OIIinHttamtg aa a Mortal 
 Jartor in Mahnn Mpm 
 
 A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY 
 OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNI- 
 VERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN PARTIAL 
 FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 
 THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 ALLEN KLEIN FAUST 
 
 BR 
 
 1305 
 .F28 
 1909 
 
 1909 
 
tihvavy of 1:he theological ^tmimvy 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 Crift Of Yale Divinity School 
 Library 
 
 BR 1305 .F28 1909 
 Faust, Allen Klein. i 
 Christianity as a social ! 
 factor in modern Japan 
 
JUM 2 1948 
 
 Christianity as a Social Facl 
 in Modern Japan 
 
 Allen Klein Faust 
 
 A THESIS 
 Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the 
 University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfilment 
 OF the Requirements for the Degree of 
 Doctor of Philosophy. 
 
 Lancaster, Pa. 
 
 StEINMAN & FOLTZ, 
 
 1909 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The two main sources of our knowledge concerning the influ- 
 ence of Christianity in Japan have been the missionary address 
 and the globe-trotter's account. In a certain sense, both of 
 these informants have "axes to grind." The former is expected 
 to lay special emphasis only on that part of the truth which will 
 best serve to loosen the purse-strings of his hearers, while many 
 of the latter class of persons, when they come to a missionary 
 country, engage themselves in seeking some new reasons why 
 they should not contribute towards foreign missions. 
 
 That both of these sources of information are unreliable and 
 insufficient, is proved by the remarkable amount of ignorance 
 on this point that is met with among otherwise intelligent Ameri- 
 can Christians. But I feel certain, also, that the missionary, 
 because of his first-hand knowledge and his sympathetic relation 
 with the Japanese people, is a trustworthy authority on the 
 subject of Christian influence provided he can be caught when 
 he is off his guard. 
 
 Any person writing about the life of peoples other than that 
 of his native land, has one immense advantage. It is that he 
 does not feel obliged, either by love or prejudice, to defend the 
 institutions and customs which he is reviewing. But the corre- 
 sponding disadvantage which meets him at every turn, is the 
 fact that a foreigner cannot fully fathom the nature and feelings 
 of other people and thus truly sympathize with them. 
 
 The question becomes doubly difficult when the institution 
 to be studied is Christianity in Japan, a non-Christian country. 
 The American Christian w^ho attempts to review his own religious 
 institutions under foreign conditions, is constantly in danger of 
 interpreting facts with an Americanized vision ; and the Japanese 
 
4 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 critic is passing judgment on something totally foreign to him 
 though in his own country. But on all phases of the subject, as 
 a possible corrective, I add to my own impressions the statements 
 of Japanese who are prominent in their respective fields. Dog- 
 matic assertions on a question like this must in the nature of the 
 case be utterly discountenanced. 
 
 Another difficulty in determining how much Japan has been 
 influenced by Christianity comes from the fact that in the West 
 Christianity has become an organic part of the social life, and 
 this makes it impossible to separate religious influence from that 
 of mere civilization. Moreover, the influence of Christianity in 
 Japan is not limited to those people that have been baptized 
 nor to those of them that may be considered orthodox Christians. 
 Such limitation would surely make out a worse case for Christi- 
 anity in Japan 'than the facts warrant. 
 
 Only as we remember that the Gospel is a principle and not a 
 fixed dogma, a seed and not a fruit, can we realize the universal 
 applicability of the spirit of Christianity and understand that 
 the outward expression of this spirit is not necessarily identical 
 in all countries and in all ages. Christianity does not only allow 
 of development, but its very essence is that of progress and 
 growth. Constant change in its interpretation and constant 
 adjustment to new conditions are necessary to its continued pre- 
 eminence as a spiritual power in human society. Each social 
 group has its peculiar environments and resultant individuality. 
 Hence it is only reasonable to expect that the philosophy and 
 institutions of Japanese Christianity will be different from those 
 of the Western world, though both are inspired by the same 
 spirit of Christian love. 
 
 The Christianity of the past also has varied greatly in its 
 practical content. Two hundred years ago the whole Christian 
 Church believed in slavery and vigorously defended it on Scrip- 
 tural grounds, and almost universally practised it. Intolerance 
 and the right of taking life for heresy were considered very im- 
 portant parts of Christianity. In the time of Galileo and later, 
 the Church thought it impossible for a person to get to heaven 
 
Preface 5 
 
 if he believed that the earth was round and that it revolved 
 around the sun. From facts such as these, it becomes very evi- 
 dent that it is both futile and false to endeavor to measure the 
 influence of Christianity in terms of theology. It must be meas- 
 ured in terms of human life, its constant aim being to incorporate 
 the spirit of Jesus vitally and effectively in individual and social 
 life. 
 
 It is from this point of view that the following chapters are 
 written. They are neither a theological treatise nor a missionary 
 essay, but an effort to make known a few of the social problems 
 with which Japan is wrestling at present, and to determine what 
 part Christianity is taking in the solution of these problems. 
 
 The fact that I have done Christian work in Japan for a num- 
 ber of years, during which time I acquired a fair ability to speak 
 the language and gained some reading knowledge of Japanese 
 literature, has led one of my professors in the University of Penn- 
 sylvania to suggest that I write on this subject, and this is the 
 reason for my undertaking to make a sociological study of Christi- 
 anity in Japan. 
 
 A. K. F. 
 
 Lansdale, Pa., 
 May 28, 1909. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 The Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 
 Tlie Count r\'. The People. Religions: Shintoism, Buddhism, Con- 
 fucianism. Bushido. Feudalism. The Restoration. A New Japan. 9 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Second Coming of Christianity. Its Influence on Government 
 AND Education in Japan 
 
 Remnant of Jesuit Christianity. Opposition to Christianity. Commer- 
 cial Treaties. Religious Freedom. Christians in the Diet, Legal 
 Codes. "Free Cessation." Christian Schools. Discrimination Against 
 Christian Schools Removed. Criticism of Christian Education in Japan. 
 Female Education in Japan. Christian Girls' Schools and the Depart- 
 ment of Education. The Fine Arts 24 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Influence of Christianity on Literature, Morals and Religions of 
 
 Japan 
 Christian Books and Papers. The Popular Novel. Language. Morals. 
 Position of Women. Marriage and Divorce. Concubinage. Social 
 Evil. Suicide. Imperial Rescript. School Ethics. Home Ethics. 
 Religions. Buddliist Reforms 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Influence of Christianity on Philanthropic and Social Work in 
 
 Japan 
 Paternalism. Extra-Ecclesiastic Christianity. Public Charity. Salva- 
 tion Army. Peace Movement. Temperance Work. Red Cross So- 
 ciety. Orphanages. Prisoners and Released Prisoners. Reforma- 
 tory Work. Lepers. Medical Missions. Yomig Men's Christian 
 Association 60 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 The Japanese Christian Church 
 Its Size. Rate of Increase. Independence. The Masses Still Unreached. 
 A Questionnaire. Obstacles to Rapid Growth, External and Internal. 
 Co-operation. Tendencies in the Japanese Church. The Church 
 
 Japonicized. Conclusion 71 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 ANTECEDENTS OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN 
 
 The Country. The People. Religions. Shintoism. Buddhism. 
 
 Confucianism. Bushido. Feudalism. The Restoration. 
 
 A New Japan. 
 
 In order to form a correct idea of the social problems which 
 confront Christianity in modern Japan, it is necessary to have 
 at least a bird's eye view of the principal facts and factors that 
 formed the basis of the social economy of days gone by. It is 
 with the intention of supplying the material needed to take a 
 fairly intelligent retrospective glance at Japanese society that 
 the brief historical reviev/ in Chapter One is given. 
 
 The Country. — The Empire of Japan consists of four thou- 
 sand islands. Including Formosa and Saghalien, the total area 
 exceeds 170,000 square miles, being almost four times the area 
 of Pennsylvania, or one-twenty-fourth that of China. These 
 islands are of volcanic origin, and still exhibit many signs of 
 subterranean force — hot springs, earthquakes and volcanoes. 
 Lofty and rugged mountains occupy the centre of most of the 
 islands, causing the rivers of Japan to be short and rapid and 
 of little use for navigation. In some parts of Japan the annual 
 rainfall is one hundred inches. This often converts the rivers 
 into torrents, but it also produces the luxuriant vegetation 
 which is so characteristic of Japan, i 
 
 The People. — That the Japanese, like all other peoples, are 
 a mixed race, no scientist of to-day seems to doubt, but as to 
 the component elements of the race there is lack of agreement. 
 Dr. S. L. GuUck maintains that the Japanese people have come 
 
 1 C. B. Mitford, Geography of Japan. 
 
10 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 from a mixture of the Mongol, Malay, Tartar and Ainu races. 
 Other scholars hold that Pigmy, Aryan, Mongolian and Ainu 
 blood is mixed together in the veins of this island race. From 
 either standpoint, the Mongolian is held to be the basic stock. 
 The simple fact that the race is a mixed one and became such in 
 comparatively recent times is of more sociological value than 
 the question as to what elements enter into the composition, 
 for it has been discovered that in biological evolutions species 
 of recent and mixed origin are easily modifiable, i. e., they are 
 very "sensitive to environment."! 
 
 Too much importance can hardly be placed upon this scien- 
 tific fact, as it has a very direct bearing on the characteristics of 
 the Japanese people. A mixed and, therefore, modifiable race, 
 recently amalgam.ated on volcanic islands, among rugged moun- 
 tains and swift-flowing rivers, where hot springs and volcanoes 
 abound, where earthquakes are frequent, and wind storms, floods 
 and tidal waves are common occurrences, and where nature is 
 very generous in vegetation and in sublime scenery, will develop 
 certain definite characteristics. Japanese scholars have men- 
 tioned brilHancy, valor, courage, sympathy, "solidarity of re- 
 sponsibility" and poetic ideas as forming some of the better por- 
 tion of their national character; while pride, prejudice, impul- 
 siveness and vacillation have been given as less fortunate ele- 
 ments. 2 But all of these traits, good and bad, are found in all 
 other peoples as v/ell. The place of emphasis is the main differ- 
 ence. 
 
 The population at present (1908) is about fifty millions. The 
 average density of population for the whole empire is about 
 two hundred and sixty persons to the square mile. Hondo, the 
 main island, however, has over four hundred persons to the 
 square mile. Tokyo, the capital, has about two millions of in- 
 
 1 Gulick, Evolution of the Japanese, p. 81. 
 
 Giddings, Principles 0} Sociology, p. 814: "On one point there is no dispute. 
 Crossing creates physiological plasticity and variability." 
 
 2 K. Kawakami, The Political Ideas of Modern Japan, Chapter III. 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 11 
 
 habitants. Not more than one-eighth of the total surface of Japan 
 is under cultivation, and yet the urban population is increasing 
 much faster than that of the rural districts. The feudal bound- 
 aries of former times still largely mark the distribution of the 
 population and the movement of the working classes. It is, 
 therefore, a hopeful sign that the Japanese are fast becoming a 
 manufacturing nation. i 
 
 Religions. — Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism are so 
 blended in Japan that the common people generally believe in 
 all three religions without clearly distinguishing one from the 
 other. Each one of these faiths has been a great help to Japan's 
 moral life, though much that retards progress has also been fos- 
 tered by them. 
 
 Shinto. — The two ideographs of the word, Shinto, mean, 
 "The Way of the Gods." This rudimentary religion is said to be 
 indiginous to Japan. In the earUest times, the sun probably was 
 its highest deity, butcoupled with this first god were the Yao- 
 yorozu (800,000 gods) that had to do with all phases of nature- 
 worship. Heavenly bodies, lofty mountains, bold cliffs, aged 
 trees were deified. Phallicism, in its usual crude form, also ex- 
 isted quite generally. 2 
 
 To this nature-worship was added ancestor-worship and Mikado 
 worship. Mr. K. Kawakami and other Japanese scholars say 
 that when the invading Aryan element had conquered the 
 aborigines and had established themselves as rulers, they were 
 looked upon as gods by the conquered tribes. This was w^elcomed 
 and encouraged by the rulers, and very soon it was claimed that 
 the Mikado was a direct descendant of the Sun-goddess. Here 
 then is an amalgamation of the older "Way of the Gods" and 
 Mikadoism — nature-worship and emperor-worship. It is the 
 union of an agricultural cult and a happy political device. In 
 the opinion of Sir Ernest Satow, Shinto was nothing more than 
 an engine for reducing the people to a condition of mental slavery. 
 
 1 A. B. Mitford, Geography of Japan. 
 
 2 G. W. Aston. Shinto, The Way of the Gods. 
 
12 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 It is a polytheistic religion, but has only few idols, no sacred 
 book, no moral code, no dogmas, and has but a very feeble idea 
 of spiritual things. "Follow your own natural impulses and 
 obey the laws of the State" is the only injunction that is laid upon 
 the followers of Shinto. 
 
 Moto-ori, a famous writer of the 18th century, admits that 
 Shinto has no moral code, and asserts that morals were invented 
 by the Chinese because among them such props were necessary, 
 but that in Japan there was no need for any system of morals, 
 as every Japanese acted rightly if he only consulted his own 
 heart. 1 
 
 The worst that has ever been charged against Shinto is that 
 lying and licentiousness found shelter under it, and that all its 
 influence made directly against mental freedom and the rights 
 of the people. The best that has been said in favor of this 
 primitive religion is that its "ideal is to make people pure and 
 clean, to help them to Hve simply, honestly and with mutual 
 good will; it is to make the Japanese love their country, honor 
 their imperial house and obey their emperor."^ 
 
 In 1899 Shinto was officially disestablished as a religion. Its 
 legal raison d'etre now is to be "merely a mechanism for keeping 
 generations in touch with generations, and preserving the con- 
 tinuity of the nation's veneration for its ancestors." It has been 
 suggested, but without warrant, that this legal step is a shrewd 
 and dangerous trap for Christians, by attempting to deprve them 
 of a valid reason for not participating in [Shinto ceremonies. 
 Whatever the motive of the disestabUshment, the fact is that 
 many of the people continue as before to worship nature, their 
 ancestors, the emperor and his ancestors. 3 
 
 1 Murray, The Story of Japan, p. 84. 
 
 Modem Shinto is founded on two old books called the Kojiki (Record of 
 Ancient Matters), written in 712, and the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan), 
 written in 720. 
 
 2 Griffis, The Religions of Japan, p. 97. 
 
 3 In the "Commentaries on the Japanese Constitution," by Marquis Ito 
 now Prince), the following passage is found: "The Sacred Throne was estab- 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 13 
 
 Buddhism. — Buddhism was introduced into Japan from China 
 through Korea, in 552 A. D. Originally it ignored the existence 
 of a supreme being and creator of worlds, and taught spontaneous 
 evolution as its theory of cosmogony. It, however, inherited 
 gods from Brahminism, but these are held secondary to hotoke, 
 "saints who have toiled upward through successive stages of 
 existence to the calm of perfect holiness," Nirvana. Knowledge, 
 not faith, is the highest grace. Self-perfection, not salvation 
 through another; not eternal life, but practical annihilation is 
 the summum honum to be sought. Life, springing as it does 
 from ignorance and passions, is of all evils the greatest. i 
 
 The atheistic ideas of Buddhism caused some trouble at first 
 because of the divinity of the emperor and the Yaoyorozu (800,- 
 000 gods). But in the ninth century this difficulty was easily 
 overcome by the great priest Kobo Daishi, who taught that the 
 Shinto gods and heroes were the manifestations and incarnations 
 of Buddhist saints. Thus the divine descent of the emperor 
 became compatible with the new reUgion, and a warm welcome 
 for the faith w^as found. 2 
 
 The fataUstic doctrine of cause and efTect (ingwa) is one of the 
 best known of its teachings. It is a sort of metempsychosis. 
 When a man dies, a new being is formed. If the man's fife is 
 credited wdth more virtues than vices, a promotion takes place; 
 if the opposite is the case, degradation follows. Every evil deed 
 will most certainly produce its fruit of calamity, and every good 
 deed its happiness. There is no real responsibility for one's acts, 
 as every calamity and every evil deed proceeds from something 
 
 lished at the time when the heavens and the earth became separated. The 
 emperor is heaven-descended, divine and sacred; He is pre-eminent above 
 all his subjects. He must be reverenced and is inviolable. He has, indeed, 
 to pay due respect to the law, but the law has no power to hold him account- 
 able to it. Not only shall there be no irreverence for the Emperor's person, 
 but also shall he not be made a topic of derogatory comment nor one of 
 discussion." 
 
 1 Chamberlain, Things Japanese, p. 70. 
 
 2 K. Kawakami, The Political Ideas of Modern Japan, p. 74. 
 
14 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan. 
 
 in a former state of existence, and so could not be avoided. 
 Shikata ga nai (there is no help for it), is a much-used and much- 
 abused expression in Japan, i 
 
 According to Japanese Buddhism, there are "six ways of life" 
 (Rokudo), and lust is what keeps people out of the higher paths. 
 Each one of us is toiling in one of the following six "ways": the 
 world of hell, the world of hungry devils, the world of beasts, the 
 world of disembodied spirits, the world of man, and the world of 
 heaven. 2 
 
 The duty of kindness to all animals is a Buddhist teaching 
 that has had a great effect on Japanese life. On account of this 
 doctrine, meat diet was displaced by vegetable food, as the kill- 
 ing of animals for meat was abhorrent to the faithful. All lower 
 animals are the result of reborn human beings. 3 
 
 Buddhism, with its moral code for the uneducated, its pro- 
 found philosophy for the educated and its well-organized priest- 
 hood and elaborate temple service, exerted an immense civilizing 
 influence on Japan for over a thousand years (A. D. 552-1600). 
 It was Japan's educator in literature, art, architecture, ethics and 
 aesthetics. The whole of Chinese civilization was brought to 
 Japan by Buddhism, and there it modified the imported civili- 
 zation to suit Japanese requirements. 
 
 Thus the reUgion of Buddha has been a great power for good 
 in Japan, but its fatalism or lack of moral responsibility, its 
 pessimism, its low estimation of the value of human life, do not 
 make for the highest morality. As a religion, it no longer com- 
 mands the respect of many educated Japanese. Often a con- 
 tempt, far too great, is shown towards it. Though it has become 
 corrupt, it yet retains a powerful influence over the mass of the 
 
 1 Otis Gary, Japan and Its Regeneration, p. 45. 
 
 2 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XXII, Part III, p. 366. 
 
 3 This cannot have been the case with fish, as it has always been eaten. 
 Says Lafcadio Hearn, "Who could even be sure that the goaded ox, the over- 
 driven horse, or the slaughtered bird had not formerly been a human being 
 of closest kin — ancestor, parent, brother, sister or child?" 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 15 
 
 people, but it seems to be unable to provide what the times de- 
 mand, i 
 
 Confucianism. — The teaching of Confucius was brought to 
 Japan early in the Christian era, but during the thousand years of 
 Buddhist supremacy it made little progress. This philosophy is 
 pantheistic in spirit, but Confucius himself never declared any 
 opinion at all about the gods, or concerning a future existence. 
 The ''five relations" (gorin) are the basis of the system. These 
 relations are those between father and son, lord and subject, 
 husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother and friend 
 and friend. 
 
 In China filial piety was the first and greatest relation, but 
 in Japan loyalty to the powers that be, was given first place. 
 The meaning of the third relation was that "each one should 
 know and keep his or her own place; the fourth virtue consisted 
 in recognizing the primacy of seniority in age" and the fifth 
 relation emphasized trust between friends. 2 The Confucian 
 ethics became the moral code of the ruling classes in Japan. It 
 contained the doctrine of vengeance, which forbade a man to live 
 "under the same heaven with the slayer of his lord, parent or 
 
 1 In the Japan Weekly Mail of October 5, 1907, the following appears: 
 "The Shukyokai (The Religious World) publishes the views of Mr. Shimada 
 
 Bankon, the well-known, aged Buddhist priest, on 'The Future of Buddhism.' 
 the gist of which is as follows: 'It is hard to find anybody nowadays who 
 believes in Buddhism sufficiently to make it a power in the country. In all 
 parts of Japan our adherents are lea\dng us to join the Christians. Among 
 the upper classes there seems to be scarcely anybody who believes in Budd- 
 hism to-day. This is not at all surprising, for how many priests are there 
 in the whole country who really believe in the religion? It is a case of "like 
 priests like people." Some of the priests are agitating for Government pro- 
 tection. What good could protection do them even if they had it? No 
 government can put life into a dying creed. In times past, I did my very 
 best to arouse men from their slumbers, but in recent years I have come to 
 think that the case is hopeless. With such priests as we see to-day, there 
 is no future for Buddhism. Is it not a fact that some of them, in order to 
 save themselves from utter extinction, are proposing to unite with the 
 Christians?'" 
 
 2 Clement, A Handbook of Modern Japan, p. 2,50. 
 
16 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 brother." It inculcated absolute submission to authority, and 
 this principle fitted in admirably with the main ideas of Japanese 
 feudalism. leyasu, in the early part of the seventeenth century, 
 ordered the Confucian classics to be printed in Japan, and for 
 the entire period of "locked Japan" and rigid feudahsm, Con- 
 fucianism formed the basis of Japanese education and morals. 
 The best fruit of this Japonicized Confucianism is known by the 
 name of Bushido. 
 
 Bushido means the "Warrior's Way," — the ethical code of 
 Japanese chivalry. While largely Confucian, it also contains 
 some Shinto and Buddhistic elements. The combined result 
 was the samurai (knight), a peculiar type that influenced Japan- 
 ese character most profoundly, i Bushido, a present, corresponds 
 somewhat to the American "spread-eagleism." Among students 
 and orators, the word is continually heard. As used by them, 
 it is the incarnation of Yamato-damashii, the soul of unconquer- 
 able Japan. In a word, it is the religion of honor and loyalty. 2 
 
 The Japanese samurai possessed the best culture and morals of 
 his age. Dr. Griffis says of him, "Thus the samurai, at once sol- 
 dier and scholar, warrior and gentleman, is the consummate 
 white flower of Japanese civilization, the creator of public opinion, 
 who wields the destinies of his country." Their moral ideal was 
 expressed by themselves thus: "To the samurai first of all right- 
 eousness, next life, then silver and gold. These last are of value, 
 but some put them in place of righteousness. But to the samurai, 
 even life is as dirt compared with righteousness." The samurai 
 was carefully trained in bravery, courage, politeness, honor, self; 
 control and, above all, loyalty. But unfortunately, this code of 
 honor very often ignored chastity, and encouraged revenge and 
 suicide. The story of Japanese chivalry is almost incredible in 
 its awful suicides. 3 
 
 1 Japan Evangelist, Vol. XV, No. 1, p. 7. 
 
 2 See Dr. Nitobe's, Bushido, the Soul of Japan, for a flattering account of 
 this patriotic code of morals. 
 
 3 "The number of suicides reported by the daily press in this country is 
 appalling. The way that suicide cases are treated by irresponsible news- 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 17 
 
 The opposite of European chivalry in its regard for women, 
 it did not prevent the sale of daughters to shame under the guise 
 of filial piety; it cared not whether the concubine entered the 
 home or not; and it reduced woman, generally, to a low position, i 
 It was a superb sj'stem of patriotic honor, but it does not appear 
 to meet the recjuirements of every-day, civil Ufe in times of peace 
 and amid the complicated problems of modern civilization. 
 
 Feudalism. — Lafcadio Hearn asserts that almost the whole 
 of authentic Japanese history is comprised in one vast episode: 
 the rise and fall of the military power. It looks as though the 
 entire social organization of ancient Japan — as represented in the 
 clan-families — was a preparation for the feudalism of later years. 
 Family hfe, reUgion, and politics, all pointed in the same direction. 
 The emperor was considered a heaven-descended monarch, and 
 too holy to do administrative work. Consequently the Chinese 
 bureaucratic form of government was introduced. With this 
 came Chinese learning and luxury. In the seventeenth century, 
 one hundred and eight departments were created by the emperor 
 Temmu. The military governor, at first, w^as appointed by the 
 emperor, but in time complete usurpation of power took place, 
 
 paper scribblers tends to make readers regard self-destruction as one of the 
 finest of heroic acts. At the beginning of this month a drunken student who 
 had been plucked at high school went to a brothel, and, after cutting the 
 throat of a miserable prostitute, put an end to himself in the same way. 
 This abominable action formed the subject of long paragraphs in one of the 
 local papers, entitled 'A Magnificent Way of Dying.' * * * it seems to us 
 that the old samurai admiration for suicides, instead of dying out, has re- 
 vived during the last few years. * * * it will be remembered by some 
 readers that a few years ago Japan's greatest philosopher. Dr. Kato Hiroyuki, 
 contributed an article to the Taiyo in defence of suicide committed by de- 
 feated troops, extoUing it to the skies as a piece of heroism in which Japanese 
 surpassed all other countries. The men applauded for their patriotism by 
 Dr. Kato did not, however, commit suicide. They had more common sense 
 than they were credited with. But suicide is praised to-day in the most 
 open way by hundreds of educated Japanese. Feudal Japan is by no means 
 dead, as some sanguine folks imagine." The Japan Weekly Mail, August 1, 
 1908. 
 
 1 Clement, A Handbook of Modern Japan, Chapter XVIII. 
 
18 Chnstiamhj as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 and the new office became hereditary. Nominally, the shogun 
 (military governor) was subject to the emperor, but in fact, the 
 emperor was dependent upon the shogun. It was a powerful 
 device on the part of the shoguns to foster and encourage among 
 the people the belief that the Mikado was divine and, therefore, 
 too sacred to have anything to do with war, money or actual 
 government. 
 
 The Fujiwara family, as early as the middle of the seventh 
 century, began to monopoUze the civil offices, and to supply the 
 emperors with wives and concubines.^ The strong Fujiwara clan 
 continued in power till 1050, when the Taira and Minamoto fami- 
 lies began to struggle for the shogun's position. This struggle 
 came to an end when, in 1185, Yortiomo, of the Minamotos, 
 became military governor. From this time on to the Restora- 
 tion in 1867, Japan was in the grip of feudalism, and possessed 
 a dual form of government. 
 
 The Ho jo family ruled during the thirteenth century and for 
 some years afterwards. At a period of degeneracy, Ashikaga 
 became head, and gave the country fifteen rulers, who reigned 
 during the gloomiest period of Japan's Dark Ages. Then came 
 the remarkable trio of great men, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and 
 leyasu. The last-named has been styled the Japanese Julius 
 Caesar. He began to drive out the Jesuits, and established the 
 Tokugawa shogunate. lemitsu, the third shogun in the new 
 line, locked the doors of Japan, which remained closed for almost 
 two hundred and fifty j^ears. The feudal fiefs were carefully re- 
 organized and manned with lords that could be trusted by the 
 shogun. These lords were required to give the very best security 
 for their good behavior. At regular intervals they were obliged 
 to spend a certain time in Yedo (Tokyo), the shogun's capital. 
 Whenever the lords returned to their daimiates they were re- 
 quired to leave their families in the capital as hostages. Con- 
 spiracy was now practically impossible, the Jesuit peril was 
 driven out of the country, thirty thousand native Christians had 
 
 Japan Evangelist, March, 1907. 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 19 
 
 been killed, and the period of seclusion — exclusion and inclusion 
 — had begun. 
 
 Two reasons have been assigned wh}- the doors of Japan were 
 so securely closed. One of these reasons was fear of Jesuit con- 
 spiracy. It has been amply proved that this fear was well 
 founded. The other reason is found in the extreme native 
 pride. This pride was expressed in edicts such as the following: 
 "So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let no Christian be so 
 bold as to come to Japan, and let all know that the king of Spain 
 himself or the Christian's God, or the great God of all, if he vio- 
 lates this command, shall pay for it with his head." 
 
 Thus Japan's long sleep commenced — but let it be remembered 
 that it was the sleep of a chrysalis. Before half of the period of 
 this seeming inactivity vras over, the sleeper began to have won- 
 derful dreams — dreams which in later days were remarkably 
 fulfilled. Let us take a brief glance at this ancient sleeping giant 
 at a time just before he awakes in the middle of the nineteenth 
 century. We find that the powerless Mikado continued to be 
 worshiped as the Son of Heaven even by the shoguns. The 
 Tokugawa family held the power over about two hundred and 
 seventy feudal lords, who were divided into four classes. These 
 lords regularly paid much homage and more tribute to the shogun 
 at Yedo. Their total number of retainers (samurai) was not far 
 from two miUions, who were also divided into different classes. 
 
 The common people (Jieimin) were classified as farmers, 
 artisans and merchants. Of the heimin, the farmers were the 
 highest and the merchants the lowest in rank. Hopelessly below 
 the heimin were two classes of beings that were hardly considered 
 human, the eta, who were well-diggers, grave-diggers, torturers, 
 and butchers; and the hinin (not-human-beings), who were 
 mendicants, certain kinds of prostitutes and outlaws in general. 
 "To take the life of a hinin was not considered murder, and was 
 punishable only by a fine."i 
 
 Society in general was becoming restive, but was strictly con- 
 
 1 Lafcadio Hearn, Japan, an Interpretation, p. 273. 
 
20 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 trolled. Very heavy taxes were demanded from the people. 
 Distrust between the feudal lords and the shogun was universal. 
 Personality was suppressed by coercion, and "the individual 
 did not exist except for punishment." The different clans, 
 towns, villages, districts, while externally united, had each its 
 own peculiar customs and sphere of activity. Meihutsu is a 
 word which is very frequently heard in Japan. It refers to the 
 special product, such as of art, food, etc., that makes its place 
 of manufacture famous. This product usually is not made at 
 any other place in the country. Japan had now reached her 
 acme in art, ceramics, lacquer, metal-work and painting. The 
 Dutch on the island of Deshima had introduced into Japan 
 some medical knowledge and other sciences, as well as some of 
 the more modern inventions as they were known in Europe at 
 that time. 
 
 In religion, there was an eclecticism of Shinto, Buddhism, 
 Confucianism and Bushido, which meant in practical life, nature- 
 worship, ancestor-worship, loyalty and a certain kind of stoicism. 
 
 But the giant, through his long sleep, had become stronger, 
 and underneath the social surface the revolutionary spirit was 
 fast gaining in power. This spirit finally succeeded in breaking 
 down the existing order of things, restored the emperor to his 
 original position as ruler, and re-opened Japan to the world. 
 
 The Restoration. — Though the first half of the nineteenth 
 century seemed to be a time of profound peace in Japan, we 
 have noticed that the feudal system was fast becoming under- 
 mined. The lords lived in magnificent luxury, and this was the 
 cause of unbearable taxation and oppression for the peasantry. 
 At a certain time the taxes amounted to twenty-two million 
 koku of rice out of a total production of thirty milUon koku. More- 
 over, the shoguns were compelled to relax their control over the 
 stronger lords, because the nation was tired of over-government. i 
 
 Another cause of the break was the important intellectual 
 movement that was started by the Mito family. In 1715 the 
 
 1 Aston, Japanese Literature, p. 383. 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 21 
 
 Dai Nihon Shi, a history of two hundred and forty-three volumes, 
 was completed. This work had been begun by the second prince 
 of Mito, who died in 1700. It has been said that in this historical 
 research the Restoration of 1868 had its real birth. These 
 scholars of history soon discovered that the emperor in former 
 ages had been absolute in power. Their assiduous study of Con- 
 fucianism also pointed to absolute monarchy as a desirable form 
 of government. Thus the deep patriotism and a renewed love 
 for the emperor was kindled in the hearts of the educated class. 
 
 The commercial and industrial classes realized more and more 
 that a military state is the arch-enemy of industry and economic 
 activity. Hence, opposition to the feudal system was very 
 powerful in this part of Japanese society. 
 
 Such were some of the causes of the Restoration, and such the 
 internal forces at work; but to provide the proper occasion for 
 complete success, external forces were also needed. ^ These were 
 found in the Dutch factory at Nagasaki, in the anxiety caused 
 by the troubles of China at the loss of Hongkong, and most of 
 all, in the landing of Commodore Perry, in 1853-4, and in the 
 treaty of comity which he made with Japan. Some years later, 
 the bombardment of Kagoshima and Shimonoseki showed the 
 utter weakness of feudalism, proved conclusively the superior 
 strength of the West, and pointed out the absolute necessity of 
 national unity on the part of Japan. 
 
 In a few years, most of the feudal lords had voluntarily resigned 
 all their rights, and in 1865 the emperor himself ratified the 
 treaties of comity to which the shogunate had assented on its 
 own authority, eleven years before. In November, 1868, the 
 emperor left the ancient capital of Kyoto, to enter Tokyo, the 
 new capital. Feudalism was totally abolished. The lords 
 were given the title of baron and received government pensions, 
 but the samurai were deprived of their former support, and in a 
 day, many became as poor as the poorest. This has been of 
 immense social consequence to Japan. The merchants had 
 
 1 See Y. Olio's Industrial Transition of Japan. 
 
22 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 always been considered as constituting the lowest rank of society, 
 and society in general despised them, and always suspected them 
 of commercial immorality. But they were necessarily the class 
 that was destined to represent Japan in the commerce of the 
 world. The samurai, who represented the best in art, education 
 and morals, had neither the money, the inclination nor the kind 
 of ability needed to enter the business world; consequently the 
 outside world has come to hold a very low opinion of the Japan- 
 ese merchants, and illogically, the conclusion is reached by 
 Westerners that all Japanese are dishonest. This is a gross 
 error, one that has done untold injustice and injury to Japan 
 as a nation. It is a most important social problem, but Japan 
 is slowly solving it by trying to elevate the commercial morality 
 of those of her merchants that need it,i and by inducing samurai 
 to enter the business world. 2 
 
 With the downfall of feudalism, the emperor again became 
 absolute monarch, and a centralized government and national 
 unity were re-established. But with the new life and foreign in- 
 tercourse, democratic ideas made their appearance, and these 
 ideas in the minds of the people, caused the emperor to take his 
 famous "fike oaths," by which he promised: (1) deUberative 
 assembhes; (2) the government and people in harmony to pro- 
 mote the national welfare; (3) all classes freely to exercise their 
 
 1 Dr. I^add, in 1907, under government auspices, delivered a number of 
 lectures on this general subject in many cities of Japan. Among other things, 
 he said: "Japan's business morality is below par on the markets of the 
 world. She has been blamed too much, but I am sorry that there is some 
 truth in the charges. The world of industry requires more loyalty than war 
 does." 
 
 2 In the New York Evening Sun of July 23, 1908, the following appeared: 
 "George Kennan, just arrived in New York after a stay in Japan, told to-day 
 of his belief that Japan would by peaceful methods conquer the commerce of 
 the Pacific. They would underbid and undersell American m.erchants, he 
 said. He believed that they were on the way toward reaching the white 
 man's standard of commercial honesty, too. The Samurai class, he said, 
 were now entering business, and bringing with them the needful standard of 
 business honor." 
 
Antecedents of Christianity in Japan 23 
 
 abilities;! (4) impartiality and justice to all; (5) that learning 
 and knowledge shall be sought for throughout the whole world 
 in order to add to the glory of the empire. 2 
 
 This last oath has been most carefully and most assiduously 
 carried out. Brilliant scholars along all lines have, ever since, 
 been sent to Europe and America. These carry back with them 
 the best of Western ideas and institutions. Japan adopts these 
 and adapts them to her own needs. Hence the rapidity of tran- 
 sition in government, education, army, navy, industries, trans- 
 portation, communications, finance and courts of law. In prac- 
 tically all of these departments, Japan stands on a par with the 
 most advanced Occidental nations. 
 
 Thus through the combined contributions of East and West 
 a New Japan has been most rapidly evolved. The ancient clan 
 morals are now sadly deficient, for a world people must have a 
 world morality. A revolution in social ethics has been made 
 necessary. The best and most intelligent people of Japan very 
 keenly feel this need. Some look for the revitahzation of the old 
 religions; others claim that loyalty and filial piety are all the 
 morality that is needed for the Orient ; still others say that science 
 and modern education will solve all possible problems; a fourth 
 class of people looks very hopefully to Christianity for the needed 
 moral power. 
 
 As has been said before, the ethical forces of Old Japan — 
 Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Bushido, feudalism and 
 ancestor-worship, while exceedingly powerful in many respects, 
 all tended more or less to suppress personality, and to rate the 
 worth of human life at a low figure. Can Christianity, under 
 such conditions, supply Japan with the moral pabulum Avhich her 
 new life has made necessary? What progress, if any, has Christi- 
 anity already made towards the social regeneration of Modern 
 Japan? In the following chapters an attempt is made to answer 
 these two questions. 
 
 1 By this, 982,800 eta and hinin were made citizens. 
 
 2 K. Kawakami, Political Ideas of Modern Japan, Chapter V. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE SECOND COMING OF CHRISTIANITY. ITS INFLUENCE 
 ON GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION IN JAPAN 
 
 Remnant of Jesuit Christianity. Opposition to Christianity. Com- 
 mercial Treaties. Religious Freedom. Christians in the Diet. 
 Legal Codes. " Free Cessation." Christian Schools. Discrimina- 
 tion Against Christian Schools Removed. Criticism of Christian 
 Education in Japan. Female Education in Japan. Christian 
 Girls' Schools and the Department of Education. The Fine Arts. 
 
 The question whether Christianity is able to make any lasting 
 impression upon the Japanese is fairly well answered by the fact 
 that in 1865, on the Island of Kyushu, several Christian communi- 
 ties were discovered, survivors of the Jesuit evangehzation of 
 over two centuries before. These Christians, numbering five or 
 six thousand, had preserved certain prayers, the rite of baptism 
 and a few books. They were the descendants of men and women 
 who, at the risk of their lives, had secretly kept up their faith 
 through over two hundred years of strong proscription and cruel 
 persecution. 
 
 The government, in 1867 to 1870, organized an inquisition to 
 hunt out all such Christians. They refused to give up their faith, 
 and as a consequence, they were torn from their native places 
 and distributed over the empire and were kept as the prisoners 
 of the various feudal lords. In 1873 they were released, though, 
 on account of torture and harsh treatment, many had died before 
 freedom came.i 
 
 It is, therefore, not strictly correct to say that Christianity 
 re-entered Japan at the opening of the country. The fact is 
 that the government, with all its severity, had failed to stamp 
 
 1 Chamberlaiu, Things Japanese, p. 287. 
 24 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 25 
 
 out completely the Jesuit faith. But a new type of Roman 
 CathoUcism was introduced in 1858. Protestantism came in 
 1859, and the Greek Church in 1861. 
 
 By bearing in mind the content and spirit of the politics and 
 religions of old Japan, and also the Jesuit episode, it can readily 
 be imagined that Christianity would not be welcomed very 
 warmly; for the Christian religion in very many points is dia- 
 metrically opposed to the doctrines and ideals current in Japan 
 at the time of her great political and economic transition. i 
 
 One of the fundamental doctrines of Jesus is the infinitely high 
 value that He placed on human life. According to his teachings, 
 one human life is worth more than the whole world of material 
 possessions. The blind, the crippled and the diseased must be 
 saved because they are human beings; and even the moral de- 
 linquent, the prodigal, because he is human, must be brought 
 back, if possible. Christianity holds that human beings are the 
 sons of God and that for the sake of these sons of God, Christ 
 was willing to die the death of the cross. 
 
 Closely related to this immense worth of the individual is the 
 idea of democratic government, which was another cause of 
 friction. Christianity gives Christ the first place and believes 
 Him divine; the Japanese gives his emperor first place, and 
 believes him divine. Christianity says, "Worship your great 
 Spiritual Ancestor only, the heavenly Father;" the Japanese 
 worship their physical ancestors. So government and religion 
 stood in absolute opposition to Christianity. Dr. Kato, even 
 now, teaches that it is treason for a Japanese to become a Chris- 
 tian, and that the idea of human brotherhood is the death- 
 stroke to all real patriotism. 2 
 
 1 A. very well educated Japanese gentle tnau once told me that the idea of 
 eternal life, which is so much emphasized by Christianity, was abhorrent to 
 a faithful Buddhist, for, unendino;, conscious existence would, to his mind, 
 amount to a very hell. 
 
 2 "It is the same spirit of loyalty that has made it hard for Christianity to 
 get a foothold in Japan. The emperor was the representative of the gods of 
 Japan. To embrace a new religion seemed a desertion of him and the follow- 
 
26 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 European agnosticism early found good soil in Japan and 
 added strength to the opposition. The accepting of a foreign 
 religion was interpreted by some as a reflection on the native 
 institutions, and the fear, partly induced by the Jesuit experi- 
 ence, that the Christian nations would follow their religion and 
 conquer Japan, was also of some weight in the early days. 
 
 On Sunday, July 10, 1853, while Commodore Perry's ships were 
 anchored off Uraga, at the entrance of Yedo Bay, Protestant 
 Christianity for the first time directly affected Japan. Treaty 
 communications were discontinued by Perry, and no visitors were 
 allowed on shipboard, because it was the Christian Sabbath. 
 The Japanese much desired to continue communications, but 
 Perry observed the day by holding divine services on board the 
 ships. 1 
 
 Townsend Harris, a noble Christian man, was the first United 
 States minister to Japan. In 1859 he succeeded in making the 
 first commercial treaty between his own country and Japan. 
 In this treaty a clause occurs which "provides for the free exer- 
 cise of their religion by the Americans, with the right to erect 
 suitable places of worship, and that the Japanese would abohsh 
 the practice of trampling on the cross. "2 
 
 Immediately after this treaty had been signed, missionaries 
 slowly began to come to Japan. But anti-Christian edicts were 
 still displayed all over the country. On March 10, 1872, the 
 first Christian Japanese Church was organized in Yokohama, 
 with eleven members. In the same 3^ear, the Gregorian or Chris- 
 tian Calendar was adopted, to go into effect from January 1, 1873; 
 
 in"' of the strange gods of the foreigner. The work of the Catholic missionaries, 
 which ended so disastrously in 1637, has left the impression that a Christian 
 is bound to offer allegiance to the pope in much the same way as the emperor 
 now receives it from his people; and the bitterness of such a thought has 
 made many refuse to hear what Christianity really is. Such words as 'King' 
 and 'Lord' they have understood as referring to temporal things, and it has 
 taken years to undo this prejudice." — Alice M. Bacon. 
 
 iClement's Christianity in Modern Japan, p. 6. 
 
 2Griffis, Townsend Harris- 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 27 
 
 and on February 19, 1873, was issued the decree which removed 
 the edicts against Christianity from the official bulletin boards 
 of the empire. The foreign powers had long protested against 
 these edicts and the cruel tortures to which the remnants of 
 Jesuit Christianity was subjected. Torture in the courts of law 
 was abolished in 1873.1 
 
 Dr. Guido Verbeck, a missionary of the first magnitude, having 
 arrived in Japan in November of 1859, was soon called to the 
 service of the new government which was to be formed. He was 
 sent for when Tokj'o was made the capital. He became general 
 government adviser and was the first director of the Imperial 
 University, which was just being re-established. It was Ver- 
 beck's great influence that caused Marquis Ito (now Prince) to 
 say, "Japan's progress and development are largely due to the 
 influence of missionaries exerted when Japan was first studying 
 the outer world. "2 
 
 The first treaties of commerce that were made with Japan 
 contained an extra-territoriality clause. This meant that in the 
 eyes of foreign nations Japan was not a sovereign state. This, 
 of course, offended Japan's pride, and continual efforts were 
 made to get rid of this discrimination. No sooner had the 
 emperor been restored to power than an imperial embassy was 
 sent to America and Europe. This embassy was to secure the 
 removal of the extra-territoriality clause in the treaties, and to 
 study Western institutions. Dr. Verbeck planned the embassy 
 and its itinerary. He had also told the new government that 
 
 l"This forward step was entirely due to a Frenchman who codified the 
 Japanese law. One day while at the work of codification he heard groans 
 in an adjoining apartment, and asked what they meant. An evasive answer 
 was returned; but he persisted, and finally burst into the room whence the 
 groans issued, to find a man stretched on the torture-boards with layers of 
 heavy stones piled on his legs. Returning to his Japanese colleagues, he 
 plainly told them that such horrors and ci\'ilized law could not co-exist, that 
 torture must cease instantly, or that he must resign. This firm stand brought 
 about the immediate disuse of this practice." — Chamberlain, Things Japanese, 
 p. 165. 
 
 2Barton, The Missionary and His Critics, p. 135. 
 
28 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 unless the edicts against Christianity were removed, no country 
 would remove the extra-territoriality clause. 
 
 Prince Iwakura, who was the head of the embassy, soon found 
 out that Dr. Verbeck's estimation was right, and long before they 
 reached Japan, he telegraphed back that the anti-Christian edict 
 boards should be removed. Afterwards, Verbeck became 
 adviser to the new Imperial Japan Senate. 
 
 As a mark of esteem, the emperor decorated this humble mis- 
 sionary with the "Order of the Rising Sun." "Dr. Verbeck has 
 impressed his stamp on the whole future history of renovated 
 Japan."! 
 
 The removal of these edicts was the first step toward religious 
 toleration and Uberty of conscience in Japan, i The final step 
 toward this liberty was taken on February 11, 1889, when the 
 emperor granted a constitution to the people. The twenty-eighth 
 article of that constitution reads as follows: "Japanese subjects 
 shall, within the limits not prejudicial to peace and order, and 
 not antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of 
 reUgious belief." 
 
 Christianity, though in history a very poor example of tolera- 
 tion, is the real cause of the religious liberty which Japan is en- 
 joying. Professor K. Asakawa points out that the beginning of 
 toleration made in 1872 had been occasioned by a Catholic perse- 
 cution. The clause in the constitution granting religious free- 
 dom is "due to the unconscious influence of the Christian Church 
 in Japan. But for the latter, the religious clause of the constitu- 
 tion and all the subsequent laws and acts embodying the common 
 principle, would have been superfluous. Thus in 1889, Christi- 
 anity had not only gained a legal status, but legal equality with 
 any other religion in the realm. "2 
 
 In March, 1876, the government of Japan issued the following 
 edict: "It is hereby notified that up to the present time the first 
 and sixth days have been observed in the government offices as 
 
 1 Christianity in Modern Japan, Chapter II. 
 
 2 K. Asakawa, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 99, p. 652 f. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 29 
 
 the days of rest. But hereafter all government offices will be 
 closed on Sundays." This was an unexpected blessing to the 
 infant church in Japan. In the early days the government em- 
 ployed many foreigners in almost all departments. Many of 
 these, because of their religion, refused to work on Sundays. 
 Moreover, the foreign legations and consulates were closed on that 
 day, so that, after several years of confusion, the government 
 decided, though somewhat unwillingly, to make Sunday a legal 
 holiday. All government offices, schools, banks, etc., are closed 
 on that day, which gives those of the employees who desire to do 
 so, the chance to attend church services, i 
 
 Count Katsura (now Marquis), who was prime minister during 
 the Russo-Japanese war, granted Dr. Wm. Imbrie an interview 
 on religious matters. His aim was to show that the war had 
 nothing whatsoever to do with differences of race or religion. The 
 following extracts contain the gist of the interview, and may be 
 taken as a fair representation of the present attitude of the 
 government : 
 
 The truth is that Japan stands for religious freedom. This is a principle 
 embodied in her constitution; and her practice is in accordance with that 
 principle. There are Christian churches in every large city, and in every 
 town in Japan; and they aU have complete freedom to worship in accordance 
 with their own convictions. These churches send out men to extend the 
 influence of Christianity from one end of the country to the other, as freely 
 as such a thing might be done in the United States, and without attracting 
 any more attention. There are numerous Christian newspapers and maga- 
 zines, Christian schools, some of them conducted by foreigners and some by 
 Japanese; and recently an ordinance has been issued under which Christian 
 schools of a certain grade are able to obtain all the privileges granted to gov- 
 
 1 "It is hard to estimate the value this edict has been to the Christians of 
 Japan. Before it was issued it was impossible for the growing Christian 
 community to attend church with any regidarity. While the majority of the 
 people take little notice of tlie day, it is known as the Christians' day for 
 preaching and worship. Even Buddhist schools close on Sundays, and the 
 priests, too, use this day for special preaching. The merchants have no rest- 
 days at all, and the farmers still cling to their local days of rest, but with 
 the spread of Christianity, Sunday will be to Japan the blessing that it has 
 been to other nations." De Forest, Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom, p. 109 f. 
 
30 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 eminent schools of the same grade. Missiouarj- associations are allowed to 
 own and manage land, buildings and other property, for the extension of 
 Christianity, the carrjdng on of Christian education and the performance of 
 works of charity and benevolence. 
 
 The immber of those professing Christianity in Japan I do not know; but 
 it must be a large number, with a much larger number who are Christians in 
 their affiliations. The Japanese Christians are not confined to any one 
 rank or class. They are to be found among the members in the National 
 Diet, the judges in the courts, the professors in the universities, the editors of 
 leading secular papers, and the officers of the army and navy. Christian 
 literature has entrance into the military and naval hospitals, and a relatively 
 large number of the trained nurses employed in them are Christian women. 
 Recently arrangements have been made by six American and British mission- 
 aries and six Japanese Christian ministers to accompany the armies in Man- 
 churia, in the capacity of spiritual ad'»dsers to the Christian soldiers.^ 
 
 Missionaries and Japanese Christians find cause for rejoicing in 
 the fact that the recent general election (1908) resulted in the 
 choice of fourteen Christians as members of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. The number of enrolled Christians of all denomina- 
 tions is about one hundred and sixty thousand out of a total 
 population of fifty millions, or about three out of a thousand. 
 The fourteen Christians out of the three hundred and eighty 
 members of the lower house, are about four out of a hundred. 
 The Speaker of the House has practically always been a Christian. 
 The late Mr. Kataoka was five times re-elected to the speaker's 
 chair. In addition to this work, he was president of the largest 
 Christian college in the empire. 
 
 It is also true that in the prefectural governments the number 
 of Christians is disproportionately large. "It is the powerful 
 influence of Christian sentiment that abolishes and keeps aboUshed 
 legal prostitution in Gumma perfecture." This would go to 
 show that the influence of Christianity upon Japan cannot be 
 estimated merely by numbers. Professor Clement points out 
 that the relatively large number of Christians is elected because 
 of the high reputation and established character of these men. 
 And their success in those positions is due, in no small degree, to 
 
 Clement, Christianity in Modern Japan, pp. 139-140. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 31 
 
 the education which they received at mission schools, and to the 
 training they enjo3^ed in churcli assembhes.i 
 
 Moreover, the Christians in politics are ahnost all men of action 
 and influence. Of the Christians in the j^ resent diet, Shimada is 
 editor of the Tokyo Mainichi Shinbum and is very active in social 
 and moral reforms. Nemoto is the well-known temperance 
 champion. He is the author of the anti-tobacco bill, which pro- 
 hibits the sale of tobacco to minors. This is now a law. A simi- 
 lar anti-liciuor bill only barely failed to become a law. Yokoi 
 has been a Congregational pastor and president of Doshisha 
 College. Ishibashi is the editor of the Osaka Asahi Shinbum; 
 and Tawaga is editor of the Miyako Shinbum, Tokyo. Uzawa is 
 a young barrister, recently honored with the degree of Hogaku 
 Hakase, or Doctor of Laws. Kurahara worked hard in America 
 for an education and is called "the scholar without a penny." 
 Hattori is well known in Seattle, where he was active in Christian 
 work among the Japanese. Takekoshi is the author of "Japanese 
 Rule in Formosa. "2 
 
 Legal Codes. — It has been happily noted that the new legal 
 codes of Japan have come to recognize Christian standards in their 
 requirements. The individual is now considered as a per?on, 
 not only as a part of a family, or as a citizen of the land. By 
 the civil code that went into effect in 1898, persons became adults 
 on reaching the age of twenty. "Until that time there was no 
 such a thing as becoming of age in law. Only persons who were 
 heads of families enjoyed entire liberty of person, unless the 
 people having authority over one's person were all dead." The 
 new code allows a young man of thirty and a young woman of 
 twenty-five to marry without the consent of their respective 
 families; and for the first time in the history of Japan, the wife 
 also can, in certain cases, bring action for divorce. 3 
 
 Concubinage is no longer recognized by law. Provision is made 
 
 1 Clement, Christianity in Modern Japan, p. 169 f. 
 
 2 Japan Evangelist, June, 1908. 
 
 3 Murphy, Social Evil in Japan (1908), p. 64. 
 
32 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 for the punishment of crimes against the person of one incapable 
 of resistance, as a woman; and the purchase of human beings, 
 with the intention of sending them out of the country, is prohib- 
 ited. 
 
 Through the effort of the Christian Temperance Workers, the 
 Salvation Army, and other missionaries, a most important legal 
 point was gained against the way in which licensed prostitution 
 was carried on. Formerly, the many girls who were sold by par- 
 ents or others to brothel-keepers were unable to escape their 
 slavery except by the permission of the keeper of the brothel. 
 A test case was carried up through all the courts to the highest, 
 and finally won by the Christians who contended that a girl 
 should not be kept in a brothel against her will. Much of the 
 force of this decision was, however, nullified by another decision, 
 which made the debts of the girls to their employers valid and 
 collectible by a process of law, from the girls or their parents. 
 The brothel-keepers see to it that the girls are always in debt to 
 them. But the outcome of it all was that the Home Department 
 issued Order No. 44, October 2, 1900, which is entitled, "Regu- 
 lations for the control of prostitutes." Articles five and six of 
 this order are the happy result of the agitation by the Christians 
 for ''Free cessation." Article 5 provides that requests for 
 erasure from the prostitutes' register may be either written or 
 oral. Such requests shall not be entertained by the police unless 
 made in person at the poHce station ; exceptions shall be made in 
 the case of requests sent by mail or messenger, where the police 
 believe there are reasons that the applicant cannot appear in 
 person. As soon as requests for erasure have been accepted by 
 the police, the name of the prostitute making the request must 
 be stricken from the register. Article 6 states that no person, 
 whatsoever, shall be allowed to interfere with the request for 
 erasure from the official register.! 
 
 Education. — To do Christian work in a non-Christian land, 
 it has always been felt that Christian schools are a necessity 
 
 ! Murphy, Social Evil in Japan, p. 170. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 33 
 
 from the very beginning. Native ministers and teachers must 
 be adequately trained, and those students who enter the world 
 of business, if thoroughly grounded in Christian character, will 
 be "living epistles" ever teaching concerning their new life-power 
 which makes for righteousness. All the larger denominations, 
 upon entering Japan, estabUshed schools of one kind or the other. 
 At the beginning of the year 1908, the following Christian schools 
 were maintained in Japan: 
 
 Protestant : 
 
 12 Boys' Boarding Schools, haA-ing 3,604 students. 
 
 45 Girls' Boarding Schools, having 5,526 students. 
 
 93 Day Schools (including Kindergartens), hav- 
 ing 7,920 students. 
 
 22 Theological Seminaries, having 367 students. 
 
 14 Women's Bible Training Schools, having. . . . 247 students. 
 
 Total 17,664 students. 
 
 Roman Catholic (1903). 
 
 5 Boys' Boarding Schools, having 1,278 students. 
 
 12 Girls' Boarding Schools, having 606 students. 
 
 30 Day Schools (including Kindergarten) , hav- 
 ing 4,244 students. 
 
 4 Theological Seminaries, having 55 students. 
 
 Total 6,183 students. 
 
 Greek Catholic (1903) : 
 
 1 Boys' School, having 78 students. 
 
 1 Girls' School, having 83 students. 
 
 1 Theological Seminary, having 167 students. 
 
 Total 328 students. 
 
 The above statistics include only those schools which are largely 
 supported by the different missions, and do not include those 
 private schools conducted by Christian Japanese men and women. 
 At least 25,000 Japanese persons are to-day being educated in 
 Christian schools. Of course, not nearly all of the students in 
 these schools become baptized Christians, but hardly any of 
 them leave school without imbibing some of the most important 
 Christian principles of life. No one who has seen them will denj^ 
 
34 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 the educative and moral power of the Christian schools. But it 
 was a rough road over which these mission schools had to travel. 
 Whenever a wave of anti-foreign influence passed over Japan — 
 and these waves were rolUng rather continually for six or eight 
 years immediately previous to the abolition of extra-territoriality 
 — the number of students and the popularity of these schools 
 would decidedly wane. But the intense desire of a large majority 
 of Japanese students to learn English, and the fact that the 
 mission schools could teach EngUsh very much more satisfac- 
 torily than the government schools could, has, on several occa- 
 sions, saved the Christian schools from still more serious defec- 
 tion. To add to the trouble, there were missionaries on the 
 field who could not feel satisfied until they had given to their 
 students' Christianity a decidedly American tinge. This ele- 
 ment of foreignizing has almost always been bitterly resented 
 by public opinion. But, happily, it seems that this genus of 
 missionary is slowly dying out. 
 
 Though the new treaties abolishing extra-territoriality M^ent 
 into effect in 1899, it was not until 1904 that Christian schools 
 were granted the same privileges as the Government schools of 
 the same grade. Since then all their students can have military 
 conscription postponed, and can enter any examination or higher 
 institution on the same conditions as those in the Government 
 schools. 
 
 The Christian schools in Japan now include Kindergartens, 
 primarj^ schools, special schools and theological seminaries. 
 There is as yet no Christian school in Japan of university grade. 
 Christian kindergartens are the only ones that can carry out 
 Froebel's ideas. If you take Christianity out of Froebel's sys- 
 tem, the backbone of it is gone. At present, the Christian Kinder- 
 garten has become very popular. From everywhere comes the 
 report: "We cannot possibly take all the children who apply 
 for entrance. We have to keep a waiting list." The demand 
 seems to be far in excess of the supply of these institutions, i 
 
 Most of the educational work is of the secondary grade, and 
 
 ' Christian Movement (1908), p. 295. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 35 
 
 the age of the boys and girls is from fourteen to twenty — the age 
 of adolescence — an age as impressionable as it is important. 
 
 Christian education in Japan has been criticised as being un- 
 scientific, narrow and one-sided, as instilling moral notions not 
 in accord with Japanese moral instincts, as having for its end 
 propagandism rather than pure education. But one of the 
 largest Christian Middle Schools in the empire reports that two- 
 sevenths of its graduates become ministers, two-sevenths teach- 
 ers, and three-sevenths business men. This would seem to 
 show a prettj^ fair result. 
 
 The fact that in consequence of the foreigners teaching Eng- 
 hsh in the Christian schools a relatively large percentage of the 
 Christian graduates become teachers of EngUsh in Government 
 Middle Schools, gives Christian schools an immense field of in- 
 fluence. In 1904, there were ninety such teachers who were 
 graduated from one Christian school. Moreover, the Y. M. C. A. 
 of the United States is supplying Christian young men to teach 
 English in the Government Middle Schools. There are now some 
 twenty-five such men teaching in the middle and higher schools 
 of Japan. These men are not missionaries in the strictest sense 
 of the term, but they have a powerful influence over the students 
 and others. I once saw 2,000 students, teachers and other 
 people, at a railroad station to say a parting word to one of these 
 young Americans who was to return to his home-land. In his 
 house he had taught the Bible to all who wished to be taught it, 
 and crowds came to hear him. 
 
 Because now the Christian schools are given the same privileges 
 as government schools, many more students stay to the end of 
 the course, and this gives them more time to allow the new faith 
 to become a real part of themselves. But the strongest argument 
 that continues to be advanced against these schools is that they 
 are largely "foreign" schools. Most of the Christian secondary 
 schools, however, are now controlled by a board of directors half 
 foreign and half Japanese, i 
 
 1 The Rev. M. Uemura, editor of the Fukuin Shimpo, in an address, said: 
 "There is, no doubt, much room for criticism of mission schools, but it is not 
 
36 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 There are several points that stand in the way of real success 
 of the mission schools. While most of them have good buildings, 
 many of them do not have enough campus, and none has an 
 adequate equipment of apparatus to teach science properly. 
 The idea is still held by some that it is the only business of a mis- 
 sion school to make converts, instead of making really educated 
 men who are righteous and spirit-filled, and know how to Uve 
 completely. 
 
 Christian education has thus far almost altogether steered clear 
 of establishing industrial and technical schools, and yet this 
 might be a very fruitful field for building up the Japanese nation 
 with men of sterling character. A high official in the Japanese 
 Department of Education recently spoke of Christian schools 
 to this effect: "The trouble is they are just flooding the market 
 with more literary trained youth who can't do anything in par- 
 ticular well. We have too many such already. Let the Christian 
 schools turn their attention to technical lines, and they will com- 
 mand our grateful support." The Christian school, however, 
 does not primarily exist to provide technically-trained men for 
 Japan, but to give the spirit of Christ to its students, no matter 
 what their line of study. This could very well be done by means 
 of industrial education — perhaps more successfully than by 
 means of classical learning. 
 
 to be denied that a considerable part, perhaps seven or eight-tenths of our 
 converts at present, have been under their influence." Dr. Schneder, of 
 Sendai, said: "I should say that if it had not been for Christian schools (non- 
 theological) the progress of Christianity thus far made would not be more 
 than half as great. One has to go not by converts alone, but by the progress 
 of sentiment and moral ideas in the direction of Christianity." Christian 
 Movement, 1904, p. 31. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Ebina (1906) is reported to have said that since government 
 and non-Christian private schools had begun to open their gates to Christian- 
 ity, the distinctively Christian schools were no longer necessary. But it 
 is doubtful whether Christianity has had so remarkable an influence on the 
 other schools as to have made its own schools useless; but "it is true that the 
 schools which at one time openly opposed Christianity have begun to show 
 some degree of friendliness, and occasionally they do invite well-known 
 Christian men to address the pupils." Japan Evangelist, 1906, p. 40. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 37 
 
 Female Education and Christianity. — The first Christian 
 boarding school for girls was opened in 1875, though day schools 
 had been conducted for years previous. There are now fifty- 
 eight girls' boarding schools in the empire, with an attendance of 
 6,500. Through these schools the Christian home is being thor- 
 oughly established. But the government itself has been mightily 
 influenced by the example of mission schools for girls. A high 
 official, in an address delivered at a Christian girls' school in 
 Sendai, said: "You missionary ladies have done a vastly greater 
 work for Japan than you ever dreamed of. Our government had 
 no hope of success in estabHshing girls' schools until we were 
 inspired by your successes. You have been to us as timely rein- 
 forcements to a discouraged army, and without your example 
 there would now be no growing system of higher education." 
 Count Okuma more than once said: "It is useless to work with 
 the male sex as a single standard. Japan, by raising woman to 
 her proper place, should provide herself with a double standard."! 
 
 The only Japanese university for women was founded by Mr. 
 Naruse, who is still the worthy president, and had he not been a 
 devoted and faithful Christian, the idea of the higher education 
 of the women of his own land would probably never have entered 
 his mind. Nor is President Naruse the only Japanese Christian 
 who has felt called upon to establish institutions of learning for 
 the young women of his country. There are quite a number of 
 such schools conducted and supported by companies of Christian 
 men and women. The best way to prove whether an institution 
 is really influential or not is to see whether or not the Japanese 
 themselves begin to establish it. 
 
 Of Miss Tsuda's English School in Tokyo, Dr. DeForest says: 
 "There are many excellent schools for the education of girls in 
 Japan. The educational department is very much in earnest in 
 developing government schools for girls. There are many finely 
 equipped missionary schools for the higher education of girls. 
 But Miss Tsuda's differs from them all in being the only one that 
 
 1 DeForest, Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom, p. 130. 
 
38 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 is Christian, yet interdenominational, that is, Japanese, yet 
 international." It is the highest grade English Christian school 
 for girls in Japan. Beginning with 1909, the graduates of its 
 normal department will receive government licenses to teach in 
 secondary schools without further examination. 
 
 The services of the graduates of the Christian girls' schools are 
 always in demand, not only in so-called Christian work, but especi- 
 ally as teachers in all kinds of schools. Their modern methods of 
 teaching, their knowledge of English, and their noble character, 
 no doubt, account for their acceptability as teachers. 
 
 The demand for woman's education far exceeds the provision 
 made for it by the government, and this in itself would give 
 the mission schools a raison d'etre, aside from the main purpose 
 for which these institutions were established. But it is a fact of 
 serious importance that the Christian girls' schools are not yet 
 adjusted to the general scheme of education in Japan, and this 
 has been a standing complaint against them on the part of those 
 who oppose Christianity, and even of some who are favorable 
 to the new religion. 
 
 There is no doubt that some missionaries think that they must 
 always Americanize while they are trying to Christianize. This 
 is a course which is as unwise as it is narrow, whether it is con- 
 sidered from the standpoint of education, or that of propagand- 
 ism. It is this shortsightedness of method that partly accounts 
 for the relative loss of prestige which the mission schools are 
 experiencing. The government itself is now making it possible 
 for the Christian girls' schools to regain their former position, by 
 inducing them to conform in general to the plan of the Depart- 
 ment of Education. 
 
 In April, 1907, a regulation was issued, to take effect in 1909, 
 according to which graduates of schools not recognized by the 
 Department of Education are practically excluded from the 
 examinations for teachers' license. 
 
 To be recognized by the government, a mission school is (1) 
 to follow a curriculum similar to the one prescribed by the De- 
 partment, for girls' high schools. (The Bible and special English 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 39 
 
 etc., can be retained in the curriculum of a private school.) (2) 
 At least half of the teachers must hold government licenses. (3) 
 Sufficient ground for athletic purposes, adecjuate scientific appa- 
 ratus, buildings, etc. These conditions do not show any discrimi- 
 nation, nor are they otherwise objectionable, and ought to be met 
 at once by the mission schools. By adopting this course, the 
 educational standard of these schools would be decidedly raised. 
 Moreover, if the mission schools do not accept this regulation, 
 one of their main levers for moving Japanese society Christ-w^ard 
 — that of providing Enghsh teachers for the government schools — 
 will be taken away. For, as stated above, only those can obtain 
 licenses who are graduates of a school recognized by the govern- 
 ment. Two Christian schools have already adopted the plan 
 suggested by the Department, and are now enjoying all the 
 privileges of the government institutions. 
 
 Dr. Motoda, in the Kirisutokyo Shuho, makes the following 
 statement: "There are three ways in which mission schools for 
 girls can survive the present crisis: First, they may become 
 regular Koto Jo Gakko (girls' high schools) with all government 
 privileges. This plan excludes the Bible from the school cur- 
 riculum but leaves a wide margin in which to give religious edu- 
 cation, and we must remember that the best results cannot be 
 obtained by forcing religion upon students. Second, they may 
 take concerted actiori to equip themselves according to the 
 requirements for Koto Jo Gakko and then secure privileges, just 
 as many mission Chugakko (middle schools for boys) have secured 
 government privileges. Third, if neither of the above plans be 
 feasible, mission schools would better discontinue the work of 
 general education, and confine their attention to the courses of 
 study for which they are especially c^ualified, such as, spe?ial 
 courses in English, Western Household Economy, Foreign Music 
 and similar subjects." 
 
 The Fine Arts. — In connection with general education, refer- 
 ence might be made to art and the relation of Christianity to it 
 in Japanese civihzation. So far as sculpture is concerned, the 
 influence, I believe, has been purely negative. To the popular 
 
40 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 mind, sculpture is dangerously close in its relation to idolatry, 
 and as contact with Christianity and the West has made the 
 worship of images exceedingly odious among those who might 
 take up the study of sculpture, hardly any attempt has been 
 made to produce works of the scupltor's art even for purposes 
 other than that of worship. The modern Japanese with any 
 artistic ability does not wish to be classed with the persons who 
 make the crude stone images of animals that are placed in front 
 of Buddhist temples. 
 
 In painting, also, the influence of the West has been more 
 destructive than constructive. The matchless delicacy and beauty 
 of the native paintings, so highly prized by Europeans and 
 Americans and so little understood by them, has suffered by 
 the contact. Art for its own sake has quite frequently been 
 changed into art for gain. In painting, however, a few attempts 
 have been made by Japanese artists at reproducing some of the 
 Christian masterpieces. Along other hues also some notable 
 success has been achieved in the fields of European art. 
 
 In music, Christianity has had a very decided influence for 
 good. The native music is quite undeveloped. It has not 
 reached a higher stage than that represented b}^ the minor key 
 and singing in unison. The idea of harmony was totally absent. 
 Christianity has found it exceedingly difficult to introduce into 
 hymn-singing the idea of harmony. It seemed altogether strange 
 to the Japanese mind that four or more voices should sing to- 
 gether and each one have different notes. Surely only one can 
 be right. But to-day, perhaps, nine-tenths of all the Western 
 singing that is heard in Japan consists of Christian hymns, or 
 in the using of these tunes with secular words. It sounds rather 
 strange to an American to hear an ordinary street-song sung to 
 the tune of "There is a fountain filled with blood," or "There is 
 a happy land, far, far away," 
 
 The organ is very much used in Japan, and the introduction of 
 this instrument was also due, in the first place, to Christianity. 
 The Japanese now have their own organ and piano factories. 
 
The Second Coming of Christianity 41 
 
 Other Western musical instruments that have found favor in 
 Japan are the vioUn and the horn. The Japanese reaUze that 
 music is not one of their special endowments, but the patience 
 and the earnestness Mdth which they work at this ornament of 
 civiUzation is much to be admired. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON LITERATURE, MORALS, AND 
 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 
 
 Christian Books and Papers. The Popular Novel. Language. 
 Morals. Position of Woman. Marriage and Divorce. Con- 
 cubinage. Social Evil. Suicide. Imperial Rescript. 
 School Ethics. Home Ethics. Religions. 
 Buddhist Reforms. 
 
 Literature. — In a land where only forty years ago no news- 
 paper existed, and now 1,000 publications are to be found, the 
 printed page is of immense importance.. The missionaries and 
 the Japanese Christians have from the beginning made profitable 
 use of the pen as a means of influencing Japanese society, a large 
 part of which is highly intelligent. 
 
 In 1906, the Christian periodicals consisted of one that was 
 published three times a year, two bi-monthlies, thirty-four 
 monthlies, nine semi-monthlies, five weeklies and three were 
 reported as published "occasionally." The price of these pub- 
 lications ranges from 4 sen to yen 2.75 a year. 
 
 Two or three of the Tokyo daily papers are owned and edited 
 by active Christians. Undoubtedly, the moral tone of the Japan- 
 ese press has been appreciably raised through the influence of 
 Christianity. Christian professors in the universities, statesmen 
 and members of the Imperial Diet have written books, rich in 
 ethical instruction and strong in loyalty to Christ. i 
 
 The Bible is to be found in every city, town and village. It is 
 to be had not only in Christian book-stores, but is sold also by 
 non-Christian dealers. That there is a great demand for Bibles 
 is shown by the fact that in 1906 the American and British Bible 
 Societies of Japan circulated 12,700 whole Bibles, 96,136 New 
 
 1 Griffis, Dux Christus, p. 275. 
 
 42 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 43 
 
 Testaments, and 184,895 Gospels and other portions of the 
 Bible. Only a small proportion of the output was given away, 
 the rest were regularly sold. The number of tracts circulated 
 during the same year was 322,444. 
 
 Lives of Christ and of Paul are about as numerous and as varied 
 in form in Japanese as they are in English. A very comprehen- 
 sive and favorable life of Christ was written by a non-Christian, 
 who is a graduate of the Imperial University at Tokyo, and 
 holds the degree of Doctor of Literature. Commentaries on the 
 Bible, translations of the principal works on theology, books on 
 devotion and biographies of Christian heroes are without number. 
 This last form of literature seems to appeal especially to the 
 Japanese readers. Recently, Mr. Tsuchii Bansui has translated 
 into Japanese Milton's ''Paradise Lost." 
 
 The fact that almost all the Japanese Christian workers can 
 read English, and do read it, manifestly works against the speedy 
 rise of a good national Christian literature. The English language 
 still is the channel through which Christian ideas flow into Japan, 
 to mould the thoughts of the educated, i 
 
 Frequently one finds in secular books and periodicals passages 
 taken from the Bible, without the use of quotation marks or any 
 hint as to the source of the language. The writer is quite willing 
 that his readers should think him the author of such passages. 
 Unwittingly, such writers pay a high compliment to the Chris- 
 tian Scriptures. 
 
 Ten years ago (1899), W. G. Aston, in his well-known "History 
 of Japanese Literature," could truthfully say that Christianity 
 had still to put its stamp on the literature of the Tok^^o period; 
 but on the next page he assumes the role of a prophet and says: 
 "Can it be imagined that when a religion is presented to them 
 (Japanese) v^^hich alone is adapted to satisfy far more completely 
 all the cravings of their higher nature, the Japanese, with their 
 eminently receptive minds, will fail in time to recognize its im 
 mense superiority? They have already accepted European 
 
 Tokyo Missionary Conference, 1900, p. 452. 
 
44 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 philosophy and science. It is simply inconceivable that the 
 Christian religion should not follow. Probably, as was the case 
 with Buddhism, it will not be received without some modifica- 
 tion."! 
 
 The popular novel is always a good mechanism to register the 
 social temperature of a people. It is quite natural that Christi- 
 anity should first show its influence on this form of literature. 
 This seems to be the case in Japan. During the last fifteen years 
 the Japanese novel has undergone a total transformation. 2 Not 
 only have the characters been changed, but the language and the 
 ideals presented have also been greatly altered. The modern 
 novelists have all learned from Christianity the meaning of the 
 word sin. The Japanese language uses the word tsumi for both 
 sin and crime, and the novels of former decades described crime 
 only. The deeper meaning of sin, as hatred, pride, selfishness, 
 meanness of disposition, was unexpressed by them. 
 
 Another word that has been given an altogether new content 
 is the word ai (love). This word was used almost exclusively 
 in an impure sense. Even to-day, if a Christian preacher uses 
 this word in a country place, where the people do not yet know 
 the Christian meaning of it, the audience often laughs, thinking 
 that the speaker is relating somie impure joke. But in books, 
 and among the intelligent people, love has come to mean the 
 same as it does in Christian literature all over the world. 
 
 The word kenshin-gisei (self-sacrifice) formerly was quite 
 unintelligible unless explained. Now it is used in pulpit and 
 literature and is not only understood readily, but appeals especi- 
 ally to the knightly spirit of the people. The Japanese people 
 possessed the content of the word, but did not express it in the 
 way it is now expressed. Jinkaku (personality) is another term 
 that is quite common to-day. In this case, Christianity intro- 
 
 1 Aston, History of Japanese Literature, p. 399. 
 
 2 Says Dr. Nitobe, professor ia the Kyoto Imperial University, "That 
 people in general believe that Christianity is the best former of character is 
 evidenced by the fact that so many of the characters in popular novels and 
 dramas are Christian." 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 45 
 
 duced the word and the content. Meishin (superstition) is 
 another term, the meaning of which is new to the people, but 
 is now frequently heard in public and seen in print. On literature 
 in general, Christianity has not yet had much influence, but it is 
 equally true that its stamp is slowly becoming visible in many 
 of the present-day literary productions. 
 
 Morals. — As yet, the basis of Japan's morality is not the Chris- 
 tian religion, though many individuals are guided by its precepts. 
 The morals of a nation cannot be entirely revolutionized in the 
 short space of forty years, even though that nation should greatly 
 desire such a change. In Japan, where for over two thousand 
 years the morality of authority — loyalty and filial obedience, 
 or ancestor-worship — has had absolute sway and has indeed 
 preserved the nation during that long period, an instantaneous 
 change is simply impossible. The one question that is ever 
 asked by all Japanese when confronted by some new institution 
 is, Will it be for the glory of the Emperor and waga kuni (our 
 country)? This is the one and only test of everything. 
 
 But Japan has entirely changed her material civihzation, and 
 new ideas and strange ideals are in evidence everywhere. The 
 individual who formerly was owned and restrained by family 
 and community, now speaks about personal rights, and the 
 courts of the land, within limits, recognize such rights. The old 
 social organization is undergoing disintegration, and the newer 
 form has not yet been firmly established. The natural conse- 
 quence is that Japanese society is in a moral chaos, though this 
 disturbance does not yet reach to all parts of the national life. 
 But it is true, no doubt, that the morals in many directions are 
 lower to-day than they were a hundred years ago. This is the 
 plaintive strain which one continually hears from the Japanese 
 press, and from government officials, such as the Minister of 
 Education and others. They must not forget that morals cannot 
 be bought ready-made, and that thus far no set of customs suited 
 to the new order of things has been crystalUzed into a binding 
 code of morality. The adjustment to the new environment has not 
 yet been fully made. Right here lies the great opportunity for 
 
46 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Christianity. The basic ideals underlying Western civiHzation 
 are Christian in character, and as, in a material way, Japan has 
 largely been Westernized, Christianity would seem to be the most 
 suitable religion to go with the new conditions. The fact hat 
 the morals in Japan are lower now than they were before the 
 recent advent of Christianity, is not an argument against the 
 power of Christianity. The probability is that if Christianity 
 had not lent a saving hand by pouring oil on the troubled waters, 
 Japan would be in a much more helpless moral chaos than she 
 now is. 
 
 The question of the position of woman, and the relation be- 
 tween the sexes in general, are phases in the social problem that 
 have been largely modified through the influence of Christianit}^ 
 and the West. It ought to be stated that woman in Japan always 
 has held a higher position than is the case in the other Asiatic 
 countries, but she has never been considered the equal of man, 
 and perhaps nine-tenths of the Japanses men to-day do not think 
 that woman constitutes the "better half."i 
 
 Confucianism and ancestor-worship have given woman the low 
 position which she formerly occupied in Japan and elsewhere. 
 Mencius says: "There are three things which are unfilial, and 
 to have no posterity is the greatest of them." The one and 
 only object of marriage was the perpetuation of worship. 2 
 
 There simply must be posterity. To allow a family to die out 
 would be the "unpardonable sin," and a crime against the state. 
 The people of the West cannot fully realize the awe and power 
 which this ancient faith; possesses. And yet we can under- 
 
 1 Mr. Okakura, who, if I mistake not, is not a Christian, says in the Century 
 Magazine: "The Western attitude of profound respect toward the gentler 
 sex exhibits a beautiful phase of refinement which we are anxious to emulate. 
 It is one of the noblest messages that Christianity has given us. To-day we 
 are convinced that the elevation of womaii is the elevation of the race. Since 
 the restoration we have not only confirmed the equality of sex in law, but 
 have adopted that attitude of respect which the West pays to woman." — 
 Century Magazine, Vol. 47, p. 633. 
 
 2 Nobushige Hozumi, Ancestor-worship and Japanese Law. 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 47 
 
 stand that if we truly believed that our own happiness, as well 
 as the happiness of our ancestral shades, depended on the wor- 
 ship of our ancestors, we should not like to shoulder the responsi- 
 bility of letting a family line die out. That would mean that the 
 shades of generations upon generations of ancestors would for- 
 ever have to go unworshipped — suspended somehow and some- 
 where in eternity, perhaps to be tbe laughing-stock of other 
 more favored shades; or what is more likely, they might en- 
 deavor to wreak vengeance on a land whose morals have fallen 
 so low as to allow actual "race-suicide." But to make it abso- 
 lutely certain that there will be posterity, woman cannot be 
 independent. Marriage laws must be loose, for it must be easy 
 to divorce a sterile wife so as to take one that is not sterile. 
 Concubines from this standpoint may become necessary; and 
 resource must be had to the universal custom of adoption. Wed- 
 lock, divorce and re-marriage, concubinage and adoption were 
 the bulwarks which protected the ghosts of the ancestors from 
 the disgrace of being unworshipped. Woman, then, is a begetter 
 of worshippers — and be it said to the honor of the Asiatic woman, 
 that she did not consider herself a slave, but found the highest 
 possible glory in this religious function, the giving of birth to 
 sons; and if not sons, then daughters. 
 
 But when a low estimate is put on woman, chastity also is given 
 a low value. Formerly, a large part of the public would have 
 blamed the daughter of poor, old parents, whose suffering she 
 could have relieved by selling herself to a brothel-keeper, if she 
 had refused to do so. Frequentl}', chastity was placed below the 
 virtue of fihal obedience. Nor has this practice altogether died 
 out to-day. During the famine of 1905, many girls who had 
 been sold by the suffering parents were redeemed by the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 It is certainly true that public sentiment has greatly changed 
 in this respect, and that the number of people who would in ex- 
 treme circumstances favor the selling of Vv'oman's virtue is com- 
 paratively small in Japan to-day. The laws of Japan in this 
 respect have also been greatly changed. But even to-day pros- 
 
48 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 titution can very largely rely upon this distoHed religious prin- 
 ciple to secure for it the required number of girls. 
 
 To get an idea of the change that has taken place in the matter 
 of divorce, a comparison of the former standards with those now 
 in vogue is necessary. 
 
 The Taiho Code enumerated seven reasons for divorce for the 
 husband, none for the wif^. These seven reasons were, sterility, 
 adultery, disobedience to father-in-law or mother-in-law, garrul- 
 ity, theft, jealousy and leprosy. Sterility did not mean actual 
 barrenness, but the failure of male issue, and as to adultery, "it 
 was not the immorality of the act itself, but rather the appre- 
 hended danger of the confusion of blood that was feared." i 
 
 The present code specifies bigamy, adultery, desertion, cruelty, 
 condemnation to punishment for certain offences as forgery, theft, 
 embezzlement, sexual immorality and desertion as the principal 
 grounds of divorce. Divorce may be effected by mutual con- 
 sent of the husband and wife. To make this "agreement to dis- 
 agree" legal, it must be reported to the public registrar. In a 
 case where mutual consent cannot be obtained, application for 
 divorce can be made to the courts of law. 2 
 
 Several years ago some Christian members of the Diet intro- 
 duced a bill proposing to make marital unfaithfulness on the 
 part of the husband, as well as in the case of the wife, cause for 
 the divorce, but the bill failed to pass. However, the pubHc 
 agitation of the question no doubt did some good. 3 
 
 ^ Hozumi, Ancestor-worship and Japanese Laiv. 
 
 2 "But here it appears that the rights of the woman do not receive the same 
 recognition as those of the man. Thus, although adultery committed by 
 the wife constitutes a valid ground for divorce, we do not find that adultery 
 on the husband's part furnishes a plea to the wife." — Gulick, Evolution of the 
 Japanese, p. 265. 
 
 3 See Bibliothecn Sacra, January, 1905 
 
 Mr. Gubbins, who translated into English the new codes, says, in his intro- 
 duction: "In no respect has modern progress in Japan made greater strides 
 than in the improvement of the position of woman. Though she still labors 
 under certain disabilities, a woman can now become the head of a family, 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 49 
 
 Japan has learned from Christianity that monogamy is the 
 highest and purest form of hfe, and a number of Christian writers 
 have, with much exultation, referred to the fact that the Crown 
 Prince was publicly wedded — and the pledges were mutual — and 
 that he lives in strictest monogamy. They believe that the 
 present emperor will be the last to have concubines. The wed- 
 ding ceremony of the Crown Prince was the first of its kind in 
 the 2,600 years of Japanese history. Such an example by the 
 highest in the land will surely have much influence. 
 
 How fully Japan recognizes monogamy as one of the clearest 
 and most benevolent lessons that Christianity teaches, could 
 be seen when a few years ago some Mormons came to the country 
 to do missionary work. All the principal newspapers opposed 
 the movement and only after the Mormons had fully promised 
 not to teach polygamy was permission granted them to do 
 evangelistic work. 
 
 Statistical figures show thp.t the marriage i elation is coming 
 to be much more lasting than formerly. 
 
 Marriages. Divorces. 
 
 1892 349,489 133,498 
 
 1895 365,633 110,838 
 
 . 1897 395,207 124,075 
 
 From 1896 to 1900 there weie 371,295 marriages and only 
 76,621 divorces, a reduction in the latter of about 25 per cent. 
 Formerly, one out of three mai.iages was divorced; at present, 
 one out of five is divorced.! 
 
 In Japan about one out of every ten children is illegitimate. 2 
 This percentage of illegitimacy is very large, but it is partly 
 accounted for by the loose marriage laws that prevail. The mar- 
 
 and exercise authority as such; she can inherit and own property and manage 
 it herself; if single, or a widow, she can adopt; she is one of the parties to 
 adoption effected by her husband, her consent is necessary to the adoption 
 of her child by another person ; she can act as guardian, or curator, and she 
 has a voice in family councils." 
 
 1 Japan Evangelist, July, 1908, p. 263. 
 
 2 Gulick, Evolution of the Japayiese, p. 267. 
 
50 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 riage ceremony itself is neither religious nor civil, but purely- 
 social. It consists of alternate drinking of sake (rice-wine) by 
 the contracting parties, in the presence of their friends. To 
 legalize such a marriage, it must be reported to the public regis- 
 trar. But among the lower classes this registration is considered 
 optional and many do not register at all. Consequently, their 
 children, from a legal standpoint, are illegitimate, though socially 
 they are not considered as such. The peculiar law of primogeni- 
 ture is one reason why some do not wish to register their mar- 
 riage. Perhaps both the man and the woman of such a union 
 may be the oldest of their respective families, and in this case, 
 neither would be wilhng to change the name, as registering 
 requires. This is another product of ancestor-worship. But 
 many simply live together — dokiju — and do not take the trouble 
 to register. Moreover, it is a great deal easier to dissolve the 
 partnership if the marriage is not recorded. 
 
 Concubinage, as such, has been on the decline since the Re- 
 storation. Public opinion disapproves of it, and according to 
 the new Civil Code, children of concubines are prevented from 
 inheriting the family name or property, where there are legiti- 
 mate children. 1 But geisha (dancing girls, practically on a level 
 with harlots), and prostitutes have enormously increased in New 
 Japan. The system of segregation and licensing is in vogue in 
 this country, and it is claimed by those who have made investiga- 
 tions along the line of legalized prostitution, that the enormous 
 increase in this evil business is in large part due to the licensing 
 of the institution. But be that as it may, "free cessation," as 
 we have seen before, was directly brought about by the Christians 
 in Japan. The results of free cessation can be seen from the fact 
 that the increase in the number of prostitutes from 1896 to 1899 
 was from 39,000 to 52,400, an increase of one-third. Had the 
 same rate of increase continued, there would have been eighty to 
 eighty-five thousand in 1907. But in 1902, two years after free 
 cessation was begun, the number had fallen to 38,600. Thus, 
 
 Murphy, Social Evil in Japan. 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 51 
 
 about 12,000 girls left the dens of shame as the result of free cessa- 
 tion. The amount of money spent per person also showed a great 
 reduction, and a decrease in the guests of the better classes is 
 also noticed. The character of the prostitutes has changed for 
 the worse, as the better class gladly took advantage of free 
 cessation. Since 1902, a slow increase has again taken place, 
 though the figures are still lower than they v/ere before the agita- 
 tion, and much lower than they would have been had there been 
 no movement at all. 
 
 Christianity struck a telling blow at this great evil of Japanese 
 society, and everybody in Japan, high or low, knows exactly 
 what Christianity stands for on this point. In making this fight 
 for the freedom of the enslaved women, some Salvation Army 
 officers were brutally wounded by the brothel-keepers and their 
 associates, so that some were obliged to be in the hospital for 
 weeks; but this merely helped so much the more to arouse the 
 sentiment of the better people against this institution of shame. 
 As a rule, people who patronize these houses now go in closed 
 jinrikisha, formerly they visited them openly, i 
 
 It is claimed that since these new regulations are in force the 
 brothel-keepers are often imposed upon by wicked and designing 
 parents, who sell their daughters with the intention of taking 
 them back again in a short time. There are such cases on 
 record, but the law does not permit such girls to enter any other 
 brothel. They can, however, return to the place which they 
 left at the first. 
 
 It is a notable fact that a larger proportion of the prostitutes 
 of Japan are reclaimable than is the case in Western countries, 
 where "prodigal sons" sometimes return, but prodigal daughters 
 hardly ever. Drinking is not so closely associated with prostitu- 
 tion in Japan as it is in America, and in some cases at least, the 
 motive for entering the brothels — filial piety — is higher than it 
 is in the West. 
 
 Suicide. — It is often said that among the civiUzed nations 
 
 1 U. G. Murphy, The Social Evil in Japan and Allied Subjects, 190S. 
 
52 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan. 
 
 Japan has a very high percentage of suicides. About 175 per 
 railHon of the population take their hves annually, and the 
 number would seem to be growing. In England, the number is 
 about seventy-five per miUion, One reason why self-destruction 
 is so common in Japan is the fact that, according to former codes 
 of honor, suicide removed all disgrace from the victim and from 
 his family. Courage and bravery, it is believed, could not be 
 expressed more realistically than by deliberate suicide. To 
 eradicate this ancient notion, the present government has been 
 quite active, but with no great success. 
 
 A few years ago a graduate of the Imperial University jumped 
 into the crater of Aso, an active volcano. His pocket-book, 
 which was found near the edge, contained a farewell letter, which 
 began thus: "How mistaken are those who say that suicide 
 betrays weakness of will. The strongest will is his who goes 
 down to a death that makes man shudder even to hear of." It 
 has become a common practice among students to jump into the 
 craters of volcanoes or to throw themselves down high water- 
 falls. A certain aimlessness and hopelessness seems to be abroad. 
 "Where is hope to be found? Where may peace be sought?" 
 exclaims' the student referred to above. It is a marked fact that 
 among Japanese Christians suicide is practically unknown. 
 
 The biothels constitute the best soil for producing suicides. 
 According to Mr. Murphy, previous to the free cessation and the 
 change in the police regulations in 1900, the average monthly 
 suicides among the public prostitutes numbered between forty 
 and fifty, and during the two months immediately after the 
 change, not one suicide took place among all the pubhc prostitutes 
 in the country. 
 
 Necessarily, it will take a long time for Christianity to affect, 
 very materially, the number of suicides in the country at large. 
 For, except in very special cases, such as that of the prostitutes, 
 Christianity can in this matter affect only those who have per- 
 sonal faith in the Christian religion. 
 
 Morals in Education. — On November 31, 1890, the Imperial 
 Edict of moral education was issued. Of this document, Dr. 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 53 
 
 Gulick says: "This is supposed to be the distilled essence of 
 Shinto and Confucian teaching. It is to-day the only authori- 
 tative teaching given in the public schools." The edict reads 
 as follows: 
 
 We consider that the Founder of Our Empire and the ancestors of Our 
 Imperial House placed the foundation of the country on a grand and perma- 
 nent basis, and established their authority on the principles of profound hu- 
 manity and benevolence. 
 
 That Our subjects have throughout ages deserved well of the state by their 
 loyalty and piety, and by their harmonious co-operation, is in accordance 
 with the essential character of Our nation; and on these very same principles 
 Our education has been founded. 
 
 You, Our subjects, be therefore filial to your parents; be affectionate to 
 your brothers; be harmonious as husbands and wives; and be faithful to 
 your friends; conduct yourselves with propriety and carefulness; extend 
 generosity and benevolence toward your neighbors; attend to your studies 
 and follow your pursuits; cultivate your intellects and elevate your morals; 
 advance public benefits and promote social interests; be always found in the 
 good observance of the laws and constitution of the land; display your per- 
 sonal courage and pubUc spirit for the sake of the country whenever re- 
 quired; and thus support the Imperial prerogative, which is co-existent with 
 the Heavens and the Earth. 
 
 Such conduct on your part will not only strengthen the character of Our 
 good and loyal subjects, but conduce also to the maintenance of the fame of 
 your worthy forefathers. 
 
 Tliis is the instruction bequeathed by Our ancestors and to be followed by 
 Our subjects; for it is the truth which has guided and guides them in their 
 own affairs and their dealings toward aliens. 
 
 We hope, therefore, that We and Our subjects will regard these sacred 
 precepts with one and the same heart in order to attain the same ends. 
 
 But fifteen years have produced a great change in the moral 
 ideals that are thought proper to hold before Japanese youth. 
 It has been noted by Christians and non-Christians that the 
 teachings in the new Kokutei Shushin Kyokwasho (Text-books 
 on National Ethics) are approaching Christian ideals. Even Dr. 
 Hiroyuki Kato, who is so stern an opponent to Christianit}^, says 
 that in connection with loyalty and patriotism, independence 
 and self-defense should be taught. He points out that in Eng- 
 land there is great pubUc spirit along side of high development 
 
54 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 of individual character, and that Japan cannot do better than 
 follow in her footsteps. The compilers of the new text-books 
 on ethics, of whom Dr. Kato was one, are strongly of the opinion 
 that the altered circumstances of the country demand that Japan 
 should add some new elements to the moral training she gives to 
 her young people. For these elements the compilers have come 
 to Christendom and Christianity. 
 
 The old ethics carefully defined the duties of inferiors to su- 
 periors, but said little about the duties of superiors to inferiors. 
 "Individualism as a principle is not included in the old system. 
 These text-books would serve the purpose of Christians and 
 Buddhists alike, insisting as they do on all the most fundamental 
 principles of morality." i 
 
 The aim of the text-books is to produce "a, good Japanese," 
 i. e., a moral individual as differentiated from the traditional 
 Japanese idea of "a good citizen." The state has recognized 
 the necessity of greater moral individualism, and in consequence 
 of this has issued the new text-books. In so doing, Japan is 
 necessarily adopting principles that resemble in form the highest 
 Christianity. 2 
 
 One chapter is entitled "Yoki Nihonjin" (a good Japanese). 
 "A good Japanese is a man who strives to fulfill all the duties of 
 a subject. As a citizen, he bears in mind all that a citizen ought 
 to bear in mind. * * * The members of his household and others 
 he must treat in a proper manner. A good Japanese must be 
 upright and a man who shows steady industry in his business 
 and who exercises ingenuity in order to improve his methods of 
 business." Other subjects are: Ancestors, Society, How to 
 Treat Other Persons, Other Persons' Property, Other Persons' 
 Reputation, Gratitude, Contracts or Agreements, Kind Treatment 
 to Foreigners. 3 The following are a few of the instructions given 
 under the last-named subject: 
 
 1 Japan Evangelist, 1905, p. 233 f. 
 
 2 Japan Gazette, in Japan Evangelist, July, 1907. 
 
 3 Japan Mail, 1905. 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religion 55 
 
 Never call after foreigners passing along the streets or roads. 
 
 When foreigners make inquiries, answer them politely. If you are unable 
 to make them understand, inform the police of the fact. 
 
 Since all human beings are brothers and sisters, there is no reason for fear- 
 ing foreigners. Treat them as equals and act uprightly in all your dealings 
 with them. Be neither servile nor arrogant. 
 
 Beware of combining agamst the foreigner and dislildng liim because he 
 is a foreigner; men are to be judged by their conduct and not by their 
 nationality. 
 
 As intercourse with foreigners becomes closer and extends over a series of 
 years, there is danger that many Japanese may become enamored of their 
 ways and customs and forsake the good old customs of their forefathers. 
 Against this danger you must be on your guard. 
 
 Taldng off your hat is the proper way to salute a foreigner. The bending 
 of the body low is not to be commended. 
 
 Hold in high regard the worship of ancestors and treat your relations with 
 warm cordiality, but do not regard a person as your enemy because he or she 
 is a Christian. 
 
 The students of Japan are most easily reached with moral 
 teaching, and as a class, they need moral food most. Much 
 concerned on account of the immorality among the students of 
 the country, Mr. Makino, Minister of Education, in 1906, issued 
 an instruction in which he says: "Among the youth of both 
 sexes I detect, to my regret, a tendency to occasional despondency 
 and to ethical decadence." He found that luxury, dissipation, 
 shamelessness were rife among the students, and that indecent 
 pubUcations and pictures were freely circulated. Indirectly, the 
 Minister's instruction is a confession that the principles of morals 
 as formerly taught in the schools are inadequate, and he earnestly 
 seeks a cure. Repressive measures have been tried, but these have 
 not answered. 
 
 Professor F. Matsumoto finds six different causes for the immor- 
 ality and the hammon (mental unrest) so prevalent among present- 
 day students: (1) A political cause, in the total change in the 
 system of government at the Restoration. (2) A social cause, 
 in that the difference between the rich and poor is constantly 
 becoming greater. (3) A moral cause, in the confusion caused 
 by the different moral systems taught. (4) A religious cause, 
 in the inadequacy of the old religions. (5) An educational 
 
56 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 cause, in that true teachers are very few. (6) An intellectual 
 cause, in the constant and rapid changes in all departments of 
 thought. 
 
 There is indeed moral and mental unrest in student society. 
 Old restraints have been ruthlessly torn down, and new moral 
 forces cannot be erected in a day. The present condition is a 
 necessary and unavoidable step in the evolution of a new moral 
 order. It must be said for the students, that many of them are 
 eagerly seeking some firm moral foundation on which to stand. 
 A disproportionately large number of students are found among 
 the members of the churches. Most of these can read English. 
 "This means the inflow of Christian ideas and interests. There 
 is quite a general assent to Christian ethical standards among 
 those who are not yet members of churches, but this assent has 
 not yet been lifted to a distinctly religious plane, which alone 
 can make it vital and permanent and controlling."! 
 
 Dr. Tetsujiro Inoue thinks the morality that will be produced 
 by the general revolution of society will be a compound of Orient 
 and Occident, of patriarchism and individuahsm. He doubts 
 not the possibility of such an outcome as he has seen the blending 
 going on before his eyes. "The firm resolution of Christianity 
 which faces death without fear is like that of Bushido. It is, 
 therefore, not impossible to harmonize Christianity and Bushido.'"^ 
 
 The picture which Japanese moralists draw is, as a rule, rather 
 gloomy, but light is appearing on the scene, and no one will deny 
 that some of its most powerful rays are coming from the West- 
 ern horizon. Even in business morality a change for the better 
 is taking place. 3 
 
 The home has been greatly purified; the individual now has 
 real rights; woman has made wonderful advancement in every 
 
 1 E. Kashiwai and T. Komatsu, in Japan Evangelist, December, 1907, p. 428. 
 
 2 Dr. Tetsujiro Inoue, "Ethics and Education," in Japan Mail, 1908. 
 
 3 A missionary who is not too pro-Japanese, has said: "Tliat the Japan- 
 ese are improving in commercial morality is true, and a thing to rejoice over. 
 I doubt not that in general, truth telling is somewhat more popular than it 
 was about forty years ago." 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 57 
 
 way, and the presence of the missionaries has broken down much 
 of the former race prejudice on the part of the Japanese. I once 
 heard a Japanese minister remark, in a sermon on the great change 
 which had taken place in the matter of race hatred. When 
 Christian missionaries first came to Japan, he said, they were 
 called Yaban (barbarian), then Aka-hige (red beard), then Yaso 
 (a corruption of Jesus), after that Ijin (a foreigner), then Seiyojin 
 (a Westerner), and now they are called Beikokujin (Americans). 
 He thought this showed remarkable progress towards Christianity. 
 
 The coming of Christianity to Japan, some forty years ago, 
 created such an excitement throughout the land that the decadent 
 old religions were shocked out of their slumbers. The Christi- 
 anity that was then preached was intensely warlike and icono- 
 clastic. In many cases it endeavored first to break down the 
 ancient reUgious institutions, because these, it was believed, were 
 the devil's strongholds; and then it hoped to build the kingdom 
 of God on the general debris. It is easily seen that any method 
 of religious propagandism so largely antagonistic — and so unwise, 
 as many now believe — carried on by "hated" foreigners, would 
 arouse intense opposition. In the early days this opposition 
 among the Buddhists often expressed itself in volleys of stones 
 hurled at the churches or the houses of Christians. PubUc meet- 
 ings were held at which Japanese Christians were branded as 
 "traitors who wished to deliver their country into the hands of 
 foreigners." It is said that one priest went about the country 
 preaching against the use of kerosene, because it was a foreign 
 product. 1 
 
 But contact with Christianity brought Buddhism to realize its 
 own weakened condition, and soon imitation of Christian institu- 
 tions and methods was substituted for physical opposition. As 
 a consequence, a reform movement was organized among the 
 younger element of Buddhism, which had as its aim the adjust- 
 ment of an old faith to present needs. 2 
 
 1 Carj% Japan and Its Regeneration, p. 92. 
 
 2 Lafcadio Heam somewhat unsympathetically says, "A result of mission- 
 ary efforts, much more significant than the indispensable yearly reports of 
 
58 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 It is no doubt true that morally and educationally, the standard 
 of the priests has been immensely improved, because of contact 
 with Christianity. Moreover, Christianity has given them new 
 methods of work. Preaching, among the Buddhists has become 
 very common, and the teachings given are often identical with 
 those of Christianity. Literal quotations from the New Testa- 
 ment have been used by priests, the source of the doctrine, of 
 course, being left unmentioned. 
 
 There are Buddhist Sunday-schools, Y. M. B. A.'s (Young 
 Men's Buddhist Associations), Buddhist schools for women, 
 orphanages, temperance societies and many other organizations 
 for charity. The Buddhist sacred book is carefully bound with 
 "divinity edges," and in shape and size is very much like an 
 ordinary copy of the Bible. 
 
 Thus Buddhism has learned, to some extent at least, to fight 
 with Christianity's weapons, and has again become somewhat of 
 a missionary religion. Missionary stations have been opened 
 not only in Japan, but also in Korea, Shanghai, Amoy, Hawaiian 
 Islands and even in San Francisco. At the last-named place a 
 periodical is published called "The Light of Dharma." The 
 Eastern Asia Buddhist Society has been formed for propagating 
 the doctrines of Buddhism, both at home and abroad. The Im- 
 perial Eastern Association has for its object the translation into 
 Japanese of Thibetan, Mongolian and Manchurian Buddhist 
 Scriptures. 1 
 
 But there is also another tendency noticeable among the ad- 
 herents of the old religions. The limitations of Buddhism are 
 glaringly brought out by the more active and energetic faith of 
 the West. Many have become members of the Christian Church, 
 
 new conversions, has been the reorganization of the native religions, and a 
 recent government mandate insisting upon the higher education of the native 
 priesthoods. Indeed, long before this mandate, the wealthier sects had 
 established Buddhists schools on the Western plans; and the Shinshu sect 
 could already boast of its scholars educated in Paris or at Oxford — men whose 
 names are known to Sanscritists the world over." — Hearn, Kokoro, p. 193. 
 1 Bibliotheca Sacra, January, 1905, p. 1 f. 
 
Influence on Literature, Morals and Religions 59 
 
 while more have become theists, and still others say that Budd- 
 hism is not a religion, but a system of philosophy. Not long ago, 
 a Buddhist priest, at a funeral, told his hearers that Buddhism 
 was fit for this world only, and that if they wanted real consola- 
 tion, they should go to Christianity for it, for that was the only 
 religion from which it could be derived/ A few years ago, a 
 priest brought his daughter to the Christian school with which 
 I was connected at the time. When asked w^hy he had decided 
 to send his daughter to a Christian school and not to a Buddhist 
 one, he replied that Buddhism was good enough for an old man 
 like him, but it was not good enough for his daughter. 
 
 Perhaps this Buddhist dissatisfaction is most authoritatively 
 stated by Dr. Senjo Murakami, one of the learned priests of to- 
 day, in an address delivered at a large Buddhist gathering, held 
 in Tokyo in April, 1905. He said: ''You may be proud of the 
 thousands of Buddhist temples here in Tokyo, but what are they? 
 They are the temples where dead men gather. There is not a 
 single temple where really Hving men could come to hsten to the 
 teaching of Buddha and to cultivate their mind. When I see 
 that Christianity owns everywhere in Tokyo large church edi- 
 fices for men of action to come to, I feel so ashamed that I know 
 not what to do.'" These words, coming from the highest author- 
 ity, plainly show that, though there is a reform movement on 
 foot among some sects of Buddhism, there is a very sad lack in 
 the ancient faith of Uving religious power. The same is even 
 more true of Shintoism, which has been officially dropped from 
 the rank of a religion. 
 
 Japan Evangelist, October, 1908, p. 375. 
 Japanese Evangelist, December, 1905, p. 415. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON PHILANTHROPIC AND 
 SOCIAL WORK IN JAPAN 
 
 Paternalism. Extra-Ecclesiastic Christianity. Public Charity. 
 Salvation Army. Peace Movement. Temperance Work. Red Cross 
 Society. Orphanages. Prisoners and Released Prisoners. Re- 
 formatory Work. Lepers. Medical Missions. Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Associations. 
 
 In old Japan, paternalism was the keynote to the whole struc- 
 ture of society. The head of the family was responsible for all 
 that belonged to his circle; the head of the village, for all his 
 villagers, and the lord of the manor felt responsible for all his 
 subjects. Under this regime, if carried out strictly, "sweet 
 charity" had hardly a place. Strict paternalism, however, cares 
 only for its own group, i. e., its charity begins at home and ends 
 there. It cares not how people fare across the line. But even 
 this rather narrow philanthropy was instrumental in doing great 
 good in a country where famines and fires, tidal waves and earth- 
 quakes are of so frequent occurrence. 
 
 In one respect, paternalistic charity has a great advantage 
 over the charity of the West. It knows how to prevent pauper- 
 ism. This, of course, is the most scientific charity. In the West, 
 through the influence of Mediaeval theology and a narrow inter- 
 pretation of passages like "the poor ye have always with you," 
 indiscriminate encouragement of the beggar was supposed to 
 secure a pass to heaven on the part of him who bestowed this 
 so-called charity. With this erroneous idea Japan never had to 
 contend, hence her notable progress along the line of preventing 
 poverty. But Christianity always has had a broad view of 
 charity — all men have souls and all men are brothers. This 
 
 60 
 
61 Influence on Philanthropic and Social Work 
 
 spirit of Christian love is transfused through the whole social 
 fabric of Europe and America, and this is what Japan also needs, 
 and she is fast learning it from the West; so fast that after the 
 San Francisco earthquake $240,000 were sent by Japan to the 
 suffering people there. It is no credit to America that San 
 Francisco, a few months later, saw fit to make a desperate effort 
 to drive all the Japanese children out of her public schools. 
 
 A clear idea of how much Japan has received from the West 
 can be obtained by thinking of these influences under the head- 
 ings of (1) Western civilization, (2) extra-ecclesiastic Christi- 
 anity, and (3) Church-Christianity. As for the civihzation of 
 the West, Japan long ago decided to take the whole of it, and 
 she is adapting, and in some instances, improving on these in- 
 stitutions. Her constitutional monarchy, her educational sys- 
 tem, her medicine, her railroads, her postal, telegraph and tele- 
 phone systems, her army and navy, are directly modeled after 
 those of the West. No proof that this is a fact is needed. Japan 
 has simply done what it is natural for anyone to do — first, sought 
 self-preservation and self-development in a material sense. 
 Bread, and what is necessary for physical life, come first on the 
 menu of nations, as well as of individuals. But with civilization 
 per se, I am not concerned in the present treatise, i 
 
 Japan, however, is also fast accepting what has been called extra- 
 Church Christianity. By this is meant large-hearted philan- 
 thropy, benevolence and charity. It must never be forgotten 
 that one reason why the Japanese have been such apt learners 
 in this line is because they have been prepared for it by Buddh- 
 ism through its doctrine of kindness. Nor am I assuming that 
 Christianity is the only power in the West that makes for char- 
 ity. The Jews, per capita, no doubt, give as much or more for 
 charity as the Christians do, but they have never yet offered to 
 
 1 Personally, I firmly believe that Christianity has had an immense 
 influence on the progress of the material civilization of the West. But 
 as it is impossible to designate definitely where, and how much, this influence 
 is, I shall drop this factor out of my estimate of the influence of Christianity 
 in Japan. 
 
62 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Japan the religion upon which they base their charity. What 
 Japan has learned in her own country about Western philan- 
 thropy was taught her by Christianity alone. 
 
 Whether Japan has to any great extent accepted Church- 
 Christianity or not, will be answered in the next chapter. At 
 present let us see what forms Christian charity is taking in 
 Japan, and try to estimate its influence on society in general. 
 Before describing the private eleemosynary institutions, it 
 should be stated that the government, in 1899, enacted Relief 
 Regulations, by which it is provided that each prefecture "should 
 create, for the purpose of giving relief when any calamity over- 
 takes the whole or any part of its territory, a Relief Fund, with a 
 minimum limit of yen 560,000, the central government under- 
 taking to hand over every year for ten years an amount propor- 
 tioned to sums locally raised for this fund." The entire fund 
 now amounts to over thirty-two million yen, and disburses about 
 100,000 yen annually. The state also cares for 19,000 paupers 
 and about 2,300 foundhngs, at a yearly cost of nearly 250,000 
 yen. Most of the larger cities and also the several prefectures 
 conduct very successfully various kinds of charitable institu- 
 tions.! 
 
 The following is a bare outline of the social work which Christi- 
 anity is doing in Japan : 
 
 Salvation Army. — This world-renowned organization has 
 forty corps and outposts throughout Japan, its headquarters 
 being Tokyo. Much direct evangelistic work is done, but the 
 Army is, of course, best known for its charitable and social 
 institutions. A Seamen's Home and a Salvation Army Hotel 
 are being conducted in Yokohama. Women's Rescue Work is 
 also being carried on. One of these rescue homes is in Azabu, 
 Tokyo; another one at Dalny, through which 217 women passed 
 during the year, and 19 are now there. Another of these homes 
 was conducted at Hakodate, but it was destroyed by fire some 
 time ago. A Cheap Food Depot is situated in the poor district 
 
 ! Christian Movement, 1908, p. 84. 
 
Influence on Philanthropic and Social Work 63 
 
 of Tokyo, and a cheap lodging house at the same place. Their 
 Labor Bureau has secured employment for an unnumbered host 
 of men. The Army's sphere of usefulness is being enlarged by 
 the estabhshment of a Student's Institute, a Home for Dis- 
 charged Prisoners, a Nurses' Training Home and a free Dispens- 
 ary. 
 
 The ardor and the patience with which the workers of the 
 Salvation Army have entered their service, has been of great 
 influence on Japanese society. Whenever a calamity occurs, 
 wherever sin is the vilest, and where poverty is most abject, there 
 the Army is the most active. They usually begin their remedial 
 work on the socially sick after other doctors have given up the 
 case. In some of the slum districts, the only name that the 
 poor people know for Christianity is Salvation Army. A few 
 years ago, when General Booth visited Japan, I saw 25000 
 people at a railroad station waiting to welcome the aged "sol- 
 dier." On April 20, 1907, he was received in audience by His 
 Imperial Majesty, the emperor, who was exceedingly gracious 
 and expressed great sympathy with the "General's" objects and 
 work. 
 
 Peace Movement. — While this movement is by no means 
 limited to the Japanese and foreign Christians, they are, never- 
 theless, very active members of the society. Count Itagaki said, 
 "As a citizen of a Far Eastern Empire, my thoughts are always 
 clinging to the problems of international peace." 
 
 The Society publishes a monthly periodical, Heiwa (Peace), of 
 which Mr. T. Oyama, of the Mainichi Shimbun, is the editor, 
 with Mr. Gilbert Bowles, of the Friends' Mission, in charge of the 
 English department. 
 
 Peace Sunday is being recognized by Buddhists and Christians 
 alike; branch societies are being organized and literature in the 
 cause of peace is circulated. Japan knows perfectly well that 
 her social, commercial and industrial development and well- 
 being depend on her peaceful relations with the rest of the world, 
 and the remarkable gro\\i;h of the ideas of peace is proof that she 
 has learned to hate war. At this juncture, the spirit of modem 
 
64 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Christianity has had a remarkable opportunity to influence the 
 Ufe of Japan. 
 
 Temperance Work. — In the Presbyterian Church in Yoko- 
 hama, about the year 1875, the first temperance society in mod- 
 ern Japan was organized. Buddhists and others, however, a 
 thousand years ago, tried to propagate temperance principles; 
 but only with the coming of Christianity was an organized at- 
 tempt made on the part of the people. At present the total 
 number of societies is 111, with an active membership of 8,500. 
 Hon. Taro Ando is the president of the National Temperance 
 League. Recently "the members of the League submitted a 
 petition to the Minister of Education requesting him to exhort 
 the principals and teachers of the public schools (Middle) to pro- 
 hibit drinking and smoking. To this the authorities promptly 
 attended and ordered all the middle schools in Japan, through 
 the governors, to produce reports respecting the smoking and 
 drinking of the teachers." i The world-wide tide of temperance 
 has also touched the shores of Japan, and already has made 
 some impression on the people in general. 
 
 Red Cross Society. — The Red Cross Society of Japan, with 
 over 1,200,000 members, cannot strictly be called a Christian 
 institution, because the great majority of its supporters are not 
 adherents of Christianity. It is a powerful, semi-public, benevo- 
 lent organization, founded in 1877 as an independent organiza- 
 tion; but in 1887, after revising its regulations and taking the 
 name of "Red Cross Society of Japan," it was officially recog- 
 nized by the International Red Cross Society. It is the ready 
 and very able dispenser of public and private charity for the 
 country, and has done untold good in time of peace and -w&t. 
 Professor Clement says of this organization: "With Christian 
 principles as a foundation, a Christian name and a Christian 
 emblem for a banner, it must be recognized as a Christian insti- 
 tution." 2 
 
 Orphanages. — Orphanages are institutions for which it is 
 
 1 Christian Movement, 1908, p. 306. 
 
 2 Christianity in Modern Japan, p. 136. 
 
Influence on Philanthropic and Social Work 65 
 
 comparatively easy to secure funds. Everywhere the suffering 
 of the fatherless and motherless little ones opens men's purse- 
 strings. This fact, in connection with the lack of homes for the 
 orphaned when Christianity came to Japan, has caused a great 
 number of these institutions to be established. In 1907, the 
 Christians had fifteen orphanages, the Buddhists ten, and there 
 were thirteen others that have no acknowledged religious prefer- 
 ence. 
 
 The Christian orphanage at Okayama is by far the largest and 
 best in the country. Mr. J. Ishii, a fine Christian gentleman, 
 opened this institution in 1887 and the work was a success 
 almost from the start. In twenty years, it has so grown in size 
 and influence that in 1906 its total receipts were yen 136,192.37, 
 and the number of children cared for was 1,200. The Emperor 
 of Japan saw fit to confer upon Mr. Ishii the Order of ''The Blue 
 Ribbon." He has also bestowed a grant-in-aid on this worthy 
 institution. This was the first formal gift by the emperor to 
 a pronouncedly Christian institution. There are now over ten 
 thousand sustaining members in Japan who each contribute 
 yearly a ijen or more towards the support of this orphanage. 
 
 The famine that prevailed in the northeastern part of Japan in 
 1906, brought 825 waifs to this institution. Of these, 486 have 
 been returned to their homes, so that the total number of children 
 now being cared for is 726. The home has printing and other 
 industrial departments, so that already there are many graduates 
 who are independently earning their living as printers, photog- 
 raphers, merchants, barbers and the like. 
 
 The Sendai Christian Orphanage is also the result of the famine 
 of 1906. About 300 waifs were gathered together at that time, 
 and an appropriate home was established for them, largely by 
 the missionaries. At present, 223 children are being cared for 
 at an expense of about $500 a month. i 
 
 Work for PrisOxXers and Released Prisoners.— Taneaki 
 Hara, one of the first Japanese converts to Christianity, was bap- 
 tized in 18 75, and is still an elder in the Shiba Church, Tokyo. 
 1 Christian Movement, 1907, and 1908. 
 
66 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 In 1883, he published a treatise on freedom, which was dis- 
 agreeable to the government and for which he was put into prison. 
 This gave him an opportunity to reaUze the urgent need of prison 
 reform. Upon being released, he began to receive liberated 
 prisoners into his own home. He gave up all his property for 
 this work and in the course of fourteen years, according to his 
 own statement, 305 men and women, thoroughly reformed, were 
 led into higher and better lives. 
 
 In 1897, he estabUshed a home for ex-prisoners in Tokyo, and 
 admitted 1,000 convicts, Vv^ho were freed by the general amnesty 
 after the death of the Empress Dowager. He says: "Those who 
 come to my home for protection are ever welcome. I find work 
 for them, teach them to save money and to enjoy happiness of 
 home life," Seven out of every ten cases that have come under 
 the influence of Mr. Hara have been saved to society, and thus 
 society saved from them. 
 
 Reformatory Work. — Mr. K. Tomeoka, an active Christian 
 man, spent a long time studying prison work and penology in 
 New York and in the New England States. Later he studied in 
 Germany and Great Britain. When he returned to Japan, he 
 was appointed teacher of morals in the Sugamo prison in Tokyo, 
 the best-conducted prison in Japan. He is now the instructor 
 in the School for Training Prison Officials, and is also one of the 
 influential advisers of the Government's Bureau of Charities. i 
 
 The work of child-saving appealed very strongly to Mr. Tom- 
 eoka, and soon he opened a private "Family School," as he calls 
 it. It is a school for wayward children. Since his venture, and 
 largely because of it, five child-saving institutions have been 
 established by the government, and there are seven under private 
 management. Recently Mr. Tomeoka's School received a gift 
 of $9,000, which is a very respectable sum for private charity in 
 Japan. It is not too much to say that the idea of saving chil- 
 dren from becoming criminals, and the organization of a dozen 
 or more institutions for this purpose, is due to the earnestness 
 of one Christian man, Mr. K. Tomeoka. 
 
 1 DeForest, Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom, p. 141. 
 
Influence on Philanthropic and Social Work 67 
 
 Lepers. — It is not known how many lepers are mixed in with 
 the fifty miUions of population, but some one has estimated 
 the number to be about 60,000. For these, nothing direct is 
 done by the pubUc. Four or five leper homes have been estab- 
 lished by the Christians, largely missionaries. The cause of the 
 insane and the leper has not yet touched the Japanese national 
 heart very sympathetically, but strong influences are at work 
 in favor of both of these unfortunate classes. In 1906, the em- 
 peror decorated with the "Blue Cordon of Merit" the founders 
 of two of these leper homes, M. Core, a Frenchman, and Miss 
 Hannah Riddell, an English lady, who is the first foreign woman 
 in Japan to receive this distinction. This recognition of the 
 merit of these persons has had a great effect on pubUc opinion 
 as regards lepers and their treatment. 
 
 Such an institution segregates the lepers, gives them the best 
 medical care, provides them with all the comforts that they can 
 enjoy, and brings to them the consoling power of the reUgion of 
 Christ. But it is especially encouraging to note that the govern- 
 ment is taking steps for the relief, and possibly the segregation, 
 of all lepers in Japan, an intention surely encouraged by Christian 
 initiative.! 
 
 Medical Work. — The medical missionary, in the early days 
 of Modern Japan, with his gentle ministrations, did very much to 
 remove prejudices against Christianity. It is said that some of 
 those who had been healed by one of these foreign benefactors, 
 were so filled with gratitude that they sometimes literally wor- 
 shipped the missionary, or put his photograph among the objects 
 of devotion on the "god-shelf." - 
 
 Usually, in the early days, the Japanese physicians were glad 
 to gain from the medical missionaries some knowledge of foreign 
 medicine. These medical men never were competitors of the 
 Japanese physicians, as they usually worked in connection with 
 the native doctors. Such men, like Drs. Hepburn, Berry, Mac- 
 
 1 Christian Movement, 1907, p. 103. 
 
 2 Gary, Japan and Its Regeneration, p. 111. 
 
68 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Donald and Whitney, have made an ineradicable impression on 
 the Japanese nation. But the end of the medical missionary's 
 day is fast approaching. He is no longer needed as a physician, 
 as Japan has plenty of able physicians among her own people. 
 In 1904, there were in Japan fourteen Protestant hospitals 
 and dispensaries, having thirty thousand patients a year, and the 
 Catholics had seventeen such institutions. Many of the Japanese 
 physicians are Christian men, and they have so deeply imbibed 
 the spirit of charity, that many hospitals for the poor are being 
 conducted by them. 
 
 Besides the Christian institutions specially mentioned, there 
 are Factory Girls' Homes conducted in the large centers of in- 
 dustry; Rescue Homes, to give the fallen women another chance 
 at life; Day Nurseries, such as the Aizawa Creche in Yokohama, 
 where eighty babies are tended; Schools for the Poor, with hos- 
 pital and dispensary added. Homes for the Blind are also kept 
 up. This latter is a large field for charity in Japan, as there are 
 two blind persons in every thousand of the population, which is 
 just twice the percentage that holds in the United States. But 
 the government has begun in earnest to care for its sightless citi- 
 zens, though only a small part of these unfortunate people is as 
 yet adequately provided for. 
 
 According to the report of Dr. J. H. Pettee, the following is a 
 list of the principal private institutions of charity in the year 
 1907: 
 
 No Acknowledged 
 Religious 
 Class. Buddhist. Christian. Preference. Total. 
 
 Orphanages 10 15 13 38 
 
 Jizenkai (Charity Organizations) ... 5 8 13 
 
 Homes for ex-convicts 11 .. 11 
 
 Asylums for the Blind 5 . . 5 
 
 Leper Hospitals 5 . . ,5 
 
 Free Schools for the Poor 2 4 6 12 
 
 Free Kindergartens 5 . . 5 
 
 Miscellaneous 1 3 3 7 
 
 Totals 13 49 37 99 
 
Influence on Philanthropic and Social Work 69 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association. — The Y. M. C. A. is 
 the most popular Christian institution in Japan. The Buddhists 
 have imitated it by estabUshing a Y. M. B. A., thus praising its 
 work more than words could ever have done. The emperor 
 bestowed upon this Christian Association a grant-in-aid for the 
 noble work which it did in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese 
 war. It is undenominational and does its work much more 
 according to sociological principles than is the case with any other 
 Christian body now doing work in Japan. It engages vigorously 
 in evangelistic, educational and social and philanthropic lines of 
 work, and is the agent of the Department of Education for secur- 
 ing suitable American young men as teachers of English in the 
 Government Middle Schools. Through the instrumentality of 
 the Y. M. C. A., the Conference of the World's Student Christian 
 Federation was held in Tokyo, in 1907. This brought the leaders 
 of Christian activity from twenty-five different countries to Japan, 
 and this in itself gave Japan an opportunity to form an opinion 
 as to what the influence of Christianity is in other countries. 
 
 The Association publishes the well-known magazine called 
 "The Pioneer." It is also keeping up an Army Department, 
 which is carrying on work among the soldiers in Tokyo and at 
 Port Arthur. "The total number of young men in attendance 
 at all Association Bible Classes each week has averaged over 
 1,300, in addition to 450 evening school students who have re- 
 ceived religious instructions." i 
 
 One of the latest additions to the general Y. M. C. A. work is 
 the establishing of Student Hostels. American University friends 
 gave $50,000 for the erection of these dormitories. They are fast 
 being erected in the larger student centers, such as Tokyo, Osaka, 
 Kyoto and Sendai. "These hostels have the hearty approval of 
 the school authorities, who realize that they exert a strong, 
 wholesome influence upon the student body." 
 
 It is to be noted that Japan always goes to the Christian coun- 
 tries for a model when she wants to introduce any kind of social 
 
 1 Christian Movement, 1908, p. 249. 
 
70 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 reform work. The countries of Buddha, of Islam, and of the 
 Brahmins have not contributed a single institution of this nature. 
 The people of Japan possess Buddhist kindness, and to this 
 they are glad to add Christian love. The result is a fast-growing, 
 large-hearted philanthropy. In the Japan Year-Book for 1906, 
 the following testimony appears: "It is a significant fact that 
 by far the greater part of private charity work of any large scope 
 is conducted by Christians, both natives and aliens." 
 
 The government very wisely has asked some Christian men to 
 give advice in the conducting of public charities, and largely by 
 them the foundation of a magnificent modern, scientific system 
 of social reform has been laid. Japan is in dire need of this 
 reform. Dr. J. H. Pettee, in his article on "Charities and Social 
 Reform," in the Christian Movement of 1908, says: "It all totals 
 a large amount of helpful ministry over which we rejoice. But 
 so long as Japan registers an average annual roll of 9,000 suicides, 
 1,200 murders, a "drink bill' of yen 300,000,000, uncounted 
 millions won and lost by a variety of gambling devices, notwith- 
 standing fairly strict law^s against this evil, and the open sore of 
 prostitution with its awful consequences; besides the periodic 
 ravages of fire, flood, drought and earthquake, it is evident that 
 much yet remains to be accomplished. The practice of benevo- 
 lence still remains a necessity as well as a virtue." 
 
 Japan has fully realized that men and women are her most 
 important national asset, and, therefore, she is accepting extra- 
 ecclesiastical Christianity, which aims at the loving treating of 
 all her sons and daughters, fortunate and unfortunate. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 
 Its Size. Rate of Increase. Independence. The Masses StUl Un- 
 reached. A Questionnaire, Obstacles to Rapid Growth, External 
 and Internal. Co-operation. Tendencies in the Japanese Church. 
 The Church Japonicized. Conclusion. 
 
 We have seen that the moral ideals and benevolent spirit of 
 Christianity are finding an earlier welcome in Japan than are the 
 dogmas of the Church and the form of its organization. Anyone 
 who considers the laws of social development, will not be sur- 
 prised to find that ecclesiastically the Christian religion has thus 
 far found less favor among the Japanese than its more material 
 blessings and ethical standards. Indeed, the opposite course, 
 among an independent and enlightened non-Christian people, 
 would be quite unthinkable. In Europe, during the Middle Ages, 
 when the pope's power was well-nigh absolute, the semi-barbarous 
 Teutons became Christian by first accepting the Church as an 
 organization, including its main doctrines, and later and very 
 slowly, they grew into Christian morality and philanthropy. 
 But in Japan, as has been noted, the order of Western influence 
 has been, first. Western civilization, second, Christian benevo- 
 lence, and the third step would naturally be institutional Christi- 
 anity; but this step has not yet been fully taken. It would, 
 however, be unwarranted to assume that because Japan has not 
 adopted the Occidental form of the Christian Church, she will 
 never accept any form of it. Let us see what the facts in the 
 case are. 
 
 Japan is really the first highly civilized, non-Christian country 
 that Christianity has ever tried to win to its faith, and this puts 
 the religion of Christ to a new and pecuUar test. From this 
 
 71 
 
72 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 point of view, there is, at present, no other non-Christian nation 
 that is religiously of such vast importance to the scoiological 
 student as Japan. 
 
 Fifty years ago, the three principal forms of the Christian Church 
 — Roman Catholic, Protestant and Greek Catholic — began to 
 propagate their faiths in Japan. The Roman Catholic form has 
 come from France, the Protestant mainly from America and 
 England, and the Greek CathoUc form has come from Russia. 
 
 There are 1,031 foreign missionaries in Japan, and 1,847 Japan- 
 ese workers who devote all their time to Christian work. The 
 number of communicant members in all the churches is 161,- 
 228 (1908). This number of church members represents prob- 
 ably half a million of adherents, that is, one Japanese out of 
 every hundred is an adherent to Christianity, while one out of 
 every three hundred and twenty of the population is a baptized 
 Christian. 
 
 The Christians are distributed all over the Empire, though 
 there are centers in which the proportion is much larger than in 
 other places. The prefecture that has the most Christians in it 
 is Nagasaki, which has 33,819. Tokyo city stands next, with 
 28,119. Hokkaido follows, with 7,105; then comes Osaka, with 
 6,781, followed by KanagaM^a, with 5,377. Miyagi-ken stands 
 sixth, with 5,143. There are prefectures like Fukui which have 
 less than two hundred converts. Where the means of communi- 
 cation are bad or where Buddhist influence is strong, the number 
 of Christians is small, but there is not a single prefecture that 
 has no Christians residing in it.i 
 
 The rate of net increase of church membership in 1901 was 
 four and three-fifths per cent., and the increase of population in 
 the same year was one and one-fifth per cent. For the year 1907, 
 the net increase in the Protestant churches was eleven and three- 
 fifths per cent., while the corresponding increase in population 
 was about one and two-fifths per cent. No report of the Catho- 
 lic gains is available for this year, but it is probable that the rate 
 of increase is less than that of the Protestants. 
 
 Japan Weekly Mail, Dec. 28, 1907. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 73 
 
 When we remember that on account of the influence which the 
 missionaries have wielded in the past the organization and doc- 
 trines of the church have largely been foreign and un-Japanese 
 in form, the above rate of increase is quite remarkable. But 
 perhaps a better criterion by which to estimate the real strength 
 of the Church as it now exists, is its financial ability. In this 
 respect the showing is not encouraging. In the beginning of the 
 year 1908, the Protestants had only seventy-nine churches 
 that were wholly self-supporting. And it must be remembered 
 that into the treasuries of even some of these self-supporting 
 churches the individual missionaries pay a considerable sum, 
 though the missions as bodies do not do so; and so far as the 
 putting up of their church buildings is concerned, a very great 
 share of the money came from America and England. The 
 Roman and the Greek Catholic churches report no self-supporting 
 congregations at all. The Protestants, besides the seventy-nine 
 self-supporting churches, have 350 churches that are partly 
 self-supporting and a large number of smaller preaching places. 
 They report the number of church buildings at 285, the number 
 of Sunday-school teachers and scholars in 1,006 Sunday-schools 
 as 84,160. 
 
 The desire for self-support is slowly growing, but the desire 
 for independence is many times stronger. This longing for inde- 
 pendence from foreign help, or rather from foreign domination 
 in the Japanese Church, has been immensely deepened since the 
 close of the Russo-Japanese war. The Christians who helped to 
 overcome the great European power on the field of battle, feel 
 that they are also able to take care of themselves in matters 
 ecclesiastical; and what is felt most keenly of all is the ineradic- 
 able notion that the acceptance of money and service from 
 foreigners is humiliating to Japan, that it holds her people up as 
 international inferiors. No language can describe the intensity 
 of this feeling. The Japanese nature will never brook any 
 invidious discrimination. In this feeling lies the basis of a pos- 
 sible independent, self-supporting and self-propagating Christian 
 Church in Japan. But under the immediate circumstances, this 
 
74 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 very feeling may also be a hindrance to the healthy development 
 of the church. 
 
 As to who the Japanese Christians are, it can be truthfully said 
 that all classes are represented. No doubt the majority are 
 heimin (commoners), but these are present in no larger propor- 
 tion than that which holds in the whole population. A large 
 per cent, of the preachers and the members are of the samurai 
 class. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and retired people, 
 are largely represented in the church membership. Not many 
 merchants or business people, and consequently but few wealthy 
 people, are to be found in the churches. One reason for the ab- 
 sence of merchants is that they have always been considered as 
 being at the very bottom of the social ladder, and, therefore, not 
 very much effort has been made to reach them. But another, 
 and more weighty reason, is the fact that the merchants do not 
 beheve that becoming Christians would help them in making 
 money. 
 
 After the best has been said that can be said for Japanese 
 Christianity as it now is, the fact remains that, socially, the masses 
 of the people have not yet been appreciably touched. With 
 this statement agree many of the representative missionaries and 
 Japanese Christians. Dr. Nitobe, in "Bushido," says: "As yet 
 Christian Missions have effected but little visible in moulding the 
 character of New Japan." The Rev. William E. Lampe, Ph.D., 
 though gratified with the progress that Christianity has made in 
 Japan, yet is of the opinion that the real task of Christianity in 
 Japan is still ahead of her.i Dr. S. H. Wainriglat, in an address, 
 said: "Yet on the whole we have not measured up to our ideals 
 in the popularization of religion in making the light and strength 
 of the Gospel a blessing to the masses." 2 The Rev. Dr. Thomp- 
 son, one of the oldest missionaries in Japan, gives it as his opinion 
 that "the work of Christianizing Japan, broadly speaking, still 
 remains to be done," 3 and Mr. William T. Ellis, who has recently 
 
 1 The Japanese Social Organization. 
 
 2 The Christian Moimnent, 1905, p. 203. 
 
 3 Report of Tokyo Missionary Conference, 1900, p. 123. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 75 
 
 made a very thorough investigation along these lines, gives this 
 as his impression: "As yet the cooHes and the lowest class of the 
 Japanese social system generally, are practically unreached." i 
 About six years ago, some sixteen representative Japanese 
 teachers sent the following questionnaire to over 4,500 college 
 and university students in Japan: 
 
 1. "Do you believe in religion? Are you at liberty to believe 
 in it if you wish?" 
 
 2. "Have you any desire for religion? 
 
 3. "Have you at any time believed in religion? If so, and you 
 have relinquished that belief, state your reasons for this course. 
 
 4. "If you believe in no religion, what do you depend on for 
 regulating your daily conduct? Do you dislike reUgion? If so, 
 why? 
 
 5. "If you do not beUeve in reUgion yourself, do you recog- 
 nize its necessity for others? If so, on what ground?" 
 
 Only 952, or about one-fifth of the number addressed, sent in 
 answers. From these answers it was learned that less than half 
 of the young men had been subject to any religious influence 
 in the home. Fifteen per cent, had been affected by religion at 
 school. Most of these had been students in Mission Schools at 
 some time in their lives. About one-third of these had been 
 drawn to rehgion b}^ biographies of great men. Others thought 
 that all religion was superstition. They were opposed to Christi- 
 anity because theyw^ere taught that it was antagonistic to State 
 interests; still others said that the teachings of science and the 
 immorality of some of the professors of religion kept them from 
 adhering to religion. 
 
 Of the 952 young men that sent in replies, 555 confessed non- 
 belief in rehgion; all except 134, however, had desire for reUgion, 
 but found intellectual difficulties in the way. As to ethics, most 
 inclined to subjective standards and away from codes or the 
 creeds of the religions. 
 
 Outside of the Christian schools — and this questionnaire was 
 
 1 Outlook, Jan. 16, 1909, p. 133. 
 
76 Christianitij as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 conducted outside of these — I believe that this result is a fair 
 representation of the religious life of Japanese college students. 
 The principal reasons for religious indifference are also well 
 brought out, and the proportion of names representing the four 
 religions, seems to me to be reliable. The adherents were divided 
 as follows: Buddhists, 231; Shintoists, 18; Confucianists, 24; 
 Christians, 68. 
 
 Facts such as these show clearly that Christianity has not yet 
 become the religion of the Japanese as a people, but it is also evi- 
 dent that, notwithstanding tremendous obstacles, the great 
 religion of the West has gained a rather firm foothold. The 
 hindrances and problems which have caused the slow growth of 
 the Church in Japan are of two kinds — external or foreign, and 
 internal or native. For the former, the missionaries and the 
 home churches which they represent, are responsible, and for the 
 latter kind of hindrances, Japan and the Japanese are account- 
 able. 
 
 External Obstacles. — In the first place, it should always 
 be kept in mind that the missionary works under a natural handi- 
 cap of tremendous proportions. In comparing him with church 
 workers at home, if equally efficient service is desired, the mission- 
 ary must be, by all odds, the stronger man at the start. He has 
 to teach and preach in a foreign language, among foreign people, 
 whose customs and manner of thought he does not know and 
 never can fully know, and where he has no social standing and 
 sympathy except that which his own ability and character per- 
 force give him. Physically, too, he is somewhat like a fish out of 
 water. He can by no means do the same amount of mental work 
 in a given time that he could do in the land of his birth. The 
 very large number of nervous break-downs that continually 
 deplete the missionary ranks is a sufficient proof of this fact. 
 But in some cases, the neurasthenia prevalent among mission- 
 aries is aggravated by uncongeniality and the not infrequent 
 petty differences among them, which sometimes develop into 
 quarrels that are known to the public abroad and at home. Mis- 
 sionaries, it must be remembered, are just about as human as 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 77 
 
 Christians in the home-land are. Moreover, the selection by the 
 missionary of co-workers that are congenial is often totally im- 
 possible on the mission field. 
 
 But the foremost of the outside obstacles to the rapid estab- 
 hshment of the Christian Church, is the fact that Christendom 
 is not Christian. If all the people living in the so-called Christian 
 countries were real followers of their Master — even though they 
 followed Him at a distance — Japan would long ago have accepted 
 the faith. Says Prof. Arthur Lloyd, of the Tokyo Imperial Uni- 
 versity: "The people who will ultimately convert Japan are not 
 so much the missionaries (though I, who know them and have 
 been of them, know their high worth right well) as the clergy 
 and laity in the home countries. The Japanese reads our papers 
 and magazines and knows all our reUgious discussions; he travels 
 the whole world over, note-book and pencil in hand, and makes 
 many an observation that we foreigners little suspect. He has 
 an intense admiration for the practically useful, and when he 
 sees our faith in what he considers its native soil, bringing 
 forth fruits of unmistakable good living and a civilization truly 
 Christian, he will not hesitate to adopt anything that is pure, 
 just, holy or of good report, for his own ethical creed has taught 
 him to lay aside all blind prejudice and look at everything with 
 an open mind." i 
 
 But our well-filled prisons, our notorious divorce cases, our 
 drunkenness, our prostitution, our grasping greediness, our 
 denominational and congregational quarrels, our conflicting 
 definitions of the church, the decline in the number and intel- 
 lectual character of the students for the ministry, the almost 
 regular absence of the men from the churches, and the steady 
 growth of indifference in general, are facts which the Japanese 
 know, perhaps, better than we do. 
 
 Missionaries speak of the universal brotherhood of man, but 
 our home countries build up one wall after another to show the 
 world that as a people, we do not believe that all men are brothers. 
 
 Japan Evangelist, August, 1908, p. 290. 
 
78 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 First comes the high tariff wall, which says, in no uncertain 
 accents, "We will not let you deal with us unless you pay from 
 fifty to a hundred cents on the dollar for the privilege of doing 
 so." Then there is the immigrant-exclusion wall, which says to 
 the Japanese workingmen, "You are not worthy to enjoy the 
 same food and conditions that we enjoy; we are afraid that 3^ou 
 will get the better of us in open competition, therefore, we are 
 going to show our brotherhood by locking j^ou out, just as you 
 did the rest of the world a hundred years ago." And finally, the 
 highest of all, comes our race-hatred wall, by which we express 
 our assumption that God's love ends where the white skin ends; 
 that the Anglo-Saxon race has a monopoly of the blessings of the 
 Almighty, and that the divine omnipotence exhausted its store 
 of gray matter when the brains of the white race were created. 
 These proclamations of the absence of real brotherhood come 
 with such resounding peals across the Pacific that the "poor 
 missionary," with his story of love, cannot even hear his own 
 voice above the general din. In our self-established superiority, 
 we pity, but very rarely love, a non-Christian of another race, 
 forgetting that pity is a proud and heathen feeling and not a 
 Christian one. Ordinarily, it is a sentiment that involves a 
 "looking down" upon a being less fortunate than ourselves, and 
 ought to have little place in the soul of a Christian. 
 
 A second hindrance to the rapid growth of the Japanese 
 Church is the fact that Protestantism is not now, and hardly 
 ever was, Protestant. The heart of the Reformation in the six- 
 teenth century was that individual faith in Christ is the centre 
 and source of the religious life, and that a man's conscience must 
 not be barred by any external authority. In the thought of 
 Schleimacher, Protestantism makes the relation of the indi- 
 vidual to the church depend on his relation to Christ, while 
 Romanism makes the relation of the individual to Christ depend 
 on his relation to the church. 
 
 But even from the beginning of Protestantism, there were those 
 who made theology the vital issue, and who were absolutely intol- 
 erant of any and all opinions other than their own. The funda- 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 79 
 
 mental principle of religious liberty, that "the majority has no 
 right to bind the conscience of the minority," was flung to the 
 winds, and they soon began to burn heretics, i 
 
 It is a great delusion if the home church thinks that the Japan- 
 ese do not know that some Protestants do not commune with 
 others that some re-baptize those who have been baptized by 
 others, that some churches will not give letters of dismissal to 
 any other body, that a sixteenth century system of theology is 
 in many cases the basis of church membership, rather than a 
 truly religious life. 
 
 It is only natural to expect that foreign missionaries should 
 commonly continue in the theological way in which they have 
 been trained ; but be it said to the honor of a large number of the 
 missionaries in Japan, that they are more Uberal, more truly 
 Protestant and less "respecting of persons" in their loves than 
 many of the Christians who stay in the home land. To prove 
 this, I need but mention that church union is much farther ad- 
 vanced in Japan than in America. In Japan, there is only one 
 Methodist Church; seven Presbyterian and Reformed missions 
 are all one in the Japanese Church; all the Baptist divisions are 
 united in Japan, and more than this, consultations among some 
 of the Protestant bodies are continually being held with a view 
 to organic union. In methods of church work, also, there is 
 unanimity to a much larger degree than is the case in America. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are those among the missionaries who, as 
 has been suggested before, unconsciously and consciously are 
 
 1 A good example of tliis spirit is that of Hohenegg, a Lutheran court theo- 
 logian of Saxony duiing the Thirty Years' War: "For it is as plain as that the 
 sun sliines at midday, that the Calvinistic doctrine is full of frightful blas- 
 phemy, horrible error and mischief, and is diametrically opposed to God's 
 holy, revealed Word. To take up arms for the Calvinists is nothing else 
 than to serve under the originator of CaKinism — the devil. We ought, 
 indeed, to give our lives for our brethren; but the Calvinists are not our 
 brethren in Christ; to support them would be to offer ourselves and our 
 children to Moloch. We ought to love our enemies, but the Cahanists are 
 not our enemies, but God's." — Adams, Civilization During the Middle Ages, 
 p. 439. 
 
08 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 trying to make American Christians out of Japanese people. 
 This is an utter impossibiUty, especially with a people so proud 
 and so ultra-nationalistic as the Japanese are. This same class 
 of church workers begin their missionary work by trying to de- 
 molish every vestige of the religious institutions that Japan has 
 built up in two thousand years — faiths that have served and 
 preserved the nation through all these years. Such missionaries 
 have utterly forgotten the oft -repeated principle of Christ, "I 
 came not to destroy, but to fulfil." How much wiser the great 
 foreign missionary Paul was, who found that the Jewish religion 
 which he had cast off was, after all, a "school-master leading to 
 Christ." 
 
 The candid person who knows what Buddhism and Confucian- 
 ism are, and has seen that in some respects they coincide with 
 Christianity, will very gladly confess that these also are school- 
 masters leading to Christianity, and that the mission of Christi- 
 anity here is, as it was in Christ's time, to fulfil and not to de- 
 stroy. In order to judge how faithful schoolmasters these two 
 religions have been in leading the Japanese people nearer to 
 Christianity, it w^ould only be necessary to study the religious 
 condition of the people as it was previous to the introduction of 
 Buddhism into Japan, in 552 A. D. No one can doubt for a 
 moment the immense improvement of society that has taken 
 place through the former efforts of these religions. 
 
 The missionaries belonging to this class have purposely failed 
 to make plain some connection between the lower religion of their 
 hearers and the higher one to which they would lead them. As 
 has often been pointed out, the ethical elements in Buddhism 
 and Confucianism might easily form a splendid bridge between 
 them and Christianity. Nothing worth mentioning has ever 
 been attempted along this line by the missionaries; and, indeed, 
 this harmonizing must be done by the Japanese Christians them- 
 selves. 
 
 Too often the relation of the past to the present is totally 
 ignored, and a large part of the missionary work is still done in 
 absolute disregard of all sociological principles. Intolerance 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 81 
 
 against the most sacred foundations of Japanese society is 
 preached, and when some Japanese assume the right to love these 
 institutions, there are missionaries who call it the extreme of 
 wickedness. 1 
 
 It is quite certain that unless Christianity can be introduced 
 without doing violence to the national spirit, and having some 
 regard for the religious instincts of the people, it will never be 
 introduced — just as our European ancestors would never have 
 accepted it, if modification had been impossible. The wise mis- 
 sionary will honestly and earnestly present the Gospel to the 
 Japanese, and endeavor to plant it in the new soil, but he will 
 never try to build Japan's social institutions. For, that is just 
 as impossible for a foreigner to do as it it to digest and assimilate 
 the food for somebody else's system. 
 
 Those who try to administer their own form of theology to 
 the Japanese with directions of "touch not, handle not" have 
 perhaps never taken time to consider that European theology 
 itself is largely an accretion that has been gathered from the 
 different peoples and their philosophies. Some scholars find 
 Greek philosophy even in parts of the Bible. Men like Justin 
 Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen spent their whole 
 lives in harmonizing Christianity and Greek philosophy, and the 
 result was the first Christian theology. Augustine took this 
 Greek result and added to it Rome's contribution; and thus,in 
 time, the simple Gospel teaching — which certainly has large 
 social and democratic elements in it — by the mighty empire of 
 pagan Rome was changed into absolute monarchy, and given 
 expression in the ecclesiastical empire of the popes. The anchor- 
 ite, the monk, asceticism, the worship of saints are directly pagan. 
 "Many of the customs of our rehgious festivals are the result of 
 the partial infusion of the Christian spirit into ancient popular 
 
 ^ "Never will the East turn Christian while dogmatism requires the convert 
 to deny his ancient obligation to the family, the community and the govern- 
 ment — and further insists that he prove Ms zeal for an alien creed by de- 
 stroying the tablets of his ancestors, and outraging the memory of those who 
 gave him life." — Japan, an Interpretation, p. 524. 
 
82 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 customs." The Christmas-tree is a well-known example of this. 
 The Germans also made their contribution to the general result, 
 and the Puritans, in turn, did their part in shaping theology to 
 suit their needs and religious sentiments. Refusing the Japanese 
 the right to do what other countries have done, seems, to saj^ the 
 least, unjust. But we may feel sure that in this respect the Japan- 
 ese, in spite of what foreigners may think about it, will do exactly 
 what other races have done — take the matter into their own hands 
 and proceed to make adjustments to suit their racial and re- 
 ligious feelings. It is the great glory of Christianity that it admits 
 of such adjustment without losing its identity — that though pass- 
 ing through many vicissitudes, it continues to be the "power of 
 God unto salvation to every one that belie veth." 
 
 One more obstacle to the growth of the Japanese Church is the 
 unsettled status subsisting between the missions and the native 
 church, and the constant quibbling and quarrelling that on this 
 account has been going on for the last ten years. The matter of 
 the right of control over the native church and its activities has 
 been a fruitful source of misunderstanding. At first, the mis- 
 sionaries necessarily had almost absolute power, but as the 
 Japanese Church grew it naturally began to assert itself and to 
 demand more rights. In the case of the Methodist, Congrega- 
 tional and Presbyterian-Reformed groups, the Japanese Churches 
 are now absolutely independent. The missions and the respective 
 native churches are now trying to co-operate. Roughly speaking, 
 this means that the missionary is to furnish the funds, and the 
 Japanese are to do the major part of the work. By an unwise 
 use of money, the missionary himself sometimes has stood in the 
 way of self-support. He has also frequently been charged with 
 employing totally unfit workers. Sometimes the opposite com- 
 plaint is made, namely, that the missionary is too miserly in the 
 payment of the salaries of those who work under him. It goes 
 without saying that the so-called co-operation does not run very 
 smoothly, often having in it but little "operation" and no "co" 
 at all. 
 
 It always is difficult for missionaries, as it would be for any- 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 83 
 
 one else, to live up to the spirit of John the Baptist — "He must 
 increase, but I must decrease." Says Dr. Arthur Judson Brown, 
 "It takes a great deal of grace for the missionary, after having 
 been the supreme authority for years, to accept a place subordi- 
 nate to that of the natives whom he has trained. Missionaries 
 in some fields already find themselves in this position, and they 
 would hardly be human if they did not feel uncomfortable. * * * 
 Such a spirit of self-sacrificing independence (on the part of the 
 native church) is far more helpful than flabby and supine acqui- 
 escence in external leadership." i 
 
 Very occasionally one meets with a missionary who seems to 
 feel it his duty to undertake to do all the work of Paul, Apollos 
 and God — "plant," "water" and "give the increase." Whether 
 pleasant or unpleasant, in missions as in pedagogy, it is a prin- 
 ciple of prime importance for the teacher to make himself need- 
 less as soon as possible. But so long as the missionary to Japan 
 is really needed — as it seems he now is — it were wise if he kept 
 himself well informed as to whether his particular services con- 
 tinue to be of the greatest worth. One way of testing his help- 
 fulness would be to ask himself the question, whenever he is 
 about to begin some new work, "Would a Japanese Christian of 
 equal education with myself and of like spiritual character, ap- 
 prove of this work, and would he do it in somewhat the same 
 way as I am going to do it?" If the honest answer to the first 
 part of this question is negative, the obviously wise thing to do 
 is not to do anything ; and if the proposed methods should be such 
 that they would in any way injure the cause that he wishes to 
 promote, adjustment along this line would, of course, be im- 
 perative. 
 
 Internal Hindrances. — While Christianity asks for a new 
 spiritual being, a large part of Japanese society still applies a 
 purely objective test to religion. The general attitude of the 
 nation towards religion is ultimately political. "Will it be for 
 the good of the empire and the emperor?" seems to be the funda- 
 
 1 Arthur J. Brown, The Why and How of Foreign Missions, pp. 161, 162. 
 
84 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 mental criterion that is always applied. And in the proportion 
 as the answer to this ever-present question has been affirmative 
 or negative, has Christianity met with opposition or favor at the 
 hands of Japanese society. 
 
 Some years ago the question of making Christianity the state 
 religion by legal enactment was actually considered. "Twenty 
 years ago Bismarck told a Japanese representative that Japan 
 could never expect to be rated as a great world power until she 
 became a Christian nation. That idea lodged in the Japanese 
 official mind; and it sheds light on the recent religious history 
 of the country." i From about 1885 to 1889, there was serious 
 talk of opening the proceedings of the Diet by prayer, just as is 
 done in some Christian countries. This idea was proposed in 
 a public speech and it was greeted with enthusiastic applause. 
 The actual adoption of such a bill was nearer than is popularly 
 known, but fortunately the infant church was saved from this 
 imminent danger. A commission was appointed to prepare a 
 report upon the influence of Christianity in checking vice and 
 crime abroad. This was done, and providentially, as it would 
 seem, the report w^as such that an unfavorable impression was 
 made on the lawmakers of Japan. 2 
 
 Moreover, the opposition to the moevment, at the psycho- 
 logical moment, threw a firebrand among the excited advocates 
 of the measure, by strongly asserting that Christianity would 
 undermine patriotism and would bring dire calamity upon the 
 empire. This had the desired effect. A little later — in 1897 — 
 a movement to revive Shintoism was inaugurated by a number 
 of influential men, who "issued a challenge to all Japanese 
 Christians asking them to return plain, unequivocal answers to 
 certain questions. The first three of these were: (1) Can the 
 worship of His Sacred Majesty, the Emperor, which every loyal 
 Japanese performs, be reconciled with the worship of God and 
 Christ by Christians? (2) Can the existence of authorities that 
 
 ^Outlook, Jan. 16, 1909, b. 130. 
 2 Academy, 66, 382. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 85 
 
 are quite independent of the Japanese state, such as that of God, 
 Christ, the Bible, the Pope, the Head of the Greek Church (Czar), 
 be regarded as harmless? (3) Can the Japanese who is the 
 faithful servant of Christ be regarded at the same time as the 
 faithful servant of the emperor and a true friend of His Majesty's 
 faithful subjects? Or to put it another way, Is our emperor to 
 follow in the wake of Western emperors and to pray ' Son of God, 
 have mercy on me?'"i 
 
 Of the rapidly decreasing number of Japanese who continue 
 to urge these views against Christianity, Dr. Hiroyuki Kato is 
 by far the ablest and most influential. He is a baron, who is 
 now a member of the House of Peers, and who at one time was 
 the president of the Imperial University in Tokyo. He is so 
 ultra-nationalistic that he claims, in a book which he published 
 in 1907, Waga Kokutai to Kirisutokyo (Our Country and Christi- 
 anity), that one of the most poisonous doctrines of Christianity 
 is its idea of a universal brotherhood. It is a cosmopolitan re- 
 ligion that takes no cognizance of any particular state, and 
 places God on a higher throne than the emperor and his ancestors. 
 He says, "We Japanese know of no being who is higher than the 
 emperor." He states that Christianity is not suited to Japan, 
 because it is too individualistic, while Japan is communistic. 
 It is detrimental to the welfare of the country because it is super- 
 stitious, unscientific and really urges treason. Therefore, 
 Christianity cannot claim the constitutional privilege granted to 
 religions that are not detrimental to the State. Perhaps Dr. 
 Kato's is the only great voice that continues to be raised against 
 Christianity as a destroyer of patriotism; but there are many 
 educated persons who would perhaps class most of the teachings 
 of Christianity among human superstitions and totally unneces- 
 sary for moral greatness. 2 
 
 1 Otis Gary, Japan and Its Regeneration, p. 97. 
 
 2 Professor Okakura says: "We do not see any conv-incing reason why 
 morals should be based upon the teaching of a special denomination, in face 
 of the fact that we can be upright and brave without the help of a creed with 
 a God or deities at its other end." Prince Ito says, on the same subject: 
 
86 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan. 
 
 The native religions, also, in some respects, or at least some 
 of their adherents, may be considered as hindrances to the growth 
 of Christianity. Individual members of these old faiths have 
 had much influence in keeping Christianity socially tabooed. 
 This is especially true in some sections of the country, such as 
 Fukui Prefecture, where the Buddhist forces are especially 
 strong. In some villages it is very difficult to rent a building for 
 the purpose of holding Christian meetings. This opposition often 
 has its main sources in the priests of the community. On the 
 other hand, the priests are despised by a large part of society, 
 and it is very natural for many of this anti-priest class of people 
 to put the Christian preacher in the same class with the priests, 
 thus giving him a low social standing. In many ways, there is 
 a sort of a bloodless persecution against Christianity still carried 
 on by the leaders of the old religions. But in the larger sense of 
 the word, these religions are not a permanent hindrance to 
 Christianity, but at bottom, they have unconsciously and un- 
 willingly aided in preparing its way before it. 
 
 If the missionary represents a higher religion and a superior 
 civilization, it is also certainly true that these are vastly more 
 expensive than were the former ways of social life. The financial 
 weakness of society in general and of Christians in particular, is 
 a serious hindrance to the rapid spread of Christianity. This 
 difficulty is most plainly felt by those Japanese Christians that 
 have been educated abroad, who know exactly what salary the 
 American minister receives, and how he lives. The Japanese 
 thus educated — and a large percentage of the Christian students 
 desperately seek after such an education — have more legitimate 
 needs than one who has not been thus trained. But for such 
 men to go back to their own primitive villages and there to work 
 
 "I regard religion itself as quite unnecessary for a nation's life. Science is 
 far above superstition; and what is religion, Buddhism or Christianity, but 
 superstition, and, therefore, a possible source of weakness to a nation? I 
 do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism, which is almost 
 universal in Japan, because I do not regard it as a source of danger to the 
 community." — Japan Weekly Mail, Oct. 5, 1907. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 87 
 
 at a salary of one-tenth the amount that his American brother 
 receives, and under immensely greater difficulties and at loss of 
 social standing, is a condition that cannot be fully understood 
 by those who have never seen it. Moreover, the Japanese min- 
 ister's salary is considered by his countrymen much more like 
 charity than is the case in America and Europe, and the accept- 
 ance of charity, if it is called by that name, is terribly grating 
 to the sensibilities of all Japanese. Hence, there is a tendency 
 for those educated abroad to engage in teaching rather than 
 preaching. 
 
 One more temporary hindrance is found in the peculiar trait of 
 Japanese to follow leaders rather than principles. Great leaders 
 are an absolute necessity to further any social movement in 
 Japan. Of such, Japanese Christianity has far too few as yet. 
 "The Fukuin Shimpo" [Gospel News (Presbyterian)], on this 
 subject expresses itself as follows: "We are of the opinion that 
 it is better to do nothing than to employ unsuitable agents. We 
 are for beginning nothing until the right men are found, and for 
 stopping work that has already been commenced if it is being 
 carried on in an unworthy manner owing to the inferiority of the 
 workers. There is nothing that does more harm to Christianity 
 than the employment of unsuitable men as a temporary expedi- 
 ent till better men are forthcoming. Resort to this practice tends 
 to keep men of character and talent out of the ministry."! 
 
 Thu s the problems that call for solution by the Japanese Church 
 are very real, and they are by no means few in number, nor easy 
 to solve. But by closely observing the tendencies that are at 
 work in that part of the native church which is most independent 
 of outside control, the probable way out of these difficulties can 
 even now be foreseen. Let it be repeated that this is a Japanese 
 problem, and that the foreign missionary can be of help n the 
 solution of it only when he recognizes that he must be the willing 
 and only temporary servant, and not the master in the under- 
 taking — that he must act in the capacity of brakeman rather 
 than conductor. 
 
 Japan Weekly Mail, Dec. 12, 1908. 
 
88 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 To see the religious problem of Japan clearly, it is imperative 
 that in our thinking we distinguish between religion and theology. 
 Both of these elements necessarily enter into the problem, but 
 not as co-ordinates. Surely we would have theology subordinate 
 to religion. The proper relation between theology and religion 
 may perhaps best be expressed under the figures of a scientific 
 lecture on dietetics and a good breakfast. The Japanese prefer 
 the breakfast. The simple religion of Jesus Christ is not repug- 
 nant to them; but, on the contrary, appeals mightily to them. 
 Jesus was an Oriental, and his "untheologized" teachings they 
 can very readily understand. It is vastly easier for the Oriental 
 mind to feel Christ than it is for the Occidental, w^ho is far more 
 materiaUstic in his thinking. The loving and lovable personality 
 of Christ is deeply appreciated by the Japanese. The fatherhood 
 of God, a spiritual paternalism, can surely be grasped by people 
 whose whole mode of thinking is paternalistic, and the worship 
 of the Heavenly Father is not difficult to understand by those 
 who worship their physical ancestors and their temporal ruler. 
 The idea of the brotherhood of man is but the enlarged and 
 deepened form of filial piety which is so indigenous to the Orient. 
 And so far as self-sacrifice (kenshin-gisei) is concerned, the Japan- 
 ese can easily give us useful lessons, for this is the very life of 
 their society. Nowhere else in the world is there a like spirit of 
 self-sacrifice shown as the patriotism of Japan portrays. The 
 subjective basis for the adoption of Christianity is here, the 
 object of worship only has to be changed. It is readily con- 
 ceivable that the adjustment of Japan to the essentials of Christi- 
 anity will be easy and perfect beyond any precedent. "It is an 
 Asiatic religion offered to an Asiatic people. * * * Self-abnega- 
 tion, ideahsm, the sacrifice of the present to the future — of ease, 
 and even of life, to duty — seem to come more natural to the Asiatic 
 mind than to the Western mind. Moreover, the religions of 
 Confucius and of Buddha, which have helped to civihze Japan, 
 are great religions, holding many truths of philosophy and ethics 
 in common with the religion of Christ. No nation seems ever to 
 have been so favorably situated to consider and compare the 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 89 
 
 great religions of the world, and choose the best, as is Japan to- 
 day. Nothing can be forced upon her. She knows the defects 
 of her own religious system; she can look abroad and study the 
 fruits of every other system, and if she finds a better one, can 
 take so much of it as she thinks is true." i 
 
 The Christian of the West needs not fear that the Christianity 
 of the Japanese will not be Christian. What he may expect as a 
 final result is that it is very probable that it will be more Christian 
 than his own. The religious practice that will result from this 
 Japanese interpretation and adaptation, will be Christian, but it 
 will also be Japanese. Japan's intense nationahstic unity will 
 make it easier for her than for any other country to refuse to 
 accept divided Christianity — Protestant, Roman and Russian — 
 and accept only the facts and documents of Christianity, and be 
 the first nation to build up one undivided Christian Church. 
 
 No doubt, many difficulties will be in the way of attaining this 
 result, but these problems and difficulties will be of a far different 
 nature than the "five knotty points of Calvinism" and their ilk. 
 How far the Japanese Church has proceeded towards this goal 
 is the one remaining subject that claims our consideration. In 
 the following extracts I shall let the Japanese Christians speak 
 for themselves on this question. 
 
 Three years ago a Japanese Christian gave, in Tokyo, an 
 address on "Christianity and Modern Japanese Thought." He 
 said that the form of Christian truth most easily assimilated by 
 present-day Japanese thinkers is the moral and social code of 
 Christianity. They will readily understand if you say that God 
 is Creator, or that heaven is order; but a God with personality is 
 an idea hard for them to grasp. Even among Christians (Japan- 
 ese) of the present time the number who have really compre- 
 hended this personal God is comparatively small. 
 
 A ready understanding will be met with if Christ is said to be 
 a man of perfection, of perfect righteousness, or the like. But 
 the divine nature of Christ they do not readily accept. If the 
 
 Harper's Weekly, Sept. 30, 1905. 
 
90 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Holy Spirit is spoken of as an influence, or as the power of God, 
 they will understand, but here again in grasping the existence of 
 personality they have difficulty. 
 
 The weakness of mankind they well know. To make them 
 take the next step, to grasp the sinfulness of sin, is the great 
 problem. The conviction of a personal God and a sinful self is 
 the key to unlock the ultimate secret of Christianity. Until this 
 is really grasped, the other problems are unintelligible. The 
 vicarious sacrifice of Christ does not find ready acceptance, 
 while Christ's self-sacrificial spirit is heartily welcomed. i 
 
 Dr. J. Takagi, in an article that caused a great deal of com- 
 ment, writes as follows: "Regarding the later developments of 
 Christian thought, various criticisms can be made; but if we look 
 at the original religion of Jesus Himself, there is nothing we can 
 criticise. To-day there are two points open to criticism. The 
 first point pertains to theological theories. For example, the 
 theory of original sin, the theory of the fall of man, the theory of 
 the incarnation, the theory of the atonement. For the most part, 
 these theological theories developed after the time of Paul and 
 were not found in the religion of Jesus. Of course, these theories 
 are not pure invention, but looked at in the light of to-day, the 
 greater part seem like idle discussion. The second point opea to 
 criticism pertains to rites and ceremonies, on which the Church 
 has placed a disproportionate emphasis, explaining them as if 
 they possessed a sort of magical efficacy." 2 
 
 The editor (Japanese) of a well-known orthodox church paper 
 writes as follows: "During the past few years certain Protestant 
 churches have made great strides towards reaching a state of 
 entire independence of foreign help, but there is one particular 
 in which they have done next to nothing towards independence. 
 They have made no serious attempt to found Divinity Schools 
 of their own, where the doctrinal teachings of foreign missionaries 
 shall no longer predominate. Our theological training schools 
 
 1 Watson, The Future of Japan, p. 328. 
 
 ^ Kaitakusha (Pioneer), December, 1908. The Future of Christianity in 
 Japan. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 91 
 
 are run with foreign money and managed by foreign teachers. 
 The Kumiai Kyokai (Congregational Church) which glories so 
 much in its independence, has as yet taken no satisfactory steps 
 for establishing a Divinity Hall, conducted on doctrinally and 
 financially independent lines. It is only after this has been ac- 
 accompHshed by various churches that an adequate supply of 
 properly-trained pastors will be obtained." It might be added 
 that the editor of this paper has recently opened an independent 
 Theological Seminary in Tokyo with remarkable success, i 
 
 Dr. Tetsujiro Inoue, a non-Christian scholar about as far- 
 famed as Dr. Kato, and formerly as bitterly opposed to Christi- 
 anity, in an address made before the directors of the Provincial 
 Middle Schools, remarked that formerly Christianity in this 
 country was not in agreement with the State, but that such is 
 no longer the case. This admission caused great surprise at the 
 time it was made and has since been the subject of much comment. 
 The Kirisutokyo Sekai (Christian World) asks what difference 
 there is between the new and the old form of Christianity, and 
 comes to the conclusion that the Christianity to which in former 
 years Dr. Inoue so strongly objected was the Occidental Christi- 
 anity, which had been propagated here unchanged, whereas the 
 Christianity of which the learned doctor approved to-day is 
 Japonicized Christianity. It seems to be generally held, says 
 the Kirisutokyo Sekai, that Christianity in schools can do no 
 harm whatever to the Japanese State.2 
 
 Dr. Nitobe, professor of Political' Economy in the Kyoto 
 Imperial University, states his conviction regarding Christianity 
 thus: "Up till recently Japan has been what the Germans call a 
 'Rechtstaat,' a legally organized state, a skeleton with little or 
 no moral flesh on it. And it is to Christianity that we must look 
 to give us the moral fiesh. It is as a state and not as a society 
 that we have made changes and progress, and now the time has 
 come to make changes in society. This is dependent on the 
 
 1 Fukuin Shimpo, in Japan Weekly Mail, Dec. 12, 1908. 
 
 2 Japan Weekly Mail, Oct. 15, 1907. 
 
92 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 personal character of those in places of leadership and authority, 
 and personal character is best improved or changed by Christi- 
 anity." 1 
 
 One of the best-known Japanese Christian papers advocates 
 the following views: 
 
 "We are Christians, and we believe that Christianity, in a 
 thoroughly Japonicised form, will be the religion of the Japanese 
 people of the future. * * * Christianity has its great energy, 
 its connection with Western civilization, and its readiness to adapt 
 itself to the progress of the modern world, to depend on. These 
 qualities in Christianity will certainly, in our opinion, secure 
 its final success. But instead of exterminating existing creeds, 
 it will certainly embody all that is best in them in its own form 
 of belief. With the large importations that this will imply, 
 Japanese Christianity in the future will differ materially from 
 any form of Christianity known to history. It will have bor- 
 rowed from Confucianism much of its fine moral teaching. It 
 will be indebted to Buddhism for ideas which it has done far 
 more to elucidate, emphasize and apply than Christianity has 
 attempted, and from Shintoism it will take such elements as are 
 part and parcel of Japanese nationality." 2 
 
 It is not necessary to multiply quotations, though this could 
 easily be done. It is true that testimony of exactly the opposite 
 nature could be produced, but this would certainly not represent 
 the most general feeling among Japanese Christians and others. 
 It seems to me clear that the Japanese as a people are no longer 
 unfavorable to essential Christianity, and are very well prepared 
 by nature for accepting the Gospel; but they do not like to 
 accept any un-Japanese accretions that may have gathered 
 around it while travelling westward around the earth. They 
 have already begun to make their own additions, their own 
 adjustments and their own interpretations. They are beginning 
 to lay the new foundation for their religious institutions, and it 
 
 1 Japan Evangelist, 1906, p. 89. 
 
 ^ Kirisutokyo Sekai (Christian World), May 16, 1907. 
 
The Japanese Christian Church 93 
 
 is very probable that the Christian world will have the blessed 
 opportunity, in the not too distant future, of witnessing the 
 erection of a noble building of which God is the builder, and the 
 Japanese His faithful workmen. 
 
 Conclusion 
 
 To what extent, then, has Christianity been a social factor 
 in modern Japan? We have seen that it has affected the govern- 
 ment itself, though only in an external way; that some of the 
 laws had to be made in conformity to Christian customs of the 
 West; that a disproportionately large number of the members 
 of the Diet are Christians. In education, also, traces of Christian 
 influence are easily visible, especially so far as female education 
 is concerned. 
 
 In the sphere of literature there is also evidence that Christianity 
 is at work in Japan, though in this sphere the influence is quite 
 recent, and not yet very thorough-going. In morals, through the 
 placing of greater emphasis on the worth of the individual, the 
 results of the Christian religion are very evident. The moral 
 chaos in which Japanese society finds itself at present is some- 
 what ameliorated by it. The old religions of Japan have partly 
 been favorably affected by Christianity and partly unfavorably. 
 
 In the world of philanthropy and social reform, Christianity 
 has wholly transformed Japanese ideas. It has given a new and 
 much wider meaning to charity, and the very forms of Christian 
 benevolence have largely been adopted. 
 
 In the matter of institutional Christianity, no remarkable 
 progress has been made, because this is something that cannot 
 be imported and inserted into Japanese society at will; but as 
 Christianity is itself Oriental, its essence finds favorable subsoil 
 here. We have seen that the simplest, most primitive and least 
 doctrinal form of Christianity suits the Japanese best; that they 
 hear and read the message of Jesus and then think it out for 
 themselves and apply it according to their racial needs, inherit- 
 ance and development ; that this process can best go on when all 
 the foreign workers are real ministers (servants). The mis- 
 
94 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 sionary is a power in his calling only when to some degree, at least, 
 he is an incarnation of the spirit and love of Christianity and can 
 interpret this spirit to the Japanese people; when, in his public 
 and private character, he manifests a moral nature that is fitted 
 to cope magnanimously with the difficult problems of life ; when 
 by experiment he exhibits to the people of Japan the best in West- 
 ern civilization, and shows that this has its fountain-head in his 
 religion. Under this influence it may be expected that the ideas 
 and aspirations of Orient and Occident will be harmonized and 
 fused. When that shall have taken place, may we not with reason 
 look to Japan for producing a truer type of Christianity than the 
 world has ever seen? 
 
LIST OF REFERENCES 
 
 The works here enumerated are the principal ones of those referred to 
 throughout this thesis: 
 
 Academy, Vol. 66. 
 
 Adams, George Burton, Civilization During the Middle Ages. 
 
 Asakawa, K., Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 99. 
 
 Aston, G. W., Japanese Literature. 
 
 Aston, G. W., The Way of the Gods. 
 
 Bacon, Alice M., Japanese Girls and Women. 
 
 Barton, James L., The Missionary and His Critics. 
 
 Bihliotheca Sacra, 1905. 
 
 Brown, Arthur J., The How and Why of Foreign Missions. 
 
 Gary, Otis, Japan and Its Regeneration. 
 
 Chamberlain, Basil H., Things Japanese. 
 
 Clement, Ernest W., A Hand-Book of Modern Japan. 
 
 Clement, Ernest W., Christianity in Modern Japan. 
 
 De Forest, J. H., Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom. 
 
 Fukuin Shimpo (Gospel News). 1908. 
 
 Giddings, F. H., Principles of Sociology. 
 
 Griffis, W. E., Dux Christus. 
 
 Grifiis, W. E., Townsend Harris. 
 
 Gulick, S. L., Evolution of the Japanese. 
 
 Harper's Weekly, 1905. 
 
 Heam, Lafcadio, Japan, An Interpretation. 
 
 Heam, Lafcadio, Kokoro. 
 
 Hozumi Nobushige, Ancestor Worship and Japanese Law. 
 
 Inoue Tetsujiro, Ethics and Education. 
 
 Japan Evangelist, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908. This is an English monthly 
 magazine, published by the Protestant missionaries in Japan. It is a re- 
 liable source of much information. 
 
 Japan Weekly Mail, 1907, 1908. This is an English secular weekly of first 
 importance, published in Yokohama. The editor. Captain Brinkley, has lived 
 in Japan for more than forty years, and is a scholar of international repute. 
 Once a month, a summary of the contents of the current religious magazines 
 of Japan is given. These summaries are written by Mr. Walter Dening, who 
 is a noted authority on many Japanese questions. 
 
 Japan Gazette, 1907. 
 
 Kaitakusha (Pioneer), Y. M. C. A. periodical. 
 
96 Christianity as a Social Factor in Modern Japan 
 
 Kashiwai, E., and Komatsu, T., in Japan Evangelist, 1907. 
 
 Katsura, Count, in Christianity in Modern Japan. 
 
 Kawakami, K., The Political Ideas of Modern Japan. 
 
 Kirisutokyo Sekai (Christian World). 
 
 Lampe, Wm. E., The Japanese Social Organization. 
 
 Mitford, C. B., Geography of Japan. 
 
 Murphy, U. G., Social Evil in Japan, 1908. 
 
 Murray, David, The Story of Japan. 
 
 Nitobe, Inazo, Bushido, the Soul of Japan. 
 
 Ono, Y., Industrial Transition of Japan. 
 
 Outlook, 1909. 
 
 The Century Magazine, Vol. 47. 
 
 The Christian Movement in Japan, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908. 
 This is an annual publication gotten outi by the missionaries. Besides con- 
 taining matters ecclesiastical, it gives a good summary of Japanese progress 
 in general. 
 
 Tokyo Missionary Conference, 1900. 
 
 Transactions of the Asiatic Society in Japan. This is the most scientific 
 English work in existence on things Japanese. 
 
 Watson, W. Petrie, The Future of Japan. 
 
 Q 
 
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BW8506 .F26 
 
 Christianity as a social factor in 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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