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JAPAN’S ATTITUDE TO 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 The question is being asked by students 
 of Missions and all lovers of the great 
 Cause — “What is the attitude of the Gov- 
 ernment as well as the people of Japan 
 toward Christianity?” This question is one 
 of more than ordinary interest to the mis- 
 sionary since it affects not only the country 
 of Japan, but also has to do with the whole 
 problem of the Christianization of Korea, 
 and to a marked degree the work in China 
 and Manchuria. In the Japan Advertiser, 
 published in Tokyo, under date of January 
 19th, 1912, appeared the following article: 
 
 “The Japanese authorities have for many 
 years been erecting barricades against Oc- 
 cidental thought and devoting their efforts 
 towards instilling in the people feelings of 
 loyalty and patriotism. Lately, however, 
 they appear to have begun to give thought 
 to the religious side of popular education, 
 and the Home Department Authorities, ac- 
 cording to the vernacular press, have now 
 announced their intention of arranging a 
 general meeting of representatives of the 
 three leading religions in Japan, viz., 
 Shintoism, Buddhism and Christianity with 
 a view to furthering its ideas. 
 
 “Mr. Tokonami, the Vice-Minister, repre- 
 senting the Department, has made a state- 
 ment to the effect that their primary aim is 
 to bring religion into closer relations with 
 the State and so to raise a God fearing 
 sentiment among the people. The cult of 
 national morality, he explains, cannot be 
 advanced except by the co-operative work- 
 ing of education and religion. Thus far 
 education has had no relation with religion. 
 Education by itself cannot keep the people 
 in touch with sacred things — God, Buddha 
 and Heaven — ^which inspire sublime and 
 righteous thoughts in man. Without such 
 
 1 
 
aid there can be no firm basis for national 
 morality. Therefore, it is a necessity to 
 have religion more closely united with the 
 State. 
 
 The Position of Christianity 
 
 “The second aim of the Department, says 
 the Vice-Minister, is to make the three re- 
 li^ons more familiar and let them con- 
 tribute their influence to the general 
 progress of society. Japan has for long 
 had intercourse with the foreign Powers 
 and proved herself capable of assimilating 
 their worldly thoughts and ideals. Con- 
 siderable progress has been made with the 
 two present religions and Japan ought to 
 make greater headway with Christianity 
 which has already been established in the 
 land many years. 
 
 “It could be well, the Vice-Minister is 
 reported to have said, if Christianity could 
 be propagated more widely. It is necessary 
 for its upholders to end the seclusion with 
 which they seem still to persist in surround- 
 ing themselves. Some one, the Vice-Min- 
 ister continues, would object that the three 
 religions in drawing together would lose 
 their characteristics. But, he argued, Chris- 
 tianity whether in Europe or in America is 
 Christianity all the same, though in 
 America it becomes an American Chris- 
 tianity, in England it becomes an English 
 Christianity and in Germany a German 
 Christianity. Though, therefore. Buddhism 
 should go abroad and Christianity be 
 naturalized in Japan, there would be no 
 need to fear lest either should lose its 
 characteristics. It was earnestly to be 
 wished, the Vice-Minister is reported as say- 
 ing, that the thoughts and faiths of Japan 
 and of Europe should be in such a manner 
 blended.” 
 
 In numerous subsequent issues, and also 
 in the Japan Mail of the latter part of 
 
 2 
 
January, were many articles bearing on 
 this same subject. A missionary of more 
 than twenty years’ standing writes regard- 
 ing this whole matter: 
 
 “This new attitude of the Government 
 is most important. It is a complete somer- 
 sault from the position of the Government 
 toward religion in the last two decades. 
 Hitherto it has said religion was unneces- 
 sary, and education apart from religion was 
 sufficient for the Japanese, but this recent 
 promulgation is really an acknowledgment 
 that it has been wrong and it now asserts 
 that the two must go together. All the rest 
 about amalgamation of Buddhism, Shinto 
 and Christianity we do not need to pay any 
 attention to, and in any affiliations that 
 may be made, there will be no attempt to 
 combine in doctrine, but in works; and in 
 such combinations Christianity will always 
 be the gainer. This really means that 
 Christianity has won its way to the top, 
 and that is to sway the affairs of the na- 
 tion, while Buddhism and Shinto gradually 
 retire and fade away into nothingness. It 
 can’t be done in a day, but watch the next 
 ten years.” 
 
 Another method of testing the attitude 
 of the Japanese people is found in what 
 took place at Osaka on January 15th, 1912. 
 A great fire destroyed more than 5,000 
 houses in Osaka and rendered some 20,000 
 people homeless. The matter of relief was 
 an immediate necessity. Some three years 
 ago another great fire occurred, and in 
 administering relief considerable financial 
 irregularity was discovered among those 
 who conducted it. At that same fire, the 
 Christians of the city acting through the 
 Y. M. C. A. assisted in relieving certain 
 districts. The work was done so carefully 
 and wisely that this time when the Chris- 
 tians offered to help, the officials jumped at 
 the chance and placed the matter of investi- 
 
 3 
 
gation entirely in their hands. Several 
 tens of thousands of yen "were left over 
 from the relief money of three years ago 
 and it only remained to discover who was 
 needy and render the assistance. The 
 Christians have accepted the responsibility 
 and all the churches have appointed com- 
 mittees who meet each morning at the 
 Association building, divide into groups of 
 two or three, and go out on their work of 
 mercy. They report upon each family who 
 was burned out, their condition, and wTiat 
 form of relief should be given and then 
 give them a card which will entitle them 
 to go to the local office and receive the 
 necessary aid. It vdll require a good deal 
 of time, which the Christians are gladly 
 giving, but it means a lot to be known as 
 a body that can be looked to and trusted in 
 such a time of distress, and for the per- 
 formance of such an important and Christ- 
 like work. 
 
 Last year the Emperor of Japan gave one 
 million and a half yen for the poor. This 
 money was spent in alleviating the suffer- 
 ings of the sick, especially providing medi- 
 cal attendance for thousands who were not 
 able to pay for that boon. The Cabinet 
 proposed to the nation that the Emperor’s 
 gift should be made the nucleus of a much 
 larger fund to be raised for the endowment 
 of the object aimed at by the Emperor’s 
 generosity. During the year, chiefly through 
 the donations of wealthy men, but mingled 
 with these were many small gifts from the 
 common people, the fund has increased to 
 the princely sum of almost 25,000,000 yen 
 as announced at the close of the year, 1911. 
 A missionary writes regarding this remark- 
 able gift: 
 
 “This, of course, was the work of unbe- 
 lievers, real heathen, some would term 
 them, at any rate of non-Christian Japa- 
 nese, and yet many Americans think this 
 
 4 
 
people are rotten to the core — ‘wounds, 
 bruises and putrifying sores from the crown 
 of the head to the sole of the foot.’ I 
 think we are right, however, in ascribing 
 such efforts as these to the indirect in- 
 fluence of the Man of Nazareth, who first 
 introduced real charity upon the earth. His 
 influence is leavening the people of Japan. 
 
 One of our missionaries called upon a 
 prominent Buddhist priest in his vicinity, 
 and talked freely to him of Christianity. 
 After quite an extended conversation, the 
 priest remarked with much feeling and 
 earnestness — ‘Sir, I believe in your God, the 
 God whom you Christians preach, and I 
 also worship Him.’ It is not difficult to 
 believe there are many such among the 
 priesthood even, and tha,t while keeping up 
 the forms of the old religions for manifest 
 reasons down deep in their hearts they have 
 heard the call of Him who is the eternal 
 light that lighteth every man.” 
 
 The same missionary relates that he 
 called upon a Shinto priest, who had a 
 New Testament which he brought out as 
 they were talking together. The missionary 
 in looking through it noticed that every 
 word of the Sermon on the Mount was 
 heavily underlined, and the appearance of 
 the pages indicated frequent use. This 
 Bible of ours is found in the most unex- 
 pected places, is influencing all sorts and 
 conditions of men and we are only waiting 
 the day when these secret disciples shall 
 come to the Light. 
 
 Up in northern Japan the Presbyterians 
 were dedicating a church. The mayor of 
 the city was invited and made an address. 
 In the course of his remarks he said: “Our 
 country is much behind in spiritual matters. 
 We need not only education but religion 
 to form our national character. Christianity 
 is one of the ^eat reli^ons of the world, 
 and one that is accomplishing much.” Not 
 
 5 
 
being: himself a Christian, he did not know 
 its teachings fully, but he had been much 
 impressed by the power of the Cross. IN 
 HOC SIGNO VINCIMUS. 
 
 The recent fire at Osaka burnt out a 
 large section of one of the prostitute 
 quarters. The Woman’s Christian Temper- 
 ance Union, which has a strong branch 
 here, at once seized upon this as an op- 
 portunity to wipe this evil out of ex- 
 istence, and called a great mass meeting to 
 stir up the fires of opposition to granting 
 them permission to * rebuild. The best 
 speakers were put upon the platform before 
 a huge audience of 5,000 people, and a half 
 dozen or more burning addresses were made 
 by prominent Christian men, including a 
 member of parliament, a newspaper editor, 
 a lawyer and a Salvation Army Colonel. 
 Also two ladies spoke, one being Mrs. 
 Yajuma, Principal of our Joshi Gakuin, 
 who came from Tokyo for the purpose. 
 Following these a vote was taken calling 
 upon the Governor and Mayor to refuse to 
 license, which must now be asked for again. 
 At the time of the former fire another of 
 these quarters was burnt out, and the 
 women took the matter up in a similar way 
 and succeeded in abolishing the business 
 and doubtless they will succeed in this also. 
 Intelligent men and women, even though not 
 Christian, know the evil of this business, 
 and its hurtful influence upon society, but 
 they have not the initiative or courage to 
 undertake a campaign. But when the Chris- 
 tians start it, they are very willing to give 
 it their endorsement. The newspapers are 
 all on the side of the Christians in this 
 movement, and are joining in dealing sledge 
 hammer blows at the head of Satan, which 
 we hope will be crushed under the heel of 
 Him whose is the promise. This is one of 
 the forces that is at work for the re-crea- 
 tion of Japan. 
 
 6 
 
In order to set clearly before the friends 
 of Missions all the forces at work in Japan, 
 we give a quotation from a Tokyo news- 
 paper of January 23rd, 1912. It is as 
 follows : 
 
 Rat Worship 
 
 “Since the outbreak of the first case of 
 plague in Tokyo in December, 1902, the 
 number of rats which have been purchased 
 at the Metropolitan Police Board for the 
 purpose of preventing the spread of the 
 infection has reached fifteen million. The 
 Board will conduct service for the spirits 
 of the rats at Takiwaden, a restaurant at 
 Uyeno Park at five o’clock this afternoon 
 since the rat is the symbol for the current 
 year.” Notice that it says, “the Board will 
 conduct” and “the spirits of the rats.” 
 Transmigration! Ancestor worship! And 
 in high places!* 
 
 Spirit Worship 
 
 Another example. A few days ago while 
 alighting from a finely upholstered and 
 equipped electric street car, passing in 
 front of a large temple in Tokyo, we saw a 
 man and woman ride up in a new auto, 
 enter the temple yard and proceed to the 
 special shrine where the spirits of soldiers 
 killed in battle are worshipped. They made 
 deep obeisance, gave money to the treasury, 
 prayed a long time and departed in their 
 modem machine. 
 
 In the same city where the rats are wor- 
 shipped, and men and women ride in new 
 auto cars from worship to the spirits of 
 those fallen in battle, is a great Girls’ 
 school, the Joshi Gakuin. The forces at 
 work there we believe are helping mightily 
 to change the lives of thousands of Japa- 
 nese. We are indebted to Miss Isabelle Mae 
 
 •The picture on the cover shows where the service 
 was held. 
 
 7 
 
Ward, a teacher in the school, for giving 
 us one of the signs of the times in the new 
 Japan : 
 
 “The work in and connected with our 
 school of two hundred and fifty girls con- 
 sists for the missionary teachers of class 
 room teaching in English from the “a-b’s” 
 of the entering class through eight classes 
 to the Bible, Literature, Church History 
 and Christian Evidences of the Senior 
 class. Our school has a thorough course 
 in Japanese subjects taught by Japanese 
 teachers. Over ninety of the ^rls take 
 piano or organ lessons each we^ and all 
 study singing. The relatives and friends 
 of the girls must be welcomed and enter- 
 tained when they come to visit or to inquire, 
 homes must be visited (and here just at 
 present we feel our greatest need of help 
 for we have time and strength to visit only 
 a small part of the homes open to us and 
 where Christian work might be done with 
 great directness), prayer meetings for the 
 girls and for their sisters, mothers and 
 cousins must be planned for and attended. 
 The girls of the upper classes who teach 
 in sixteen Sunday Schools in various parts 
 of the city must be helped and advised, and 
 those Sunday Schools visited and helped in 
 some cases. Christmas, commencement, 
 various literary and other entertainments 
 must be provided for during the vear, and 
 many other things done to make our school 
 so attractive that it will draw the best girls. 
 
 Not quite half of the girls live in the 
 dormitories, and the missionaries responsi- 
 ble for them must be mother, nurse, adviser 
 and friend. The buildings must be looked 
 after and kept in repair in all details, and 
 this requires much time and patience in a 
 country where machines and tools are still 
 BO simple that what could easily be done by 
 one man in a day in America often requires 
 a week of pottering by several workmen 
 
 8 
 
here. A door needed? The carpenter is 
 called and in a few days comes to see what 
 is wanted. To-morrow he sends a workman 
 to measure. A few days later number three 
 comes and puts in the frame, nails a few 
 boards over the opening at night and goes 
 home well satisfied with his job. Next week 
 numbers four and five come and get ready 
 for hinges and locks. Two days later the 
 door is hung on trial. Next day it is 
 remedied and really hung. Sunday inter- 
 venes as the missionary refuses to have 
 workmen around that day. Monday knobs 
 are put on, Tuesday is one of the many 
 national holidays, Wednesday the door is 
 painted. All done? No, indeed — another 
 week for mending the plaster, fixing the 
 lock so it will really lock and stopping up 
 the crack or half an inch left at the bottom 
 of the door in the fitting, and then — all 
 will be well till next winter when the whole 
 thing will have shrunk enough probably to 
 put a good half-inch of new board all 
 around and a pound or so of putty into the 
 cracks of the panels and a block under the 
 lock to make the catch catch. Once a lady 
 said to a workman, “Carpenter San, Isn’t 
 that green wood which you are using?” The 
 reply: “Yes, Teacher, this is perfectly green 
 wood.” Then great surprise that all was 
 not well. 
 
 We have ten graduating from the higher 
 department of our school this spring, and 
 all but one have been baptized. That one 
 seems very near indeed to making a pro- 
 fession of her faith in Christ, for she often 
 leads in prayer and is a faithful Bible 
 student. A few more than one-third of the 
 girls in school are church members, the 
 proportion increasing among the higher 
 classes as very few in the entering class 
 each year come as Christians. It is beauti- 
 ful to watch the girls develop and their 
 lives broaden, even their bodies losing the 
 
 9 
 
stooped shoulders, narrow chest and con- 
 tinual subservient bending which mark the 
 old idea of beauty in women; but best of 
 all is to see the conduct change, the formal 
 politeness not giving place to but being 
 fulfilled by really loving relations with 
 their companions and the Christ Spirit tak- 
 ing charge in the life of one then another 
 during the year. In a visit to a non-Chris- 
 tian school a short time ago I could not 
 help comparing the faces there with those 
 of “our girls” and noting the absence of 
 something which at the time I could not 
 define. Scholarship was just as good, de- 
 sire for excellence just as great, but the 
 bright, sweet trustfulness of our girls was 
 not there. This shows more plainly, per- 
 haps, among a people most of whom still 
 have no heart knowledge of our Savior. 
 
 A Visit to a Home 
 
 A pupil longs to have her mother and 
 teacher meet or the teacher asks to call. 
 Permission is obtained and “teacher” is 
 invited for an afternoon. The mother at 
 first is filled with apprehension as to how 
 to treat that unknown quantity, the queer 
 foreigner, so as not to offend and yet not 
 be persuaded to listen to any doctrine not 
 inherited from her ancestors. The teacher 
 gets over the necessary stiff social part of 
 the visit as best she can with all its bows, 
 apologies and forms, shows interest in giv- 
 ing a good report of the daughter in school, 
 asks about the other children in the family, 
 drinks several cups of tea, eats the cakes, 
 all in her most friendly way, plays a little 
 rabbit or mouse handkerchief game with 
 tiny sister, and the mother sees the wall 
 of differences disappearing and realizes that 
 her guest is only a friendly woman after 
 all and melts to the longing for friendship. 
 Then some good little seed may be quietly 
 dropped. An invitation is given to repeat 
 
 10 
 
the call and the mother is urged to come to 
 see us and to attend some of our meetings. 
 She is shy and hesitates to take a step so 
 entirely new and liable to be criticized or 
 laughed at by her friends. After several 
 calls she comes and then the real oppor- 
 tunity comes, or rather begins. She cannot 
 be preached to and then left to herself. 
 Her old customs and forms of worship and 
 friends would crowd in and choke the little 
 seed for it was sown on untilled ground. 
 She must be visited and invited and en- 
 couraged and led on again and again. The 
 little seed needs careful cultivation, and 
 unless watched, may be blown away, or 
 overgrown even after starting into life. 
 Yes, it is work, continual and diplomatic, 
 but it pays and gives more of real love and 
 joy than any other. The little ones in that 
 home finally come to Sunday School with 
 some curiosity at first and then with de- 
 light, big sister in our school is allowed to 
 be baptized though she had been refused 
 permission by her parents for a long time. 
 The mother sees the changed daughter and 
 herself wants the good influence which 
 made that change, may get her husband 
 interested enough to allow a prayer meeting 
 to be held in their home and at last himself 
 attend church. Five years later it is a 
 Christian home. It took time and was worth 
 it. Such calls in a hundred homes after 
 four or five hours in the school room, look- 
 ing after dormitories, our own housekeeping 
 and other routine work, make full days, 
 and, oh! the number we cannot go to!” 
 
 11 
 
THE WILLIAM DARLING PRESS, NEW YORK 
 
Board of Foreign Missions 
 of the 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 
 156 Fifth Ave., New York 
 
 March, 1912 
 
 1T43