V 
 
 
 3^3iipaN-\. 
 
 THE EARLY DIFFICULTIES AND PRESENT 
 OPPORTUNITIES FOR MISSION WORK 
 IN JAPAN, 
 
 AS A GROUND OF THANKSGIVING AND INCENTIVE TO RENEWED 
 CONSECRATION. 
 
 A Paper read at a meeting of the Missionary Association of Central 
 
 Japan, Osaka, December 15th, 1891, 
 By Eev. J. D. Davis, D.D. 
 
 The writer of this paper landed in Kobe, Dec. 1, 1871, and in 
 speaking of the early difficulties he makes no apology for speaking 
 from his own experience and observation of the condition of things 
 as they existed at that time and in the years immediately following. 
 
 That year witnessed the abolition of Feudalism, the dispatch of 
 the first great Embassy to foreign lands, the beginning of the first 
 railway, and if I mistake not, the beginning of the Post Office 
 system and the starting of the first newspaper. It was the com- 
 mencement of that era of rapid material change which has astonished 
 the world during the last twenty years. In speaking of the early 
 difficulties, we notice: — 
 
 First.- — The fewness in number of the Missionaries. There were 
 then only twenty Missionaries in Japan. At the first general 
 Conference which was opened in Yokohama, Sept. 20, 1872, only 
 fourteen Missionaries were present. At this time, there were only 
 four unmarried Missionary ladies in Japan, and the grave doubt was 
 expressed in that Conference of the wisdom of unmarried ladies 
 coming out into the field. 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 Secondly . — We notice the (h'Jp.cnlty of fi-avel. There ^Yel■e then 
 no railroads ; very few Japanese steamers ; and, outside the large 
 cities, few roads suitable for jinrikisha, even if there had been any 
 jinrikisha in which to ride. The journey from Kobe to Osaka was 
 by steamer, occupying from three to six hours ; from Osaka to Kyoto, 
 later, the choice was by jinrikisha, or by an eight hour steamer ride 
 to Fushimi, and then by jinrikisha. 
 
 Wlien the writer landed in Kobe, there was no street leading up 
 from the shore, wide enough for a narrow goods-cart even, and his 
 goods were carried up the hill from the wharf on the shoulders of 
 coolies. In a journey to Arima, Sanda, or other places in the 
 interior, the choice was between walking, a kago, or a pack-horse. 
 
 Thirdly. — We notice the lack of helps in lea7-ning the language. 
 We had only the first edition of Hepburn’s Dictionary and Hoffman’s 
 Grammar of the written language, the latter prepared by a Hollander 
 who had never been in Japan. The writer was told before leaving 
 the United States, that he could not be sure of finding even those 
 books in Japan, and he sent to Germany for them, paying thirty-six 
 dollars gold, for the dictionary, and six dollars for the grammar. 
 Koyeki Hondo was one of the first books published in the colloquial 
 language, and that was i>rinted from blocks so miserably executed 
 that it was difficult to read. 
 
 So great was the fear on the part of the people in reference to 
 Christianity, that it was very difficult in this part of Japan to secure 
 a teacher who would remain with a missionary more than a few days 
 or weeks; and those young men whom we could secure, knew very 
 little of the structure of the language, and as to teaching it, they 
 accommodated their idiom to the pigeon Japanese of the foreigners. 
 There was then no Christian language, it was yet to be created. 
 
 Fourthly. — We notice the fact that there was as yet no Christian 
 literature. No part of the Bible had been printed, and so far as the 
 writer knows, no tracts had been prepared. We were limited to the 
 Bible in the Chinese language without the Jcunten, and to “Dr. 
 Martin’s Evidences of Christianity,” in Chinese. 
 
 On account of the fear, which had possession of the people, 
 the preparation and printing of Christian books were very difficult, 
 and the prejudice of all scholars against writing anything in the 
 colloqual was an almost insuperable barrier against -the preparation 
 
( 3 ; 
 
 of any books or tracts for the masses. In the summer of 1873, 
 the writer sat under the maples by the waterfall in Arima, the 
 only Missionary in the place, and wrote in Romaji, in his broken 
 Japanese, the first draft of a little tract ; two months later, 
 when his teacher had copied this into Japanese, he asked him to 
 revise it, and it came back in such high Chinese that none of the 
 common people could read it; he then asked a scholar of the pure 
 Japanese language, to put it into such language that the masses could 
 read it, and after another month, it came back about fifty degrees 
 higher yet ; tlie writer then took his orginal draft and sat down by 
 his teacher and fought it over word by word and sentence by sentence, 
 demanding that the words which could be understood by the greatest 
 number of the common people should be used, and after two months 
 more it was ready for the block-cutter ; but his teacher begged of the 
 writer not to let any one know who helped in the preparation of it, 
 as he would be ashamed to have it known that he prepared so col- 
 loquial a book. This, the “ Chika llichi," was one of the very first 
 tracts prepared, and within ten years over 100,000 copies of it had 
 been circulated. 
 
 Of hymns, at first, we had none or worse than none. One of the 
 first began: “Yoi kuni arimas, taiso empo.” — A poor attempt to 
 translate the hymn — “ There is a happy land, far, far away.” How 
 great the dearth of hymns was, may be perhaps most forcibly 
 expressed by the statement that the writer himself prepared six or 
 eight hymns which were published in the first hymn book in our 
 churches; a few of them have been revised and are still in use, but 
 most of then have gone with the “ Yoi kuni arimas, taiso empo.” 
 
 Fifthly. — Let us notice a little in detail the great fear on the part 
 of the people. The edicts against Christianity which had been posted 
 upon the bulletin boards all over the empire for two hundred and 
 fifty years, and which made the profession of Christianity a capital 
 offence, and offered large rewards to all informers, had been re-affirmed 
 by the Mikado, on his restoration in 1868, and were still to be seen 
 all over Japan. They were not removed until after the edict of 
 February 24, 1873. 
 
 The year in which the writer came to Japan, Rev. 0. H. Guliok’s 
 teacher, Yeinosuki Ichikawa, and his wife, were seized at midnight in 
 their home in Kobe, because he had in his possession and read a copy, 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 in manuscript, of the Gospel of Mark, which had been translated by 
 Dr. Hepburn, and no effort on the part of the missionaries, nor the 
 kindly offices of the American Consul, nor even those of the American 
 Minister, availed to even learn where this brother was confined, and 
 it was only after nearly two years, that we learned that he had died in 
 prison in Kyoto, November 25, 1872. Early in the winter of 1872-3, 
 the writer in company with Dr. Greene, called upon His Excellency, 
 Kanda Kohei, then Governor of the Hiogo Ken, to ask him to make 
 inquiries in regard to Mr. Ichikawa; the Governor told us during that 
 interview, that if this man had not received baptism, there might he 
 some hope of saving his life, but that if he had received baptism, 
 there was no hope. He also told us that if it came to his knowledge 
 that a Japanese bookseller in Kobe, had sold even a copy of the 
 English Bible, it would be his duty, acting under orders from Tokyo, 
 to arrest that man and send him to prison. 
 
 About the beginning of 1874, Mr. Imamura, now of the Fukuin- 
 sha, made a visit to his native place, near Kanazawa; the writer gave 
 him two hundred and fifty copies of the Chika Michi, and some copies 
 of another tract which he had prepared, and Mr. Imamura gave them 
 to his friends in his native place. Soon afterwards Mr. Imamura, 
 who then lived in Kobe, was arrested by an order from the Governor 
 of the Kanazawa Ken, on a charge of distributing forbidden litera- 
 ture, and it was nearly two years before he was finally dismissed. 
 Complaint was also made to the American Consul in Kobe against 
 the writer, and, I hold in my hands a letter, received from the United 
 States Consul in Kobe, dated, June 19, 1876, in which he says, “I 
 avail myself of this opportunity to congratulate you and the American 
 Board of Missions, on the acquittal and honorable discharge of 
 Imamura Kenkichi, and the vindication of the work which you have 
 so zealously labored to achieve.” 
 
 We entered Kyoto sixteen years ago last October, but such was 
 the prejudice of the people against Christianity that it was many 
 years before any buildings could be rented for religious services. 
 The home of the writer was a preaching place in the city of Kyoto 
 for five years, and some of the time nearly every room in the house 
 was occupied with a Bible class each Sabbath evening. 
 
 Sixthly. — Let us notice the fewness in number of the Japanese 
 Christians. Twenty years ago it might almost be said that there 
 
C 5 ) 
 
 were no Japanese Christians; the few who had been baptised, had 
 been baptised in secret as it were. Previous to t])e spring of 1872, 
 but ten persons had received baptism at the hands of Protestant 
 Missionaries in Japan; five in tlie region of Tol<)o and five in the 
 island of Kiushu; in central Japan, not one. The first Japanese 
 prayer meeting began in Yokohama, in January, 1872, and the first 
 Protestant Church was organized in March of that year, with eleven 
 members. It was not until the spring of 1874, that churches were 
 organized in Central Japan; when one, of eleven members, was 
 organized in Kobe; and one, of seven members, in Osaka; both 
 in connection with the work of the Mission of the American Board. 
 
 Seventhly. — It ought to be mentioned as another difficulty, that 
 before we had any part of the Bible translated and in circulation, 
 and before we had any Christian books or tracts, or native Christians, 
 and before we could openly preach or teach the Gospel, Japan was 
 filled with Western scepticism and materalism, books along these 
 lines being circulated both in the English and Japanese languages. 
 
 How different is the outlook to-day ? 
 
 The twenty missionaries of twenty years ago have become, in- 
 cluding the wives of missionaries, nearly six hundred; instead of only 
 four unmarried female missionaries, we now have about two hundred; 
 The waters of the coasts of Japan are ploughed by steamers in every 
 direction; nearly two thousand miles of railroads are in operation, 
 and thousands of miles of jinrikisha roads are found, while a network 
 of telegraph wires is spread over the land and the postal facilities extend 
 to the remotest handet; and these railroads, steamers, telegraphs and 
 post-offices are all the ready servants of the messengers of the Cross. 
 
 A legion of books have been prepared to assist the beginner in 
 learning the language. A Christian vocabulary has been created, 
 and fairly good teachers are to be secured. The whole Bible is 
 published in the language of the people, and commentaries have been 
 prepared on the whole of the New Testament; a good beginning has 
 also been made in the preparation of books and tiacts. It is no 
 longer a disgrace to publish a book in a language which can be read. 
 
 The fear which existed twenty years ago, is well nigh gone; 
 religious freedom is guaranteed in the Constitution, and there is a 
 readiness to hear on the part of the people, in most places 
 throughout the empire, which calls for a manifold larger number of- 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 direct evangelistic ■workers than are at present engaged in that 
 work in Japan. 
 
 The ten protestant Christians of twenty years ago, have become 
 more than tliirty thousand, organized into over two himdred 
 churches, with about one hundred and thirty ordained Japanese 
 pastors, and nearly five hundred other Japanese evangelists and 
 witli nearly four hundred men in training in theological schools. 
 
 The foundations of these churches were laid in the midst of 
 great opposition, and when it cost something to profess the 
 Christian religion, and for that reason, they were well laid; we may 
 certainly thank God, and take courage that the infant church in 
 Japan has so well withstood the attack which came in such 
 subtle form, so early in its history, from semi-materialism and 
 rationalism. The faith of some of us is rebuked. 
 
 The forty millions of Japan are not yet reached and saved, but 
 the present force of foreign and Japanese workers ought to 
 contain within itself the promise and potency of that result. If 
 there are any workers in the great world-field who ought to he 
 thankful and encouraged, and who ought to press forward to the 
 final victory, it is those in Japan. 
 
 The writer is profoundly grateful that this subject has been 
 chosen for to-day. It is fitting at the close of this year, that we 
 look backward and forward, and, if we are to at all adequately 
 meet the present which is upon us, and make the future a glorious 
 future, it is necessary that we look upward. 
 
 It is eminently fitting that we spend some time in praise and 
 thanksgiving to God for what He has already done for Japan. 
 Let us praise Him that the country is open to the Gospel, that the 
 hearts of the people are so receptive, that so many, both foreign 
 and Japanese, are prepared, or preparing for that work. Let us 
 give thanks for the beginning which has been made in a Christian 
 vocabulary, and in Christian hooks, for the publication of the 
 Bilde in the Japanese language, for the Christian churches and 
 schools which have already been established; for the earnest, 
 active type of piety wiiich [)revails so generally in the Church in 
 Japan; as well as for all ilie material helps which we have in 
 the evangelization of the empire. 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 Let us thank God that he has given us a Divine Redeemer 
 whose blood avails for Japan, and that the conviction of His full 
 divinity is ever deepening in the hearts of His followers. Let us 
 return thanks that Christ’s promise to be with us always until the 
 end of the world, has been fulfilled, in some measure, in our hearts 
 and lives until this present ; but let us make God’s promises, our 
 past successes, and our present glorious and unparalleled opportuni- 
 ties, the reason and ground of renewed and full consecration, even 
 of such a seeking and receiving of all the fulness of God, as can 
 fit us, and as alone can fit us, to successfully work in these fields 
 which are white to the harvest, and reap them for the heavenly 
 garner. 
 
 As we look at the forty millions who are to be reached and won 
 for Christ, and realise what the evangelization of such a mass of 
 population means, we feel that we need many things; we need a 
 large increase of foreign workers, especially of men and women 
 who shall engage in direct evangelistic work; we need a large 
 increase of Japanese workers ; we need a large increase of 
 Christian literature, and a vastly increased facility for its dissemina- 
 tion; we need many other things, but the writer feels that there 
 is one greater need than all these put together, and that is a 
 deeper spirit of consecration on the part of all the workers in 
 Japan, foreign and Japanese, a consecration such as Christ bad, so 
 that we shall have the same great aim which brought Christ down 
 to this world, and led him to Calvary; so that we shall all realize 
 the worth of the souls of this people as Christ realized it ; so that 
 we shall realize the peril in which these forty millions of souls are 
 in, as our Saviour realized it, as Paul realized it; so that we shall 
 “ warn them with tears night and day to be reconciled to God.” 
 
 We need to magnify God, his love and his justice ; we need to 
 magnify Christ, his divinity and great work of atonement ; we 
 need to magnify the Holy Spirit, His personality and His indwell- 
 ing presence in the Christian. It is not a sentimental consecration 
 which is needed, but a practical one, which results from a personal 
 union to Christ through the Holy Spirit; a being filled with the 
 Spirit, not once, but every day, filled anew, charged and re- 
 charged with the light and life and love and power of the Holy 
 Ghost. Without such a divine and life-giving consecration, an 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 increase in the number of workers and of all the instrumentalities 
 of the work will he of little avail ; but if the thousand Christian 
 workers in Japan could begin this coming new year with such a 
 living consecration, so that we shall all he filled every day with 
 the fulness of God, energised, vivified, enlightened and led hy the 
 Lord of all life, and by the Spirit of all truth, we should all work 
 with a divine power which would he infused into all the machinery 
 and facilities which the Lord has prepared and placed in our 
 hands, and then we may believe that we should see here in Japan 
 during the next few years the greatest miracle of the nineteenth 
 century. Doubt would begone, discussion would cease; all would 
 be busy in pointing inquiring sinners to Christ. 
 
 We do not need a new theology; we need to go back to 
 the theology of Christ and of Paul, and to magnify union to 
 Christ and the enduement of the Holy Spirit, as Christ did 
 and as the Apostles did. The New Testament is full of this 
 great thought ; the Apostles lived and worked in the conscious- 
 ness and power and guidance of the Holy Sjtirit; from their 
 words we learn that, we were chosen in Christ ; we were created 
 in Christ; we are sealed in Christ and through the Spirit; we 
 are anointed in Christ through the Spirit; we are accepted or 
 adopted in Christ ; Christ is the Bridegroom and we are the bride; 
 Christ is the Head and we are the body, or Christ is the Body 
 and we are the members; Christ is the Foundation and we are the 
 building; Christ is the Vine atid we are the branches; Christ is 
 the Shepherd and we are the sheep ; we were crucified with Christ, 
 raised with Him and exalted with Him ; we are thus united to 
 Christ through the Spirit who dwells in us, so that we dwell in 
 Christ and He in ns, and we are all one in Christ; Curist is our 
 life, our strength, our guide, our all in all. 
 
 We read that those first Apostles were filled again and again with 
 the Spirit: first on the day of Pentecost, and again the whole com- 
 pany were filled when Peter and John were released from prison. We 
 read that the “ Spirit said unto Philip, ‘ Go near and join thyself 
 to this chariot.’” “The Churches, walking in the fear of the 
 Lord and in the comfort of the Spirit, were multiplied.” “For it 
 seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and unto us,” etc. etc. Paul 
 tells the Corinthians that his “ Speech and preaching were not in 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 
 and of power.” He tells the Thessalonians, “For our Gospel 
 came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the 
 Holy Ghost and in much assurance.” And so we might go on 
 filling page after page with the words with which the Apostles 
 magnified the Holy Spirit. 
 
 But I must close ; the brother who is to follow this afternoon, 
 will, I trust, speak at length upon this vital point. I have only 
 suggested this most important of all subjects, this consecration 
 and filling of all our hearts ; the fulfilment of the great promise of 
 our Saviour, a promise which began to be fulfilled on the day of 
 Pentecost, and which has had many partial fulfilments during the 
 Christian centuries, but which needs its complete fulfilment in the 
 hearts of the thousand Christian workers in Japan, in order to the 
 coming of the Redeemer’s Kingdom here, and which needs to be 
 completely fulfilled in the Christian Church of the world, before 
 the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 If the whole church of Christ could but receive such A Pente- 
 costal blessing as the little band of Christians at Hernhutt, in 
 Germany, received Aug. 18, 1727, which thrilled them with new life, 
 a life which has never died out, but has been transmitted from 
 generation to generation for more than one hundred and fifty 
 years, the world would soon be won for Christ. The Moravian 
 Church has twice as large a membership in foreign lands, which 
 it has gathered from the least promising of all the peoples in the 
 world, as it has at home. Could the whole Church of Christ 
 magnify the Lord in this way, the Master would soon see of the 
 travail of his soul and be satisfied. 
 
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