Mount 
 
 Fuji 
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 North Japan Mission 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA 
 
 NEW YORK 
 1901 
 
REV. SAMUEL R. CROWN, D.D. 
 
SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 North Japan Mission 
 
 3Y 
 
 REV. E. ROTHESAY MILLER 
 
 Board of Foreign Missions, R, C. A. 
 
 23 EAST 22 D STREET^ NEW YORK. 
 
 I 90s. 
 
Pr<ss of 
 
 Molt 
 
 Alew York. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/sketchofnorthjapOOmill 
 
THE NORTH JAPAN MISSION OF THE 
 REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
 When our first missionaries came to Japan, in 1859, the 
 country was just thrown open to foreign intercourse ; but 
 this intercourse was enthusiastically received by but few, 
 was tolerated by the more enlightened, and was detested 
 by the greater number of the people. Then, too, all 
 from the highest to the lowest, looked upon Christianity 
 with suspicion, to say the least; while most thought it 
 corrupting and a menace to the morals of the country. 
 
 After, hotvever, the return of the embassy of Prince 
 Iwakura, in 1873, the eyes of the leading statesmen were 
 opened to the fact that Japan was far behind the rest of 
 the world in true civilization, and they set themselves 
 earnestly to remedy this defect by introducing as fast as 
 possible, — and much faster than they could assimilate — , 
 the fiowers and fruits of Western civilization, without 
 caring or wishing for the root from which they sprung. 
 
 Even before the return of the embassy, from the first of 
 January, 1873, the old method of reckoning time was 
 changed and the Gregorian calendar adopted. In Feb- 
 ruary the old edict boards, denouncing Christianit 5 ' with 
 other crimes, were removed, ostensibly because people 
 were supposed to know what they contained, but tacitly 
 it was understood to mean that hereafter Cnristianity 
 would be tolerated. 
 
 From that time the progress of the country has been 
 beyond all precedent. On March 3, 1876, Sundays were 
 made government holidays, in place of the Ichiroku (days 
 of the month in which the numbers 1 and 6 entered). 
 Railroads, telegraphs, and in time, the telephone and 
 electric lights have been introduced ; the army and navy 
 have been entirely reconstructed and put on a foreign 
 footing in point of numbers and efficiency ; a constitution 
 has been given to the people, instead of the Emperor 
 ruling autocratically ; all the laws have been codified and 
 put into operation ; schools have been remodelled and en- 
 larged, the higher colleges and a university established ; 
 
6 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 schools for girls have been inaugurated and scattered 
 throughout the countiy ; and Anally, after weary years of 
 planning, hoping, and waiting, Japan’s autonomy has 
 been acknowledged in treaties of reciprocity with the 
 nations. All this wonderful programme has been effec- 
 ted in the short space of forty years. It seems like a 
 dream, and we are often in doubt whether it is not some- 
 thing that will pass as quickly as it has appeared. 
 
 Together with all these signs of outward progress has 
 come the thirst of the nation, as expressed in her best 
 minds, for the learning of the West ; and, as might have 
 been expected, much of the science so called that has en- 
 tered the empire has been accepted without its being as- 
 similated, and the result is often seen in the mass of 
 crude theories and half truths which appear in books 
 and magazines. Though of course there are true 
 scholars who have studied and experimented for them- 
 selves, till they stand at the head of their professions, an 
 honor to their country. 
 
 If all this be taken into consideration it will be seen 
 that, since the Reformed Church Mission was established 
 In Japan at the very beginning of this advance move- 
 ment, and has been carried on along with it, and has 
 grown with it and taken advantage of all the new factors 
 placed ready to its hands for spreading its inAuence and 
 strengthening its hold upon the people, the history of the 
 growth of the one cannot well be separated from that of 
 the other. 
 
 And so it has been that the slowness of the early 
 spread of Christianity as well as the rapidity of its 
 growth in after years, and then again the hindrances 
 which have taken place in the history of the mission are 
 all intimately connected with the changes which have 
 been taking place at the same time in the country itself, 
 and the changes through which the country has passed 
 are, in a large measure, the explanation for the Auctua- 
 tions through which the work of the mission has passed. 
 
 Up to the year 1S89 the South Japan Mission was a con- 
 stituent part of the “ Japan Mission,” but in that year by 
 direction of the Board it became a separate or.ganization. 
 For its work and workers during the years before separ- 
 ation reference is made to the “ Sketch of the South Ja- 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 7 
 
 pan Mission,” New York, 1899. With these words Of pre- 
 face we pass on to the history of the mission. 
 
 Although all mission work is to bring souls who have 
 not known the gospel of Christ to a knowledge— a saving 
 knovidedge — of the truth, still there are distinctly recog- 
 nized branches of this work, all of which, however, are 
 interlaced and overlapping, and so to get an adequate 
 idea of the history of the mission as a mission, we may 
 do well to look at the rise and growth of these different 
 branches of the work. It must be remembered, however, 
 that at the outset there were no such divisions as educa- 
 tional, evangelistic, literary, and medical. In fact the 
 last, medical work, has never been carried on by our mis- 
 sion in Japan ; for although Dr. Simmons was sent out 
 as one of the first of our missionaries, yet he left the 
 mission the next year, and his place has never been 
 filled. And although, too, at the very opening of the 
 country there was a fine opportunity for medical work, 
 and some of the missions did enter into it with zeal and 
 their labors have been crowned with success, still one of 
 the first steps taken by the government was the es- 
 tablishment of medical schools conducted by foreign 
 physicians, so that now in every large town and in many 
 of the villages there are doctors, trained in Western 
 science and medicine, and hospitals, most of which are 
 provided with trained nurses. In consequence of this 
 state of things, most of the missions who are working in 
 Japan have either given up medical work or have not 
 established it. 
 
 A very obvious reason why there could be no distinc- 
 tion of classes of mission work in those early days was 
 that the great aim of all the first missionaries was to 
 get some mastery of the language, which stood before 
 them like a great high wall, shutting them out from all 
 intercourse with the people whom they had come to 
 teach. We must remember, too, that this grubbing at 
 the roots of the language was, in those early days, a 
 literal grubbing. There were not only no helps to study, 
 but those early missionaries were the ones who had to 
 make the helps for those who were to come after them. 
 Dr. Hepburn’s first dictionary was an outgrowth of a 
 list of words that he had collected for his own use, by 
 
JAPANESE TEMPLE 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 9 
 
 going- out every day with note-book in hand to pick up 
 what little he could from the limited intercourse he was 
 allowed with those about him. Dr. Brown’s grammar 
 was made in the same way. And one may imagine what 
 a toilsome task this was, where the gratulatiori of every 
 little advance made would be checked by the knowledge 
 that what was discovered to-day might have to be redis- 
 covered to-morrow ; for on asking what was the name of 
 any object, an exclamation of wonder or doubt might be 
 taken for the real name, and it might be weeks before the 
 mistake was found out. 
 
 During all this time the only preaching that could be 
 done by the missionaries was done by their lives ; they 
 were literally to win their way by their “ manner of 
 life ” “ worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Phil. 1 ; 27.) This 
 was the time to exercise patience, humiiity, and kind- 
 ness, for it was difficult to get either servants or 
 teachers. And even were one secured, he might leave 
 suddenly without any warning, being frightened at what 
 was said in perfect innocence, or made to leave at the in- 
 stigation of the spies or semi-officials by whom the mis- 
 sionaries were surrounded. 
 
 To be sure a yery little evangelistic work was done by 
 giving away some Chinese tracts, which could be read 
 by the learned classes ; but it was not long before men 
 were afraid to be seen with one of them, and even afraid 
 to read them in secret, lest they be discovered and so lose 
 their position, not to say their heads. 
 
 After the language was in a degree mastered, and re- 
 liable teachers were secured, the next step was to prepare 
 a Christian literature, or rather, to translate portions of 
 the Bible, tracts, and hymns. And even after this was 
 done, it was almost impossible to have them printed. All 
 printing at that time was made from wooden blocks, like 
 ■wood-cuts, for it was not till some years afterwards that 
 movable types were introduced. A man named Inaba did 
 the first printing from blocks, but he did it secretly, and 
 brought the books to Dr. Hepburn by night. After the 
 printing from type was introduced in 1878 the Seishi 
 Bunsha Company undertook to print the portions of the 
 Bible, and, to their credit and honor be it said, they con- 
 tinued to print for the Bible Societies for many years. 
 
10 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 It was not very long before the missionaries found that 
 they could exercise an influence by teaching young men 
 who were wiliing to come to them for the study of 
 English. In this way classes were formed in which were 
 gathered men who, in after years, became the pioneers 
 of the church, and who are now the backbone of the 
 Christian community, while others of them are dis- 
 tinguished in government circles. It was to this class of 
 persons that the truths of Christianity were first unfolded, 
 and among them were the first converts made ; for it was 
 ten years or more after missionaries first came to Japan 
 that public services were allowed, and even then they 
 were held on the premises of the missionaries and not in 
 the native town. 
 
 In speaking of the early history of missions in Japan, 
 the names that rise naturally to the lips are those of Drs. 
 Brown, Hepburn, and Verbeck. As it has been well said, 
 “ There is in truth no brighter chapter in the history of 
 “ America’s intercourse with Japan than the chapter 
 “ which tells of the work done by Drs. Brown, Hepburn, 
 “ and Verbeck.” (“ Japan Mail.”) 
 
 The Rev. Sami. R. Brown, D. D., the first of our mis- 
 sion to land on the shores of Japan, (November 1, 1859, in 
 Kanagawa) was eminentiy fitted both in disposition and 
 training for the position he held during those early days. 
 He was above all else a student and an educator. His 
 mother, Mrs. Phoebe Brown, was a remarkable woman 
 both in what she suffered and in what she accomplished 
 for her large family of children. She impressed her char- 
 acter on her son, and he, inheriting a strong personality 
 and great magnetism, impressed himself in turn on his 
 pupiis. 
 
 Dr. Brown was a fine musician, a natural linguist, and 
 a careful student of the Japanese language. He was also 
 a thorough teacher, and would not tolerate any half- 
 learned, slipshod recitations in his classes. Those stu- 
 dents who followed his advice and thoroughly mastered 
 the drudgery of the rudiments of the English language 
 were the ones who afterwards became proficient scholars, 
 while those who disliked such ” childish methods ” and 
 preferred to follow the bent of their inclinations were 
 sorry enough afterwards, as they saw their more pains- 
 
The North Japan Mission. ii 
 
 taking fellows outstrip them in acquiring forcible and 
 idiomatic English both in conversation and composition. 
 
 In Dr. Brown’s classes were laid the foundations of our 
 present Meiji Gakuin, in its Academic and Theological 
 Departments. At the same time his critical acumen 
 and fine linguistic attainments were an invaluable as- 
 sistance in the translation of the New Testament, on 
 which translation committee he acted as chairman from 
 its incipiency till he had to leave Japan on account of 
 his failing health, in July, 1879, but a short time before 
 its finai completion. 
 
 He died quietly in sleep of heart disease, in the sum- 
 mer of 1880, at his old home in Monson, Massachusetts, 
 in the 70th year of his age. His wife survived him a few 
 years. 
 
 The Rev. Guido Fridolin Verbeck was born in Zeist, 
 Province of Utrecht, Netherlands, on January 23, 1830. 
 He landed in Nagasaki on November 7th, 1859, and he 
 passed away in Tokyo on March 10th, 1898 — the 26th 
 birthday of the first Protestant church in Japan — in his 
 69th year, after having labored in Japan for nearly forty 
 years. The first ten years of his Japanese life were pas- 
 sed in Nagasaki, a full account of which is given in the 
 sketch of the South-Japan Mission. 
 
 Dr. Verbeck came to Tokyo, then called Yedo, in 1869, 
 at the invitation of the central government to establish 
 a college on Western lines. At the time of his funeral the 
 editor of “ The Japan Mail ” wrote of him, “ In the field 
 “ of education, and even in the realm of politics. Dr. Ver- 
 “ beck played an eminently useful, but always unostenta- 
 " tious part. His transparent sincerity of character won 
 
 the immediate confidence of ail that came in contact 
 " with him, his clear insight, just views, and unselfish 
 “ sympathy made him an invaluable counsellor. It was 
 “ he that organized the Kaisei-Gakko, Japan's first col- 
 “ lege, the embryo of the present University, and many 
 " schools now flourishing derived able and kindly assist- 
 “ ance from him in their early days. How much aid he 
 “ rendered to the politicians of the Meiji era, in carrying 
 “ out their progressive programme, we cannot attempt to 
 “ estimate : but curiously enough on the very night be- 
 ■“ fore he died, the present Prime Minister and Count 
 
REV. GUIDO F. VERBECK. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 13 
 
 " Okuma, little thinking that the subject of their conver- 
 " sation had only a few hours longer to live, reminded 
 “ each other that in a memorial penned by him at the 
 " time of the Restoration, he recommended the measure 
 “ which probably contributed more than any other to 
 “ promote the spread of liberal ideas in Japan, the des- 
 “ patch of publicists to Europe and America for the pur- 
 “ pose cf studying the civilization on which Japan had so 
 “ long turned her back.” 
 
 Surgeon-General Baron Ishiguro stated at the 
 time of Dr. Verbeck’s funeral, that years before, Drs. 
 Iwasa, Sagara, Hasegawa, and himself, after talking 
 over among themselves as to what language ought to be 
 used in the study of medicine in Japan, were persuaded 
 that German was preferable to English : and afterwards 
 Dr. Sagara brought the matter to the attention of Dr. 
 Verbeck, and he agreeing with them made a recommend- 
 ation to the government that the science of medicine be 
 taught through the German language, and this advice 
 was adopted, and German was made the language of 
 medicine in Japan. This is but an example of the way in 
 which his advice was sought and given on all subjects. 
 Often would he study all night, in order to prepare him- 
 self to give advice on some subject with which he was 
 not perfectly familiar. And at a time when interpreters 
 were few and dictionaries rare, his linguistic attainments 
 made his advice for consultation and reference most 
 valuable. For the Doctor spoke and wrote English, Ger- 
 man, Dutch, and French, besides reading Latin, Greek, 
 and Hebrew. 
 
 Thus for ten years he remained in the em.ploy of the 
 government, from 1869 till 1878, at first as president of 
 the College, and afterwards in various capacities in the 
 Educational Department, and as adviser to the Privy 
 Council and Council of State, and later as lecturer in the 
 Nobles’ School. On his retiring from the government 
 service, and returning to California for a well-earned 
 rest, he wa.s presented with the decoration of the 3rd 
 Class of the Rising Sun ; and at the same time was made 
 the recipient of such tokens of esteem and admiration 
 from all classes of the Japanese, as have rarely been ac- 
 corded to any one. 
 
u 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 On his return to Japan he once more rejoined the mis- 
 sion ranks, and took part in work congenial to his heart. 
 He taught in the theological school at different times, 
 hut always relinquished his chair whenever he could do 
 so without detriment to the interests of the school, so 
 as to leave himself more leisure for evangelistic work, 
 which he so much loved. He was on the Revising Com- 
 mittee of the Old Testament ; and the translation of the 
 Psalms, Isaiah, and some of the later translations of the 
 prophetical books had the advantage of the close revi- 
 sion of Dr. Verbeck and the committee appointed by the 
 Japanese church to act with the foreign committees on 
 revision. 
 
 The work, however, for which Dr. Verbeck was pecu- 
 liarly fitted, and in which he took special pleasure, and 
 for which he will be held in grateful remembrance among 
 the Christians of Japan, was lecturing and preaching. 
 His excellent linguistic powers no doubt helped him in 
 the study of the Japanese language, and his long and 
 close intercourse with the people, at times almost to the 
 exclusion of intercourse with foreigners, enabled him to 
 perfect himself in the colloquial, until his mastery of this 
 was a cause of wonder and delight to those who had the 
 pleasure of listening to him. 
 
 Though Dr. Verbeck was very dear to all the members 
 of his mission, and most loyal to his mission’s standards 
 both from conviction and affection, yet all missionaries 
 seemed to think that he belonged to the church at large, 
 and he was cordially welcomed and eagerly sought for 
 as a speaker at all kinds of meetings both by foreigners 
 and Japanese alike. Wherever he went through the 
 country he gladly helped all churches, preaching a pure 
 gospel for all who would hear it. 
 
 As the great Japanese Preacher and the model 
 Christian “ Gentleman ” he will long remain our pattern 
 and our guide. To have known him intimately was in- 
 aeed an inspiration and a cherished memory, like sweet 
 perfume blown from the open gates of Paradise. 
 
 II. Evangelistic Work. 
 
 The distinctively evangelistic work of the mission has 
 gradually grown up during later years. For more than 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 15 
 
 ten years there was comparatively no such work at all 
 The first labors of the early missionaries were prepara- 
 tory : either in the way of linguistic studies, or teaching 
 such students as they could attract. Even .after public 
 preaching was tolerated, ihere was no such thing as 
 itinerating, as the missionaries were confined within a 
 ten mile radius of the treaty ports. The first tours were 
 made by some of the young converts. And one principal 
 reason of this was the fact that at first foreigners were 
 were not allowed to travel into the interior of the country 
 without guards. When these were no longer necessary, 
 about 1873, different persons applied for passports in 
 order to make “ scientific investigations,” or to go to 
 the hills for “ health.” In this way a fixed official word- 
 ing grew up, and all passports were marked ‘‘ for pur- 
 poses of health and scientific investigation which lit- 
 tle harmless phrase has caused a great deal of discussion 
 and recrimination. The government officials repeatedly 
 declared that they knew the missionaries went out into 
 the country to teach Christianity, and that they had no 
 objection to their doing so, but that the fixed wording of 
 the passports could not be changed. And yet in spite of 
 all this many accused the missionaries who made use of 
 the passports of preaching under false pretenses. Of 
 course such passports were an inconvenience, because all 
 the places visited had to be entered on them, and the 
 order of visiting the places was fixed, unless, as was at 
 one time the case, whole districts were designated, or 
 whole ” circuits,” into which the roads of the country 
 were divided. Years later when a new Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs and a new American Minister happened 
 to come into office about the same time, they decided that 
 every one would have to abide strictly by the wording 
 of the passports, and the American Minister so notified 
 his nationals. Soon, however, the Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs found that he had mistaken the intention of his 
 government, and informed the American Minister that 
 the missionaries might resume their preaching tours. 
 Thus matters continued, and the missionaries were able 
 to travel and teach under the restrictions of the pass- 
 ports, wherever and whenever they pleased. 
 
 In the matter of holding public meetings, the rules 
 
i6 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 were more or less strict at different times. Sometimes 
 the subjects, speakers, etc., had to be announced to the 
 police a certain time beforehand. At other periods the 
 mere fact of such a meeting had to be notified. At some 
 times and places at the large meetings there was one or 
 more policemen present ; at other places and times no 
 official ever came. At present there is no hindrance to 
 the missionary going where he pleases or having what 
 meetings he pleases, except that sometimes there are 
 local disturbances, and hindrances are put in the way of 
 renting rooms for lectures or houses for preaching places. 
 Such obstructions generally arise at the instigations of 
 the priests, but they are rare. 
 
 Since the new treaties have gone into effect, all 
 churches, regular preaching places, or separate Sunday 
 schools, etc., have to be registered, as well as all minis- 
 ters, evangelists, and regular paid workers ; and all 
 changes in the same have to be reported. But there is 
 no restriction placed on occasional meetings held at any 
 place throughout the country. 
 
 The first evangelistic 
 work was “hand-picked,” 
 work done for individual 
 souls. The first person 
 baptized was Mototaka 
 Yano, a doctor of acu- 
 puncture, living in Kana- 
 gawa. He was Mr. Bal- 
 lagh's teacher, and had 
 previously been the teach- 
 er of Dr. Brown. He was 
 baptized in his sick bed 
 in October, 1864, and died 
 the following month. 
 
 Then, on May 20, 1866, 
 Motonori Wakasu Murata, 
 a minister (karo) of the 
 feudal Lord of Hizen, and 
 his younger brother Yukiteru Ayabe were baptized by Mr. 
 Verbeck in Nagasaki. In later years Mr. Ayabe was a 
 member of one of the Tokyo churches. 
 
 In the spring of the same year Mr. Williams (after- 
 
 REV. JAMES H. BALLAGH 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 17 
 
 wards Bishop Williams), of the Episcopal Mission, bap- 
 tized a man named Shomura ; and during the summer 
 Mr. Verbeck baptized a Buddhist priest, Shimidzu, who, 
 after Mr. Verbeck left Nagasaki, was thrown into prison 
 for becoming a Christian, and kept there five years. He 
 afterwards went to Tokyo, and became a member of the 
 Kojimachi Church. 
 
 In Yokohama Mr. Ballagh baptized, in May, 1868, 
 Takaaki Ajiki (whose name was afterwards changed to 
 Keijiro Awazu) and Kwanichi Suzuki ; and in February, 
 1869, Mr. Thompson baptized Toshiyasu Ogawa, Kojiro 
 Suzuki, and Dal Toriya (a woman). 
 
 In the same year, 1869, the Rev. George Ensor (Church 
 of England Mission) baptized in Nagasaki Morizo Nii- 
 mura. 
 
 During Mr. Ballagh’s absence on furlough in 1868-69, 
 Mr. Thompson, of the Presbyterian Mission, carried on 
 his Bible class and the preaching services which he had 
 started for the few whom he could gather ; but on Mr. 
 Balllagh’s return he resumed these services, and also 
 taught a day school of over 20 pupils in the little chapel 
 built on the church lot. This school was composed of 
 young samurai from all parts of Japan, seeking an Eng- 
 lish education, from whom came not only the first or- 
 ganized body of believers, but the first preachers, college 
 presidents, and professors, as the Revs. Messrs. Honda, 
 Oshikawa, Uemura, Mr. Kumano and others. 
 
 The Week of Prayer had been observed from the year 
 1860 by the missionaries and other Christians at their resi- 
 dences, and was continued from year to-year with marked 
 results, notably in the request for prayer sent forth, 
 January 14, 1866, to the Evangelical Alliance in all lands, 
 for the removal of the edict prohibiting Christianity.* 
 In 1872 the subjects of the Week of Prayer were daily re- 
 membered in Mr. Ballagh’s school by himself and Mr. 
 Yoshiyasu Ogawa, for the time being his teacher. In 
 February, at the time of the Japanese and Chinese New 
 Pear, the pupils of the school proposed of their own ac- 
 
 ♦ “We call upon our brethren in Christ to pray that this last obstacle 
 may be removed — that the spirit of God may move the rulers of Japan to 
 proclaim liberty to their subjects, liberty to hear and read the Word of God.” 
 
i8 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 cord the holding of a Week of Prayer for Japan, the 
 same as the Europeans had done for the rest of the 
 world. Mr. Ballagh, at their request, joined them in 
 these exorcises, and then it was that the windows of 
 heaven were opened for the first time over Japan, and in 
 that little school room were poured out showers of bless- 
 ing that brought joy to the teacher’s heart. 
 
 These blessings w^ere continued for weeks, and as a 
 direct fruit of them the first Japanese church was or- 
 ganized at Yokohama, on March 10, 1872. It consisted 
 of nine young men, all members of the schoool, who were 
 baptized on that day, and twm middle aged men who had 
 been baptized previously, Yoshiyasu Ogawa and Morizo 
 Niimura. These two men were chosen elder and deacon 
 respectively of the young church. The members gave 
 their church the Catholic name of “ The Church of Christ 
 in Japan,” and drew up their own church constitution, a 
 simple evangelical creed, together wdth a few rules, ac- 
 cording to w'hich the government of the church was to be 
 in the hands of the pastor and eiders, with the consent of 
 the members. 
 
 Eighteen months afterw'ards a sister church was or- 
 ganized in Tokyo, on the 20th of September, 1873. It was 
 composed of one man Mr. Thompson had baptised in the 
 early part of the month, and seven members of the Yoko- 
 hama church set off for the purpose, one of whom had 
 been baptized by Dr. Brown, one by Mr. Thompson, and 
 five by Mr. Ballagh. Mr. Thompson acted as their pas- 
 tor, and the church was known as the Shin-Sakae Bashl 
 Church, w'hile the church in Yokohama was named 
 Kaigan. 
 
 The Yokohama church grew rapidly. The year after it 
 w'as organized, when the first colony was sent off to 
 Tokyo, the membership had increased to 62 adults and 13 
 children ; while by 1875, when the main church building 
 v/as erected, there were 166 communicants and 19 ciiil- 
 dren. The dedication of the building took place on July 
 10th, before which time the meetings had been held in the 
 little chapel, which had been built at a time when it was 
 thought necessary to erect some kind of a building on 
 the lot so as to retain the title to the land. 
 
 The cost of the church was $8,000, the first one thousand 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 >9 
 
 dollars of which had been contributed by the Christians 
 of the Sandwich Isiands. Ten years after the organiza- 
 tion of the church, on March 18, 1882, King Kaiakaua, of 
 the Sandwich Islands, then on a visit to Japan, came to a 
 
 KAIGAN CHURCH, YOKOHAMA. 
 
 meeting held in the church, when he was thanked for 
 the gift which had been made so many years before by 
 his people, at a time when there was neither church nor 
 Christian in the country. 
 
20 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Not long’ after the organization of the church Mr. Bal- 
 lagh made a visit to the mountain of Kano, in the prov- 
 ince of Kadzusa, on the other side of Yedo Bay. He was 
 accompanied by Mrs. Pruyn and Mr. and Mrs. Ogawa, 
 and his own two little girls. The foreigners were enter- 
 tained at the house of the head man of the village, a Mr. 
 Sakuma, and here in front of the household gods Mr. 
 Ballagh preached his first sermon outside of treaty 
 limits, taking as his text Paul’s address at the Areo- 
 pagus. Soon after Mrs. Pierson commenced work at the 
 village of Ptakone, where foreigners were beginning to 
 go for the hot weather, .and visited Yamanaka, half-way 
 down the other side of the pass, and even as far as 
 Daiba village and the town of Mishima at the foot. Mr. 
 Ballagh followed the same summer to these towns and 
 and villages, and Dr. Brown also took part in the services 
 held at Hakone. 
 
 The first evangelistic -work of the native church was 
 made in October, 1873 when the elders of the two 
 churches, Mr. W. Okuno andY. Ogawa went into the pro- 
 vinces of Musashi and Niso. Thew were greatly encour- 
 aged by the success of their trip, and on their return Mr. 
 Ballagh speaks of having listened with great interest to 
 the first Gospel sermon he had ever heard from Japanese 
 lips. It was delivered by Mr. Okuno from the text, “For 
 ye were as sheeep going astray ; but are now returned 
 unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls,” (I. Pet. 2 : 
 25.) 
 
 It i\'as not, however, till July, 1874, that the first real 
 itinerating tour took place, and then it was by the young 
 Christian students, who went out two and two, Mr. K. 
 Shinozaki and M. OshiKawa to Shidzuoka ; N. Yoshida 
 and K. Ibuka t- Yashu ; Y. Honda and N. Amenomon 
 and S. Yeto to Shimosa ; and Y. Kumano to Hakone. 
 
 During the summer of 1875, Mr. Suzuki, a member of 
 the Kaigan Church, visited his relatives in Ueda, a large 
 castle town in the interior province of Shinshu. While 
 there he spoke to his friends and relatives of the truths 
 of the Bible, and finding among them some who had al- 
 ready heard the gospel he explained it to them more 
 fully. Among these friends ’w^as a Mr. Inagaki. who had 
 listened to Mr. Thompson’s preaching in Tokyo, and at- 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 tended Mr. John Ballagh’s school in Yokohama, and who 
 also was for about a year in Nagasaki, where he heard 
 Mr. Stout preach. Under the teaching of Mr. Suzuki he 
 became convinced of the truth of Christianity. There 
 was also in Ueda a Mr. Sakamaki, who had been bap- 
 tized by Mr. Thompson in Tokyo in the spring, and a 
 blind man who had been baptized by Dr. Palm in 
 Niigata. 
 
 Mr. Inagaki on his return from Nagasaki passed 
 through Yokohama and heard of a temperance society 
 which had been started there. He was so much interest- 
 ed in it for his own personal needs that he began one 
 with seven members after his return to Ueda. They met 
 regularly, and the study of the Scriptures grew out of 
 their adopting the Ten Commandments as their Consti- 
 tution. This required - the keeping of the Sabbath, so 
 that on that day they studied the Bible, and as thej' read 
 they marked the passages they did not understand, in the 
 hope that before long some one would come who could 
 explain what was not clear to them. The temperance 
 meetings were strictly confined to the week days. 
 
 This band of Bible believers was discovered by Mr. M. 
 Oshikawa in 1S75, when he passed through Ueda on his 
 way to help Dr. Palm, of the Edinburgh Medical Mission, 
 in Niigata. He instructed them, and on his advice Mr. 
 Inagaki went to Yokohama and was baptized by Mr. Bal- 
 lagh in January, 1876. For many years now he has been 
 a prominent minister, and was for a long while, and is 
 now for the second time, the pastor of the Kaigan Church 
 in Yokohama. 
 
 Having learned of this interest which had sprung up, 
 unconnected with any missionary effort, and understand- 
 ing also that the believers were anxious to have a mis- 
 sionary come and instruct them, Mr. and Mrs. Miller 
 started for Ueda in the beginning of August, 1876, accom- 
 panied by Mr. S. Maki. They were met at a tea house 
 five miles from the town by five young men, who had 
 been waiting for them since morning, and who accom- 
 panied them into Ueda to a house selected for their ac- 
 commodation, where they remained ten days. Arrange- 
 ments were made to hold two services daily at the house 
 of Mr. Inagaki’s besides the Sunday services and the 
 
22 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 meetings for tvomen. These daily services were attended 
 by from 20 to 100 persons. On the last Sabbath Mr. Mil- 
 ler baptized 16 persons ; two men of middle age, eight 
 young men, three of whom were teachers in the common 
 schoois, four widows, one young girl, and Mr. Inagaki’s 
 little baby, who was christened Love. After the rite of 
 baptism was administered, the Lord’s Supper was cele- 
 brated by this little band of disciples, far away from all 
 other Christians and surrounded by those who knew little 
 of their recently professed faith and cared less. 
 
 When the day came for the missionaries to leave their 
 young converts, they were awakened by the clatter of the 
 wooden clogs of those who had come to bid them fare- 
 well, who, with Japanese patience, waited till the mis- 
 sionaries had breakfasted, when joining in a short 
 prayer they took their leave, many with tears in their 
 eyes. At their earnest request, however, Mr. Maki re- 
 mained till the end of September to instruct them. 
 
 The church at Ueda was organized on October 8th of 
 the same year, when 16 more persons were baptized by 
 Mr. Ballagh, and Mr. Inagaki was ordained to the elder- 
 ship. His wife and grandmother besides one or tw'o sis- 
 ters were baptized that day. The two former after a 
 consistent course have entered into glory. 
 
 This account is given at length as an example of the 
 way in which the gospel seed was springing up all over 
 the country. Sometimes carried by the missionaries 
 sometimes by the native Christians, and sometimes by 
 the written word. One of the believers in Ueda said that 
 he had his attention attracted to Christianity by a 
 clause in the treaty executed between the United States 
 and Japan eleven years before. 
 
 Other work under the care of our mission was started 
 in several places in the city of Tokyo and its vicinity. 
 So that in 1877 the Kojimachi Church was organized ; 
 in 1878 the Wado Church, in a village not far from Tok- 
 yo where the work was started by a farmer’s son ; the 
 same year Mr. Ito established the work in Mishima ; in 
 1879 the Shitaya Church was organized, of which Mr. 
 Uemura became pastor, and the Kojimachi Church was 
 built, but was burnt down shortly afterwards and not 
 rebuilt again until 1881. In 1879 also Mr. Banno began 
 
FIRST MEETING PLACE OF THE KOJIMACHI CHURCH, TOKYO. 
 
24 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 work in Nagoya under the mission, and subsequently 
 Mr. Yamamoto in Okasaki. There was for years quite 
 a prosperous work in this field, the provinces of Mino 
 and Owari; but as the mission could not take sufficient 
 oversight of it, it was passed over to the care of the 
 Southern Presbyterian Mission. 
 
 The following churches were once under the care of 
 our mission but are now self-supporting : — Kaigan in 
 Yokohama ; Kojimachi and Shitaya in Tokyo ; Ueda and 
 Kasuga in Shinshu ; Mishima in Idzu ; Nagoya and Seto 
 in Owari ; etc. Of course for all such independence we 
 are most devoutly thankful. It is for this end that we 
 labor as missionaries, to bring the Japanese church as 
 quickly as possible into a state of entire independence of 
 foreign money, being self-supporting and self-propaga- 
 ting. When, hoAvever, the work has not reached a state 
 of self-support, and where we have expended years of 
 labor, or where most favorable opportunities are offered 
 to us, but through insufficient men and means at our 
 disposal we are unable to accept them, it is sad indeed to 
 have to pass this work over to others. 
 
 As an example of this latter case we may cite the fol- 
 lowing : — In 1873 or ’74 an earnest request came through 
 Mr. Honda, one of the original founders of the Kaigan 
 Church, that the mission send some one to open a school 
 in his native town of Hirosaki, away in the north of the 
 island. No one on the field was available, and before 
 any arrangements could be made from home, the 
 Methodist Mission was able to send the Rev. J. Ing. 
 who taught in the school, and through whose labors 15 
 converts were baptized. These believers sent a request 
 to the Kaigan Church to organize them into a church, 
 and that a pastor or elder be sent to the service. This 
 request was granted and Mr. Honda was ordained as 
 their elder, and in November. 1875 the Hirosaki Church 
 was organized, but afterwards it joined the Methodist 
 body. It has been one of the strongest churches in Ja- 
 pan in influence, for :t has been said that a large per 
 cent., — some say as high as one-third — of the native 
 ministers in the Methodist Church in Japan have gone 
 out from the Hirosaki Church. 
 
 In the year 1878 an Evangelistic Committee was 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 25 
 
 formed, composed of foreign and native ministers and 
 elders, and much of the evangelistic work of the mis- 
 sions was intrusted to this committee. In 1879 it was de- 
 veloped into a central Board of Home Missions under 
 the Classis (at this time there was only one Classis, 
 called in Japanese a Chukwai). The work which was 
 given over to the Evangelistic Committee, and so passed 
 on to the Board of Home Missions, was the most pros- 
 perous part of the evangelistic work of the several mis- 
 sions : and as a natural consequence the less prosperous 
 and more dlfRcult places were left on the hands of the 
 missions. Another consequence was that the better 
 evangelists were employed and larger means expended 
 on those places under the Committee, and as a final re- 
 sult some of the present evangelistic work under the 
 mission is backword and needs a great deal of pushing 
 and fostering to bring it up to a point which it ought to 
 have attained years ago. 
 
 The present evangelistic work under the direct super- 
 vision of the mission is situated in and around Yoko- 
 hama ; in the province of Awa, across Yedo Bay ; in 
 the province of Idzu ; in the province of Shinano, divided 
 into the North and South Shinshu fields ; and to the ex- 
 treme north of the main island, in the provinces of 
 Rikuchu and Mutsu, centered in the cities of Morioka 
 and Aomori. 
 
 Of these fields that of Awa is neither very flourishing 
 nor important ; the workers have not been first class 
 men, and the results are not very encouraging. 
 
 The Idzu field includes the work at Mishima, Koyama, 
 Gotemba, Kashiwakubo, &c., towns and villages around 
 the foot of Fuji. The Avork here has been very pros- 
 perous in the past, and earnest Christians have gone 
 out from these towns, but noAv the prospect is not so 
 bright ; Mr. Miura, hOAvever, has just been transferred 
 to this field from Morioka, and his knowledge and ex- 
 perience may infuse new life into it. 
 
 The Shinshu field is one of the most important in the 
 empire. It lies near the heart of Japan geographically, 
 Avith a population of 1,226,842, and is the great centre for 
 silk culture for raising the silk-worms and cocoons. A 
 range of mountains diAudes it into the northern and 
 
26 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 southern fields, the centres of which are Ueda and Saka- 
 shita, though these places are not the most important 
 towns in their respective districts, merely being the most 
 centrally situated for our work. The two important 
 cities are Matsumoto in the south, and Nagano in the 
 north. The whole province of Shinano is the most ele- 
 vated table-land in Japan. It is fertile and populous, 
 and there are m.any large towns in it. There is one line 
 of railroad running from Tokyo to the West coast, and 
 thence on to Niigata, which passes directly through the 
 line of our work in North-Shinshu. Another line will 
 be built in the course of two years, which will run from 
 Nagano into South-Shinshu and Koshu, and so round 
 into Tokyo from the west, instead of from the north. The 
 opening of this second line will give an impetus to the 
 whole of southern Shinshu, and tend to increase the im- 
 portance of our work in Matsumoto, Suwa, Sakashita, 
 and lida. 
 
 Of these towns in which our present work is carried 
 on by native helpers, Matsumoto is the most important. 
 It was formerly the capital of the prefecture, and is still, 
 in spite of the official centre having been transferred to 
 Nagano, the largest town in South Shinshu, and the cen- 
 tre of all the trade in that region. It is connected by 
 roads with the West coast, and is within a day of Na- 
 gano by a rapid river (which, however, is impracticable 
 for the return journey), and in a year or two will be con- 
 nected by rail with the latter place. The same railroad 
 will also connect it with Tokyo. It is a town of 30,763 
 inhabitants, and is full of bustle and activity. 
 
 The work of the mission at Matsumoto has been car- 
 ried on for eight years, but has not been prosecuted 
 energetically, and is not so flourishing as it should be. 
 Matsumoto should be made a mission station, with a 
 resident missionary, who could ov. liook the whole of 
 the w’ork in the South Shinshu field. 
 
 Sakashita, a tow’n of 8,310 people, is nearly 32 miles 
 down the valley from Matsumoto in a southerly direc- 
 tion. It has grown lately from the decay of a large 
 town called Takato, not far aw’ay. It is quite a business 
 place on a small scale, but promises rapid growth wiien 
 the railroad is finished through to Tokyo. Our work here 
 
The North Japan Mission, 
 
 27 
 
 is more flourishing than in any place occupied by our 
 evangelists, although it has been commenced recently. 
 
 Suva, with 6,200 inhabitants, is a town at the foot of 
 the Wada Pass, on the Naka-Sen-Do, the main road 
 through the centre of the island from Tokyo to Kyoto. 
 It is about 20 miles from Matsumoto, and the same dis- 
 tance from Sakashita, but somewhat off the direct route 
 through these two towns. The town is not of great im- 
 portance, but there are large silk-reeling factories in 
 the vicinity, and it is a centre from which the near 
 towns and villages can be reached. The work here is 
 not large but fairly flourishing. There is a little chapel 
 built by the believers, largely with the help of the mis- 
 sion. The evangelist in charge visits Upper-Suwa, a 
 town of 9,900 people, where also work has been carried 
 on for a number of years. This latter village is three 
 miles away and on the main road into the province of 
 Koshu. 
 
 lida is a large town containing a population of 14,223 
 persons, about 28 miles down the river from Sakashita. 
 It is a clean and thrifty place, and the outlet of the trade 
 of the valley, at the head of navigation on the Tenryu 
 River, a day’s journey down the rapids of which takes 
 one to the town of Hamamatsu on the Tokaido. The 
 outlook for Christian work in lida is bright, as it was 
 well started and continues to prosper. 
 
 Looking at North-Shinshu, the natural centre is Na- 
 gano, a city of 30,412 persons, the capital of the prefec- 
 ture, the seat of the great temple of Zenkoji, and so of 
 Buddhistic influence. It lies in a fertile plain surround- 
 ed by mountains. In coming from Tokyo the railroad 
 luns through a beautiful and flourishing section of coun- 
 try for about one hundred miles to the foot of the cele- 
 brated Usui Pass. From there it climbs by the AbL sys- 
 tem to the edge of the great table-land of Shinshu, and 
 just on the borders of this table-land, at the top of the 
 pass, lies the village of Karuizawa within sight of the 
 smoking volcano of Asama. This is the great summer 
 resort of the missionaries of Japan. From Karuizawa 
 the table-land gradually declines towards the west coast, 
 and about half way down is the city of Nagano, 135 miles 
 from Tokyo, or nine hours by rail, being 21 miles or one 
 
23 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 hour distant from Ueda. There are said to be ten towns 
 v.'ithin fifteen miles radius of Nagano, each of which 
 contains over ten thousand inhabitants, besides the in- 
 tervening: villages. On account of the bigotry of the 
 people, all of whom are under the influence of the priests 
 of the great temple, the city is not such an important 
 commercial centre as its position and prestige would 
 warrant, but for evangelistic work it is one of the great 
 cities of Japan. 
 
 Next to the great temple its most commanding build- 
 ings are those of its large and rapidly growin.g schools, 
 from the lowest grade to the Normal. About 100 stu- 
 dents, many of whom are largely influenced by the 
 teaching of the missionaries, go out each year from the 
 higher schools into the various parts of the province 
 disarmed, to say the least, of their prejudice against 
 Christianity. 
 
 The work of the mission 
 was commenced in this 
 city in 1890, but it has only 
 been since 1897, when Mr. 
 and Mrs. Scudder and 
 Mrs. Schenck were lo- 
 cated here, that it has 
 been adequately looked 
 after. The great number 
 of priests, and the way in 
 which almost every one in 
 the place is connected in 
 one way or another with 
 the temple and its ser- 
 vices, makes it a very dif- 
 ficult place in which to 
 carry on successful mis- 
 sion work. But this will 
 pass away in the course of time, and the very fact of the 
 people being zealous Buddhists will lead to their being- 
 zealous Christians, as soon as their eyes are opened to 
 the light. The preaching place at Nagano is steadily in- 
 creasing in membership, the number of believers at 
 present being about 40. 
 
 REV, FRANK S. SCUDUEP. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 29 
 
 The oldest centre for the work of the mission in Shin- 
 shu is Ueda, a town of 23,664 inhabitants. The Ueda 
 Church was organized October 8, 1876 with 37 members, 
 and it continued under the care of our mission, with 
 intervals of self-support, until the Synod (Daikwai) took 
 oversight of it in 1895. It is now self-supporting, and 
 their new pastor was installed in December, 1899. The 
 members of the church cordially work with the ladies of 
 the mission stationed in Ueda. 
 
 Although our mission 
 was so closely connected 
 with this work in Ueda 
 from as long ago as 1876, 
 it was not till the year 
 1894 that Miss Mary E. 
 
 Brokaw went there to re- 
 side, and was followed the 
 next year by Miss Mary 
 Deyo. They have devel- 
 oped the work among the 
 women and established 
 Sunday schools and wo- 
 men’s meetings through 
 all the towns and villages 
 in the neighbourhood, and 
 given a great impetus 
 to the whole evangelistic 
 work, rousing the church members to more activity and 
 zeal. Miss Brokaw remained till 1898, when she went to 
 America, and on her return to Japan was married to the 
 Rev. Wm. Y. Jones, of the Presbyterian Mission. Miss 
 Harriet Wyckoff went to be associated with Miss Deyo 
 in October, 1899, but returned to the Ferris Seminary in 
 April, 1900. 
 
 From Ueda and the neighbouring town of Komoro, a 
 place of 8,404 people, where the mission has carried on 
 work for years, mostly through the labors of the Rev. 
 Shigeto Maki, smaller places have been reached, but 
 no one of them is very prominent. At one time there 
 was an organized church at Kasuga, a small village of 
 2,631 persons in the mountains, but this was subsequent- 
 ly disbanded by the Classis, and lately the believers of 
 
30 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Usuda and Nozawa, formerly belonging to the Kasuga 
 Church, have been organized into the Usuda Church, 
 and are under the care of the Home Mission Board of the 
 Synod (Daikwai). 
 
 Another evangelistic field of the mission is in the north- 
 ern part of the main island, in the prefecture of Iwate 
 and Aomori. Work was commenced in Morioka by the 
 Rev. Taketaro Hayashi and his wife late in the year 
 1887. They were followed the next spring by Mr. E. R. 
 
 Miller and Mr. Torn 
 Miura, who removed there 
 permanently with their 
 families during the sum- 
 mer. After a little over 
 a year of labor Mr. Hay- 
 ashi removed to Mom- 
 betsu, a town on Volcano 
 Bay, in the Hokkaido, and 
 became pastor of the 
 church in that place. The 
 members of this churcn 
 later started a colony for 
 the support of the Hokkai 
 Orphan Asylum, of which 
 Mr. Hayashi became the 
 head, and has continued to 
 be the efficient manager 
 ever since. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miller were joined by Miss Leila M. Winn 
 in September 1891, who continued in Morioka till the 
 spring of 1894 when she removed to Aomori. 
 
 We are indebted also to the labors of the Rev. Geo. P. 
 Pierson, of the Presbyterian Mission, who kindly consen- 
 ted to take the oversight of the church work during Mr. 
 Miller’s absence in America, from May, 1892 to Decem- 
 ber, 1893. 
 
 Morioka, the capital of Iwate Prefecture, is a city of 
 34,000 inhabitants, at the head of navigation on the Kita- 
 gami River, the largest city north of Sendai, except 
 Niigata which is on the West coast. It is both the 
 tradal and educational centre of the whole northern part 
 
 REV, E. ROTHESAY MILLER. 
 
MORIOKA CHAPEL. 
 
32 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 of the country. There are some cocoons and rice raised, 
 but the principal products are lumber, cotton woven 
 goods, iron tea-kettles, a little lacquer, and other indus- 
 tries. The schools are of all kinds, from prim.ary up to 
 normal, and of late years, higher schools for girls have 
 been established. There are besides an agricultural 
 school and a v terinary school under the prefecture 
 government, and a central government has just issued 
 plans for the gradual building of a higher school for agri- 
 culture and forestry, the students for which will be 
 graduates of the Middle School. This school will be of 
 the same grade as that of the Agricultural College in 
 Satsuporo. 
 
 As a consequence of all these schools there is a large 
 number of students fiom all over the prefecture ; and 
 among those who listen to Christianity the young people 
 form the majority, the next larger class being the offi- 
 cials, comparatively few of the merchant class attend- 
 ing the services. Thus it happens that those who are 
 baptized are a movable quantity, the officials changing 
 every few years, and the young men growing up and 
 going away to other places either to complete their 
 studies, or to enter their life work. To be sure in after 
 years the,y may retui'n, but in the meantime the church 
 roll is continually changing, while the number of be- 
 lievers remains about the same from year to year. Had 
 all remained who he.ve joined the bo.1y of Christians 
 from :he beginning, there would be a strong self-sup- 
 porting church, for over one hundred have been bap- 
 tized and nearly half as many m.ore have been received 
 from other churches. The present membership is 92, 
 but of these only 23 are living in Morioka, of whom 5 are 
 children. 
 
 There is a Methodist Church in Morioka as well as a 
 Baptist one, in numbers not quite so large as our own. 
 The most cordial relations exist between the believers. 
 We have a union prayer meeting every month, which 
 meets in turn at the different churches, and an exchange 
 of pulpits monthly. There is also a monthly ministers’ 
 meeting, where items of moment are discussed, and 
 union meetings and matters of mutual interest are ar- 
 ranged for. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 33 
 
 In 1895 the lot for the church was bought, and the 
 same year the church and parsonage were built, the dea- 
 dication taking place on Christmas Day. The whole cost 
 was $1,968 gold, or $3,725 silver ; which includes the cost 
 of grounds, parsonage, church, and furnishing. 
 
 An interesting work has grown up in the prison. 
 In 1891 permission was obtained to hold preaching ser- 
 vices on Sunday afternoons for all those prisoners who 
 wished to attend. At first Mr. Miller, Mr. Poate of the 
 Baptist Mission, and Mr. Miura took turns in this ser- 
 vice : but after Mr. Poate and Mr. Miller went to 
 America in 1892, Mr. Miura carried on the work alone, 
 for even after Mr. Miller’s return in 1893, he could not 
 obtain permission to renew his work. Quite a number of 
 the prisoners have been deeply interested, and have pro- 
 fessed a desire to lead better lives, and some have asked 
 for baptism. As long as they remain in Morioka they at- 
 tend the services in the church, but as most of them are 
 from other parts of the prefecture, when they return to 
 their homes they have no opportunity to hear Christian- 
 ity, but we try not to lose sight of those who are in earn- 
 est. Before Mr. Miura left, Mr. Shimamura received 
 permission to carry on the work in the prison in his 
 place. 
 
 Mr. Muira after over 
 twelve years of faithful 
 service has been trans- 
 ferred to the Idzu field, on 
 account of his wife’s 
 health. He will reside for 
 the present in the city of 
 Shidzuoka. His place will 
 be supplied by Mr. H. 
 Shimamura, a graduate of 
 the Theological Depart- 
 ment of the Meiji Gakuin. 
 His wife is a graduate of 
 the Methodist Bible School 
 in Yokohama. 
 
 From 1888 work was 
 commenced in Hanamaki, 
 a town of 8,360 people 
 about 25 miles south of 
 
 REV. H. HARRIS 
 
34 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Morioka, on the line of the railroad, but after varying 
 success the work was given up, for nearly all the Chris- 
 tians had moved away, and no one came to the services, 
 and the worker in charge asked to be relieved. The be- 
 lievers are just now asking for occasional services and 
 offering to entertain the evangelist when he comes. 
 
 Work was opened in Ichinoseki in the summer of 1894. 
 This is a town on the borders of the prefecture, some 60 
 miles south of Morioka. Ichinoseki, including the con- 
 necting villages, contains some 12,822 inhabitants, which 
 makes it the largest place in the prefecture next to 
 Morioka, and lately it has become a school centre for that 
 part of the country, a Middle and Higher Primary School 
 having been built. 
 
 There is considerable interest among some cf the stu- 
 dents, and the work is doing well. Mr. and Mrs. Harris 
 labored here for one year, but in Septembei', 18P9 removed 
 to Aomori to take the place of Miss Winn, who had gone 
 home on furlough. At present the work is in charge of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miyagawa, who were married last January, 
 though Mr. Miyagawa had been laboring at Ichinoseki 
 since Mr. Harris went there. 
 
 Miss M. Leila Winn 
 went to Morioka in Sep- 
 tember, 1891, and remained 
 there during Mr. and 
 Mrs. Millers’ absence in 
 America, 1892-93. In 1894 
 she went to Aomori, a city 
 on the northern coast of 
 the main land, where 
 work had been started by 
 Mr. Maki in the autumn 
 of 1891. A lot of land was 
 purchased by the mission, 
 and a house built for Miss 
 Winn in 1895 ; and in 1899 
 a church was put up on 
 the Same lot, at a cost of 
 $950 gold. The dedicatory 
 services were held June 24, 
 1900. 
 
 MISS M. LEILA WINN. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 35 
 
 The work is doing well here. Mr. Nagayano, the evan- 
 gelist, having just removed to take up work in Nagano. 
 Mr. Akasu and his wife entered the field in September. 
 He has been laboring lately at Mito under the Board of 
 Home Missions of the Synod (Daikwai). 
 
 Aomori is a very enterprising place and is certain 
 to grow in importance, since it is the terminus of two 
 railroads, one the trunk-line from Tokyo to the north, 
 and the other from the west coast, by way of Akita and 
 Hirosaki. Within the last twelve years the growth has 
 been from 15,000 to 29,000, the streets have been paved 
 and electric lights introduced. All the trade by rail 
 front the main island to be shipped to the Hokkaido must 
 pass through Aomori ; but just on this account the popu- 
 lation is a shifting one, and not noted for its over hon- 
 esty ; but, on the other hand, they are not particularly 
 prejudiced against Christianity. They are not so conser- 
 vative as the people of the south, nor so accessible as 
 those of the Hokkaido. 
 
 In neither Morioka nor Aomori has a regular church 
 been organized, because neither place is yet able to sup- 
 port its own pastor. But according to the Constitution 
 of the Japanese Church, preaching places can be placed 
 in charge of certain ministers, who report them to Clas- 
 sis (Chukwai) as regular bodies of believers ; in this way 
 they have a certain standing and organization. They 
 are generally spoken of as churches, though technically 
 they are merely “ preaching places.” 
 
 The characteristics of these people of the north, in con- 
 tradistinction from those of the south, are inactivity in 
 business, politics, religion, and pretty much everything, 
 and indifference to all religious questions, not only to 
 Christianity but to Buddhism as well. Even the be- 
 lievers seem to be satisfied with having become Chris- 
 tians themselves, and do not feel the need of working for 
 others. However, these lukewarm believers generally 
 remain as they are, that is, though they are not active 
 Christians, they are not so apt to change as some of 
 those in the south. 
 
 The work is more hopeful in the north than it has been 
 for years, the interest being especially among the young 
 men in schools. 
 
36 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 III. Educational Work. 
 
 I. FERRIS SEMINARY. 
 
 When missionaries first came to Japan, although there 
 were schools and teachers for boys and young men, the 
 education of the girls was almost entirely neglected. 
 And even after the Educational Department was or- 
 ganized and a public school system established through- 
 out the country, it was a long time before girls were 
 found in any classes but those of the Primary Schools. 
 For this reason the first steps in the education of the 
 women of Japan on modern lines was inaugurated by the 
 missionaries. 
 
 The Reformed Church in America has the honor of 
 sending out tiie first woman to devote herself to the edu- 
 cation and Christianization of the women of Japan. 
 Miss Mary E. Kidder may be considered the pioneer in 
 this work, which has at the present time grov/n to such 
 large dimensions. For although Miss C. Adriance did 
 come out under our Board in 1859 with Dr. Brown’s 
 family, yet she grew discouraged and left for the Amoy 
 field. She died shortly afterwards in 1863. 
 
 Miss Kidder accompanied Dr. and Mrs. Brown on their 
 second visit to Japan in 1869, and as soon after landing in 
 Yokohama as the necessary preparations could be made 
 they left for Niigata, where Dr. Brown had been engaged 
 to teach in a government school, since at that time no 
 direct Christian work could be undertaken. Here amidst 
 purely Japanese surroundings she devoted herself to the 
 study of the language, using what slight helps were 
 available at that day. In this way she was preparing 
 herself for the work that came to her later. 
 
 In 1870 Dr. Brown having been transferred from the 
 school in Niigate to one in Yokohama, Miss Kidder ac- 
 companied him and Mrs. Brown, and in the autumn of 
 that year, at Mrs. Hepburn’s (Presbyterian Mission) re- 
 quest, took over a class of one boy and two girls, whom 
 Mrs. Hepburn h<*d taught to read. At the end of a year 
 she had six girls in the class, and so passed the boys on 
 to Mrs. Pierson, of the Women’s Union Missionary 
 Society, and kept the girls only, since she had come to 
 labor for the women of Japan. During the second year 
 
THE FERRIS SEMINARY, YOKOHAMA, 
 
33 
 
 The Noriii Japan Mission, 
 
 the class increased to 22, and in July she removed from 
 Dr. Hepburn’s dispensary, in which she met her class, 
 and which he had kindly placed at her disposal during 
 his absence in China, to a house outside of the foreign 
 concession situated in the official part of the city, which 
 ■was procured through the kindness of the governor, Mr. 
 Taku Oye, free of rent ; who also presented her with a 
 covered jinrikisha drawn by two coolies, as the school 
 was some miles away from her home. 
 
 This school was carried on for three years at the 
 house on Ise Yama, but was removed to its present posi- 
 tion on the Bluff in Yokohama in 1875, the plot of land 
 having been obtained from the government, through 
 the good offices of the governor, after a great deal of 
 diplomatic correspondence. 
 
 Miss Kate Hequembourg was sent out by the Board 
 to assist Miss Kidder in the school in November, 1872, 
 but her health soon failing she returned home in the 
 spring of 1874. 
 
 The lease of the lot 
 was placed in Mrs. Mil- 
 ler’s hands in November, 
 1874, at the same time that 
 the money came from the 
 Board for building the 
 school. Miss Emma C. 
 Whitbeck arrived the 
 same month to teach in 
 the school. 
 
 
 The Ferris Seminary 
 was opened on the 1st of 
 June ,1875. Prom this time 
 until the reurn of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Miller* to the United 
 States on furlough, in the 
 spring of 1879, Mr. Miller 
 assisted in the conduct of 
 
 MRS. E. ROTHESAY MII.I.ER. 
 
 * Mr. Miller came out to Japan In June, 1872, under the Presbyterian 
 Board, and was married to Miss Kidder in July, 1873. Although he resigned 
 from the Presbyterian Mission in September, 1874, he still continued to work 
 with that mission till the opening of the next year. He joined the Reformed 
 Mission in July 1875. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 39 
 
 the school. In the spring- of that year Mrs. Miller -was 
 ordered by her physician to return to America, and so re- 
 signed her connection with the school, leaving it in 
 charge of Miss Whitbeck. She was not, however, very 
 long alone, for the Misses Farrington, who had been sent 
 out to Nagasaki, had to leave there on account of ill- 
 health, and stopped in Yokohama, hoping that they 
 would be able to assist in the Seminary, but, to their 
 disappointment, the next year they were compelled to 
 return home permanently. 
 
 Miss H. L. Winn joined the mission in 1873, and at first 
 helped her uncle. Dr. Brown, to teach his classes of boys; 
 but upon the return of Dr. and Mrs. Brown to America 
 in 1879, she also came to assist in the Seminary, where 
 she remained until her marriage in 1887. 
 
 In 1881 Miss Witbeck returned to America, and the Rev. 
 Eugene S. Booth and his wife, who had come from Na- 
 gasaki in quest of health, were put in charge of the 
 Seminary, and, excepting the time of two furloughs 
 home, in 1886-7 and 1896-97, have been at its head ever 
 since. The position which the school holds today in the 
 eyes of the Japanese is due in a large measure to their 
 labors. 
 
 Soon after Mr. and Mrs. Booth’s advent there was a 
 great impetus felt all over Japan in the education of 
 women, and following this a large influx of pupils to the 
 Seminary, as to similar schools, so that the accommoda- 
 tions for the scholars were found to be too cramped, and 
 representation being made to the Board, the Woman’s 
 Board appropriated .$2,500 for the enlargement of the 
 school. These funds were supplemented, without solici- 
 tation, to the a 'It of about $800, by foreign mer- 
 chants and others residing in Yokohama, to whom it had 
 become known that the amount available was insuffi- 
 cient, owing to the appreciation in value of the local cur- 
 rency during the building of the addition. The enlarge- 
 ment was completed in the autumn of 1883. 
 
 Miss Carrie E. Ballagh joined the mission in June, 
 1888, and taught in the Boys’ Schol, Senshi Gakko, and 
 Ferris Seminary till her marriage, Aprii 8, 1885, to Fran- 
 cis W. Harrell, M. D., of the Episcopal Mission. 
 
 Miss M. Leila Winn came out to the Seminary in 1882, 
 
40 
 
 The North JAPi^N Mission. 
 
 aiid remained there till her furlough in 1890. After her 
 return to Japan she engaged in evangelistic work, at first 
 in Morioka and later in Aomori. 
 
 Miss Anna H. Ballagh also taught in the Ferris Sem- 
 inary from 1884 to 1887, when she married the Rev. R. E. 
 McAlpine of the Southern Presbyterian Mission. 
 
 During these years schools for girls were building all 
 over the land, for it had become a sort of fashion to be 
 interested in the education of women. The number of 
 pupils in Ferris Seminary rapidly increased, and many 
 applications had to be refused on account of want of 
 room ; so much so that hopes were entertained that were 
 the accommodations of the Seminary made commodious 
 enough, the income from tuition and other fees would be 
 sufficient to meet all expenses but the outlay for the 
 salaries of the missionaries and the maintenance of the 
 property. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Booth and 
 his family went to Amer- 
 ica, and while at home he 
 exerted himself to raise 
 money for the Seminary. 
 His efforts were so far 
 successful that on his re- 
 turn, in 1887, the mission 
 was able to purchase the 
 lot on which the school 
 stood and the adjoin- 
 ing one for the sum of 
 $3,000. The original lot 
 had been given by the 
 government for the pur- 
 )ses of the school, but as 
 some objections had been 
 raised to such a gift to a 
 
 REV. EUGENE S. BOOTH. 
 
 private establishment, and as it was thought better for 
 the mission to hold the property on the same footing as all 
 land was held in Yokohama, and the authorities them- 
 selves suggested the purchase at the nominal upset price 
 as the best solution o fthe difficulty, this was done and 
 the deed made out in the name of the Revs. Messrs. 
 Miller and Booth, as trustees for the Board. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 41 
 
 Although there were now more pupils than ever before, 
 and they remained longer In school, yet because the 
 studies pursued, aside from the prescribed Scripture les- 
 sons and English, were chiefly elective, and dependent 
 somewhat upon the ability of the Japanese teachers of 
 the different branches, there were but three pupils 
 graduated during these years. 
 
 The Ferris Seminary, in common with other mission 
 schools, has been severely criticized by the Japanese, 
 chiefly because, it was said, such schools educated the 
 girls so as to unfit them for the lives they had to lead 
 among thtir countrymen. The time of these anti-foreign 
 criticisms has passed, and the Japanese Christians, as 
 well as others of their countrymen, are begin»ing to ap- 
 preciate, as they have not before, the good that these 
 mission schools are doing for their countrywomen. 
 
 At the opening of the school in September, 1887, a de- 
 finite curriculum was made out by which the scholars 
 could be graded and their standing ascertained accord- 
 ingly. In consequence of this the school lost about forty 
 pupils. But even then there were more scholars than 
 could be accommodated, and a temporary annex, in the 
 form of a cheap Japanese house, had to be built, where 
 twenty-five pupils with a Japanese teacher — all volun- 
 teers — spent the winter. The faculty was augmented at 
 this time by the addition of several teachers, most of 
 whom were graduates of the school. 
 
 Miss Anna De F. Thompson came out in 1887, and has 
 been connected with the Seminary ever since. 
 
 Miss Mary Deyo came out in 1888, and remained in 
 Ferris Seminary till her furlough in 1894. Upon her re- 
 turn to Japan in 1895 she went into evangelistic work in 
 the town of Ueda, Shinshu. 
 
 Miss Mary E. Brokaw, who came first to Japan in 
 1884 to join the mission in Nagasaki, was transferred to 
 Yokohama in 1890, and taught for a while in Ferris Sem- 
 inary. In 1894 she went to Ueda to engage in evangelis- 
 tic work, and was joined the next year by Miss Deyo. 
 Miss Brokaw remained in Ueda till her return to Ameri- 
 ca in 1898. She came back to Japan and was married to 
 the Rev. Wm. Tates Jones of the East Japan Mission of 
 the Presbyterian Church in 1899. 
 
42 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Miss Julia Moulton began teaching in the Ferris Sem- 
 inary in November, 1888, and joined the mission in 1889. 
 She has been connected with the Seminary ever since. 
 
 Miss Harriet Wyckoff joined the mission in Septem- 
 ber, 1898, and has taught in Ferris Seminary since except 
 from October, 1899, to March, 1900, during which time she 
 was with Miss Deyo in Ueda. 
 
 A large addition to the Seminary was made by the 
 erection in 1889 of Van Schaick Hall, which was formally 
 opened on June 1st. It cost $15,000, of which more than 
 $1,000 were contributed by Japanese. It is named after 
 Miss Jane C. Van Schaick of Albany, New York, who 
 contributed largely towards its erection. This building 
 comprises on the first floor the principal’s office, four 
 class rooms, a reception room, Japanese headmaster’s 
 office, and the school physician’s dispensary ; in the 
 secand story, a chapel or audience room, with a seating 
 capacity for about 300, two rooms for foreign teachers, 
 and a dormitory of twenty rooms for the girls ; in a high 
 basement is a spacious dining hall, kitchen, and lava- 
 tories, while the whole upper floor is open for calis- 
 thenics and play. 
 
 From the central position occupied by the school on the 
 Bluff, where most of the foreign residents live, the 
 chapel is in great - and for all kinds of public meet- 
 ings. The mid-week and Sunday evening prayer meet- 
 ings of the Union Church, the meetings of the literary 
 and musical societies, and other occasional gatherings 
 bring in an income of several hundred yen, which goes 
 towards the maintenance of the building. 
 
 The Seminary had thus been substantially enlarged on 
 account of the increasing demand for accommodations of 
 would-be pupils and yet before its final completion there 
 was a revulsion in the mind of the people against for- 
 eigners in general, and so against schools carried on by 
 them. And, furthermore, the higher education of women 
 was not so much the fashion as it had been, so that there 
 was a falling off in the number of pupils and applicants 
 for admission. This antagonism to foreign influence was 
 felt in all similar schools throughout the country. But 
 now a reaction against this state of feeling is appearing, 
 and, what is much better, the Japanese are beginning to 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 43 
 
 realize that the education of the girls of the empire is 
 something so important that it cannot be carried on by 
 fits and starts, but must be pursued systematically, and, 
 furthermore, that the government accommodation for 
 the education of girls is entirely inadequate for the needs 
 of the country. According to the latest official statistics, 
 those to the close of the year 1897, the number of girls 
 attending schools of various kinds throughout the coun- 
 try is as follows : 
 
 
 a 
 
 9^ 
 
 OQ 
 
 1 X 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CQ 
 
 
 
 
 '■^'6 
 
 W — 
 
 '9’o 
 
 « — 
 
 
 go 
 
 - ^ 
 
 P ^ 
 
 G O 
 
 PG 
 
 « s- 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 occ 
 
 O 
 
 
 Dm <•> 
 
 
 
 
 Primary Schools 
 
 2 
 
 400 
 
 23,361 
 
 1 , 393,698 
 
 497 
 
 29,850 
 
 Common Middle Schools 
 
 3 
 
 359 
 
 
 
 
 
 Common Normal Schools 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 810 
 
 
 
 Higher Normal Schools 
 
 Colleges, etc 
 
 2 
 
 208 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 181 
 
 1,652 
 
 65 
 
 1,058 
 
 Higher Girls’ School 
 
 i 
 
 393 
 
 19 
 
 4,708 
 
 6 
 
 1,698 
 
 Miscellaneous Schools 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 17 
 
 951 
 
 1,082 
 
 17,521 
 
 Total 
 
 7 
 
 1,010 
 
 204 
 
 8,121 
 
 1,153 
 
 20,270 
 
 Grand Total, including 
 Primary Schools 
 
 9 
 
 1,410 
 
 26,625 
 
 1 , 410,819 
 
 1,650 
 
 50 127 
 
 Mission schools are not included in this list, unless it 
 may happen that some of them at that date were re- 
 ported as having received a government license. 
 
 The age for primary scholars is from 6 to 14, and the 
 number of girls of this age throughout the empire was 
 3,976,159, 
 
 while the number of girls between the ages of 11 and 20, 
 that is, those of the age to attend the Ferris Seminary 
 was 
 
 4,274,848. 
 
 The number of foreign teachers in the Ferris Seminary 
 has varied from one to five, reaching the maximum in. 
 the years 1889-1893. That of the Japanese teachers has 
 varied frorn two to twelve, reaching its maximum in 
 the years 1892-1895. 
 
 The foreign teachers at present are the Rev. E. S. 
 Booth, Miss Anna De P. Thompson, Miss Julia Moul- 
 
44 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 ton, and Miss Harriet Wyckoffi ; of whom Miss Moulton 
 devotes most of her time to teaching' music, vocal and in- 
 strumental, an important work in view of the evangeli- 
 zation of the country, since intelligent leaders of devo- 
 tional music are needed everywhere. There are four 
 Japanese teachers and three assistant teachers in draw- 
 ing, sewing, &c., and the Japanese Matron who, under 
 Mrs. Booth, looks after the girl’s deportment, visits 
 their homes if necessary, and receives all callers and in- 
 quirers. 
 
 The number of pupils who have entered the Seminary 
 is five hundred and fifty, their ages ranging from six to 
 eighteeen years, coming mostly from the middle and 
 upper classes of society, and representing nearly every 
 province in the empire. 
 
 There have been 72 graduates, of whom 7 have died ; 
 8 are teaching in Mission Schools ; 8 are engaged in work 
 under the direction of missionaries ; 1 is in the Bible 
 Course ; and 6 are otherwise employed ; one who has 
 not graduated is also working for the Salvation Army. 
 The present number of pupils is 54, of whom 24 are 
 Christians, and nearly all the graduates without excep- 
 tion were either baptized, or would have been so could 
 they have obtained the consent of their parents. 
 
 The first pupil from the Academic Course (di.3Continued 
 in 1897) graduated in 1882. She was Kashi Shimada, 
 whose name is familiar to a large circle of friends in 
 America. She died February 10, 1896, at the age of thir- 
 ty-three. She taught in the school for seven years. 
 After her marriage to Mr. Iwamoto she was active in 
 literary work as far as her family duties and health 
 would permit. The second class of two pupils graduated 
 in 1884 ; the third class did not graduate till 1889. In 1890 
 the first class was graduated from the Grammar Course. 
 
 The Ferris Seminary is at present divided into three 
 departments or courses; — the Preparatory, Grammar, and 
 Bible Courses. 
 
 1. The Preparatory Course is for four years, to which 
 girls of 11 years of age and over are admitted. 
 
 2. The Grammar Course is for four years; the studies 
 are in both Japanese and English, and the grade at- 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 45 
 
 tained is nearly equivalent to that of the grammar de- 
 partment in the public schools in America. 
 
 3 The Bible Course is for two years, and is especially 
 designed for those who expect to teach, or to engage in 
 evangelistic work. It includes a Normal Course in Bible 
 study, a chronological study of the whole Bible, and also 
 practical illustrations of the method of studying the Bible 
 by books and topics. 
 
 In the studies pursued and the instruction given no at- 
 tempt is made to supply the Japanese women with a 
 “ higher education ” in the sense in which that term is 
 appropriately used in Western lands. The aim of the 
 school is to combine the Christian home influence with 
 good practical education, adapted to the necessities of 
 awakened .lapan. To attain this end, not only are the 
 ordinary intellectual branches taught, and facility to read 
 and write both Japanese and English cultivated, but care- 
 ful attention is paid to the development and culture of 
 the physical nature as well. 
 
 The school, however, pays particular attention to the 
 development and upbuilding of the moral and spiritual 
 nature. Christian Ethics and the Word of God are made 
 subjects of daily class study. The object is to produce an 
 all-round Christian character, and relying on the graci- 
 ous co-operation of the Holy Spirit, the success of the 
 past will be an earnest of the years to come. 
 
 II. MAIJI GAKUIN. 
 
 The Meiji Gakuin is a school for boys and young men 
 under the auspices of the missions of the Reformed 
 Church in America and the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. 
 It is situated on the western edge of Tokyo, about five 
 miles from Tsukiji, the former Foreign Concession, and 
 also from the principal business centres, in Shirokane of 
 the Shiba District. 
 
 According to the Constitution of the Meiji Gakuin, 
 “ The aim of the institution is to furnish a thorough 
 Christian education, and especially to train young men 
 for the ministry,” and to carry out this aim it is divided 
 into two departments, the Academic and the Theological. 
 
46 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 The general government is lodged in a Board of Direc- 
 tors, composed of seven foreign and seven Japanese mem- 
 bers, the election of whom is provided for in the foiow- 
 ing manner : “ the foreign members shall be elected by 
 the co-operating missions. The Japanese members shall 
 be communicants in good and regular standing in the 
 Church of Christ in Japan ; and shall be elected by the 
 Board of Directors, for a term of two years.” The im- 
 mediate administration is under the faculties of the two 
 departments, all the professors of which are appointed 
 by the Board of Directors ; but, as a matter of fact, any 
 one designated by one of the missions has always been 
 appointed by the Board. 
 
 Origin of the Theological Department. 
 
 The Meiji Gakuin as it now stands is a growth, and to 
 understand this growth we must look back at its history. 
 As early as 1S70 Dr. S. R. Brown, on his removal from 
 Niigata to Yokohama, started classes in his own house, 
 where he taught elementary subjects, and later theologi- 
 cal studies. In this teaching he was assisted by his 
 daughter, as well as by other members of the mission. 
 These classes were continued till 1S79, when Dr. Brown 
 returned to America. 
 
 Union Theological School. 
 
 Two years before this, after the formation of the United 
 Church of Christ (1877), the three missions belonging to 
 the Council united in theological school work, and in the 
 autumn of 1877 opened the Union Theological School in 
 Tsukiji, Tokyo. Each mission appointed one of its mem- 
 bers .a permanent teacher in the school, though other 
 members of the mission taught special branches as they 
 were able. The permanent instructors were the Rev. 
 S. G. McLaren of the Scotch Presbyterian Mission, who 
 remained connected with the school until he left Japan ; 
 the Rev. Jas. L. Amerman of the Reformed Mission, who 
 also was connected with it till he returned permanently to 
 America in 1892 ; and the Rev. William Imbrie of the 
 Presbyterian Mission U. S. A. 
 
 Origin of the Academic Department. 
 
 The Presbyterian Mission had a. flourishing school for 
 boys in Yokohama under the care of Mr. John C. Bal- 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 47 
 
 lagh. .This was removed to Tokyo in 1880, and its name 
 changed to the Tsukiji College (Tsuklji Dai Gakko). 
 
 Mr. Martin N. Wyckoff came out under the Reformed 
 Mission in 1881, and in the same year organized a school 
 in Yokohama known as the Seishi Gakko ; this was well 
 sustained and successful. In 1883 it was removed to 
 Tokyo and united with the Tsukiji College of the Presby- 
 terian Mission, the two becoming the Union College. 
 
 In 1886 the Meiji Gakuin 
 was organized, in which 
 the Union College became 
 the Academic Department, 
 and the Union Theologi- 
 cal School, the Theologi- 
 cal Department. And the 
 next year the brick build- 
 ing No. 17 Tsukiji was 
 erected for the accommo- 
 dation of the Union Theo- 
 logical School, and the 
 Theological Department of 
 the Meiji Gakuin contin- 
 ued to use it even after 
 the Academic Department 
 was removed from the 
 Union College to Shiro- 
 kane (1887), until 1899, at which time the new Theological 
 Hall was erected on the grounds of the Meiji Gakuin. 
 
 In 1887 Sandham and Hepburn Halls were built on the 
 newly acquired grounds at Shirokane, in the Shiba Dis- 
 trict of Tokyo, and the Academic Department opened its 
 full term there. Sandham Hall, the gift of Mrs. S. A. 
 Sandham of New York City, contains eight class rooms, 
 besides offices and a large room used for chapel and 
 Commencement exercises capable of holding nearly 300 
 people. Hepburn Hall, built chiefly through the liberal- 
 ity of Dr. Hepburn, Is a dormitory for students, and con- 
 tains 60 rooms for 120 or more boarders. 
 
 Harris Hall was built in 1888 by the Messrs. Harris of 
 Philadelphia, the materials used being those of the Union 
 College building in Tsukiji. This serves as a dormitory 
 for the theological students, and has been for some years 
 
 MARTIN N. WYCKOFF, SC.D. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 also the residence of Mr. Kumano, who as Kanji has the 
 immediate supervision of the students. 
 
 There are four dwellling houses for the teachers. One 
 was built by Dr. Hepburn, and the other three by the 
 Presbyterian Mission, and if one of them is occupied by a 
 member of another mission the rent received is used for 
 the maintenance of scholarships and other school ex- 
 penses. 
 
 After the new Theological Hall was built the library 
 was re-organized, and those of the two Departments were 
 united. The Reformed and Presbyterian Missions had 
 made annual grants towards the library fund for some 
 years, and Dr. Chas. K. Imbrie of Jersey City presented 
 his library of 700 volumes, so that at present there is a 
 large and well selected library of about 8,000 volumes, 
 housed in a convenient room built for the purpose in the 
 Theological Hall. 
 
 The property given by Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Miller in 
 1888 for the erection of a chapel for the Meiji Gakuin was 
 sold in 1898. The whole sum realized from the sale, with' 
 accrued rent and interest, was Yen 13,633.08. As neither 
 at that time nor previously was there any need of a 
 chapel for the students, beyond the present large audi- 
 ence room in Sandham Hall, the funds were, with the 
 full consent of the Board of Directors of the Meiji Ga- 
 kuin, given in trust to the Board of Foreign Missions of 
 the R. C. A., to be used by it for the original purpose, 
 should it be so needed, or failing that, in some other way 
 as directed by the donors, or if not so directed, as the 
 Board see fit to use it. 
 
 History. 
 
 Since the organization of the Meiji Gakuin there have 
 been changes of all kinds, in the personnel of the in- 
 structors and the classes, curricula, et cetera, of both De- 
 partments, of which it is not necessary to speak in de- 
 tail. Among them the following may be noted : 
 
 At one time the Preparatory Classes to the Academic 
 Department were established in Kanda, the student quar- 
 ter of the city. But the advantages which were hoped 
 to accrue from this move — especially a large increase in 
 the students of the main course — did not take place, and 
 after a trial of five years the plan was given up. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 49 
 
 In the Theological Department, in 1889, an innovation 
 was introduced when it was seen that there was a large 
 class of men who were too old to take a long course in 
 theology and so to prepare themselves for the office of 
 ministers of the gospel ; but who ,it was thought, could 
 do good work in the churches if they had a course special- 
 ly suited to their wants and abilities and the time at 
 their disposal. At the suggestion of some of the Japan- 
 ese ministers, the Reformed and Presbyterian Missions 
 established such a class, using the building in Tsukiji, 
 which had been vacated by the removal of the Theologi- 
 cal Department to Shirokane, for the purposes of instruc- 
 tion. There were over 70 applicants for admission ; but 
 as so many could not be accommodated some 30 were 
 selected. 
 
 It should be remembered that this class of evangelists 
 was not intended as a rule to enter the regular ministry. 
 It was hoped rather that the majority of them, while 
 better prepared for efficient Christian work, would not 
 abandon their former callings. 
 
 The class began with bright prospects and was con- 
 tinued for several years, but was finally discontinued for 
 want of material. A very small proportion of the men 
 proved to be efficient workers, and the experiment was a 
 disappointment. 
 
 In 1891 Dr. Hepburn resigned his position as Pr3sident, 
 which he had held since 1887, and in his place the Rev. 
 Kajinosuke Ibuka was elected to the post, which he has 
 filled so well and so acceptably ever since. The next 
 year the institution lost the services of Dr. Amerman, 
 who had been so closely connected with it and had done 
 so much for it from the beginning. He has left a record 
 in the number of works translated into Japanese, chiefly 
 the results of his lectures on Systematic Theology. In 
 the same year Dr. Knox, who also had done efficient 
 work as a teacher, retired to return to America. The 
 Meiji Gakuin lost severely in the deaths of Prof. Ishi- 
 moto, who was studying in America when he died, and 
 of Dr. J. C. McCauley of the Presbyterian Mission. 
 
 It is well for us to note that from the time when Dr. 
 Amerman left in 1892 until Dr. Poppen came to Japan in 
 1896 there was no regular professor in the Theological 
 
50 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Department from our mission, though Dr. Verbeck and 
 Mr. Miller taught to supply the deficiency ; and since the 
 departure of Dr. Poppen for America in 1898, our mission 
 has had no representative in the Theological Depart- 
 ment at all. 
 
 We hope from negotir lions now pending that the 
 Southern Presbyterian Mission may be able to send one 
 of its members to occupy a chair in the Faculty, and so 
 help to increase the power of the institution for good. 
 
 For some years the general idea has been to conform 
 the curriculum of the Academic Department as far as 
 possible to that of the government Common Middle 
 Schools, so that the gr.aduates could enter the Higher 
 Middle Schools, and so advance to the University. 
 
 From time to time the number of students in both the 
 Departments has fluctuated. At one time everything for- 
 eign was regarded with favor, and schools where English 
 was taught by foreigners were in special esteem. The 
 year 1890 was the most flourishing in the history of the 
 Theological Department. There were 19 graduates, and 19 
 men entered the Junior Clas. But in 1897 the number of 
 students in both the Academic and Theological Depart- 
 ments fell away in a marked degree. The chief cause 
 operating in the Academic Department was the existence 
 of a general anti-foreign and anti-Christian feeling ac- 
 companied by improvement in the government schools. 
 In the Theological Departm.ent several causes combined 
 to reduce the number of students. A smaller number of 
 converts than previously among the young men ; a 
 change in the evangelistic spirit in the churches ; increas- 
 ing opportunities for entering secular callings of various 
 kinds in which relatively high salaries could be obtained ; 
 and the adoption of a polic” to employ fewer workers ; 
 so adding to the uncertainty of employmcni after gradu- 
 al ion. The number of students in the Academic Depart- 
 ment is now rising again, and the outlook is more pro- 
 mising than it has been for several years ; and Vv'hile the 
 number of students in the Theological Department is 
 now smaller than ever before, there never was a time 
 when the need of trained workers was so keenly felt and 
 expressed by the missions. It is to be hoped that the very 
 need will in various ways load to a supply. 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 51 
 
 Within late years several students in the higher clas- 
 ses have come from Japanese schools, which has given an 
 opportunity to compare the students of these schools with 
 those of the Meiji Gakuin, and with the following re- 
 sult : — In scholarship the students of the Meiji Gakuin 
 compare favorably with the new comers. In English 
 they are nearly always superior, though in mathematics 
 and other subjects t.aught exclusively in Japanese they 
 in some instances fall behind. In punctuality and con- 
 duct generally the contrast is manifest. Those who have 
 been several years in school seem like a different kind 
 of boy from their classmates. This may be due in part 
 to the fact that they come from Christian homes, but 
 large credit is also due to the school training. 
 
 It is interesting to note in this connection that the class 
 of students who are coming to the school is more and 
 more largely from a Christian constituency. And this is 
 as it should be. One of the great objects of the founders 
 was to provide a school where Christian parents could 
 send their boys, knowing that they would be under re- 
 ligious influence, and where, too, their companions would 
 bo in a large measure those whom they would choose for 
 their sons. For it must not be lost sight of for a moment 
 that the tendency of the government schools is not only 
 un-Christian, but directly anti-Christian ; and on the 
 other hand that the school exercises a decidedly Christian 
 influence on all the students, so much so that there is a 
 large per cent, of the scholars who profess Christianity 
 while in school. 
 
 Purpose. 
 
 The purpose of the Academic Department is to give a 
 Christian education, that is, to give as good a general 
 education as is posible within the limits of the institu- 
 tion ; and at the same time to give instruction in the 
 truths of Christianity, and endeavor to build up Chris- 
 tian character. In pursuance of this the Bible is in the 
 regular currriculum, and there are religious meetings 
 held by the teachers with the students, and also by the 
 students among themselves. A T. M. C. A. is formed 
 among the young men, and some of them help in teaching 
 in Sunday schools in the neighbourhood. At one time 
 there was a church organized by the Classis of the Chris- 
 
THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT AND LIIiRARY, MEIJI GAKUIN, TOKYO. 
 
53 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 tian members of the institution. But this was afterwards 
 disbanded, and now those who become Christians while 
 in school generally join a church in the immediate 
 vicinity. 
 
 The course of instruction in the Theological Depart- 
 ment includes at present the following subjects : — Old 
 Testament Introduction, History, and Theology ; New 
 Testament Introduction and Theology, the Life of Christ, 
 and Exegesis of the Epistles ; Reading in English, Gen- 
 eral History, History of the Church and History of Doc- 
 trine ; Church Polity, Homiletics, Ethics, Apologetics, 
 Philosophy of Religion, and Systematic Theology. A 
 course of lectures on Pastoral Theology is generally de- 
 livered by one of the Japanese pastors in the city or 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 All the students are during the term engaged in religi- 
 ous work among the different churches or Sunday schools 
 of the city ; some of them regularly supply preaching sta- 
 tions in and around the city. 
 
 There have been 143 giaduates from the Meiji Gakuin 
 Theological Department, including those of the Hnion 
 Theological School. Of these 78 are now in the service of 
 the Church of Christ in Japan, and 12 in that of other 
 evangelical churches. Eight (4 of whom are included in 
 the 78) are teachers in Christian schools. Eleven are 
 teachers in government or other schools. Eleven have 
 died : 15 are in other callings ; of 12 the Meiji Gakuin 
 lias no knowledge. 
 
 Before closing this account of the Meiji Gakuin there 
 are two subjects which ought to be alluded to, on account 
 of the relation they bear to the cause of education in 
 general and to Christian schools in particular. The first 
 of these is the Rescript of the Emperor on the subject of 
 Education, issued in 1893. This document in itself is not 
 remarkable, and contains no reference to religion. In 
 any other country it would have been commended when 
 first promulgated, and then allowed to drop into forget- 
 fulness ; but in Japan it has been raised into a fetish. 
 Although doubtless there was no such design on the part 
 of the Emperor when he signed it, it has been made by 
 the Department of Education the basis of all moral in- 
 struction throughout the schools of the empire ; and at 
 
54 
 
 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 least once a year all the scholars are assembled in their 
 various schoools and made to listen to the formal readin.i; 
 of the document, and then bow before the pictures of 
 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. In some 
 schools, in the Hokkaido for instance, these portraits of 
 Their Majesties are kept in a shrine built for the pur- 
 pose, which in shape, position, et cetera, is like any idol 
 shrine. A professor lost his position for daring to criti- 
 cise the style in which the document was written ; and 
 teachers have lost their positions for refusing to bow be- 
 fore the portraits, because they as Christians held that 
 such bowing would be religious worship. 
 
 The other subject worth mentioning is the issuance of 
 an Instruction by the Minister of Education, in reference 
 to an Imperial Ordinance. Before going into this matter 
 it is interesting to note that it seems to set at rest the 
 question as to whether the bowing before the portraits 
 of Their Majesties is religious worship or mere homage. 
 It decides definitely for the latter, because the Instruc- 
 tion says, “ religious instruction must not be given, or 
 religious ceremonies be performed at Government 
 Schools, Public Schools,” etc. 
 
 On the 3rd day of August, 1899, the day before the 
 French and Austrian Treaties went into operation (the 
 other treaties having gone into operation on the 17th of 
 July), the Minister of State for Education, Count Kaba- 
 yama, issued over his si -nature the following Instruc- 
 tion (12). 
 
 “ It being essential from the point of view of educa- 
 tional administration, that general education should be 
 independent of religion, religious instruction must not be 
 given, or religious ceremonies be performed, at Govern- 
 ment Schools, Public Schools, or schools whose curricula 
 are regulated by provisions of law, even outside the regu- 
 lar course of instruction.” 
 
 On the 16th of the month representatives from six 
 Christian schools — Aoyama Gakuin, Azabu Eiwa Gakko, 
 Doshisha, Rikkyo Chu Gakko, Meiji Gakuin, and Nagoya 
 Eiwa Gakko— met in Tokyo to consider what steps ought 
 to be taken by them in reference to this Instruction. 
 
 Resolutions were passed declaring that they would for- 
 feit their licensed privileges rather than give up their 
 
The Nori h Japan Mission. 
 
 55 
 
 Christianity, and at the same time a representative com- 
 mittee was formed who were to see the Minister of Edu- 
 cation and see if relief could not be obtained from the 
 action of the Instruction. 
 
 This committee subsequently had interviews with the 
 Minister, Vice-Minister, and Counsellor of the Depart- 
 ment ; but the relief desired was not obtained. The only 
 concession was that schools might hold religious exer- 
 cises out of school hours, if such exercises were con- 
 ducted by the individual teachers as individuals, and not 
 by the schools as schools. 
 
 The action of this committee was afterwards confirmed 
 by a Conference on Educational Matters gathered in Tok- 
 yo of the missionaries from all over Japan. Many inter- 
 esting things were elicited at this time, and the Con- 
 vention cordially requested the Committee to continue to 
 act as the representative of the Convention. 
 
 The matter stands as follows ; In one case a 
 Mission School has retained its place in the gov- 
 ernment system and thereby submitted to the res- 
 trictions of the Instruction. In another case a school 
 has submitted to the restrictions, but in conse- 
 quence the Mission previously connected with it has 
 severed this connection. In all other cases, including the 
 Meiji Gakuin, the schools have given up their connection 
 with the government system for the sake of the principle 
 involved ; and it now seems likely that the government 
 will make a special announcement which will indirectly 
 restore to them the privilege desired. 
 
 Literary Work. 
 
 Dr. S. R. Brown : Translation and Revision of the New 
 Testament; A Grammar, and a Phrase Book on the Mas- 
 tery System. 
 
 Dr. Verbeck : Translation and Revision of the Old 
 Testament, especially the Psalms ; A Synopsis of all the 
 Conjugations of the Japanese Verbs, a most valuable 
 book, which is not at all appreciated by beginners. 
 Tracts : “Christianity will never become a useless thing,” 
 “ Worship of God,” “ Misunderstandings about Chris- 
 tianity Corrected,” etc. 
 
f6 The North Japan Mission. 
 
 Dr. Amerman : The Theology of the New Testament ; 
 Theism; The Attributes of God and the Trinity ; The 
 Divine Decrees ; Anthropology ; The Creation of the 
 World; Soteriology; Church Government; The Gospel of 
 Mark in Colloquial. All in collaboration with the Rev. 
 K. Ibuka, M. A. 
 
 Mr. Miller ; With Dr. Brown the translation of the 
 Heidelberg Catechism, and later the revision of the 
 same; Reformed Church Liturgy. From Jan. 1S97 to July 
 1898, edited and published the translation of the Inter- 
 national Bible Lessons. 
 
 Mrs. Miller: From 1882 edited the “Glad Tidings,” a 
 semi-monthly with an edition of 3,100, and the “ Little 
 Tidings ” since 1894, which has an edition of 4,300. 
 
 Dr. Wtckoff ; “ Beginners Composition and Phrase 
 Book.” 
 
 Mr. Scudder: Work on the Sunday School Lessons. 
 
 LIST OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Went out. Retired. 
 
 Rev. S. R. Brown, D. D.* and 
 Brown* 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 1859 
 
 1879* 
 
 D. B. Simmons, M. D.* and 
 Simmons 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 1859 
 
 1860 
 
 Miss C. Adriance* 
 
 
 1859 
 
 1860 
 
 Rev. G. F. Verbeck, D. D.* and 
 Verbeck 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 1859 
 
 1898 
 
 Rev. Jas. H. Ballagh and 
 Ballagh 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 1861 
 
 
 Miss Mary E. Kidder (Mrs. E. Rothe- 
 say Miller) 
 
 1869 
 
 
 Rev. C. H. H. Wolff* and 
 Wolff 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 1871 
 
 1876 
 
 Miss S. K. M. Hequembourg ... 
 
 
 1872 
 
 1874 
 
 Miss Emma C. Witbeck 
 
 
 1874 
 
 1882 
 
 Rev. E. Rothesay Miller 
 
 
 1875 
 
 
 Rev. J. L. Amerman, D. D. 
 Mrs. Amerman 
 
 and 
 
 1876 
 
 1893 
 
 Miss Harriet L. Winn 
 
 
 1878 
 
 1887 
 
 Miss Elizabeth F. Farrington.. 
 
 
 1878 
 
 1879 
 
The North Japan Mission. 
 
 57 
 
 Miss Mamie J. Farrington 1878 1879 
 
 Rev. Eugene S. Booth and Mrs. 
 
 Booth 1879 
 
 Miss Carrie E. Ballagh 1881 1885 
 
 Prof. Martin N. Wyckoff, Sc. D. and 
 
 Mrs. Wyckoff 1881 
 
 Miss Carrie E. Ballagh 1881 1885 
 
 Miss M. Leila Winn 1882 
 
 Rev. Howard Harris and Mrs. 
 
 Harris 1884 
 
 Miss Mary E. Brokaw 1884 1899 
 
 Miss Anna DeF. Thompson 1887 
 
 Miss Mary Deyo 1888 
 
 Miss Julia Moulton 1888 
 
 Rev. Jacob Poppen, Ph. D. and Mrs. 
 
 Poppen 1896 1898 
 
 Rev. Frank S. Scudder and Mrs. 
 
 Scudder 1897 
 
 Mrs. J. D. Schenck 1897 
 
 Miss Harriet Wyckoff 1898 
 
 *Deceased.