JAPAN IN THE YEAR OF 
 THE WAR 
 
 JAMES H. PETTEE 
 

to 
 
 f 
 
 IN THE YEAR OF THE WAR 
 
 ' / 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 ENCOURAGING FACTS FROM MISSIONS 
 
 JAPAN 
 
 6 
 
 ' /• 
 
 V J A A 
 
 IN THE SUNRISE KINGDOM 
 
 By James H. Pettee 
 
 MISSIONARY OF THE AMERICAN BOARD AT OKAYAMA. JAPAN 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE’S DEPARTMENT 
 AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR 
 FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 14 BEACON STREET, BOSTON 
 1904 
 
 library of the 
 
 STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT FOR FOREIGN MISSIO V,^ 
 
 3 West 29th Street, New York city. 
 
 799 
 

 
 
 
 
 .■.iJjffsisS 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/japaninyearOOpett 
 
JAPAN IN THE YEAR OF THE 
 WAR 
 
 I, By Way of Introduction 
 
 Japan has been humorously styled “the land 
 of the rising yeast.” But that the yeast of a 
 vigorous life is working in the sponge of this 
 Eastern nation the world — and Russia — has at 
 last discovered. What that yeast is, how it 
 works and what it is likely to accomplish are 
 questions worthy of close examination. To aid 
 Congregational Endeavorers of the West as 
 they study these problems is the object of this 
 pamphlet. 
 
 We shall aim to deal with facts rather than 
 theories, to give glimpses of processes rather 
 than horizons of probabilities, to furnish loaded 
 cartridges for the firing line in the West 
 rather than arrange a grand review of the 
 religious forces of the East. Moreover we 
 deal mainly with the immediate present. Those 
 who would know of the Japan of Jimmu Tenno 
 — - if there was such a land and such a fighting 
 sovereign twenty-five centuries ago— -or the 
 Japan of Hideyoshi but three centuries back 
 3 
 
 Japan 
 LiKened to 
 Yeast 
 
 Purpose of 
 Pamphlet 
 
 880 
 
4 
 
 School of 
 War 
 
 Prominent 
 
 Japanese 
 
 Christians 
 
 and his bloody conquest of Korea with its 
 strange memorial the Ear Monument at Kyoto, 
 or the Japan of half a century ago whose front 
 door Commodore Perry forced open in a blood- 
 less war, are referred to the histories and bi- 
 ographies. 
 
 Some one has said that the war with China 
 was Japan’s entrance examination to the school 
 of the nations, while the war with Russia is her 
 graduating test. War is a school of terrible 
 discipline, of floggings and bruises, of broken 
 heads and black marks, but Japan with her 
 twelve centuries of mythical militarism and an 
 equal number of undoubted heroic history, 
 with her old time loyalty and her new age 
 spirit of scientific progress is meeting the test 
 with remarkable success and winning prizes 
 every week. 
 
 II. The War and Christians 
 
 Vice Admiral Uryu, who had the honor of 
 winning the first victory in the present war, is 
 a loyal Christian who was educated in America. 
 So was Vice Admiral Serata, who died last 
 year. There are in addition several hundred 
 other Christian men in the army and navy. 
 Count .Katsura, Japan’s able premier, whose 
 first wife (who died in 1890) wa§ a, devout 
 
5 
 
 Christian lady and a member of Bancho Ku- 
 miai (Congregational) Church, Tokyo, has al- 
 ways shown himself favorable to religious tol- 
 eration and liberty. During the war with 
 China he as lieutenant general did all in his 
 power to protect not only the lives and prop- 
 erty of foreign residents in Haichen and other 
 Manchuria towns, but also the welfare of the 
 native Christians and all peaceably disposed 
 persons. 
 
 In a recent interview with Rev. William Im- 
 brie, d.d., a prominent Presbyterian mission- 
 ary, the premier said among many notable ut- 
 terances ; “The truth is that Japan stands for 
 religious freedom. This is a principle em- 
 bodied in her constitution ; and her practice is 
 in accordance with that principle. In Japan 
 a man may be a Buddhist, a Christian, or even 
 a Jew, without suffering for it. This is so 
 clear that no right-minded man acquainted 
 with Japan would question it. But as there 
 may be those in America who are not familiar 
 with the facts, it will be well to enumerate 
 some of them. And as in America the matter 
 will naturally be regarded from the point of 
 view of Christianity, I will confine myself to 
 that point of view. 
 
 “ There are Christian churches in every large 
 
 Religious 
 
 Toleration 
 
6 
 
 Spread of 
 Churches 
 and Schools 
 
 Property 
 Rights of 
 Foreigners 
 
 city and in almost every large town in Japan, 
 and they all have complete freedom to teach 
 and worship in accordance with their own con- 
 victions. These churches send out men to ex- 
 tend the influence of Christianity from one end 
 of the country to the other as freely as such a 
 thing might be done in the United States and 
 without attracting much if any more attention. 
 There are numerous Christian newspapers and 
 magazines which obtain their licenses precisely 
 as other newspapers and magazines, and as a 
 matter of course. Christian schools, some of 
 them conducted by foreigners and some by 
 Japanese, are found everywhere, and recently 
 an ordinance has been issued by the Depart- 
 ment of Education under which Christian 
 schools of a certain grade are able to obtain all 
 the privileges granted to government schools 
 of the same grade. 
 
 There are few things which are a better 
 proof of the recognition of rights than the 
 right to hold property. In many cases Asso- 
 ciations composed of foreign missionaries per- 
 manently residing in Japan have been incorpo- 
 rated by the Department of Home Affairs. 
 These Associations are allowed to ‘ own and 
 manage land, buildings, and other property, 
 for the extension of Christianity, the carrying 
 
7 
 
 on of Christian education, and the performance 
 of works of charity and benevolence.’ It should 
 be added also that they are incorporated under 
 the article in the civil code which provides for 
 the incorporation of Associations founded for 
 ‘purposes beneficial to the public’; and as 
 ‘their object is not to make a profit out of the 
 conduct of their business,’ no taxes are levied 
 on their incomes. Presbyterian, Congrega- 
 tional, Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist and other 
 American missionaries all have such Associa- 
 tions. In passing it may perhaps be worth 
 while to ask the question, ‘ How far do the 
 facts to be found in Russia correspond with 
 all these facts now stated .? ’ 
 
 “ The number of those professing Christianity 
 in Japan I do not know, but it must be a large 
 number, with a much larger number who are 
 Christian in their affiliations. The Japanese 
 Christians are not confined to any one rank or 
 class. They are to be found among the mem- 
 bers of the National Diet, the judges in the 
 courts, the professors in the universities, the 
 editors of leading secular papers, and the 
 officers of the army and navy. Christian liter- 
 ature has entrance into the military and naval 
 hospitals, and a relatively large number of 
 the trained nurses employed in them are Chris- 
 
 IncreasinM 
 Recognition 
 of Chris- 
 tianity 
 
8 
 
 Kindness 
 in War 
 
 tian women. Recently arrangements have 
 been made by which six American and British 
 missionaries and six Japanese Christian min- 
 isters are to accompany the armies in Man- 
 churia in the capacity of spiritual advisers to the 
 Christian soldiers. I repeat — Japan stands 
 for religious freedom.” 
 
 On the part of the Japanese the present 
 war has been conducted in accordance with 
 the very highest principle of international pro- 
 cedure ; writes Dr. Greene of our own mission : 
 
 “ So far as we are aware, there has been no 
 authenticated instance of unnecessary severity 
 on the part of the Japanese soldiers toward 
 the Russians, unless the following incident 
 could be counted such : It seems that in one 
 of the battles or skirmishes in Manchuria a 
 Japanese soldier captured a Russian, who sub- 
 mitted good-naturedly and, so far as his igno- 
 rance of the Japanese language allowed, tried 
 to make himself agreeable. After some time 
 spent in amiable pantomimic converse, the big 
 Russian threw up his arms and rushed upon 
 his captor. The latter, supposing that his 
 prisoner was trying to overpower him, dis- 
 entangled himself, and to guard against a 
 second attack tied the Russian’s hands with 
 
9 
 
 more regard for security than for mercy. On 
 delivering up his captive to the officer in 
 charge, he was asked why he had treated him 
 so harshly. His reply was that he did treat 
 him kindly at first, but that the Russian had 
 sprung on him and tried to bite him. A little 
 investigation, however, made it clear that the 
 unfortunate prisoner, overwhelmed by the un- 
 expected kindness shown him by one he had 
 been taught to think of as little better than 
 a savage, had only sought in genuine Russian 
 fashion to embrace and kiss his benefactor.” 
 
 The Christians of Sendai presented 10,000 
 leaflets containing a brief exhortation and a 
 dozen well chosen Biblical texts to the officers 
 and soldiers of one division of the army, and 
 as elsewhere united with non-Christians in giv- 
 ing the brave boys a fine send-off. “He that 
 endureth to the end shall be saved ” proved 
 to be the favorite passage. 
 
 Dr. DeForest reports: “At Kanazawa 
 Methodists and Presbyterians secured permis- 
 sion to meet and address the six departments 
 of the ninth division of the Imperial army, 
 whose barracks are in that city. They dis- 
 tributed a large quantity of appropriate litera- 
 ture among the soldiers. Rev. G. W. Fulton 
 is confident that three good results will follow. 
 
 Gifts of 
 Sendai 
 Christians 
 
 Literature 
 for Soldiers 
 
Christian 
 
 Farewells 
 
 lO 
 
 First, some among the vast number may accept 
 the Christian faith. Second, the soldiers will 
 be prepared for further efforts along the way 
 and for the chaplains at the front. And, third, 
 the fact that the authorities have granted the 
 Christians this privilege will have an influence. 
 The fact will be widely known, and not only 
 the soldiers themselves, but their families and 
 the people at large will have less objection to 
 a faith that had the sanction of the powers 
 that be in this signal manner.” 
 
 In Osaka Christians of every name, includ- 
 ing many Endeavorers, have united with the 
 city people generally in all forms of work for 
 soldiers and their families. But it was the 
 hearty cheering of the large company of Chris- 
 tian preachers and missionaries lined up on 
 the side of the road to the harbor which drew 
 forth from the soldiers grateful smiles and re. 
 sponsive cheers. The booth of the Christians 
 was large and conspicuous, and the singing of 
 the hymns, “Stand Up For Jesus,” and “On- 
 ward, Christian Soldiers,” led by the cornet, 
 drew the faces of all the soldiers toward us as 
 they marched by. And when the band of the 
 Okayama Orphan Asylum, which happened to 
 be in the city, came to our assistance on two 
 afternoons, the joy and excitement of the sol- 
 diers were intense. 
 
In Okayama the American Board missionary 
 women (look up their names) have spent much 
 time at the railroad station, either as members 
 of the Red Cross Society caring for officers, 
 or in company with the local Japanese Chris- 
 tian women and other volunteers serving tea, 
 sewing on buttons and saying farewell with 
 words of good cheer and timely advice to 
 thousands upon thousands of common soldiers 
 as they passed through the city on their way 
 to the front or returned hence sick and 
 wounded. 
 
 Said a soldier to one of these missionaries ; 
 “One Japanese soldier is equal to ten Rus- 
 sians, and if you pray for him he will be equal 
 to twenty.” Of many farewell poems written 
 by the soldiers themselves, expressing their 
 conviction that death to save their country 
 was the fate in store for them, which they 
 courageously faced, here is one : — 
 
 Fall with a peaceful heart 
 
 Petals of the cherry blossom. 
 
 A favorite idea in the war songs, embodying a 
 play on words, is that the rays of the rising 
 sun (Japan) drink up the dew (Russia). Many 
 soldiers advise their wives and parents to 
 become Christians. 
 
 Practical 
 
 Help 
 
 National 
 
 Spirit 
 
 Intense 
 
12 
 
 Red Cross 
 Missionary 
 
 Vsefal 
 
 Contest 
 
 Another American Board missionary, Miss 
 Parmelee, of Matsuyama, has thrown open her 
 house to Japanese soldiers, and has also served 
 as a Red Cross nurse, caring for Russian pris- 
 oners. Citizens of Kobe have been specially 
 generous in their treatment of soldiers en route 
 to the front, at times entertaining them for 
 two full weeks in their own homes. The con- 
 duct of Japanese soldiers quartered in private 
 dwellings has been above reproach. 
 
 Athletic sports now form a part of the cur- 
 riculum in girls’ schools as well as in boys’. 
 An exhibition held last May in the Peeresses 
 school was attended by the Empress, four 
 daughters of the Emperor and many other 
 titled people, together with several distin- 
 guished foreigners. On this occasion no other 
 foreigner received such an ovation as was 
 given to Mrs. McGee of Philadelphia, who 
 came to Japan to nurse sick and wounded sol- 
 diers and sailors. An interesting contest con- 
 sisted in the field hospital work of two com- 
 panies of girls representing Red Cross nurses. 
 They made bandages, carried in the wounded 
 from the battlefield, administered anaesthetics, 
 performed surgical operations, or seemed to do 
 so, dressed wounds and bandaged broken heads 
 
13 
 
 and shattered limbs in quite professional style. 
 Mrs. McGee and the Empress examined and 
 approved the work. 
 
 Mr. Pedley of Maebashi reports that one day 
 in March a telegram was received from an 
 evangelist in his field : — “I am ordered out. 
 Secure a successor.” Though evangelists as a 
 rule are exempt from military service, his was 
 by no means a solitary exception. On Febru- 
 ary seventh Major Uno, military instructor 
 at the Doshisha, Kyoto, was given a farewell 
 in an exceedingly impressive Sunday morning 
 sunrise service. 
 
 Dr. DeForest’s tract on “Why America 
 Sympathizes with Japan ” has proved the most 
 popular and one of the most helpful publica- 
 tions among foreigners during recent years. 
 The substance of his answer to the titled ques- 
 tion is contained in the following paragraph : 
 “ It (the sympathy of Americans for Japan) is 
 no shallow and temporary feeling, such as would 
 arise from the friendly manner in which Com- 
 modore Perry opened Japan. Nor does it 
 come from the fact that our diplomatic relations 
 have always been pleasant and mutually help- 
 ful. If that were all there would be no such 
 enthusiasm for Japan as is now seen in Amer- 
 
 Christian 
 Leaders 
 Ordered 
 into Service 
 
 America 
 and the 
 East 
 
14 
 
 Under Fire 
 
 A Soldier’s 
 Bible 
 
 ica. It is because Japan stands for those great 
 liberties of constitutional government, of uni- 
 versal education, of equal justice, of religious 
 faith, that we are attracted to her in this great 
 crisis. It is because her international course 
 has been honorable. We feel that the battle 
 which Japan is now fighting is for humanity. 
 . . . If Japan wins, the light of political and 
 religious liberty will flood the whole East and 
 will aid the salvation of China and also the 
 final reformation of Russia herself.” The 
 pamphlet is given an attractive appearance by 
 its cover, which shows intertwined the flags of 
 these two nations which have maintained so 
 fast a friendship for each other since the days 
 of Commodore Perry. 
 
 Four graduates of the Okayama Orphanage 
 are at the front. One of them writes back to 
 the Asylum: “Yesterday the Russian bullets 
 fell like hailstones all around me. I feel sure 
 it was owing to your prayers in my behalf that 
 my life was spared.” 
 
 A secular paper, the Japan Times, edited and 
 published by the Japanese, records the follow- 
 ing : “ A beautiful reminiscence is reported 
 from the front in connection with the third 
 blocking expedition to Port Arthur which 
 took place on May 3. After that exciting 
 
15 
 
 night, when the Japanese ships rode through 
 a terrible hail of missiles and the water was 
 continually heaving under them owing to the 
 explosion of mines, our torpedo boats were 
 deputed to rescue from the sea the survivors. 
 One of the dead bodies then recovered was 
 that of warrant officer Shikanosuke Kage- 
 yama, who had gone to almost certain death 
 in the Otaru Maru. On opening his clothes 
 there was found in his breast-pocket a booklet, 
 which was soaked with water and blood. The 
 book was the Gospel of St. John. An officer, 
 who was well acquainted with the deceased, 
 states that this book of the beloved disciple of 
 Christ had been given to the officer by Miss 
 Maclean of London, whose hospitality towards 
 our sailors during their sojourn in England is 
 so well known. It appears that Kageyama re- 
 ceived the present during his visit to England 
 as one of the crew deputed to bring the battle- 
 ship Mikasa to Japan. Since then he had 
 never parted with the book, and had read it in 
 times of peace as well as in war. He was 
 naturally a gallant and patriotic sailor, but be- 
 came more so on account of the admirable faith 
 he derived from reading the invaluable work. 
 According to his friend, he was a firm believer 
 in the words of Christ that those who believe 
 
An Honored 
 Endeavorer 
 
 Association 
 Army WorK 
 
 i6 
 
 shall not perish. He went to the deadly fight 
 with this faith, and died peacefully with the 
 book close to his bosom. As a souvenir of a 
 memorable occasion, the book was deemed too 
 precious to be buried with the gallant officer, 
 and it was accordingly returned a few days ago 
 to Miss Maclean, with the statement of the 
 heroic end of its late owner, it being thought 
 that the English lady would be glad to know 
 that her gift had been so dearly cherished by 
 one of the best and bravest of the Japanese 
 sailors, all of whom she loves so well.” 
 
 Christian Endeavorers will be peculiarly in- 
 terested to learn that Lieut. N. Shiwoten, a 
 young officer of engineers, who is a member of 
 the Bancho Kumiai (Congregational) Church, 
 Tokyo, and of its Christian Endeavor Society, 
 has distinguished himself by a special display 
 of skill and bravery. He was deputed to 
 choose the most suitable places for bridging 
 the Yalu River, and so well did he do his work 
 that the great victory of Kulien followed 
 speedily. 
 
 The Young Men’s Christian Association is 
 constantly holding meetings in Tokyo and 
 other cities, dealing with questions growing 
 out of the war. It has received official per- 
 mission to begin work on its own lines among 
 
17 
 
 soldiers at Hiroshima and other military cen- 
 ters, As soon as conditions in Manchuria are 
 deemed safe by the authorities a joint com- 
 mittee of missionaries, Young Men’s Christian 
 Association workers, and Japanese pastors are 
 promised permission to go to the front for 
 personal ministrations to the soldiers on the 
 field. Committees in various cities are collect- 
 ing funds which, supplemented by gifts from 
 abroad, are to be used for the erection of 
 greatly needed Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
 ciation halls and boarding houses for students. 
 Tokyo and Osaka already have such useful 
 buildings. 
 
 On May i6 there was held in Tokyo an 
 “all-religions mass meeting,” attended by fully 
 one thousand persons, including missionaries 
 and other foreigners, Japanese, Christians, 
 Buddhists, Shintoists, and free thinkers. Ad- 
 dresses were made by representatives of various 
 religions. The object was to show that the 
 present war was neither racial nor religious. 
 It was a striking proof of what is a fact, that 
 Japan now stands before the world, and rightly 
 so, as a champion of “ the equality and frater- 
 nity of all races.” Let it not be thought that 
 Japan is entirely given up to the pursuit of 
 
 A Sig’nificant 
 Heetins; 
 
i8 
 
 war. It is true, the whole nation stands be- 
 hind the government and the fighters, and 
 lends both financial and moral support in this 
 grave emergency. Two domestic loans, each 
 of one hundred million yen, were subscribed 
 on the day of issue, and were covered four 
 times over before the time limit expired. 
 Jewels, family plate, and curios of every de- 
 scription, as well as coin in abundance, have 
 been contributed or loaned to the war fund. 
 Poems, songs and speeches, feasts, farewells, 
 and personal ministries have been lavished on 
 the soldiers and their families in profusion. 
 
 III. The Churches 
 
 New 
 
 Relig'iou* 
 
 Ideas 
 
 Christians have loyally and gladly joined in 
 all these movements, but not to the neglect of 
 their ordinary duties. These war ministries 
 have been extras, not substitutes. Including 
 Roman and Russo-Greek Catholic there are 
 nearly a thousand Christian churches in Japan, 
 and as many more preaching places where reg- 
 ular religious meetings are held. These may 
 seem very few as compared with the 109,145 
 Buddhist temples and 191,962 Shinto shrines. 
 But their influence is all out of proportion 
 to their numbers. By the sermons preached, 
 the instruction given in the 1,074 Protes- 
 
19 
 
 tant Sunday schools, the help of Christian 
 publications, and the articles of Christian 
 writers in the secular press, new terms are 
 finding their way into general circulation and 
 deeper meanings are being forced into the old- 
 time words by which God, righteousness, 
 loyalty, sin, conversion, purity, heaven, spirit- 
 uality, fatherhood, brotherhood, and their 
 kind are rendered. The words are translated 
 into the upper air of spiritual truth and life. 
 They carry thought and activity on their 
 ethereal wings, and are transforming the life 
 of the nation. 
 
 For example, a word now in general circu- 
 lation is Ten-yu (heaven’s help). The Emperor 
 used it in his declaration of war, Admiral Togo 
 in his despatches, and it abounds in sermons, 
 addresses, and newspaper articles. At an all- 
 religions meeting held recently in a town in 
 Okayama prefecture, addressed by two Chris- 
 tians, two Buddhists and one Shintoist, the 
 last named claimed good-naturedly, but with 
 no great show of argument, that it meant the 
 favor of Ame-terasu Mikata-no-Kami (the sun 
 goddess). But the higher Christian concep- 
 tion of the assistance of the ruler of the uni- 
 verse, the great personal God and Father of 
 all mankind, is steadily supplanting other less 
 noble meanings. 
 
 Heaven’s 
 
 Help 
 
20 
 
 Additions 
 to Churches 
 
 Church 
 
 Erection 
 
 Bible Study 
 
 The io6 Kumiai (Congregational) churches, 
 like their associates of other Protestant sects, 
 are receiving more new members into their fel- 
 lowship than for ten years past. Kobe church 
 reported forty adult baptisms at a single serv- 
 ice and the Doshisha church at Kyoto twenty- 
 one, including an old-time Confucianist who has 
 been for years the professor of Chinese lan- 
 guage and literature at the college. 
 
 Tsuyama Congregational Church in Oka- 
 yama prefecture, despite the war and hard 
 times, has completed and dedicated a fine new 
 church home and built a parsonage close to 
 the church. This has the honor of being the 
 first complete Kumiai parsonage in Japan. In 
 a few cases the up-stairs or rear of the church 
 is used in lieu of a separate home for the pas- 
 tor. This church could not have been built 
 now except for help from abroad secured 
 through a local missionary, but the Japanese 
 did their part nobly, one man contributing a 
 thousand yen for the project. 
 
 One church, that at Okayama, has made 
 special use during the past two years of a 
 “ Bible-evangelistic-company ” by which the 
 New Testament has been taught systematically 
 to individual inquirers. “One Gospel, one 
 Bible reader, one inquirer” has been the motto 
 
21 
 
 and it suggests the method employed. One 
 hundred and forty different persons have been 
 continuously under instruction during the past 
 twelve months. “ It puts new meaning into 
 the Bible ; ” “ now I begin to understand this 
 hard book ; ” “I never imagined the Bible was 
 such a delightful book ; ” “ if the rest of the 
 Bible is as good as this one Gospel I want you 
 to teach it to me” are some of the testimonies 
 elicited. 
 
 At Mr. S. Abe’s ordination to the Christian 
 ministry in October of 1903, held in connec- 
 tion with the annual meeting of representa- 
 tives of the Kumiai churches of old Japan, 
 thirty ordained Japanese pastors, together with 
 three missionaries, stood about the candidate 
 while Rev. T. Harada of Kobe, Moderator of 
 the Council, offered the installation prayer. 
 This is the largest number of native pastors 
 who ever officiated in such a service. 
 
 Kobe Church, the mother church of our fel- 
 lowship in Japan, celebrated last spring the 
 thirtieth anniversary of its organization. Dur- 
 ing its lifetime thus far 1,090 adult members 
 have been received into its fellowship by profes- 
 sion of faith and 373 by letter. The present 
 membership is somewhat over 600. A sum of 
 yen 2,500 was asked for as a celebration fund 
 
 Japanese 
 
 Ordination 
 
 Service 
 
 The Parent 
 Church 
 
22 
 
 Union 
 
 Hymnal 
 
 Christian 
 
 Endeavor 
 
 and was more than covered by the contributions. 
 One member (a Japanese) also donated “a 
 handsome pipe top, two manual Estey organ 
 for the enrichment of the service of the 
 church.” 
 
 The new Union hymn-book, containing nearly 
 five hundred hymns and chants, is another en- 
 couraging proof of the all-round advancement 
 of the church in Japan. Mr. Allchin of our 
 own mission was a prominent member of the 
 committee that prepared this useful book now 
 in general use. In some of the churches ex- 
 cellent solos and quartettes are rendered in the 
 real spirit of helpful worship. 
 
 One Christian Endeavorer is a prominent 
 musician at the capital, while another (a stu- 
 dent) spends his vacations in touring among 
 the country churches teaching the congrega- 
 tions how to sing more correctly. More truly 
 gospel sermons, even though many of them are 
 on the war texts of Scripture, greatly improved 
 music and a wider acceptance of the Christian 
 Endeavor principle of assigning definite com- 
 mittee responsibilities to all kinds of members, 
 are three of the most encouraging movements 
 in recent church activity. The Japan Home 
 Missionary Society carries on work at seven 
 important centers in the empire and is just 
 
23 
 
 inaugurating its first venture in foreign work 
 by sending a preacher to Korea. 
 
 IV. Matters Educational 
 
 The most signal victory of the year among 
 the schools has been the securing by the 
 Doshisha and other leading Christian institu- 
 tions of certain privileges hitherto accorded 
 only to government institutions. Private 
 schools are now placed on an equality with 
 those supported by public money in the mat- 
 ters of exemption from military service and 
 of entrance to higher schools. This is a great 
 boon to the students and cannot fail to en- 
 hance the prestige of non-government schools. 
 All Christian schools report an increase in at- 
 tendance. Dr. DeForest quotes a professor in 
 one of the government colleges as testifying 
 that the Doshisha is famed for its successful 
 teachers of English in many of the higher 
 government schools and he well adds ; “ It is no 
 small piece of mission work to be giving to 
 this progressive nation a knowledge of the lan- 
 guage that contains the liberties of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race, and embodies also the religion that 
 made those liberties. It is one of the most 
 hopeful signs of the times that this nation 
 loves the English language and puts it far 
 ahead of all other foreign tongues.” 
 
 Colleges 
 and Schools 
 Aided 
 
24 
 
 Traveling' Kobe College, than which there is no better 
 
 Scholarships i , r • ^ 
 
 school tor young women m the empire, reports 
 an important advance, viz., a Mills scholarship. 
 One of its best graduates has recently gone to 
 California as the beneficiary of this scholarship. 
 She will make a specialty of music. President 
 Charles Cuthbert Hall, of Union Seminary, 
 has established several Japanese scholarships 
 at Union Seminary and arrangements are being 
 made with other Western institutions for simi- 
 lar help. This is a form of international serv- 
 ice which deserves further cultivation. 
 
 V, Charitable Work 
 
 A Royal Gift The most noteworthy event of the year has 
 been the recent gift by the Emperor and Em- 
 press of yen 2,000 to the endowment fund of 
 the Okayama Orphanage. It is noteworthy 
 not merely because of its generous nature, but 
 because coming in war times, when soldiers and 
 their families absorb so much of the practical 
 sympathy of philanthropists, it sets a fine ex- 
 ample to the nation at large not to neglect the 
 claims of ordinary charities, and further be- 
 cause it is the first Imperial grant-in-aid made 
 to a distinctly Christian institution. It was 
 made in the face of a strong opposition by cer- 
 tain conservatives in the Imperial Household 
 
25 
 
 Department and is rightly interpreted as a proof 
 that religious freedom is respected in high 
 court circles. 
 
 Thanks to a gift more than a year ago of 
 ^10,000 and to other special gifts from Japanese 
 and foreigners and to the remunerative exhibi- 
 tions given all over the empire by the Orphan- 
 age brass band and kinetoscope company, the 
 institution is moving steadily along the lines 
 of needed development and enlargement not- 
 withstanding present hard times. Six hundred 
 and eighty different children have been be- 
 friended during the seventeen years since Mr. 
 J. Ishii, then a poor medical student, began 
 this great work. There are two hundred and 
 sixty-one children now in the Home. Many 
 of the graduates are well established in America, 
 Formosa, Korea or Japan. The Maebashi 
 Orphanage, though much smaller, is also well 
 conducted and does a valuable work. There 
 are a score of other Christian orphanages in 
 Japan, but these two are of special interest to 
 Congregationalists since they grew out of the 
 work of the American Board and are still 
 closely connected therewith. 
 
 Passing by many worthy institutions of vari- 
 ous sorts we must refer briefly to three other 
 forms of practical Christian service which are 
 
 Orphans 
 
 Aided 
 
 Slum WorH 
 
26 
 
 A Blind 
 
 Lawyer's 
 
 Conversion 
 
 bright spots just at present in the land of the 
 rising sun. 
 
 One concerns slum work for very poor chil- 
 dren and their families in the gamblers’ and 
 beggars’ district of Okayama city. This work, 
 inaugurated and still superintended by Miss 
 Adams of the American Board Mission, in- 
 cludes day, evening and Sunday schools, in- 
 dustrial training, regular preaching services, 
 ministering to the sick, and house to house 
 visitation. It is leavening the whole district, 
 and has won the hearty approval of all classes 
 of people, including the governor and police 
 officials. The transformation wrought in one 
 family, the work at first of a Junior Endeav- 
 orer, by which idlers have been turned into, 
 bread winners, gamblers into baptized Chris- 
 tians, and a sink of corruption into a home 
 filled with the health-giving life and light of 
 gospel truth, is one of those facts of the faith 
 life that are stranger than fiction. 
 
 Another is the conversion, largely through 
 the instrumentality of one of our missionaries, 
 of a very intelligent lawyer in Kobe, who has 
 recently become blind. His affliction drove 
 him to the cross for comfort. He found first 
 an abounding peace for himself and then a 
 burning purpose to work for others similarly 
 
27 
 
 afflicted. Blind people in Japan find their one 
 consolation in gambling, strange as it may 
 seem. This wise worker has opened at his 
 own home a training school for blind children, 
 teaching modern methods of massage, and he 
 finds increasing delight in rescuing these for- 
 lorn victims of crime, or ignorance, or accident, 
 as are a large majority of Japan’s sightless 
 little ones, and placing them in a stimulating 
 Christian environment. 
 
 The third is the work for factory operatives 
 at Matsuyama, on the island of Shikoku. A 
 Kumiai Christian, whose thorough conversion 
 and reformation changed a hopeless youth into 
 a devoted worker, has thrown himself into this 
 timely form of Christian social service. Dr. 
 S. L. Gulick reported recently : “The results 
 of our experiment of a year and a half are al- 
 ready exceedingly gratifying. The good will 
 and cooperation of the factory and of govern- 
 ment officials and their open commendation 
 have been secured. The girls in the ‘ Home ’ 
 enjoy conspicuously better health, do better 
 work, and earn and send home more money 
 than those in the other boarding houses, as 
 careful examination has shown. In six months 
 an average of twenty girls, in addition to pay- 
 ing their full board and other bills, sent to 
 
 Factory 
 
 Work 
 
28 
 
 Christianity 
 
 Recognized 
 
 their homes yen 239.63, whereas from the 
 other boarding houses practically nothing is 
 sent. But better than the money showing is 
 the moral and educational, for all learn to read, 
 write, and sew, attainments which the factory 
 girls in Matsuyama cannot secure elsewhere. 
 The Christian hymns they are learning are dis- 
 placing the immoral songs they used to sing 
 while at work. In a word, their womanhood 
 is being raised. They will be much better 
 fitted for life’s duties and for motherhood 
 than would otherwise be possible. Through 
 this ‘ Home ’ we are reaching the lowest strata 
 of the working classes of Japan and providing 
 them with ideals and motives and some degree 
 of education, and this, too, in a way which 
 does not tend to pauperize them. Each girl 
 pays all her actual expenses.” 
 
 VI. In Conclusion 
 
 The yeast of Christian truth and life is 
 working in the seething sponge of samurai 
 Japan. It is accomplishing wonders, even in 
 this war year. Said the Christian Endeavor 
 district secretary, Mr. Sawaya, referring re- 
 cently to the usual statement, that Japan has 
 three religions, Shintoism, Buddhism, and Con- 
 fucianism, “ I prefer to say Japan had three 
 
29 
 
 religions. Today she has at least four, for 
 Christianity has now become one of the reli- 
 gions of the empire.” This is the simple 
 truth. Moreover, it is steadily proving itself 
 to be the most lively and powerful element at 
 work in new Japan. Its mission is not to 
 antagonize but to win, not to destroy but to 
 fulfill. 
 
 The world is tardily recognizing that Japan 
 is the leader of the Orient. What she is, 
 Korea, China and apparently Manchuria and 
 Siberia are likely to become. It is imperative 
 that everything possible in the way of sympa- 
 thetic treatment, financial assistance, prayerful 
 remembrance and devoted service be done for 
 her during these next few months and years. 
 A large responsibility for this timely and im- 
 mensely important labor rests upon American 
 Christians. Congregationalists and Christian 
 Endeavorers must not, will not, fail in their 
 part of this glorious mission. New mission- 
 aries of highest qualifications should be sent 
 out, larger grants-in-aid made to the American 
 Board Mission and special financial assistance 
 given through missionaries on the ground to 
 help tide useful institutions over the war shal- 
 lows. The year after the war will be an even 
 harder one than the year of the war. There 
 
 Japan the 
 Key to the 
 Orient 
 
3 ° 
 
 are shadows, discouragements and distressing 
 occurrences in Japan enough to fill a volume, 
 but we have purposely omitted them from this 
 sketch. 
 
 The need of further help from abroad is 
 unquestionably urgent, but it must be intelli- 
 gently and sympathetically administered. No 
 mission is better qualified by polity, by pres- 
 tige, or by personality to do this waiting 
 work than that of the American Board. Mold 
 Japan and you will mold the East. Mold the 
 East and you will mold the world. 
 
Every Christian Endeavor 
 Society should have a 
 Mission Study Class 
 
 Use “Sunrise in the Sunrise King- 
 dom,’* by the well known missionary of the 
 American Board and writer, Rev. James H. De 
 Forest, of Sendai, Japan. 
 
 Price of text-book: cloth, 5octs. ; paper, 35 cts. 
 (Express or postage prepaid. Send cash with 
 order.) 
 
 Jak.paLn Reference Library. Nine vol- 
 umes. ^5.00. 
 
 Printed Helps to Lea-ders free. 
 Splendid Supplementary Litera.ture. 
 
 Ng Sg 
 
 Address inquiries about helps to leaders, 
 pamphlets for missionary committees and supple- 
 mentary literature on Japan to H. W. HICKS 
 14 Beacon Street, Boston. 
 
 Organize now 
 
 library of thB 
 
 BTUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT FOR FOREIGN MISS1UN3, 
 3 WEST 29 th street, new York City. 
 
 799 
 

Todd Boston