American ISoarlJ of CCommisstonErs for JForctgn fHissions. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DEPUTATION TO JAPAN 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN BOARD 
 
 JANUARY 22, 1896 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 I Somerset Street 
 1896 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportofdeputatiOObart 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 For two or three years prior to 1895 the Japan Mission of the American 
 Board had urged that a Deputation be sent by the Prudential Committee to 
 Japan to consider the situation of missionary work in that empire, and to aid 
 the Mission and the churches by their presence and counsels in plans for the 
 prosecution of that work, and particularly in the settlement of some perplexing 
 questions which had arisen. Various circumstances prevented a favorable re- 
 sponse to the request of the Mission when first made, but on March 5, 1895, 
 the Prudential Committee voted to comply with the request, and subsequently 
 the following gentlemen were designated to constitute the Deputation : Rev. 
 James L. Barton, d.d.. Secretary in charge of the Japan Mission ; Hon. William 
 P. Ellison, of the Prudential Committee; Rev. James G. Johnson, d.d., of 
 Chicago, and Rev. Amory H. Bradford, d.d., of Montclair, N. J. Having ful- 
 filled their trust, the Deputation, on January 22, 1896, presented to the Prudential 
 Committee the report which follows. 
 
 The expenses of this Deputation were met by liberal contributions from friends 
 in New England and Chicago, so that it has been no charge upon the treasury of 
 the Board. 
 
\ 
 
 ... i 
 
REPORT OF THE DEPUTATION TO JAPAN. 
 
 Boston, January 22, 1896. 
 
 To the Prudential Committee of the American Board, — The Deputation 
 appointed by you to visit Japan to inquire into the condition and needs of the 
 missionary work of the American Board in that empire have attended to the 
 duty assigned them, and respectfully present the following report. The instruc- 
 tions of the Prudential Committee under which the Deputation went to Japan 
 were as follows : — 
 
 THE INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 Serious and complicated questions having arisen in Japan, the Prudential 
 Committee, in response to the urgent request of the Japan Mission, has appointed 
 Rev. James L. Barton, d.d., Secretary, Boston ; Hon. William P. Ellison, member 
 of the Prudential Committee, Newton j Rev. James G. Johnson, d.d., Chicago; 
 and Rev. A. H. Bradford, d.d., Montclair, N. J., a Deputation to visit Japan 
 during the fall of 1895 to inquire, in behalf of this committee, into the condition 
 of affairs in that country as related to our missionary work therein, with the pur- 
 pose of ascertaining the best methods for the further prosecution of that work, 
 and with the desire of giving a new and powerful spiritual impulse toward the 
 attainment, as early as possible, of the one great end which the American Board 
 holds supreme, namely, the evangelization of the empire. 
 
 The Deputation will confer freely with the Mission, with the representatives of 
 the Kumi-ai churches, with the Trustees and Faculty of the Doshisha, with any 
 committees that may be appointed by different organizations, and also, as far as 
 possible, with individuals, foreign and native, seeking information from all sources 
 open to them. 
 
 On their return they will report to the Prudential Committee the results of 
 their investigations and inquiries, with such recommendations as seem to them 
 wise and expedient. 
 
 Among the matters which will claim attention are the following ; — 
 
 I. The condition, with present and prospective use, of property which the 
 Board has purchased, and buildings which it has erected, to aid in the missionary 
 work ; and the legal and moral rights of the American Board in the same. 
 
 II. The continuation and management of the Nurses’ Training School and 
 Hospital at Kyoto, and the desirability of Dr. Berry’s return to his former occu- 
 pation and office in the same. 
 
 III. The character of the Doshisha as a Christian institution, cooperation in 
 the training of native pastors and in the management of the institution, and the 
 advisability of continuing any subsidy by the Board. 
 
 5 
 
6 
 
 R eport of the Depiitatioii to Japan. 
 
 IV. The condition of the Kumamoto Station, the status of the mission 
 property there, and the advisability of reopening the station. 
 
 V. Best methods for the future prosecution of the evangelistic and missionary 
 work, together with plans of cooperation with the Japanese. 
 
 VI. The management and control of the Kobe Girls’ College. 
 
 VII. The location and employment of the different missionaries. 
 
 VIII. The relation of education to the evangelistic work, and how far the 
 Board should continue to aid schools in Japan. 
 
 IX. They are also authorized to consider and act upon any other matters or 
 questions of like nature which may come before them while in the country. 
 
 In all matters of reorganization, of proposed changes, of new methods, and in 
 all cases involving the time-honored and established principles and policy of the 
 American Board, the Deputation is expected to make independent, wide, and 
 thorough investigation, and report its judgment, with recommendations, to the 
 Prudential Committee, with whom is final authority. If, however, it is the 
 unanimous opinion and judgment of the Deputation that immediate and formal 
 action should be taken upon any question under consideration, the Deputation 
 is authorized to take such decisive and formal action, provided that the vote 
 upon the action be unanimous. Two unanimous votes, therefore, shall be 
 essential to any decisive and formal action : first, upon the necessity of imme- 
 diate and decisive action ; and second, upon the question itself. 
 
 Questions regarding the appropriation of money must be referred back to the 
 Prudential Committee, except that funds already appropriated but not e.xpended 
 may be transferred by the Deputation from one department of work to another. 
 
 In case a member of the Deputation, from illness or other cause, is unable to 
 act, three may exercise full power. 
 
 The Deputation will conduct its investigations and inquiries guided by the one 
 supreme and all-controlling object of the American Board in Japan ; and it is 
 confidently expected and believed that they will reach results that will command 
 the approbation and support of the whole Mission, and at the same time honor 
 and strengthen the established beliefs, principles, and purposes of the American 
 Board the world over. 
 
 And now, cordially renewing our assurances of confidence in the brethren that 
 compose this Deputation, we devoutly commend them to Almighty God, our 
 heavenly Father, as his children, and to his kindly watch and care, by day and 
 by night, on the land and on the sea, earnestly beseeching him to defend, 
 support, and prosper them in all their appointed ways. 
 
 METHODS OF INVESTIGATION. 
 
 The Eastern members set out on Monday, the second of September, joining 
 the member from Chicago on the evening of the third. Mrs. Johnson, one of 
 the Executive Committee of the Woman’s Board of the Interior, accompanied her 
 husband and proved most efficient and helpful. 
 
 We sailed from San Francisco upon the steamship Coptic, of the Occidental 
 & Oriental line, September 12, reaching Yokohama, via Honolulu, September 30, 
 and returned, sailing from Yokohama on December 7, upon the steamship 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japa^i. 
 
 7 
 
 China, of the Pacific Mail line, reaching San Francisco, via Honolulu, Decem- 
 ber 24. We were absent from home about four months, seventy days of which 
 were spent in going and coming and in actual travel in Japan. Many hours of 
 these days of travel were passed in conference and prayer over the important 
 questions which were committed to us. 
 
 In accordance with the letter of instructions, information was sought in Japan 
 from all available sources. Through special letters of introduction, the services 
 of our own diplomatic representatives were freely accorded. Also, we were 
 cordially received and much aided by His Excellency, Marijuis Saionji, the Act- 
 ing Minister of Foreign Affairs for Japan and Minister of Education ; by Mr. 
 Makino, the Vice-Minister of Education; Mr. Dennison, chief adviser to the 
 Minister of Foreign .\ffairs ; Captain Brinkley, editor and manager of the Japan 
 Mail ; Mr. Curtis, editor and manager of the Kobe Herald ; Professor Sharp, 
 for ten years professor in Government Colleges in Japan ; Bishop Nicholai, of the 
 Greek Church ; Bishop Bickersteth, of the Church of England ; Dr. Verbeck, of 
 the Reformed Church ; and by several officers and professors in the Imperial 
 University at Tokyo. Space will permit the mention of the names of but very 
 few of those who freely and ably aided the Deputation in its attempt to under- 
 stand the general condition in Japan as related to the special work of the Ameri- 
 can Board. Cordial expressions of gratitude are due to between forty and fifty of 
 the missionaries of the various Presbyterian and Reformed Boards, the different 
 branches of the Methodist work, the Baptist Boards, the Episcopal bodies repre- 
 senting both England and America, the Evangelical Protestant Missionary 
 Society of Germany and Switzerland, as well as representatives of the various 
 Bible and Tract societies doing work in Japan, — all of whom met the Deputa- 
 tion most cordially and aided it materially. Twelve receptions were given the 
 Deputation, nine of which were by the Japanese. The different members of the 
 Deputation gave, in the aggregate, sixty-five addresses and sermons. 
 
 In addition to those above mentioned, we met in conference with 154 
 Japanese, some of whom are connected with the work of other missionary boards, 
 some in government employ, and some in independent Christian work. We 
 held repeated conferences with the Trustees and Faculty of the Doshisha, with 
 a special committee representing the Kumi-ai churches and the Japanese Home 
 Missionary Society, with pastors, evangelists, teachers, and workers in the 
 Kumi-ai body, from Sendai on the north to the island of Kiushiu on the south, 
 and Tottori on the west. Copious notes have been kept of most of these 
 conferences. 
 
 In order to secure the necessary information regarding the needs of the 
 country and the present condition of the work, we visited Yokohama, Tokyo, 
 Maebashi, Sendai, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kuma- 
 moto, Nara, Otsu, and Kogato. Some 200 hours were passed in formal con- 
 ference with others, and fully as many more in informal conferences, besides 
 many meetings among ourselves to discuss and arrange material obtained. It is 
 needless to add that there were constant and repeated conferences with the 
 various missionaries of our own Board now in Japan, besides conferring in mis- 
 sion meeting for four days just before coming away. 
 
 In order to accomplish the above, the Deputation traveled in Japan by rail over 
 
8 
 
 Rep07't of the Depiitatio7i to Japan. 
 
 1,500 miles, by water 875 miles, and by jinrikisha over 300 miles ; this in addi- 
 tion to the nearly 13,000 miles of water and 7,400 miles of railroad travel 
 involved in getting to and from the field of investigation. 
 
 This part of the report is essential to show that your Deputation was not 
 unmindful of its instructions, and that it has sought light from all sources open 
 to it, while it has not desired to spare its own strength or seek its own comfort 
 in these investigations. It is the unanimous opinion of the Deputation that little 
 more could have been accomplished by a prolonged stay in Japan, except to 
 visit four remaining stations, but about which no problems centred. Not that 
 all of the conditions were thoroughly understood and all the facts comprehended, 
 for that would be impossible in a country so full of change and uncertainty ; but 
 the greater part of the field of our Board had been traversed, and the highest 
 authorities widely consulted, until it seemed of little avail to prosecute the 
 investigations farther. 
 
 In this report we have not attempted to give anything of the history of the 
 Board’s work in Japan nor any of the statistics of the same. All these are 
 included in “A Chapter of Mission History in Modern Japan,” which was 
 published by our Mission last year. 
 
 In submitting this report we wish to emphasize the necessity of looking at this 
 empire and the mission work therein in the light of its history, its national 
 characteristics, and its present and future importance. 
 
 The conclusions to which we have come and the recommendations which we 
 submit have been decided upon with marked unanimity, the mind of each mem- 
 ber of the Deputation coming to the same conclusion from the independent study 
 of the facts and conditions. 
 
 With this preface your Deputation submits the following report, answering in 
 detail to the letter of instructions given it. 
 
 I. PROPERTY. 
 
 'I'he Board owns both houses and land in Kobe and Osaka, besides leasing 
 other land in the former place ; it also holds two houses in Niigata, these being 
 treaty ports where foreigners are allowed to either own or rent real estate. 
 
 After the year 1900, when the revised treaty with the United States becomes 
 operative, the Board will be able to lease land, upon which it can erect buildings 
 of its own, in any part of the empire for a term of years the length of which 
 has not yet been determined, but probably for either thirty or fifty years, with the 
 privilege of successive renewals which will practically constitute a perpetual lease. 
 
 At present the laws of Japan prohibit the owning or leasing of real estate by 
 foreigners, except in the treaty ports. This is the unanimous testimony of an 
 eminent Japanese lawyer, an American holding a high position in the Imperial 
 government, missionaries of various Boards, and of Japanese citizens of whom 
 inquiries have been made. 
 
 In consequence of this proliibition, all such property purchased by the differ- 
 ent Mission Boards, including our own, has been held, as we believe, in the 
 name of Japanese, either as individuals or trustees. Consequently those who 
 have furnished the funds for the purchase have had no legal claim upon the 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 9 
 
 property; yet the Japanese Christians in whose name the property of the Board 
 was placed were men of such integrity that, with two exceptions, it has suffered 
 no loss through misplaced confidence. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that this method of holding property was not 
 adopted for the personal advantage of the missionaries, nor for the pecuniary or 
 any other gain which might accrue to the Missionary Boards. It was solely for 
 the purpose of prosecuting in the most effective way their benevolent work for 
 the Japanese. The American Board was thus enabled to furnish houses for its 
 missionaries adapted to their needs, as well as buildings for school purposes, 
 which could not otherwise have been provided except by outright gifts of the 
 same to the Japanese. And this was done, as we understand, with the full, 
 though unofficial, knowledge of the Japanese authorities. 
 
 This arrangement for a compliance with the law was satisfactory to all parties 
 until the'political campaign of 1893, when one of the party issues related to a 
 more strict enforcement of the treaties between the Japanese and other govern- 
 ments, especially as to the nominal ownership of real estate in other than treaty 
 ports. Holders of property for foreigners were publicly denounced as lacking 
 in patriotism and were otherwise censured, thus causing considerable uneasiness 
 to those who were holding such property. This feeling was greatly increased in 
 the autumn of that year by the introduction in the Imperial Diet of a bill impos- 
 ing severe penalties upon Japanese holding real estate for foreigners. 
 
 This so much excited the Christians, who thus far had willingly held the 
 property for the Board, that they appealed to the missionaries to be relieved of 
 it, and the Mission, with the approval of the Prudential Committee, authorized 
 the transfer of the property as follows, namely : — 
 
 (1) d'hat at Matsuyama, to the Trustees of the Girls’ School at that place, 
 receiving a written agreement, signed by them, that the Board should have the 
 use of the same for its missionaries for the period of thirty years. 
 
 (2) The interest of the Board in the land at Osaka connected with the 
 Bai-kwa Girls’ School, to the Trustees of that school. 
 
 {3) And the remaining real estate of the Board in Japan outside the treaty 
 ports, with the exception of that in Kyoto and Kumamoto, was given to the 
 Trustees of the Doshisha for the endowment of a theological department 
 (except that in Tokyo, in the transfer of which by mistake the collegiate depart- 
 ment was mentioned) upon the following conditions, namely: — 
 
 The Board to have the use of all the property for the term of thirty years, 
 paying therefor an annual nominal rent of three per cent, upon the government 
 valuation, which is much below the actual value, the Board paying for all repairs 
 and the Trustees paying the taxes. An amount equal to this rent is to be 
 deducted from the annual subsidy of the Board to the Doshisha so tong as that 
 may be granted. The Trustees are, at the request of the Mission, to sell any of 
 the property, and re-invest the proceeds in any other place in Japan desired by 
 the Mission. The active financial member of the Board of Trustees states this 
 to be his understanding of the agreement, therefore it is improbable any 
 difference regarding its interpretation will arise in the future. 
 
 The Board aided financially in the founding of the Doshisha; it has also given 
 considerable sums to the Trustees from time to time for the purchase of land and 
 
lO Report of the Deptitatio7i to Japa7i. 
 
 erection of buildings for school purposes in connection with the Doshisha. All 
 of these gifts were made with the implied understanding, if not the distinct state- 
 ment, that the school was to be maintained as a Christian institution. 
 
 The Board has purchased at various times lots of land in Kyoto, upon which 
 it has built nine houses for the use of its missionaries. As neither the Board nor 
 the missionaries could hold such property, we are informed the title to it was 
 taken in the name of Dr. Neesima and several other persons, all of whom, we 
 believe, fully understood they were but the nominal owners. 
 
 After the Doshisha Company was organized and a Board of Trustees appointed, 
 and some time previous to the death of Dr. Neesima, which occurred in 1890, 
 all of this property was transferred to the Trustees. This transfer was made 
 solely for the purpose of ensuring its safety, since while held in the name of indi- 
 viduals it was liable to be seized for their private debts, and also to avoid contro- 
 versy with the heirs of any who might die. 
 
 After the transfer there was no change in the management of the property and 
 the missionaries continued to occupy, care for, and manage the houses ; rent such 
 as were temporarily vacant, collect and use the rentals, etc., the same as before ; 
 and there was nothing whatever either said or done by any one, so far as we can 
 learn, previous to May 31, 1893, to indicate that their ownership was considered 
 by the Trustees as any different from that of the individuals who transferred the 
 property to them, and that it was other than merely nominal. A Committee of 
 the Mission appointed to arrange for the transfer of the Board’s property then 
 held by individuals, which was negotiating with the Trustees concerning the terms 
 upon which the latter would accept the property, received a communication under 
 date of May 31, 1893, from the President of the Trustees, containing a copy of 
 two resolutions passed by the Trustees at a meeting held that day; one related to 
 the transfer of the property under discussion, and the other read as follows, 
 namely : “ .‘\lthough while the work of the Doshisha has been carried on hitherto 
 largely through the aid of the A. B. C. F. M., especially such being the case with 
 reference to the buying of land and the buildings, the Trustees do not recognize 
 that property as subject to any condition in regard to its present use. Yet, as 
 we do not intend to prove disloyal to the goodwill of the Board, it is our inten- 
 tion not to change the mode of the use to which it is to be placed so long as we 
 recognize that there are the same needs for such uses as at first.” 
 
 The Trustees state that this resolution refers to the land and nine houses in 
 Kyoto, although there is nothing in the resolution to indicate that it did not 
 refer to the money given by the Board to the Doshisha for the purchase of land 
 and erection of buildings for school purposes ; and their claim of ownership of 
 this property, free from any conditions whatever, is based, as we understand, 
 upon, first, that the claim thus made in the resolution was not denied by the 
 Committee of the Mission, who, being in the midst of negotiations with the 
 Trustees for the transfer of property outside of Kyoto, made no reply whatever ; 
 and, second, to letters purporting to have been written by Dr. Neesima, dated 
 before the most of the land had been purchased or the houses built. 
 
 It should be stated that but few of the present 'I’rustees who also held the 
 office in 1893, were members of the Board at the time this property was trans- 
 ferred to it. 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 1 1 
 
 Many conferences were held by the Deputation with the Trustee who was 
 authorized by the Board of Trustees to negotiate with us regarding all matters 
 relating to property, the object of which was to endeavor to secure an agreement 
 on condition of our relinquishing all claims to this property whereby the free use 
 of it should be given the Board for a term of years for the residence of its 
 missionaries. 
 
 All attempts to secure such an agreement failing, a letter under date of 
 November 30, 1895, was addressed by the Deputation to the President and 
 Trustees of the Doshisha, of which the following is a copy, namely : — 
 
 “ During the past few weeks we have been in conference with you concerning 
 the missionary houses in Kyoto which were erected by the American Board for 
 the use of its missionaries. 
 
 “ We have been unable to find any evidence, either written or oral, indicating 
 that the Doshisha was to hold this property for any other purpose. AVe exceed- 
 ingly regret that we have been unable to come to an agreement. 
 
 “ Therefore, without waiving our moral right to the property, under the circum- 
 stances, nothing remains for us at present except to say we must now trust to 
 the sense of honor which we are assured is the pride of every Japanese. 
 
 “ AAT cannot believe that you will think of asking rent from the Board for the 
 missionary houses in Kyoto, when the land was purchased and the houses were 
 paid for entirely out of the treasury of the Board. 
 
 “ For you to do that, we believe that both you and all your countrymen would 
 hold to be a stain upon the good name of the Doshisha. 
 
 “ We have nothing further to say except that we must now trust to your honor 
 as Christians and Japanese. 
 
 “ Assuring you of our best wishes for the success of the Doshisha, we remain, 
 etc.” 
 
 A letter dated December 4, 1895, addressed to the Deputation and signed 
 by President Kozaki, “ in behalf of the Standing Committee of the Doshisha 
 Trustees,” contains a reply of which the following is a copy, namely : — 
 
 “ Your letter dated November 30, 1895, was duly acknowledged. AVe regret 
 very much that we could not convince you of our generous spirit with which we 
 have endeavored to settle the question concerning the houses in Kyoto built for 
 foreign teachers, and thus we have been unable to come to any agreement with 
 you. 
 
 “ AATile we acknowledge these houses were built out of the treasury of the 
 American Board, it has been our understanding always that they were given 
 over to our institution as the residences of foreign teachers. About three years 
 ago when a question was brought up to the Trustees by the committee of mis- 
 sionaries in Japan about the condition under which these houses were given, our 
 reply to it was to this effect ; — 
 
 “ ‘Although while the work of the Doshisha has been carried on hitherto largely 
 through the aid of the A. B. C. F. M., especially such being the case with refer- 
 ence to the buying of lands and the buildings, the Trustees do not recognize this 
 property as subject to any condition in regard to its present use. Yet, as we do 
 not intend to prove disloyal to the goodwill of the Board, it is our intention 
 
12 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japati. 
 
 not to change the mode of the use to which it is to be placed, so long as we 
 recognize that there are the same needs for such uses as at first.’ 
 
 “ Since we have given this reply, we have not received any communication from 
 the missionaries or from the Board intimating that you had any other under- 
 standing on the subject. Moreover, the Board has given over to us large num- 
 ber of properties worth several thousand dollars lying outside of Kyoto in an 
 express approval of the letter referred to above. If you had any other under- 
 standing on this question, you should have given a communication to that effect 
 and should have withheld the gift of those other properties at that time. It is, 
 indeed, quite a surprise to us that you have still such misunderstanding on this 
 point. 
 
 “ Now since it is our intention not to prove disloyal to the goodwill of the 
 donor, and so ‘ not to change the mode of use to which it is to be placed so 
 long as we recognize that there are the same needs for such uses as at first,’ as 
 it has been expressly said in the letter quoted above, ymu shall be assured that 
 we will grant free use of these houses to all foreign teachers sent over by the 
 American Board, so long as they are in the employ of our institution. 
 
 “ We have no evidence, either written or oral, that these houses in Kyoto were 
 built for the use of missionaries, and it has been always our understanding that 
 they were given as the residences of our foreign teachers. But as we feel ever 
 grateful for the generous gifts you have bestowed and are s’till bestowing to us, as 
 an expression of our gratitude to the Board, we will give free use of a certain 
 number of those houses when they are not occupied by our foreign teachers, for 
 the period of a certain number of years, provided there be no occasion in future 
 of great financial stress, which endangers the very life of our institution. 
 
 “ We believe that we have done hitherto nothing which gives to our foreign 
 teachers or missionaries any inconvenience or embarrassment concerning their 
 residences here. And we assure you that we cannot think that there will be any 
 occasion in the future which will give to them any anxiety or trouble concerning 
 their residences. The only regret we have is that we have been unable to come 
 to any satisfactory understanding on this point.” 
 
 As the letter contained nothing which had not been previously discussed at the 
 conferences, we simply acknowledged its receipt. 
 
 The Deputation advised the members of the Kyoto station to submit to any 
 action of the Trustees regarding the property, reporting the same to the Pruden- 
 tial Committee. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that the status of the nine missionary houses in Kyoto 
 as related to the Doshisha and the .American Board is the same that it was before 
 the Deputation went out. Failing to come to a mutual understanding, nothing 
 was done in the premises. It only remains to be seen whether the Doshisha, in 
 whose name the propeity is held, will make any change in the manner of its use. 
 
 II. NURSES’ TRAININCx SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL. 
 
 The Nurses’ Training School and Hospital at Kyoto were organized by Dr. 
 J. C. Berry, a missionary of our Board, in 1885, through whose efforts they 
 have been largely sustained since as a part of the Christian work in that city. 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 13 
 
 Money toward the purchase of ground was contributed by Japanese friends of 
 Kyoto and Kobe and the AVoman’s Board of Boston. The buildings were 
 erected by the same Board. The Hospital was furnished and equipped wholly at 
 the expense of this Board. The same Board has made an annual grant for the 
 support of the Nurses’ Training School and the salary of Miss Fraser. The 
 buildings and real estate are held in the name of the Doshisha, because the 
 Mission Board can hold no property in Kyoto. Dr. Berry’s salary has been paid 
 by the American Board, and his earnings through his medical practice have gone 
 to sustain the general work of the Hospita' and for its enlargement. AA^hen these 
 funds were given and the work was undertaken by Dr. Berry, it was with the 
 understanding that it should be for the support of an institution which should be 
 mutually conducted by the Board and the Doshisha Company : — 
 
 First, for the training of Christian nurses ; and 
 
 Second, for humanitarian work, that evangelistic ends might be subserved. 
 
 The influence of the entire institution under Dr. Berry and Miss Fraser, with 
 their associates, has been preeminently Christian, and is worthy the highest 
 commendation. Dr. Berry, up to his departure for the United States in the fall 
 of 1893 for his furlough, was the managing director of both the hospital and 
 training school, acting in conjunction with a hospital standing committee 
 composed of Japanese and missionaries, all in accordance with the mutual under- 
 standing of both parties. AA'hile Dr. Berry was in the United States it was 
 learned that the Japanese members of the hospital committee, without consulta- 
 tion with Dr. Berry or the Board or the Mission, or even the standing committee 
 of the hospital, decided to terminate this mutual relation. They voted that if 
 Dr. Berry returned he should not hold his former position as director, but that a 
 Japanese should occupy the place, and Dr. Berry hold the position of adviser. 
 Later action upon the part of the Japanese members of the standing committee 
 of the Doshisha Trustees was to the effect that, “ while it is desirable to ask 
 Dr. Berry to return to Japan, it is also the Trustees’ desire to manage the 
 hospital and nurses’ school in the same way as the other departments of the 
 Doshisha.” In a still later action the Trustees ask him to return “ in his former 
 capacity and relation,” but restating the intention of that body to manage the 
 hospital in the same way as its other schools. It is necessary to add that the 
 name of the Nurses’ Training School is the Kyoto Nurses’ School, while the 
 hospital bears the name Doshisha. This name was given by the missionaries, in 
 order to present to the people a phase of applied Christianity in connection with 
 the educational institution which bore that name. 
 
 Still later, the Trustees of the Doshisha took the matter from the hands of the 
 standing committee and decided as follows : — 
 
 1. To ask the foreign (missionary) members of the (standing hospital) Com- 
 mittee to give definite answer whether they are willing to continue the work 
 under full control of the Doshisha Trustees or not. 
 
 2. If their answer is negative, to hand over the whole work entirely to their 
 care, allowing the time to make full arrangements, until April, 1896. 
 
 3. In case they do not take up the work within the said period, to take full 
 responsibility of the work by the Trustees and do as they please. And in every 
 circumstance the Trustees cannot continue the work in the future, they will not 
 
14 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 appropriate any of the property belonging to the Hospital and Nurses’ Training 
 School to any other work, but endeavor to return all things to original donors as 
 far as possible. 
 
 This is the condition of things found by the Deputation upon its arrival in 
 Kyoto. The hospital and school are continuing their work under Japanese 
 physicians, Dr. Berry’s medical associates, and Miss Fraser, the superintendent of 
 the Nurses’ Training School and matron of the Hospital. While the Doshisha 
 Trustees invite Dr. Berry back to be at the head of the medical work, they frankly 
 say they plan to have a Japanese in that position, and expect to appoint one to 
 the place as soon as a suitable man can be found. They also plan to put a 
 Japanese in Miss Fraser’s place. 
 
 There are about twelve hospitals now in the city and two nurses’ training 
 schools, and although they are not distinctively Christian institutions, they are meet- 
 ing in a measure the medical needs of the people. These institutions are private 
 hospitals with one exception, and conducted chiefly for financial gain. Owing, 
 therefore, to these things and the difficulty of harmonizing the present desires of 
 the Doshisha, and the motives prompting them, with conditions necessary for 
 harmonious and successful cooperation, we hesitate to recommend Dr. Berry’s 
 return to Japan or the continuance of Hospital or Nurses’ Training School work, 
 by the Board in Kyoto, beyond what may be necessary to finish with the present 
 class of nurses during the year 1896. We recommend that the Prudential Com- 
 mittee endorse the third proposition of the Doshisha Trustees as quoted above, 
 which pledges the return of the property to the donors in case the hospital and 
 school are not successfully continued by the Doshisha. 
 
 We come most reluctantly to this conclusion because of the excellent work 
 Dr. Berry has done for the cause of Christ in Japan during his connection with 
 the Board for twenty-three years, and because of the earnest wish of the Mission 
 and many leading Japanese that he return and continue his labors with them, 
 coupled with his superior medical skill, which has won for him an enviable repu- 
 tation among all classes there. 
 
 HI. THE DOSHISH.A. 
 
 In making inquiry with reference to the third point of our instructions, inter- 
 views were had with the Trustees and Faculty of the University, with pastors 
 and evangelists of the Kumi-ai churches in different parts of Japan, with mis- 
 sionaries of our own and of other Boards, as well as with such other individuals 
 as we had reason to believe were acquainted with the history, work, and present 
 influence of the Doshisha. There was marked concurrence in the opinion that 
 a change had taken place in the spirit of the institution. It was quite generally 
 affirmed that the Christian character and spiritual tone of the University are far 
 less pronounced than formerly. After several weeks spent in making ourselves 
 acquainted with this and allied subjects, we asked an interview with the Board of 
 Trustees of the Doshisha, which interview was very readily granted. Indeed, 
 we had been greeted on reaching Japan with a communication from the Trustees, 
 laying the affairs of the institution before us and urgently asking us to visit its 
 recitation halls and to make the most thorough acquaintance with its work. We 
 
Report of tJie Deputation to Japan. 
 
 15 
 
 spent an afternoon in free conversation with them on the Christian character and 
 influence of the school, and were then told that the President and one other 
 Trustee had been named as a special committee with full power to have any 
 further conference with us on the matter. One subsequent conference was held 
 with the above-mentioned committee of the Trustees, with results so definite 
 that we did not ask them again to meet us on that subject. Previous conversa- 
 tions with many persons had prepared us for their unusual use of the word 
 “Christianity” in the Constitution of the Doshisha, as defining the character of 
 the institution. The clause in the Constitution referred to is ; “ Christianity is the 
 foundation of the moral education promoted by this Company [Doshisha].” We 
 asked if they would affirm as among the beliefs for which the Doshisha stood in 
 Japan, the personality of God, the divinity of Christ, and the futiire life. They 
 declared that they could not. WTile as individuals they could affirm their 
 acceptance of these beliefs, as Trustees they could not affirm fhem, since dif- 
 ferences existed among Christians on these points, and they must not ally them- 
 selves with any party. When asked if they would accept the creed of the Kumi-ai 
 churches in definition of the sense in which they used the word Christian, they 
 declined, saying that they would thus identify themselves with a single denomina- 
 tion. When urged at two long conferences to make some statement, however 
 brief, in language of their own, of what they meant by “ Christianity,” since the 
 word did not in their minds involve the above-named beliefs, they declined. 
 They said it was not necessary ; that having declared their purpose to maintain 
 a Christian institution they should be trusted so to do ; that to affirm the above- 
 named beliefs would narrow the basis of the University, would cause the resigna- 
 tion of professors whose services they did not wish to lose, would repel students 
 who were encouraged now to enter the school by its spirit of free inquiry. As 
 evidence that this determination to make no further statement was a result of 
 deliberation, one Trustee said that he had made an effort at one time to have the 
 word “ Evangelical ” inserted before “ Christianity ” in the Constitution, but he 
 had not succeeded, the Trustees declining thus to narrow the basis of the Uni- 
 versity. It was carefully explained to the Trustees that the American churches 
 which contributed to the treasury of the Board, while not making a test of any 
 creed, could hardly hold to be Christian those persons or institutions which 
 deliberately refused to declare belief in a personal God and in the divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, in the immortality of the soul, and in the supernatural elements of 
 Christianity. The reply was that the whole subject had been a matter of thought 
 with them ; that theological opinion in Japan was in a formative state, and beliefs 
 were unsettled ■, that for that reason and because it would be disastrous to them 
 to act now under appearance of compulsion, they could make no statement what- 
 ever, except that they should maintain a Christian University. They said they 
 had done the best possible under the circumstances ; that though there were 
 some professors in the University who were not Christians, effort would be made 
 as changes occurred, to secure such professors only as would be in harmony with 
 the Christian spirit of the institution. 
 
 Careful inquiry showed but a small number of pastors in the Kumi-ai churches, 
 who hold such an agnostic position in regard to the fundamental truths of Chris- 
 tianity, concerning which the Doshisha Trustees were unwilling to speak. The 
 
i6 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 mass of pastors and evangelists and church members seemed not only not to 
 sympathize with this “new theology,” as it was called by them, but to be sad- 
 dened by it, and they expressed the opinion that it was a phase of thought that 
 would soon pass away. Some prominent and leading pastors had preached such 
 negations to diminishing congregations, but the testimony was general that a 
 change for the better had already begun. One evidence was the meeting of 
 pastors of the Kumi-ai churches at Nara, where the spiritual fervor rose to a very 
 high point, and in the earnest type of meetings held after that gathering in differ- 
 ent parts of the empire, very much like the old “ three days’ meeting,” at one 
 time so common and so helpful in New England. The Doshisha, while in a 
 sense at the head of the Kumi-ai churches, still cannot fail ultimately to have its 
 doctrinal posiuons determined by them. At present desiring to be abreast with, 
 if not in advance of, “ Christian scholarship,” it refuses to make declaration of 
 these truths which are essential to the very existence of Christianity. 
 
 Much may be said in explanation of this strange situation. The Doshisha is, 
 and from its beginning has been, a Japanese institution. It was founded by a 
 citizen of Japan. Its Trustees are and must be, under the laws of the empire, 
 citizens of Japan. While most of the money for its erection and maintenance 
 has come from America, it has not failed to have support and considerable gifts 
 from the Japanese. In the rising of the national spirit there has come a great 
 sensitiveness on the part of many in close relations to the University lest it 
 should seem too much controlled by foreign influence. To have such appear- 
 ance might rob it of many students. .Already its numbers have been much 
 diminished by the fact that educational advantages furnished by the government 
 have greatly increased. The system of education in the empire is admirable, 
 and students pass by graduation from one series of schools to another to the 
 post-graduate course of the University. Government positions are now more 
 freely open to those who have passed through the government schools. 
 
 These disadvantages under which the Doshisha labors are serious enough to 
 make those who manage its affairs anxious not to increase their number by 
 rousing any suspicion of foreign control, or by giving the impression that any 
 limitation is put to free inquiry and belief. Earnest effort was made to show 
 that the Doshisha had no reason for existence, in the purpose of its revered 
 founder, or in the minds of its supporters in .America, and also with many in 
 Japan, save as a Christian University, to give a Christian education and to extend 
 the knowledge and acceptance of Christianity. To deny or to fail to affirm those 
 truths, without which Christianity is but a misleading name, is disloyal to the 
 spirit in which the Doshisha was founded and is a perversion of funds given for 
 the furtherance of the gospel. But the answer was always the same — that no 
 further statement would be made than that the Doshisha is a Christian institution 
 in the sense that it would continuously seek to establish and nourish Christlike 
 character. 
 
 Full force should be given to the facts that the Bible has place in the cur- 
 riculum of the University ; that professors and students are required to attend 
 daily service in the chapel ; that the President, who is also pastor of the College 
 church, preaches evangelical and fervent discourses ; that he declares his pur- 
 pose to resign his office whenever the University ceases to stand for evangelical 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 17 
 
 Christianity; and that the Trustees, through their chief financial official, pledge 
 themselves that should the Doshisha, for any reason, cease to be a Christian 
 educational institution, the property shall be sold and the proceeds returned to 
 the donors. 
 
 And it should also be borne in mind that there is not a Japanese in the 
 Doshisha, or in the empire, twenty-five years of age, whose early years were under 
 the influence of Christian thought and training. It would therefore be very 
 strange if their subsequent growth should be along the same lines with those who 
 knew no other influence than that which results from Christian ancestry and 
 Christian surroundings. Equally strange would it be if they could be wholly 
 understood, or if their true relation to Christianity could be accurately measured 
 by testing their utterances by the same standards that would apply in Christian 
 lands. 
 
 We recommend : — 
 
 First, that for the present the teachers supplied to the Doshisha by the Board 
 be continued, if desired by the Trustees. 
 
 Second, that for the present, and while the able and devoted men sent by the 
 Board are connected with the theological department, our cooperation with the 
 Doshisha in the training of pastors and evangelists be continued. 
 
 Third, that after the reduced appropriation asked by the Mission for the 
 Doshisha for the year 1896 is paid, the sum given by the Board to the University 
 be reduced annually, so as to cease at the end of the year 1898. 
 
 Just before leaving the country, we received the following letter from the 
 Faculty of the Doshisha, and signed by President Kozaki “ on behalf of the 
 members of the Doshisha Faculty,” dated Kyoto, December 3, 1895 : — 
 
 “ To the Members of Deputation of the American Board : Gentlemen, — On 
 the occasion of your visit to our University, we, the members of the Doshisha 
 Faculty, take liberty to express our thanks for the generous assistance which your 
 Board has been contributing to our institution. Our University has had most 
 friendly relations with your Board, founded on a broad and non-sectarian basis, 
 and we believe it was largely through your assistance that our institution has 
 grown up from a little English school to its present magnitude. During the 
 twenty years of its existence and growth, it has made a powerful impression 
 upon our Society, and its influence is now being appreciated, not only among 
 our Christian churches, but, we are glad to say, in the nation at large. For this 
 success, no small share is due to the foreign members of our Faculty whom you 
 have sent us, and who are giving us the best years of their lives. Our institution 
 has been the first in the empire founded by a private corporation with the ex- 
 press purpose to promote the work of education in harmony with Christian 
 morality. While we have extended our curriculum, improved the means and 
 methods of education, and made free inquiry the rule in every department 
 of knowledge, we have always labored to permeate our whole institution with the 
 broad principles of our founders which are laid down as the unchangeable con- 
 stitution of our University. We pray and hope that our nation may realize the 
 grand ideal of the kingdom of God and his righteousness, as it is in Jesus Christ. 
 With this great aim in view, we are educating our young men, who will exercise. 
 
Report of the DeptUatioji to Japan. 
 
 as citizens, most healthy influence in every calling of life. As the sphere of our 
 action has been extended by the late war, we feel that now is the most im- 
 portant moment to expand and develop our educational work in every depart- 
 ment, grasping firmly in mind the end for which it was founded. For this 
 purpose, we are ready to receive sympathy and help from our friends both at 
 home and abroad. 
 
 “ As you leave Japan after your short visit, we tender you this resolution of our 
 Faculty, thanking you for your coming, and ask you to express for us our grati- 
 tude to the American Board for the assistance they are rendering to our Univer- 
 sity, hoping also that you may fairly represent its present situation to our friends 
 in America, to whom we owe so much. I am, etc.” 
 
 To this letter the Deputation made the following brief reply : — 
 
 Yokohama, Japan, December 7, 1895. 
 
 Pres. H. Kozaki, Kyoto, Japan : — 
 
 Dear President Kozaki, — Your two letters, one on behalf of the Doshisha 
 Faculty and the other on behalf of the standing committee of the Doshisha 
 Trustees, were duly received and read with interest. 
 
 We have to thank you for the cordial greetings you have given us, and shall 
 always carry with us the memory of the pleasant personal relations we have had 
 with the various members of the Faculty of the Doshisha and of the body of 
 Trustees. 
 
 We must say, however, that we regret exceedingly that this institution, which 
 was founded and has been largely sustained by money given for the purpose of 
 establishing a pure evangelical Christianity in Japan, is not willing to make a clear 
 declaration of the principles of Christianity which it professes to accept and 
 promulgate. We are convinced that such a declaration would be of great value 
 here in Japan, as it would definitely show for what the Doshisha stands, while to 
 those in the United States who have eagerly and anxiously watched the course of 
 events here during the last two years, it would be an assurance that the school 
 still remains upon the basis of its foundation and intends to maintain in the 
 future its distinctive, positive Christian character. 
 
 In regard to our failure to come to an understanding with the Trustees about 
 the missionary houses in Kyoto, we have nothing to add to our letter to you and 
 the Trustees, dated November 30, 1895. 
 
 Again with sincere appreciation of all the kindnesses you have shown us. 
 
 We are, etc. 
 
 IV. KUMAMOTO PROPERTY. 
 
 The Kumamoto Station was opened in 1886, the missionaries living in Japanese 
 houses until July, 1892, at which time two houses had been built for them, at a 
 cost of $4,100 gold, upon land previously purchased for $1,000 gold. 
 
 Foreigners being prohibited by the laws of Japan from holding real estate in 
 the interior, this property was held by the Trustees of the Kumamoto Ei Gakko, 
 a school for boys started in 1887 by the Christians, with the help of the mission- 
 aries, and followed by one for girls in 1888. It having been decided to build 
 houses for the missionaries, in March, 1891, the following proposition was made 
 by the station and accepted by the Trustees regarding the same, namely : — 
 
19 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 That the Board gives the money for the land and houses to the school with the 
 understanding that with it they provide foreign-style houses for the missionary 
 teachers of the school, and that in case the Board withdraws from Kumamoto, 
 the school shall sell the property and pay back to the Board whatever sum it may 
 bring in. Owing to dissensions in the Board of Trustees, in March, 1892, five of 
 the eight Trustees resigned, organized a new school and applied to the station for 
 financial assistance. This the station through lack of funds was obliged to refuse, 
 although wishing to be perfectly neutral in the controversy over the school question. 
 
 Upon the opening of the school in September, 1893, public announcement was 
 made that the school was no longer Christian, and early in October a letter was 
 received by the Mission from the Trustees asking for the withdrawal, in Decern ber 
 of the missionary teachers, and on the twenty-first of December formal notice 
 was given by the Trustees to the missionaries to vacate the houses. This demand, 
 was complied with, but Kumamoto continued to be and is now the centre from 
 which evangelistic work is carried on by the missionaries, notwithstanding they 
 have not been allowed to occupy the houses. 
 
 All efforts of the Mission to arrive at a settlement with the Trustees have failed. 
 At the annual meeting of the Kumi-ai churches held in April, 1894, a committee 
 was appointed to endeavor to adjust the matter, but all attempts on its part were 
 met by the Trustees with a denial of the right of the churches to interfere. The 
 committee so reported at the next annual meeting in May, 1895, and the 
 churches voted that they withdraw fellowship from the school. Members of the 
 Deputation visited Kumamoto and learned that the two schools had united ; the 
 former Trustees had resigned and a new Board had been appointed, although not 
 fully qualified, who, we understand, with one exception are not Christians. .A. long 
 interview was held with four of these, from whom it was learned that the school 
 was in debt almost 2,000 yen, of which 1,000 was a lien upon the houses and 
 land, being for mortgages given since the missionaries were forced to leave, with 
 accumulated interest on the same, and that it was proposed to sell the entire 
 property for the amount of its indebtedness to a party of gentlemen who would 
 loan the property to the school. 
 
 The claim of the Board to the property, the general condemnation both 
 among Americans and Japanese of the course of the trustees in depriving the 
 missionaries of the use of the houses built for their occupancy with money 
 furnished by the Board, was fully set forth, and the importance of an amicable 
 adjustment of the matter, for the sake of the reputation of the Trustees and the 
 good name of the Japanese generally, was dwelt upon. A proposition was made 
 for a settlement, which at the request of the Trustees was afterwards put in 
 writing and handed to them, to which they were asked to give early consider- 
 ation, as the Deputation was to leave Japan in a month from that date. The 
 following is a copy ; — 
 
 Kumamoto, November 7, 1895. 
 
 To Messrs. Fukuda, President of the School ; and Okada, Takamiya, and Eto, 
 representing the School (formerly called the Kumamoto Ei Gakko) : — 
 
 Gentlenien, — In accordance with the promise we made this morning in our 
 conference, we hereby submit to you in writing the proposition concerning the 
 
20 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 property under consideration. We also prefix the statement we made regarding 
 the original understanding which the American Board had of the general situation. 
 
 As we stated, when the American Board appropriated the money for the pur- 
 chase of land and erection of houses in Kumamoto, it was with the under- 
 standing that they were to be used for the residence of its missionaries ; but if 
 for any reason the missionaries should withdraw from Kumamoto, the full value 
 of the property at the time of the withdrawal was to be returned by the school 
 to the Board. Letters from some of the Trustees of the school who entered into 
 the arrangement show that the understanding was as we have stated, which is 
 also confirmed from other sources. 
 
 While the missionaries have been ready to occupy the houses, they have not 
 been permitted to do so for the last two years. Therefore the school should 
 return the value of the property to the American Board. But as the Trustees of 
 the school have not done this, we submit the following proposition : — 
 
 The American Board will relinquish all its claims upon the property to the 
 school upon the following conditions : — 
 
 The American Board to have the use of the property for a term of thirty 
 years, the Board paying the taxes and keeping the buildings in repair in lieu of 
 rent. The present mortgage to be paid as soon as possible, the property not to 
 be again mortgaged. 
 
 As soon as foreigners can rent real estate in the interior, the Trustees to give 
 a legal lease to the Board for the unexpired term of years, upon the same 
 conditions. 
 
 In the event of the schools being closed before the expiration of the said 
 term, the property is to be transferred to whomsoever the Board may elect. 
 
 At the end of the thirty years the property is to belong to the school, without 
 any conditions. 
 
 If at any time before the expiration of the thirty years the Board shall per- 
 manently withdraw from Kumamoto, the property is to belong exclusively to the 
 schools unless they have been previously disbanded. 
 
 We place the term of occupancy of the property at thirty years because that 
 is the time fixed in similar arrangements already concluded with other schools in 
 Japan. But, if you strongly object to so long a term, we will make in this case 
 an exception and fix the period at twenty years. 
 
 Hoping that this will meet with your careful and early consideration. We 
 remain, etc. 
 
 As no reply to the proposition had been received, the Deputation just before 
 leaving Japan sent a request to the Trustees to confer with the Property Com- 
 mittee of the Mission, to whom had been given a copy of our letter, wdth authority 
 to either receive the money in payment for the property or the property itself, if 
 the proposition was accepted. The matter rests entirely with the Trustees. If 
 they decline to take any action, the property is lost to the Board, as it has no 
 claim which can be enforced in the courts. 
 
 While in Kumamoto, conferences \vere held with a number of the evangelists 
 and pastors located in the Island of Kiushiu, all of whom spoke very encourag- 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 2 [ 
 
 ingly of the present conditions of the work and of the great need of missionaries, 
 and nearly all were of the opinion that Kumamoto should continue to be the 
 centre for evangelistic work for the western portion of the Island ; the Mission 
 has also voted to continue the station, in which action we heartily concur. 
 
 V. FUTURE POLICY AND CO-OPERATION. 
 
 Mission work in Japan, if it is to be efficient, must be adjusted to the rapidly 
 succeeding changes which are there taking place. Within less than one genera- 
 tion, Old Japan has nearly disappeared, and a new, progressive, and swiftly 
 evolving nation has come to the front. In a land where schools are provided for 
 all; where even the humblest are in touch, through the press, with the thought 
 and action of the world ; where dispensaries, hospitals, and trained nurses are 
 provided, either by the state or by individual enterprise ; where even Christians 
 are only a quarter of a century from the Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism 
 of their ancestors, the missionary problem is serious and complicated. The 
 wonder is not that divergence from the ethical and theological traditions of 
 Christendom is so great, but rather that it is not greater. The question forced 
 upon us by our investigations is not. How may the American Board withdraw its 
 missionaries from Japan? but, rather. How may it help them to work more 
 wisely and efficiently? That, we are persuaded, can be best accomplished, in 
 existing conditions, not by an increase of the resident missionary force, but by 
 certain changes in methods. Therefore our first recommendation is as 
 follows : — 
 
 We recommend that the number of missionaries in the service of the Ameri- 
 can Board in Japan be not increased at present. 
 
 Concerning missionary policy in Japan, your Deputation believes that the time 
 has come for a slight change in the method of conducting the work. The oppor- 
 tunity before Christians of approved ability and spirituality, before preachers 
 who are not only consecrated but also learned and wise, was never more inviting 
 than now, and we believe that the people were never more willing to receive 
 them. Two plans may be adopted : one, that of sending out many new mission- 
 aries, and the other that of giving the best possible training to native Christians 
 desirous of becoming religious teachers and preachers. This evangelistic work 
 can be better done by the Japanese, but the training can better be given by pro- 
 fessors and pastors from abroad. Even missionaries of large ability and ripe 
 experience will not now be heeded as many others would be who might be sent 
 out, for occasional service, as evangelists and teachers. What is now most 
 required is instruction in apologetics, and the philosophy of Christianity, and 
 direct aid in evangelistic effort, by those whose position in the church and 
 among scholars will secure for them the respectful consideration of the men who 
 must be the Christian leaders in Japan during the next generation. Therefore, 
 while your Deputation is of the opinion that the number of missionaries should 
 not be increased at present, it makes the following recommendation concerning 
 the conduct of mission work in the immediate future : — 
 
 We recommend that the Prudential Committees take measures to send 
 annually to Japan men of established ability and reputation to speak on various 
 
22 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japa^i. 
 
 subjects, in furtherance of missionary work, and that in this plan they endeavor 
 to secure the cooperation of other missionary societies. 
 
 Your Deputation has found, on the part of both missionaries and Japanese, a 
 desire for a more scholarly Christian literature than is now within the reach of 
 those who read only the vernacular. Other religious bodies, as various sects of 
 Buddhists, are flooding the empire with cheap books ; for e.xample, catechisms, 
 historical sketches, and arguments in favor of their religions. There is need 
 that the best thought of the Christian world be brought within easy reach of all 
 that people. As one way of meeting this demand, the Mission has already taken 
 the preliminary steps for starting a Review, — the same to be under the control 
 of the Mission, — which shall be published in the vernacular, and which shall aim 
 to provide, by original articles and by translations, the best results of modern 
 Christian scholarship. We approve this action of the Mission and recommend 
 that the project be financially aided by the Board. 
 
 Concerning the subject of cooperation between the Mission and the Kumi-ai 
 churches, your Deputation is of the opinion that such cooperation is desirable. 
 While there may be here and there among the pastors a few whose radical views 
 in theology might make fellowship difficult, if not impossible, we believe that 
 such instances are exceptions, and that they should not be allowed to disturb the 
 fraternal relations which should exist between the Mission and the churches which 
 it has so largely founded and fostered. 
 
 When the labors of the missionaries shall have resulted in conditions favorable 
 to church organization, such churches should be constituted, in accordance with 
 the custom hitherto observed by the Mission, namely, according to the usage of 
 the Kumi-ai body. If the church becomes at once self-supporting, the mission- 
 ary will have no relation to it except that of love and fellowship ; but if the 
 church expects from the Board financial assistance, then the missionaries as 
 agents of th,e Board must take measures to satisfy the Board that the money 
 given by it is not used to aid or to support those who in their faith, preaching, 
 and practice are not evangelical, in accordance with the common understantling 
 of the term in the churches supporting the Board. 
 
 There are difficulties in the way of cooperation between the Japanese and 
 foreigners in the use of mission funds. Such cooperation has been character- 
 ized by some Japanese as “a double control,” they not being able to grasp the 
 idea of a joint control and responsibility, taken together with the fact that the 
 missionaries are the recognized agents of the Mission Board and the supporting 
 churches. Owing to the difficulties hitherto rising out of such relations wherein 
 the missionaries and Japanese are in a kind of copartnership for the support of 
 work, we cannot recommend new and enlarged attempts in this respect. 
 
 On the question of “self-support,” the Deputation advised the IMission sub- 
 stantially as follows : — 
 
 We recommend that the Mission plan to reduce its expenditures for evange- 
 listic work as rapidly as is consistent with the success of the missionary cause. 
 We urge upon the churches the privilege and duty of self-support so soon as 
 circumstances will permit. We further suggest that in carrying out this recom- 
 mendation, those regions where there are strong Kumi-ai churches be left as far as 
 possible to the care of those churches, and that the Mission devote its attention 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 23 
 
 to the more remote and less developed localities. It should be remembered 
 that the Home Missionary Society of the Kumi-ai churches is independent, and 
 self-supporting, and responsible to the Board neither directly nor indirectly. 
 
 It is now a generally accepted principle of missionary policy that the evange- 
 lization of any land should, so far as possible, be committed to the hands of 
 native Christians. This is peculiarly true in Japan. The work of the missionaries 
 will be none the less important and imperative in the future, but it will involve 
 much more consultation with the Kumi-ai churches. In so far as practicable we 
 urge both upon the Board, and upon the missionaries, conference with the Home 
 Missionary Society of the Kumi-ai churches as to the best places for beginning 
 new work; and we suggest to the Board that the president of the Home Mis- 
 sionary Society of the Kumi-ai churches be informed that the Prudential 
 Committee will always welcome any suggestions as to the best methods of con- 
 ducting the work common to both bodies. 
 
 AVe cannot close this part of our report without saying that, notwithstanding 
 all that has been reported to the contrary, the condition of the Kumi-ai churches 
 and of the missionary seiA'ice in Japan on the whole is very encouraging. The 
 extraordinary and abnormal movement of multitudes toward Christianity, a few 
 years ago, has given place to a slow and healthy growth. The churches are not 
 so well attended as formerly, but those who do attend are more faithful and are 
 developing a stronger faith and doing better work. This is the unanimous testi- 
 mony of the most conservative of the Kumi-ai pastors and of the missionaries. 
 If our recommendations, and other similar plans, are adopted, we believe that 
 the new spiritual revival, now so evidently begun in Japan, will be greatly 
 advanced, and that the Board and the churches will soon recognize that the 
 results of their efforts in that country have fully justified all the expenditure of 
 money, labor, and consecrated lives. 
 
 VI. KOBE COLLEGE. 
 
 It is very gratifying to be able to speak in terms of unqualified praise of Kobe 
 College. In buildings and equipment, in courses of education, in management, 
 it is unsurpassed as a Christian school for girls in Japan. During the twenty 
 years of its existence it has seen great changes and it is destined to see others 
 equally great, for which it is well prepared. There was a time when foreign 
 education for girls was much desired by the Japanese, and this, like all similar 
 schools, was crowded with students. Then came the reaction, when it was thought 
 by the people that the AVestern education unfitted girls for the homes and lives 
 for which they were destined. That reaction has not yet passed. The govern- 
 ment schools make small provision for the educ ation of girls above the primary 
 grade. Lender these circumstances, one of the greatest benefits extended by 
 foreign missions to women in Japan is through their schools for girls. There is 
 evidence that this benefit is being now more fully appreciated, and that no better 
 work for the future of Japan can be done than to persist in holding open these 
 schools until the people shall see their disastrous error in neglecting the oppor- 
 tunity thus afforded. The minister of education has recently made a strong 
 
24 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 utterance in favor of female education which is sure to have much effect on 
 public opinion. 
 
 “ Very few of the pupils,” Miss Searle reported at the twentieth anniversary in 
 November, “enter the school from Christian families or with any previous 
 knowledge of Christian truth.” Of. the 132 graduates, only nine were not 
 members of the church at the time of their graduation. At present there are 
 about seventy pupils in the College. Its property is held by a secure title, and 
 it is under the management of the missionaries, d'he W. B. M. I. may justly 
 take great pride in this institution, which it has done so much to foster. 
 
 We recommend that Kobe College under its present management be fully 
 sustained. 
 
 VII. LOCATION AND EMPLOYMENT OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The location of the different missionaries has been left heretofore largely to 
 the Mission to decide, and we do not understand that your instructions to us 
 intend to change this rule. We have investigated the general question of loca- 
 tion as a whole, upon whicli we make report. It is no more than just to add that 
 it seems to us that the Mission has been eminently wise in the arrangement and 
 distribution of our forces in Japan. 
 
 We find that some of the larger cities have a considerable missionary force. 
 This includes, as in Toyko, representatives of a great number of missionary 
 boards. At the same time these cities have the largest number of Japanese 
 pastors, evangelists, teachers, and Christians, as well as church organizations. 
 We recognize that these cities afford wide opportunity for reaching multitudes 
 who have not yet heard of Christ, yet we feel that, so far as possible, the Japanese 
 churches and Christians should be made to accept their own responsibility in 
 this work. At the same time many large towns and wide rural districts more 
 remote from these cities have no missionaries and no gospel privileges, and are 
 urgently requesting the attention of mission boards. 
 
 We therefore recommend that in the arrangement of our missionary forces the 
 number of missionaries be not increased in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, or 
 Okayama. 
 
 As to the work to be done, we are impressed with the fact that the changed 
 circumstances in Japan must necessarily lead to different methods of work. 
 When missions were first begun, before the government had in operation its 
 present admirable school system, there were wide opportunities offered for 
 Christian work in connection with general instructions in English, in both private 
 and in government schools. In fact, under the laws of Japan it was necessary 
 for every missionary residing outside of the limits of the treaty ports to be in the 
 employ of some Japanese. This employment was usually that of teacher, and 
 hence missionaries in the interior necessarily passed many hours each week in 
 the schoolroom. At present, owing to the high excellence of the government 
 schools, in which are found many Christian teachers, and also because of the 
 changing treaties, which even now make it possible for missionaries to reside in 
 many places outside of treaty ports, upon a traveler’s passport, and in the near 
 future will give general freedom in this respect, we recommend that the time and 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 25 
 
 strength of our missionaries be devoted to what may be called more direct lines 
 of evangelistic work. The necessity for mission schools, except in the more 
 direct preparation of young men for the gospel ministry, appears to us to be 
 decreasing in proportion to the increased excellence of the government schools. 
 We would, however, make an exception in the matter of schools for girls, as in 
 female education the government is not so progressive. 
 
 We do not recommend any sudden change in this respect, but leave the par- 
 ticulars mainly to the Mission. We do desire, however, to say that it seems to 
 us that the necessity in Japan for missionaries to devote themselves to mere 
 teaching is largely past, unless they see in that work a wide opportunity to 
 influence their pupils for Christianity and to affect others whom they may reach 
 through them. We believe that a missionary should be always an evangelist, in 
 whatever line of work he may be engaged, and that he should seek those places 
 in which he can best accomplish his work. The general influence of medical 
 and educational work as illustrating practical Christianity has been great indeed 
 in the past. 
 
 We have only commendation for the work done by the representatives of our 
 various Woman’s Boards in Japan. The influence and power of their mission- 
 aries in the several girls’ schools with which they are connected, in the Bible 
 Training School in Kobe, and in the general evangelistic work are beyond our 
 praise. We recommend vigorous support and prosecution of this woman’s work 
 for the women of Japan along all these lines. 
 
 VIII. EDUCATION. 
 
 Our Board cannot compete in general education for young men with the well- 
 equipped and efficient government schools. Although no religions are taught or 
 permitted to be taught in these schools, the Christian teachers in many of them 
 have full liberty to meet their students outside of recitation hours for religious 
 study. 
 
 The last published reports in English of the educational system of Japan show 
 that there are a little more than seven millions of children of the school age in 
 the empire. A little over four millions of these are registered pupils in the 
 public schools. This is nearly fifty-nine per cent, of the school population. The 
 attendance is constantly upon the increase. There is yet great need of efficient 
 private schools for the training of men and women for various departments of 
 the Christian work. Herein consists the close relation which education bears 
 to the evangelization of Japan. The only school for boys aided by our Board in 
 Japan is the Doshisha, which is treated under a separate head. 
 
 We recommend no change for the present in the aid rendered to the 
 girls’ schools at Kobe, Kyoto, Maebashi, Tottori, Osaka, and Matsuyama 
 in the line of missionary teachers and money grants, owing to the aid to 
 evangelization which these schools render. We do recommend, however, 
 that when any missionary teacher feels that he is not able, in the capacity of 
 teacher, to do his work as missionary, the matter be brought before the Mission 
 for consultation and decision, with the object of releasing him from teaching if, 
 in view of all the facts, it seems best to do so. 
 
26 
 
 Repoj't of the Deputation to Japan, 
 
 IX. COMMUNICATION FROM THE DOSHISHA. 
 
 In a paper which the Deputation received from the Trustees of the Doshisha 
 at the hand of President Kozaki, the following desires and requests are 
 expressed : — 
 
 1. “In the collegiate and preparatory schools it is our desire to have at least 
 two foreign professors of the English language and literature for some time to 
 come. 
 
 2. “ In the Theological School, especially, a strong faculty is needed, that is, 
 a group of professors of thorough scholarship, with devout Christian spirit, either 
 native or foreign. But it is hard to find such in Japan, and hence it is our desire 
 that the Board will give help in every way to raise such laborers in the future. 
 
 3. “It is our desire that in raising funds for both the collegiate and theolog- 
 ical schools, the Board will give us some proper assistance. 
 
 4. “ It is our desire that the present method of helping students directly by 
 missionaries be changed to a form of the Board’s gift to the school for scholar- 
 ship, and funds to be given or lent for needy worthy students, to be distributed by 
 vote of the Fac\ilty.” 
 
 These requests were preceded by a statement that, in so far as the Board 
 recognizes the Doshisha as an independent institution of Japan, it wishes to 
 receive annually its gifts, also expressing the purpose to gradually reduce the sum 
 asked for as other funds are secured. 
 
 The first two items, with the preliminary statement, have been already covered 
 practically by our report upon Article III of the instructions of the Prudential 
 Committee, and need not be repeated. 
 
 In response to the third request, as well as to the entire subject involved, we 
 would recommend that when the Prudential Committee are assured that the 
 Doshisha is the positive force in Japan for evangelical Christianity for which it 
 was founded and so largely endowed, and that it will continue to be so, it will 
 do all in its power under its rules to strengthen and aid it. 
 
 In regard to the fourth request, we would recommend that there be no change 
 at present in the method of aiding needy but worthy students in their prepara- 
 tion in the Doshisha for the gospel ministry. Aid given by the missionaries in 
 the form of an equivalent for services rendered in the practical gospel work is, in 
 our judgment, better than money given as scholarships through the Faculty of the 
 school. 
 
 X. LETTER TO THE KUMI-AI CHURCHES. 
 
 When it was heard in Japan that the Prudential Committee was sending out 
 a Deputation, the Kumi-ai churches appointed a representative committee to 
 confer with it about matters of mutual interest. This committee was composed 
 of Rev. T. Harada, president of the last annual conference of the Kumi-ai 
 churches; President Kozaki, of the Doshisha; Rev. I. Abe, pastor of the 
 Okayama church ; Rev. K. Miyagawa, pastor of the Naniwa church at Osaka, 
 and Rev. T. Osada, pastor of the Tamon church of Kobe, and president of the 
 Kumi-ai Home Missionary Society. Two conferences were held with this 
 committee, in which the general conditions of the work and its special imme- 
 
27 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 diate needs were discussed. The conclusions to which we arrived from these 
 conferences are embodied in different parts of the report herewith rendered. 
 The conferences which were held with these brethren were most pleasant, cordial, 
 and helpful. We were impressed with their earnest spirit, marked ability, and 
 devotion to the cause of Christ in Japan. 
 
 When about to leave the country, the Deputation addressed the following 
 letter to the Kumi-ai churches of Japan: — 
 
 TO THE KUMI-AI CHURCHES OF JAPAN. 
 
 Dear Brethren: — 
 
 The Deputation appointed by the Prudential Committee ot the American Board to 
 visit and confer with its missionaries in Japan and with Japanese Christians has com- 
 pleted its work and is about to sail for home. During our presence in your beautiful 
 country we have been the recipients of so many courtesies at the hands of the Kumi-ai 
 Christians and Churches that we should feel that we had been deprived of a great 
 privilege if we were not permitted to express our hearty thanks to you for your kind- 
 ness to us. 
 
 With the growth of your churches, almost unexampled in the history of any country, 
 we have had great satisfaction, and at the prospect of still larger growth both in num- 
 bers and spirituality in the not distant future we gratefully rejoice. We feel that your 
 history is our history and your prosperity is a blessing which will carry gladness to all 
 Christians the world around. You are a body of independent churches, subject to no 
 master but Jesus Christ ; this we fully recognize and this our missionaries have always 
 recognized, and we have rejoiced to find in you much of the spirit of the Pilgrim 
 Fathers, to whom the religious life of our country is so largely indebted. As we look 
 over the world with its teeming millions, so many of whom have no clear idea of the 
 gospel of our Saviour, we feel that an immense and solemn responsibility rests upon 
 the Church of Christ in all lands, and not the least in your own land, to which Provi- 
 dence seems to have committed the intellectual and spiritual leadership of the East. 
 
 In our study of the problems facing our missionaries, we have had to consider 
 whether the time had come for their withdrawal from Japan. In getting information 
 on this point we have consulted with many of your ministers, laymen, and evangelists, 
 and every one has advised us not immediately to withdraw from the field. Some have 
 suggested that the number of missionaries should not be increased, but the voice in 
 favor of retaining most of those now present has been unanimous. We have decided 
 to advise the missionaries to remain in your country for the present, hoping that the 
 time will not be far distant in which you will be able not only to do without them but 
 also to join with us in carrying the kingdom to other lands. 
 
 Our missionaries will not attempt to establish independent churches, but will, so far 
 as they are able, seek to cooperate with you in the work of the Kumi-ai body, along 
 the same general lines as in the past, and we ask for them in their difficult and delicate 
 duties your generous cooperation. They will, of course, have to do their work in the 
 way in which they can work best, as you will work in the way best adapted to you, but 
 there ought to be, and we are persuaded that there will be, no serious difficulty in such 
 cooperation. 
 
 We must ask you to remember that our missionaries have to render an account to 
 the Board concerning their work and all moneys expended by them, and that often 
 when you may differ from them they may be only carrying out the imperative and 
 necessary instructions of the Board. 
 
 We have been advised, both by you and our missionaries, to devote more attention, 
 in the future, to sending out for occasional service eminent and able pastors and 
 
28 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 theologians, and also to provide for the translation and publication of works of re- 
 ligious thought of world-wide value. Both these suggestions seem to us eminently 
 wise, and we shall take great pleasure in advising our Board to do as you suggest. 
 
 You have also suggested that, so far as there may be changes in the location of mis- 
 sionaries, more attention should be given to the districts where there are not already 
 well established Kumi-ai churches. That suggestion also approves itself to us and we 
 have so advised our missionaries. 
 
 We regret that we have not been able to come to agreement with those with whom 
 we have had misunderstanding concerning houses and lands purchased and paid for by 
 the American Board. In Kyoto and Kumamoto such misunderstanding exists. With 
 reference to this we have addressed to the Trustees of the Doshisha a letter, from 
 which we quote as follows : — 
 
 “ We cannot believe that you will think of asking rent from the Board for the mis- 
 sionary houses in Kyoto, when the land was purchased and the houses were paid for, 
 entirely out of the treasury of the Board. For you to do that, we believe both you and 
 all your countrymen would hold to be a stain upon the good name of the Doshisha.” 
 
 Concerning our difficulty at Kumamoto, we desire to say that we are profoundly 
 grateful to our brethren of the Kumi-ai churches for what they have done to help us 
 in that matter, and we trust that they will not cease to use their efforts until there has 
 been an honorable settlement. 
 
 As we study the religious condition of the world, we find much cause for rejoicing at 
 the swift advancement of the Kingdom of God, but we also see that that kingdom has 
 many and insidious foes and that the demand was never greater that all the Christian 
 host should present a united and aggressive front against unbelief and sin. This is 
 no time for emphasis upon what we do not believe. Positive, scriptural, able, conse- 
 crated preaching and pure and saintly Christian lives are everywhere imperatively 
 demanded. Will you not unite with us, and with all Christians, in exalting the person- 
 ality and fatherhood of God, the saving work of Jesus Christ, the need of regeneration 
 by the Holy Spirit and his constant ministry ; the duty of all men of every land and 
 condition to love and serve one another, and the power of the endless life? In short, 
 may we not together with all evangelical Christians unite in so presenting the gospel of 
 our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that your land and our land and all lands 
 shall, in due time, acknowledge him as Master and Lord? 
 
 We have read with much interest the platform adopted by you in your recent meeting 
 at Nara, and see in it your recognition that the world can be made truly Christian only 
 by men of lofty faith, holy lives, and pure hearts. We pray for God’s blessing on the 
 movement there so auspiciously started. 
 
 Dear Brethren, we greet you as our fellow-workers for the kingdom of God ; we 
 pray for you. Will you not pray for us and for our country, that together Japan and 
 America may advance toward the stature of truly Christian nations? 
 
 Once more and from our hearts vve thank you for your courtesy to us. It will never 
 be forgotten. God bless the Kumi-ai churches, and God bless the Japanese nation! 
 
 In the bonds of Christian fellowship, we subscribe ourselves. 
 
 Dear Brethren, Very sincerely, etc. 
 
 Yokohama, December 7, 1895. 
 
 XI. CONCLUDING STATEMENTS. 
 
 While Japan is a small country in area, yet when we regard its population of 
 more than 41,000,000, its political, social, and religious importance in relation to 
 the problems of the far East, it is of the utmost moment that we give to this 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 29 
 
 nation careful consideration. The Japanese people are homogeneous, speaking 
 one language and united by a strong national spirit which must be taken into 
 account in considering all matters relating to missionary enterprises. The 
 country e.xtends through nineteen degrees of latitude, and is made up of four 
 larger islands and many smaller ones. This makes it more difficult for Christian 
 influence from one centre to extend over the entire country. 
 
 It must always be borne in mind that while Japan and the Japanese are now 
 so well known, it is only a third of a century since anything definite was under- 
 stood of the country and people, and less than a score of years since anything 
 like practical acquaintance with them could be affirmed. 
 
 It would be unjust to the Japanese and for us not to keep constantly before us 
 the fact that to within a few years they were shut up to their own religions, — • 
 Shintoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, — knowing the name of Christianity only 
 to hate it. These three faiths, meeting in some form in the life of nearly every 
 Japanese, have been closely connected with their intellectual, social, and national 
 life for many centuries. The stamp of some one, or more commonly of all these 
 religions, is upon every institution of the country and permeates and explains 
 nearly every custom. 
 
 Into these conditions evangelical Christianity entered in 1859. Everything, 
 — language, hatred, and suspicion of foreigners, lack of treaty privileges, preju- 
 dice against Christianity and foreign faith, ignorance of the Japanese customs 
 and characteristics upon the part of the missionaries, all combined to delay the 
 Christianization of Japan. For twelve years apparently little or nothing was 
 accomplished. 
 
 The most of the work in Japan has been done since 1871. The story reads 
 like a modern Acts of the Apostles. The nation has been disarmed of its sus- 
 picions against Christianity. The non-Christian leaders in Japan recognize the 
 worth and power of the Christian character and honor the true Christian life. 
 The missionary is now free to go at will into all parts of the empire. The Bible 
 and Christian literature have free circulation everywhere, even among the soldiers 
 in the army and in the hospitals. The prisons are open for the Christian 
 evangelist. Christian teachers are in many of the government schools, with full 
 liberty to teach Christianity to the pupils outside of school hours. Persecution 
 is a thing of the past, except as it occasionally appears in disguise. Christianity 
 has already put its stamp upon the laws of society, of the army, and of the state, 
 and is making itself felt in its literature and forms of thought. Nevertheless we 
 must bear in mind the fact that, compared with the entire population, the num- 
 ber of Christians is small. Including those connected with the Greek and 
 Catholic churches, the highest number claiming the Christian name is less than 
 one fourth of one per cent, of the Japanese people. Probably one tenth of one per 
 cent, would more correctly indicate the number of true followers of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Even the best of these have only a few years of Christian expe- 
 rience and training between their life to-day and the training of their earlier years. 
 There are no traditions as to Christianity except those of hatred. The Christians 
 are scattered throughout the land and meet constantly and everywhere all forms 
 of the idol worship of their countrymen, the arguments for the maintenance of 
 the old national faiths, together with practices that run counter to the true 
 
30 
 
 Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 Christian life, and the intense national feeling against a foreign religion. Under 
 these circumstances, the marvel is that Christianity has been able not only to 
 maintain itself during these later years which mark the rise of the new national 
 and intellectual spirit, but also to make signal progress. 
 
 We cannot expect that the Japanese Christians will hold all the articles of our 
 faith in precisely the same way that they are held in New England, where nearly 
 three centuries of Christian life and tradition lie back of us. There is a strong 
 tendency among some of them to investigate for themselves many of the. funda- 
 mental principles of Christianity which we have regarded as settled, and during 
 these investigations the.y decline to accept as authoritative any of the creeds of 
 Christendom. We are assured that the great mass of Kumi-ai Christians, num- 
 bering over 11,000, and the far greater part of the pastors and evangelists, are 
 firm believers in the old and universally accepted truths. None of the extrem- 
 ists are supported by our Board. 
 
 Japan is characterized by the intensity with which it seizes a new idea. We 
 believe the movement toward extreme liberalism in the Kumi-ai churches, which 
 is not widespread, but which is championed by a few writers and public speakers, 
 if left to its natural course, will soon disappear. A few who are involved may 
 lose their faith in Christianity and leave the church, but we believe the tendency 
 to destructive criticism will be less in the future, and that the work of construc- 
 tion will be more prominent. The theological problems of the world are now 
 discussed in Japan, and that too without a balancing foundation of Christian 
 faith and life. One point we desire especially to emphasize ; namely, that the 
 evidence is complete that our missionaries have been eminently faithful in pre- 
 senting the truths of the gospel, and that none of the present conditions are due 
 to any lack of fidelity upon their part. 
 
 Japan is not to develop a new Christianity, nor do we imagine that many 
 among her Christians have any such idea. Yet, as in every country into which 
 the gospel enters, the exact forms which some phases of external Christianity 
 assume will be peculiar to that country, so must we expect to find in Japan. 
 We believe that the church in Japan is founded upon the living Christ and that 
 his spirit permeates it, making it a living church. We need not be anxious over 
 the final outcome. The wonderful growth of the Kumi-ai body, both in numbers 
 and influence, during the past twenty-five years gives us great assurance. A 
 human movement would have been terminated by the period of popularity of 
 Christianity which swept over Japan previous to 1890. The reaction from that 
 condition was severe, and the churches and the workers have not entirely recov- 
 ered from it at the present time ; but we find evidence on every side that it is 
 recovering and that the forward movement now is healthful and encouraging. 
 
 The fact that a few leaders in the Kumi-ai churches are not now in accord in 
 their beliefs with the Congregational churches in the United States would not 
 justify curtailing our work in Japan, but rather furnishes a reason why it should 
 be strongly maintained. The men referred to are connected with independent 
 churches, over which the Board has no control, and they do not seem to be carry- 
 ing the churches with them into their radical positions. 
 
 The time has not yet come, and for many years may not come, to leave the 
 evangelization of the empire to the Japanese churches. They are doing much. 
 
Report of the Deputation to Japan. 
 
 31 
 
 but that much is slight indeed compared with the needs of the country. Of the 
 ninety-nine Kumi-ai churches and provisional churches, only thirty-nine are self- 
 supporting. They all are young in years. Some of them have a small member- 
 ship. All have grave questions to meet and serious battles to fight which are 
 incident to their lack of experience and their surroundings. They need our 
 cooperation. The Japanese Home Missionary Society of the Knmi-ai churches, 
 in its independence, is doing well, and when it has obtained sufficient strength 
 and experience, we may expect it to assume the support of the places now main- 
 tained by the Board and its missionaries. Work is passed over to them as 
 rapidly as they are able to take it up. 
 
 The work begun by the American Board and now connected with the Kumi-ai 
 churches is by far the strongest of any mission work in Japan. The number of 
 Christians is about the same as that reported by the seven allied Presbyterian 
 bodies under the name of “ the Church of Christ in Japan,” but the number of 
 independent churches is much larger. 
 
 We recognize the heavy demands which are made upon the individual mis- 
 sionary and the necessity that he be well equipped mentally and spiritually, and 
 thoroughly trained for this service. After nine weeks of contact and conference 
 with the men and women of our Board in Japan, your Deputation can speak of 
 them in warmest terms as to their ability, consecration, and faith. They are 
 worthy the entire confidence and support of our churches. 
 
 XII. OTHER DEPUTATIONS RECOMMENDED. 
 
 The members of the Deputation feel that they cannot close this report without 
 going outside the letter of instructions and speaking of another subject which 
 experience has proved to be of great importance, and, in their opinion, essential 
 to the wise administration of our foreign missionary service. Such visits as we 
 have made to Japan ought often to be made to the various mission fields, both 
 for the sake of the missionaries and still more for the sake of those charged with 
 the duty of carrying on the work. The problems of missionary policy in almost 
 all lands are so complicated that study on the ground alone can give promise of 
 satisfactory solution. Therefore we unite in suggesting that, under the auspices 
 of the Prudential Committee, occasional visits be made to the various missions of 
 the Board : first, by the secretary and members of the Prudential Committee, 
 that they may better understand the responsibilities resting upon them ; and 
 second, by such pastors and laymen as may be selected, in order that the 
 churches may be helped to appreciate the delicacy and difficulty of the service 
 committed to their representatives in foreign lands. 
 
 This report we now most respectfully submit, closing with the words of the 
 last audible prayer of the sainted Dr. N. G. Clark, in whose home the Mission 
 originated, and under whose wise direction it has made such wonderful progress 
 for twenty-five years : “ God bless Japan ! ” 
 
 (Signed) JAMES L. BARTON. 
 
 WILLIAM P. ELLISON. 
 JAMES GIBSON JOHNSON. 
 AMORY H. BRADFORD. 
 
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