Transcription
Chapter I. Introduction
In 1549, St. Francisco Xavier of the Society of Jesus arrived at the port of Kagoshima in western Japan. He was ordered by his holiness Pope Paul III. to propagate the one true faith among the heathens of the eastern hemisphere. Francisco Xavier was the first Catholic missionary to arrive in Japan. His work set in motion a series of events which would lead to great suffering, political strife, and an isolation period of over 200 years.
But why did Christian missionaries depart Europe and travel all the way to Japan? The answer lies in both the political as well as the religious era in which Europe has found itself in, in the 16th century. After half a millennium, the Catholic Church has lost its monopoly on Christian faith in western Europe. The publicization of the Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517 led to the Reformation movement which swept across Europe, supported by anger among commoners and nobility against alleged abuse of power by the papacy and the Catholic high clergy.
The Reformation caused violent conflicts to spring up in Europe for the next 150 years, which in return induced a reactionary mindset in the Catholic Church. Among those reactions was the founding of the Society of Jesus in 1540. Jesuits are referred to as the soldiers of God, as they have sworn obedience to the Pope himself and the propagation and defense of the Catholic faith against pagans and heretics all around the world.
At the same time, the Age of Discovery was kickstarted with Christopher Columbus introducing the Americas to Europe and a few years later Vasco da Gama established the first sea route from Portugal to India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Both the Kingdom of Portugal as well as the Kingdom of Spain became the first global colonial powers, and the Pope divided all newly found non-Christian lands among both kingdoms. In the Treaty of Tordesillas, the world was divided along a meridian in the Atlantic Ocean, with the lands of Africa, India, China, and Japan falling under Portuguese authority.
Both the Counter Reformation as well as the capabilities of the Portuguese navy led to the first Jesuit missionaries departing Portugal and going along the Portuguese trade routes in Asia, landing first in India, then China, and finally in Japan. Francisco Xavier was appointed the papal nuncio, i.e., an ambassador of the Pope, for the Eastern Hemisphere and was the highest-ranking clergy member in all of Asia. After a somewhat successful tenure in India, Francisco Xavier met a Japanese man who taught him about the Japanese people and culture and advocated for propagation of the Christian faith in his homeland. In 1549, Francisco Xavier took three Japanese translators and two Spanish Jesuits with him towards western Japan.
In order to understand the religious status quo the incoming missionaries faced on the Japanese Archipelago, it is worthwhile to look at the religious history of Japan until the arrival of the missionaries in 1549. Basically, it can be broken down to a pattern of recurring encounters and prompt syncretism. The native religion of Japan is Shinto – way of the gods – which is considered an animistic nature religion with a polytheistic system of kami – or supernatural beings – which are present in all things. Early on, at around 500 AD, Buddhism arrived from India via China and Korea in the Japanese states and was subsequently syncretized – or combined – with Shinto.
Over the millennium until the 16th century, ideas from India and China like Taoism and Confucianism, as well as other Buddhist sects, arrived in Japan. Buddhism, Shintoism, and other faiths continued to influence each other, with many schools or sects of these religions making their marks on the multitude of doctrines, rituals, and customs of the syncretic religious identity of the Japanese people. Most Japanese peasants at the time practiced rituals of both Shinto and Buddhism simultaneously and were not solely adherent to either religion. For that matter, the religion of the Japanese at the time is commonly referred to as Shinto-Buddhism or Shinbutsu-shuugou.
The basis of the amalgamation of kami and Buddha was the doctrine of Honji Suijaku, a theory which states that native kami are local manifestations of Buddhist deities. Both the kami and the Buddha are each considered one side of the same coin. This way of thinking was not universal, however, and some schools viewed kami and Buddha as equal, and others Buddha as more important. The history of Shintoism and Buddhism and their combination in Japan is extremely complicated, especially from a Western viewpoint. While there were conflicts regarding the adoption of Buddhism in the seventh century and further encounters with different Buddhist schools, in general, it can be said that the syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto was relatively easy and peaceful. The reason for that lies in the fact that both religions are polytheistic and do not outright deny the existence of other deities or outlaw the practice of the other faith. This amalgamation was only possible because of the mutual tolerance of native and foreign polytheistic faiths in Eastern Asia.
This mutual tolerance, however, would not apply to the Christian missionaries, as Christianity, unlike Buddhism or Shinto, is built on the firm belief that it is the one true faith and reveres the one true God. Praying to other gods or symbols is considered a sin under the second commandment – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” So, with the arrival of Christianity, Japan witnesses for the first time an encounter with a foreign religion that is entirely opposed to any religion already found in Japan. One thing was sure: the Christianization of Japan would be no small feat, and conflicts would surely arise from every side once the missionaries began their propagation efforts.
Chapter II. The Kirishitan Century 1549 - 1644
The arrival of the first missionaries in 1549 marks the beginning of the so-called Kirishitan Century – the Japanese pronunciation of the Portuguese word Cristao or Christian. Francisco Xavier’s propagation strategy in Japan was, unlike in India, started from the top. He immediately tried to gain an audience with the Shogun and the Emperor as an ambassador and use the chance to convert both to Christianity. He hoped for a swift conversion of the elite and believed the peasants and lower classes would soon follow the example of their lords. He would learn quickly, however, that he arrived at a time later referred to as the Sengoku Period, during which the influence of the Shogun and Emperor on the domains was negligible, and he thus aborted his efforts of conversion in the capital Kyoto and returned to western Japan. There, he held debates on theology with Buddhist priests who were curious about the cosmology and philosophy of the Christian faith.
Francisco Xavier and his entourage faced many problems when trying to convert the Japanese populace. One of the main problems lied in how to accurately translate the catechism from Latin and Portuguese into Japanese. The Japanese language at the time simply lacked words that could be used to translate even basic terms such as God. The Japanese translators made use of whatever language they could find, which is why they adopted mainly Buddhist terminology. For example, when it came to finding a word for God – that is, the one true Christian God – they simply used the word for the most important Buddha of Esoteric Buddhism, who is referred to as Dainichi – or great sun. This led to a misunderstanding among Japanese people that the Christian missionaries were in fact propagating another Buddha instead of a strictly monotheistic God. When the missionaries found out about this misconception, they promptly introduced the Portuguese word Deus for God.
These linguistic problems were exacerbated by fundamental differences in religious thinking. As noted earlier, Japanese Shinto-Buddhists were tolerant towards new faiths; however, this tolerance did not reach the extent of denying one’s own religion. Christianity was consistently negative towards Buddhism, which missionaries viewed as diabolical worship introduced by the devil himself. The enforcement of the second commandment also meant that newly converted Japanese Christians had to destroy their Buddhist family altars, which they used to pray to their ancestors. Ancestor worship was a central aspect of Shinto and even of Japanese culture – to this day. The belief that ancestors exist in a spiritual world and watch over the currently living members of the family and are to be revered, prayed to, and presented offerings, lest they become aggressive spirits, is probably as old as Japanese history itself. Even individuals open to Christianity will have strong objections to doing anything that could anger the spirits of their ancestors, like destroying family altars.
Another aspect of Christianity which clashed with ancestral worship was the thought that pagans could not enter Heaven and would remain in Hell for eternity and could not be saved as they are not baptized. This was a notion that presented an overwhelming existential crisis for Japanese Christians. In the more individualistic Europe, the nuclear family was important; however, ancestors whom living members had never met or heard about, like great-grandparents, were usually not of much importance. For the Japanese, however, the extended family, which includes any ancestors no matter how long ago they lived, was considered holy and divine. The Bible and the missionaries offered no basis for comfort or hope for the deceased non-baptized members of the extended family. The theological vacuum regarding the ancestors was accentuated by the missionary demand for ritual purity on the part of Japanese converts.
The first generation of Christians in Japan was under a great deal of pressure to comply with the iconoclastic policy of the missionaries. As they had to destroy family altars and shrines, they angered not only their ancestral spirits but also any living non-Christian family members. Despite these fundamental differences, Francisco Xavier was rather optimistic. He would write to the Roman Curia after a year in Japan: “The people whom we have met so far are the best who have as yet been discovered, and it seems to me that we shall never find among heathens another race to equal the Japanese. They are a people of very good manners, good in general, and not malicious.”
While the conversion attempts at the Emperor and Shogun were abandoned, the top-down strategy was continued in western Japan with great success. Francisco Xavier, however, would not live to see the fruits of his labor, as he departed back to India after spending a little over 2 years in Japan and died in China shortly after. He was succeeded by a Spanish Jesuit who accompanied him: Cosme de Torres. Torres would spend 19 years, from 1551 to 1570, as the highest-ranking clergy member in Japan and would oversee the conversion of thousands. In 1563, Oomura Sumitada was the first daimyo – or lord of a feudal domain – to be baptized. In 1564, Takayama Ukon followed, and in 1578, the powerful daimyo of Bungo, Ootomo Sourin, was baptized. The top-down strategy seemed to be working.
In 1559, the number of Christians was estimated at around six thousand, and ten years later, they numbered around twenty thousand. In 1579, thirty years after Francisco Xavier’s arrival, the number stood at 130,000. Most of these were concentrated in western Japan, where mass conversions took place. After a daimyo converted, most retainers, family members, and subjects living in the fiefs converted along with their lord. In a wave of zealousness among fresh converts, Buddhist monks in Christian domains were urged to convert as well, with those refusing banished and Buddhist temples destroyed.
By 1579, Japan was the jewel among propagation in Asia, and the highest-ranking Jesuit in charge of the East, the Italian Alessandro Valignano, took steps to expand missionary activities and cement Catholicism in Japan even further. Valignano had an extremely – for the time – progressive approach when addressing Japanese culture. Many Jesuits – or any European in the region, for that matter – viewed Japanese customs and traditions as somewhat barbaric and inferior and encouraged Japanese Christians to adopt Portuguese customs. Valignano, however, suggested a different approach. While he maintained the top-down approach of his predecessors, he encouraged quantity over quality in terms of conversion. Meaning, he wanted to baptize and convert on paper as many people as possible, even if most of them had an imperfect understanding of Christianity and did not thoroughly exercise strict iconoclasm. He suggested this approach in order to accommodate the more tolerant Japanese culture. Showing respect to the local customs was a centerpiece of his instructions, and local missionaries were urged to learn the Japanese language and adopt their customs. Valignano envisioned a system of evangelism in which Christian culture was to be placed on top of Japanese culture without destroying it. Whether Valignano was progressive or just wanted the path of least resistance for a full conversion of the country, this way of cultural tolerance and acceptance was groundbreaking for Europeans at the time.
Valignano’s pragmatism also showed itself in the financing of the mission. As the number of Jesuits, churches, and lay clergy exploded in the 1570s, financial upkeep became difficult. The Nagasaki Port was given to the missionaries after the baptism of Otomo Sourin, and the Jesuits – who were supposed to be mendicant and adhere to vows of poverty – engaged in the silver-silk trade between China and Japan and soon gained a de facto monopoly over goods from the Portuguese trade routes entering Japan. Nagasaki soon became the Christian Capital of Japan, with almost all inhabitants being Christians and dozens of churches in the vicinity.
The apex of high regard of the propagation of Christianity in Japan was in 1586, when Valignano accompanied four young Japanese converts, educated in the seminario – or Christian schools – in Portuguese, Latin, and Christian doctrine, for a trip to Europe. The party landed in Portugal and toured European courts, where monarchs and clergy enthusiastically welcomed them. The fruit of 30 years of conversion effort was finally shown to the Pope himself, who gave an audience to the esteemed fellow Christians of the Orient. This envoy was extremely important for Valignano and the Japanese mission, as not only could donations be collected, but the Pope and high clergy in Rome could be convinced of the necessity and fruitfulness of the missionary activities in Japan. This was indubitably the high-point of Japanese Christianity and missionary work, arguably until this day.
However, when the envoy was returning towards Japan and made rest in India, they learned that Toyotomi Hideyoshi has finally unified Japan in 1587 and promptly issued an order to expel all foreign missionaries. The tide was turning, and Japan had become a newly unified country under one ruler who previously had shown a favorable attitude towards Christianity but now seemed to have changed his policy. Nagasaki was confiscated and put under the shogunate’s direct control, and in 1590, when the envoy returned to Japan, they were welcomed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, as the order to expel foreign missionaries was not followed too strictly at this time. However, from this point on, missionaries had to refrain from public propagation activities.
After a diplomatic incident with a stranded Spanish ship in western Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi arrested twenty-six missionaries of the Jesuit Order, the Franciscan and Dominican orders. The twenty-six were tortured and crucified in 1597 in Nagasaki in an incident that would be known as the martyrdom of the 26 Japanese Saints. These were the first public cases of martyrdom of Japanese Christians at the hands of the shogunate. Only one year later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away, and a succession struggle broke out. Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged victorious and established a new shogunate in the city of Edo, called the Edo Bakufu, in 1603. As Tokugawa Ieyasu had to concentrate his efforts on consolidating his empire, he left Christians largely alone and did not enact overtly discriminatory measures in the first years of his reign. For this reason, Christianity in Japan experienced one last growth spurt.
At the same time in Europe, history began to change as well. The Pope scrapped the exclusive missionary rights of the Jesuits in Japan in 1600. The Order of the Dominicans and the Augustinians, as well as the Franciscans, proceeded to engage in propagation from their bases in the Philippines and were subsequently in conflict with the Jesuits in terms of missionary strategy and doctrine. Furthermore, the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of the global sea trade routes began to wane after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel in 1588. Protestant countries like England and Holland began to stake their claim on the new world, and with the establishment of the East India Trading Company in 1602 and a Dutch fleet of trading vessels arriving in Japan in 1600, the era of Portuguese-Catholic domination of Japanese trade was over.
It is important to note the difference in the approach between Protestants and Catholics here: While Catholics came to Japan with the mission of trade and propagation as one unit, the Protestants had no interest in propagation and came solely with the ambition to trade. This was favorable to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who employed English and Dutch traders as advisors in his government. Over the years until the 1610s, the trade with England and Holland gained in importance, and the trade with Portugal and Spain decreased. Now that the country was unified and stabilized under the Shogun, and the trade with Europeans did not hinge on the wellbeing of local Japanese Christians, Tokugawa Ieyasu could start to radically suppress Japanese Christians, whom he saw as a hindrance for the government’s stability.
In 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a nation-wide ban on the Christian faith and expelled all foreign missionaries. With this order began the 250-year long suppression of Japanese Christians. All Christian daimyos were banished to Macau or Manila, and all churches, monasteries, seminarios, and other sectarian buildings were destroyed. Many foreign missionaries at the time escaped the authorities and went underground to continue preaching to their congregation. In the next thirty years, until the end of the Christian century in 1644, many members of the clergy as well as their followers were martyred. This did little in convincing the peasants to abandon Christianity and only strengthened their faith and resolve.
In 1630, it was estimated that 760,000 Christians existed in Japan. That would be 15% of the estimated total population of twelve million people. The goal of the Inquisitors shifted to make existing Christians apostatize – renounce the faith – under torture and return to Shinto-Buddhism, an act which would hopefully break the faith of other Christians in the process. The Japanese authorities used intricate techniques to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible for the longest time possible, for example, the suspension in a dark pit head down. Many Christians, both domestic and foreign, subsequently apostatized, with a minority being unbroken in their faith and enduring the torture until finally being martyred.
A famous apostate was the Portuguese Jesuit Cristovao Ferreira, who apostatized after being suspended into a pit. He was the highest-ranking clergy member in Japan, and his publicly orchestrated apostasy sent shock waves through the entire country. Ferreira then took a Japanese name and Japanese wife and assisted the Bakufu in interrogation with suspected Christians or identification of Christian items during the persecution. The last missionary to have remained in Japan, Mancio Konishi, died in martyrdom in 1644, marking the end of the Christian century and ushering in the era of hidden Christians, completely isolated from clergy and Rome.
Chapter III. Kakure Kirishitan 1644 - 1873
In 1637, the largest civil conflict during the Edo period occurred, when the predominantly Christian population of Shimabara domain in Kyushu rebelled against their non-Christian daimyo. The rebellion, though initially successful, was promptly suppressed by the shogunate, and approximately 37,000 rebels were executed. While the Shimabara rebellion was caused by high taxation and had no sectarian motivation, it cemented a fear among the ruling class in Edo that Christians are a latent factor of destabilization. Portuguese traders, who were suspected of having aided the rebels, were expelled from Japan.
In 1641, the famous policy of Sakoku – or isolation – was enacted when foreign trade was restricted to the Dutch and Chinese at Dejima. The policy of complete isolation was enacted mainly because of the high degree of influence Christianity gained in merely one century. The Tokugawa Shogunate sought to retain power by isolating the country so that no foreign missionaries could ever arrive again and at the same time enacted policies to uproot the native Christian population who were practicing their faith hidden entirely from the outside.
While Buddhist schools had a long history of revolts and rebellions, the Shogunate managed to instrumentalize Buddhism in its fight against Christianity. The troubled relationship between both religions was used in order for the Shogunate to control Buddhism and eradicate Christianity. To that end, Buddhist priests were given the role of inquisitors against Christian belief. Domestic policies to suppress Christians include famous measures such as fumi-e, where suspected and even already apostatized Christians had to step on a picture of Jesus or Mary. Another measure was terauke, a system where all Japanese had to register at a local Buddhist temple, and in the case of a funeral, a Buddhist priest had to assist and make sure that the burial was conducted strictly according to Buddhist rites and no Christian element was allowed during the ceremony. Denouncers of Christians were given financial remuneration. Apostates had to submit a written declaration of apostacy every year. Other measures included registration and surveillance efforts, which made any public showing of Christianity almost impossible.
Due to these measures, Christians – many of whom had publicly apostatized – continued to practice their faith in secret. Now that no priests or clergy were left and scriptures could not be kept due to security reasons, Japanese Christianity became a religion consisting solely of non-ordained members passing down the catechism orally. This would inevitably lead to a schism between Catholicism in Europe and Japanese Christianity. This period of hidden Christianity would later be referred to in Japanese as kakure Kirishitan – or hidden Christians – and would last until the reopening of the country and dawn of constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom in 1873.
Due to the secret nature of the religion, most of what we know about the customs, doctrines, and practices of these kakure Kirishitan comes either from the last missionaries who have witnessed its beginning or from the last kakure Kirishitan emerging from secrecy in 1873. During the period of isolation, which lasted a total of 210 years, hidden Christian congregations practiced the so-called oratio – or prayer in Portuguese – which had to be passed down orally. When Christians were stepping on pictures of Jesus or submitting written declarations of apostacy, they would silently recite the oratio to ask for forgiveness for their sins.
Because of the frequent committing of grave sins like apostacy, the Kakure Kirishitan moved away from the strict father figure of the Christian God who harshly punished humans for their sins and instead focused their faith on the Holy Mother Mary, who was seen as a motherly figure who would forgive even grave sins. As pictures depicting Mary would inevitably lead to persecution, many Kirishitan opted for Buddhist symbols like the image of Kannon – a woman holding a child.
Over the generations of Kakure Kirishitan – as could be expected – the faith increasingly drifted away from orthodox Christianity in Europe and instead included more and more syncretic adaptations to indigenous Japanese beliefs. Examples for syncretism include the notion of Kegare – or pollution – which stems from Shinto. Christian lay priests had to stay pure and clean both literally and figuratively. To that end, they had to enter the bath before conducting underground mass, and their clothes had to be washed separately from those of other family members. Kegare does not originate from Christianity but is a widespread belief among the Japanese regardless of religion. Also, a substantial number of rituals were created that were practiced, for example, to guarantee a good harvest, perform memorial services for deceased family members, and ward off evil spirits. Over multiple generations, Kirishitan belief has diverged almost beyond recognition from Catholicism. Syncretism with indigenous Japanese beliefs was complete.
Over the 210-year period, some information about Kakure Kirishitan can be retrieved from the Kuzure. Kuzure – or breakdown – refers to incidents of revealing large underground congregations at once and the subsequent punishment of those involved. Whilst initially, the punishment for denomination members was harsh and included in many cases death and torture. In the beginning of the 19th century, shortly before the reopening of Japan, Kuzure were overseen by breaking up villages and scattering members all over Japan. During interviews the Shogunate authorities conducted with prisoners about their faith, many stated that the Maria Kannon, the Holy Mother Mary in the image of Kannon, has become the main deity, and Jesus, portrayed by using a mundane Buddhist figure, was the side deity.
The only surviving document from this era that was written by kakure Kirishitan was a doctrinal text known as Tenchi Hajimari no Koto – or About the Beginning of Heaven and Earth. This text was basically a summarization of events of the Bible and other doctrinal Catholic texts with a distinctly Japanese interpretation. The Tenchi Hajimari no Koto shows significant deviations from the orthodox doctrine caused by syncretic adaptations to indigenous Japanese beliefs. It also includes references to debates between Jesus and a Buddhist priest, with Jesus ultimately winning the debate and making the priest his disciple.
Veneration of martyred ancestors was another point of syncretism. The dilemma of Japanese Christians when it came to ancestral worship was mitigated through the veneration of ancestors who were martyred or at least repressed by the Shogunate. So, the Kakure Kirishitan secretly existed for the entire duration of Sakoku, with some revealed and others undisturbed. By the end of the Edo period in 1869, only a few regions harbored Kakure Kirishitan, mainly in the West of Japan. In the early 19th century, Kuzure became less frequent, and caught Kirishitan usually were not executed or tortured but rather deported domestically.
By 1853, the outside world had gained a technological progression far beyond what Japan had been able to muster. This became apparent when the American Commodore Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay and demanded Japan to open its port to trade with America. The modern gunboat Commodore Perry took with him was so far and obvious beyond Japan’s technological capabilities that they had no choice but to accept reopening the country. With the establishment of foreign residencies for traders, along came the first Christian priests to set foot on Japan for two hundred years. With the reopening of the treaty port of Nagasaki, a French Catholic of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions, Father Petitjean, wasted no time and immediately built a new church in the former capital of Christianity in Japan. He hoped that some of the Christians from two hundred years ago survived and would return to the Catholic Church.
In a dramatic event known as the “Resurrection of the Kirishitan,” thousands of Kakure Kirishitan emerged in 1865 to meet the first clergy members in two hundred years. They were emboldened by the return of priests and officially came out of hiding and requested the authorities to end the persecution. However, the Shogunate was not ready to restore religious freedom at this point, and so with this revelation, the last Kuzure took place in 1867, when about four thousand Kakure Kirishitan of Nagasaki and Urakami were exiled and deported domestically to various domains. While no outright executions took place, inhumane prison and transport conditions led to the death of 664 people who are later referred to as the last Japanese martyrs. Shortly after, in 1873, the Shogunate succumbed to international pressure and made the decision to cease persecution of Kakure Kirishitan and officially revoke the ban on Christianity. Kakure Kirishitan were finally able to come out of hiding. While some religious discrimination continued until the constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom in 1889, Kuzure at least were finally over.
Chapter IV. Regaining a Seat at the Table 1873 - 1926
Japan was changing drastically in the 19th century, and religion was to be no exception. Shortly after the Meiji Restoration, the 1870s were a period of rapid modernization and westernization in technology, politics, culture, and economy. Great political leaders of the era recognized the urgent need to adopt Western values in politics in order to strengthen Japan as a nation against the colonial policies of the great powers to the west. While most political leaders at the same time sought to retain certain core values of being Japanese amid this process of radical modernization, some turned to Christianity as one of the aspects of Western countries that supposedly made them powerful. Some were exposed to Christianity during overseas studying trips and came back to Japan as baptized Christians – of any denomination. Others were converted by the revamping missionary efforts – this time not only Catholic but also Protestant ones. One thing was sure, though: the era of Christians hiding in the shadows was over. Japanese Christians were eager to play their part in this exciting new dawn of the Empire of Japan.
In the 1890s, Japan had already modernized a great deal and subsequently turned its eyes overseas. The ultimate aspect of Western strength was the possession of colonies, and the Japanese government was keen on joining this club of powerful nations. Accompanying this expansionist doctrine was a nationalist sentiment which spread throughout the working-, middle-, and upper class like a wildfire. Westernization – something viewed as a necessity for Japan’s strength – was now stopped entirely, and along with an anti-Western sentiment, an anti-Christian sentiment grew among the population.
The dilemma of the Japanese Christians, which was previously limited to individual or familial concern, was now a national concern. The Emperor was a divine being who is descended from ancient Japanese kami. All major Christian denominations at the time did not recognize the divinity of the Emperor. Japanese Christians – many of whom shared the nationalistic spirit of their non-Christian countrymen – were faced with a dilemma. Break the second commandment and acknowledge the Emperor as a divine being, or refrain and risk being labeled as disloyal or even anti-Japanese. Foreign missionaries and church leaders were clear on this issue, but Japanese believers were more mixed. The main concern non-Christian Japanese had with Christians was that their loyalty to the Christian God had to take precedence over their loyalty to the Emperor. This would be the dawn of the almost 100-year long effort of Japanese Christians to convince non-Christian Japanese that their loyalty is equal.
Japanese Christians, when faced with these issues directly, would simply ignore them in most cases. If the government mandated certain rituals or ceremonies in reverence of the Emperor or the country itself, most Japanese Christians would oblige in participation. They would, however, maintain that these rituals are not worshipping but instead acts of patriotism or loyalty. This issue was evident when Uchimura Kanzo, a Christian teacher at an elite high school, did not bow deeply before the Imperial Rescript of Education, which bore the signature of the Emperor, but instead just bowed his head. This was viewed as an act of lèse majesté, and Uchimura later declared he was willing to bow out of respect but not worship. In the ensuing debate, Japanese Protestant leaders objected strongly to the idea that Christianity is incompatible with loyalty to the Emperor. There were many such conflicts during the 1890s, and Christians constantly had to defend themselves and their loyalty.
With the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, there was finally a chance for Japanese Christians to prove their loyalty. And they certainly did not hesitate to do so. Protestants – in particular – organized various activities to support the war effort and were vocal in their own religious justification of Japan’s expansionism as God’s will. Catholics, on the other hand, were more secluded in their public activities because Catholic leadership was still mainly comprised of foreigners. During the final years of the Meiji Era, many Protestant Christians began to split off from foreign missionaries and founded native Japanese Christian Protestant denominations. These Protestants, in particular, sought to be a spiritual and moral force guiding the Japanese people while at the same time fully embracing the nationalist sentiment of the time. Among the non-Christian Japanese, however, the sentiment regarding the inherent disloyalty and incompatibility of Christianity with the Japanese National Spirit did not change, despite efforts by the Christians. At the end of the Meiji Period in 1912, there were approximately 190,000 Christians in Japan: 67,000 of them were Catholics, 90,000 were Protestants, and 32,000 Orthodox, with the rest belonging to other denominations.
Chapter V. Christianity under the Empire of the Rising Sun 1926 - 1945
In the beginning of the Showa Era in 1926, the challenges for Japanese Christians largely remained the same since the reopening: They needed to convince non-Christian Japanese that they could be as loyal to the country as them and that Christianity was not inherently opposed to reverence of the Emperor. The initial nationalist spirit of the Meiji Era turned into ultranationalist elements in the Army, Navy, Politics, and all swaths of society vying for complete control of the government. A central idea of Japanese ultranationalism is the government’s control and regulation of every aspect of the lives of citizens. Since the Meiji Era, officials in the Ministry of Education have drawn up several policies to instill nationalist thought into school curricula and public education.
The central conflict that existed in the wake of Japanese ultranationalism consisted of Japanese Christians trying to merge adherence to their faith with compliance and endorsement of any and all nationalistic policies of the Japanese right-wing. Needless to say, such a merger was almost never possible without one side – Christian doctrine or nationalist agenda – having to back down. Christians of all denominations during this time strove for independence from the West and advocated for self-determination. In Protestant faiths, this was successful, with major denominations being entirely independent from the West. Even the Catholic faith, which obviously has to retain a connection to the Roman Curia, managed to install native Japanese in high-clergy positions and church administration.
These independence efforts were important at the time, as anti-Western sentiment was high after the Triple Intervention of Russia, Germany, and France forced the Japanese government to rescind large claims of Chinese territories after the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The minimum requirement of continued existence of Christianity in a xenophobic, ultranationalist Japan was the complete disconnect from Western missionaries and denominations. Theologically liberal clergy was instrumental in introducing a complementing theology of Christianity in Japan. These priests did not view Christianity as superior to other Japanese faiths and instead advocated for peaceful coexistence. Many also believed evangelistic effort – something that is considered a duty among good Christians – to be ceased or at least tempered so as not to offend the Japanese national spirit. The zeitgeist of nationalistic Japanese Christians at the time can be summed up this way: Japanese culture is already good, but it can be perfected with the addition of Christianity.
Japanese Christians also tried to get on good terms with the government by propagation in Japanese colonies. Early Japanese colonies and protectorates like Taiwan and Korea were used by Japanese Christians to propagate their unique perspective on Christianity. These activities were tolerated by the government and military in large part due to the absolute loyalty to the expansionist policies of most of the Japanese missionaries sent to the colonies. These propagation efforts were accentuated by Japanese Christians taking part in patriotic activities like disseminating war propaganda, caring for troops, and sending chaplains along with the army. It is no exaggeration to say that most of the Japanese Christians at the time were ideological nationalists who were loyal to their government, the Emperor, and the expansionist policies of the army and navy. Ultimately, however, even all the concessions and efforts of Japanese Christians could not change the sentiment among non-Christian Japanese that a Japanese Christian’s loyalty cannot be as strong as a non-Christian one.
At the same time, the non-Christian religious situation in Japan began to change rapidly. During the Meiji Era, the government introduced a split between the ancient amalgamation of Shinto-Buddhism and created what is now referred to as State Shinto. Shinto was for the most part decentralized, with priests looking after their local village shrines and adhering to no specific doctrine. The government took control of the finances and education of priests in order to instill nationalistic policies, like worshipping of the Emperor – previously not that important of an issue in normal Shinto rituals. This was essentially a way for the government to monopolize religion and control the rituals and customs that Japanese people would adhere to. One such custom would be mandatory state-sponsored Shinto rituals in honor of the Emperor and the country for students.
This is a prominent point of contingency between Christianity and the ultranationalist government. In a highly publicized case in 1932, a university student at the Catholic Sophia University refused to attend a mandatory ritual at the Yasukuni Shrine on religious grounds. Subsequently, the Archbishop of Tokyo asked the Ministry of Education to clarify whether the mandatory ritual in question was of religious or educational nature. The Ministry answered that it was indeed an educational measure which served to instill patriotism and loyalty. While you may think right now that the Ministry simply denied the obvious religious nature of the ritual in order to not cause a conflict, this is actually not the case. Government officials really did not consider State Shinto to be a “religion” – at least in the Western sense of the word.
This is again a good example of the basic difference in thought between the concept of what a religion actually is, for Japanese people and Westerners. In the West, religion is viewed as the following of one single faith – mainly monotheistic ones – which in return makes it impossible to adhere to any other faith. If you are a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew – even a secular one – you usually do not adhere to doctrines or customs of any other religion, with the exception of maybe celebrating a secular Christmas. It is also fairly normal to be a registered member of a central religious institution – again, even for more secular members. People in the West generally have a much more closed-minded conception of what religion entails and cannot fathom the idea of someone being religious and drawing elements from, for example, Christianity and Islam at the same time.
In Japan, however, the thought of being religious was and is much more private and independent from centralized organizations. Even to this day, the vast majority of Japanese people are not members of a religious institution but instead loosely adhere to doctrines and customs of many faiths. In return, people who are members of religious institutions are often much more invested into this specific denomination, with many of them being considered sects. This is evident in the terminology as well: The English word “Religion” is translated into Japanese as 宗教 (Shuukyou). However, this term is not used to describe oneself as a Shinto-Buddhist when attending rituals or festivities, for example. This is because it has gained a rather negative connotation and is often used to describe affiliation with centralized religious sects. While the majority of Japanese people have participated in religious ceremonies of Shinto and Buddhist nature, only a few would outright describe themselves as “Shinto-Buddhists.” Keeping that distinction in mind, it is easy to understand that the government of the 1930’s did not consider State Shinto to be a “religion” on par with Christianity. For them – as for many Japanese people at the time – these were cultural rituals which were simply part of being Japanese.
Until the 1930’s, there was a small minority among Christians that refused to participate in the nationalistic agenda of the government and their fellow Christians. This led to many conflicts, including right-wing protests at Christian universities and schools. The watershed moment for Japanese Christians arrived during the Manchurian Incident in 1931, which saw Japan advance into Manchuria in Northeastern China. While initially a notable minority among Christians opposed this aggressive expansion, they soon changed their minds. That was because when the League of Nations unilaterally condemned the invasion, many foreign missionaries residing in Japan echoed this condemnation. This action was bewildering to many Japanese Christians who saw hypocrisy in Western nations condemning Japan for what they themselves had been doing for centuries and would continue doing for another 50 years at least. The Manchurian Incident completed the schism between native Japanese Christians and foreign missionaries and congregations. At the same time, it placed all Japanese Christians in a firmly nationalistic and anti-foreign political ideology.
In 1936, it was estimated that approximately 300,000 Christians existed in Japan. With the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and later the Pacific War with the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the number of Christians as well as their influence diminished radically, as Protestant denominations were forced by government order to merge to be better surveilled and controlled. Persecution reached a peak when after 1941, all denominations that were perceived to have a connection to British or American entities were purged. Even Roman Catholics, who were at the time under the protection of fascist Italy and had largely refrained from propagation efforts since the 1930s, were affected by discriminatory measures. While some Christian leaders during the war were imprisoned by the government, the majority of clergy members of any denomination were supportive of the nationalist government, with some even acting as propaganda mouthpieces.
The period of ultranationalism in Japan would be engulfed in flames and come crashing down in August 1945, when the Emperor surrendered to the Allied Forces. The previous challenges of Japanese Christians would become void, as loyalty to the state and Emperor would never again be a requirement for existence, and the new constitution of 1946 guarantees religious freedom as well as the abolishment of State Shinto and a strict separation of religion and state. Christianity would once again accompany Japan into a new era and would shape and be shaped by the societal changes both domestic and international.
Chapter VI. Christianity in Post-War Japan
After the surrender, Japan was in shambles, both literally and figuratively. Industrial capacity and cities were completely destroyed, and the starvation the Japanese civilian population had to endure for 2 years was at a peak after the surrender. Worldly matters, however, were not the only concerns that the Japanese people had to face in the beginning of the post-war era. The Empire of Japan was, for the first time in its 1500-year history, defeated and occupied by a foreign power. The Emperor had to publicly denounce his divine status, and State Shinto was abolished. The Kokutai – or national spirit – of Japan was broken. This led to an identity crisis of what it means to be Japanese and what a Japanese person should strive for in their life.
The new constitution included complete religious freedom and the strict separation of religion and state. Previously forcibly amalgamated Protestant churches split into theologically different denominations once again. However, the disconnect of all Christian denominations from their foreign counterparts during WW2 was not to be reversed, and the notion of independence of Japanese Christianity from the West would continue after the war. The Governor General of Japan, Douglas MacArthur, identified a spiritual vacuum in Japan after the abolishment of State Shinto and encouraged missionary work to resume. Thousands of missionaries arrived, and churches engaged in distributing food and shelter to civilians.
After the occupation ended in the 1950s, Japan experienced a period of rapid economic growth which would last for four decades and would transform Japanese national ideology from ultranationalism to materialistic capitalism. Economic growth and power on the world stage became the new Japanese pride, and giving up one’s life for the Emperor on the battlefield was replaced with giving up one’s life in the office for a good career and a high standard of living. This was accompanied by secularization which spread in the 50s and 60s as urbanization and capitalism flourished. Religion was reduced to a private matter again, and with a few customs and rituals of Shinto and Buddhism usually conducted at family occasions. Christianity experienced only a slow growth rate during this time. Individuals who were searching for a more spiritual lifestyle were increasingly turning to New Religions which sprang up as modern interpretations of Buddhist or Shinto schools.
Shortly after the beginning of the Allied occupation of Japan, many politicians of the ultranationalist camp were purged and banned from participating in the first post-war elections. Among the remaining conservative and centrist politicians who were not purged, a disproportionate number was Christian. The first general election under the new constitution in 1947 was won by the Socialist Party, with the Christian Katayama Tetsu to become Prime Minister. As a socialist, he was against the rearmament of Japan and wanted to conduct a completely non-militaristic foreign policy and domestic policy concentrated on economic and social issues. Katayama, along with any Christian politician in Japan to this day, did not make his religion a focal point of his public life. Indeed, a disproportionate number of high-level politicians in Japan are Christians. Prominent post-war Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was a Catholic, as well as his grandson Taro Aso, who was Prime Minister from 2008 to 2009. In an equivalent manner, post-war Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama and his grandson Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister from 2009 to 2010. The above-mentioned politicians are both of socialist and conservative parties. It is evident that high-ranking politicians in Japan, Christian or not, usually do not talk about their personal religious practices.
When in 1950 the rearmament was resumed with the establishment of the Japanese Self Defense Forces, Christians were in general opposed. In 1951, the Christian Peace Association was formed. In their manifesto, a notable admission of guilt for actions and inactions taken by Christians during WW2 was included. Admissions of guilt were rare, especially in political organizations. This would be the beginning of the Christian involvement in politics, as now Christians are not in need of convincing other Japanese people of their loyalty but can instead proclaim their opinions openly without having to fear persecution, discrimination, and censorship.
In the 1960s, the National Security Treaty between the US and Japan was due for a renewal. The conservative Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi wanted to revise the Treaty to make Japan more independent from the US and able to increase its military capabilities. This led to the biggest protests in Japanese history, with millions going to the streets. Protestors were coming from all political ideologies, like Marxist students, liberal centrists, and also Christians. Many Christian organizations opposed the treaty and took part in the protests. Students and faculty members of International Christian University issued a statement condemning the Treaty revision. However, there was a notable contingent of conservative Christians who argued that individual piety is more important than involvement in politics and thus did not welcome the participation in protests on non-religious issues.
During the early 1970s, with regards to the Vietnam War, two political camps were erected in Protestant Christianity, with liberals opposing the government’s support for the Vietnam War and conservatives not supporting the war but again wanting to refrain from taking part in political activities. In the end, no faction was able to decisively win, and the deadlock caused political engagement of Protestant Christians to fail to materialize. A resurgence of participation of Christians in the Japanese political discourse occurred in the late 1970s when the conservative government tried to nationalize the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrined Class-A war criminals of WW2. This move was criticized by liberals, socialists, Buddhists, and most Christian denominations in a joint campaign on awareness of religious freedom.
The government tried to argue that the shrine and its nationalization was not a religious but a cultural matter. This notion was criticized as a de facto return to State Shinto. Christians were especially opposed to the bill, as it brought up bitter memories of the oppression they faced when State Shinto was instrumentalized against them.
Even though ultimately the bill failed in the Parliament, conservatives would not give up their Yasukuni aspirations that easily. They instead opted to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, officially in a private manner, and pray for the fallen. This practice was criticized in the same manner as the nationalization bill.
In 1979, Oohira Masayoshi, a Christian, was elected to become Prime Minister. Just as all Christian Prime Ministers who came before him, he never made a big deal out of his faith. When he was elected, Christian groups sent letters asking him to refrain from visiting Yasukuni shrine. Oohira, however, refused and said that visiting the shrine was a common Japanese custom, and it was “his duty as a Japanese.”
Fourteen war criminals were enshrined in 1978—something which was made public in 1979, just two days before the Prime Minister’s visit. When made public, the outcry from Christians (and other groups) was immense, but Oohira still chose to ignore them and continue his visit. Officially, he proclaimed the visit was conducted as a private person; however, he used the official Prime Minister’s car and signed the Shrine ledger with “Prime Minister of the Cabinet.”
The united Christian criticism of the Shrine visit can be attributed to the fact that this political issue was religious in nature and had historical significance for Japanese Christians, unlike other political issues of the past, like the Vietnam War or the Security Treaty. The structure of political incursions of Christians would follow this pattern to this day. Political issues at large are ignored, except in the case of religious freedom or the government’s actions regarding Shinto.
Chapter VII. Conclusion - Christianity Today
Today, approximately one to two percent of the Japanese populace consider themselves Christian. Conversion numbers and propagation efforts are stagnating. The mass conversions of villages and entire provinces of the 17th century are not feasible in today’s Japan. The appeal of religions in general for the majority of Japanese people is not comparable to that of the American people, for example. A liberal and agnostic view of spirituality is present in today’s Japan, with people picking things they like out of every religion available.
One example of that are two Christian holidays which are widely celebrated in Japan – albeit in a completely secular manner. Christmas Eve is celebrated with a significant other or with friends during a party with strawberry cake and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The other commonly celebrated holiday is St. Valentine’s day – again, entirely secular – with women gifting chocolate to romantic interests or friends and family. Both days are not national holidays despite the overwhelming majority of people celebrating.
Another example are wedding ceremonies in Japan, which are commonly conducted either as a Shinto ceremony or a Christian-inspired ceremony in a wedding chapel. Influence of western media and especially televised royal marriages have increased the popularity of Christian marriages in Japan since the 1990s. Most of these ceremonies are secular, and the corresponding priest is not necessarily an ordained member of any church. According to surveys, since the 2010s, around 70% of marriages in Japan are performed in a Christian-inspired chapel or church, with 15% opting for a Shinto ceremony, and the other 15% being entirely secular ceremonies.
One staple of Christian missionary work in the late 20th and early 21st century was the opening of free English language classes. As an important business language, good command of English can significantly improve career prospects for students in Japan, making the chance to learn practical English skills from native speakers an attractive prospect. Foreign missionaries made use of that sentiment to attract potential convertees at an early age and intertwine language study with Christian themes. In recent years, however, the number of Christian-sponsored language classes decreased, as professional, secular language schools are able to attract more qualified teaching personnel.
As discussed earlier, Christians left their mark in the late 19th century on higher education. Today, many of the Catholic universities founded a hundred years ago remain prestigious and famous all-around Japan. In many cases, however, bishops and priests have moved away from active teaching roles in these universities, and evangelizing work among the students is lackluster for the most part. As in most industrialized countries, the younger generation becomes more secular and agnostic. Even the nominally Christian population began to retreat from church institutions, as shown in low attendance rates of mostly under 50% for Christian churches in Japan.
Christianity has certainly left its marks in the fields of history, education, culture, and politics in Japan. Its existence has shaped the country for the better part of five hundred years and has forced Japanese society to take a closer look into the theology of their own faith. The quote that best sums up today’s state of Christianity in Japan would be: “Japanese are born Shinto, marry Christian and die Buddhist.”
Guys, thank you so much for watching until the end. This video got out a little longer than usual, but I thought the importance of the topic warranted the runtime, so here we are. If you want to learn more about the history of the Japanese Emperor, I got a video about that right here. Have a nice day!