SIDE LIGHTS 
 
 From a Missionary 
 
 “If imitation is the sincerest form of 
 flattery we have certainly been highly flat- 
 tered by the recent order that has gone 
 forth from one of the Hongwanji Temples 
 in Kyoto. It is reported that the Lord 
 Abbot has ordered as a measure com- 
 memorative of the Coronation, that Sunday 
 Schools be organized in all temples of the 
 sect throughout the country. The writer 
 has it from a prominent Japanese minister 
 in Tokyo that a deputation of priests ap- 
 peared at the Mombusho a short time ago, 
 informed the officials of their project and 
 sought advice as to the organization and 
 conduct of such schools. The astonished 
 officials informed them that they had had 
 really no experience in the conduct of 
 Sunday Schools and advised them to con- 
 sult “Yaso” (the Christian Sect) as the 
 only body doing extensive work in that 
 line. That the work is intended to be per- 
 manent and thoroughgoing from the very 
 first is evidenced by the fact that the num- 
 ber of scholars admitted is to be limited 
 to twenty for the first year.” 
 
OUR WORK WITH CHRIST 
 IN JAPAN 
 
 By Secretary Robert E. Speer on 
 His Recent V^isit 
 
 Externally there were fewer changes 
 in Japan than I had anticipated. The 
 railroad stations and the railroad cars are 
 just about as they were. There has not 
 been a fraction of the architectural 
 change that there has been in New York 
 and many an American town. I saw no 
 such outward changes as one sees all 
 over our country, but inwardly there has 
 been a great change and in nothing 
 more than in the place and influence of 
 Christianity. Eighteen years ago when 
 I was here, audiences were small, the 
 government schools were closed to 
 Christianity, the churches were shabby 
 and forms of worship ragged, and the 
 temper of the nation was distinctly anti- 
 Christian. Now great congregations 
 come to hear the preaching. Worship 
 has grown far more fervent. The nation 
 openly confesses its need of religion. 
 
 Thanks to the foresight and the 
 Christian spirit and judgment of men 
 like Thompson and Hepburn and Ballagh 
 and Brown and Verbeck the work of 
 all the Presbyterian and Reformed 
 churches in Japan is one work with a 
 thorough understanding as to territorial 
 occupation and with some real unity of 
 
plan in the institutional work of the mis- 
 sion. The absolute union of all the fruit- 
 age of the missions in the Nihon Kiri- 
 suto Kyokai, or the Church of Christ in 
 Japan, and the trust which the missions 
 have one of another make it possible to 
 interlace their work without too sharp 
 territorial divisions. The islands of 
 Kyushu and Shikoku are cared for re- 
 spectively by the Dutch Reformed and 
 Southern Presbyterian missions although 
 we have a station on Shikoku at J^Iat- 
 suyama across the Inland Sea from 
 Hiroshima. IMost of our work, how- 
 ever, is on the main Island of Hondo 
 from Tokyo southward. North of 
 Tokyo the German Reformed mission 
 carries on its strong work in Sendai as 
 a center, and north of that are further 
 stations of the Dutch Reformed mission, 
 and then on the northern island of the 
 Hokkaido our own missionaries are 
 found again in this frontier and pioneer 
 section of Japan. 
 
 Clear across on the opposite coast of 
 Japan in the most stubborn and conserv- 
 ative Buddhist section of the country 
 are our two stations of Kanazawa and 
 Fukui. In spite of such opposition, 
 however, and though the rain was falling 
 steadily, we met a little church full 6i 
 some of the best people in Fukui on a 
 weekday afternoon and in the evening 
 saw the evangelistic tent full of men and 
 women, boys and girls who listened for 
 
 4 
 
5 
 
 Ononiiclii Christians 
 
nearly three hours to the songs and ad- 
 dresses, one of which was made by a 
 converted Buddhist priest who told of 
 the tenacious way in which Christians 
 had followed him until he had been won 
 to their faith and who set forth with 
 unique power the ability of Christ to -do 
 what he had found Buddhism impotent 
 to accomplish for his life. 
 
 Between these east coast and west 
 coast stations and on the main line 
 north from Osaka to Tokyo, is the re- 
 markable work in the old city of Kyoto 
 which contains the most famous and 
 beautiful Buddhist temples in the 
 country. Unlike other Japanese cities, 
 Kyoto is laid out with great regularity 
 and the late Mr. Gorbold like a military 
 strategist, planted churches and chapels 
 in different sections of the city succeed- 
 ing by God’s grace in filling the work 
 with a spirit of courage and hope that is 
 beyond praise. In the evening the Yo- 
 shida church adjoining the University 
 was packed to the doors and to the roof 
 with students at a simple evangelistic 
 meeting. One of the chapels is planted 
 right under the eaves of the greatest 
 Buddhist temple in Japan, with the am- 
 bition filling the heart of its young 
 evangelist to build here a Christian 
 church. 
 
 At the extreme southwestern corner 
 of the main island of Japan is our new 
 station of Shimonoseki. Here on a 
 
 G 
 
beautiful site overlooking the bay and 
 visible from all the steamers passing 
 through, stands the beautiful new girls’ 
 school formed by the union and transfer 
 of Sturges Seminary of the Reformed 
 church in Nagasaki and our own girls’ 
 school in Yamaguchi. East of Shimono- 
 seki along the northern coast of the In- 
 land Sea are our evangelistic stations of 
 Yamaguchi, Hiroshima and Kure with 
 millions of people in these provinces, or 
 ken, entirely accessible in the towns and 
 country villages and offering as attractive 
 and appealing a field as a young man can 
 find anywhere for the richest use of his 
 life. 
 
 Turning north at Kobe, where the 
 southern Presbyterians have a useful 
 training school for preachers and where 
 the Congregationalists have a fine insti- 
 tution for women and the Canadian and 
 southern ^Methodists, in union, one of the 
 best educational institutions in Japan for 
 young men, one comes to Osaka, the 
 great manufacturing city of Japan with 
 its factory conditions and industrial 
 ])roblems rivaling those of our congested 
 western factory communities. Through 
 the student-evangelists, and half a dozen 
 churches with their own pastors, and 
 many preaching places taking advantage 
 of every special occasion and oppor- 
 tunity, a wide-reaching evangelistic work 
 is done. East of Osaka and south, the 
 ]>eninsula of Ise and Wakayama juts out 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 Tenohors and Sludents of Traitiini; School for Evan.u'c lists. Osaka 
 
into the sea. On the west side of the 
 peninsula at Wakayama and Tanabe, and 
 on the east side at Yamada and Tsu, 
 our missionaries are the only represen- 
 tatives of any Christian church. Ya- 
 mada is the seat of the great Shinto 
 shrines with their worship of the Im- 
 perial ancestors and near Wakayama is 
 one of the great Buddhist training 
 schools where Dr. Hail is always wel- 
 come to preach, where the priests them- 
 selves have set up a copy of the Nestor- 
 ian tablet from China, and where in 
 many ways Christianity is subtly in- 
 fluencing the Buddhist priesthood in one 
 of its greatest centers. At Tsu we were 
 glad to meet a young public school 
 teacher who, a year or two ago of his 
 own accord and out of the overflowing 
 joy of his heart, had written to the 
 Board to thank it for having been the 
 means of sending to Japan a religion 
 which had meant so much to him. 
 
 The largest center of our mission work 
 in Japan is naturally in Tokyo. Here is 
 the Meiji Gakuin, our union school and 
 theological seminary carried on in co- 
 operation with the Dutch Reformed mis- 
 sion and shared now in part by the 
 northern Baptists. In Tokyo also is our 
 largest school for girls, the Joshi Gakuin, 
 whose close relations with the evan- 
 gelistic life and work of the churches has 
 given it a warm place in the hearts of 
 Japanese Christians. Tokyo is an im- 
 
 9 
 
mense, distended type of city full of 
 little hills and hollows with perceptible 
 differences of social and economic con- 
 ditions. There is not the same concen- 
 tration in a few sharply marked areas 
 that one finds in a western city. There is 
 gain in this. The Christian churches find 
 more spots where they can take rootage 
 and it is most encouraging in riding 
 about through Tokyo to see how wide- 
 spread the tendrils of Christianity are. 
 
 In the far north of Japan, in the Hok- 
 kaido, are the stations of Sapporo, Otaru 
 and Xokkeushi far up at almost the ex- 
 treme end of the island. Here is a new 
 population made up in large part of the 
 pioneering immigrant class with their 
 characteristic openness of mind and free- 
 dom from change. Here amid the heavy 
 snows of winter, the glories of summer 
 times like the summers of iMaine, and 
 the richness of autumn colors rivalling 
 the best beauty of our woods at home ; 
 and among people needing all that Christ 
 can do for them and awakening to the 
 needs, we have a little group of mission- 
 aries singularly adapted and devoted for 
 just such service. 
 
 We left Japan just on the eve 
 of the coronation ceremonies. It was a 
 great time for Japan and the people are 
 filled with a just and earnest sense of 
 its significance. How long must it be be- 
 fore Japan is ready for another corona- 
 tion, ior the recognition of another King- 
 10 
 
11 
 
 School Bnikliugs, Hokurika Jo Gakko Kanazawa, Japan 
 
ship which gives to every earthly ruler 
 who acknowledges it, a new honor and 
 power? If the day of this other crown- 
 ing is long delayed whom will He who 
 waits hold responsible? 
 
THE RESULT OF A 
 SMALL ACT 
 
 One evening as the missionaries con- 
 nected with the Girls’ School in Kana- 
 zawa were eating dinner a young 
 Japanese gentleman called and asked to 
 see the Principal, as he had important 
 business to consult her about. He was 
 invited in, and this was his request: 
 
 A well-to-do man of our city, not a 
 Christian, , had felt sorry for quite a 
 number of the very poor children and 
 some of the older people. He had taken 
 them to his owm small farm home and 
 cared for them. He called this home 
 wdiich he provided for them an orphan- 
 age. He had used up about all of his 
 own personal funds and then he applied 
 to the city officials asking them to take 
 over this work and have wdiat w^ould be 
 termed a “Poor Farm” in our country, 
 paid for out of the city’s funds. The 
 officials said they had no funds for this 
 and could not do it. 
 
 Then he talked the matter over with 
 certain friends and they decided to try 
 and get up a musicale and help out this 
 way. 
 
 He had applied to the young man who 
 was telling the story and he had promised 
 to help him all he could. This young 
 man was the leader of the Kanazawa 
 band. He had come to the school to ask 
 if the foreigners — a community of about 
 13 
 
seventeen of us — would help them by 
 singing an English song for them. 
 
 The missionaries agreed to think the 
 matter over and give him an answer in 
 a few days. In the days intervening 
 many and varied conferences were held 
 among us as we had Germans, English, 
 Canadians and Americans among the 
 number, the majority of whom said they 
 could not sing. Some objected because 
 we knew nothing of this young man and 
 they were afraid the musicale might have 
 some objectionable numbers. We finally 
 decided to ask him for a list of the songs 
 that the Japanese singers were going to 
 sing so we could be sure everything was 
 all right. Being assured on this point 
 we consented to do it and he seemed very 
 much pleased. 
 
 The night finally arrived; we took the 
 girls of the school who wanted to go to 
 the musicale over to the hall about five 
 o'clock. A musicale, theatre, “movie” or 
 anything in the line of entertainment is 
 from five to seven hours long, usually, 
 and so the girls wanted to go early. We 
 “singers” decided to go about eight 
 o'clock as our part on the program was 
 about that time as nearly as we could cal- 
 culate and we did not want to sit there 
 so long. 
 
 Alien we reached the hall we were es- 
 corted into a small waiting room until 
 all the rest of our “singers” should ar- 
 rive. We found all arrangements made 
 
 14 
 
for us to smoke a cigarette or pipe as we 
 should choose, if we cared to. At the 
 close of that number we were all escorted 
 into the room ‘^en masse,” and up in 
 front of the crowd were chairs placed 
 for us to sit on, facing the great crowd 
 of Japanese who were all sitting on the 
 door. At the proper time we took our 
 place on the program. When a piano 
 solo was to be played by one of the mis- 
 sionaries, Miss L., who was sitting on 
 her feet, on the floor, with the girls, very 
 near to the ]3iano, noticed the instrument 
 had not been opened, so she got up and 
 opened it, then sat down on the floor 
 again. This was done in a natural quiet 
 way. The band leader noticed it but 
 said nothing. 
 
 xA.fter the entertainment was over, one 
 of the missionaries who understands the 
 Japanese language well, was asked if 
 everything had been all right. He re- 
 ])lie(l : am so glad we went. We would 
 
 have made a terrible blunder if we had 
 refused to have anything to do with it, 
 for as far as I could understand the 
 songs were all of a patriotic nature and 
 you know what that means to a Japanese. 
 Yes, everything was very good.” Some 
 time after this the young l)and leader 
 began attending the English Bible Class 
 at the little church. In time he became a 
 Christian and was baptized. 
 
 Some four or five years after this 
 musical Miss Luther was coming back to 
 
 15 
 
America for her furlough. She was sick 
 and it seemed doubtful as to whether she 
 would get back to Japan or not. The 
 night before she was to start home this 
 same young Japanese came in our gate 
 while we were at supper. He called for 
 Hiss L. and presented her with a beau- 
 tiful farewell gift which is another cus- 
 tom of theirs when anyone is going on 
 a long journey. While talking with her 
 he said : 
 
 “Sensie,” — a title of love and respect 
 they use very often — “you are going 
 away and I may never see you again and 
 I want to tell you something. You re- 
 member the first time I met you was in 
 connection with that musicale? Do you 
 remember on the night of the musicale 
 when you got up and opened the piano? 
 No? Well you did, and when you did 
 that I thought to myself, She is a 
 Christian, I wonder if’ that is why she 
 did that ; I will watch her and see. That 
 small act made me want to study Chris- 
 tianity and as a result of it I am now a 
 Christian.” 
 
 This young man was the “point of 
 contact” for several others. I can’t say 
 how many have become Christians 
 through his influence but I know of 
 several. This short story will give you 
 some slight idea as to how every small 
 thing counts for or against our religion 
 in the lands where the people have to 
 read the Christian’s life because they 
 
never have had the Bible to read and we 
 stand as His representatives. 
 
 K. Anna Gibbons. 
 
 statue of Kauazawa Hero, in Kanazawa Park 
 
 17 
 
THE GOSPEL OF 
 COMFORT 
 
 Two young men and one young woman 
 wlio have recently been baptized in the 
 town of Iwade, were led to Christ 
 through the preaching of Mr. Kodama. 
 After the baptisms the first communion 
 service ever held in this little town was 
 celebrated. After the celebration we 
 called on a Christian woman who is dy^ 
 ing with consumption and administered 
 the sacrament to her also. Through this 
 woman, i\Ir. Kodama was called to 
 preach the Gospel in Arakawa where 
 there have been three baptisms. A 
 physician in the Red Cross Hospital 
 where this woman was lying ill, had also 
 through her efforts been brought to 
 Christ. This is the story: 
 
 This doctor — aged thirty-one years — 
 was the head of the medical staff in the 
 Red Cross Hospital, his own specialty 
 being eye diseases. He had his office just 
 across the road from the Hospital build- 
 ing. He was, however, a victim of con- 
 sumption and grew steadily worse, finally 
 making up his mind that the only thing 
 he could do was to wait for death. But 
 he was not ready to die and did not know 
 ^vhere to get information which would 
 prepare him. While he was in this state 
 of mind, I went one day in company with 
 a fellow missionary who was visiting 
 WAkayama, to visit ■Mrs. ^latsuyama, 
 18 
 
the woman mentioned above. The 
 physician saw ns go and inquired who we 
 were. When told that we were Christian 
 missionaries and were visiting Mrs. 
 iMatsnyama, he called on her himself. 
 She told him she was a Christian and of 
 her hope of glory. He then told her he 
 himself was waiting to die bnt had no 
 hope and did not know where to turn for 
 instruction. Mrs. M. told him how to 
 find Christ and gave him some books 
 and told him to read them carefully and 
 continually. He did this and through 
 the books and the conversation of the 
 woman he found the Saviour. 
 
 When he died his mother came to iMrs. 
 M. — and with tears in her eyes thanked 
 her for giving her son the books. “For,” 
 said she, “my son had a whole library of 
 books and he was a scholar, but there 
 was not a book in all his library that 
 could give him any peace when he knew 
 he had to die. Bnt the books you gave 
 bim and told bim to read, he did read, and 
 found comfort and peace. I have put 
 the books in his coffin to be buried with 
 him.” 
 
 The mother was not a Christian and 
 she buried the books with him thinking 
 he would need them to guide him on the 
 untried way in which he was going. 
 
 As we visited this woman we talked 
 with her of the place where she was 
 going. We asked her to read in her Tes- 
 tament Phillipians i ’.21-24, which she 
 10 
 
(lid. She said, ‘‘I know that I must die. 
 My only anxiety to now has been for 
 those whom I must leave behind. I have 
 been anxious for my mother and hus- 
 band. But since the New Year began I 
 have left them to God for I know that he 
 will do what is right and now without a 
 care I am waiting for the call of my 
 .Saviour.” I wondered as we left her if 
 J\lr. Kodama did not feel this was a rich 
 reward for his effort for this soul. 
 
 J. B. Hail. 
 
 20 
 
REINFORCEMENTS 
 
 NEEDED 
 
 The ranks of the missionary force in 
 Japan have recently been depleted by the 
 death of three of its strong men and the 
 resignation of two others. Of those who 
 have passed on, the Rev. David Thomp- 
 son, D.D., was 53 years in service; Mr. 
 iMac Nair, 32 years and Mr. Gorbold, 
 10 years. 
 
 Of the remaining 75 missionaries, 33 
 have been in Japan over 25 years and 19 
 have been there over 30 years. 
 
 THERE IS NEED of STRONG 
 REINFORCEMENTS ! 
 
 Dr. Thompson went to Japan in 1862 
 and his missionary life covered the whole 
 history of modern Japan, the develo])- 
 ment of missions, and the awakening of 
 the Far East. When he went out to 
 Japan his ship passed up from Java to 
 Shanghai through the Sulu Sea and by 
 Manila. The Philippine Islands were a 
 sealed land then, and on a recent anni- 
 versary occasion Dr. Thompson recalled 
 remarks which had been made on the ship 
 with regard to the folly and impossibil- 
 ity of ever attempting missionary work 
 in these islands. The Tai Ping rebel- 
 lion was spreading its chaos over Central 
 China. In Japan the Shogunate was 
 21 
 
still in power. Dr. Thompson saw the 
 old conditions in all these lands pass 
 away. He lived through the whole of 
 the Meiji era in Japan, saw the Taisho 
 era begin, and passed away on the eve 
 of the coronation of the new Emperor. 
 
 When Dr. Thompson came to Japan, 
 as he said, ‘‘There was no Japanese 
 church, no Bible translated, no preach- 
 ing, no converts baptized, nor any pros- 
 pects of any being made soon. For the 
 published edicts against Christianity 
 were everywhere displayed and the 
 people were all hostile, indifferent or 
 afraid. The northern boundary of Japan 
 was indefinite and Korea was a sealed 
 nation.’’ Now all that world is passed 
 away and before he died Dr. Thompson 
 saw the ear and the fnll corn in the ear 
 following the seed and then the blade of 
 those early days, which called for stich 
 men of faith and love as he, and those 
 with whom he labored, that we might 
 enter into their labors. 
 
 oo 
 
The Board of Foreign Missions 
 of the 
 
 T'reshyterian Church in the TL S. A. 
 ino Fifth Avenue, New York