PAM. 
 
 JAPAN 
 
 
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 i n 
 
 THE MISSIONARIES IN JAPAN. 
 
 The following letter appeared in The Japan Weekly Mail of March 
 26th, 1892 ancl was called out by certain severe criticisms embodied 
 in a communication over the signature, “ Hard Fact,” in the issue 
 of March 12th. It is now reprinted with a few verbal changes, for 
 private distribution. 
 
 TO THE EDITOP. OF THE “ JAPAN MAIL.” 
 
 Sir, — It may seen ungracious after your very generous defence of 
 the missionaries to call further attention to this subject. Still, there 
 are certain points upon which a missionary’s testimony is from 
 the nature of the case, more definite, and lienee, perhaps, worth 
 adding to your admirable remarks. 
 
 Your correspondent, “ Hard Fact,” asks the question, Do mission- 
 aries belong to “ a highly educated class, graduates of the great 
 universities,” &c.? To this question he answers, “ No.” A very 
 superficial acqaintance with the personnel of the different missions 
 would have made such an answer impossible. Of the German 
 missionaries, all have been university men. Of the British mission- 
 aries, a goodly number hold degrees from Cambridge or Oxford. 
 It would be difficult to extemporize any very accurate statement, 
 regarding the number of college trained men among the American 
 missionaries, and hence, for the sake of definiteness, I will confine 
 what I have to say on this point to my own Mission, that of the 
 American Board, remarking by the way, that I know this Mission is 
 not by any means exceptional. In the last official list there appeared 
 the names of twenty-nine missionaries. All but five of these were 
 college graduates. Of the twenty-four college men, most of whom 
 graduated with high honors, five hold degrees won by faithful work 
 at Yale University, two at Michigan, and one at Harvard. The 
 remainder, with few if any exceptions, are from colleges which, though 
 not possessing the same facilities for post-graduate study, are not, 
 as regards distinctively college work, inferior to Yale or Harvard. 
 Of the five who do not hold college degrees, two are laymen. All of 
 the five have by success in their different departments amply 
 justified their appointment. 
 
 In taking the literary work of the missionaries as a standard of 
 their ability, it is no more fair to set down those who do not write, a# 
 
 ( 
 
indolent or incapable, than it would be to treat the medical profession 
 in the same way. The literary missionaries are specialists and the 
 number of specialists in any class must be relatively small. Again, 
 literary work in a foreign tongue, or dealing which foreign subjects, 
 presupposes long residence. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, 
 the missionaries who have been on the ground ten years constitute 
 a small fraction of the whole number. Relatively to this small frac- 
 tion, I contend that the missionaries have no need to blush for the 
 meagreness of the list of those who have gained a distinguished place 
 among the scholars of Japan. 
 
 In philology no better work has been done in Japan than Dr. 
 Hepburn’s Dictionary and Dr. Imbrie’s “ Etymology.” Not long ago 
 a Japanese professor in the Imperial University remarked that only 
 three translations worthy of the name had appeared in Japan. 
 These were the late Senator Nakamura’s translation of “ Self Help,” 
 Mr. Mitsukuri’s Code Napoleon and the Japanese version of the 
 Bible. Another well known Japanese has described the last named 
 version as “ unparalleled.” It is true, the committees in charge of 
 this version had the advantage of skilled Japanese associates, yet 
 this praise is intended as a tribute to the success of the missionary 
 committees. It is interesting to note that a missionary, the Rev. 
 Dr. Verbeck, contributed a not unimportant part to the success 
 of Mi’. Mitsukuri’s scholarly work. The same gentleman’s version 
 of the Psalms is unexcelled as a faithful and idiomatic translation. 
 Dr. M. L. Gordon’s researches in the field of Japanese Buddhism 
 and those of Dr. G. Wm. Knox in Chinese philosophy are deserving 
 of high praise. One of the best surgeons in Japan outside of the 
 capital is the Rev. W. Taylor, M.D. of Osaka. In the speciality of abdo- 
 minal surgery, it may be questioned whether he has a superior in 
 Japan. His successful removal of an important visceral tumor was 
 recently noticed in your columns. Dr. Taylor has also gained great 
 credit as a mieroscopist. The results of his work in this department 
 have been published in Japan, China, and the United States and are 
 well known to the profession. The Rev. John T. Gulick, Ph. D., also 
 of Osaka, has been described by no less a scholar than Mr. G. J. 
 Romanes as the most profound thinker on Darwinian subjects since 
 Darwin. Mr. Wallace in one of his recent books devotes several 
 pages to the discussion of Dr. Gulick’s published opinions. His 
 writings appear from time to time in Nature and other scientific 
 periodicals. The main literary strength of the missionary body, 
 however, has been expended in work in the Japanese language. The 
 amount of literature which has grown up under their hands, or 
 through their inspiration, is already very large. If this be set aside 
 simply because it is chiefly concerned with tlieistic subjects, as your 
 correspondent seems to suggest should be done, a large share of the 
 world’s best literature must go with it. A belief in theism does not 
 indicate feebleness of intellect. Mr. John Fiske says atheism is bad 
 
philosophy, and even Mr. Herbert Spencer, according to the testi- 
 mony of his friend Mr. Minot J. Savage, holds that the Unknown, 
 tliougl) not anthropomorphic, is nothing less than personal. 
 
 It cannot he said of the above mentioned gentlemen, that these 
 special studies have led to decay of interest in direct missionary work, 
 for the list contains the names of some of the foremost men in dis- 
 tinctively religions activities. 
 
 Further, it is intimated that missionaries desire to avail themselves 
 of the secular power. It happens, however, that in Japan (and we 
 are now chiefly concerned with Japan), the great majority of the 
 missionaries is strongly in favor of treaty revision and a revision 
 which shall place them entirely under Japanese control. I cannot 
 speak so positively of other missions, hut I do not think there is one 
 member of the American Board’s Mission who would not rejoice in a 
 treaty which should abolish extra-territoriality. Some eight years 
 ago, at the instance of this mission, a memorial urging the speedy 
 revision of the present treaty between Japan and the United States, 
 was presented to the President by a committee of which, if I mistake 
 not, President Angell of Michigan University, formerly Minister to 
 China, was the chairman. A vote taken nearly two years ago by the 
 Osaka Missionary Conference and the memorial of the British mission- 
 aries about the same time show, that this Mission does not stand 
 alone. So far as other views have at any time been advanced by 
 missionaries, it has been chiefly on the ground of the more com- 
 plicated interests of the non-missionary community and an un- 
 willingness to act, where such interests were involved, against the 
 judgment of public men of long experience and acknowledged wisdom. 
 
 It is assumed by your correspondent that Christianity, so far as it 
 has gained acceptance at all, has gained it solely among the ignorant 
 and lowly. There could not be a greater mistake. The shizoku are the 
 intellectual class of Japan. This class comprises, roughly speaking, 
 five per cent, of the entire population. In the country at large, 
 nearly forty per cent, of the Christians arc shizoku. In the city of 
 Tokyo in the churches with which I am most familial - , nearly seventy- 
 five per cent, of the members are shizoku. In one of these churches 
 are to be found two officials of clinic unin* rank, both of whom have 
 resided long abroad in high official positions. There are besides not 
 less than twelve officials of sonin\ rank. I need not say that this 
 church is financially independent, and has been so since its organi- 
 zation five years ago. It has an income of nearly yen\ 1,200, and lias 
 recently built a church at an expense of yea 3,500. This church, 
 while possibly embracing more officials in its membership, is not 
 
 * Officials holding appointments directly from the Emperor, 
 t Officials holding appointments from the Council of State with the Sanc- 
 tion of the Emperor. 
 
 X The yen is equivalent to about seventy cents, II. S. gold. 
 
superior to many others associated with the same, or other missions. 
 It was no accident that the last House of Representatives of the 
 Imperial Diet should have included thirteen Christians and that three 
 or four Christians should have had seats in the House of Peers, or 
 that in the recent elections nine Christians should have been return- 
 ed. In the prefectural assemblies the Christians have also won an 
 enviable place. In Tokyo and Kyoto, some of the most influential 
 members of the city and prefectural assemblies are Christians, while 
 in Gumma Prefecture out of a total of sixty members in the Assemb- 
 ly, eight are Christians and from among them the president was 
 chosen. The extract from the "Waseda Bungaku Zasshi recently 
 published in your columns regarding Christianity in Japanese 
 literature is further testimony to the impression missionary work has 
 made upon Japanese society. 
 
 It is often claimed that the missionaries are not welcome. This 
 is doubtless true as regards certain individuals and classes, but 
 they receive abundant assurance of the good will of the Japanese 
 people. My own Mission is actually embarrassed by the pressure put 
 upon it for the extension of its work. There are few touring mission- 
 aries who are not overwhelmed by the calls made upon them. As 
 regards my own work, two men could not do the amount of touring 
 which my Japanese friends urge upon me. Not long since I visited 
 a county capital, a town of 6,000 inhabitants. The very best men 
 of the place, among them the two judges of the county court, not 
 only attended the lectures, but came to the hotel at half past four 
 in the morning to see me off. I visited the same town a few days 
 ago and the same men showed me the same attentions. This is no 
 sporadic case, nor am I peculiarly favored in such matters. Is it 
 strange in view of such attentions from such men, that we regard 
 ourselves as welcome ? Since I began this communication a telegram 
 has come to announce the death of the wife of a Japanese Christian. 
 I have also been appealed to for help by the friends of a poor fellow, 
 who through business troubles has taken to drink, and whose father, 
 a helpless paralytic, is overwhelmed by his grief and disappointment. 
 Neither father nor son is a member of the Christian community. I 
 have tried by my letters to comfort the bereaved husband, to encour- 
 age the disheartened and wayward son and to ease the anxiety of the 
 invalid father. But why is it that these men seventy or eighty miles 
 away turn to a missionary in their sorrow and distress ? Am I wrong 
 in thinking it is because he has won their regard and confidence ? 
 
 Again, the managers of a well known establishment in Tokyo, 
 employing several hundred hands, some days ago sent to me for 
 
 * The Waseda Bungaku Zasshi, i.e., The Waseda Literary Magazine, is 
 published under the auspices of Count Okuma’s celebrated college, The Tokyo 
 Semmon Gakko. It stands in the forefront of the literary magazines of 
 Japan. It has been styled The Atlantic Monthly of Japan. 
 
advice with regard to employing women as clerks. They requested 
 further, that, if I approved the plan, I would recommend two young 
 women, but they stipulated that these should be Christians. So far 
 as I know, these men are not themselves Christians. Is it unreason- 
 able for a missionary to look upon both this request and the stipu- 
 lation as the sign of an influence extending far beyond the sphere of 
 his direct labor ? Is it probable that an influence like this would 
 grow up if the class which he represents were abnormally ignorant 
 and vulgar ? I must not be misunderstood. I have no desire to 
 institute a comparison between Japanese society and that of 
 western lands. Such a comparison would be invidious at the best, 
 and certainly would necessitate a more careful weighing of this 
 against that than is possible in a newspaper article. It is freely 
 conceded, that Japanese society exhibits much that is worthy of 
 imitation. No man who is not ready to be a learner is worthy to be 
 a teacher in these matters of social and religious reform. We all 
 know Japanese at whose feet we are quite willing to sit. The ques- 
 tion does not lie in m3 7 mind as one of comparison, certainly not as 
 one which must lead to a simple and unqualified judgment, but it 
 presents itself rather in this form :■ — -Are there not certain religious 
 and moral forces which we ourselves feel and whose effects are seen 
 in other lands which will be helpful to our Japanese friends and to 
 Japanese society? For my part, after a reasonably observant 
 life of missionary service covering more than twenty years, I 
 am constrained to answer, not in arrogance I trust, but with the 
 emphasis of firm conviction, Yes. The labor we expend in the 
 effort to augment the moral and religious forces of this empire is not 
 in any sense of the term, unproductive. The fruits of this work 
 may not be susceptible of measurement by the yardstick or the 
 scales, yet they represent some of the most beneficent influences the 
 world has ever known. 
 
 The calls upon the missionaries to which reference has already 
 been made, will indicate some of the ways in which their work bears 
 fruit. I will endeavor to point out certain other lines of influence. 
 If in doing so I limit myself chiefly to the social side of our work, it 
 must not be taken to mean, that I think lightly of the religious side, 
 for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is still the power 
 of God. Let me indicate some of the ways in which the missionary’s 
 influence is felt. In a retired valley of Joslm there is a little hamlet 
 of charcoal burners. A few years ago their manner of life was the 
 rudest possible. There seemed 110 glimmer of hope for better things. 
 A colporteur in passing through the valley, spoke to the people. Two 
 men became interested and purchased copies of the New Testament. 
 Their employers soon noticed a change in the grade of charcoal from 
 these two men — it was more carefully burned, was better packed and 
 free from stones and grass. This charcoal was looked upon as a 
 special brand and brought a special price. On Sundays, work was 
 
suspended and these men with their families, gathered for religious 
 worship and the study of the Bible. Shortly after, they began to 
 reclaim the mountain land around them, to plant wheat and garden 
 stuff, and recently one of them has become forehanded enough to build 
 a neat frame house in place of his old hut. bis employers say, he is 
 the most efficient and trustworthy man in the mountain. He himself 
 says he owes his new vigor to his weekly day of rest and that with- 
 out it he could not do his work. Both men recognize the value of 
 the aid their church gives them, and though it is ten miles away, 
 they contribute liberally and gladly to the support of their pastor. I 
 know a clock factory in Kyoto employing a hundred hands which 
 owes its existence to the same source as that solitary house in the 
 mountain valley. Work which yields such results seems to me worth 
 doing. 
 
 Again, it is a frequent complaint on the part of the silk dealers in 
 Yokohama that much of the silk offered is of inferior and very un- 
 even quality. One of the most important causes of this inferiority 
 lies in the excessive hours of labor exacted of the operatives in the 
 country filatures. In very many cases, the operatives work from 
 early dawn till ten at night. A Japanese student of social science, 
 who has studied several years both in England and Germany and 
 has won deserved recognition from his own Government, informs 
 me, that these operatives are no worse off than many others — 
 that in some towns where spinning and weaving are extensively 
 carried on, the working day extends from the first daylight until 
 nearly eleven o’clock at night. He further says, that in such 
 towns it is rare to find an operative over thirty years of age. 
 Excessive labor causes an early break down of the nervous system 
 which renders subsequent labor impossible, even if life itself 
 be not sacrificed. While in many respects the working people of 
 Japan are favored above their Western compeers, there is as yet no 
 public sentiment on this phase of the labor question which is worthy 
 of the name, though individuals here and there are deeply interested 
 in it, as I am glad to testify. The Christians have had their attention 
 called to the condition of these operatives, and are seeking in different 
 ways to cultivate a better public sentiment regarding it. The 
 management of one filature, at least, is now divided with reference 
 to granting relief to its operatives by reducing the hours of labor. 
 The prospect is, that the Christians will prevail and secure a reduc- 
 tion of the daily hours of labor as well as a weekly day of rest. 
 
 One small but independent church is located near the gate of a 
 large Government filature where some five hundred operatives, 
 mostly young girls, are employed. They are far from their homer 
 and exposed to many temptations. The officials in charge, so far 
 as I can learn, are worthy of great praise and the hours of labos 
 are relatively few ; but in spite of all that can be done, the situation 
 is a trying one for these young women. The church has sought to 
 
help them. In a single year some sixteen were brought within its 
 protection. As it happened, all these girls, having served out, their 
 term, returned home, and so a new beginning became necessary. As 
 the first fruits of this new effort, two or more have joined the Christ- 
 ians. One of the first mentioned girls was so impressed with what 
 she owed to these disinterested friends, that she begged the privilege 
 of sweeping the church — she had no money to give, for she earned 
 but a bare support — in testimony of her deep sense of obligation, and 
 her beaming face told of the joy she found in the menial service which 
 to her was a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Space would fail me were I to 
 attempt to write of the schools for poor children, the orphan asylums 
 and hospitals which owe their origin to the missionary movement, 
 though they are mostly under Japanese control. One of the smaller 
 asylums, however, seems to me worthy of a passing word. It has 
 nineteen inmates. The manager has given himself heart and soul 
 to this enterprize and through his own sacrifices and enthusiastic 
 industry he has rendered it self-supporting, that is, his own earnings 
 combined* with those of the children meet very nearly the entire 
 current expenses, though friends have aided in the purchase of the 
 home. This asylum is but one of many institutions which testify 
 to the working of a new force in Japanese society. Yon have your- 
 self, Mr. Editor, referred sufficiently to the schools and their suc- 
 cesses. I will not add to what yon have so well said. 
 
 This subject is by no means exhausted, but I fear I have already 
 passed the limit of your patience. As I contemplate the many 
 doors already open to us missionaries and the new avenues for 
 influence which the future is evidently about to disclose, I feel 
 oppressed by the weight of the responsibility which rests upon me in 
 common with my colleagues ; but, at the same time, my sense of the 
 nobility of the work to which I believe God has called us grows with 
 each day. To be one of a company which is able to aid at so many 
 different points in the building up of New Japan seems to me a priv- 
 ilege and the work, a holy work. With many apologies for the 
 length of this communication, 
 
 I remain, yours faithfully, 
 
 D. C. GREENE, 
 
 Ichigaya. Tokyo, March 23rd, 1892. 
 

 
 
 
 
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