary Society. APPENDIX C (See Part Three, Chapter V) Sunday School Work in Japan : by John G. Dunlop The children in Japan have a freedom that no one else has. With us the child is in tutelage but the adult is free; while with them the child is free while the adult is, comparatively speaking, in bondage. Not merely up to the age of school life, but considerably beyond it, the child has a degree of liberty far greater than is allowed to Western children. This freedom of the child is a happy thing for Sunday School work in Japan. The Japanese people, generations behind in child psychology, seem to think that it does not matter what a child learns, in morals and religions, at least, up to twelve or thirteen years of age, and so they let us alone in a large measure in our work for children. Just when the first Sunday School was organized in Japan probably no one now living knows, but it is altogether likely that Japan had its first Sunday School before it had its first church. The first Protestant church was organized in March, 1872, but already twelve and a half years missionaries had been at work in Japan, and it is hardly conceivable that during that dozen years some beginnings of rough-and-ready Sunday School work, at least, had not been made. At the beginning of the present century, the number of schools was recorded as 917, teachers and scholars, 42,513. The total number of organ- ized churches (Protestant) the same year was 461, and the total membership was 44,281. Thus the church membership and the Sunday School membership were about equal. That was in 1901. Eleven years later, in 1912, the figures were: Sunday Schools, 1,820; teachers and scholars, 96,663; and for the same year the number of churches recorded was 636; membership, 66,952. That is to say, in eleven years church membership in- creased 50 per cent and the Sunday School membership consid- erably over 100 per cent. In 1907, the World's Sunday School Association appeared on the scene in Japan in the person of Mr. Frank L. Brown, com- APPENDIX 351 missioned to bring about more organization and the adoption of more up-to-date methods. Mr. Brown's visit resulted in the organization of a National Sunday School Association, with branches in many parts of the Empire. The association has worked principally for better literature and better methods. A series of graded lessons has been prepared and is in use in a good many schools ; and public meetings to advertise the Sunday School, parlour conference of workers, and institutes are becoming increasingly common. The national and district organization and the entire new impetus since 1907 owe much to the unfailing sympathy and substantial material help of Mr. H. J. Heinz, of Pittsburg. He has twice visited Japan, his second visit in 1913 being as Chairman of the Special Com- mission of the World's Sunday School Association appointed to study Sunday School conditions in the Far East and to report on the same to the World's Conference in Zurich. Under the new stimulus, the Sunday Schools are improving not only in literature and methods, but also in housing and equipment. As in America and England, a new style of building is being erected for church purposes. Church architecture is keeping the child more in mind than it used to do, and the Church of God is being made a home for the Sunday School as well as for the congregation. As for equipment, very few schools are so poor as not to have an organ. Some, in the great cities, are grand enough even to have a piano. More systematic efforts are put forth to attract new pupils — and to keep the old ones. Recognition of exemplary scholars by means of attendance certificates has become customary. When these honour certificates for attendance were first given in 1909, it was a revelation and a matter of extreme gratification and comfort to learn how remarkable had been the attendance of many Sunday School pupils. Four hundred and twenty-one pupils in eighty-four schools received certificates the first year, and four pupils received special prizes, two boys in a Methodist school in Hirosaki, in the north of Japan, for being present every Sunday for five years, and two girls in a Presbyterian school in Tokyo who had made the remarkable record of at- tending every school session, without exception, one of them for six years and the other one for ten. As in America, too, pupils are being encouraged to own and to bring to school their own Bibles and Testaments. Increasingly in the Sunday Schools the emphasis is being put upon the Bible. H imitation is the sincerest flattery, we are certainly being flattered in more than one quarter. Buddhist Sunday Schools have been started in many places, but as a rule they have but 352 APPENDIX an ephemeral existence. The self-indulgent priest, determining to set up a Sunday School to offset the influence of the hated Jesus-School, is like a man starting to build a house without first sitting down to count the cost — in this case the cost in love and self-sacrifice. The other frequent foe of the Sunday School in Japan, the public school teacher, fares no better. He, too, lacks the strength and patience needed to continue to fight against an invincible cause. He may succeed in breaking up one Sunday School, but the fragments will shortly unite for a new life, or a new school will appear and leave him in despair of ever beating back this supposed enemy of order and loyalty. The enemies of the Sunday School are finding that their task is as hopeless as trying to sweep back the Pacific Ocean. With the steady improvement in our schools, they are winning a securer place in the respect and confidence of the non-Chris- tian parents, and we have numberless cases now of parents, themselves not Christians, carefully sending their children to the Christian Sunday School — and needless to say, themselves coming increasingly under the influence of the Gospel of Christ. APPENDIX D (See Part Three, Chapter V) Christian Endeavour in Japan : by J. H. Pettee Almost every sort of organized Christian activity that has proved its efficiency in America and Europe has opened a branch work in Japan. Christian Endeavour is no exception to this rule. The first C. E. Society organized in this country was among the children of the American Board Mission, Dr. J. D. Davis being then pastor of the Mission Church. This was in 1885, and the orgainzation has continued in existence up to the present time. At least 21 of its graduates, or nearly one-half, have been or are at the present time engaged in foreign missionary service. The first society among the Japanese was at the San-Yo Girls' School in Okayama, about 1888, and was started by Miss Gill (later Mrs. Severance), a missionary then residing in that city. Other early societies were one in Kobe Church and one (Sun- shine Society) in Hokuriku Girls' School at Kanazawa. The first junior society was organized by Methodist Protestants at Nagoya. APPENDIX 353 Some of the most unique societies have been the following: a floating society in the Japanese Navy, a society for post-office and telegraph employees at Sendai, societies (five simultane- ously for several years) in the Okayama Orphanage, one for children of the slums in connection with Miss Adams's work in the same city, a society for ex-convicts in the Kobe Home for Discharged Prisoners, one for reformed criminals working in a marble mine in Nagato Province, and quite a number among students in missions or public schools. At Nagasaki there is a C. E. Seamen's Home for seamen of all nationalities. The Japan C. E. Union was formed in July, 1893, with 36 societies enrolled. Its president, until four years ago, was Rev. (now Dr.) T. Harada, widely known and honoured as the head of Doshisha University at Kyoto. He was succeeded by Rev. N. Tamura of Tokyo and he after one more turn under Dr. Harada by the present head of the Union, Rev. T. Osada of Osaka. There are three vice-presidents, three secretaries, and two treas- urers, one of the last-named being Rev. J. H. Pettee of Okayama. The society headquarters are at Kyoto, in charge of the Chief Secretary, Rev. T. Makino, who tours among the churches of central Japan, while Rev. G. Fukuda (who represented Japan at the Atlantic City Convention in 191 1) attends to eastern and northern Japan and the other secretary, Mr. T. Sawaya, who made such a happy impression at the Seattle Convention in 1909, attends to the western and southern portions of the Em- pire. He was appointed delegate from Japan to the Los Angeles, Cal., Convention held in the summer of 1913, and the Japan Union plans to send a representative, probably its president, to the World's C. E. Convention to be held at Sydney, Australia, in 1914. The society publishes a small monthly bilingual magazine, Kwds-Sekai (Endeavour World), and holds anually a wide- awake convention that is one of the great features of the united aggressive evangelistic Christian work in Japan. At the Nagoya convention last spring, special interest was attached to the street preaching from automobiles and to a great meeting for the general public held in the new city hall. In 191 1, at the "Kyoto Convention, which chanced to be held when the city was crowded with pilgrims attending a great Buddhist festival, some 20,000 tracts specially prepared for the purpose were distributed in connection with preaching meetings in the parks or in front of the railroad stations. Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., LL.D., founder of the movement, who is lovingly known as Father Endeavourer Clark, together with his estimable and efficient wife, has visited Japan three times, 354. APPENDIX once each in 1893, 1900, and 1910, and given great impetus to the work here. Other widely known Endeavour visitors from abroad have been Secretary William Shaw of Boston, Mass., Rev. Messrs. G. H. Hubbard and G. W. Hinman, in 1903 presi- dent and secretary of the China C. E. Union; Rev. F. S. Patch, in 1904 Secretary for India, Burma, and Ceylon, who held more than fifty meetings in nine different cities ; and Rev. J. P. Jones, D.D., first president of the India Union. The work of the Japan C. E. Union is sustained by an annual grant-in-aid from the World's Union of $1,000, supplied mainly during recent years by the Cleveland, Ohio, C. E. Union, and by nearly as much more raised in Japan. This does not include contributions by Endeavourers in support of their own local or denominational enterprises. Christian Endeavourers are loyal supporters of the work of the Sunday School Union, and much of their effort is directed along this channel. They have also opened work in Chosen (Korea), both among Japanese and Chosenese, and are doing much to bring about a better understanding between these two peoples now politically united. It should be added that Christian Endeavour methods have been adopted in many churches that are not formally organized as C. E. Societies. The present roll of the Japan C. E. Union is as follows: Number of adult societies, 125; number of junior societies, 45; number of denominations represented, 10; total number of mem- bers, 3,100 (of these, 1,100 are juniors) ; new societies organ- ized last year, 25. APPENDIX E {See Part Three, Chapter VIII) The Conference of Federated Missions The Conference of Federated Missions, which meets in Tokyo annually, is a delegate meeting of the missions which have become members. It originated in a large conference of mis- sionaries in 1900 (see A Report of the Conference, page i960). After the close of the Conference, some missionaries in central Japan, for fear that the proposed co-operation plan might fail, prepared an appeal to all the missionaries, in which was the following prayer : " All mighty God, our heavenly Father, who has purchased an universal church by the precious blood of thy son, we thank thee that thou hast called us into the same, and made us members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors APPENDIX S55 of the Kingdom of Heaven. Look now, we beseech thee, upon thy church and take from it division and strife and what- soever hinders Godly union and concord. Fill us with thy love, and guide us by thy Holy Spirit that we may attain to that oneness for which thy son, our Lord Jesus, prayed on the night of his betrayal, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen." The diversified activities of the Federation can be seen through the list of its standing committees which, beside the Executive Committee, consists of Committees on Christian Literature, Eleemosynary Work, Educational Work, Statistics, Industrial Welfare, School for Foreign Children, Temperance, Distribution of Forces, Publicity, Bible Study, Sunday School Work, Summer School for Missionaries, International Peace, and Board of Examiners of Uniform Course of Study of the Japanese Lan- guage. There was great rejoicing at the annual meeting in 1913, when H. S. Wainright was introduced as the Executive Secretary of the Christian Literature Committee. While his salary is paid by his own church, the Methodist Church, South, his service will be completely given to the Conference of Federated Missions in the translations and distribution of Christian lit- erature. We are living in the dawn of a better day, when any church will thus graciously give a man of talent for a project that counts for unity and the extension of the whole Kingdom of God. APPENDIX F {See Part Four, Chapter II) The Impemal Oath (Called Go jo No Gosein) Issued by the Late Emperor Mutsuhito (Posthumus Name, Meiji Tenno) ON April 17, 1869, the Year Following the Accession. 1. Deliberation assemblies shall be established on a broad basis in order that governmental measures may be adopted in accord- ance with public opinion. 2. The concord of all classes of society shall in all emergencies of the State be the first aim of the Government. 3. Means shall be found for the furtherance of the lawful desires of all individuals without discrimination as to persons. 4. All purposeless and useless customs being discarded, justice and righteousness shall be the guide of all actions. 5. Knowledge and learning shall be sought after throughout the whole world, in order that the status of the Empire of Japan may be raised ever higher and higher. 356 APPENDIX APPENDIX G {See Part IV. Chapter II) Gifts of Japanese Majesties to Christian Efforts By examining the gifts of the Japanese Government and the Imperial Household Department to such Christian institutions as orphanages, schools, and hospitals, one can easily see that Christianity has already made a good impression upon Japan. During the last five years the Home Department of the Japanese Government has contributed to fifty-three Christian institutions scattered throughout nineteen provinces of Japan. During these five years this department of the Government granted $112,436 to benevolences, of which $40,700 went directly to Christian institutions, or a little more than a third of all the gifts. Below are given the letter from the Home Department, the list of its benevolences, and also a list of gifts from their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. The amounts given are in yen. One yen equals fifty cents. February 13, 1913. Fred E. Hagin, Esq., Dear Sir: Referring to your inquiry, regarding the subsidy, etc., granted by our Imperial Household or the Government to Christian works, we beg to advise you that the amount of money granted as encouragement or subsidy by the Minister of Home Affairs to the enterprises of reformatory or relief works is as the accompanying statement. As to the grant from our Imperial Household or those persons upon whom orders have been conferred, we wish you would inquire of the Depart- ment of Imperial Household. We remain, dear sir, Yours respectfully, Tomeoka Kosuke. 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Hokkaido Province Yenyu Yagakko 200 100 200 Tokyo Province Tokyo Ikuseien 300 500 Futabaya Yochien 300 300 Katei Gakko 200 500 500 500 650 300 400 500 500 500 600 APPENDIX 357 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Bunkaijuku 300 500 500 400 500 Takinogawa Gakuen 300 500 500 600 Kyusheignn Jizen Jigyo 500 700 1,000 1,200 1,200 Ihaien 500 700 700 700 850 Crittenton Jiakan 200 150 150 200 Akasaka Hospital 500 500 500 St. Luke's Hospital 100 * Higashi Shinanomachi 150 200 Tokyo Y. M. C. A. (Jinji Sodanbu) 300 St. Hilda Yoroin 150 Osaka Province Hakuaisha 600 700 700 700 850 Osaka Yohane Gakuen 200 200 200 200 250 Osaka Honai Fushokukai 700 700 300 Osaka Fujin Home 300 300 450 350 St. Barnabas Hospital 300 350 Kanagawa Province Sumire Jo Gakko 200 300 300 400 500 Kamakura Shoni Hoikuen 400 400 400 450 Negishi Kate Gakuen 200 200 300 350 Yokohama Mojin Gakko 200 200 Hyogo Province Kobe Orphanage 300 500 500 500 600 Kobe Yoroin ... 200 200 200 Kobe Kummoin ... ... 100 100 Nagasaki Province Urakami Yoikuin 200 . . . 300 300 350 Okuramura Jikei-in 200 200 200 350 Shifukisha 200 100 100 200 Guma Province Jomo Koji-in 300 300 300 400 700 Shidzuoka Province Kamiyama Fukusei Byoin.. 500 700 700 700 850 Shidzuoka Home 300 300 400 500 Fuji Ikuji-in 200 200 200 100 Gifu Province Gifu Kummo-in 200 200 300 300 300 Nippon Ikuji-in 300 Miyage Proznnce Sendai Kirisutokyo Ikuji-in. 300 300 500 700 850 Ishikawa Province Kanazawa Ikuji-in 200 300 300 400 600 * Article. 358 APPENDIX 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 Tottori Province Tottori Ikuji-in 200 200 200 300 450 Shimane Province Matsuye Ikuji-in 200 200 200 300 350 Okayama Province Okayama Hakuaikai Seryoin 300 300 400 500 600 Okayama Orphanage 1,000 1,250 1,500 1,500 1,500 Yehime Province Shiritsu Matsuyama Yagakko 250 200 200 200 300 Matsuyama Dojokan 200 200 200 200 200 Kumamoto Province Tenshien 200 300 300 200 350 Hakuai-in 200 300 300 300 350 Kumamoto Kwaishun Byoin 500 700 700 700 850 Jiro-in 500 700 700 700 850 Seishin I-in 300 300 300 350 Nazarein 200 300 Shimazaki Ikuji-in 200 250 Shiyenkei , . ... 150 Miyasaki Province Chausubara Norinbu of Oka- yama Orphanage 500 Kagoshima Province Kagoshima Mogakko 200 200 100 100 Gifts from their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress: 2,000 yen to the Okayama Koji-in (Okayama Orphanage) on June 30, 1904. (This was granted on account of its meritorious deeds since its establishment in 1887.) 1,000 yen to same on April 19. 1905. (This amount is granted each year for ten years thence ensuing.) 10,000 yen to Nippon Kirisutokyo Seinenkai (Japan Y. M. C. A.) on May 6, 1905. (This was granted in order to facilitate the work of relieving armies at the front at the time of the Russo- Japanese War.) 1,000 yen to Tokyo Shutsugoku-nin Hogosho (or Tokyo ex- Convict Home) on May 13, 1905. (This was granted on account of its favourable result of working since its establishment under the superintendence of Mr. Hara Taneaki.) 1,000 yen to the Katei Gakko (Home School) on October 11, 1905. (This was established by Mr. Tomeoka Kosuke, president of the school for the influencing of bad youths and bringing up teachers desiring to engage in v/orks of charity. This was granted on account of the good results in the development of the charitable deeds.) APPENDIX S59^ 700 yen to Okasaka Hakuai Fushokukai on December 4, 1902. (This was granted on account of relieving children of poor people.) From Her Majesty the Empress: 100,000 yen. (This was granted April 20, 1912, as a fund for relief works of the Inter- national Red Cross Association in the time of peace.) From His Majesty the Emperor : 5,000 yen to the Dreadnaught Hospital of Seamen's Relief Association at Greenwich, England, on July 9, 1908. (This was granted praising its philanthropic charitable purport.) APPENDIX H A Brief Mention of Mission Work Among the Ainu, the Loo Choo Islanders, the Formosans, and the Koreans There are about 15,000 Ainu who live in the Island of Hok- kaido, 700 of whom have become Christians. Protestant mission work among the Ainu began with Walter Den- ing, formerly of the Church Missionary Society. He left a vocabulary of 925 words and a number of idiomatic phrases. In 1877, John Bachelor began his work, which he still continues. The only other missionary at present is Miss E. M. Bryant. Mr. Bachelor has translated the New Testament and the Prayer Book and made a book of hymns for the Ainu; but their lan- guage is almost obsolete, having been succeeded by Japanese. The Loo Choo, or Ryukyu, Islands lie to the southwest of Japan, extending as far as Formosa. The islands were an- nexed to Japan in 1879. Japanese schools have been established throughout the islands, wherein Japanese is taught; but the islanders, who number about 500,000, continue to use their own language. Mission work at present is conducted by the Baptists and Methodists. The latter have two resident missionaries, H. B. Schwartz and Earl R. Bull, and their wives. There are about 800 Christians, all told. The principal centres are Naha, the chief city, and at Shuri, the old capital close by, and at Yontan Zan. The mission work in Formosa among the 3,120,000 Chinese is conducted by the English and Canadian Presbyterians, who have united into one ecclesiastical body. Dr. James L. Maxwell, who reached Formosa in 1866, was the first missionary from England, and G. L. MacKay, the pioneer from Canada, arrived in 1872. The Canadian work, which covers the northern third of the island, has 15 missionaries, 52 preachers, and 2,125 adult church members. The southern two-thirds of the island is worked 360 APPENDIX by the English mission, which has 22 missionaries, 66 preachers, and 3,880 adult church members. There are three mission hos- pitals and various mission schools in the islands. Counting bap- tized children, there is a total of 11,200 church members, or a nominal Christian for every one hundred of the population. There are 122,000 aborigines called Head-hunters, only 6,000 of whom have submitted to Japanese authority. No Christian work is being done among these wild mountaineers. There are 110,000 Japanese residents in the islands, and among them some six Japanese pastors are working, who are supported by the Japanese Christian bodies which sent them forth. The first Protestant missionary who reached Korea was Dr. H. N. Allen, an American Presbyterian, who arrived at Seuol Sep- tember 20, 1884, journeying by sea from Shanghai to Chemulpo on the steamer " Nanzing." He was followed shortly by his wife and child. As there was no foreign physician in the capital, he was immediately appointed physician to the American Lega- tion and British Consulate General. The next year a number of pioneers reached Korea. The first missionaries braved many dangers and endured hardships in the way of living which have all but passed away. From the first, the mission work in Korea has been carried on mainly by the Presbyterians and Methodists. The number of full church members is 72,633, which is one for every 190 of the population. Thus in about one-half the time, four times as many have been won in Korea as have been won propor- tionately in Japan proper. The probationers number 47,439- The missionaries number 521, which is double the proportion to Japan proper. The six leading missions had 11,700 baptisms during the last year. The average Sunday School attendance is 109,855, and the total offering of the Christians for all purposes was $54,927. When the poverty of most of the Korean Christians is taken into consideration, their sacrifice toward self-support is an unassailable proof of their faith and devotion to Christ. There are 774 parochial schools with 18,287 pupils and 334 students in the theological schools. There are a little less than 300,000 Japanese in the peninsula of Korea. They are more open to Christianity than the Japanese in the mother country. All told, there are 17 Christian workers labouring for the salva- tion of the Japanese who have entered Korea. Supplementing the work of the various missions in Korea is the work of the Salvation Army and the Y. M. C. A. About 500 Koreans reside in Tokyo, most of whom are students. Christian work is carried on among them under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. MAP OF PRINCIPAL ROUTES BY RAILWAYS IN JAPAN, AS ISSUED BY THE WELCOME SOCIETY—REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION. TATISTICS. [QS. 55. S. Schools & 1 Y.P.S.C.E. &c. Cluirpli Finon/^o 1 Buildings. ! » M B s s 1 e 05 s ^ IS s ^ bC 2 a ■11 2 5 o 2 2I 2 » p B -3f 5 = 2.3 Amount ex through th Japanese cl istic wcrk, orie^' salari •< I c CD 1 CD a 1 3- s » 3 - & e tr e 1 3 ." 96 1- g •5 1 8 § 1 |i •1 s P si pended by or g mission in aid of lurches or evangel- excluding mission- es and expenses. a 5 B a 2 1 - 895,59] 154 (8,47S I 818 12,533 p. 1' 17,086 125,098 28,000 1 889 7 858 25 loo.rof 185 708 7,688 45,000 ] 107 4 271 fc 52 00( 26 1,218 2,015 15,000 4 11 OOC 26 1,574 6 54 1,411 8,500 • •• 14 48,.^46 57 4 3,070 442 860 40,000 1 115 1 31 309 200 3,000 i'o 30,000 5S 2,616 5 Yes 2,334 30,000 ... 1 4f 3 1/^ K-lfl ij fifi.7 .fin^i STATISTICS. American Board and Knmlai Cliurcli Amerioan Bnptist Foreign Mission Pi Southern Baptist Convention American Cliristian Convention Churches of Christ Mission in J:ipan Christian Missionary Alliance* Evangelical ABflociation Gen. EvanR. Pro(. MiBsionarv Society Hepzibnh Faith Mission ....'. Evan^-elical Lutheran Mission. . Einni»h Lutheran Uospet Assoc in Jnpnn* Japan Methodist Church Metlioilist Protestant Church* Japan Free Methodist Mission Nihoii Kirjgnio Kyokw ai. .^ Cy Nippon Seikokw Oriental Missionary Society" ■Salvation Army Seventh Day Advenliets* Society of Frien ds M issic Hcandinavian Japan AIUe Kippon Dojin Kirlsuto Kyokwai (Un Nazarone Cliristian Church , Churches of Christ (Independent) .... 'JoTAL l*i«>Tt:^ANT Cntmc«Es , .C.A. Chinese and Kor Tokyo Y.W.CA. ... Woman's Christian Tempei (Knesian^OrtYioilox Totals Canadian I're.-^h. Mi Ch«Tc\> (Greek")' ('Nor'thFori'i'ioVu')'. Presb. Ch. of England Mis TotoU Presb. Ch. in U.S. (North) , Presb. Ch. in U.S. (South) Mission, (N, J. Mis Rcf. Ch. . A. (Diitrh) J^"'/ Iteformed Church in U.S. Itiernian) . Woman's Union Missionary Society . Totals Meth. Epis. Ch. (North) w.*!!. mS Meth. Kpis. Ch. (South) t Church of Canada C.M.S. of Kyushu C.M.S.of Hokkaido CMS. of Central Japan S.P.G."and C-M.S. of S. Tokyo .. Illi I 11 l7B,00(i IM.OOO 14,500 ICO.OOO .4:5,800 :'.o,ooo ll.l.'iO .17,100 13 75,000 IS 71,192 15,000 :iS,000 s4 n 270,000 25,000 90,000 2J000 77,1UU 00,000 647,100 102,500 140,000 116,300 125500 Japanese Workers. Chnrch Membership. 19.984 3,1)80 2,135 3,880 6,015 t4,299 20,867 3,S80 32,246 98,936 6,097 1 1,074 2,430 1,280 2,823 2,984 3,7241 Churclie^ & Chllrcli Buildings. 3^*r. ^- im ■ P ki^\ 5^ ■-s?> a- t 15C 169 84 18S 13 ."2 10 ? 35 23 1 5 1 ,W 11 11 6 14 J 117 III "24 47 15 2! (i 294 US 70 132 74 32 23 U 6 43 7 4 IS It 8 1) 17 ~ '"8 T280 4 1 7 8'31 70 19 Twi 55 '?' 232 265 "7 4 ,82 12 16 It 20 8C 69 15 59 11: 10 < 41 30 10 76 61 3 8 1 294 1.=.! 40 75 17 06 t; T7 13 ;, 12 28 9 "2 32 13 ^ <0S,923 29,00t 11,000 20,400 .3"6oo 35,00li 80,600 135,059 60.0UU 1 8.476 I 81E 1,218 I, .574 3,07C 1,215 19,658 8,2-50 2,420 •3,196 Churdi Finance. £di]cationnl Items. 1,193 12',"200 {318,897 60,000 23,340 31,340 42,590 ipft 45,000 15,000 8,500 40,000 3,000 30,000 7,200 6,316 4,17( 1,.5U0 109,069 33,000 18,788 ni38,614 57,302 51,000 15,140 ? 8,000 15,128 oiib] 1 1,111 ni857 ( f.uth. .-. Include Ainu tS^O) iird Luchumjs. rf. OrUieseTin a coOB^Qted. t. ALioaa:-! tom er-dowmenw. Oiikko (St. Piiu i Tsukijl) wit G-W + Btua^nU. g. 2 Hoapltib. 1 L pet no3i.ltnl witb a iom:>le9 ltd 1 Wspetairy. lb. ri 03 CoofoJslo noff.iith. I. A Irln Jojlkn{K.ctrri'C rtrls'NI:.;htScho.,l). m. Amount :ibnor mally l.^i^t^ 1 eokuse of lyijhoon. klndergnrt.>n. t. m C Oalaid *•. u. IlMCUeHo me (=FIorencf cm f-ndtnj Mlafiion. A. No r,-t msilgutesoneil. .', SnncUflcd \"'."'.Z'.Z ^W INDEX INDEX Ability and responsibility, our, 335 Agriculture, income from, 27 Anarchists put to death, 293 Ancestor worship, 54-55 Anti-Tuberculosis Society, 204 Aoyama Gakuin, 230 Appendices, 347-360 Area, 25 cultivable, 46 B Ballah, J. H., 163 fifty years' service, 269-270 Baptist Missions, 213 Tabernacle, 207 Baptists (Southern), 214 Bathing, 109- no Berry, Dr. John C, 175 Bickel, Luke W., 158 Bible in Japan, 88 presented to Emperor, 164- 165 Societies, statistics of, 209 Bibles issued, 209 Book and Tract Society, 210 Books written by missionaries, 347-348 Booth, General, 293 Bowles, Gilbert, 9 Brown, Frank L., 292 S. R., 163 Buddhism, 65 awakened by missionaries, 70 imitating Christianity, 87 revising and using Christian hymns, 305 Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and churches, sta- tistics of, 331 Canadian Methodist Mission, 218 Catholic Missions, 214 Chamberlain, B. H., 302 Changes, 33, Z"? in country life, 39 in government, 39-40 Children, 31 of missionaries, their educa- tion, 100 Christian Convention, 215 education, 225 Endeavour Union, 208 Orphans' Home, 342 forces at work, 203 Literature Society, 210 pulpit, 207 Christians, prominent, 255 Christianity destined to pre- vail, 278 influencing Government, 245- 246 meets the needs of the peo- ple, 170 Christmas in Japan, 41 Chrysanthemum party, the Emperor's, 38 Church audiences not large, 307 first Protestant, 164 of Christ in Japan, 2yj, 252 Missionary Society, 215 of England, 214 Churches, activity of, 177 built in U. S., 338 Claims for sympathy, 313 363 364 INDEX Clawson, Miss Bertha, 154 Clement, E. W., 72 Climate of Japan, 27 Composite religion, 302 Conference of three religions, 294 Confucian Ethics, 53 Congregational Church, 251 Congregationalists, 214 Constitution, The, 169 Consumption, deaths by, 74 Contents, 11 Conversation with young men, 185, 188-189 Converse, Miss Clara A., 154 Converts, 198-199 and the churches, 245 " Do they stick ? " 193 mostly from the educated classes, 328 opposed, 247 poor as a class, 246 quality of, 176 Covetousness, 342 Criticism of missionaries, 99 Crusades, 338-339 Customs opposite to those in the Occident, 30-31 Enemy of society, The great, 74 English, teaching, 145 Eta, The, 56 Etiquette a burden, 49 Evangelical Association, 216 Evangelistic Band, 207, 215 Evangelists needed, 119 Evil lives of some foreigners, 308 " Evils of Christianity," 292 Experiences on furlough, 128- 129 Family, The, 57 Famine, The, 74 Farmers and villagers courte- ous, 50 in Japan and America, 45-46 Filial piety, 58 Fisher, Galen M., 159 Fox god, The, 65 Free Methodists, 216 Friends' Mission, 220 Furloughs, 125 Furniture, loi Future of Christianity, 273 Davis, Miss Ruth F., 155 De Forest, John H., 148 Deweese, B. C, 9 Dickinson, Miss E. E., 72 Disciples of Christ, 215 Doshisha, 229-230, 291 E Edict Boards removed, 266 Edinburgh Conference, 239 Educational statistics, 228 Elementary education, com- pulsory, 30 Embassy, The, 71 Emperor's death, 295-296 Emperor-worship, 303 Empire and people, 25 Garst, C. E., 155 Gift to Y. M. C. A., The Em- peror's, 296 Goble, J., 69 Gospel received and carried, The, 41 Goucher, Dr., quoted, 329 Government, The, 29 Governmental changes, 336 Grant, General, 21 " Great Righteousness," 296 Greek Catholic Church, 216 Greene, Dr. D. C, 157 Growth of the Kingdom, 173- 174 promise of larger, 179-180 Gulick, S. L., 72 Gypsy moth, 72-73 INDEX 365 H Harris, Townsend, 21 Heinz, H. J., 292 Hepburn, Dr. J. C, 72, 163 Hephzibah Faith Mission, 216 Heroism of Japanese, 274 Hiroshima Girls' School, 232 Homes, country, 47 Horses, 47 Hospitals, 40 Hotels, no Husbands, Japan a paradise^ for, 32 Hymnal, Union, 238 Ideographs, Chinese, 29 Idolatry, 61-64 better than materialism, 66 Imbrie, William, 156 Imperial family divine, 303 Imports from Japan, Ameri- ca's, 19 Incomes and taxes, 28-29 Inferior and superior, 53 Interest on loans, 48 " Invention of a New Reli- gion," 302 Iwakura Embassy, 245 Prince, 71 Janes, L. L., 165 Japan and the U. S., 316 our neighbour, 17 Japan's ambition, 284 need of Christ, 319, 323 Japanese a wonderful people. The, 316 Methodist Church, 251 workers, statistics of, 314 law-abiding, The, 326 minister, 89 K Karuizawa, 28 Kawamura, General, 266-267 Kidder, Miss Mary E., 153 Kindergartens, 232 Kobe College, 232 Korea, work in, 242 Korean Conspiracy Trial, 277 Land, prices rising, 28 Landing and leaving, a con- trast, 267-268 Language a barrier. The, 90 Learning in Japan, modern, 285 Lepers, 75 Letters from home, 92 Liberty, religious, 71, 169 Liggins, J., 163 Loyalty, 58 Lutheran Missions, 216 M Mabie, H. W., 205 McKim, Bishop, 156 Maejima, Baron, quoted, 297 Manufactures in their infancy, 33 Marriage elevated, 177 Marrow, Judge, W. W., quoted, 73 Meat, little eaten, 31 Medical Missions, 206 Meguro Leper Hospital, 73 Meiji Gakuin, 230 Men and women and children work in the fields, 47 Methodist Episcopal Church (South), 2i7_ Episcopal Mission, 217 Protestant Mission, 217 Middle Schools and Schools for Higher Education, 150 Mikado worship and Japan worship, 303 Minerals in Japan, 27 Missionaries, 69 The need of more, 331 The first, 163 366 INDEX Missionary's delight in books from home, The, 91-92 equipment, 337 experiences, The, 80-81 faith, The, 93 food and dress, The, 99 home life. The, 97 home, The use of, 103 joy. The, 87 qualifications, The, 135-136 satisfaction. The, 87 source of power. The, 82 statistics, 315, 337 Mott, J. R.'s, visit, 239 Mountains in Japan, 27 N Nationalistic temper, 303 Neesima, Joseph Hardy, 165- 166 Newspaper, first Christian, 178 New Testament, first book translated, 164 Nicolai, Archbishop, 159 Nobles, Japanese, 56 Nogi, General, 267, 318 " Non-Existence of Christ," 293 North Japan College, 230 O Okada, Dr., quoted, 227 Okuma, Count, 292, 309 Omi Mission, 218 Opposition to missions, 167 Oriental Missionary Society, 218 Orient changing, 320 Osaka, 26 Oyama, General, 267 Ozaki, Mayor, quoted, 235 Palmore Institute, 146 Patience, need of, 118 Patriotism, 325 Peace Forum, 205 Society, 205 Peace, The way to, 113 People all at work, 49 Perry, Commodore, 20 Persecution, 193-195 Persimmon, 72 Peter the Hermit, 339 Policemen, 147 Population, 26 Post-office in villages, 48 Pray for Japan, 320 Preaching while touring, ill Preface, 7 Prejudice removed, 291 Presbyterian Mission, 219 Mission (Southern), 219 Priests won to Christ, 194, 197 Problems and difficulties, 301 Products, farm, 46 Public opinion, 276 Publications, religious statis- tics of, 179 Purity Association, 204 R Railways, automobiles and electric cars, 25, 38 Reaching Japan, 126 Real Japan, The, 17 Reformed Church Mission (Dutch), 219 Church Mission (German), 219 Rice, 27 Riis, J. A., 343 Root - Takahira Agreement, The, 58 St. Luke's Hospital, 206 Salvation Army, 205 Samurai, 56 Schneder, D. B., 158 Schools a necessity, 225 for boys, 229 Secret believers, 177 Self-support, 249 Sendai Christian Orphanage, 73 Sentiment toward Christianity changing, 174 INDEX 367 Separation from loved ones, 119 Servants, Japanese, 102 Seventh-Day Adventists, 220 Seven Wonders of the World, 335 Seward, W. H., 21 Ships, equipment of, 42 Shinran celebration, 318-319 Shintoism, 302 Shinto shrines, 301 Skeptical literature, 306 Slums, work in, 149 Smith, Geo. T., 155 Social evil, 75 system, 53 Socialism, 40 Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 204 for propagating the Gospel, 220 divisions of, 56 Soldiers, 53 Soper, Julius, 157, 270 Speed, 38 Standing Committees of Co- operating Missions, 237 Statistics, 165 Strategic importance of Japan, 283 Suicides, 326 Sunday, first observed, 168 observed increasingly, 178 Sunday-school, The, 145 songs, 69-70 work, 208 Superstition, 65 Tourists, 109 Country districts hardly touched by the Gospel, 330 Tract, The first, 164 Travel and residence, freedom of, 107 Trials, 117 Typhoons, 28 U Union in service, 240 United Brethren Mission, 220 United States and Canada, 341 feeling toward, 19-20 Unity and co-operation, 235 Universalists' Mission, 221 University, The Imperial, 72 V Verbeck, G. F., 71, 72, 163 Victories over Russia, 21, 22, 284, 324 Villages and country, 46 W War, wild rumours of, 316-317 White Cross Society, 204 Winning souls, 183 Wireless outfit on ships, 41-42 Woman, her status, 71 Woman's Temperance Union, 240 Work must be completed by Orientals, 286 scarcely begun, 314 World's Student Christian Federation, 242 S. S. Commission, 292 Taxes, 28 Temperance work, 203-204 Temples, 61, 109 Tokyo, 26 changes in, 38 District, work in, 213 Touring, 143-144 Yotsuya Mission, 221 Young Woman's Christian As- sociation, 240 Zoshigaya Mission, 221 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BW8520.H14 The cross in Japan; Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00018 9060 DATE DUE msm ,*-— IZ -i!0iss^^immt^ -^ :ita«^ ».»— Demco, Inc. 38-293