Kobe Theological School Rev. H. W. Myers PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Educational Department OUTLINE MAP OF CENTRAL JAPAN. SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN MISSION The pronunciation of Japanese words is not diffi¬ cult if we remember that there is very little accent, all syllables being given nearly the same stress. Then each vowel is pronounced as a separate sylla¬ ble, giving words like Kobe two syllables. Tokyo and Hyogo are pronounced as words of two syllables, not three. The vowels are pronounced as in Latin: a as in father, e as in they, i as in machine, o as in note, and u as oo in moon. Kobe Theological School. The work of raising up and preparing a native ministry necessarily holds an important place in the evangelization of any country. That Japan must be evangelized by the Japanese and China by the Chinese is so true that it almost goes without saying. Our Executive Committee has repeatedly put itself on record as desiring to take part in the education of the ministry in Japan and in all its mission fields, and has always shown cordial sym¬ pathy for every movement in this direction. Of course a theological school can never take the place of wide evangelistic work. The evangelistic mis¬ sionary must win the men who enter as students, and must work with the young ministers who go out from the school. Theological and evangelistic work must advance hand in hand. From the founding of the Southern Presbyterian Mission in Japan, the vital importance of this branch of the work w r as recognized. The Mission first 5 entered into a plan of cooperation with the Reformed Church, sending Dr. R. B. Grinnan as our repre¬ sentative to teach in the Seminary at Nagasaki. Later, when this school was closed, Dr. S. P. Fulton was sent as our representative to teach in Meiji Gakuin, the Presbyterian school in Tokyo. Neither plan proved satisfactory as neither of these schools could supply our field with the workers needed. So at last we decided to open a school of our own in Kobe, and Dr. Fulton was asked to take charge. Small Beginnings. In September, 1907, in a little rented house in Kobe, the Mission opened its own school with three teachers and six students. Later, two of these stu¬ dents had to be dropped as unsuitable, and another had to drop out for a year on account of bad health. The school was opened in a small house in a damp hollow, well sheltered from fresh air and sunshine, but it was the best that could be found. The next year found us in a semi-foreign house in a much better location. This house had an attractive gar¬ den around it, and room enough to pack away our books and a new class of students, the hall serving as library and one of the class-rooms. 6 Grounds and Buildings. In 1909 a beautiful lot of about half an acre was bought on a high bluff on the eastern edge of the city for S3,250. Its present value is $8,500, and we have buildings worth $6,200. Above and only a few hundred yards away tower the pine-clad moun¬ tains, with scarlet maples here and there to give a dash of color in the spring and fall. From the school windows we look down on the busy city, extending miles to the east and w T est; we see the broad expanse of Osaka Bay, crowded with fussy launches, great ocean liners and sombre battle-ships. Across the bay we can see the smoke of Osaka and the blue mountains beyond. A more beautiful or a more healthy site could not be found anywhere. The buildings are all frame, painted “chocolate and cream.” The Main Building, which has the appearance of an attractive residence, contains the chapel, four class-rooms and the teachers’ room. The dormitory, a few yards east, has the dining- 7 room, kitchen, and sleeping accommodations—on the floor, of course—for twenty students. In 1910 a home for one of the Japanese professors was add¬ ed, and all our ground was filled up except enough for a tennis-court and a little grass-plot. Like the old woman who lived in the shoe, our numbers continued to increase, till in the fall of 1912 the tennis-court had to be sacrificed for a com¬ bined dormitory and library building. The first gift toward the erection of this building was two hundred and fifty dollars given by Mr. Masutomi, who was at the time a student in the school. Down¬ stairs are the library, the President’s room and a THE MOST SOCIABLE PLACE IN THE WORLD IN JAPAN class-room. Up-stairs we have a large room for student prayer-meetings and a half dozen bed¬ rooms. In the rear of this building is the bath. Now a Japanese bath-room is the most sociable place in the world. The tub is of wood, three feet by four, heated by a little furnace inside the tub. 8 They dip out basins full of hot water, and a half dozen can be scrubbing off together, while two at a time are sociably par-boiling themselves in the big tub. Teachers. Formerly, the Mission could spare only one fam¬ ily for Kobe; but as the school and the evangelistic work developed, two more families were sent there. Dr. Fulton, Dr. Buchanan, and Dr. Myers are now our representatives in Kobe. Beside the missiona¬ ries four of the city pastors teach regularly in the school. From the first every teacher has engaged in active evangelistic work, and it is our aim to have the whole school pervaded by an evangelistic spirit. Dr. Mizokuchi, after working for some years in connection with our Mission, went to America and took a course at Princeton Seminary. Returning to Japan he took up work in the school, preaching to a little band of Christians, which has become, 9 under his ministry, one of the strongest churches in the city. Dr. Mizokuchi is short of stature, very attractive socially, and noted as a wise counsellor. Mr. Naito spent some years as a successful evan¬ gelist, then went to America and studied in New York and Chicago. Returning to Japan he devel¬ oped our “Hyogo Chapel” into the “Minatogawa Church.” He is now pastor of the “Sosai Church,” which is rapidly approaching entire self-support. Mr. Naito is an orator who can make people listen as long as he chooses to talk. Mr. Watanabe is a graduate of Princeton, and has worked several years among the Japanese of Cali¬ fornia. He developed Nunobiki Chapel into Nuno- biki Church, and is now the pastor of the Ninomiya Chapel, which we hope will soon be a self-supporting church, worshiping in its own building. Tall, pol¬ ished and handsome, Mr. Watanabe is gifted as pastor, teacher and friend. Mr. Yatsu studied at Princeton and at Hartford. In addition to his teaching work, he is vigorously pressing the work in Nunobiki Church, where he succeeded Mr. Watanabe. Mr. Yatsu makes up in dignity, learning and piety what he lacks in hair and height. All these gentlemen are men of unu¬ sual consecration and ability, and we congratulate ourselves on having such able fellow-workers. 10 Students. The number of our students has been limited by our funds and our accommodations to about twenty- five. Several are men of mature years who have given up business careers for the ministry. Several Korean students have been received, nearly all of whom have been supported by a Christian Japanese gentleman who wished in this way to help in the work of evangelizing Korea. Of the thirty graduates (1915) one has died, and all of the rest are in active work except one who is now studying at Princeton. Some are pastors of self-supporting churches and some are working as evangelists in connection with the Mission. Many of these men would rank high among the ministers of our own land in scholarship, piety, eloquence and zeal. They have temptations, difficulties and discouragements that we have never known, but they are men to be proud of; and we thank God for them and their work. 11 Course of Study. The course of study corresponds closely with that of one of our schools at home, with the exception that we have not thought it wise to teach Hebrew. The study of the Old and New Testaments in Jap¬ anese is made the centre of the course to which all else is subsidiary. In the preparatory year such classes as English, Universal History, Sociology, Psychology, and Ethics are taught, followed by three years of more distinctively Biblical studies. Theology, Exegesis, Homiletics, Church History, and Greek are about as easy to teach and as hard to learn in Japanese as in English. All of our students are able to make use of the library, and we often give them essays on special subjects to work up in the library. Monthly Conferences. Every month the whole student body with all the teachers and their families meet together at one of 12 the homes or at the school for a conference. Ad¬ dresses are given by one of the teachers and one of the students, and these are followed by a general discussion and a supper. The Atonement, John Calvin, the Synoptic Problem, Faith, the Puritans and reviews of various new books are some of the subjects that have been discussed at these confer¬ ences. On one occasion the speaker had exceeded his time limit, when without a word of warning the clock began striking, and kept on till it had struck thirty-five. The humor of the situation was not lost on the audience. Annual Outing. As all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, 13 we arrange every spring to take an outing together to the mountains, or the sea-shore, or to some place of historic interest in the vicinity. There we spend a day and night together and get entirely off our dignity and have a good time. Many of the Japa¬ nese are full of fun, and nearly all can pull off some parlor stunt and make fun for the rest. Last year one of the boys amused the crowd by describing in a ludicrous way how he had seen the bald-headed professor stand sadly before the mirror holding the comb that his wife had thoughtfully put into his satchel. There was absolutely nothing for him to use the comb on, so after looking a minute at his shining head he regretfully combed—his mustache. Evangelistic Work. As far as possible every student is given regular work in one of our churches or chapels, where they teach in the Sunday-schools and preach. In con¬ nection with several chapels the students go out in companies and preach on the streets, advertising the meetings, distributing tracts, visiting and preaching the Gospel to those who will not come to church to hear. One student used to go almost every day to preach in the poorest slum district of the city, and from this beginning arose a prosperous settlement work through which over fifty persons were converted, and through which the whole com¬ munity was profoundly influenced. Mr. Kagawa, who carried on this work, is now studying at Prince¬ ton University and Seminary, and he plans on his return to Japan to give his life to the evangelization of the poor of Japan on a larger scale than has ever been attempted before. 14 MR. MASUTOMI GAVE $250 FOR THE LIBRARY AND HAS SUPPORTED HIMSELF AND FOUR OTHER STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL. Needs. The greatest need of the school just at present is an additional strip of land containing about a quar¬ ter of an acre adjoining our property. This could have been bought a few years ago for $1,600, but would now cost $4,500. We are now renting this land to give our students a place to exercise; but we do not know when it will be sold, built up in resi- 15 dences and lost to us forever. We pray that God may put it into the hearts of some of his people to enable us to get this lot. Principles. One of our teachers in accepting our invitation to teach in the school stated that he had planned to make it his life-work to stand for the authenticity and inerrancy of the Scriptures; and this well rep¬ resents the attitude of our school. That Jesus Christ is the Divine Saviour, and that the Bible is the Word of God, are two doctrines that are widely doubted and often openly attacked in Japan; and these are the fundamental truths for which our school stands. May the Lord bless our efforts to glorify His name and advance His Kingdom in Japan. BRANDON PRINTING CO. 16