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diff --git a/42304-0.txt b/42304-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e14e49f --- /dev/null +++ b/42304-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7728 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42304 *** + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + + +[Frontispiece: Fuji San.] + + + + +The Gist of Japan + +The Islands Their People And Missions + + +By the Rev. R. B. Peery, A.M., Ph.D. + + + +With Illustrations + + + +New York -- Chicago -- Toronto + +Fleming H. Revell Company + +M DCCC XCVII + + + + +Copyright, 1897, by Fleming H. Revell Company + + + + +To My Wife + +To whose Kindly Sympathy and Help is Largely Due Whatever of Value +there may be in these Pages This Book is Affectionately Dedicated + + + + +{3} + +PREFACE + +Although a great deal has already been published in English concerning +Japan and the Japanese people, nothing, to my knowledge, has yet been +published which attempts to give a full treatment of mission work in +Japan. "An American Missionary In Japan," by Dr. Gordon, is the only +book I am aware of that deals exclusively with this subject; but its +scope is quite different from that of the present volume. Therefore I +have been led to believe that there is a place for this book. + +I have written for the common people and hence have tried to give the +subject a plain, popular treatment. There has been no attempt at +exhaustive discussion, but great pains have been taken to make the hook +reliable and accurate. + +In the preparation of this little book I have consulted freely the +following works in English: "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of +Japan"; files of the "Japan Mail"; "Transactions of the {4} Osaka +Conference, 1882"; Rein's "Japan"; Griffis's "Mikado's Empire"; +Griffis's "Religions of Japan"; Chamberlain's "Handbook of Things +Japanese"; Miss Bacon's "Japanese Girls and Women"; Dr. Lawrence's +"Modern Missions in the East"; "Report of the World's Missionary +Conference, London, 1888"; and reports of the various missionary +societies operating in Japan. In Japanese I have consulted some native +historians and moral and religious writers--especially in the +preparation of the chapters on History, Morality, and Religions. + +The book is sent forth with the prayer that it may be the means of +begetting in the American churches a deeper interest in the work it +portrays. + +R. B. P. + +SAGA, JAPAN. + + + + +{5} + +CONTENTS + + + I. The Land of Japan + II. A Brief History of the Japanese People + III. Japanese Characteristics + IV. Manners and Customs + V. Japanese Civilization + VI. Japanese Morality + VII. Religions of Japan + VIII. First Introduction Of Christianity + IX. Modern Roman and Greek Missions + X. A Brief History of Protestant Missions in Japan + XI. Qualifications for Mission Work in Japan + XII. Private Life of the Missionary + XIII. Methods of Work + XIV. Hindrances + XV. Special Problems + XVI. The Outlook + + + + +{7} + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +Fuji San . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +A Bridge Scene + +A Kitchen Scene + +Hara-kiri + +A Shinto Temple + +A Buddhist Priest + +A Buddhist Cemetery + +The Author's Home + +Jinrikishas + + + + +{9} + +I + +THE LAND OF JAPAN + +The empire of Japan consists of a chain of islands lying off the east +coast of Asia, and extending all the way from Kamchatka in the north to +Formosa in the south. Its length is more than 1500 miles, while the +width of the mainlands varies from 100 to 200 miles. The entire area, +exclusive of Formosa, recently acquired, is 146,000 square miles--just +about equal to that of the two Dakotas or the United Kingdom of +England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. On this territory, at the +beginning of the year 1893, there lived 41,089,940 souls. + +The country is divided into four large islands and more than two +thousand smaller ones. The larger ones are named respectively Hondo, +Kyushu, Shikoku, and Yezo. Of these the first named is by far the +largest and most important. This island originally had no separate +name, but {10} in recent years it is very generally called Hondo. +Western geographers have frequently made the mistake of applying the +term "Nihon" to it; but "Nihon" is the native name for the whole +empire, and not for its chief island. The capital, Tokyo, the ancient +capital, Kyoto, and the commercial center, Osaka, are all situated on +this island. + +Kyushu is the second largest island in the group, and lies southwest of +the main island. It was on this island, in the town of Nagasaki, that +the Dutch lived for more than two hundred years, forming the only means +of communication Japan had with the outside world. + +Shikoku is next in size. It lies south of Hondo and northeast of +Kyushu. Shikoku and Kyushu are separated from the main island by the +Inland Sea, one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world. + +The island of Yezo is in the extreme north, It has very cold winters +and resembles the central part of North America somewhat in climate and +productions. On this island the aborigines of Japan, called Ainu, now +live. + +Among the more important of the smaller groups are the Liukiu Islands, +in the extreme south; the Goto Islands, in the west; and the Kuriles, +in the north. Besides these there are numerous other islands of +considerable size lying {11} around the coasts, and the whole Inland +Sea is beautifully dotted with them. + +Japan is a very mountainous country. For this reason hardly twelve per +cent. of her total area is cultivated. In general the land gradually +ascends on both sides as it recedes from the ocean, at first forming +hills and table-lands, and then huge mountains. Thus a chain of +mountains is formed in the center of the islands, extending throughout +the whole length of the empire. The mountains are nearly all of +volcanic origin, which accounts for their jagged appearance. There are +many active volcanoes, continually sending up great clouds of smoke, +and occasionally emitting streams of fire and molten lava, deluging the +whole neighborhood with sulphur and ashes. One of the first sights +that greets the traveler from the West as he approaches Japan is the +smoke of a volcano, ever active, on Vries Island, in the entrance to +Yokohama harbor. The chief volcanoes active at present are Asama, +Shirane-san, Bandai-san, Aso-san, and Koma-ga-take. I shall never +forget the ascent of Asama at night, in 1894. The volcano had been +unusually active recently, and a large part of the crater had fallen +in, completely changing its appearance. The sulphurous vapors and +smoke came up so thick and fast that we dared not approach near the +crater for fear of {12} suffocation. At that time we could not see +down into the crater at all, but occasionally one can see the blue-red +flames curling and writhing far down in the bowels of the earth like a +sea of fire, a veritable gate of hell. + +Of extinct volcanoes Japan boasts a large number. The mightiest of +these is the peerless Fuji-san, the pride of every Japanese, the +highest mountain in Japan. It is 12,365 feet high, and snow is found +on its summit at all seasons. This mountain is now a huge pile of +ashes, lava, and boulders--apparently harmless. As late as 1708 it was +in eruption, and when I stood on its snowy summit in August, 1893, +there were certain places where vapors hot enough to cook an egg came +up from the ground. For aught we know, it may at any time burst forth +again and devastate whole provinces. + +This is a land of earthquakes. The records show that from earliest +times this country has been subject to great ruin by their visitations. +Whole villages and towns have been suddenly swallowed up, and huge +mountains have disappeared in a day. These earthquakes are of frequent +occurrence. The seismic instruments now in use throughout the empire +record about three hundred and sixty-five per year--one for each day. +Certain localities are much more exposed to them than others, although +none is {13} entirely free from them. These disturbances are very +destructive of life and property, especially injuring railways, +bridges, and high buildings. They have left their mark upon the whole +country. Through the effect of volcanoes and earthquakes together, the +surface of Japan presents an appearance seldom seen in any other land. + +The forces of nature are unusually destructive in Japan. Besides the +volcanoes and earthquakes, the country is subject to occasional tidal +waves, which kill thousands of people and destroy millions of dollars' +worth of property. Impelled by some mighty force, the great sea rises +in its bed mountain high, and, angrily breaking out of its accustomed +bounds, sweeps everything before it. While I am writing this chapter +(June, 1896) news has come of one of the most destructive waves known +here for decades, which has just swept over the north coast of Hondo. +More than 30,000 people were killed instantly, and great destruction +wrought to property. So terrible is nature in her fiercer aspects! + +Japan being a very narrow country, her rivers are short and small, few +of them being serviceable for navigation. Ordinarily they are quiet, +lazy streams, but when the heavy rains fall in the mountains, the +waters sweep down like a flood, swelling these rivers to huge size and +converting them into fierce, angry torrents. The {14} Tone-gawa is the +longest and widest river, but its length is only 170 miles. Other +important ones are the Shinano-gawa, the Kiso-gawa, and the Kitakami. +A peculiar feature about these rivers is that none of them bears the +same name from source to mouth, but all change their name in nearly +every province. + +There are few lakes of importance. The largest is Lake Biwa, near +Kyoto; it is 50 miles long, and 20 wide at its widest point. Lake +Inawashiro is of considerable size. Lake Chuzenji, at the foot of +Nantai-zan, is unrivaled for beauty, and is hardly surpassed in any +land. Hakone is also a beautiful lake, and the reflection of Fuji-san +in its waters by moonlight is a sight well worth seeing. Indeed, the +whole of Japan abounds in picturesque landscapes and scenic beauty. +Mountain scenes rivaling those of Switzerland; clear, placid lakes, in +which the image of sky and mountains blends; and smiling, fertile +valleys, heavily laden with fruits and grain, make the landscape one of +surpassing beauty. Few countries are more pleasing to the eye than is +Japan. + +The coasts are indented by many bays and inlets, affording fine +harbors. The seas are very deep and often wild and stormy. The +islands are favorably located for commercial enterprises, and the +Japanese are by nature destined to be a {15} maritime people. As +regards situation and harbors, there is a striking resemblance to +England. The two countries are of nearly equal size, they both are +insular powers, and are situated about equidistant from a great +continent. It is safe to assume that Japan's development will be along +lines somewhat similar to England's. + +There is a good system of roads. The mountain roads are carefully +graded; hollows are filled up and ridges cut through in such a manner +as we employ only for railroads. Indeed, some of the roads are so +carefully graded that ties and rails could be laid on them almost +without any further modification. Many of them are as straight as the +engineer's art can make them. A new road was built recently from Saga +to the small seaport town of Wakatsu, and between the two towns it is +as direct as a bee-line. This road crosses a river just at the +junction of two streams. The fork of the river lay exactly in the path +of the road; by slightly swerving to either the right or the left a +bridge half the length of the present one would have sufficed, but the +long, costly bridge was built rather than have the road swerve from its +course even a little. + +In the plains most of the roads are elevated three or four feet above +the surrounding fields. They are not macadamized, but are covered with +large, coarse gravel known as _jari_. When this {16} jari is first +spread on, the roads are almost impassable, but it soon becomes beaten +down and makes a good road. Unfortunately, it must be applied nearly +every year. + +Some of the chief highways are very old. The most famous is the +Tokaido, extending from the old capital, Kyoto, the seat of the +imperial court, to the city of Yedo (now called Tokyo), the seat of the +shogun's government. It was over this road that the ancient daimios of +the western provinces used to journey, with gorgeous pageantry and +splendid retinues, to the shogun's court. + +Some highways are lined on either side with tall cryptomeria and other +trees, giving a delightful shade and making of them beautiful avenues. +The most beautiful of these is the road approaching Nikko. This is +said to be lined on both sides with rows of magnificent cedars and +pines for a distance of 40 miles. + +The bridges add a great deal to the peculiar beauty of the landscape. +They are substantial, beautiful structures, generally built in the +shape of an arch, and are of stone, bricks, or wood. The Japanese are +very careful about bridges, and little streams across foot-paths, where +in America one sees at best only a plank or log, are here carefully +bridged. The bridge called Nihon-bashi, in Tokyo, is said to be the +center of the empire, the point at which all roads converge. + +[Illustration: A Bridge Scene.] + +{17} + +Japan is a land in which the rural population largely predominates. +Most of the people live in the villages and small towns. But in recent +years a process similar to that going on in America has set in, and +large numbers of the rural classes are drifting into the cities. + +The chief city is Tokyo, with a population of 1,323,295. Being now the +home of the emperor and the seat of government, it is held in much +reverence by the people. In popular parlance this city is exalted on a +pedestal of honor, and the people speak of "ascending to" or +"descending from" it. It is really a fine city, with broad, clean +streets and many splendid buildings, and has been called the "city of +magnificent distances." One can travel almost a whole day and not get +outside the city limits. It was formerly called Yedo, but when the +emperor removed his court hither after the Restoration its name was +changed to Tokyo. The term means "east capital." The city has enjoyed +a marvelous growth and is to-day a vigorous, active place. It has many +of the conveniences of modern Western cities, such as electric lights, +water-works, tram-cars, telephones, etc. + +Kyoto is the ancient capital, the place where the mikados lived in +secluded splendor for so many centuries. It was the most magnificent +city of old Japan, and many highly cherished {18} national memories and +traditions cluster around it. The old classical Japanese, to whom the +ancient régime is far superior to the present, still lingers fondly in +thought round its sacred temples, shrines, and groves. When the +imperial court was removed to Tokyo the name of Kyoto was changed to +Saikyo, a term meaning "west capital." Western geographers frequently +have been guilty of the error of calling this city "Miyako"; but that +has never been the city's name, and is simply the Japanese word for +"capital." Kyoto is a beautiful, prosperous city, with a population of +328,354. + +Osaka is the commercial center. It is a city of manufactories, and +nearly all native articles of merchandise bear the mark, "Made in +Osaka." As a business center this city surpasses all others in the +empire. It is centrally located, at the head of Osaka Bay, about 20 +miles from the open port of Kobé. Here we find the imperial mint, with +long rows of splendid buildings. The population is 494,314. + +The next largest city is Nagoya, with a population of 206,742. Other +prominent cities are: Hiroshima, 91,985; Okayama, 52,360; Kanagawa, +89,975; Kagoshima, 55,495, etc. + +There are seven open ports in which foreigners reside at present and +engage in commerce. In the order of importance they are: Tokyo, {19} +population 1,323,295; Osaka, 494,314; Yokohama, 160,439; Kobé, 150,993; +Nagasaki, 67,481; Hakodate, 66,333; Niigata, 50,300. Formerly Nagasaki +was in the lead, but now has fallen to the fifth place. It is probable +that other ports will be opened to foreign trade in the near future. + + + +_Climate_ + +As Japan is so long a country, she has every variety of climate. In +the northern provinces, and especially on the northwest coast, it is +extremely cold in winter, and snow falls in such quantities as +practically to stop all kinds of business. In Formosa and Liukiu there +is perpetual summer. That part of Japan in which the West is most +interested, and about which it knows most,--which is far the most +important portion of the empire,--has a mild, damp climate, free from +great extremes of either heat or cold. Each winter snow falls +frequently, but it is seldom known to lie on the ground for more than a +few hours at a time. Cold frosts are rare. Judged by the thermometer, +the summers are no warmer than those of the Carolinas or Tennessee, but +their effect upon people of the West resident here is much more trying +than the summers of those places. Various reasons are assigned for +this. Physicians are well aware that humidity affects {20} health for +good or bad as much as temperature. In considering the healthfulness +of a climate, not only is the temperature to be taken into account, but +the amount of moisture in the air must also be considered. Now, in +Japan there is so excessive an amount of moisture in the atmosphere +that it makes the heat exceedingly depressing. + +The presence of this dampness makes it very hard to keep things clean +and free from rust and mold. Sewing-machines, bicycles, scissors, +knives, and such things have to be watched carefully and oiled. +Carpets, clothing, shoes, etc., have to be sunned well and then shut up +in air-tight boxes during the summer season. Often a single night is +sufficient to make a pair of shoes white with mold. Were it only on +the machines and clothing that the dampness and mold settle, it would +not be so bad; but we feel that this same clammy mold is going down +into our very bones and marrow, gradually sapping their vigor and +strength. + +Besides this great excess of moisture in the atmosphere, there are +other reasons why the climate is so debilitating. One of these is the +lack of ozone. This element is known to be one of the greatest +atmospheric purifiers, and also to have a very invigorating and +stimulating effect upon mind and body. The proportion of ozone in the +atmosphere of Japan is only about one {21} third as great as that in +the atmosphere of most Western countries. + +The proportion of electricity in the atmosphere is also thought to be +much below the average. While not much is known in regard to the +effect of atmospheric electricity upon the healthfulness of a country, +it is generally believed by scientific and medical men that the +proportion of electricity in the air has much to do with our physical +well-being. + +These three factors, viz., too much moisture, not enough ozone, and not +enough electricity, are named as the chief causes which conduce to make +the climate depressing and enervating to people from the West. We +missionaries have neither the energy nor the strength to do here what +we could do at home, and after a five or six years' residence, to do +effective work must be permitted to recuperate in the home lands. + +The rainfall is far above the average of most countries. Two thirds of +the annual downpour falls during the six months from April to October. +The rainy season proper begins early in June and lasts about six weeks. +At this season it sometimes rains for weeks consecutively. This year +(1896) during the rainy season we did not once get a sight of the sun +for at least three weeks. The amount of rain varies greatly from year +to year, as also in different localities. + +{22} + +Notwithstanding the heavy rainfall, bright, sunny days are far in +excess of dark, rainy ones. Clear, balmy skies are the rule rather +than the exception. There is a softness and delicacy about Japanese +skies rare in America, but common in European countries bordering on +the Mediterranean Sea. + +Japanese winds are irregular and violent, and subject to sudden +changes. During three months of the year the dreaded typhoons are +expected, and once or twice each year great damage is done by them. +These typhoons generally blow from the southwest. They often sweep +houses, forests, and everything else before them, their wake being a +mass of ruins. In fair weather, on the sea-shore, there is a gentle +land- and sea-breeze in summer. + + + +_Productions_ + +Japan is blessed with a fertile soil, capable of bearing a variety of +products. By centuries of the most careful fertilization and +irrigation (arts in which the Japanese are adepts) the land has been +brought to a very high state of cultivation. One of the peculiar +things to the people of the West is the manner in which the fields are +irrigated. Nearly all the land under cultivation can be freely watered +at the will of the cultivator. {23} Streams and canals everywhere wind +in and out through the plains and round the hills, making easy the +irrigation of all arable lands. + +A striking feature of the farming is the manner of terracing the sides +of the hills and mountains. These are not cultivated in their natural +state, as in America, but stone walls are built at regular gradations +on the mountain-sides, and the soil dug down until level with the tops +of the walls. Arranged in this way a mountain-side looks not unlike a +huge stairway, and lends beauty to the landscape. + +The land here is not divided into large farms, as is usual in the West. +Most of the farms are very small. One never sees a field of ten or +fifteen acres, but little plots hardly as large as our vegetable +gardens. The cultivation is mostly done by hand, the women laboring in +the fields with their husbands and brothers. The implements in general +use are very rude. Plows are used, but they are roughly made of wood, +with an iron point attached, and do poor work. Nearly all the +cultivating is done with a hoe, the blade of which is almost as long as +the handle, and is attached to it at an angle of less than forty-five +degrees, making it an awkward thing to use. All grains are harvested +and threshed by hand. The land being so fertile, the yield is large. + +In enumerating the products of their country, {24} the native writers +usually begin with the _go-koku_, or five cereals--wheat, rice, millet, +beans, and sorghum. Fine crops of wheat are grown, especially in the +southern provinces. Perhaps no country in the world produces better +rice or a greater quantity per acre. One half of all the land under +cultivation is used in the production of rice. + +Green grasses are remarkably rare in Japan, and the soil does not seem +to be adapted to their growth. Long plains of green meadow- and +pasture-lands, so pleasing to the eye in home landscapes, are never +seen. Almost the only grass in the empire is the long, coarse grass +that grows on the hills and mountains. + +Corn and oats are met with rarely. The cultivation of corn is now +being introduced in the northern provinces, however, and will probably +soon become more general. Hemp and cotton both flourish. The cotton +does not grow as large or yield as bountifully as it does in our own +Southern States, but a very good crop is raised each year. There is a +large variety of vegetables, such as turnips, pumpkins, radishes, +beets, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, etc. + +Japan produces a great variety of fruits and berries. We can have +fresh fruit all the year round. Some of the more prominent are +oranges, persimmons, figs, apricots, pears, peaches, {25} plums, +loquats, grapes, etc. As a rule the fruit is inferior to that of the +West, but the oranges, persimmons, and figs are excellent. + +Until comparatively recent years apples were unknown here, but now they +are being rapidly introduced and successfully cultivated. They are +grown only in the northern provinces, the southern soil not being well +adapted to them. + +For bright, gay flowers Japan can hardly be excelled. At certain +seasons the whole country resembles an immense garden. The +crysanthemum is the national flower, and magnificent specimens of it +are grown. The cherry blossoms are universal favorites, and when they +are at their best the whole population turns out to see them. Lotus +flowers are highly prized, and in our city of Saga there is an old +castle moat, 200 or 300 yards wide and more than 1 mile long, filled +with them, which in July and August is a sea of large red-and-white +blossoms, beautiful to behold. The hills and valleys abound in wild +flowers, but the natives seem to prize them less than the cultivated +ones. In recent years Western flowers are being extensively +cultivated, and most of them do well. Flowers that must be carefully +housed and nursed in America, such as geraniums, fuchsias, etc., will +grow all the year in the open in Japan. Some one only partially +acquainted with Japan has said that the flowers have no {26} odor, but +this is not true; they are, however, less fragrant than those of the +West. + +There is no country in the East so well supplied with useful timber. +On the island of Yezo alone there are thirty-six varieties of useful +timber-trees, including the most useful of all trees, the oak. These +vast forests as yet are untouched practically, and the whole of the +Hokkaido is one huge lumber-yard. The main island, Kyushu, and Shikoku +are also well timbered. But the demand for building material, +fire-wood, and charcoal is so great that rapid inroads are being made +upon the supply of timber. Unless a more thorough system of forestry +is adopted the supply will some day be exhausted. The mulberry-tree +flourishes, and immense tracts of land are given to its cultivation. +The fruit is not used, but the leaves are highly valuable in silk +culture. Lacquer-trees also abound, from which a considerable revenue +is derived. + +The camphor-supply of the world is almost entirely in the hands of +Japan. Magnificent camphor-trees are growing over all southern Japan, +and in the newly acquired territory of Formosa there are large groves +of them. The camphor industry is a lucrative one, and happy is the man +who possesses a few trees. Within a few yards of my former home in +Saga, on a little strip of waste land, there were four camphor-trees +which sold, standing, for $2000, silver. + +{27} + +This account would be very incomplete without a notice of the bamboo, +which grows in large quantities over all the empire. In the northern +provinces it is only a small shrub; in the southern it grows to a large +tree. The uses to which it is put are innumerable, and the people +hardly could do without it. + +The chief articles of foreign export produced in Japan are silk, tea, +and rice. Silk is produced throughout the country, with the exception +of the island of Yezo, but the best yielding districts are in the +center and north of the main island. The Japanese cocoon seems to be +equally as good as the European, but the methods of manufacturing are +not yet up to the highest standard; for this reason Japanese silks are +hardly as good as those of France or Italy. The annual export of silk +is worth to Japan about $30,000,000. + +Second only to silk in importance among exports is tea. Most of it is +shipped by foreign merchants to America, Chinese and Indian teas being +more popular in Europe. About 40,000,000 pounds are annually exported. +The quantity consumed at home must be very great, at least equal to +that sent abroad. + +The foreign trade in rice is large, and is increasing continually. +Japanese rice is far better than that grown in India or Burmah, and is +esteemed highly in European markets. Formerly {28} the government +exported the rice, as it levied taxes in rice and hence had great +stores of it; but this practice has been discontinued. Native +merchants are now taking up this branch of the export trade and are +pushing it with vigor. The value of the export varies very much each +year, in accordance with the crop produced. + +Japan is not only rich and fertile, yielding the greatest variety of +products, but she is also endowed with great mineral wealth. Kaempfer, +in the first history of Japan given to the West, enumerates the +minerals thus: sulphur, gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, coal, salt, +agates, jasper, pearls, naphtha, ambergris, etc. Coal of fairly good +quality is present in great quantities in many parts of the empire. +Much of it is sold to the foreign steamers that call here on their way +to China. The export of copper amounts to more than $5,000,000 per +year. Iron, chiefly in the form of magnetic oxide, is present along +the sea-coast and in the diluvium of rivers. As yet the iron resources +have not been developed. Gold and silver are present in many places, +but the mines have never been worked to very great advantage. Large +quantities of salt are made from sea-water. Traces of petroleum are +found in several localities, but not much has yet been made of it. The +great mineral wealth of Japan as yet is developed only partially. + + +{29} + +_Animals_ + +The fauna is represented generally as very meager, but this is an +injustice. A large portion of the animals now found here may have been +imported, but, taking Japan as we find her to-day, animals are abundant. + +Horses and oxen are the beasts of burden, and are found everywhere. +The horses are smaller than those of the West, and are not so gentle, +though very sure-footed and hardy. An effort is now being made to +improve the breed by importing American and Australian horses. Native +oxen do most of the carrying and plowing. Strange to say, the oxen are +gentler and more manageable than the horses. There are very few sheep, +and it seems that the country is not adapted to them. Almost the only +sheep I have seen here were in menageries, caged, along with lions, +bears, etc. Pigs are found, but the people are not fond of their +flesh, and consequently not many are raised. + +Domestic animals are plentiful, such as cats, dogs, ducks, geese, +chickens, etc. Many of the cats have no tails, and the people are +prejudiced against cats that have tails. If one happens to be born +with a tail they will probably cut it off. Turkeys are scarce. + +{30} + +There are many wild animals, such as bears, wild boars, deer, monkeys, +_tanuki_, wild dogs, foxes, and hares. The people are fond of the +chase, but, as large game is rare, the opportunity to indulge this +taste is very limited. + +Among the wild birds are found herons, cranes, ducks, geese, pheasants, +pigeons, storks, falcons, hawks, ravens, woodcocks, crows, and a small +bird, called _uquisu_, resembling the nightingale. The stork and the +heron are perhaps most popular, and have been pictured in all kinds of +native art. Wild geese and ducks spend the summer in Yezo and the +winter in Hondo. Singing birds are rare, but not, as some have +affirmed, unknown. + +The seas surrounding Japan, and her numerous bays and rivers, are +teeming with animal life, and for multitude and variety of edible fish +are perhaps unsurpassed by any in the world. Salmon, cod, mackerel, +herring, bait, tai, and other small fish are very abundant, so much so +that in many places they are used as a fertilizer. From time +immemorial fish have formed a prominent part of the daily diet of the +people. Whales are numerous on the shores of Kyushu and the southern +shores of Hondo, where they are taken by means of harping-irons or +darts. Quantities of oil are extracted from them, and their flesh is +much relished for food. + +The foregoing account will perhaps give the {31} reader some idea of +the nature, extent, climate, and products of the land of Japan. With a +fertile soil, rich deposits of minerals, a genial climate, and a +landscape unsurpassed, surely this is a country highly favored by +Heaven. How sad to think that those to whom God has given so much know +so little of Him! How one's heart bleeds to see God's beautiful +handiwork all marred and stained by images and idols, and that praise +which the people so justly owe Him given to gods of wood and stone! +But such is the case in Japan to-day. The people know that they are +indebted to some higher power for innumerable blessings, but they do +not know that this power is the God whom we preach to them. + + + + +{32} + +II + +A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE + +Nothing definite is known concerning the origin of the Japanese people. +Some authorities think that the southern portion of Japan was first +peopled by sailors and fishermen from Malay, who were drifted thither +by the strong current of the Black Stream. That this has happened to +shipwrecked sailors in the present time is cited in confirmation of +this view. + +Some of the northern islands are within sight of the mainland, and it +is possible that tribes from northern Asia made their way across the +narrow seas and settled there. Ethnological and philological evidence +indicates that some immigrants came over from Korea, which they could +easily have done, as the southern part of Korea is very near. + +If these suppositions are true, two races mingled in Japan--the Malay +from the south and the {33} Mongol from the west--and the Japanese +people are the joint product of the two. But there is no certain +information regarding these immigrations, and we cannot affirm them as +historic facts. + +Two of the greatest authorities on this subject, Baelz and Rein, affirm +that the Japanese are of Mongol origin. Dr. Baelz supposes that there +were two chief streams of immigration from northern and central Asia by +way of Korea. The immigrants gradually spread eastward and northward +and settled in the land, becoming the progenitors of the present +inhabitants. + +It is historically certain that some Chinamen and Koreans have settled +in Japan and contributed toward the production of the Japanese race; +both Chinese and Japanese histories contain accounts of such +immigration; but it is likely that settlers were already here long +before these, of whom we have historic accounts, arrived. + +This problem is made more difficult by the fact that there are two +separate and distinct races here--the Japanese and the Ainu. The +latter do not appear to be Mongols. The Japanese call them the +aborigines. When they entered Japan, and where they came from, is not +known. There is very little intermixing of these two races. The +Japanese have gradually forced the Ainu back to the northern island, +just as the settlers in the United States have driven back the Indians. +{34} Efforts are being made lately to better the condition of this +race, but they do not meet with much success. The Ainu appear to have +little capacity for civilization, and the race is rapidly becoming +extinct. + +So much for the origin of the people. We will endeavor to treat their +history, very briefly, under three heads: mythology, mythological +history, and reliable history. + + + +_Japanese Mythology_ + +Although we of the West are perplexed as to the origin of the Japanese, +the national records give what has been a very clear and satisfactory +account of this. Hence I have included a very brief statement of this +native account of the origin of the Japanese people under the head of +history, although it is pure mythology. + +Japanese history teaches that in the beginning all things were chaos. +There was no Creator, and no First Cause of the universe. There was +merely a cosmic mass. By and by the ethereal matter sublimed and +formed the heavens; what remained formed the earth. From the warm mold +of the earth sprang up a germ which became a self-animate being--the +first of the gods. Then four other gods were generated, all sexless +and self-begotten. These gods separated the {35} primordial substance +into the five elements of wood, fire, metal, earth, and water, and gave +to each its properties. The last of these spontaneous divine +generations were a brother and a sister, named Izanagi and Izanami. +Uniting in marriage, they became the parents of the various islands of +Japan and of gods and goddesses innumerable. Izanami died when giving +birth to the god of fire. Her divine consort afterward visits her in +the lower regions to induce her to return to him. She would fain do +so, but must first consult the gods of the place. Going to ask counsel +of them, she does not return, and Izanagi, impatient at her tarrying, +goes in search of her. He finds her a mass of putrefaction, in the +midst of which the eight thunder-gods are sitting. + +Disappointed in his hope, he returns to Japan and purifies himself by +bathing in a stream. As he bathes new gods are born from his clothing +and from each part of his body. The sun-goddess was born from his left +eye, the moon-god from his right eye, and Susanoo, the last of all, was +born from his nose. What a prolific breeder of gods was he! + +The mythology goes on relating, tale after tale, the absurd actions of +these gods residing together for several generations in Japan, the +center of the universe, frequently visiting both heaven and hell, and +performing all kinds of miraculous feats. {36} In native history this +period is called the "period of the gods." About six generations after +Izanagi and Izanami, in the direct line of descent from them, the first +human emperor of Japan was born. His name was Kamu-Yamato-Ihare-Biko, +posthumously called Jimmu Tenno. + +Those Japanese to whose minds the problem of the origin of the outside +nations ever occurred solved it in this fashion: the barbarian nations +must likewise have descended from the mikado, the son of heaven, in +very remote times, but have wandered off and are now far from the +divine source. The Japanese, being still under the protection of their +divine father, are very much nearer in the line of descent, and hence +are the first race in the world. + +Thus they trace their descent direct to the gods, and their emperor is +to this day considered the divine father of his people. It is a pity +we cannot join with them in accepting this easy solution of the +difficult problem of their origin. + + + +_Mythological History_ + +By this term I would designate that period in Japanese history in which +mythology and history are so blended as to be inseparable. For almost +one thousand years records purporting to be historical are so +intermingled with that which is {37} purely mythological as to make it +next to impossible to discriminate between them. + +Japanese historians claim that the authentic history of their country +dates from the time of Jimmu Tenno (600 B.C.), and the national records +are unbroken from that time to the present. Most European and American +historians have accepted these records as true, and yet critical +scholars here feel bound to reject them. The oldest Japanese histories +were not written until the eighth century A.D., and it does not seem +probable that traditions handed down by word of mouth for more than a +thousand years would be reliable. The records themselves are +contradictory and self-refuting. Contemporary Chinese and Korean +history, in which are frequent references to the "land of Wa," i.e., +Japan, does not agree with the Japanese records, which bear evidence of +having been written for a purpose other than a true statement of +historical facts. These and other reasons have led Messrs. Aston and +Chamberlain, the scholars who have studied this subject perhaps more +than any others, to conclude that Japanese records prior to the date +461 A.D. are unreliable. + +This period in dispute (from 600 B.C. to 461 A.D.) I have designated +the period of mythological history. Even in the Japanese so-called +histories the mythology for centuries is narrated along with that which +claims to be genuine {38} history; the gods still mingle with men and +take part in their affairs. The legends of the gods and those of the +emperors are given side by side in the same book, and as much credence +attaches to the one as to the other. + +Orthodox Shinto scholars, while recognizing the fact of the parallelism +of the mythology and the history, inconsistently reject the +mythological legends of the gods while strenuously holding to those +relating to the emperors. My own opinion is that most of the important +events related in the records during this period had some basis in +fact, but that the accounts of them are exaggerated and perverted. + +Commencing with the period which native historians assign as the +beginning of authentic history, the first important event we find is +the accession of Jimmu Tenno to the throne (600 B.C.). But the very +existence of Jimmu Tenno as an historical personage is not at all +certain. The evidence adduced has never been sufficient to satisfy +Western scholars, although the Japanese would consider it almost +treason to disbelieve in him. + +Japanese histories for this period are very meager. They consist, for +the most part, of a recital of the names and ages of the mikados, with +perhaps a sentence or two concerning the state of the country during +their reigns. + +One of the most important events noted in {39} this early period is the +subjugation of Korea by the Empress Jingo. She is said to have +collected a large army, and, by the help of the fishes great and small, +and of favorable winds and currents, to have crossed over into Korea in +small junks, and completely subjugated the country, reducing it to the +position of a tributary state. The Japanese firmly believe this story, +and are proud of the early success of their arms in this foreign war. +Korean records justify us in assuming that Japanese influence was +predominant in Korea at this time, but the story of the Empress Jingo, +especially in its details, must be received with caution. She is +perhaps an historical personage, but whether she invaded Korea or not +is doubtful. + +The next event of importance in the records is the introduction of +Chinese art, science, and learning, which took place in the early +centuries of the Christian era, and exerted an incalculable influence +upon the people of Japan. Learning, religion, philosophy, literature, +laws, ethics, medicine, art--all were brought over bodily. From this +time forward the Japanese were largely students and imitators of China. +Korea was the medium through which these continental influences were +transmitted. With the introduction of learning and literature +historical records began to be kept over all Japan, and oral tradition +was no longer relied upon. From this time the authentic history of +Japan begins. + + + +{40} + +_Reliable History_ + +Chamberlain, Aston, and others agree that the first trustworthy date in +Japanese history is 461 A.D., and that for the succeeding century too +much confidence must not be placed in details. This disproves the +pretty stories told by the Japanese, and by many Western writers as +well, as to the great age of this nation, and its unbroken line of +emperors extending at least as far back as 600 B.C.; but it is not the +first time that pretty theories have been rudely broken up by an +investigation of facts. The imperial line is probably as old as that +of the popes, but hardly older. Japan, in fact and in authentic +history, is younger than Christianity. Her existence as a state began +about the time of the fall of the Roman empire. + +With the year 461 historical events and personages appear, and, in the +main, we may accept the history from this time forward as accurate. + +About the middle of the sixth century began one of the most important +processes in Japanese history--the conversion of the nation to +Buddhism. For some centuries previous Chinese learning and arts had +been gradually filtering into Japan; but they had not as yet gained +general acceptance. The Buddhist priests brought Chinese civilization, +and in the course of two {41} centuries it spread over the country, +influencing morality, politics, and everything. Sweeping changes were +made in the government, which was then organized on the Chinese +centralized plan. Arts, sciences, and literature flourished. This was +the golden age of classical Japan. + +In the year 670 A.D. the great Fujiwara family came upon the stage. +The mikados were in theory absolute rulers, but eventually they became +mere figureheads. Their mode of life was not such as to make of them +able rulers. Surrounded by an effeminate court, living in indolence +and debauchery amid priests and court women, they were hardly competent +to direct affairs. The emperor was often a mere child, who, when he +grew up, either abdicated freely or was forced to abdicate the throne +in favor of another child as weak as himself. The government was +administered by the most powerful vassals. The great Fujiwara family +held the affairs of state in its own hands from 670 to 1050 A.D.: all +the important posts were filled by its sons, while its daughters were +married to the imbecile emperors. + +The next important event in Japanese history is the rise of feudalism. +The warlike samurai classes, disgusted with this weak petticoat +government, arose in arms and overthrew it. The great clans of Taira +and Minamoto appeared and alternately held the reins of government for +nearly {42} two centuries. Lawlessness and disorder prevailed. The +leader who could command the most men and win the victory with his +sword was master of the empire. All Japan became a military camp, the +chieftains waging war against one another. Thus feudalism took its +rise and prevailed for many centuries, powerfully affecting every form +of thought and life, just as it did in Europe at a similar period. + +The Taira family was finally overthrown by the Minamotos, and the chief +of the latter clan, Yoritomo, was raised to the supreme power. This +man was the first to obtain from the imperial court in Kyoto the title +of "shogun"--generally spoken of in the West as "tycoon." From this +time forward (1190-1867) the shogun was the real ruler of Japan. The +mikado was still the theoretical head of the state, descendant of the +sun-goddess, and fountain of all honor, but he lived in the retirement +and seclusion of his court, never seen by his subjects, and all matters +of government were attended to by the shogun. Yoritomo's descendants +gradually degenerated, and were finally overthrown by the Ashikaga +family. + +This powerful clan took charge of the government in 1338 and held it +until 1565. It encouraged literature and the arts, and the court +became a center of elegance and refinement. Especially {43} did the +intricate tea ceremonies flourish at this time. This family became +weak and effeminate finally, like its predecessors, and was overthrown. + +Japan was first discovered by Europeans probably in 1542, when the +Portuguese adventurer Mendez Pinto landed on her coasts. He brought +the first definite information concerning her received in Europe, and +his reports were so highly exaggerated that he was spoken of everywhere +as "mendacious Pinto." Soon after his visit numbers of Portuguese +adventurers came, who were received warmly by the impressible people. +With them came the Jesuits and the introduction of Christianity. The +growth of Christianity, and the bloody persecutions it encountered, +begin from this time. These interesting subjects will be treated in +another chapter and hence are passed over here. + +During this period lived successively three of the greatest men in +Japanese history--Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu. On these men +devolved the tasks of breaking the power of the feudal lords and +bringing them into more complete subjection to the shogun; of unifying +the empire and of strengthening the central government. The plan was +conceived by Nobunaga, begun by Hideyoshi, and completed by Iyeyasu. +The former was the friend and patron of the Christians, the two latter +their bitter persecutors. + +{44} + +After the rulers had succeeded in stamping out Christianity the country +was closed to foreign influence, and for two hundred years remained +hermetically sealed. Even shipwrecked foreign sailors found on her +coasts were executed, and no Japanese was permitted to leave the +country on pain of death. The only communication with the outside +world reserved was through the Hollanders, a small band of whom were +permitted to reside at Nagasaki. Through them various arts and +sciences, including medicine, were introduced. + +This calm seclusion was rudely broken in upon by the coming of +Commodore Perry, in 1853-54, with his big guns. He came to establish +treaties of commerce and trade, and to secure better treatment for +American ships and sailors--peaceably if possible, forcibly if +necessary. Here it is needful, in the interests of truth, to disprove +another pretty story, to the effect that Perry and his crew were very +pious, godly men, and that they secured the concessions desired by +peaceable methods--by praying and singing psalms. The fact is that the +concessions gained were _forced_ from Japan by intimidation, by +threats, and by a show of strength. Commodore Perry also used the same +tactics in Liukiu. He effected his purpose, it is true, without using +his guns, except for intimidation, but it is safe to say that he would +not have accomplished it without them. + +{45} + +The treaties then forced from the government were humiliating to Japan; +for example, granting exterritoriality, by virtue of which foreigners +should live under their own consuls and in no sense be amenable to the +laws of the land. Such concessions are demanded by civilized states of +the uncivilized only, and their very existence implies inferiority. +But nothing else was possible at that time, nor did Japan object. + +The coming of Perry, and his forced opening of the country, marked the +birth of new Japan, so different from the old, and the beginning of an +era of unprecedented prosperity. The Japanese now recognize this, and +speak of Perry as one of their greatest benefactors. + +During the years immediately preceding this there was a great revival +of learning. A school of literati arose, which zealously studied the +antiquities of its own country as opposed to the imported Chinese +classics. A revival of Shinto sprang up, and with it grew again that +great reverence and esteem for the ancient imperial line, the divine +mikados, as against the upstart shoguns. In this way began the +movement which ended in the revolution of 1868 and the overthrow of the +shogunate. + +When Perry came the shogun's government was already tottering to its +fall, and when this government made treaties with foreign countries, +{46} admitting the "barbarians" to this "land of the gods," a loud cry +arose against it over all the land. Finally the imperial court at +Kyoto, prompted by the mighty daimios of Choshu, Satsuma, and Tosa, +decided upon the abolition of the shogunate. The shogun himself +submitted to the decree of the mikado, but many of his followers did +not. The War of the Revolution ensued, and after much fighting the +imperial troops were victorious; the shogunate was forever abolished, +and the emperor once more took personal charge of the government. + +The literary party had triumphed. Buddhism was largely supplanted by +Shinto; the shogunate, which had admitted the foreigners, was +abolished; and the literati fondly supposed that the court would now +expel the intruders, abolish the treaties, again shut up the country, +and affairs would go on as in the "good old times." But they were +deceived. The mighty lords of Tosa, Satsuma, and Choshu now declared +in favor of foreign intercourse and the adoption of European +civilization. These princes were too powerful not to be heard. Their +advice was heeded; the foreigners were welcomed, the country was opened +more and more, old abuses were corrected, and the Europeanization of +Japan was begun. + +The reformation was ably assisted from the very quarter where we would +expect to find it {47} most bitterly opposed. The young and able +emperor Mutsuhito, coming out of the obscurity which had enshrouded his +ancestors for ages, and putting aside the traditions of centuries, ably +seconded the efforts of his ministers in every reform. The +unparalleled progress during his long and enlightened reign is due in +no small part to his wisdom and prudence. He has shown himself a +liberal, enlightened monarch, and I am sure that I express the +sentiment of every friend of Japan in saying, Long live his Majesty +Mutsuhito! + +The reformation of the country, the assimilation of Western +civilization and institutions, and the gradual opening and development +of the empire have gone on uninterruptedly since the restoration of the +emperor to the supreme power. + +In 1871 the daimiates were abolished and the old daimios retired to +private life. Thus feudalism was at last broken up and the central +government strengthened. In this same year the postal and telegraph +systems were introduced and a mint was established. + +In 1889 the constitution was promulgated, whereby the people were given +a voice in the government, and Japan became a constitutional monarchy, +very much like Prussia or other European states. In this year local +self-government was also established. In accordance with the +constitution, the first Diet was opened in 1890. {48} This highest +legislative body in Japan resembles somewhat, in its organization and +functions, the German Reichstag. + +One of the greatest recent events in Japanese history is the successful +revision of the treaties. After the Restoration and the adoption of +Western institutions and civilization, efforts were continually being +made to have these treaties revised on a basis more favorable to Japan; +but these efforts were always defeated. Thus Japan was for many years +forced to submit to treaties made long ago, which were good enough +then, but are outgrown entirely now. No recognition whatever was made +of her great progress during these thirty years, and the foreign powers +still treated her as an inferior. This was unjust, and the people +naturally chafed under it. Finally, by the wisdom and perseverance of +the present Japanese statesmen, treaty revision has been secured on the +basis of equality. By this revision she regains the concessions forced +from her in former years. After the year 1900 all foreigners residing +in Japan will become amenable to her laws; exterritoriality will be +abolished; power to levy taxes upon imports within prescribed limits +will be regained; and Japan will be recognized as an equal by the great +powers of the West. In return for these concessions on the part of +foreign powers, she gives liberty of residence and travel {49} in any +part of the empire, and all privileges generally accorded aliens in +Western nations, except the right of ownership of land. We rejoice +with Japan that justice has at last been accorded her, and that the +treaties have been satisfactorily revised. + +A sketch of Japanese history would be incomplete without some mention +of the recent war with China. This war was especially interesting +because it afforded the first opportunity Japan has had of trying her +strength with her new arms. For years she has been to school to the +Western nations; now she goes out to put into practice the lessons she +has learned. Her fine army and navy, constructed after the most +approved Western models, are tested for the first time. The results +are such as to more than satisfy Japan with her new equipment. The +story of her splendid success against a nation outnumbering her ten to +one is familiar to all and need not be recounted. + +The war was a positive gain to Japan in many ways. Aside from the +material gain in indemnity and the extension of her territory, it gave +her an opportunity to demonstrate to the world the substantial progress +she has made. Nothing else would have gained for her so much respect +from Western powers as her prowess exhibited in this war. A +demonstration of force and of ability to fight great battles is still +regarded as a mark of progress and civilization. + +{50} + +The war also helped to settle many troublesome internal questions. +Some feared the people would be so elated by their phenomenal success +that their pride and arrogance would be unendurable. But it was not +so. The Japanese expected to win from the beginning, and were not +surprised at the result. After the war was over they settled down to +the even tenor of their ways as though nothing had happened. They have +shown themselves as able to bear victory as to win it. + +Such is an all too brief account of the history of this interesting +people. An acquaintance with the main facts of this history I thought +necessary to enable American Christians rightly to appreciate the work +of their missionaries in their efforts to plant the church in Japan. + + + + +{51} + +III + +JAPANESE CHARACTERISTICS + +It is next to impossible for an alien to judge accurately the +characteristics of a people. That a foreigner's interpretation of a +nation's character, and of the moral influences that direct and mold +its life, is apt to be imperfect and erroneous is now a recognized +truth. An Englishman cannot understand a Frenchman, nor a Frenchman an +Englishman. Even people so closely related as the English and +Americans, with a common ancestry, common history and traditions, a +common speech, common laws, and a common faith, find great difficulty +in properly understanding one another. The American essayist Emerson +did not venture to write "English Traits" until he had visited England, +mingled freely with the people, and familiarized himself with the +manifold phases of English character; and Bryce's excellent work on +"The American Commonwealth," in {52} which American characteristics are +reflected more truly than they have been by any other English writer, +did not see the light until its author had made frequent visits to the +United States and had carefully studied his subject for seventeen years. + +If it is so hard to understand a kindred people, how much harder it is +to understand a people so alien as the Japanese! Here the religion, +language, manners and customs, and moral ideas are so different from +our own that the task of portraying the real characteristics of the +race becomes a colossal one. It should be attempted only by men who +have had years of practical experience with the people, who can read +their language and look at things from their standpoint, and who bring +to their task a loving sympathy with the people whose life they would +portray. + +But nothing is more common than to meet with sweeping judgments on +Japanese character by persons utterly incompetent to make them. Men +who have perhaps never seen Japan sit in judgment upon her with a gusto +unequaled. Globe-trotters, spending at most only a few weeks here, and +necessarily learning nothing of the inner life of the people, have made +most sweeping statements concerning the traits of national character, +such as: "The Japanese are a nation of liars;" "They are mere +imitators, originating nothing;" "They are fickle and quite {53} +unreliable;" "Licentiousness is the most prominent trait in the +national character," etc. Now it is unnecessary to say that judgments +formed in this way are worthless. Here, if anywhere, it behooves one +to write only after careful study and observation, and even then to +speak with caution. + +Physically the Japanese are inferior to the races of the West. They +are shorter of stature and lighter of weight than Europeans or +Americans. The upper part of their bodies is developed perhaps as +fully as our own; but the lower limbs have been so cramped by sitting +on the floor for centuries that they are shorter and weaker. Their +habits of life and their vegetable diet have combined to make of them a +physically weak people. They age earlier than the races of the +Occident. + +In color they do not differ much from the American Indians or the +half-breeds of the South. There are two types of facial expression: +the old samurai or noble classes have a long, narrow face, sharp nose, +high, narrow forehead, and oblique eyes; the lower classes have fat, +round, pudding faces, with broad mouths and flat noses. These two +types are distinguished readily on the streets, and rank can be judged +by them. + +The Japanese are a cheerful race. The cares of life seem lightly to +weigh upon them. On the surface they appear always smiling and happy. +{54} They are very fond of gay scenes and bright colors. Politeness is +a national characteristic. Etiquette has been carried to such an +extent as to have largely degenerated into empty forms. + +Mentally they are bright and intelligent, receiving and apprehending +instruction readily. The students are equally as diligent and earnest +as are those in the academies and colleges of America, though +physically they are not so able to endure prolonged study. They have +great thirst for knowledge, and study for the sake of learning itself; +hence the various devices for evading study so common in the schools at +home are almost unknown. The intensity of this thirst for knowledge on +the part of the young is remarkable. Hundreds of young men over all +Japan are struggling for an education against very great odds. Many +are now educated abroad, and these take their stand in our best +colleges and universities along with the brightest of our own students. +When their course is completed they are able to carry on all kinds of +learned scientific investigations independently of their teachers. +Witness what they have done in seismology, botany, and medicine. These +facts indicate that the Japanese are an intellectual race. + +In order rightly to appreciate the national character we must remember +that the idea of personality is developed here only partially. {55} +This is strikingly evident in the structure of the language, which +consists of nouns and verbs almost exclusively. Distinctions of person +and number are generally ignored, and true pronouns are entirely +wanting. From ancient times men have been considered, not as +individuals, but _en masse_. The family has been exalted above the +individual, who is hardly considered to have an existence apart from +it. Thus, in ancient times, as among Occidental races also, if one +member of a family came under the censure of the government, all were +censured. When one member was put to death, all were executed. As the +family, and not the individual, was the unit with which the laws dealt, +the family became the subject of prime consideration. To perpetuate +the family line came to be considered a very essential thing, and in +order thereto the system of concubinage was introduced. It is proper +to state that in regard to this exaltation of the family over the +individual Japan is now in a transition period, and that the individual +is becoming more and more important in the eyes of the law. + +A marked characteristic of the Japanese is their strong patriotism. +There is no more patriotic people on the face of the earth. It is said +that the name of the emperor, whispered over the heads of an excited +mob, will calm it as readily as oil poured on troubled waters. In the +recent war {56} with China there were many more volunteers for active +service than could be sent to the front. I have seen old men lament, +with tears in their eyes, that they could no longer serve their country +as soldiers, even to the death if need be. This principle of loyalty +is the strongest motive power in Japan to-day. It supersedes all +others. A man's duty to his family, even to his parents, is nothing +when compared with his duty to his country; and Japanese history +abounds in pathetic stories of men, women, and even children, who have +counted all other duties as naught and have willingly sacrificed their +lives for their country. + +Patriotism here amounts to a passion--I had almost said a fanaticism. +From earliest infancy it is instilled into the minds of the children, +and there is not one of the little ones in whose heart his country has +not the first place. A native writer has expressed the sentiments of +every Japanese thus: "My native land! everywhere and always the first +affections of my heart and the first labor of my hands shall be thine +alone." + +This patriotism is not always held intelligently. The masses of the +people have very mistaken ideas as to what patriotism is. I meet not a +few who believe that love for Japan necessitates a hatred of all other +countries, and that no man can be loyal and at the same time admire and +praise foreign lands. Fortunately, the class {57} whose nationalism is +so unenlightened is not an influential one; otherwise patriotism itself +would check the growth and development of the country. As it is, the +strong nationalistic feeling serves to prevent a too indiscriminate +adoption of Western institutions and to preserve the good elements of +old Japan. + +Respect for parents and teachers is one of the most prominent elements +in the national character. The first principle of Confucian ethics, as +taught in China, is reverence and obedience to parents; and although in +Japan this has been subordinated to the principle of loyalty, it is +still a prominent factor in the national life. The proper attitude of +children toward parents, and pupils toward teachers, is not one of +love, but one of absolute obedience and reverence. It is said here +that true love can come only from a superior to an inferior, while the +proper feeling of inferiors toward their superiors is one of reverence. +This relation of superior and inferior is carried into every phase of +society, and on it depends much of the family and national life. The +principle of obedience is almost the only moral teaching given to the +girls, and when they are grown up their moral ideas cluster round this +one point. In olden times parents had absolute control over their +children and could dispose of them as they saw fit, even killing them +if they so desired. But now the {58} parent's control over the child +is limited by law. Children are expected to yield implicit, +unquestioning obedience to their parents, and Japanese children are +usually more virtuous in this respect than the children of Americans. + +As a result of this fundamental principle of obedience, inculcated from +childhood, has grown the universal respect for authority found in +Japan. Whatever the government does the common people do not question. +Even petty officials are respected and obeyed in a manner surprising to +us independently thinking people of the West. No matter how +disagreeable and unjust an act on the part of the authorities may be, +it is usually accepted meekly with the comment, "There is no help for +it." + +The counterpart of this reverence and unquestioning obedience to +authority is a feeling of meekness and dependence. The government is +depended upon for much more than is the government in the United +States. It is expected to inaugurate all great commercial and +industrial enterprises. Thus the building of railroads, the +construction of telegraphs, and other great works have had to be +executed by the government. In recent years this spirit is changing +somewhat, and private corporations are beginning to inaugurate great +enterprises. But in general it may be said that the national character +is lacking in independence and decision. + +{59} + +Love of the beautiful is a prominent and highly developed Japanese +trait. Their ideals of beauty differ much from Western ideals, and +many things that they pronounce beautiful would not be so judged in the +Occident. Most Americans at first cannot appreciate Japanese art, +landscape scenery, or flowers; but a short residence here and an +acquaintance with native life and scenes soon bring one to appreciate +them. The esthetic faculty is much more highly developed than in +America. It is possessed by all classes. The gardens of the rich are +laid out with especial care, and no money or pains are spared to make +them beautiful. I have seen day-laborers stand and gaze for a long +time at a beautiful sunset, or go into raptures over a dwarfed +cherry-bush just putting forth its tiny buds. Men who have worked in +the fields all day, until they are exhausted, on their return home in +the evening will stop by the wayside to pluck some beautiful shrub or +flower and carry it back with them. Go into the room of a school-boy +and you will almost invariably find his table brightened by a pretty +bouquet of flowers. When the cherries are in bloom the whole +population leaves off work and turns out to enjoy them. Japan is a +beauteous land, and no people are more capable of appreciating her +beauty than her own. + +The Japanese are open-minded and receptive of truth, from whatever +quarter it may come. Were this not true it would have been impossible +{60} for her to have become what she is to-day. When Buddhism was +first brought to Japan it was seen to possess elements of religious +power that Shinto did not have, and the people by and by accepted it. +When Confucianism was introduced its moral teachings were seen to be +lofty and inspiring, and it was given a warm welcome. When +Christianity first came many of the daimios took especial pains to +examine into it to see if it were likely to benefit their country, with +the full intention of accepting it. How many of them did accept it is +told in another chapter. The present attitude of opposition is the +result of prejudice, instilled in part by past experience with +Christianity, and in part by the misrepresentation of its enemies; it +is not the result of natural intolerance. The readiness with which +Western learning of all kinds has been adopted, and the patient hearing +and investigation native scholars give to all new theories of science +and knowledge, clearly show that their mind is an open and receptive +one. A native professor has expressed this characteristic in these +words: "The Japanese as a race are open-hearted, with a mind free from +prejudice and open to conviction." But that it is as receptive of +prejudice and misrepresentation as of truth and knowledge is evidenced +by its present attitude toward Christianity. + +Many critics have pronounced the Japanese a {61} very speculative +people, but it is doubtful if this is true. By nature, I think, they +are more inclined to be practical than speculative. Abstract +metaphysical and theological ideas have little charm for them. + +But there is a large element in Japan that simulates a taste for +philosophical study. Philosophy and metaphysics are regarded by them +as the profoundest of all branches of learning, and in order to be +thought learned they profess great interest in these studies. Not only +are the highly metaphysical philosophies of the East studied, but the +various systems of the West are looked into likewise. Many of the +people are capable of appreciating these philosophies, too; but they do +it for a purpose. + +Japanese character is lacking in steadfastness and fixedness of +purpose. Huge enterprises will be begun with great enthusiasm, only to +be abandoned in a short while. There is not that steadfastness and +fixedness which lays out far-reaching plans, extending years into the +future, and which adheres to these plans until their purpose is +accomplished. On the contrary, they are vacillating and changeful, as +is shown by their migratory disposition. This want of steadfastness is +even evinced by many ministerial candidates. It is a frequent +occurrence for young men to enter the mission schools with the firm +intention of {62} becoming evangelists, and, by the time their academic +course is finished, to change their mind and go into some other +calling. Some of those who have become evangelists are restless and +vacillating, and after they have been located in one place for a few +years like to be transferred to another. The "stick-to-it-iveness" of +the Anglo-Saxon is largely wanting. But we must not speak too +dogmatically upon this point, for the Japanese government has shown +itself capable of laying out far-reaching plans, and of adhering to its +original purpose until it is successfully accomplished. + +Inconsistency is another trait of the Japanese mind, which often turns +square about and takes positions exactly opposed to its avowed +principles, realizing no inconsistency in doing so. This is well +illustrated in the political life of the people. In theory the +emperor, as the divine head of the nation, cannot go wrong, and +whatever he does is necessarily right. It is the duty of every subject +unquestioningly to obey the will of the emperor. To this all Japanese +will readily agree, but in practice the people are often found +arraigned against the government, which has the emperor for its head. +Lines of policy which the emperor himself has mapped out and pursued +for years are often bitterly opposed; and yet the people are all +unconscious of this, and resent very much any insinuation that they are +opposing his will. + +{63} + +Another evidence of inconsistency is seen in their opposition to +Christianity. The usual objection that is made against our faith is +that it is a Western religion, and there are thousands of people who +oppose it solely on this ground. But, even while opposing the Western +religion, they are daily using all kinds of Western institutions +gladly. All manner of material things are received from abroad with +pleasure, and are considered none the worse for their foreign origin, +the line being drawn at religion. + +Japanese character is largely wanting in originality. The people have +originated almost nothing, having accepted nearly everything at the +hands of others. In ancient times Japan had Korea for a teacher; +afterward she studied under China; now she is at school to Europe and +America. Her medieval civilization was accepted bodily from Asia, just +as her modern is from Europe. No important inventions have been made. +Even the little jinrikisha, which is the universal means of locomotion, +and which, I believe, is found nowhere else except in certain Chinese +ports, is said to have been first made by an American missionary for +the comfort and convenience of his invalid wife. It should be said, +however, that some claim the native origin of the jinrikisha, and +contend that its inventor lived in Kyoto. + +But while the Japanese are not originators, they {64} are excellent +imitators. The ability to imitate well is a power not to be despised. +This, when coupled with assimilation, is a very fruitful source of +progress, as the Japan of to-day witnesses. The ease and facility with +which Japan has imitated the West and assimilated her institutions, +applying them to new and changed conditions, is marvelous. Given a +model, the people can make anything, no matter how diminutive or +complicated. Even the American dude is most successfully imitated. + +The Japanese do not slavishly follow their models, but are able to +change, modify, and develop them at will. Given the general idea, they +can easily construct the rest. Thus in the adoption of Western +institutions they have in some cases actually improved upon their +models. Especially is this true of the postal and telegraph systems, +which, though copied after our own, are in many respects superior. +They are not blind followers of their teachers, but often start out on +independent exploration and investigation. Such powers of imitation +are second only to those of invention, and have made Japan what she is +to-day. + +Another national peculiarity is the slight value placed upon human +life. The idea that the family, and not the individual, is of supreme +importance, and the Buddhistic teaching that life itself is the +greatest of all evils, are responsible for this. To {65} pour out +one's blood upon the battle-field for one's lord has from of old been +considered a privilege. Death has not that terror that it has in the +West, and the people are not afraid to die. Hence suicides are of very +frequent occurrence, and to take one's own life is, under certain +circumstances, considered a meritorious act. Under the old régime a +member of the samurai or warrior classes could not be executed like a +common man, but after condemnation was left to take his own life. + +About seven thousand suicides occur in Japan each year. The slightest +reasons will induce a man to take his own life. Statistics show that +the proportion of suicides varies with the success or failure of the +rice crop. If sustenance is cheap, people live; if it is dear, they +rid themselves of the burden of life. The number of suicides also +varies much with the season of the year, showing that such little +matters as heat and discomfort will outweigh the value put upon life. + +A young girl recently came to Saga from Kagoshima as a household +servant She did not like her new home, and asked her mistress to send +her back to her birthplace. The mistress refused, and the next morning +the poor girl was found dead in the yard, having hanged herself during +the night--all, forsooth, because she could not go home. So low is the +value placed upon life here! Human life is valued highly in the West +{66} solely because of Christian teaching; outside of Christendom it is +cheap. + +It has been charged upon the Japanese that they are wanting in +gratitude, or, at least, that their gratitude lasts only so long as +they are looking for favors. This is but partially true. Ever since I +came to Japan I have been teaching a few boys English at odd hours, and +they have really embarrassed me by the number of their presents. On +the other hand, I have helped young men with money at school, who were +at first grateful apparently, and would come to my home to perform +various small services in return, but by and by would object to doing +the least service, even while living on my charity. + +In past years Japan has in various capacities employed a great number +of Americans and Europeans, and has usually rendered them a very +adequate return for their services. In addition to the stipulated +salary, she has often given them costly presents. But recently a good +deal of complaint has been made by foreign employees to the effect +that, after they have given the best years of their lives to the +service of Japan, they have been summarily dismissed, without previous +notice and without thanks. + +Evidences of ingratitude are very numerous in the native church. The +missionary who has left home, friends, and country for the sake of +these {67} people, and who labors for them with all the powers God has +given him, is often not rewarded by that gratitude and kindness on the +part of his converts which he reasonably expects. Frequently he takes +young men from the humbler walks of life, provides both their food and +clothing, gives them six or eight years' instruction in well-equipped +schools, supports them liberally as evangelists, only to have them rise +up against him, oppose him in his work, and pronounce him an ignoramus. +In many parts of the native church there is a strong anti-missionary +spirit, and the feeling of gratitude which these churches should have +for their founders, organizers, and supporters is wanting. From such +facts as these we are forced to conclude that the feeling of gratitude +is not very strong. + +Much has been said in regard to the commercial honor and integrity of +the Japanese. Our first American minister to Japan, Townsend Harris, +pronounced them "the greatest liars upon the face of the earth." A +foreign employee in a government school, when asked concerning the +native character, replied in two words--_deceit_ and _conceit_. The +numerous exceptions to upright dealing in mercantile circles seem to +justify these judgments. Native merchants are unreliable in such +matters as punctuality, veracity, and the keeping of contracts. They +will do all in their {68} power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract +which would entail a loss. The artisan class is even more unreliable +in these respects than are the merchants. + +To offset this, it should be said that, while the people are frequently +unreliable in private matters, in public affairs and in all +governmental relations they are honest and fair-dealing. Public office +is seldom perverted for private ends, and the national conscience would +quickly call to account any official who would enrich himself at the +public expense. In this respect Japan is in striking contrast with the +other nations of the East, and, alas! with many of those of the West as +well. + +I have not endeavored to give an exhaustive statement of the national +characteristics of the Japanese people, but have simply tried to give +enough to help my readers to an appreciation of the native character. +I have endeavored to be strictly truthful and at the same time to do +justice to the race. While fully recognizing the failings of the +Japanese, we must also recognize the great improvement of the national +character in recent years, and must remember that they are in many +respects laboring at a great disadvantage, and deserve, not hatred and +contempt, but our warmest sympathy and love. + + + + +{69} + +IV + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS + +A study of the manners and customs of foreign peoples is both +interesting and profitable. If we have no knowledge of the customs of +other nations we are apt to think that our own customs have their +ground in eternal reason, and that all customs differing from ours are +necessarily false and wrong. But if we study the manners of other +lands, and learn of the daily observance of customs many of which are +squarely opposed to our own, and which nevertheless work well, we will +be led to value our own customs at their true worth, and to realize +that we have not a monopoly of all that is good, convenient, and useful. + +To know the manners and customs of a country is to know much about that +country. There is no truer index of the character of a people's life. +Knowing these, the prevailing morality and governing laws may be very +largely inferred. In fact, {70} every phase of a nation's life has so +intimate a connection with the manners and customs that a study of +these is exceedingly profitable. + +Such a study is especially necessary to those who would gain a correct +knowledge of the nature and difficulties of mission work in foreign +lands. The customs of a people will have a direct bearing upon mission +work among them. If Christianity violates national customs it will be +condemned; if it observes them it will be tolerated. Whether it +observes or violates them must depend upon the nature of the customs +themselves. The success of Christianity in any country will depend, in +part, upon the nature of the customs prevalent there. Therefore it is +wise for us to study those of Japan, in order to a better understanding +of the people and of the condition and prospects of mission work among +them. + +One of the most striking facts in connection with Japanese customs is +that many of them are exactly opposed to those which prevail in the +West. People who have been accustomed to doing certain things one way +all their lives, and have come to look upon that as the only way, upon +coming out here are shocked to find these very same things done in +precisely the opposite way. This is so to such an extent that Japan +has been called "Topsyturvydom." But to those who are acquainted with +the customs of both East and {71} West it is a serious question which +one is topsy-turvy. After one has become used to them, many of the +customs appear just as sensible and convenient as those of America or +Europe. Why this opposition, we do not know, but perhaps the fact that +the Japanese are antipodal to us makes it fitting that their customs +should be antipodal too. I will point out a few of the things that are +so different. + +The manner of making books and of writing letters is very different +from that to which my readers are accustomed. An Occidental has an +idea that something inherent in things necessitates that a book begin +at the left side, and the thought of beginning at the other side +appears to him ridiculous. But in reality it is every whit as +convenient, fitting, and sensible to begin at one side as at the other; +and all Japanese books begin at the side which people of the West call +the end, i.e., at the right side, and read toward the left. While +English books are printed across the page in lines from left to right, +Japanese books are printed from right to left in columns. An +Occidental generally turns the leaves of his book from the top with his +left hand; an Oriental turns them from the bottom with his right hand. +In Western libraries the books are placed on their ends in rows; in +Japan they are laid flat down on their sides and piled up in columns. +If we see several good dictionaries {72} or encyclopedias in a man's +study we are apt to infer that he is a man of studious habits; the +Japanese of olden times inferred just the opposite. The idea seems to +have been that a scholar would already have the meaning and use of all +words in his head and would not need to refer to a dictionary. A +Japanese friend who came into my study one day expressed great surprise +at seeing several large dictionaries there. "You have certainly had +better educational advantages than I have," he said, "and yet I can get +along with a very small dictionary; why cannot you?" Upon inquiry, I +learned that many Japanese keep their dictionaries concealed, because +they do not want it said that they must refer to them often. + +The manner of addressing letters in Japan is exactly opposed to ours. +Take a familiar example. We write: + + MR. FRANK JONES, + 110 Gay Street, + Knoxville, + Tennessee. + +A Japanese would write it: + + Tennessee, + Knoxville, + Gay Street, 110, + JONES, FRANK, MR. + +The latter is certainly the more sensible method, because what the +postmaster wants to see is not {73} the name of the man to whom the +letter is addressed, but the place to which it is to go. + +In matters of dress there are some customs quite opposed to our own. +The American lady, especially if she goes to a ball, has her neck and +arms bare, but she would be shocked at the very mention of having her +feet bare. The Japanese lady puts her heaviest clothing on her arms +and shoulders, but does not at all mind being seen with bare feet and +ankles. Many of the ladies do not wear any foot-gear at all in the +house, but these same women could hardly be induced to expose their +arms and necks as Western women do. + +A Western lady is very anxious to have a thin, narrow waist; her +Japanese sister wants a broad one. In the West curly hair is highly +prized on girls and women; in the East it is considered an abomination. +If you tell a little girl here that her hair is curly, she will +consider it a disgrace and will cry bitterly. The most striking +difference in regard to dress, however, is in mourning dress. Whereas +in the West it is always black, in Japan it is always white. + +Another remarkable contrast is found in the relation of the sexes. In +America the woman is given the precedence in everything. Her husband, +and all other men who come within her influence, must serve and honor +her. Attend an evening party and see woman in her glory. How {74} the +men crowd round her, anxious to serve or entertain! When supper is +announced they vie with one another for the honor of escorting her to +the dining-room. She must have first seat at table and be first +served, and during the progress of the meal the men must be careful to +see that she has everything her sweet will desires. When supper is +over the ladies precede the men to the drawing-room, and by the time +the men again appear on the scene the ladies, including the hostess, +are settled in the easiest chairs. When the time for departure has +come it is my lady who announces to the hostess--not the host--her +departure, and her husband or escort simply awaits her bidding. In +Japan all of this is changed. The man takes precedence everywhere, and +the woman must serve him. At meals the woman must first wait on her +husband and then she herself may eat. When, guests come, the husband +is the chief entertainer, and the wife takes a back seat and says +little. On passing through a door, entering a train or carriage, etc., +the husband always precedes his wife. When walking on the street +together she does not walk by his side, but comes along behind. The +men do not intend to mistreat the women; they simply take what they +regard their due as the head of the family. + +Among the customs most peculiar in the eyes of Westerners and most +squarely opposed to their {75} own are those relating to marriage. In +Japan the young man and woman have nothing whatever to do with the +match-making, except to give their consent to the arrangements of their +parents; and frequently even this is not asked. The wedding is +arranged in some such manner as this: Whenever the parents of a young +man think their son old enough to get married they secure the services +of some friend, who acts as "go-between." It is the duty of this party +to search out a suitable girl and win the consent of her parents to the +marriage. While this is going on it is not likely that either of the +young people is aware of it, but as soon as the parents have arranged +matters to their own satisfaction they are informed. It often happens +that the man has never seen his bride until the wedding-day. Young +people seldom object to the arrangements of their parents, and +marriages made in this way seem to work well. + +In the West the wedding often takes place in church; in Japan the +temples are studiously avoided at such times. There a minister is +nearly always present; here they are very careful to exclude priests. +The wedding is to be joyous, and as priests are known best as +officiators at funerals, and ideas of sadness and misfortune are +associated with them, they are excluded. + +In the West, if the wedding does not take place in church, it will +probably be held in the home of {76} the bride; in the East it is +always held in the home of the groom. There the bride's household +prepares the feast; here the groom's prepares it. There the groom must +go to fetch his bride; here she must come to him. It makes no +difference whether she lives in the same city or in a distant province; +she must go to the groom, not he to her. + +The poor mother-in-law is evil spoken of in the East as well as in the +West; but while there it is the mother of the bride who is said to make +life miserable for the groom, here it is the mother of the groom who +often makes life miserable for the bride. + +Customs in regard to the use of houses are quite different. In America +the front rooms of a house are considered most desirable; in Japan the +back rooms are preferred. There the parlors, sitting-rooms, etc., are +in front, and the kitchen and store-rooms are relegated to the back; +here the kitchen and store-rooms are in front, and the parlors and +sitting-rooms behind. There the front yards are kept clean, but the +back yards are proverbially dirty; here all sorts of dirt and trash may +be lying around in the front yard, while the back yard is a perfect +little garden of beauty. + +Signs made with the hands are very different in Japan from those to +which my readers are accustomed, and are much more graceful. Here, +when we call some one to us by the hand, {77} instead of the awkward, +ungainly motion of the index-finger used in the West, we simply hold +out the whole hand horizontally in front of us and gently move all the +fingers up and down. The latter motion is very graceful, while even a +pretty girl cannot execute the former one gracefully. Here, when we +refuse a request or repel one from us by a sign of the hand, instead of +turning the palm of the hand outward and pushing it from the body in a +rough, uncivil manner, we merely hold the hand perpendicularly before +the face, palm outward, and move it back and forth a few times. + +Japanese carpenters saw by pulling the saw toward them instead of +pushing it from them; the planes cut in the same way; and screws are +put in by turning them to the left instead of the right. + +Even in the nursery we find customs directly antipodal. While the +American nurse takes the child up in her arms, the Japanese nurse takes +it on her back. + +These are some of the customs most squarely opposed to our own. The +first thought of my readers when learning of them will probably be, how +ridiculous and inconvenient! And yet they are just as convenient and +sensible as their own, and some of them much more so. There is nothing +in the nature of things why most customs should be either this way or +that. + +{78} + +The most interesting things about foreign peoples are those connected +with their daily lives--their homes, food, and dress. Let us examine a +Japanese house, take a meal with its occupants, and then observe their +manner of dress. + +The houses are usually very light structures, built of wood, one or two +stories high. They resemble an American house but little. The roofs +are made of tiles, straw, or shingles. Tiles make a pretty and durable +roof, but they cost much more than straw, and hence the common people +generally use the latter. The skilful Japanese workman can make a very +pretty, lasting, and effective roof of straw. The houses of the rich +are large and have many nice rooms in them; those of the poor are +small, with only one or two rooms. Houses are so constructed as to +permit the air to pass through them freely. The rooms are separated +only by light, detachable partitions made of paper, and these are +frequently taken away and the whole house thrown into one room. Many +of the outer walls are also detachable, and on a warm summer day are +put aside, when a delightful breeze constantly passes through the +house. The floors are covered with thick, soft straw mats, which are +kept so clean that the people, even when dressed in their best clothes, +sit or loll on them. On entering a Japanese house you must leave your +shoes at the door, just as you {79} do your hat. It would be an +unpardonable offense to come inside and tread on the mats with your +shoes on. + +[Illustration: A Kitchen Scene.] + +The average Japanese eats, sleeps, and lives in the same room. He has +no chairs, no bedsteads, and no tables to get in his way. During the +day he sits on the soft straw mats; when evening comes two large +comfortables are brought, and one is spread on the floor to lie on, +while the other is used for covering. No sheets are used, and the +pillow is a funny little block of wood. On this simple bed the man +sleeps as soundly as we in our more elaborate ones. In the morning the +bed is rolled up and packed away. At meal-time little tables, four or +six inches high and about sixteen inches square, are brought, and one +is placed before each person. The food is served in pretty little +lacquer or china bowls, and each one's portion is placed on his own +table. The people eat with chopsticks about eight inches long and one +fourth of an inch in diameter. These answer their purpose well, but +are hard to use until one is accustomed to them. When the meal is over +all these things are carried away to the kitchen, and the room is ready +for any other use to which one may desire to put it. In this way one +room is made to serve for all the purposes of a household. + +The most conspicuous thing in a Japanese room {80} is the _hibachi_--a +little wooden or china box about one foot square. This is kept half +full of ashes, and on top of the ashes is a handful of burning +charcoal. On this usually sits a little tea-kettle, filled with +boiling water used in making the tea, which is drunk without milk or +sugar at every hour of the day. When one first enters a Japanese +house, politeness requires that the host or hostess immediately offer +the guest a small cup of this tea. There is no other provision than +this hibachi for heating a room; and, as one would imagine, it gives +out but little heat Japanese houses are very cold in winter. They +would not at all answer in a cold climate, and even here the people +suffer from the cold. + +Japanese food is unpalatable to most foreigners, and the eating of it +is an art which must be acquired gradually. After repeated experiments +we learn to like it, and can live on it fairly well; but most foreign +residents usually take more or less European food with them every time +they go into the interior. + +From of old Buddhism forbade the eating of anything that had animal +life, and hence it came about that the Japanese are probably as +vegetarian in their diet as any people on earth. Even such animal food +as butter and milk is not used. Butter is very unpalatable to them, +but many are beginning to use a little milk. Bread, so necessary {81} +to a Western table, forms no part of a Japanese bill of fare. The +staple here is rice, not boiled and mashed to pieces, with milk and +butter, but simply boiled in water sufficiently to cook it well without +breaking the grains. When it is cooked each grain remains intact, and +it is snowy white and perfectly dry. No salt or seasoning of any kind +is put into it, as it is thought to spoil the flavor. + +The rivers, lakes, and seas of Japan are teeming with splendid fish, +which form an important part of the native diet. It seems that +Buddhism, while forbidding the use of meats generally, permitted the +eating of fish. Certain kinds of fish, cut into thin slices and eaten +raw with a kind of sauce, are considered a great delicacy. The idea of +eating raw fish seems very repugnant, but many of my readers would eat +it without realizing what it is unless they were told. I often eat it. +But only a few of the fish consumed are eaten raw; most are boiled or +fried. + +Foreign vegetables are rare, and are not much liked by the natives. +But there is an abundance of native vegetables. The most common one is +a large, coarse radish called _daikon_, which is pickled, and eaten at +nearly every meal. This daikon is very cheap, and is a chief part of +the diet of that small portion of the population that cannot afford +rice. Sweet potatoes are abundant and cheap. {82} They are considered +the poor man's food, and the well-to-do people are ashamed to eat them. +Often at hotels, when I have asked for sweet potatoes, the servant has +replied in astonishment, "Why, do you eat sweet potatoes? They are for +coolies." A mountain-potato and the roots of the lotus and bamboo are +also eaten. Since the country has been opened to foreign trade and +foreigners have settled here it is possible to get meats and flour and +some foreign vegetables at most places. + +Japanese clothing is frequently conspicuous by its absence. Many of +the people do not realize the necessity of burdening themselves with +clothing on a hot summer day, and wear very little. The government has +been constrained to make laws against nudity, but these are enforced +only in the cities. The usual summer garment of many of the children +in my city is simply the dark-brown one given them by nature. Most of +the coolies wear nothing but a little loin-cloth when at work. + +The real native costume is both pretty and becoming. It consists +usually of a single robe reaching from the shoulders to the ankles, and +tied round the waist with a heavy girdle. Tight-fitting undergarments, +in foreign style, are sometimes worn now, but they form no part of the +original native costume. A black outer garment, {83} reaching only to +the knees, is placed over the ordinary robe on state occasions. +Formerly the Japanese did not wear hats, and even now half of the men +one meets on the street are bareheaded. The women wear neither hats +nor bonnets. + +It is not considered improper to go barefooted in Japan, but generally +the better classes are shod when they go out of doors. If anything +resembling a stocking is worn, it is what they call _tabi_, a sort of +foot-glove, made of either white or black cloth, with a separate +inclosure for the great toe. A block of wood called _geta_ corresponds +to our shoes. It has two cords attached to the same place in front, +and then dividing, one being fastened on each side at the back. These +cords slip in between the great toe and the others, and, passing over +the foot, secure the geta. + +Japanese bathing customs are peculiar. Perhaps there are no other +people on earth that bathe as often as they. It is customary for every +one, even the coolies, to bathe well the whole body every day. The +baths are taken very hot--about 110°F. Each private house has a large +bath-tub, which in many instances is capacious enough to accommodate +the whole family at once. Besides these private baths each city and +town has its public ones, where a good hot bath, in a place large +enough for you to swim round, can be had for one cent. Men, women, and +children go into {84} them at the same time, indiscriminately. Japan +is a land of hot springs, so that almost every district has its natural +hot baths. Most of them have medicinal value, and the people flock to +them by thousands. + +The funeral customs are very different from ours. It is a strange +feature of the native character that when one is deeply moved he is +very likely to cover up his emotion with a laugh. If a man announces +to you the death of his child, he will probably laugh as he does so. +At funerals there is not that solemn silence which we expect, but +frequently loud talking and laughter. The coffin is a square, upright +box with considerable ornamentation. The corpse is placed in it in a +sitting posture. In Japan are found the hired mourners of whom we read +in the Bible. Anciently they were employed to follow the corpse, +mourning in a loud voice; but that has become obsolete, and now they +simply follow in the procession, wearing the white garments. The usual +manner of disposing of dead bodies is by interment, but cremation is +rapidly growing in favor. The government will not permit a body to be +buried until it has been dead twenty-four hours. + +For several weeks after a body has been interred it is customary for +the members of the bereaved family to make daily visits to the tomb and +present offerings to the departed spirit in the temple. {85} Each +year, on the anniversary of the death, the children are expected to +visit the tomb and worship the spirit of the departed. This custom of +ancestor-worship is forbidden by Christianity, and hence the people +charge us with teaching disrespect to parents and ancestors. + +[Illustration: Hara-kiri.] + +A custom peculiar to Japan is a form of suicide known as hara-kiri, or +"belly-cutting." From time immemorial, to take one's own life in this +manner has been considered very honorable and has expiated all crimes +and offenses. In olden times, if the life of any one of noble blood +became hurtful to the state, he was simply sent a certain kind of short +sword. This meant that he was to take his own life by the favorite +national method. So the recipient quietly ate his last meal, bade his +family farewell, and, seating himself squarely on the mat, deliberately +thrust the sword into the left side of his abdomen, and drew it across +to the right side. As this cut does not kill immediately, a retainer, +from behind, placed there for that purpose, struck off his master's +head with one blow of a heavy sword. In the eyes of the law this death +atoned for all sins and offenses; hence it was often practised in old +Japan. It is almost obsolete now. + +The Japanese are an exceedingly polite people. They have been called +the Frenchmen of the Orient in recognition of this national +characteristic. Politeness is exalted above everything, above {86} +even truth and honor. If you ask an ordinary Japanese which is better, +to tell a falsehood or be impolite, he will at once reply, "To tell a +falsehood." But while the people are exceedingly polite, a large part +of this politeness is merely surface, without any meaning. Etiquette +requires that you always address and treat your equals as though they +were your superiors. There is a separate form of address for each step +in the social scale. I have seen Japanese men stand at a door for five +minutes, and blush, and beg each other to pass through first, each +hesitating to precede the other. A Japanese gentleman never stops to +converse with a friend, be he only a child, without taking off his hat. + +To look down upon one from a superior elevation is considered very +impolite. Thus if the emperor or any one of especial distinction +passes through a city, all the upper stories of the houses must be +vacated. Under no circumstances are any permitted to observe the +procession from an upper window. I was out walking one day in our good +city of Saga with a foreign friend who was leading his little boy by +the hand. It happened that a countess was passing through the city. +The policemen had cleared the street for the procession, and a large +crowd was standing at the corner. We joined this crowd. The little +boy could not see, so his father held him up that {87} he might look +over the people's heads. At once the police forbade it and made him +put the child down. + +In many instances forms of politeness are carried to a ridiculous +extreme. When you give a present, no matter how nice, you must +apologize by saying that it is so _cheap_ and _insignificant_ that you +are ashamed to _lift it up_ to the honorable person, but if he will +_condescend_ to accept it he will make you very happy. If you receive +a present you must elevate it toward the top of the head (as that is +considered the most honorable part of the body) and at the same time +say that it is the _most beautiful thing on earth_. When you are +invited to a dinner the invitation will carefully state that no special +preparation will be made for the occasion. At the beginning of the +meal the hostess will apologize for presuming to set before you such +mean, dirty food, and will declare that she has nothing whatever for +you to eat, although she will doubtless have a feast fit for a king. +Even if it should not be good, you must say that it is and praise it +extravagantly. + +The greetings between friends are sometimes right funny. I have often +overheard such conversations as the following. Two men meet in the +street, and, taking off their hats, bow very low, and begin as follows: + +_A_. "I have not had the pleasure of {88} hanging myself in your +honorable eyes for a long time." + +_B_. "I was exceedingly rude the last time I saw you." + +_A_. "No; it was surely I who was rude. Please excuse me." + +_B_. "How is your august health?" + +_A_. "Very good, thanks to your kind assistance." + +_B_. "Is the august lady, your honorable wife, well?" + +_A_. "Yes, thank you; the lazy old woman is quite well." + +_B_. "And how are your princely children?" + +_A_. "A thousand thanks for your kind interest. The noisy, dirty +little brats are well too." + +_B_. "I am now living on a little back street, and my house is awfully +small and dirty; but if you can endure it, please honor me by a visit." + +_A_. "I am overcome with thanks, and will early ascend to your +honorable residence, and impose my uninteresting self upon your +hospitality." + +_B_. "I will now be very impolite and leave you." + +_A_. "If that is so, excuse me. _Sayonara_." + + + + +{89} + +V + +JAPANESE CIVILIZATION + +The question is often asked, Are the Japanese a civilized people? The +answer will entirely depend upon our definition of civilization. If +civilization consists in a highly organized commercial and industrial +life, in the construction and use of huge, towering piles of +manufactories and commercial houses, such as are seen in New York and +Chicago, in amassing enormous capital, controlling the trade of the +country by monopolies, and doing the work of the world by machinery +that moves with the precision of clockwork, then Japan is not yet +civilized. But if civilization consists in a courteous, refined +manner, in a calm enjoyment of literature and the arts, in an ability +to live easily and comfortably with a due regard to all the amenities +of life, then the Japanese are a civilized people. + +A very brilliant writer on Japanese subjects[1] {90} has said that the +Japanese have been a civilized people for at least a thousand years. +Chinese civilization was brought to Japan early in the Christian era, +and flourished for more than fifteen hundred years. While it differs +much from European civilization, it is a highly organized and developed +system, venerable with age. When people of the West speak of civilized +countries they are apt to think of Europe and America, to the exclusion +of all the rest of the world. This is unfair. Chinese civilization is +much older than our own. Long before the dark ages of Europe the +Chinese were living under a regular system of laws and were engaged in +all peaceful pursuits. Systematic methods of agriculture, the art of +printing, gunpowder, and the mariners' compass were all known and used. +While our own forefathers in northern Europe roamed the forests as wild +men and dressed in skins, the Chinese were living quietly in cities and +towns, dressed in silks. This venerable Chinese civilization was +readily adopted in Japan, and prevailed down to the time of the +Restoration, in 1868. Since that time the adoption and assimilation of +Western civilization have been progressing with a rapidity and success +which have no precedent in the history of the world. The old immobile, +crystallized Chinese civilization has been thrown off, and the +vigorous, elastic forms of the West have been successfully {91} +adopted. Japanese civilization of to-day is European, only with a +national coloring. + + +[1] Lafcadio Hearn. + + +On the advice of an American missionary,[2] who was then president of +the Imperial University, and who arranged the program for the +expedition, in 1872 a committee of seventy intelligent Japanese +gentlemen, many of them from the noble families, was sent to the West +to visit the capitals of the several countries, examine into their +forms of government and civilization, and, of all that they found, to +choose and bring back with them what was best adapted to Japan. This +committee, after visiting Washington, London, Berlin, and other places, +and carefully examining into their different institutions, returned and +reported to the government. From this time began the rapid adoption of +Western civilization, which is still in progress. + + +[2] Dr. Verbeck. + + +Foreign employees have played an important part in this peaceful +revolution. At first nearly everything that was adopted was under +foreign superintendence; but the Japanese are such apt learners that +they are now capable of managing this new civilization for themselves, +and the foreign employees have been mostly dispensed with. + +With this brief history of Japanese progress before us, let us now +examine into the present condition of Japanese civilization. + +{92} + +One of the best indicators of the civilization of a country is its +literature. No writers of world-wide fame have arisen in Japan, yet +the country has a literature of which she is not ashamed. In ancient +times the Chinese classics were alone studied, and all literature was +molded by Confucian ideas; to-day these models have been cast aside, +and a school of young, independent writers has arisen, by whom history, +political and moral science, botany, sociology, belles-lettres, and +numerous other subjects are discussed with vigor and originality. + +In the number of newspapers and magazines published Japan can compare +favorably with any country of equal size. The great dailies have not +yet grown to such importance as those of America or England, but they +already wield a mighty influence. Nearly every small town has its +morning and its evening sheet. Even in our backward old town of Saga +we have two very good dailies. There are a large number of able +magazines published. Nearly every branch of learning has a magazine +devoted exclusively to its interests, as is frequently the case in the +West. The very existence of this innumerable multitude of newspapers +and magazines shows that the Japanese are great readers. + +The educational system in vogue is a good index of a nation's +civilization. Perhaps no {93} nation of the West has a better +organized and developed free-school system than has Japan. Schools are +found in every village and hamlet, and as all children of a prescribed +age are required to attend, they are full to overflowing. The little +round-faced, sleek-headed Japanese children swarm round them like bees. +There are four grades of schools: the primary lower, the advanced +lower, the lower middle, and the higher middle. The lower schools are +found everywhere; the higher ones only in the large towns and cities. +Of the higher middle schools (which correspond to our American colleges +of middle grade) there are seven, distributed at various points over +the empire. At the head of this whole system stands the Imperial +University in Tokyo, which is itself the outgrowth of several colleges, +and is largely modeled after the German universities. The lower +schools are modeled after our American schools. Unfortunately, so +large a part of the time of the school-children must be spent in +studying Chinese characters that it takes about eight years to learn to +read. What a pity that the awkward, antiquated system of Chinese +writing is not abandoned! It seems that the native _kana_, of which +there are about forty-eight, with a few of the more common Chinese +characters, would answer all purposes; then the long years spent in +studying Chinese could be devoted to other things, to {94} the immense +advantage of the student. In the lower schools very little is studied +except Chinese. In the middle schools the branches studied are just +about what American youths study in the academies. Formerly +considerable stress was laid upon the study of modern languages, and +all students of the middle schools were required to study English and +either French or German. But in recent years only English has been +required, and it, even, is not studied so carefully as it was. Since +the revision of the treaties the study of foreign languages seems to be +on the increase. + +The Imperial University compares very favorably with Western +universities of the middle class. It has six faculties, namely, law, +medicine, literature, science, engineering, and agriculture. The +medical department is under German influence; the others have +professors of various nationalities, mostly English, German, and +Japanese. The students number over 1000. The government has recently +undertaken the establishment of another university in Kyoto. It also +supports two higher normal schools, a higher commercial school, naval +and military academies, fine-arts school, technical school, the nobles' +school, the musical academy, and the blind and dumb school. Professor +Chamberlain, of the Imperial University, says the leading idea of the +Japanese government {95} in all its educational improvements is the +desire to assimilate the national ways of thinking to those of European +countries. In view of the difference between the East and the West, +this is an enormous task; and great credit is due that brave body of +educators who, fighting against fearful odds, are gradually +accomplishing their purpose. + +The Japanese are a nation of artists. Life in one of the most +beautiful countries in the world has, to a rare degree, developed in +them the love of the beautiful; and this has expressed itself in the +various phases of national art. In general, Japanese art is pretty, +but small, isolated, and lacking in breadth of view. Its chief use in +former times was largely decorative, to paint a screen or a piece of +porcelain, and the artists did this to perfection. As a nation the +Japanese are very skilful with the pencil. Long writing of Chinese +characters has given them a control of the pencil or crayon not +commonly found among the people of the West. Drawing is taught in the +schools, and every school-boy can draw pretty pictures. But in art, as +in other things, the Japanese are frequently inconsistent, and show a +haughty disregard of details. They excel in portraying nature. + +The government of Japan is progressive and enlightened. In reality it +is an absolute monarchy, ruled by the "heaven-descended mikado." {96} +The empire belongs to him by divine right, and none has ever disputed +this. Unquestioning, implicit obedience is the duty of all subjects. +But the present emperor, who is a liberal-minded monarch, has +graciously given his people a voice in the government. In 1889 the +constitution was promulgated, which laid the foundation for a new order +of things. It established the Diet, consisting of two houses, and gave +many rights to the people, including local self-government, within +certain limits. The franchise is so limited in Japan that a man must +annually pay a stipulated amount of tax before he can either vote or +run for office. + +Japanese laws have for years been gradually approaching Western +standards. The transition has been difficult and necessarily slow, but +praise-worthy progress has been made. A code somewhat resembling the +Code Napoleon is now the law of the land, and is being applied in the +courts as fast as circumstances will permit. People coming from Europe +or America will find that, in the main, the laws are not very different +from those they have been accustomed to. + +Nearly all the material expressions of an advanced civilization found +at home are likewise met with in Japan--good railways, steamboats, +telegraphs, mails, electric lights, etc. It is often a surprise to the +traveler from the West who has {97} read little about the country, and +who expects only the rudest form of civilization, to find instead +nearly all the conveniences to which he has been accustomed. + +RAILWAYS.--Japanese railways are narrow gauge, and while in recent +years the question of changing them to standard gauge has been +agitated, nothing definite has been done. The narrow-gauge system +seems fairly adequate to the present demand. The railways are modeled +after those of England, and are miniature as compared with those +thundering monsters that make the American valleys tremble with their +tread. The coaches are much smaller than the American and are +differently arranged, opening on the side instead of the end, passage +from one coach to another being precluded. There is no conductor to +come around and disturb one with the continual cry of "Tickets!" The +_punch, punch, punch_, so annoying to sensitive people, is not heard. +As the passenger leaves the station to enter the train his ticket is +examined, and this ends the matter until he reaches his destination, +when he must pass out through the station, where his ticket is taken by +a polite official. One of the things that have most impressed me about +the railroad service is the kindness and politeness of the officials, +in striking contrast with the gruffness and incivility one often +encounters in America. + +{98} + +The average Japanese train has three classes of coaches. The first +class corresponds to the ordinary first-class day-coach at home; second +class corresponds to our smoking-cars; while third class is poorer +still. The fares are just about one half what they are in America, and +one can travel in first-class style for a cent and a half per mile. +Third-class fare is only a little over half a cent, and most of the +people travel in this class. The trains do not have the conveniences +to which my readers are accustomed. There are no sleeping- and +dining-cars, no provision for heating in winter, and no water. The +average running speed is about 20 miles per hour--a rate which would +not at all suffice for the high-tensioned, nervous, always-in-a-hurry +civilization of the West, but which meets all the demands of the +slower, quieter life of the East. Running at this rate, accidents are +comparatively rare, and the trains easily make their scheduled time. + +There is one main trunk-line running throughout the length of the land, +besides numerous shorter lines. All of the more prominent towns and +cities are connected by rail. At present a railroad-construction craze +has seized Japan. Many are being constructed, others are being +surveyed, and the papers daily contain accounts of new ones projected. +So far, Japanese railway stocks have yielded good dividends. That the +{99} more important lines are owned and operated by the government is +not the result of any political or economic theory, but simply because +at first private individuals had neither the means nor the energy to +inaugurate such huge and hitherto untried enterprises. Many of the +smaller roads are now owned and controlled by private corporations, and +most of those in process of construction are private enterprises. Some +months ago a private corporation made a proposition to the government +to buy its main railway, but the offer was rejected. + +STEAMERS.--Steamboat service in Japan is good. As the country is only +a range of islands, the largest of which are very narrow, and as all +the more important towns are on the sea-coast or only a short distance +inland, it is possible to go nearly everywhere by boat. Travel by +water is very popular. There are fairly good steamers plying daily +between the most important ports, but foreigners generally prefer to +travel only on those officered by Europeans or Americans. There are a +number of native steamers, comfortable and speedy, which are officered +by foreigners, and differ but little from the transpacific liners. +These were nearly all built in England, but in recent years they are +building very good ones in Japan. The facilities for travel in this +empire leave little to be desired. + +TELEGRAPHS.--The Japanese telegraph {100} system is excellent. It +extends to all towns of any size in the empire, and by cable to all +parts of the world. From the old city of Saga, in which I live, I can +send a cablegram to any point in Europe or America. A telegraph code +on the basis of the Morse code has been made in Japan, which admits of +internal telegrams being transmitted in the native syllabary. In this +respect the Japanese system is unique among Eastern countries. For +instance, in India or China telegrams can be transmitted only in Roman +letters or Arabic figures. By the formation of a vernacular code the +telegraph was brought within the reach of the masses of the people, and +it soon became familiar and popular. + +The tariff for messages is perhaps lower than any other in the world. +A message of ten kana, equaling about five English words, together with +name and address of sender and receiver, can be sent to any part of the +empire for eight or nine cents. Telegrams in foreign languages are +sent within the empire for five sen per word, with a minimum charge of +twenty-five sen for five words or a fraction thereof. No charge is +made for delivery within a radius of 2-½ miles of the telegraph office. + +There are no private telegraph corporations. The government builds, +owns, and operates the lines just as it does the mails. The postal and +{101} telegraph systems are intimately connected, and the same office +does service for both. + +The first telegraph line in Japan was opened in 1869. The venture +proving a success, the following year the line was extended and a +general telegraphic system for the whole country decided upon. The +rapid construction of telegraph lines began in 1872, from which year it +has gone forward uninterruptedly. At present the lines extend to every +corner of the empire. The first lines were surveyed, built, and +operated under foreign experts; but the natives have learned so rapidly +that they have been enabled to do away with all foreign employees. All +of the materials and instruments in use, with the exception of +submarine cables and the most delicate electrical measuring apparatus, +are made in Japan. + +MAILS.--The Japanese mail system was modeled after the American in +1871. At first it was limited to postal service between the three +large cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka; but in 1872 it was extended to +the whole country, with the exception of a certain part of the +Hokkaido, which was without roads and almost without population. +To-day there is no village or hamlet in the whole land which does not +enjoy the convenience of a good postal system. The mails are sent with +promptness and despatch, and it requires only a few days to communicate +with any part of the {102} empire. The postal rates are very low. +Postal cards cost one sen and letters two sen--about five eighths and +one and two eighths of a cent, respectively. + +All mail is delivered free of charge. Not only is this so in the +cities and larger towns, but in the villages and rural districts as +well. There is no place where the dapper little postman does not go. +Another convenience of the mail system is its excellent parcel-post +department. Very large parcels, containing almost anything, can be +sent for a small charge. Still another praiseworthy feature is that +each office is a savings-bank, where the people can deposit small sums +of money at any time and receive a good rate of interest. This money +can be withdrawn without previous notice. The government has +established these savings-banks in connection with the post-offices to +encourage the people to lay up small sums of money, and they accomplish +their purpose well. + +Japan was admitted into the International Postal Union in 1879, with +full management of all her postal affairs. As all her rates are now +based on a silver standard, postage to foreign countries is much +cheaper than from them to Japan. To the United States or to China we +pay five sen (about two and a half cents) per letter; to all other +countries within the Postal Union ten sen per letter. + +{103} + +LIGHTS.--The system of lighting is an index of the civilization of a +country. In this respect Japan is not yet so far advanced as the +leading countries of the West, yet she is well lighted. In all the +large cities there are good electric plants, and electricity is +extensively used. The streets and many of the best stores and shops +are very well lighted with it. However, electric lights are seldom +found in interior cities of less than 40,000 people. I think +electricity is too costly to come into general use, except in the +centers. Illuminating gas is very little used. + +The only oil used in former times was extracted from whales and large +fish, and chiefly from the seed of a certain tree. Since the opening +of the country, kerosene has come into general use, immense quantities +being imported from the United States and from Russia. Oil has been +found in several places in Japan, but as yet has never been developed. + +BANKING.--One of the most useful products of the introduction of our +modern civilization is the present system of banking. This system will +compare favorably with those of the West. There are a number of +national banks distributed over all the land, together with many +substantial private banking corporations. All forms of banking +business are transacted, and good interest is given on deposits. The +great {104} popularity of the banks is shown by the fact that to-day in +Tokyo, only eight years after bank-checks have come into use, the +amount annually drawn exceeds $100,000,000. + +Having taken this rapid view of Japanese civilization, we are in a +position to judge as to whether or not this is a civilized land; and we +answer that it is. But although modeled after that of the West, it in +many respects differs from Western civilization. Japan has shown +herself capable of doing great things, but she does not do them in the +same way that they are done in Europe or America. For example, +consider her manufactories, which now threaten to compete with those of +our own country. In America manufactories mean enormous capital +invested. Costly factories must be erected, the most approved +machinery provided, and the completed plant operated at great expense. +Here almost no capital is used. The buildings are low, one-story +sheds, not more costly than a row of stables at home. It is true that +Japan has a few large, substantial buildings for manufacturing +purposes; but such are rare, and, when found, look out of harmony with +their surroundings. Even nature seems to protest against huge piles of +brick and stone, as she so frequently demolishes them. Most of the +wares of Japan are manufactured in small, cheap buildings, and little +machinery is used. The best silk {105} made is woven in a house that +cost scarcely $500. The best cloisonne, of which only a small piece a +few inches high will cost hundreds of dollars, is made in a little, +two-story house with only six rooms. Some of the greatest +porcelain-makers in the world, whose products are better known in +London and Paris than in their own country, do their work in small +wooden houses in Kyoto, no better than the homes of the American +laborer. "The vast rice crop is raised on millions of tiny farms; the +silk crop in millions of small, poor homes; the tea crop on countless +little patches of soil. Japan has become industrial without becoming +essentially mechanical and artificial."[3] On this small scale the +great work of Japan is done. Japanese civilization, in its parts, is +miniature. + + +[3] Lafcadio Hearn. + + +When compared with the civilization of the West, it is unstable; in +fact stability is almost unknown. The land itself is a land of change. +The outlines of the coasts, the courses of the rivers, the form of the +mountains, by the combined action of volcanoes, earthquakes, winds, and +waves, are constantly changing. + +The people themselves are continually drifting about from place to +place, changing their residence with the seasons. It has been said +that no people in the world are so migratory. {106} Preparation can be +made in a few hours for the longest journey, and all the necessary +baggage wrapped up in a handkerchief. Japanese life is in a constant +state of fluidity. + +The average house, likewise, seems built but for a day. The walls, the +roof, the floors, are made of the lightest materials, and apparently +there is no thought of permanence. + +We of the West are wont to think that no real progress can be made +without stability, but Japan has proved the contrary. A uniformly +mobile race is, correspondingly, uniformly impressionable. The fluid +mass of the Japanese people submits itself to the hands of its rulers +as readily as the clay to the hands of the potter, and thus it moves +with system and order toward great ends. It is thus that Japanese +civilization is strong. + +When compared with Western civilization, that of Japan is seen to be +less organized and developed, less hasty and feverish in its movements, +It does not impress one so much with its hugeness and ponderosity. It +is lighter, brighter, quieter, more soothing. It is the civilization +of the West robbed of its immensity and seriousness, and reflecting the +national characteristics of these light-hearted sons of the East. + + + + +{107} + +VI + +JAPANESE MORALITY + +Japanese morality has been much written about by men of the West, and +many dogmatic judgments have been pronounced upon it. At one extreme, +we have been told that "they are the most immoral people on the face of +the earth"; at the other, we are told that in morality "they have +nothing to learn from the people of Christendom." There is about as +much--or rather as little--truth in the one statement as in the other. +The fact is that it is necessary to have an experimental acquaintance +with Japan before one can really understand or appreciate the moral +condition of her people. The moral ideas and teachings to which they +have been accustomed from childhood are so different from our own that +they could not be expected to approximate to our standards. Judged by +the ideas of the West, they are lacking in morality; but from {108} +their own standpoint they are a moral people. While we cannot accept +theirs as the true standard, it is but fair that, in judging them, we +keep this in view. + +Before the introduction of Chinese ethics there was no such thing as a +moral code. The original native religion, Shinto, taught no doctrines +of morality, as we understand them. According to it, to obey +implicitly the mikado was the whole duty of man. As for the rest, if a +Japanese obeyed the natural impulses of his own heart he would be sure +to do right. Modern Shinto writers, in all seriousness, account for +this absence of a moral code by stating that originally Japanese nature +was pure, clean, and sinless, possessing no tendency to evil or wrong. +Barbarians, like the Chinese and Americans, being by nature immoral, +were forced to invent a moral code to control their actions; but in +Japan this was not necessary, as every Japanese acted aright if he only +consulted his own heart. They explain the need for the present moral +laws--a need which they acknowledge--by the fact of association with +outside nations. Immorality and dissoluteness were introduced by the +Chinese and Western peoples, to counteract the evil influence of which +they now have the shameful spectacle of a moral law even among the +children of the "heaven-descended mikado." So much for the teaching of +Shinto in {109} regard to morality. It would be exasperating were it +not ludicrous. + +Confucius is the master of Japanese morality. His teachings were +introduced into Japan early in the Christian era, but they became +predominant only in the time of Iyeyasu, in the seventeenth century. +This great statesman, warrior, and patron of learning caused the +Chinese classics to be printed in Japan for the first time; and from +that day to this the morality of Japan has been dominated by Confucian +ideas. + +In order to understand Japanese morality, it is necessary for us to +shift our moral base and try to look at the subject through Japanese +eyes. The average native of the West thinks of "morality" as something +belonging to the individual. Even in religion his first thought is to +save his own soul. The value of the soul, its immortality, its +immediate relation to the infinite and eternal Father--these have been +emphasized ever since the first establishment of the church. In +consequence, there is a duty which man owes to himself. He may not +disregard it even at the command of father or king. Within the soul is +the holiest of all, for there is heard in conscience the voice of God +himself. No external authority may be supreme, and at no external +voice may one violate his own convictions of truth. + +This thought exalts the individual, and, {110} therefore, sins which +degrade our own personality become most repulsive. Thus, among +high-minded men truth is almost first among the virtues, and an +accusation of falsehood the most hateful of insults. For truth seems +peculiarly personal and spiritual, as if belonging to the very +sanctuary of one's nature. And in like manner, among women, in popular +esteem chastity is of the essence of morality, as its violation seems +to contaminate and debase her holiest self. + +Now the Confucian ethics rest upon a quite different principle, and in +this are at one with the ancient teaching of the Greeks and Romans. +The supreme duty is not to the self, but to the organization of which +one is but a part--that is, to the family or to the state. The great +Chinese moralists were statesmen, and their chief concern was, not the +salvation of the individual, but the peace and prosperity of the state. +In their view, the family was the unit, and the state a greater family. +So the conflict of duties, in their questions of casuistry, is never +between individual and social duties, but between duties owed to family +and to state. Loyalty to the state and obedience to parents must be +supreme; but China and Japan differ as to the value of these two. + +According to original Confucianism, the first duty of men is obedience +to parents; the second, loyalty to rulers; but in Japan the order of +these {111} duties has been changed, the second being given first place. + +The people have learned well this teaching of Confucius. Japan was +prepared soil for its sowing. The native religion taught that the +emperor was a direct descendant of heaven, who ruled by divine right; +the provincial lords were his ministers, and hence loyalty was a plain +duty. The Confucian teaching only strengthened, deepened, and gave +form and outline to a sentiment already existing. This principle of +loyalty thus became the foundation stone of Japanese ethics, and one's +duty to one's lord paramount to all other duties. + +In the olden times the people did not look beyond their own feudal +lords and clans to the emperor and the nation. They were to be +faithful unto death to these, but no further. Now that loyalty once +shown to the local princes and clans finds its apotheosis in the +emperor and the empire. + +A man's duty to his friends, to his wife and children, and even to his +parents, is counted as nothing in comparison with his duty to rulers +and country. There are many instances in Japanese history of men who, +having slain their own parents, children, wives, for the sake of their +prince, were praised. At the time of the recent tidal wave in northern +Japan, when the waters were rushing furiously into one home, a husband +and {112} father turned a deaf ear to the cries of his drowning wife +and children, permitting them to perish that he might save the +emperor's picture; and he was applauded for the act. A fire recently +demolished the beautiful new buildings of the middle school in Saga. +The library, laboratories, and scientific apparatus were mostly +destroyed, and many of the students lost their clothing and books. The +loss in buildings alone was some $20,000. Yet the thing the loss of +which they lamented most deeply was a photograph of the emperor which +could easily be replaced for a few yen. + +A characteristic story, showing the devotion with which the old samurai +carried out this principle of loyalty, is the tale of the forty-seven +ronins. It is rather long to insert here, but as it illustrates so +well the power of this principle, I will relate it. + +In the year 1701 the lord of Ako, Asano by name, visited Yedo to pay +his respects to the shogun. While there the shogun appointed him to +receive and entertain an envoy from the mikado. Now, the reception of +an envoy from the imperial court was one of the greatest state +ceremonies of the day, and as Asano knew little of ceremonies and +etiquette, he asked the advice of another nobleman, named Kira, who was +expert in such matters. This man, who seems to have {113} been of a +very mean disposition, grudgingly gave the information desired, and +then asked a fee for the same. Asano refused to give the fee, and +Kira, becoming angry, twitted and jeered at him, calling him a country +lout, unworthy the name of daimio. Asano endured the insults patiently +until Kira peremptorily ordered him to stoop down and fasten his +foot-gear for him,--a most menial service,--when he drew his sword and +gave the offender a deep cut across the face. This quarrel took place +in the precincts of the palace, and instantly the whole court was in an +uproar. To degrade the sacred place was an insult punishable with +death and the confiscation of all property; and Asano was condemned to +take his own life by hara-kiri that same evening, his estates were +confiscated, his family declared extinct, and his clan disbanded. +Henceforth his retainers became ronins ("wandering men"), with no +country and no lord. According to the ethics of their country, it was +their bounden duty to avenge the death of their lord, and we shall see +how relentlessly they followed their purpose until it was accomplished. + +The senior retainer of the dead Asano, Oishu Kuranosuke, together with +forty-six others of his most trusty fellow-lieges, took counsel as to +how they might avenge their lord. They all were willing to lay down +their lives in the attempt, but {114} even then the task was difficult, +because of the vigilance of the government. For such vengeance was +rigidly prohibited by law, although as rigidly required by custom. +Notwithstanding the fact that all who slew an enemy for vengeance were +punished by death, not to take such vengeance never entered the mind of +any chivalrous Japanese. After much planning the forty-seven ronins +decided that to avoid the suspicions of the government it would be +necessary for them to separate and for the time conceal their purpose. +So they separated, settling in different cities, and taking up various +occupations. Many of them became carpenters, smiths, and merchants, +and in these capacities gained access to Kira's house and learned all +about its interior arrangements. The leader of this faithful band, +Oishu, went to Kyoto and plunged into a life of drunkenness and +debauchery. He even put away his wife and children, and led the most +dissolute life possible, simply to throw off the suspicions of the +authorities. All of the ronins were closely watched by spies, who +secretly reported their conduct to Kira. But by these devices they +finally lulled all suspicion, and the vigilance ceased. Then the day +long waited for had come. Suddenly, on the night of January 30, 1703, +two years after the death of their lord, in the midst of a violent +snowstorm, these forty-seven faithful men attacked {115} Kira's castle, +forced the gate, and slew all the retainers. Kira, who was a coward at +heart, concealed himself in an outhouse. The ronins found him there, +drew him forth, and requested him to kill himself by hara-kiri, as was +the privilege of a man of his rank. But he refused out of fear, and +the retainers of Asano were forced to kill him as they would have +killed a common coolie. Thus did they accomplish their purpose and +fulfil the high duty of loyalty to their dead lord, after two years of +waiting, most careful planning, and ceaseless vigilance. + +By the time their purpose was accomplished day had dawned, and, in +plain view of the whole city, this brave band marched in order to the +temple of Sengakuji, where Asano was buried. The citizens showed them +every honor on the way. A wealthy nobleman, as a reward for their +loyal deed, sent them out costly refreshments. When they arrived at +the temple the head abbot received them in person and showed them every +honor. Finding the grave of their dead lord, they laid thereon the +head of the enemy by whom he had been so deeply wronged, and then felt +that their duty was done. They were all sentenced to commit hara-kiri, +which they did willingly. Afterward they were buried together in the +same temple grounds with their lord, where their graves can be seen to +this day. + +{116} + +These men simply obeyed the ethical code of their time and country, and +as a reward for their loyalty they have received the enthusiastic +praise of their countrymen for two centuries. No other story is so +popular to-day, or so stirs the hearts of the people, as this. While +we, believing that vengeance belongs to the Lord, cannot indorse this +deed, we must admire the loyalty and faithfulness of those ronins, and +the perseverance with which they adhered to their purpose. In this +true story we see clearly the power of this first principle of Japanese +morality--loyalty. + +The sister principle of loyalty in Confucian ethics is obedience to +parents. Unquestioning, absolute, implicit obedience is required of +all children. Formerly the child was considered the property of the +parents, and could be disposed of at will, even to the taking of its +life. To-day the father may sell his daughter to a life of shame, or +"lend" her to a private individual for immoral purposes; and, however +much she may dislike such a life, obedience to parents requires that +she acquiesce in his will, which she does uncomplainingly. + +This principle of obedience is the foundation stone of Japanese family +life. The relation between parents and children is stronger than that +between man and wife, and is given a prior place. An only son cannot +be forced to leave his mother {117} and become a soldier, but a husband +may be forced to leave his wife. Within the family circle, the son's +duty to his aged parents always precedes his duty to his wife. Every +Japanese feels deeply this obligation to his parents, and properly to +support and nourish them in old age he holds to be a sacred duty. +Americans could learn much that would be profitable from the reverence +and respect shown for parents and teachers by the Japanese. + +In Japan, however, this principle is carried too far. It continues +after death as binding as before, and divine honors are paid to dead +ancestors. Periodical visits are made to their tombs, religious +candles are kept burning in their honor, and prayers are said to them. +Among the more enlightened to-day there is perhaps nothing in these +ceremonies but reverence and respect; yet by the masses of the people +ancestors are worshiped. + +There are two moral maxims that show well the relative importance in +which parents, relatives, and wives are held. They are the following: +"Thy father and thy mother are like heaven and earth; thy teacher and +thy lord are like the sun and the moon." "Other kinsfolk may be +likened to the rushes; husbands and wives are but as useless stones." + +It is apparent that virtues have differing values in the Confucian and +Christian systems. We can {118} appreciate their point of view best, +perhaps, as we remember the ethics of an army. Here obedience, +loyalty, self-devotion, courage, are supreme. Much is forgiven if +these are manifested. The organization is everything, and the +individual nothing, save as he is a fraction of the great machine. +Carry that idea into the social community, and think of it as an army, +with all, women as well as men, of value only as parts of the greater +whole, and we shall understand why and how the Japanese may esteem men +and women righteous whom we judge debased and even criminal. So would +the Japanese judge them, were the motive mere passion or selfish +desire, but not when the controlling power is loyalty or obedience. +Thus the forty-seven ronin were pre-eminently "righteous" when they +debauched themselves with every swinish vice. + +Of course this view of morality puts great temptation in the way of +parents and rulers. Having supreme power, they may use it to the +degradation of those whom they control. Confucius, it is true, taught +parents and rulers that they too owed duties to the state, and that use +of their Heaven-given powers for selfish ends was treason against the +supreme law; but, beyond doubt, the duty of submission, of loyalty and +unquestioning obedience, was so exaggerated that evils many and great +resulted. At the same time {119} a sympathetic view leads one to +wonder the rather that the ethical results are so wholesome. + +Turning from this general view, one finds in particulars much the same +conditions as in other lands. For example, immense quantities of +alcoholic stimulants are consumed annually. There is a native liquor +called "sake," made from rice, that is very popular and, in some of its +forms, very intoxicating. Its manufacture and sale is one of the most +lucrative businesses in the empire. Foreign whiskies, wines, and beers +are sold in large quantities, but they are so costly as to be beyond +the reach of all but the wealthy. Outside of the small circle of +Christians, there are few people who do not drink. The total abstainer +is a rarity. But, while nearly every one drinks, in general the +Japanese do not drink to such excess as other nations. One seldom sees +such beastly drunkenness as is often seen in the West. Drinking is +taken as a matter of course, and society does not condemn it. The +usual way in which Japanese men pass a dull day is in feasting and +drinking. The use of alcoholic stimulants is much more common here +than at home. + +In business and commercial morality there is much to be desired. The +merchants do not sell according to the worth of an article, but +according to what they can make the purchaser pay. They are great +bargainers. Recently I wanted to buy {120} two large wall-pictures. +The dealer asked me $21 for them, but finally sold them for $5. It is +a very common thing to buy articles for less than half the price first +asked. In matters of veracity and in the fulfilment of contracts +Japanese merchants are not generally to be trusted. The average man is +famous for lying, and the merchants and tradesmen seem to have acquired +an extra share of this general characteristic. A Japanese trader will +do all in his power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract if it entails +a loss. This lack of commercial honor is recognized by the foreign +firms doing business here, and it has hindered not a little the growth +and development of trade. + +The moral sense of the people in regard to taking one's own life is +very different from that of Christendom. From ancient times, suicide +has been thought to be a praiseworthy act, and has been extensively +practised. Formerly it was encouraged, and sometimes required, by the +government; but now it has no official sanction whatever. Still, the +custom exists, and some authorities place the annual number of suicides +as high as 10,000. The people laugh at our Western idea that it is +wrong to take one's own life. On the contrary, they hold that when +misfortunes and calamities make this life unattractive it is the part +of wisdom to end it. Even the feelings of young Japanese, {121} who +have been educated somewhat into our own way of thinking, do not seem +to have changed on this point; they still adhere to the old Roman view +that self-destruction is permissible and often meritorious. The +Western fiction that all suicides are the result of some form of +insanity is not countenanced here. The various causes leading to +self-destruction are coolly and carefully tabulated, and very few are +attributed to insanity. Contrariwise, long and careful study of the +subject has shown that self-destruction is gone about with as much +coolness, precision, and judgment as any act of daily life. + +The above are in brief the leading moral ideas and principles that +govern the Japanese people. For their loyalty and obedience we have +only admiration. But both of these principles are given an undue +importance and are carried to extremes. The chief defect of Japanese +morality is the minor place it gives to the individual. The moral need +of the nation is a Christian morality--not just the morality of the +West, but a morality founded on the ethical principles inculcated in +the Bible. This would exalt truth and chastity, would soften and +temper the great duties of loyalty and obedience, and would make of +Japan an honest, temperate nation. + + + + +{122} + +VII + +RELIGIONS OF JAPAN + +The Japanese are by nature a religious people. In the earliest times a +conglomerate mass of superstitions and mythological ideas was made to +do service as a religion. Fetishism, phallicism, animism, and tree- +and serpent-worship were very common. The line of distinction between +the Creator and the creature was not clearly marked; gods and men +mingled and intermingled, and were hardly known apart. But it is not +our purpose here to trace the ancient religious ideas of Japan, but +rather to give a short account of contemporary religions. Therefore we +cannot dwell on these unwritten mythological-religious systems. + +The religions of contemporary Japan are four--Shinto, Buddhism, +Confucianism, and Tenrikyo. Shinto and Tenrikyo are indigenous; +Buddhism and Confucianism have been imported from China and Korea. +Tenrikyo is of recent origin and has {123} not yet the influence and +standing of the others. Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism have +existed here side by side for centuries. There is no great antagonism +between them, as there is between Christianity and the ethnic +religions. Many of the people are disciples of all three at the same +time, taking their theology from Shinto, their soteriology and +eschatology from Buddhism, and their moral and economic ideas from +Confucianism. No inconsistency is felt in thus believing all three +religions and worshiping at their shrines. Indeed, these three faiths +have so commingled, the ideas and practices of one have so filtered +into the others, that it is hard now to distinguish the pure teachings +of each. In the minds of the masses they are not distinguished in +detail. And yet as regards origin, history, and teachings they are +separate and distinct faiths. + + + +_Shinto_ + +Shinto may be called the national cult of Japan. The word "Shinto" +means "the way of the gods." This system hardly deserves the name +religion. It has no moral code, no dogmas, no sacred books. +Originally it consisted chiefly of ancestor- and nature-worship, and of +certain mythological ideas. A chief feature of it still is the worship +of ancestors, who are exalted to a high pedestal in thought {124} and +worshiped as gods. The divine origin of the imperial family, and the +obligation to worship and obey it, was a prominent teaching of Shinto. +The ancestors of the imperial family were to be held in supreme +reverence and were the objects of especial worship. + +According to the Shinto of this period, there was neither heaven nor +hell, but only an intermediate Hades. There was a sort of priesthood, +but its duty was to watch over particular local gods, not to preach to +the people. Pure Shinto taught that a man's whole duty lay in absolute +obedience to the mikado and in following the natural promptings of his +own heart. + +Shinto was very much affected by the introduction of Buddhism, about +the middle of the sixth century, and its further growth was checked. +Buddhism adopted and largely absorbed it. Shinto gods were given a +place in the Buddhist pantheon, and many of the Shinto ceremonies were +adopted. But Shinto was completely overshadowed by Buddhism, and lay +in a dormant state from the year 550 to 1700, a night of more than a +thousand years. + +[Illustration: A Shinto Temple.] + +Since the beginning of the eighteenth century a revival of Shinto has +sprung up. Native scholars tried to call up the past, to find out what +pure Shinto was before its corruption by Buddhism, and to teach it as +the national faith. In this effort {125} they were partially +successful. The old Buddhistic accretions were largely thrown off, and +many of the temples, stripped of their Buddhist ornaments, were handed +over to the Shinto priests. Buddhism was disestablished, and Shinto +again became the religion of the state. A Shinto "Council for +Spiritual Affairs" was appointed, which had equal rank with the Council +of State. This, however, was reduced gradually to the rank of a +department, then to a bureau, later to a sub-bureau. At present Shinto +is the state religion, in so far as there can be said to be any state +religion; but in reality there is no established religion. The +connection of the government with Shinto extends no further than the +maintenance of certain temples and the attendance of certain officials +on some ceremonies. Shinto enjoys a large amount of popularity because +it is indigenous, while Buddhism and Confucianism labor under the +disadvantage of being of foreign origin. The majority of the upper +classes in Japan who to-day have any religion at all are Shintoists. + + + +_Buddhism_ + +The religion founded by Buddha in India is six centuries older than +Christianity. Its nominal adherents comprise almost one third of the +human race. Its philosophical precepts are deep {126} and profound, +while its ethical teachings are, for the most part, lofty and +ennobling. This religion is worthy the careful study of any man who +has the time and inclination. + +We cannot attempt to give a full exposition of it, but will have to +content ourselves with a bare mention of its more prominent teachings. +Certain resemblances to Catholicism in ritual, ceremony, and +ornamentation strike one very forcibly in observing Buddhist rites. +The candles, the incense, the images and processions, all resemble +Rome. But this resemblance extends no further than ritual and +ceremony. In point of doctrine Buddhism is widely separated from every +form of Christianity. In Buddhism the condition on which grace is +received is not faith, but knowledge and enlightenment. Salvation is +accomplished, not by the vicarious sufferings of a Redeemer, but by +self-perfection through self-denial and discipline. + +Dr. Griffis, a man who has written much and well on Japan, has +pronounced the principal features of Buddhism to be atheism, +metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, and absence of caste. + +[Illustration: A Buddhist Priest.] + +Buddhism knows nothing of the existence of a supreme God who created +the world. It inherited ideas of certain gods from Brahmanism, but +these are made secondary to the _hotoke_, or buddhas, {127} who are +simply men who have finally reached the calm of perfect holiness after +toiling through endless ages and countless existences. It teaches that +existence itself is the chief of all evils. Instead of longing for +eternal life, the Buddhist longs for annihilation. Happy, well-fed +Western people, to whom existence is a delight, can hardly understand +how any one can really desire its cessation. But the life of the lower +classes in many countries of the East is one daily struggle for bread, +so full of sorrow and misery that it is not unnatural they should +desire to end it. + +This religion teaches that the evil of existence springs from the +double root of ignorance and human passions, and is to be overcome by +knowledge and self-discipline. The heaven it offers is absorption in +the Nirvana--the loss of personal identity and practical annihilation. + +Buddhism numbers more devotees and exerts a greater influence than any +of the other religions of Japan. It was received from Korea about the +middle of the sixth century. After it had been transplanted and had +grown into popular favor, many Japanese were sent to Korea and China to +study its doctrines more fully; and they brought back with them not +only Buddhism, but also Chinese literature and civilization. At first +Buddhism encountered fierce opposition, but it was fortunate in +securing court patronage, and {128} very soon the opposition entirely +ceased, so that in two or three centuries it spread itself throughout +the whole empire. If ever a nation was ripe for the introduction of a +foreign religion, that nation was Japan at that time. The national +cult was silent, or almost so, in regard to the destiny of man and many +other questions which religion is expected to answer. The religious +nature of the people was asserting itself, and they were longing for +more light on the great questions of life--its _whence_, _why_, and +_whither_. Buddhism gave this light, and therefore was warmly +welcomed. It had the whole field to itself, and took complete +possession of it. + +[Illustration: A Buddhist Cemetery.] + +From the time of its introduction into Japan down to the present, +Buddhism has enjoyed a wide popularity and exerted a powerful +influence. It is not too much to say that Buddhism has largely formed +Japanese civilization and national life. In the words of Professor +Chamberlain, "All education was for centuries in Buddhist hands. +Buddhism introduced art and medicine, molded the folk-lore of the +country, created its dramatic poetry, deeply influenced politics and +every sphere of social and intellectual activity. In a word, Buddhism +was the teacher under whose instruction the Japanese nation grew up." + +Buddhism has by no means lost its hold in Japan. It still has great +life and power. Some {129} writers have said that they have never seen +a new temple in Japan--only old ones falling into decay. Their +experience must have been limited. I see plenty of new temples, some +of which are very costly. + +Buddhist temples are numerous, and many are of imposing architecture. +Being generally surrounded by tall trees, they have a lonely, mournful +appearance. Hideous beasts, dragons, and serpents are carved upon +them, and large, fierce-looking stone lions guard them, the effect +being to awe and terrify the beholder. Some are furnished with +gorgeous altars covered with beautiful flowers, images, and statues. +Besides the temples there are everywhere little shrines. The religious +spirit of the people prompts them to dedicate the most beautiful spots +and nooks to the gods, and there to erect shrines and idols. + +Buddhist priests dress in robes not very unlike the official robes of +the Episcopal clergy. Their heads are always close-shaven, a mark by +which they are easily distinguished. Forbidden to marry, they are +expected to lead lives of purity and chastity. They have greatly +degenerated, a large per cent. being illiterate and immoral. Their +lives will not bear comparison with those of the Christian evangelists. +That nearly all the cemeteries of Japan are in their hands gives them +great influence. + +{130} + +Japanese Buddhism is divided into numerous sects, chief of which are +the Tendai, Shingon, Jodo, and Zen, of Chinese origin, and the Shin and +Nichiren, of native origin. The latter two are most prosperous. + +Buddhism has profited by its contact with Christianity. As the +reaction of Protestantism upon Catholicism was beneficial to the +latter, so the reaction of Christianity upon Buddhism has been +healthful It has forced a revival and purification of the Buddhist +faith, and to-day it is better and more active than before it +encountered Christianity. Still, Christianity is gradually encroaching +upon its domain and is crippling its influence. That Buddhism is bound +to perish in its encounter with Western civilization and Christianity +seems a foregone conclusion. + + + +_Confucianism_ + +Confucianism is even less deserving the name of a religion than Shinto. +It consists chiefly in a set of moral teachings, of narrow application +and mostly of a political nature. Confucius, avoiding all metaphysical +abstractions and devotional rhapsodies, confined himself to the much +more practical field of morals and politics. But his disciples and +commentators, especially during the middle ages, expanded his doctrines +and added ideas {131} more or less religious. Thus developed, it +became a sort of religious system, the only one believed by the old +samurai or warrior classes. + +Confucius, its founder, was born in the year 551 B.C., in the state of +Lu, province of Shantung, China. He was an earnest student of the +older Chinese classics, and one of the most learned men of his time. +He gathered round him a circle of young men, whom he instructed, like +Socrates, by questions and answers. He died in 478 B.C. No other +human teacher has had more disciples or exerted a wider and stronger +influence. + +From its birthplace in China Confucianism spread to Korea, where it +soon became, and still continues to be, the predominant faith. From +Korea it advanced to the Japanese archipelago, where for many hundred +years it has had much to do with shaping and molding the character of +the people. Confucianism has undergone many modifications. At first a +comparatively simple system of ethics and politics, it has expanded +until to-day it is a complicated philosophico-religious system. + +The basal principles of Confucian ethics are the "five relations." +These are: sovereign and minister; father and son; husband and wife; +elder brother and younger brother; friend and friend. I have named +them in the order of their importance. The duty of loyalty is above +that of filial {132} obedience, while the relation of husband and wife +is inferior to both of these. We will briefly consider each of these +relations separately. + +The duty of a minister, or servant, to his prince, or sovereign, is the +first duty of man, and is emphasized to an extreme degree. In order to +discharge this obligation to the feudal lord or emperor, one must, if +necessary, give up everything: house, lands, kinsmen, name, fame, wife, +children, society--all. And Japanese history is filled with instances +of retainers who have counted their lives, their families, their all, +as less than nothing when compared with their duty to their lord. +Loyalty is the one idea which dominates all others in the Confucianism +of Japan. Thus it has exerted an influence hardly second to Shinto in +inculcating loyalty to the emperor and to Japan, and making the people +fanatically patriotic. + +The second relation is that of father and son, or parent and child. My +readers perhaps would consider the relation of husband and wife the +first of all human relations, but not so the Oriental. With him the +family is of far more importance than the individual, and the chief aim +of marriage is the maintenance of the family line. If the wife becomes +a mother she is honored because she assists in perpetuating the family +line; if she is childless she is probably neglected. Where there are +no children adoption is the universal practice. {133} The one adopted +takes the family name and perpetuates it. No greater misfortune can be +conceived than for the house to become extinct. + +The relation of parent and child is very different from that to which +we are accustomed. Mutual love hardly exists. The parent feels +compassion and love for his child; the child reverences the parent. To +speak of a child's love for his father, or a man's love for God, is +repugnant to the Confucianist. It is thought to be taking an undue +familiarity, and the proper relation is considered one of dependence +and reverence. In old Japan the father was absolute lord and master, +and had power over the life and death of his child. In recent times +his power is more limited, and the idea is beginning to dawn upon +thinking natives that children have rights as well as duties. A +Japanese child feels more reverence for its parents, or at least for +its father, than does the average child reared in the Christian homes +of the West. + +The third relation is that of husband and wife. On this point the +teaching of Confucius is very different from that of Christ. Instead +of having two parties bound together by mutual love, with equal rights +and duties, we have the relation of superior and inferior, of master +and servant. The husband precedes the wife in all things. She must +serve him and his family zealously and {134} uncomplainingly. She must +be especially on her guard against the foolish sin of jealousy, and is +not to complain if her husband introduces a concubine into the same +house in which she resides. She is to yield absolute obedience to him +in all things. She can be divorced for very slight reasons, and +divorces are matters of every-day occurrence. Statistics show that the +annual number of divorces is about one third the number of marriages. +Sentiment is gradually changing in this regard, and marriage and +divorce laws are becoming more strict. + +Confucius condemned adultery as a heinous crime, but this teaching is +made to apply only to the wife. She must remain true to her husband, +but he is not considered under the same obligation to her. + +The fourth relation is that of elder brother and younger brother. This +is evident from the language used to express the relation of children +of the same household to one another. The word for brother or sister +is seldom used; in fact, there is no word to express just that idea. +In its stead we hear "elder brother," "elder sister," and "younger +brother," "younger sister." The children of a household are not +considered equals; the elder ones are given the preference in all +things. Especially does the eldest son hold a position of prominence +far above that of the other children. {135} He is looked upon as the +perpetuator of the family line and is given especial honor. His +younger brothers and his sisters, and even his mother, must serve and +obey him. + +The younger sons are subjects for adoption into other families, +especially into those where there are daughters to be married and +family names to be perpetuated. This is in accordance with the Eastern +idea that the house is of more importance than the individual. +Confucian ethics largely overlooks the idea of personality. + +The fifth relation is that between friends. Some writers have spoken +of this as that of man to man, and have thus read Christian ideas into +Confucianism; but this relation as taught by Confucius is only between +friends. As regards man and man, Confucius taught the duties of +courtesy and propriety, but no others. He taught the duty of kindness +to strangers, but most students of his writings are of the opinion that +he did not include foreigners among strangers. The nearest approach to +Christianity in Confucianism is the negative of the golden rule, "Do +not do unto others as you would not have others do unto you." This +approaches the teaching of Christ very nearly, but only in a negative +form. Some have thought that Confucius taught the duty of returning +good for evil, but this is a mistake. One of his contemporaries, +Lao-tse, did teach {136} this duty; but when Confucius was asked about +it he replied, "What, then, will you return for good? Recompense +_injury with justice_, and return good for good." + +Certain it is that this relation, as understood in Japan, does not +apply to foreigners. How the Japanese treated foreigners in former +times is well known. Foreign sailors shipwrecked on her coasts were +tortured and executed. Ships from abroad, bringing shipwrecked +Japanese back to their own country, were met with powder and ball and +repulsed. Commodore Perry, in attempting to establish a treaty with +Japan, justly complained to the native authorities that the dictates of +humanity had not been followed, that shipwrecked men were treated with +useless cruelty, and that Japan's attitude toward her neighbors and all +the world was that of an enemy and not of a friend. The fifth relation +did not teach a common brotherhood of men and obligations of kindness +to foreigners. It applied only to the charmed circle of friendship. + +On these five relations rests the whole Japanese social and moral +structure. Family and national life has been shaped and molded by +them. They are the ten commandments of the East. How very different +from the principles which have determined our own family and social +life! + +Confucianism in Japan has been developed into {137} a highly +complicated religious system, and in this form is believed by large +numbers of high-class, educated Japanese. It is wholly pantheistic in +its teaching, having points of resemblance with German pantheism. It +knows no such thing as God as a separate existence. Rather, all is +God. Dr. Martin, of China, has well styled it "a pantheistic medley." + +Although Confucianism has long had a strong hold upon Japanese minds, +its influence is waning. The ancient classics are little studied, and +the younger generation knows almost nothing of them. The great temple +of Confucius in Tokyo, the Seido, has been changed into an educational +museum. + + + +_Tenrikyo_ + +Perhaps some will think that Tenrikyo does not deserve mention along +with the before-named great religions. Certainly it is not worthy of +the respect accorded to them, and has not exerted such an influence as +they have. It is of very recent origin and is as yet confined to the +lower strata of society. But its disciples constitute one of the most +vigorous and active religious bodies in Japan to-day. Its growth has +been remarkably rapid, especially during the past five years. +Government recognition has been already gained, and it is gradually +making a place for itself among {138} the religions of Japan. Some +authorities place the number of its adherents as high as 5,000,000, but +these figures are probably too high. + +Tenrikyo is a missionary religion, having very earnest representatives +in almost every district in Japan. These men rely almost exclusively +upon preaching for the propagation of their doctrines, and their +efforts are generally successful. + +Space permits us to say only a few words in regard to the origin of +this religion. Its founder was a peasant woman named Nakayama Miiki, +popularly called Omiiki, who was born of a very poor family in the +province of Yamato in 1798, There was nothing remarkable about her life +until her fortieth year, when she fell into a trance. While in this +state one of the old Shinto deities, Kuni-Toko-Tachi No Mikoto, +appeared to her, and, after causing her much distress, left her for a +short time undisturbed. After this brief interval of quiet she again +fell into a trance, and was visited by a large number of gods, some of +them the greatest of the Shinto pantheon. These gods revealed to her +the substance of her teaching, representing it as the only true +doctrine and the one which would ultimately triumph over all others. +They also informed her that she was the divinely appointed instrument +through whom this revelation was to be given to the world. From {139} +this time forward Omiiki devoted herself to the propagation of this +revelation. + +Not wishing to break entirely with the old religions, she represented +her revelation as having been received from the Shinto gods, and gave a +place in her teaching to some prominent Buddhist elements. By this +means she won popular favor and gained an earnest hearing. + +The term "Tenrikyo" signifies the "Doctrine of the Heavenly Reason." +While many of its teachings differ but little from current Shinto and +Buddhistic ideas, its more prominent tenets are radically different. + +In the first place, Tenrikyo tends much toward monotheism. Omiiki +herself accepted polytheism, but taught that man's real allegiance is +due to the sun and the moon. These she regarded as the real gods; but +as they always work together, and as the world and all things therein +are the product of their joint working, they are practically one. +Since her death the teaching has become more and more monotheistic in +tendency, and some of its preachers teach explicit monotheism. + +Omiiki taught a new relation between the gods and men--a relation of +parents to children. The gods watch over and love their children just +as earthly parents do. The emperor is the elder brother of the people, +who rules as the representative of the divine parents. + +{140} + +Faith-healing formed a prominent part in the original teaching of +Tenrikyo. It asserted that neither physicians nor medicine was needed, +but that cures are to be effected through faith alone. Marvelous +stories are told of the wonderful cures it has accomplished, many of +which seem well authenticated. But while there seems no good reason +for doubting the genuineness of some of these cures, the power of mind +over mind, and the influence of personal magnetism in certain kinds of +nervous disorders, are so well known that they can be easily explained +without any reference to the supernatural. The faith-cure feature of +this religion is now falling into disuse. + +Tenrikyo makes very little of the future state, although Omiiki assumed +its reality. In one passage she refers to the soul as an emanation +from the gods, and says that after death it will go back to them. She +teaches that the cause of suffering, disease, and sin is found in the +impurity of the human heart, and that the heart must be cleansed before +believers can receive the divine favor. She insists over and over +again that no prayers nor religious services are of any avail so long +as the heart is impure. + +The aim of Omiiki and her followers seems to be a worthy one. The +movement is highly ethical, and there is little doubt but that the +adherents of the Tenrikyo are superior in morals to {141} the rest of +their class. Some features of this new religion are, however, looked +upon with suspicion, and it is being closely watched by the government. +Charges of gross immorality have been preferred against it, especially +in reference to the midnight dances, in which both sexes are said to +participate indiscriminately; but these charges are made by its enemies +and have never been proved. + +In many respects Tenrikyo materially differs from the other religions +of Japan. Its adherents assemble at stated times for worship and +instruction, while the Buddhists assemble in the temples for worship +and preaching only three or four times a year, and the Shintoists +seldom, if ever, assemble. The worship of Tenrikyo, for the most part, +consists of praise and thanksgiving by music and dancing; but prayer is +also practised. + +Another distinguishing characteristic of Tenrikyo is that it is +exclusive. The other religions of Japan are very tolerant of one +another; one may believe them all. But Tenrikyo will not tolerate +either Buddhism or Shinto. Its adherents must give their allegiance to +it alone. + +It is interesting to conjecture as to the influence Christianity has +had upon Tenrikyo. It does not seem probable that Omiiki was at all +influenced by it, unless the traditions of the Catholic Christianity of +some two or three hundred years previous reached her in some way. But +the expansion {142} and development of the system by its later teachers +have been very much affected by Christianity. Some of its present +preachers, in constructing their sermons, borrow largely from Christian +sources. In the minds of the common people Tenrikyo is generally +associated with Christianity. + + +There are several other small religious sects in Japan, such as the +Remmon Kyokwai, Kurozumi Kyokwai, etc., but they are not of sufficient +importance to command notice here. + +Any statement of the religions of contemporary Japan would be +incomplete without notice of Christianity, but that will be reserved +for another portion of this book. + +The three great religions, Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism, are +completely woven into the warp and woof of Japanese society. As +Christianity has shaped the political, social, and family life of the +West, so these ancient faiths have that of the East. The laws, the +morality, the manners and customs of these peoples all have been +determined by their religions. And to-day the masses of the people +look to them for principles to guide their present life, and for their +future spiritual welfare, with just as much confidence and trust as my +readers look to Christianity. The missionary, in his work, must +encounter and {143} vanquish all of these religions, which is no light +task. They all have elements of superstition, and their origin and +supernatural teachings will not bear the search-light of the growing +spirit of criticism and investigation. Each one of them is even now +modifying gradually its doctrines in some features, so as to bring them +into harmony with true learning and science; and as the nation +progresses intellectually the hold of these ancient faiths upon the +common mind will become more and more precarious. We expect to see +them gradually retreating, though stubbornly resisting every inch of +ground, until they shall finally leave the field to their younger and +more vigorous antagonists, Christianity and civilization. + + + + +{144} + +VIII + +FIRST INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY + +One of the most interesting chapters of Japanese history is that +relating to the introduction and growth of Catholic Christianity in the +sixteenth century. This story has been eloquently told in nearly all +European languages, and is familiar to the reading public. The +terrible persecutions then enacted are vividly represented in paintings +and other works of art on exhibition in art galleries of Europe and +America. This chapter is not written with the hope of saying anything +new upon the subject, but because a story of mission work in Japan +would be incomplete without it; and it may be that some for the first +time will here read this story. + +In order rightly to appreciate the introduction and spread of +Christianity in Japan, it is necessary that we take a bird's-eye view +of the internal condition of the country about the middle of the {145} +sixteenth century. The Japanese were not then, as now, a homogeneous +people with a strong central government. The emperor, although the +nominal ruler, was in reality the creature of the shogun, who was the +real ruler. His title to the shogunate was frequently disputed, +however, and rival claimants waged fierce war upon him. The whole of +Japan was divided into warring factions that were hardly ever at peace +with one another. The feudal lords of the various provinces were only +bound to the central government by the weakest ties, and were +continually in a state of rebellion. Many of these daimios were great +and powerful, able to wage war with the shogun himself. Jealousy and +rivalry between the provinces kept up constant quarrels and divisions. +Bad government, internal wars, the disputes and quarrels of different +clans, and the ambitions and jealousies of their rulers had destroyed +the resources of the country and had devastated her rich and beautiful +cities. Even the fine old capital of Kyoto is represented as at that +time in a state of dilapidation and ruin, its streets filled with +unburied corpses and all kinds of debris and filth. Kamakura, the seat +of the shogun's government, once boasting 1,000,000 inhabitants, was in +ashes. + +In those dark times there was little in the prevalent religions to +cheer and uplift discouraged {146} men. Shinto was so completely +overshadowed by Buddhism that it was little more than a myth. Buddhism +had become a political system, and paid little attention to purely +religious matters. The priests had degenerated into an army of +mercenaries, living in luxury and dissoluteness. The common people +were in a continual state of excitement and ferment. + +Into this disordered, chaotic society Catholic Christianity was first +introduced. The conditions were favorable to its reception. + +St. Francis Xavier, one of the most devoted, earnest, and successful +missionaries ever sent out by the Roman Church, has the honor of having +been the first missionary to Japan. He was led to go there in the +following manner: A refugee from Japan, named Anjiro, had wandered to +Malacca, and there he met Xavier, who was at that time engaged in +preaching the gospel in India and the Sunda Islands. Through Xavier's +influence Anjiro was converted to Christianity. The stories which he +told of his own people fired the great evangelist with the desire to +preach the gospel to the Japanese. A few years prior to this some +Portuguese traders had made their way to Japan, had been warmly +received, and had begun a lucrative trade. Some of the daimios +expressed to them a desire to have the Christian religion taught to +their people; and Xavier no {147} sooner heard of this than he set out +for Japan, accompanied by the native convert Anjiro. + +They landed at Kagoshima, a large city on the coast of the southern +island of Kyushu, August 15, 1549. The prince of Satsuma gave Xavier a +hearty welcome, but afterward became jealous because one of the rival +clans had been furnished with firearms by the Portuguese merchants, so +that Xavier was compelled to remove to Hirado. From there he went to +Nagato, thence to Bungo, where he again met a warm reception. Although +so great a missionary, and having labored in so many countries, Xavier +is said never to have mastered completely a single foreign tongue. He +studied the rudiments of Japanese, but, finding that way much too slow, +began preaching through an interpreter, with marked success and power. +Anjiro had translated the Gospel of Matthew, writing it in Roman +letters, and Xavier is said to have read this to the people with +wonderful effect. He stayed only two and a half years in Japan; yet in +that short time he organized several congregations in the neighborhood +of Yamaguchi and Hirado, and visited and preached in the old capital +Kyoto. He then left the work in the hands of other missionaries, while +he undertook the spiritual conquest of China. This ancient empire, +with her hard, conservative civilization, impervious to foreign +influence, lay like a burden {148} on his heart. Contemplating her +learning, her pride, and her exclusiveness, he uttered the despairing +cry, "O mountain, mountain, when wilt thou open to my Lord?" He died +December 2, 1551, on an island in the Canton River. + +The inspiring example of Xavier attracted scores of missionaries to +Japan, and also incited the native converts to constitute themselves +missionaries to their kinsmen and friends; and their labors bore much +fruit. In a very short time, in the region of Kyoto alone, there were +seven strong churches; and the island of Amakusa, the greater part of +the Goto Islands, and the daimiates of Omura and Yamaguchi had become +Christian. In 1581 the churches had grown to two hundred, and the +number of Christians to 150,000. The converts were drawn from all +classes of the people; Buddhist priests, scholars, and noblemen +embraced the new faith with as much readiness as did the lower classes. +Two daimios had accepted it, and were doing all in their power to aid +the missionaries in their provinces. At this period the missionaries +and Christians found a powerful supporter in Nobunaga, the minister of +the mikado. This man openly welcomed the foreign priests, and gave +them suitable grounds on which to build their churches, schools, and +dwellings; and under his patronage the new {149} religion grew apace. +Catholic Christianity took its deepest root in the southern provinces, +flourishing especially in Bungo, Omura, and Arima; but there were +churches as far north as Yedo, and evangelists had carried the tidings +of Christ and the "Mother of God" even to the northern boundaries of +the empire. This was the high tide of Japanese Catholicism. + +The native Christians were so earnest and loyal to the church that, in +1583, they sent an embassy of four young noblemen to Rome to pay their +respects to the pope and to declare themselves his spiritual vassals. +They were suspected by some of their countrymen of desiring to become +his vassals in another sense as well. This embassy was received with +the greatest honors by the pope, as well as by the European princes, +and was sent away heavily laden with presents. After an absence of +eight years it returned to Nagasaki, accompanied by seventeen more +Jesuit fathers. Up to this time all of the priests laboring in Japan +were members of this order. From time to time other embassies were +despatched from Japan to Rome, one of which was sent many years after +the persecutions had begun. Catholic histories put the number of +native Christians at this time at about 600,000, but native authorities +put it much higher. + + + +{150} + +_Persecutions_ + +Such was the happy state of Christianity in this empire as the +sixteenth century was drawing to a close. But, thick and fast, clouds +were gathering over the horizon, and suddenly and furiously the storm +broke. The loss of their protector, Nobunaga, was the beginning of the +misfortunes of the Christians. This great man was slain by an +assassin, Akechi by name, who attempted to take the reins of government +into his own hands. Hideyoshi, one of the greatest men Japan ever +produced, now came upon the stage. He was the loyal general of the +mikado, and, by the help of the Christian general Takayama, he +overthrew the usurper Akechi, and became the molder of the destinies of +the empire. He was the unifier of Japan. + +Hideyoshi was at first tolerant of Christianity; but his suspicions +were by and by aroused, and he became a cruel and relentless +persecutor. According to Dr. Griffis, his umbrage arose partly because +a Portuguese captain would not please him by risking his ship in coming +out of deep water and nearer land, and partly because some Christian +maidens of Arima scorned his degrading proposals. The quarrels of the +Christians themselves also helped to bring on the persecutions. {151} +Franciscan and Dominican missionaries from Spain had recently landed in +Japan, and they were continually at strife with the Portuguese Jesuits. +The jealousy and indiscretion of these unfriendly religious orders, and +the slanders circulated by the Buddhists, stirred up the popular fury, +and a persecution of fire and blood broke out. Hideyoshi issued an +edict commanding the Jesuits to leave the country in twenty days; but +this edict was winked at, and the persecutions were carried on only +locally and spasmodically. The converts increased faster during these +persecutions than before, about 10,000 being added each year. + +In open violation of the edict, four Franciscan priests came to Kyoto +in 1593 with a Spanish envoy. They were allowed to build houses and +reside there on the express condition that they were not to preach or +teach, either publicly or privately. Immediately violating their +pledge, they began preaching openly in the streets, wearing the +vestments of their order. They excited a great deal of discord among +the Jesuit congregations and used most violent language. Hideyoshi was +angered at this,--as he had good reason to be,--and caused nine +preachers to be seized while they were building chapels in Osaka and +Kyoto, and condemned to death. These, together with three Portuguese +Jesuits, six Spanish {152} Franciscans, and seventeen native +Christians, were crucified on bamboo crosses in Nagasaki, February 5, +1597. They were put to death, not as Christians, but as law-breakers +and political conspirators. + +Hideyoshi was further confirmed in his opinion that these foreign +priests had political designs by the remark of a Spanish sea-captain +who showed him a map of the world, on which the vast dominions of the +King of Spain were clearly marked, and who, in reply to the question as +to how his master came by such wide territories, foolishly replied that +he first sent priests to win over the people, then soldiers to +coöperate with the native converts, and the conquest was easy. +Hideyoshi's fears were not entirely ungrounded. The truth is that +Catholic Christianity has always been, and was especially at that time, +so intimately connected with the state that her emissaries could not +keep from entangling themselves in politics. + +Hideyoshi died in 1597, and with the death of their persecutor the +missionaries again took heart and began their work anew. The political +successor of Hideyoshi was Iyeyasu--a man even greater, perhaps, than +his predecessor. He was not permitted to assume direction of affairs +without a fierce and bloody struggle. Around the capital 200,000 +soldiers were gathered under ambitious rival leaders. Soon the camps +were {153} divided into two factions, the northern soldiers under +Iyeyasu, and the southern soldiers under their own daimios. Most of +the Christians were naturally allied with the latter party. Believing +Iyeyasu to be a usurper, the Christian generals arrayed themselves +against him and went forth to meet him in the open field. On the field +of Sekigahara a bloody battle was fought, and 10,000 men lost their +lives. The Christians were beaten, and were dealt with after the +custom of the time--their heads were stricken off. Iyeyasu, finding +himself in undisputed possession of the reins of government, began at +once the completion of the work of Hideyoshi, i.e., the creation of a +strong central government and the subjugation of the several daimios. +Henceforth the Christians had to deal with this central government +instead of the petty local ones. + +Systematic persecutions were now begun in the different provinces, +culminating in the year 1606, when Iyeyasu issued his famous edict +prohibiting Christianity. At this time there were more than 1,000,000 +Christians in Japan. An outward show of obedience warded off active +persecution for a few years, when the Franciscan friars again aroused +the wrath of the government by openly violating the laws and exhorting +their converts to do likewise. In 1611 Iyeyasu is reported to have +discovered documentary evidence of the {154} existence of a plot on the +part of the native Christians and the foreign emissaries to overthrow +the government and reduce Japan to the position of a subject state. +Taking advantage of the opportunity thus afforded, he determined to +utterly extirpate Christianity from his dominions. January 27, 1614, +he issued the famous edict in which he branded the Jesuit missionaries +as triple enemies--as enemies of the gods, of Japan, and of the +buddhas. Desiring to avoid so much bloodshed, if possible, he tried +the plan of transportation. Three hundred persons--Franciscans, +Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians, and natives--were shipped from +Nagasaki to Macao. But many priests concealed themselves and were +overlooked. The native Christians refused to renounce their faith. It +was evident that the end was not yet. The Christians were sympathizers +with Hideyori, who had been a rival claimant with Iyeyasu for the +shogunate, and whose castle in Osaka was the greatest stronghold in the +empire. In this castle Hideyori gave shelter to some Christians, and +Iyeyasu called out a great army and laid siege to it. The war which +followed was very brief, but, if the report of the Jesuits is to be +relied upon, 100,000 men perished. The castle finally fell, and with +it the cause of the Christians. Hidetada, the next shogun, now +pronounced sentence of death upon {155} every foreigner, whether priest +or catechist, found in the country. All native converts who refused to +renounce their faith were likewise sentenced to death. The story of +the persecutions that followed is too horrible to be described. Fire +and sword were freely used to extirpate Christianity. Converts were +wrapped in straw sacks, piled in heaps of living fuel, and then set on +fire. Many were burned with fires made from the crosses before which +they were accustomed to bow. Some were buried alive. All the tortures +that barbaric cruelty could invent were freely used to rid the land of +them. The calmness and fortitude with which they bore their lot, +gladly dying for their faith, command our warmest admiration. The +power of our religion to uphold and sustain even in the midst of +torture was never more strikingly illustrated, and the ancient Roman +world produced no more willing martyrs than did Japan at this time. + +At last even the patient, uncomplaining Japanese Christians could stand +it no longer. Persecuted until desperate, those who remained finally +arose in rebellion, seized and fortified the old castle of Shimabara, +and resolved to die rather than submit. The rebelling party probably +numbered about 30,000, and there was not one foreigner among them. A +veteran army, led by skilled commanders, was sent against the rebels, +{156} and after a stubborn resistance of four months the castle was +taken. Men, women, and children--all were slaughtered. There is an +old story to the effect that many of them were thrown from the rock of +Pappenburg into the sea; but it lacks confirmation and doubtless is +only a myth. It has also been charged against the Protestant +Hollanders then resident in Nagasaki that they assisted in the +overthrow of the Shimabara castle and the destruction of the Catholics +with their heavy guns, but this probably is untrue. + +There was now left no power to resist, and the sword, fire, and +banishment swept away every trace of Christianity. The extermination +appeared so complete that non-Christian writers have pointed to Japan +as a land in which Christianity had been entirely conquered by the +sword, thus proving that it could be extirpated. But the extirpation +was not so thorough as at first appeared. Christian converts remained, +and assembled regularly for worship; but the utmost secrecy was +observed, for fear of the authorities. When the country was reopened +in 1859, the Catholic fathers found remaining in and around Nagasaki +whole villages of Christians, holding their faith in secret, it is +true, but still holding it. During the two hundred years in which they +had been left alone the faith had become corrupt, but there were still +thousands of people who, amid {157} much ignorance, worshiped the true +God and refused to bow at pagan shrines. Christianity was not entirely +crushed, neither can be, by the secular arm. + +After the government had, as it fondly supposed, entirely suppressed +the hated foreign religion, in order to prevent its return it +determined upon the most rigid system of exclusiveness ever practised +by any nation. The means of communication with the outer world were +all cut off; all ships above a certain size were destroyed, and the +building of others large enough to visit foreign lands rigidly +prohibited; Japanese were forbidden to travel abroad on pain of death; +native shipwrecked sailors who had been driven to other lands were not +permitted to return to their own country, lest they should carry the +dreaded religion back with them; and all foreigners found on Japanese +territory were executed. Over all the empire the most rigid +prohibitions of Christianity were posted. The high-sounding text of +one of them was as follows: "So long as the sun shall continue to warm +the earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; and let all +know that the King of Spain himself, or the Christians' god, or the +great God of all, if He dare violate this command, shall pay for it +with His head." These prohibitions could still be seen along the +highways as late as 1872. + +{158} + +During this period of exclusion the only means of communication with +the outside world was through the Dutch, a small colony of whom were +permitted to reside in Nagasaki as a sort of safety-valve and a means +of communication with the outside world when such communication became +absolutely necessary. They enjoyed the confidence of Japan more than +any other nation. These Hollanders were compelled to live on the +narrow little island of Desima, in Nagasaki harbor, always under strict +surveillance. Ships from Holland were permitted to visit them +occasionally, and they carried on a very lucrative trade between the +two countries. + +The mistake of Catholic Christianity in Japan during the century the +history of which we have been reciting was its meddling in politics and +getting itself entangled in the internal affairs of the country. If it +had avoided politics and been at peace and harmony with itself, it +might have enjoyed continued prosperity, and Japan to-day might have +been one of the brightest stars in the pope's crown. + +While this was, as we firmly believe, a very corrupt form of +Christianity, we must remember that it was immeasurably better than any +religion Japan had yet known. Although it taught Mariolatry, salvation +in part by works, penance, and many other errors, it also taught that +there {159} is but one God, and that His Son died for men. It very +much improved the morals of its adherents, and purified and exalted +their lives. + +At the present day very little remains of this century of Christianity +besides the few scattered and corrupt congregations found by the +Jesuits on their return, the introduction of firearms and a few rude +tools, and the infusion of a handful of foreign words into the +language. The most important effect of this period is an inborn and +inveterate prejudice against and mistrust of Christianity on the part +of the people, which to-day hinders much our work of evangelization. + + + + +{160} + +IX + +MODERN ROMAN AND GREEK MISSIONS + + +_Roman Church_ + +The Roman Church was not discouraged by the fierce persecutions she was +called upon to endure during the seventeenth century. Nothing daunted, +she continued to send missionaries at intervals during the eighteenth +century; but they were thrown into prison or executed as soon as they +landed. In order to be in readiness for the opening of the country, +which could not be much longer delayed, the pope, in 1846, nominated a +bishop and several missionaries to Japan. These men took up their +station in the neighboring Liukiu Islands and patiently awaited their +opportunity. As soon as the treaties with foreign nations were made, +and the country was opened, they at once entered Japan, and resumed the +work so rudely interrupted two hundred years before. + +{161} + +A few years later these priests had the joy of discovering in the +neighborhood of Nagasaki several Christian communities that had +survived the bloody persecutions and had perpetuated their faith for +more than two centuries, in spite of the vigilance of the authorities +and the rigid prohibitions of Christianity. Left for so long without +direction and guidance, bound for the sake of their lives to strictest +secrecy, and, above all, not having the Bible to enlighten them, the +faith of these communities had become very corrupt. But they still +retained a certain knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the Virgin +Mary. The rite of baptism and some prayers also survived. + +Of the existence of these Christian communities, and the perpetuation +of their faith in secrecy for more than two hundred years, there is not +the slightest room for doubt. The persecuting spirit, which had also +survived, found large numbers of them in 1867, and more than 4000 who +refused to renounce their faith were banished. After six years of +exile they were permitted to return to their homes. + +The mistake of the Romanists here, as elsewhere, was in not translating +the Bible into the vernacular. Xavier and his successors did not give +the Word of God to the churches, and hence when the priests all were +banished the people were left without any light to guide them. Had +{162} they possessed a Japanese Bible, the reopening of the country +would have shown us, instead of a few corrupt Christian communities, a +vigorous, aggressive native church, only made stronger by persecution. +Such was the case in Madagascar, and such probably it would have been +in Japan had the people been given the Word of God. + +The relative importance of the Bible to the Romanist and the Protestant +is well shown in this matter of Bible translation. One of the first +efforts of the Protestant Churches in Japan was a translation of the +Bible, and an excellent version was prepared and published more than +ten years ago. The Roman Church, with more than a century of +unprecedented prosperity in former times, and with the same advantages +enjoyed by the Protestants in recent years, has not yet published its +Bible in Japanese. Some priests and native scholars are now engaged on +a translation of the Vulgate, which will doubtless be published soon. + +Ever since the opening of the country the Church of Rome has been very +earnest and zealous in her efforts to evangelize this land. She has +used a great many men, who have labored hard and faithfully, and has +expended large sums of money. Her success has not been great, because +she has had to contend against fearful odds. The hindrances that have +made the progress of {163} Protestant missions in this land very slow +have had to be overcome also by Catholicism, besides some other strong +militating influences. I will mention two of the most important of +these hindrances peculiar to Catholicism. + +1. The genius of the Catholic Church is not adapted to Japan. The +priority of the spiritual over the temporal ruler, the exaltation of +church over state, the allegiance required to a foreign pope, the +unqualified obedience to foreign ecclesiastical authority, and numerous +other things, come into conflict with the strong national feeling now +animating the Japanese, and seem to them to conflict with the great +duty of loyalty. The celibacy of the clergy and the rite of extreme +unction are also very unpopular. Both Catholicism and Protestantism +are regarded as evils, but the former is, on account of its nature and +organization, considered the greater. + +2. The past history of Catholicism in Japan also militates very much +against its progress. The people recognize it as the specific form of +Christianity that the government, in former times, felt bound, for the +sake of its own safety, to persecute to the death. They cannot forget +that, although under great provocation, it dared bare its arm against +the imperial Japanese government and inaugurate a bitter rebellion. In +their work to-day the priests encounter all of these {164} objections, +and must satisfactorily explain them away--a difficult task. + +But, notwithstanding, the Roman Church has enjoyed an equal degree of +prosperity with the Protestant Churches since the opening of Japan in +1858. The statistics for the year 1895 show 50,302 adherents--about +10,000 more than the Protestants. But the manner of compiling +statistics differs so much that these figures do not fairly represent +the numerical strength of the two bodies. The Catholics not only count +all baptized children, but all nominal adherents; while Protestants +count no nominal adherents, and many of the denominations do not even +count baptized children. If the same method of compiling statistics +were used by both bodies, their numerical strength would probably +appear to be about equal. + +These 50,302 adherents are comprised in two hundred and fifty +congregations. There are one hundred and sixty-nine churches and +chapels; one theological seminary, with 46 pupils; two colleges, with +181 pupils; three boarding-schools for girls, with 171 pupils; +twenty-six industrial schools, with 764 pupils; and forty-one primary +schools, with 2924 pupils. + +The Catholic Church throughout the East is noted for its splendid +charities. It is doing more to care for the helpless, aged, and infirm +than all the Protestant bodies combined. It supports in {165} Japan +one hospital for lepers that is exceedingly popular with that +unfortunate class. The government has one good leper hospital, but it +is said that the lepers much prefer going to the Catholic hospital, +because there they are treated so much more kindly and considerately. +There are 70 lepers in this Catholic hospital. The Catholic Church has +also one hospital for the aged, with 31 inmates; and nineteen +orphanages, with 2080 children in them. This large number of +charitable institutions supported by the Roman Church makes a strong +appeal to the Japanese public and does much toward overcoming the +prejudice against her. + +The active working force of the Catholic mission, besides the lay +members of the native church, consists of 1 archbishop, 3 bishops, 88 +European missionaries, 20 native priests, 304 native catechists, 25 +European friars, 85 European sisters, and 42 novices. The archbishop +and bishops reside respectively in Nagasaki, Osaka, Tokyo, and Hakodate. + + + +_Greek Church_ + +The Greek Church has had a flourishing mission in Japan ever since +1871. It is always spoken of here as the "Greek Church" or the "Greek +Catholic Church," although it would more properly be called the +"Russian Church," {166} as it was founded and is supported by the +national church of Russia. + +This mission is largely the result of the prodigious labors of one +man--Bishop Nicolai Kasatkin. He first came to Japan in 1861 as +chaplain to the Russian consulate at Hakodate, but it was his desire +and intention from the beginning to do mission work. For some years he +was so absorbed in the study of the language that he made no attempt +whatever to preach or teach. After he had been in Hakodate several +years a Buddhist priest who came to revile him was converted through +his influence. This man was the first convert to the Greek Church in +Japan, and was baptized in 1866. Three years afterward the second +convert, a physician, was baptized. + +The zeal of these converts, and Nicolai's own conscience, now incited +him to throw his whole life and influence into the cause of a mission +in Japan. He was led deeply to regret that he had not done more to +make Christ known to the Japanese, instead of giving all his time and +attention to scholarship and letters. In 1869 he returned to Russia +and began to agitate the founding of a mission in Japan. The Holy +Synod gave the desired permission the next year, and appointed Nicolai +its first missionary. In 1871 Nicolai returned to Japan and made his +headquarters in the capital city, Tokyo. From this {167} time his +active missionary work began, and in it he has shown himself a master. +Whether in the work of preaching, translating, financiering, building, +or what not, he has been director and chief laborer. In 1872 a new +priest, Anatoli by name, came out from Russia and ably assisted Nicolai +for eighteen years, at the end of which time declining health forced +him to return. + +Nicolai again returned to Russia in 1879, and was consecrated bishop of +the Greek Church in Japan. At this time he began a work which had long +been on his heart, viz., the collection of funds for the erection of a +fine cathedral in Tokyo. This cathedral was begun in 1884 and +completed in 1891. It is a magnificent building, by far the finest +ecclesiastical structure in Japan. It stands on an eminence from which +it seems to dominate the whole city. The cost of this cathedral was +$177,575, silver. + +Here one may hear the finest choral music in the empire. Those who +believe it to be impossible to train well Japanese voices have but to +attend a service at this cathedral to have their ideas changed. A +choir of several hundred voices has been trained to sing in perfect +harmony, and the music is inspiring. Travelers who have heard the +music of the most famous cathedrals and churches of Europe and America +say that this will compare favorably with the best. The {168} +development of music in the Greek Church of Japan has been marvelous. + +The work of this church, while scattered over the whole empire, is +chiefly carried on in the cities and larger towns. Like the Roman +Church, it refuses fellowship with the various Protestant bodies. Some +men of note belong to it, and it is to-day recognized as one of the +influential religious bodies. + +A notable feature of its work is that it has employed comparatively few +foreign missionaries. The burden of the work has been done by Bishop +Nicolai and an able body of trained native assistants. At present +there are only two foreigners in connection with it, and there have +never been at any time more than three or four. While foreign priests +have been little used, several of its native priests have been educated +abroad. + +This church has 21 native priests and 158 unordained catechists. It is +now conducting work in two hundred and nineteen stations and +outstations. It has one boarding-school for boys, with 47 pupils; one +for girls, with 76 pupils; and one theological school, with 18 pupils. +The membership at the close of the year 1895 was 22,576, and the amount +contributed for all purposes during that year was $4754.95. + + + + +{169} + +X + +A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN JAPAN + +During Japan's period of seclusion, when no foreigner dared enter the +country upon pain of death, many godly people were praying that God +would open the doors, and some mission boards were watching and waiting +for an opportunity to send the gospel to the Japanese. When, in the +year 1854, treaties were made with Western powers, and it became known +that Japan was to be reopened to foreign intercourse, great interest +was at once manifested by the friends of missions in the evangelization +of this land. + +This same year the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church +in the United States of America requested one of its missionaries in +China to visit Japan and examine into the condition of affairs there, +with the purpose of establishing a mission. At this time permanent +{170} residence of foreigners was not secured, and it was doubtless for +this reason that no progress was made toward the establishment of a +mission. + +The country was not actually opened to foreign residence until the year +1859, and by the close of that year three Protestant missionary +societies, quick to take advantage of the opportunity offered, had +their representatives in the field. The Protestant Episcopal Church of +the United States has the honor of sending the first Protestant +missionaries to Japan. It transferred two of its missionaries from +China, the Rev. C. M. Williams and the Rev. J. Liggins. Previous to +this time a few missionaries had made transient visits from China to +Kanagawa and Nagasaki, and found opportunity to teach elementary +English; but this work accomplished little. + +According to the treaty with England, the four treaty ports of Japan +were opened July 1, 1859; according to that with America, July 4th. +Mr. Liggins arrived in Nagasaki May 2d, two months before the actual +opening of the port; he was joined by Mr. Williams one month later. + +On, October 18th of the same year the first missionaries of the +Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Dr. and Mrs. J. C. +Hepburn, arrived at Kanagawa. A fortnight later the Rev. S. R. Brown +and D. B. Simmons, M.D., of the Reformed Church in America, reached +Nagasaki. {171} The Rev. Dr. G. F. Verbeck, also of the Reformed +Church, reached Nagasaki one month later. Thus it will be seen that +missionaries were sent here as soon as the country was opened to +foreign residence, the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Reformed +churches of America beginning the work almost simultaneously. + +The example set by these boards was soon followed by others. The +American Baptists began the work in 1860, the American Board +(Congregationalist) in 1869, and the American Methodists in 1873. From +time to time other boards also sent representatives. + +Although the country was now open to foreign residence, it was by no +means open to the propagation of the foreign religion. All that the +missionaries could do was to study the language and teach English. In +this early period many of them found employment in the schools of the +various daimios and in those of the national government. + +The first years were very trying ones. The missionaries were in +imminent danger of their lives; attacks without either provocation or +warning were very common. Foreigners, and especially those who wanted +to teach the foreign religion, were everywhere bitterly hated. The +lordly samurai walked about with two sharp swords stuck into his belt, +and his very look was {172} threatening. At their houses and when they +walked abroad foreigners had special guards provided them by the +government. + +Great difficulty was at first experienced by the missionaries in +employing teachers, because of the suspicion in which foreigners were +held. Those who finally agreed to teach were afterward found to be +government spies. + +The government was still confessedly hostile to Christianity as late as +1869. Shortly before this time some Roman Catholic Christians who had +been found around Nagasaki were torn from their homes and sent away +into exile. The sale of Christian books was rigidly prohibited. The +prohibitions against Christianity were still posted over all the +empire, and were rigidly enforced. If a conversation on religious +subjects was begun with a Japanese his hand would involuntarily grasp +his throat, indicating the extreme perilousness of such a topic. + +The following story shows what native Christians had to endure in some +parts of Japan as late as 1871. "Mr. O. H. Gulick, while at Kobé, had +a teacher, formerly Dr. Greene's teacher, called Ichikawa Yeinosuke. +In the spring of the year named this man and his wife were arrested at +dead of night and thrown into prison. He had for some time been an +earnest student of the Bible, and had expressed the desire to receive +{173} baptism, but had not been baptized. His wife was not then +regarded as a Christian. Every effort was made to secure his release; +but neither the private requests of the missionaries, nor the kindly +offices of the American consul, nor even those of the American +minister, availed anything. Even his place of confinement was not +known at the time. It was at length learned that he had been confined +in Kyoto, and had died there November 25, 1872. His wife was shortly +afterward released. She is now a member of the Shinsakurada church in +Tokyo." + +At this early period no distinction was made between Catholic and +Protestant Christianity, and both were alike hated. There was no +opportunity to do direct Christian work, and many of the supporters of +missions at home were beginning to doubt the expediency of keeping +missionaries where they were not permitted to work. Some boards even +contemplated recalling their men. But the missionaries were permitted +to remain and await their opportunity, which soon came. With the +gradual opening of the country, and especially with the dissemination +of a knowledge of foreign nations and their faith, the opportunities +for work more and more increased and the old prohibitions were less and +less enforced. + +During the period of forced inactivity the missionaries were busily +engaged in a study of the {174} language and in the writing of various +useful books and tracts. At first Chinese Bibles and other Christian +books were extensively used, the educated classes reading Chinese with +facility. The first religious tract published in Japanese appeared in +1867. One of the most important of the literary productions of the +missionary body, Dr. J. C. Hepburn's Japanese-English and +English-Japanese Dictionary, appeared in this same year. It was a +scholarly work, the result of many years of hard, persevering labor. +The first edition was speedily exhausted, and a second was issued in +1872. The translation of the Holy Scriptures was also begun and gotten +well under way in this period. Several separate portions of the +Scriptures from time to time appeared. The first was the Gospel of +Matthew, translated by the Rev. J. Goble, of the Baptist mission, and +published in 1871. Dr. S. R. Brown had previously prepared first +drafts of some portions of the New Testament, but unfortunately they +were destroyed by fire. Translations of Mark and John, by Drs. Brown +and Hepburn, were published in 1872. + +This irregular, piecemeal method of translation was not satisfactory; +so in order to expedite the work, and to elicit an active interest in +it on the part of all the missionaries in the country, a convention on +Bible translation was called to meet {175} in Yokohama on September 20, +1872. As a result of this convention the Translation Committee was +organized. At first it consisted of Drs. Brown, Hepburn, and Greene. +Other names were afterward added. This committee was ably assisted in +its work by prominent Japanese Christian scholars. The great +undertaking was brought to a successful conclusion in 1880, when an +edition of the whole Bible was published in excellent Japanese. + +We have anticipated matters somewhat. Let us now go back a few years +and take up the thread where we left off. The work of the missionaries +for a long time was fruitless, but the day of reaping was near. The +first Protestant convert of Japan was baptized in Yokohama by the Rev. +Mr. Ballagh, in 1864. Two years later Dr. Verbeck baptized two +prominent men in southern Japan. In 1866 Bishop Williams, of the +Episcopal Church, baptized one convert. Who can tell the joy of these +missionaries when, after so many years of hard work, they were +permitted to see these precious fruits? From time to time others were +baptized, but for many years accessions were rare. The first church +was organized in Yokohama in 1872. It was left to draft its own +constitution and church government, and was a very liberal body. + +During all this time the prohibitions of {176} Christianity were still +posted over all the land, and the government had never officially +renounced its policy of persecution. But the infringement of the laws +was permitted, and gradually they became a dead letter. Many Japanese +of influence and of official position traveled abroad, and learning of +the status of Christianity in the countries of the West, and +particularly of the attitude of the chief nations of the world toward +the persecution of Christians, exerted their influence to have these +prohibitions rescinded. Especially did the strong stand taken by some +Western governments influence Japan in favor of toleration. Our own +Secretary of State in Washington plainly informed the Japanese +committee then visiting there that the United States could not regard +as a friendly power any nation that persecuted its Christian subjects. + +As a result of various influences, the edicts against Christianity were +removed from the signboards in 1873. This was an event of the utmost +importance to Christian work, for, although the infringement of the +edicts had been for some time winked at, their very existence before +the eyes of the people had a great deterring effect. The government +announced that this action did not signify that the prohibition of +Christianity was now abrogated. It declared that the edicts were +removed because their subject-matter, {177} having been so long before +the eyes of the people, "was sufficiently imprinted on their minds." +And yet their removal conveyed the idea to the people at large that +liberty of conscience was henceforth to be allowed, and this virtually +proved to be so. Persecutions ceased and the work was allowed to go on +untrammeled. The object for which the church abroad had waited and +prayed, and for which the missionaries on the ground had longed and +labored, was at last realized. Joy and hope filled the hearts of the +workers. The cause of missions had received a new and powerful +impulse, which ere long made itself felt in a wide enlargement of its +operations. + +The work now went on much more rapidly. Soon a great pro-foreign +sentiment sprang up. With the rapid adoption of Western civilization +there grew up not only a toleration, but an actual desire for the +Western religion. It became rather fashionable to confess Christ. +Some statesmen even went so far as to advocate as a matter of policy +the adoption of Christianity as the state religion. + +In this happy time Christian schools, which had sprung up like +mushrooms over all the land, were filled with eager students; the +churches and chapels were crowded with interested listeners; and large +numbers were annually added to the church. + +{178} + +But the pendulum had swung too far. About 1888 a reaction set in, +caused largely by the impatience of the Japanese at the refusal of +Western nations to revise the treaties on a basis of equality. A +strong nationalism asserted itself. Everything foreign was brought +into disrepute. Christianity was frowned upon as a foreign religion, +and the old native religions again came into favor. Attendance at +Christian schools fell off almost fifty per cent.; the churches and +chapels became empty; and few names were added to the church rolls. A +sifting process began which very much reduced the membership. When +Christianity was popular many had hastily and as a matter of policy +joined the churches, who in this time of disfavor fell away. This +reactionary feeling has lasted uninterruptedly down to the present, and +in recent years the losses numerically have almost equaled the gains. +This reaction has in some respects worked good to the churches. The +former growth was too rapid. Many unconverted men came into the bosom +of the church. Such have fallen away; the church has been pruned of +her old dead branches, and is now a livelier, healthier body. + +In the judgment of some, this reactionary period is now on the decline. +The recent growth and progress of Japan have been recognized by the +West; treaty revision on a basis of equality has {179} been granted +her, and the cause which brought about the reaction has thus been +largely removed. For these reasons we may look for a gradual breaking +down of the prejudice and opposition toward foreign institutions and +religion, though such a pro-foreign wave as swept the country during +the eighties will not probably be experienced again. + +In order to give a correct idea of the work now being done by the +various missions in Japan, It will be well to give a short sketch of +each one separately. We will consider them in the order of their size +and influence. + + + +_American Board Mission_ + +This mission is conducted by the American Board of Commissioners for +Foreign Missions (organized on an undenominational basis, but now +Congregational), and has met with great success. Begun in 1869, it is +younger than either the Episcopalian, Reformed, Presbyterian, or +Baptist missions, but has exerted a greater influence than any of them. +It has for years enjoyed the distinction of having more adherents than +any other Christian body at work here. But there has been a large +falling off in its membership, and during the past year or so very few +new names have been added to its rolls. At the {180} close of 1895 the +Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian) was only about 62 members +behind this body, and by the close of 1896 will in all probability be +ahead. + +This mission was especially fortunate in reaching a wealthy, +influential class of people, which has given it a position and prestige +superior to the other missions. In the number of self-supporting +native churches it has led all other denominations. + +The first missionaries of the American Board to Japan were Dr. and Mrs. +Greene. They arrived in Yokohama November 30, 1869, and, with the +usual intermissions for rest, have labored here continuously since that +time. Three years later the Rev. O. H. Gulick and wife, and the Rev. +J. D. Davis and wife, joined the mission. Since that time the number +of missionaries has been rapidly increased until now it reaches 74. +The membership of the native church is about 11,162. There are 60 +ordained native ministers and 54 unordained. There are four +boarding-schools for girls, with 863 students. The most advanced of +these is the Girls' School of Kobé, with a curriculum as high as that +of most female colleges in America. There is also one school for the +training of Bible-women. + +The chief educational institution of this body is the Doshisha +University, in Kyoto. This {181} school is largely the result of the +labors of Dr. Neesima, easily the first Christian preacher and teacher +Japan has yet produced. It is a large school, beautifully located and +well housed. Last year only 320 students were in attendance, a great +decline from former years. Unfortunately this institution does not now +exert the positive influence for Christianity that it formerly did. +Higher criticism and speculative philosophy have largely supplanted +Christian teaching. The school is now entirely in the hands of the +trustees (all natives), and the mission has no control over it +whatever. Recently all of the missionaries of the American Board who +were serving as professors in the Doshisha have, because of +dissatisfaction with the policy of the school authorities, resigned. +The trustees affirm that it is their intention to keep the school +strictly Christian, but they refuse to define the term "Christian." +Such vital matters as the divinity of Christ and the immortality of the +soul are not positively affirmed. The rationalism which has emanated +from this school has perhaps done as much in recent years to impede the +progress of Christianity as any other one cause. It is very sad to see +an institution, built up at great expense by bequests of earnest +Christian people, intended by its founder to lead the evangelical +Christianity of this country, thus turned aside from its original +purpose. {182} We trust that a gradual growth of a deeper Christian +consciousness and a more positive faith in the hearts of the trustees +and professors may yet lead them to make of this school a positive +force for evangelical Christianity. + +The mission of the American Board has experienced more trouble in +recent years than any other, especially in the attempt properly to +adjust the relations between the native and foreign workers, and in the +matter of mission property. Most of the valuable property of the +mission has passed into native hands, and in some instances has been +perverted from its original purpose. The missionaries are regarded +with jealousy by many in the native church; they are entirely excluded +from the church councils, and are being gradually pushed out of the +most important positions, and their places filled with Japanese. It is +a question just how far the policy adopted by this mission from the +beginning is to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs. This +policy has been to push the native workers to the front, to give them +the important positions, and to allow them perfect freedom in all +church matters. As a consequence, that which was at first granted as a +concession is now demanded as a right. As a teacher in one of their +own schools has comically put it, the mission said in the beginning--in +Japanese phraseology--to the native brethren, {183} "Please honorably +condescend to take the first place," and they are just doing what they +were bidden to do. Other boards, with a different policy, have fared +better. The Episcopal Church of Japan, which is one of the most +active, vigorous bodies at work here, is governed by foreign bishops, +and nearly all the positions of importance are filled by foreign +missionaries, and yet the relations between the native and foreign +workers are, on the whole, cordial and harmonious. The Methodist +Church is governed by foreign bishops, and nearly all the presiding +elders are foreign missionaries, yet complete harmony prevails between +the native and the foreign ministry. The Presbyterian Church, with a +policy somewhat resembling the Congregational, is encountering the same +difficulties in a milder form. These facts seem to indicate that, at +least in part, the policy of the mission is itself responsible for the +position in which it now finds itself. + +But in nearly every mission field, as soon as a strong native church is +developed, misunderstandings and friction between the native and +foreign workers have arisen. Questions regarding the position of the +native church and its relation to the foreign boards and missionaries +almost inevitably arise. Therefore what the American Board has +encountered may be partially encountered by all as soon as a stronger +native church is {184} developed. Perhaps the national characteristics +of the people are to some extent responsible also for this trouble and +friction. + + + +_The Church of Christ in Japan_ + +This body represents an attempt at church union on a large scale. It +is composed of all the Presbyterian and Reformed churches working in +Japan. These are the Presbyterian Church in the United States of +America, the Reformed Church in America, the United Presbyterian Church +of Scotland, the Reformed Church in the United States, the Presbyterian +Church in the United States (South), the Woman's Union Missionary +Society, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. All of these bodies +are engaged in building up one and the same native church--the Church +of Christ in Japan. Yet each has its own field and is doing its own +individual work. + +The growth and success of this body have been phenomenal. It has +11,100 members, 60 ordained native ministers, 113 unordained +catechists, and 146 missionaries. Its leading educational institution +is the Meiji Gakuin, in Tokyo, with both an academic and a theological +department. This is a large, well-equipped school, with a good faculty. + +In connection with this Church of Christ there {185} is a good academic +and theological school in Nagasaki, known as Steele College, and +supported by the Dutch Reformed and Southern Presbyterian missions. +This school is as thoroughly evangelical and positive in its teachings +as any to be found in Japan. + +There are besides these five boarding-schools for boys, with 376 +students, and sixteen boarding-schools for girls, with 795 pupils. + +The representatives of the Church of Christ are found throughout the +length and breadth of the land and are doing a good work. It is likely +that this church will take the lead in the future. + + + +_Methodist Churches_ + +There are five branches of the Methodist Church at work, namely, the +American Methodist Episcopal, the Canadian Methodist Episcopal, the +Evangelical Association of North America, the Methodist Protestant, and +the American Methodist Episcopal (South). There is no organic union +between these bodies, but harmony and fraternity prevail. Efforts at +union have been made time and again, but have been as yet unsuccessful. +We hope the future Methodist Church of Japan will be a united body. + +At present each one of these different bodies supports its own schools; +their efficiency is thus {186} impaired, and great loss of men, time, +and money entailed. In the whole Methodist Church there are five boys' +boarding-schools, with 329 scholars; sixteen girls' boarding-schools, +with 970 scholars; and five theological schools, with 60 students. + +There are 143 missionaries, 115 native ministers, 116 catechists, and +7678 members. + +The Methodist missions have had a rapid, substantial growth and are +exerting a strong influence. They surpass all other bodies in annual +contributions per member, and I think it may be said that the native +Methodist churches have shown less of self-seeking and more of +self-sacrifice than the others. The emotional character of Methodism +adapts it to the taste of the people. + + + +_Episcopalians_ + +The five branches of this church working in Japan are laboring unitedly +for the establishment of one native church, called _Nippon Sei Kokwai_. +These five bodies are the American Protestant Episcopal Church, the +Church Missionary Society (English), the Society for the Propagation of +the Gospel (English), the Wyclif College Mission (Canada), and the +English Church in Canada. The united body has 149 missionaries, 30 +native ministers, 124 unordained helpers, and 5555 communicant members. + +{187} + +This church conducts five boarding-schools for boys, with 169 scholars; +eight boarding-schools for girls, with 263 scholars; and four +theological schools, with 52 students. This body has done a great deal +of hard, substantial work, and has enjoyed a fair degree of the popular +favor. During these late reactionary years, when other missions have +made little progress, its growth has continued uninterruptedly. The +Nippon Sei Kokwai is presided over by five bishops, four of whom are +English and one American. Two are located in Tokyo, one in Hokkaido, +one in Osaka, and one in Nagasaki. + + + +_Baptists_ + +There are four Baptist societies doing mission work in Japan: the +Baptist Missionary Union (United States), the Disciples of Christ, the +Christian Church of America, and the Southern Baptist Convention. +There is no organic union between them, but the first- and last-named +bodies work together. The four bodies unitedly have 92 missionaries, +14 native ministers, 68 native catechists, and 2327 members. + +They have one boarding-school for boys, with 14 students; six +boarding-schools for girls, with 205 students; and two theological +schools, with 21 students. + +{188} + +The Baptist missionaries laboring in Japan are an able, hard-working, +evangelical body of men, and there are some good, strong native Baptist +ministers. + + + +_Lutherans_ + +The Lutheran Church began mission work in Japan only four years ago, +and as yet her mission is small. It is supported by the United Synod +of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South (United States). The +Lutheran Church in the United States has occupied a peculiar position. +A large per cent. of the emigrants from the Old World are of Lutheran +antecedents. Hundreds of thousands of them have come over and settled +in the West, and the energies of the American Lutheran Church have been +largely expended in caring for these unhoused and unshepherded sheep of +her own flock. It seems that Providence has allotted to her this +special work. No other church in America is carrying on home mission +work on so large a scale, among so many different nationalities, and in +so many languages. Because of the great home mission work that has +naturally fallen into her hands and demanded her men and money she has +not engaged in foreign work as extensively as some other American +bodies. + +And yet the American contingent of this old {189} mother church of +Protestantism has a foreign-mission record of which she is not ashamed. +She has supported for many years a mission on the west coast of Africa, +at Muhlenberg, that is by universal consent the most successful mission +in West Africa. She is also supporting two large and successful +missions in India. + +The Lutheran mission in Japan was begun as a venture. The after +development of the work has amply justified the wisdom of the +undertaking. It is not the purpose of the Lutheran Church to +antagonize any of the bodies now at work in Japan, but rather to stand, +amid all the doctrinal unrest characteristic of Japanese Christianity, +for pure doctrine, as she has always done. It is her purpose to teach +a positive, evangelical Christianity. + +The working force of the mission consists of 2 missionaries and their +wives, 2 native helpers, and 1 Bible-woman. The field occupied is +small. There is only one station, and that is in the city of Saga, on +the island of Kyushu. Much work is done in the surrounding villages +and towns from Saga as a center. It is not the purpose of this mission +to use large numbers of men and great quantities of money, as some +others have done. It purposes working intensively rather than +extensively. It attempts to devote all of its time to evangelistic +work, and does not engage in {190} educational work further than +theological instruction. + +Although the missionaries came to Japan in 1892, the station was not +opened until 1893. Since that time about 55 converts have been +baptized. + + +There are numerous small Christian bodies at work, such as the +Scandinavian Japan Alliance, the Society of Friends, the International +Missionary Alliance, the Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association, and +the Salvation Army. There are also three liberal bodies working here, +generally classed as unevangelical: the Evangelical Protestant +Missionary Society, the Universalist mission, and the Unitarian mission. + +The English and American Bible and tract societies have ably seconded +these missionary bodies by the circulation of large numbers of Bibles, +tracts, and various kinds of Christian books. The value of their work +can hardly be estimated. The American Bible Society, the National +Bible Society of Scotland, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the +American Tract Society, and the London Religious Tract Society have all +had a part in the work. + +Such is a brief enumeration of the Christian forces at work in Japan. +With so large a body of consecrated workers and so much missionary +{191} machinery, it seems that the work of evangelization ought to go +on rapidly. A great deal has already been accomplished, as the figures +given above show. A native church of 40,000 people is no mean prize; +but this is only the smallest part of the work of the missions. They +have created a Christian literature, disseminated a certain knowledge +of the gospel among the people, and in a hundred different ways +indirectly influenced the life of this nation. Japanese missions have +been a brilliant success. + + + + +{192} + +XI + +QUALIFICATIONS FOR MISSION WORK IN JAPAN + +For mission work, as for every other calling in life, some men are +naturally adapted, others are not. Those by nature fitted for the work +will in all probability have a reasonable degree of success, while no +amount of zeal or spiritual fervor can make successful those not so +fitted. It is true to a large extent that missionaries are born, not +made. + +How important it becomes, then, that mission boards and societies +should carefully consider the qualifications of all applicants before +they are sent to the mission field! How necessary it is for all those +contemplating work in certain fields, before offering their services to +the boards, to examine whether their qualifications are such as to +justify an expectation of a reasonable degree of success in those +fields! + +For the benefit of the various missionary {193} societies that are +annually choosing and sending out new men to Japan, as well as for the +advantage of those who contemplate offering themselves for work in this +field, I will put down a few thoughts on the necessary qualifications +for successful mission work here. + +These may be roughly classified as physical, spiritual, and mental. + +PHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS.--I regard physical qualifications as of +supreme importance. Many of my readers will think that the spiritual +should precede the physical, but with this opinion I do not agree. +Health is absolutely essential to successful work; deep spirituality, +while greatly to be desired, is not so essential. Many men have failed +on the field and have been forced to withdraw because of a lack of +physical qualifications, while few have failed for lack of spiritual +qualifications. I think it is true that young men who when in college +and seminary appear to be almost consumed with missionary zeal and +enthusiasm, who are pointed out as examples in spirituality, and who +are burning with a desire to get into the foreign field, do not make as +good missionaries as some others. Men who pledge themselves in youth, +and who, actuated by a wild enthusiasm, which has more zeal than +knowledge, urge themselves upon the mission boards, do not do as good +work as those chosen {194} by the boards themselves, who may never have +considered seriously foreign work before the call was extended to them. +Enthusiasm and zeal are good things in their place, but they are apt to +lead men to extremes. People who enter mission work simply because +they are filled with a burning enthusiasm and zeal are not likely to +stay as long or work as well as those who enter upon the work with more +hesitation, after careful deliberation and a counting of the cost. + +Wallace Taylor, M.D., of Osaka, Japan, himself an experienced +missionary of the American Board, says: "I should advise that men be +chosen for their physical and mental adaptation and ability rather than +for their burning zeal for the foreign work. To maintain health and be +a successful missionary a man must possess more judgment than +enthusiasm and more discretion than zeal. Enthusiasm and zeal are good +qualities in a missionary, but to these you must add that which is +better--judgment, wisdom, and self-control. The burning fire shut up +in the bones, that cannot be controlled, only consumes vital energies +and speedily produces failing health. We need men who can stand and +face the white harvest and the many calls to work, and yet with cool +deliberation preserve their strength for future work. We want men sent +for their cool deliberation and self-control rather than for their +{195} burning zeal and enthusiasm. We need men who are intellect +rather than a bundle of nerves. A nervous, excitable, uneasy person +will fret and wear himself out in from six months to three years in +Japan." + +It is desirable, then, in the first place, that the missionary be a +sound physical man. No one should be accepted by a mission board for +work in Japan who cannot secure a policy in a reliable life-insurance +company, and it would be well if the medical examination were made by +an examiner for such company. The examinations made by a physician +appointed by the mission boards are usually mere farces, for the desire +to go as a missionary frequently covers up many physical weaknesses and +prevents a thorough examination. The examination should therefore be +made by a disinterested medical man, who will not be influenced by such +motives. + +It seems hard to subject candidates for mission work to such rigid +examinations, and perhaps refuse to send them because of some small +physical defect; but the interests of the work make it imperative. +Otherwise the young missionary will, in all probability, break down and +have to go home in three or four years, before he has been able to do +any active work. The experiment will have cost the board a large +amount of money and a loss of several years, and the {196} missionary +some of the best years of his life, probably making of him an incurable +invalid. In so serious a matter as this the boards cannot afford to be +swayed by sentiment. Nothing but sound business principles should be +followed. + +The same physical requirements should be made for the woman as for the +man. She, too, should be subjected to a medical examination, and any +serious defect in her constitution should cause her immediate +rejection. It seems hard to subject the wife to this test, as she is +not a missionary in the strict sense of the term, and to many the +requirement will be distasteful; but for their protection, and for a +judicious use of consecrated funds, the boards should require it. A +little thought will show that the failure of the wife's health is just +as disastrous for the mission as the failure of her husband's. It +cripples his efficiency while on the field, and ultimately drives him +home. Most boards operating in Japan have not made this requirement, +and as a consequence many missionaries' wives are in poor health, and +as many men have had to return home because of the failure of their +wives' health as for any other one cause. + +The mission boards should not appoint too young men to work in Japan. +It is well known that young men cannot endure so well as older ones +change of climate and hard work. Those {197} who are physically and +mentally immature will very probably be unable to bear the strain. In +general, no one should be sent out under twenty-five years of age, and +it would be safer if all who came had attained the age of thirty. +Against this it is argued that a young person will acquire the language +more readily than an older one, and this is doubtless true. But health +is of first importance. + +SPIRITUAL QUALIFICATIONS.--Although I consider spiritual qualifications +after physical ones, I nevertheless regard them as of great importance. +It is highly desirable that every missionary be a deeply spiritual man, +fully consecrated to the cause of Christ. The consecration needed in +the missionary is little different from that needed in the home pastor. +If he has given himself and all that he has to Christ, he will be ready +to work for Him anywhere. Those who come to the mission field without +such consecration, expecting the grandeur of the work to beget it, will +be bitterly disappointed. In many instances contact with heathenism +weakens more than it strengthens consecration. The societies should +require that those who are to do spiritual work should be consecrated, +spiritual men. + +The missionary should be sound in the faith, should clearly discern and +readily accept the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and should +{198} be able to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials, +tenaciously holding to the former, while allowing liberty in regard to +the latter. He will encounter many strange things in his new +environment; many of his pet theories will be exploded, and he will +meet much that will try his faith. His belief in the essentials of +Christianity should be so strong that even if his views undergo a +change in non-essentials he shall not be shaken at the center. He must +be able to defend his faith against its enemies, as well as to impart +it to those to whom he is sent. To do this his own hold upon it must +be firm and unyielding. + +The missionary should have a positive, not a negative, faith. His +position should continually be one of offense, not of defense. His +faith must be aggressive and dominant in its hold upon others, must be +both persuasive and constructive. He must be sure of the faith in +which he trusts, and must be positive in his presentation of it to the +world. + +It is especially important that the missionary's doctrinal development +be full and rounded. He should see all the doctrines of the Christian +system in their proper relation to one another, and should give due +importance to each. A one-sided, eccentric man, who has struck off +from the main line of doctrinal development and is on a {199} +side-track, having exalted some one phase of the Christian teaching or +life to the exclusion of others, is not fitted for mission work. He +can be used to better effect at home, because there he is continually +under restraining influences, while here there are no restraints. For +this reason what would be only a harmless eccentricity at home may +result in great mischief abroad. Those who are to found the church in +Japan, to shape its theology and its life, should be well-rounded men, +who will not unduly exalt any one doctrine, but who, having a +comprehensive view of the Christian system, will give due importance to +every part. + +It is very important that prospective missionaries fully count the +cost, and be prepared beforehand to endure patiently the trials and +hardships that will be sure to meet them. No one should go out without +having carefully considered all of these things, and gained the full +consent of his heart to endure them. If the cost has not been counted, +and the work willingly entered upon with a full knowledge of its +hardships and difficulties, the encounter of these upon the field is +apt to result in disappointment and dissatisfaction. + +Every missionary should be a lover of humanity, even in its lowest and +most degraded forms. It is useless for us to attempt to persuade and +influence non-Christian men if we do not love {200} them. The +audiences we address may not be moved by our logic or rhetoric; our +most eloquent sermons may have no effect on them; but practical +illustrations of our love for them will always meet with a hearty +response. Love is the key that opens all hearts. "Faith, hope, love, +these three; but the greatest of these is love." + +To love refined Christian men and women is easy, but to love humanity +in its more degraded forms is hard. And yet the missionary must be +prepared to love an alien race, that regards him with coolness and +distrust. He must be ready to associate with lowly people, amid humble +and immoral surroundings, and to be patient, kind, and loving to the +most degraded. No one who has not lived on the mission field and +associated freely with the people knows how hard this is. Such love +will win more men to Christ than eloquent preaching or most careful +instruction. The man who possesses a large amount of it, other things +being equal, will meet with success. + +The missionary should, as far as possible, present in his own character +all Christian graces. He will be looked upon as a product of the faith +he represents, and will exercise more influence by his life than by his +words. He must not be impatient, quarrelsome, or wilful, and, above +all, he must not be proud. Constant association with an inferior race +is apt to beget a haughty, {201} domineering manner, and the missionary +needs to be especially on his guard against this. He may present no +striking defects of character, else his faith will be held responsible +for them. Peculiarities and faults that are known to be merely +personal at home are regarded in the mission field as the result of a +bad religion. + +It is very important that the missionary be an attractive man, +possessed of personal magnetism. He should by nature draw men, not +repel them. Although hard to define, we all know what this power is. +Let a little child come into a room where two men are sitting. It will +readily go to the one, but no amount of coaxing will induce it to go to +the other. The one possesses an innate power to attract, while the +other repels. Where the personal element plays so important a role it +is essential that the missionary possess the power to draw men. + +MENTAL QUALIFICATIONS.--Hardly less important than physical and +spiritual are the mental qualifications. A mediocre man cannot do good +work in any mission field, least of all in a field like Japan. None +but strong men should be sent out. In former years, when the science +of missions was little understood, it was thought a waste to send a man +of unusual intellectual endowments, because an ordinary man could do +the work just as well; but the boards have wisely {202} abandoned that +policy. Experience has clearly demonstrated the wisdom of sending the +very best men that can be had. + +In the first place, the prospective missionary to Japan should have as +complete and thorough a mental training as possible. A full academic +and theological course is highly desirable. He should know how to +reason logically and profoundly, and should be a skilled dialectician, +able to meet the native scholars on their own ground. The subtle +philosophies of the East, which he will daily encounter, can only be +dealt with by a man thoroughly trained. The atheistic and agnostic +philosophies of the West are spread over all Japan, and the missionary +must be able to combat them. + +Another reason why the missionary should be as highly educated as +possible is that large numbers of the Japanese people are highly +educated, and a man of poor ability and training cannot command their +respect. Education is to-day being diffused more and more throughout +Japan, and the missionary must work among an educated people. It is +necessary that he feel himself to be at least the intellectual equal of +all with whom he comes in contact. + +In order, then, successfully to combat the subtle philosophies of the +East, to show the fallacies of the prevalent skeptical philosophies of +the {203} West, and to command the respect of the people among whom he +labors, the missionary to this land should have a thorough intellectual +training. + +Linguistic talent is another essential, and especially so in Japan. No +one should be sent here who is deficient in this. This language is +perhaps the most difficult of all spoken languages for an Occidental to +acquire. It is so thoroughly unlike any of the European languages that +the student must change his view-point and learn to look at things as +the Japanese do before he can make much progress. To master it one +must study both Japanese and Chinese. While a fair linguist can, by +hard work, preach with comparative intelligibility after three years of +study, a complete mastery of the language is the work of a lifetime. + +If any one contemplating mission work in Japan remembers that he was a +poor student of languages at college and made little progress in them, +let him feel assured that he can probably serve the Lord better at +home. I state this matter strongly because just here is where so many +missionaries fail. There are men who have been here ten or fifteen +years and yet who experience great difficulty in constructing the +smallest sentence in Japanese. Such men are not useless; in certain +departments they serve well; {204} but they would probably be of more +use at home. At least one third of all the missionaries in Japan, if +called upon to make an extempore address in Japanese, would be found +wanting. In view of these facts, how important it becomes that only +those men be sent out who have a reasonable expectation of learning the +language! + +Along with natural linguistic talent, the prospective missionary should +have a large amount of perseverance. Nothing but persistent, slavish +work through many years will enable one to speak Japanese well; and no +one should come here who is not willing to stick to an unattractive +task until it is accomplished. + +It is of primary importance that the missionary have a large endowment +of common sense. Nothing else will make up for deficiency in this. It +alone gives power to adapt one's self to a new environment and to live +under changed conditions. The demands upon common sense here are much +greater than at home, because the conditions under which we live are so +different, and the practical questions that daily meet us are so +numerous. Dr. Lawrence finely says: "At home so much common sense has +been organized into custom that we are all largely supported by the +general fund, and many men get along with a very slender stock of their +own. But on the {205} mission field, where Christian custom is yet in +the making, the drafts on common sense would soon overdraw a small +account." + +A knowledge of music will be found of great assistance to the +missionary, the more the better. He will often have to start his own +hymns, play the organ, or direct the music. He may have to translate +hymns and set them to music, or even compose tunes himself. Good +church music is now so essential in worship that every missionary +should have a knowledge of it. But this qualification, while highly +desirable, is not indispensable. + +The missionary also needs to a great degree the power of self-control. +He should be a cool, conservative man, able to govern himself under all +circumstances. He must not be moved to excessive labor by the present +needs of the work, but must exercise self-restraint, husbanding his +strength for future tasks. One of the most difficult things to do is +to refrain from overwork when the need of work is so apparent. But the +missionary must consider the permanent interests of the work ahead of +its temporary needs. + +To sum up the desired intellectual qualifications: a missionary to +Japan should have a good mind, well disciplined by thorough training; +an abundant supply of common sense; linguistic ability, and the power +of self-control. + +{206} + +There is one other qualification, that can hardly be classed under any +of the above heads, i.e., _the missionary should be a married man_. +The vast majority of missionaries in the field to-day are unanimous in +this judgment. The experience of the various mission boards and +societies also confirms it, and they are sending out fewer single men +each year. + +Married men make more efficient workers for many reasons. They enjoy +better health and are better satisfied. They have a home to which they +can go for rest and sympathy, and in which they can find agreeable +companionship. They have the loving ministrations of a wife in times +of sickness and despondency, and they also have the cheer and +relaxation of children's society. All of these things tend to make the +missionary healthier and happier, and enable him to do better work. + +Again, he should be married because a man of mature years who is single +is regarded with more or less suspicion. To the Japanese celibacy is +an unnatural state, and it is seldom found. Most unmarried men here +are immoral, and therefore the unmarried missionary is naturally +suspected of leading an immoral life, which cripples his influence. + +But the strongest argument in favor of married as against single +missionaries is that the former {207} alone are able to build Christian +homes. The homes of single men are very poor things at best, and +certainly cannot be pointed to as models. But the married man +establishes a Christian home in the midst of his people, and sets them +a concrete example of what Christian family life should be. This +example is one of the most potent influences for good operating on the +mission field. + +In home life perhaps more than in any other respect Japanese society is +wanting. The renovation of the home is one of the crying needs of the +hour. An open Christian home, exhibiting the proper relations between +husband and wife, parents and children, will do much toward bringing +this about. + +This argument is not intended to apply against single women who come +out to teach in the girls' schools. Their work is entirely different, +and is such as can be done best by single women. The argument applies +only to the missionary engaged in evangelistic work. + +Such I believe to be the qualifications essential to successful mission +work in Japan. To many the requirements may seem too strict. But the +work to which the missionary is called is a high and noble one, and the +ideal for a worker should be correspondingly high. The extreme +difficulty of the work, and its great expense, make it imperative that +only men adapted to it be sent out. {208} + +While setting forth this high ideal of what a missionary to this land +should be, no one is more sensible than the writer of the fact that +many missionaries, including himself, fail to realize it. But he is +glad to be able to affirm that a large per cent. of these desired +qualifications are found in the majority of the missionary brethren in +Japan. + + + + +{209} + +XII + +PRIVATE LIFE OF THE MISSIONARY + +It is our purpose in this chapter to show the churches at home +something of the life which their missionaries lead in Japan. We will +attempt to draw aside the veil and look at their private life--the holy +of holies. This is a delicate task, and I hesitate to undertake it. +And yet I think a knowledge of the trials, perils, discouragements, +temptations, hopes, and fears of the missionary may be very profitable +to those who support our missions. + +Missionaries are men of like appetites, passions, hopes, and desires +with those at home. They long for and enjoy the comforts and amenities +of life. They have wives and children whom they love as devotedly, and +for whom they desire to provide as comfortable homes, as the pastor at +home. + +There was a time when missionaries were {210} called upon to forego +nearly all social pleasures and submit to endless discomforts, but that +time is past. The mission home to-day is frequently as comfortable as +that of the pastor in America. It is right that the standard of living +in the home lands should be maintained by the missionaries abroad, and +that they surround themselves with all available pleasures and +conveniences. There is no reason why a man should lay aside all +pleasures and comforts so soon as he becomes a missionary. + +Those who live in the foreign ports in Japan have nice, roomy houses +modeled after Western homes. Many of them are surrounded with +beautiful lawns and fine flowers, and are a comfort and delight to +their possessors. Most of the missionaries who live in the interior +occupy native houses, slightly modified to suit foreign taste. By +building chimneys, and substituting glass for paper windows, the native +houses can be made quite comfortable, though they are colder in winter +and do not look so well as foreign ones. The writer has lived in such +a home during most of his residence in Japan, and has suffered little +inconvenience. Some of the wealthier mission boards have built foreign +houses even in the interior, and to-day there are a good many such +scattered over Japan. + +As has been before remarked, the mission {211} home is one of the most +important factors in connection with the work; it is a little bit of +Christendom set down in the midst of heathendom. It presents to the +non-Christian masses around it a concrete example of exalted family +life, with equality and trust between husband and wife, and mutual love +between parents and children--things not generally found in the native +home. It is a beacon-light shining in a dark place. + +This is one of the many reasons why a missionary should be a married +man. The single man cannot create this model home, which is to teach +the people by example what Christian family life should be. In this +respect Catholic missions are deficient, the celibacy of the priests +precluding family life. + +First, then, the mission home is an example to the non-Christian people +around it. It is frequently open to them, and they can see its +workings. They often share its hospitality and sit at its table. +Their keen eyes take in everything, and a deep impression is made upon +them. + +Just here arises one of the greatest difficulties the missionary has to +contend with in his private life. The people are so inquisitive +naturally, the mission home is so attractive to them, and our idea of +the privacy and sanctity of the home is so lacking in their etiquette, +that it is hard to keep {212} the home from becoming public. People +will come in large numbers at the most unseasonable hours, simply out +of curiosity, wanting to see and handle everything in the house. It is +often necessary, in self-defense, to refuse them admittance, except at +certain hours. Not only are the seclusion and privacy of the home +endangered, but the missionary also is in great danger of having his +valuable time uselessly frittered away. + +Notwithstanding all that the mission home is to the people, it is much +more to the missionary. It should be to him a sure retreat and +seclusion from the peculiarly trying cares and worries of his work. It +should be a place where he can evade the subtle influences of +heathenism which creep in at every pore--a safe retreat from the sin +and wickedness and vice around it. + +The mission home should be a Western home transplanted in the East. It +may not become too much orientalized. It should have Western +furniture, pictures, musical instruments, etc., and should make its +possessor feel that he is in a Western home. It should be well +supplied with books and newspapers, and everything else that will help +to keep its inmates in touch with the life of the West. The missionary +may not be orientalized, else he will be in danger of becoming +heathenized. + +For the sake of his children the missionary's {213} home should be as +exact a reproduction of the Western home as possible. These children +are citizens of the West, heirs of its privileges; and to it they will +go before they reach years of maturity. Therefore it is but fair that +their childhood home should reflect its civilization. + +In order that the missionary may be able to build up such a home it is +necessary that he be paid a liberal salary. While living in native +style is very cheap, living in Western style is perhaps as dear here as +in any country in the world. Clothing, furniture, much of the food, +etc., must be brought from the West; and we must pay for it not only +what the people at home pay, but the cost of carrying it half-way round +the world, and the commission of two or three middlemen besides. + +Most boards operating in Japan pay their men a liberal salary. They +also pay an allowance for each child, health allowance, etc. All this +is well. Man is an animal, and, like other animals, he must be well +cared for if he is to do his best work. No farmer would expect to get +hard work out of a horse that was only half fed, and no mission board +can expect to get first-class work out of a missionary who is not +liberally supported. The missionary has enough to worry him without +having to be anxious about finances. + +Especially is it wise that the boards give their {214} men an allowance +for children. The expenses incident to a child's coming into the world +in the East are very high. The doctor's bill alone amounts frequently +to more than $100. Then a nurse is absolutely necessary, there being +no relatives and friends to perform this office, as sometimes there are +in the West. The birth of a child here means a cash outlay of $150 to +$200, to pay which the missionary is often reduced to hard straits. If +he belongs to a board that makes a liberal child's allowance he is +fortunately relieved from this difficulty. + +The allowance is also necessary to provide for the future education of +the child. As there are no suitable schools here, children must be +sent home to school at an early age. They cannot stay in the parental +home and attend school from there, as American children do, but must be +from childhood put into a boarding-school, and this takes money. Now +no missionaries' salaries are sufficiently large to enable them to lay +up much money, and unless there is a child's allowance there will be no +money for his education, in which event the missionary must sacrifice +his self-respect by asking some school or friends to educate his child. +He feels that if any one in the world deserves a salary sufficient to +meet all necessary expenses without begging, he does; and it hurts him +to give his life in hard service to {215} the church in a foreign land, +and then have his children educated on charity. + +All mission boards should give their men an allowance for each child, +unless the salary paid is sufficiently large to enable them to lay +aside a sufficient sum for this very purpose. + +The health allowance is also a wise provision because the climate is +such as often to necessitate calling in a physician, and doctors' bills +are enormously high. If the missionary is not well he cannot work; but +if he is left to pay for medical attendance himself out of a very +meager salary, all of which is needed by his wife and children, he will +frequently deny himself the services of a physician when they are +really needed. + +The work of the missionary is most trying, and the demands on his +health and strength are very exhausting. The petty worries and trials +that constantly meet him, the rivalries and quarrels which his converts +bring to him for settlement, the care of the churches, anxiety about +his family, etc., are a constant strain on his vital force, in order to +withstand which it is necessary that he should have regular periods of +rest and recreation. Nature demands relaxation, and she must have it, +or the health of the worker fails. + +It is customary in Japan for the missionaries to leave their fields of +work during the summer season and spend six weeks or two months in +{216} sanatoria among the mountains or by the seashore. Here their +work, with its cares and anxieties, is all laid aside. The best-known +sanatoria in Japan are Karuizawa, Arima, Hakone, Sapporo, and Mount +Hiezan. In most of these places good accommodations are provided, and +the hot weeks can be spent very pleasantly. Large numbers of +missionaries gather there, and for a short time the tired, isolated +worker can enjoy the society of his own kind; his wife can meet and +chat with other housewives; and his children can enjoy the rare +pleasure of playing with other children white like themselves. These +resorts are cool, the air is pure and invigorating, and the missionary +returns from them in September feeling fresh and strong, ready to take +up with renewed vigor his arduous labors. + +It is objected to these vacations that they take the missionary away +from his field of work, and that so long an absence on his part is very +injurious to the cause. This is partially true; but a wise economy +considers the health of the worker and his future efficiency more than +the temporary needs of the work. The absence of the foreign worker for +a short period is not as hurtful as one would at first glance suppose. +A relatively larger part of the work is left in the hands of the native +helpers in Japan than in most mission fields, and these evangelists +stay at their posts {217} all through the summer, and care for its +interests while the foreigner is away. The same need of a vacation +does not exist in their case, because they are accustomed to the +climate, and they work through their native tongue and among their own +people. + +The need of this missionary vacation is so evident that we need only +give it in outline. In the first place, the unfavorable climate makes +a change and rest desirable. As I have already stated, the climate of +Japan is not only very warm, but also contains an excessive amount of +moisture and a very small per cent. of ozone, and is lacking in +atmospheric magnetism and electricity; hence its effect upon people +from the West is depressing. Besides the climate, the missionary's +work is so exhaustive and trying, and its demands upon him are so +great, that a few weeks' rest are absolutely necessary. The same +reasons which at home justify the city pastor in taking a vacation are +intensified in the missionary's case. + +Not least of these reasons is that the missionary may for a while enjoy +congenial society. Many of us spend ten months of the year isolated +almost entirely from all people of our own kind. The Japanese are so +different that we can have but little social life with them; and it is +but natural and right that, for a short period, we should have the +opportunity to meet and {218} associate with our fellow-missionaries. +The work which we do the remainder of the year is done much better +because of this rest and fellowship. + +Dr. J. C. Berry, in a paper read before the missionary conference at +Osaka in 1883, discusses very fully this question of missionary +vacations and furloughs. After elaborating the reasons for them, which +reasons I have given in brief above, he says: "It therefore follows +that, because of the numerous and complex influences operating to-day +to produce nerve-tire in the missionary in Japan, regard for the +permanent interests of his work requires that a vacation be taken in +summer by those residing in central and southern Japan, the same to be +accompanied by as much of recreation and change as circumstances will +permit." + +With all the care and precaution that can be taken, with systematic +rests and vacations, there soon comes a time when it is necessary for +the missionary to return to his home land, to breathe again the air of +his youth, and to replenish his physical, mental, and moral being. All +the mission boards recognize this and permit their men in this and in +other fields to return home on furlough after a certain number of +years. The definite time required by the different missions before a +furlough is granted varies from three to ten years, the latter period +being the most general. {219} But this has been found to be too long, +and failing health usually compels an earlier return. Some boards have +no set time, but a tacit understanding exists that the missionary may +go home at the end of six or eight years. + +At the end of the prescribed period the missionary family is taken home +at the expense of the board, and is given a rest of a year or eighteen +months. During this time, if the missionary is engaged in preaching or +lecturing for the board, as is generally the case, he is paid his full +salary. If he does no work he is sometimes paid only half his salary. +This is very hard, as the salary is just large enough to support him +and his family, and their expenses while at home are almost as great as +while in the field. If the salary is cut down the pleasure and benefit +of the furlough are curtailed. If the missionary in the service of the +board exhausts his health and strength in an unfavorable climate it +seems but fair that he should be properly supported while endeavoring +to recuperate. When a church at home votes its pastor a vacation, +instead of cutting down his salary during his absence, it is customary +to give him an extra sum to enable him to enjoy it. Why should not the +same be done for the missionary? He should at least be permitted to +draw the full amount of his small salary. + +Against these vacations is urged their great {220} expense to the +boards, the greater loss to the mission because of the absence of the +worker, and the moral effect of frequent returns upon the church at +home. All of these objections have weight, but they are far outweighed +by the reasons that necessitate the furlough. The accumulated +experience of the different boards makes the judgment unanimous that +these are necessary. The judgment of competent medical men also +confirms the statement. Dr. Taylor said in the Osaka conference: "I am +convinced that a missionary's highest interest requires, and the +greatest efficiency in his work will be secured by, a return home at +stated intervals." Dr. Berry said in the same conference: "The new and +strange social conditions under which the missionary is obliged to +work; the effects of climate, intensified in many cases by comparative +youth; the absence of many of those home comforts and social, +intellectual, and religious privileges with which the Christian +civilization of to-day so plentifully surrounds life; the home ties, +strengthened by youthful affections,--all these combine with present +facilities of travel to render it advisable that the young missionary +be at liberty to take a comparatively early vacation in his native +land." + +From an economic standpoint it is wise to grant these furloughs. It is +poor economy to keep the workers in the field until they are completely +{221} broken down, and then have to replace them by inexperienced men, +who will not be able to do the work of the old ones for years. Far +wiser is it to let them stop and recuperate in the home lands before +this breakdown comes. It costs less money to keep a missionary well +than to care for him during a long, unprofitable period of sickness. I +quote again on this point Wallace Taylor, M.D., who, in the paper +referred to above, said: "The present haphazard, unsystematic methods +of most missions and boards is attended with the greatest expense and +the poorest returns. Some of the boards working in Japan have lost +more time and expended more money in caring for their broken-down +missionaries than it would cost to carry out the recommendations herein +made. Again, I observe that many who do not break down begin to fail +in health after the fourth or fifth year from entering on their work. +They remain on the field, and are reluctantly obliged to spend more or +less time in partial work, while experiencing physical discomfort and +dissatisfaction of mind. Very many of these cases would have +accomplished more for the means expended by a furlough home at the +close of the fifth or sixth year.... Over $90,000 have been expended +in Japan by one mission alone in distracted efforts to regain the +health of its missionaries." + +These furloughs are also needed to keep the {222} missionary in touch +with the life of the home churches. The West is rapidly progressing in +civilization, in arts and sciences, and in theology as well. The +missionary who spends ten or more years on the field before returning +home finds himself in an entirely new atmosphere, with which he is +unfamiliar. He looks at things from the standpoint of ten or more +years ago; his methods of work, his language, all are belated. In +order that he may give to the nascent churches of Japan the very best +theology, the very best methods, and the very best life of the Western +churches, it is necessary for him to return frequently to breathe in +their spirit and life and keep up with their forward march. + +For the missionary's personal benefit he should be permitted to come +into frequent contact with the home churches. A too long uninterrupted +breathing of the poisonous atmosphere of heathenism has a wonderfully +cooling effect upon his ardor and zeal, and is trying to his faith. He +needs to come into contact with the broader faith and deeper life of +the home churches, and receive from them new consecration and devotion +to his work. + +The church at home needs also to come frequently into contact with its +missionaries. Nothing will so stir up interest and zeal in the mission +cause as to see and hear its needs from living, {223} active workers, +fresh from the field. If missionaries were more frequently employed to +represent the cause to the churches at home perhaps our mission +treasuries would not be so depleted. Mission addresses from home +pastors are abstract and theoretical; those from missionaries are +concrete and practical. The former speak from reading, the latter from +personal experience. The address of the missionary comes with power +because he speaks of what he has seen and felt, and his personality is +thrown into it. + +For the sake, then, of the work abroad, of the missionary himself, and +of the home churches, missionaries should be required to take regular +furloughs at stated intervals, and should spend them in the home lands. + +How long can the missionary safely work in Japan before taking his +first furlough? That will depend upon the nature of the man himself, +and the kind of mission work in which he is engaged. The average +length of time spent here by the missionaries before the first furlough +is about seven years. There are no men more competent to pass judgment +upon this matter than Drs. Berry and Taylor, who have spent the better +part of their lives here, in the service of the American Board, and who +are thoroughly acquainted with the conditions that surround us. Dr. +Berry says: "I do not hesitate to affirm that the {224} +'ten-year-or-longer rule,' still adhered to by some missionary +societies, and by many missionaries as well, is too long for the first +term.... I indorse what in substance has been suggested by my friend +Dr. McDonald, viz., that the time of service on the field prior to the +first furlough be seven years, and that prior to subsequent furloughs +be ten years; this plan to be modified by health, existing conditions +of work, home finances, and by individual preferences." Dr. Taylor +says: "My observations have led me to the conclusion that the first +furlough ought to be taken at the close of the fifth or sixth year, and +after that once every eight or ten years." + + +We have yet to look at the trials and sorrows, the encouragements and +joys, of the missionary. We have already looked into the missionary's +home; let us now endeavor to look into his heart. If the former is his +_sanctum_, this is his _sanctum sanctorum_; and I trust my missionary +brethren will pardon me for exposing it to the public view. + +We will pass by all physical hardships, such as climate, improper food, +poor houses, etc. Although these are often greater hardships than the +people at home know, they are but "light afflictions" to the +missionary. His real trials lie in an entirely different sphere. + +The greatest hardship the missionary has to {225} bear is his +loneliness and isolation. Separated almost entirely from his own race, +he is deprived of all those social joys that are so dear to him. The +thought of his kinsmen and friends is ever in his mind, but alas! they +are so far away. He must go on year after year living among a people +from whom an impassable gulf separates him, leading the same lonely +life. For the first year or two he rather enjoys the quiet and +privacy, but by and by it becomes almost unendurable. Dr. Edward +Lawrence has correctly styled the missionary "an exile." We cannot do +better than quote his words: "Very many of the missionary's heaviest +burdens are summed up in the one word whose height and breadth and +length and depth none knows so well as he--that word 'exile.' It is +not merely a physical exile from home and country and all their +interests; it is not only an intellectual exile from all that would +feed and stimulate the mind; it is yet more--a spiritual exile from the +guidance, the instruction, the correction, from the support, the +fellowship, the communion of the saints and the church at home. It is +an exile as when a man is lowered with a candle into foul places, where +the noxious gases threaten to put out his light, yet he must explore it +all and find some way to drain off the refuse and let in the sweet air +and sun to do their own cleansing work.... The {226} missionary is not +only torn away from those social bonds that sustain, or even almost +compose, our mental, moral, and spiritual life, but he is forced into +closest relations with heathenism, whose evils he abhors, whose power +and fascinations, too, he dreads. And when at last he can save his own +children only by being bereft of them, he feels himself an exile +indeed." + +The missionary's life is full of disappointments. Men for whom he has +labored and prayed it may be for years, and in whom he has placed +implicit confidence, will often bitterly disappoint him in their +Christian life. Boys who have been educated on his charity, who are +what they are solely by his help, will frequently be guilty of base +ingratitude, and, worse yet, will repudiate his teachings. The native +church not having generations of Christian ancestry behind it, and not +being in a Christian environment, is often, it may be unwittingly, +guilty of heathen practices that sorely try the heart of the +missionary. The struggle between the new life and the old heathenism +is still seen in the church-members and even in the native ministry. +Each missionary, if he would be well and cheerful in his work, must +learn to cast all burdens of such a character on the Lord, and not be +oppressed by them. + +One of the greatest trials some of us have to bear is that we must live +in an environment so {227} unconducive to personal growth and +development There is a great deal of ambition lurking about us still, +and we do not like to see our own development cut short because of an +unfavorable environment, while our friends and classmates at home, who +were no more than our equals in former days, far surpass us in +intellectual development and in influence and power. Perhaps a +missionary should be above such thoughts and should be perfectly +content with a life of obscurity and partial development; but +missionaries are still men, and to many an ambitious one the limits +placed upon his personal development are very irksome. + +But why are the conditions unfavorable to high personal development? +Because those stimulants to prolonged, vigorous effort that exist in +the West are lacking. The stimulus of competition, the contact of +thinking minds, so necessary to enlist the full exercise of a man's +powers, are largely wanting. One is shut up to his own thoughts and to +those he gets from books, and his development, in so far as it does +proceed, is very apt to be one-sided. This is the reason why so many +missionaries are narrow, unable to see a subject in all its relations +and to give due importance to each. + +The work of the missionary from beginning to end is one of +self-sacrifice and self-effacement. {228} There is no future for him +in the councils of the native church. As the work grows and extends he +must gradually take a back seat. As the native ministry develops, the +foreign minister is less and less needed, and must gradually withdraw. + +Again, the home land, father and mother, brothers and sisters, friends +and companions, are just as dear to the missionary as to any one else. +Yet it seems inevitable that he will gradually grow away from them and +be forgotten by them. Prolonged absence brings forgetfulness; diverse +labors and interests put people out of sympathy with one another. When +the new missionary first comes out to his field, communication between +him and friends is frequent. Letters pass regularly, little +remembrances are sent from time to time, and he is still in touch with +his friends at home. But by and by a change comes. After one or two +years exchange of presents and remembrances ceases; gradually the +letters cease also, and none come except those from his immediate +family. Even these become less and less frequent. The arrival of the +mails, which at first was looked forward to with so much joy, is now +scarcely noted. An old American gentleman who has spent some forty +years in the East tells me that he now receives from the home land not +more than two or three letters per year. {229} After a few years of +residence here one feels that he is largely out of touch with the life +of the West, and that he is forgotten, by home and friends. + +It seems to me that churches and friends can do much toward preventing +this, and toward brightening the lives of their missionaries, if they +will. Let pastors and friends throughout the church take special pains +to write interesting personal letters to the missionary. It will do +him good just to be remembered in this way. It is natural that the +same kindness, attention, and love that are shown to the home pastor +should not be shown to the missionary, because he is so far away and +the strong personal element is wanting. But if the churches would make +an effort to share their kindness and beneficence between the home +pastor and the foreign one it would be highly appreciated by the latter. + +Especially does this seem but fair in a case where a church supports +its own missionary and where most of its members are personally +acquainted with him. Such churches speak of having two pastors; one at +home ministering to them, and one abroad, in their stead, preaching the +gospel to the heathen. Why should not these pastors have equal place +in their hearts and receive equally their kindness and their gifts? If +any preference is shown, it would seem that it should {230} be to the +foreign pastor, for he has much the harder work. But the foreign +pastor is generally forgotten, while the home pastor, with whom living +is much cheaper, is paid a larger salary; he is given a vacation, and a +purse to enable him to spend it pleasantly; at Christmas he is +substantially remembered, and all through the year he is presented with +numerous gifts and shown many favors. The poor lonely missionary is +paid a moderate salary and is given no further thought. Imagine the +feelings of a man in a mission field, supported by one church which +always speaks of him as its foreign pastor, as he takes up a church +paper and reads of the favors shown the home pastor; among them such +items as "a nice purse of fifty dollars," "a three months' leave of +absence, and expenses to ----." He cannot help thinking with a sigh of +that unpaid doctor's bill of fifty dollars incurred by his wife's ill +health last summer, or of the money needed to send his boy home to be +educated. + +A church should try to remember its pastor abroad as well as the one at +home. The home pastor himself could see to it that this is done. If +he should simply say, when handed a present for some purpose, "Our +foreign pastor has not been remembered by us, and he needs it more than +I, therefore we will send this to him," the result would probably be +that he and the foreign {231} pastor would both be remembered. If +little expressions of appreciation and kindness, such as this, were +occasionally shown the missionaries, it would do much to brighten and +cheer their hard lives. These are little things, but the little things +have much to do with our happiness. + +If the missionary life has its sorrows and disappointments, it has its +pleasures and joys as well. It is with great pleasure that I turn from +the dark to the bright side of our lives. + +First I would mention that sweet peace and joy that come from the +consciousness of doing one's duty. The true missionary feels that God +has called him into the work, and that he is fulfilling the divine +will. This knowledge brings with it much pleasure. The joy is all the +sweeter because of the sacrifices that must be undergone in answer to +the divine call. He feels not only that he is in the field by the call +of God, but also that God is with him in his work, leading, guiding, +blessing, helping him. He hears the words of his Master, "Lo, I am +with you alway," and he gladly responds, "In Thy presence is fullness +of joy." The brooding Spirit of God is especially near the Christian +worker in foreign lands, and imparts to him much joy and peace. + +Another of the missionary's joys is to see the gospel gradually taking +hold of the hearts of the people and renewing and transforming them. +It {232} is passing pleasant to tell the gospel story, so full of hope +and joy, to these people whose religious ideas and aspirations are only +dark and gloomy. Who could desire sweeter joy than to watch the +transforming power of the gospel in the heart of some poor heathen, +changing him from an idol-worshiping, immoral creature into a pure, +consistent Christian? It is the good fortune of the missionary to see +such changes taking place in the people to whom he ministers. And what +a change it is! For gloom and dejection it gives joy and hope; for +blind, irresistible fate it gives a loving providence. The change is +so great that every feature of the face expresses it. + +Lastly, the crown of the missionary's life is to see a strong, vigorous +native church springing up around him, the direct result of his labors; +to see it gradually and silently spreading itself throughout the whole +nation as the leaven through the meal, permeating every form of its +life and impressing itself upon every phase of its character. To this +native church he confidently looks for the evangelization of the masses +and the accomplishment of all that for which he has labored so long and +so earnestly. When the missionary can look upon such a native church +with the feeling that it will be faithful to its Lord and do His work; +when he can sit in its pews and hear soul-nourishing gospel sermons +from his {233} own pupils, now grown strong in the Lord--then indeed +his cup of joy is full. The trials and sorrows that were endured in +connection with the work are all forgotten, and his only emotion is one +of glad thanksgiving. + +In some lands many missionaries have already received this crown to +their labors; it has been partially received in Japan, and if we are +but faithful to our trust shall yet be received in all lands. + + + + +{234} + +XIII + +METHODS OF WORK + +Missionaries attempt in various ways to evangelize the nations to which +they are sent. The extent and variety of the work which the missionary +is called upon to perform are much greater than the people at home are +apt to think. He must be at the same time a preacher, a teacher, a +translator, a financier, a judge, an author, an editor, an architect, a +musician. The great variety of the work necessitates a well-rounded +man. + +All of these offices are, in an indirect sense, ways of doing mission +work; but we will here confine ourselves to the consideration of the +more direct and positive methods in vogue in Japan. These are direct +evangelization, educational work, literary work, and medical work. + + + +_Direct Evangelization_ + +By this I mean the actual propagation of the gospel, by word of mouth, +to the people to whom {235} we are sent. I mention this first because +I regard it as the most important of all methods. The supreme vocation +of the missionary is, not to educate, not to heal, but to preach the +gospel. It is well for mission boards and missionaries to remember +this, for there is danger in many places of making this primary method +secondary to education. While it is probably true that the +evangelization of the masses will depend ultimately upon the efforts of +the native ministry, this should not therefore be construed to mean +that the foreign missionary has nothing to do with this department of +the work. He should personally engage in this evangelistic work, +should himself come into actual contact with the unevangelized masses, +and should proclaim the gospel directly to them. In this way only can +he understand thoroughly the nature of the work in which he is engaged, +and be enabled to sympathize with and advise his evangelists. He +should not only train native evangelists, but should be an evangelist +himself, teaching his helpers, by earnest, zealous example as well as +by precept, right methods of the proclamation of the gospel. Such work +must also bear direct fruit in the conversion of souls; for even in +this land, in spite of the great nationalism and strong prejudice +against foreigners, a foreigner will draw larger congregations and be +listened to with more attention than {236} a native. And this is not +simply because of curiosity; the people have more confidence in his +ability properly to represent the foreign religion. For these reasons, +then, viz., for the sake of the souls he may win, for the sake of the +example he may set to his helpers, and for his own sake, that he may +rightly understand and appreciate the work, every missionary should, as +far as possible, be an evangelist. This is emphasized here because in +many places the evangelistic work is in danger of being subordinated to +the educational, and missionaries are not lacking who take the strange +ground that it is neither necessary nor profitable for the missionary +personally to come into contact with the unevangelized masses. This +seems to me to be a very mistaken view of the sphere of the foreign +worker. He should not only train helpers, support and advise them, but +he should also go with them among the people and preach to them himself. + +The direct propagation of the gospel may be either local or +itinerating. The missionary may reside in one place, have a fixed +chapel, and there teach all who come to him; or he may go on long tours +through the country, preaching from town to town and from village to +village. In general these methods are combined in Japan. The +missionary is located in one town and to the work there gives most of +his attention; but he {237} also at stated intervals visits the +surrounding towns and country, doing evangelistic work wherever he can. + +LOCAL EVANGELISM.--For obvious reasons, local evangelistic work yields +the greatest returns. To it the missionary gives his constant care and +attention, while his visits to the country are only periodical. Local +evangelistic work in Japan is carried on somewhat in the following +manner: + +A house, as centrally located in the town as possible, is rented and +fitted up as a chapel. The only furnishings needed are a small table +and some lamps. Japanese houses are so constructed that the whole wall +on the street side can be removed, and people standing in the street +can see and hear all that is going on within. In this new chapel, one +or two evenings a week, the gospel will be preached. In China there is +preaching in such chapels every day, but in Japan the people will not +come oftener than once or twice a week. In all probability both the +missionary and the native evangelist will preach the same evening, one +after the other. At first very few people will come into the house, +but numbers will congregate in the street and will listen to what is +said. After the service is over an opportunity is given for personal +conversation on religious topics. By and by a little interest is +manifested, and some begin to come into the house. A great {238} deal +has been gained when people will go so far as to come up into the +Christian chapel, in plain view of the multitudes, and hear the sermon. + +In many cases the native evangelist lives in the chapel (in the same +building, but occupying different rooms) and daily meets and talks with +people about religion. In this way he hears of those who are +interested, and he and the missionary visit such in their homes and +converse privately with them. In my own mission, as soon as any are +interested, they are organized into a catechetical class, which meets +weekly, and are thoroughly instructed in Luther's Small Catechism. But +I find that unless this is preceded by more elementary instruction this +excellent little manual will not be well understood. Real inquirers +are glad to come and study the catechism and the Bible, and they study +them well. Some of the most satisfactory work I have done in Japan has +been along the line of catechetical instruction. Some of the larger +missions working here have not been sufficiently careful about giving +their converts sound elementary instruction in Christian doctrine, but +have left them to gather all the necessary knowledge from the sermons +they hear and the instruction given in the Sunday-schools. One of the +desiderata of most missions in Japan is more systematic catechetical +instruction. + +Among the first things a missionary does in {239} beginning work in a +town is to open a Sunday-school. The children are generally more +accessible than the older people, and many of them will come to the +school. They cannot at first be organized into classes, as their +interest is not sufficiently great to induce them to attend regularly +and to study. The first instruction is usually by means of large Bible +pictures that catch the eye and teach a religious truth. By and by, +when the work becomes more substantial and the interest more developed, +the pupils can be organized into classes and more systematic +instruction given. If there are any Christians in connection with the +chapel their children form the backbone of the Sunday-school. + +A considerable part of the time of the missionary doing local +evangelistic work, if he is wise, will be occupied in house-to-house +visitation. The Japanese are a very social people, and it is wonderful +how a little personal kindness and interest in them will break down the +prejudice against us and our work. As a rule, the missionary who goes +into a native home with humility, simplicity, and love will gain the +good will of the whole household. Men feel freer to talk about +religious subjects in the privacy of their own homes. In a discourse +to a promiscuous audience the truth is scattered broadcast, and each +one catches what he can; but in a private {240} conversation in the +home the truth especially adapted to the hearer can be given. It is +like a man trying to fill a bottle with water; he will get it full much +quicker by taking it up in his hand and pouring the water into it than +by throwing a whole bowlful at it from a distance. + +It is a very pleasant experience to enter a friendly home in the +evening, to sit around the social hibachi (fire-box), sip tea, and talk +about the great questions of time and eternity. One is generally +received with cordiality and made to feel at home. He is listened to +attentively and respectfully, and the questions asked are intelligent, +appreciative ones. If the missionary expects his host immediately to +be convinced by his eloquence, to agree to all he says, to discard at +once his old religion and embrace the new, he will be disappointed. +But if he is content to seek an opportunity to present the truth under +most favorable circumstances, leaving it to do its own work silently +and gradually, he will be sure to find it. + +House-to-house visitation and personal talks with the people are of +great importance in local evangelistic work. But in doing such work +great care should be taken to comply strictly with Japanese etiquette +and rules of propriety, and especially to avoid a haughty bearing. The +ordinary native home is much smaller, simpler, {241} and frequently +dirtier, than the missionary's, and the people are constantly watching +for any recognition of this fact on his part. He should carefully +guard himself against any look or expression which might imply his +superiority, or his dissatisfaction with things around him. + +I have been both amused and pained by overhearing Japanese imitate the +sayings and actions of two visiting missionaries. According to the +imitation, the one bears himself haughtily and proudly; as soon as he +comes near the door he instinctively draws back as though fearing bad +odors; when he comes in he bows stiffly, seats himself on the best mat, +carefully draws up his clothes as though fearing contamination, casts a +scornful look at the bare walls, utters a few commonplace sentiments, +and hastily departs. The other one comes with a cheery greeting, a +smiling countenance, and a humble demeanor. He never notices the lowly +house and bare walls, but quietly and unconcernedly takes the place +assigned him, freely and appreciatively partakes of the tea and cakes +set before him, and kindly and sympathetically talks with the people as +one of them. It is very evident which one of these two will do the +most good. + +As soon as the work grows and a small company of believers has been +gathered the duties of the missionary increase. There now rests upon +{242} him that burden which so oppressed Paul--the care of the +churches. He must look after the regular worship of the church, must +develop in his people a church-going sentiment, and must instruct them +in the observance of all Christian duties. In this work he will need +much patience, wisdom, and zeal. The native converts, not having +generations of Christian ancestors as we have, will need oft to be +exhorted, oft rebuked, and loved much. Christian duties that are with +us almost habitual must be urged upon these people time and again. The +church must be organized and developed into an harmonious working body. +In all of this the missionary is fortunate if he has the assistance of +a wise, godly native helper. + +Perhaps the most attractive and interesting feature of all mission work +is this forming and molding, under one's own hand, of the theology, the +life, and the activities of a young church. The one who is privileged +to do this occupies a position of responsibility than which none could +be greater. May God give us grace to do it aright. + +ITINERATING EVANGELISM.--No true missionary living in a non-Christian +land will confine his labors to the town in which he resides. His +heart will be constantly yearning over the people in the surrounding +towns and country, and he will gladly take advantage of every +opportunity {243} to make them occasional visits, telling to them also +the old, old story. + +But there are other workers whose sole business it is to visit these +outlying points and carry a knowledge of the gospel to those who cannot +have regular gospel ministrations. Perhaps this feature of missionary +work is the one most prominent in the minds of the people at home, who +are fond of picturing their missionary as a man who goes about from +town to town and from village to village, proclaiming the gospel to all +who will hear. + +Christianity is by nature diffusive. It spreads itself as naturally as +the leaven spreads in the meal. Confucius taught: "The philosopher +need not go about to proclaim his doctrines; if he has the truth the +people will come to him." In striking contrast to this Christ taught: +"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." +We are not only to teach those who come to us, but we are also to go +out in search of hearers, to carry our message to the people. + +When our Saviour was upon earth the work He did was largely +itinerating; going about from place to place, teaching in the +synagogue, by the wayside, or on the sea-shore. The disciples were all +itinerating evangelists, carrying their message from city to city and +from land to land. {244} St. Paul was an itinerating missionary on a +large scale. Not content to abide long in any one place, but looking +out continually to the regions beyond, his life was one ceaseless +activity in itinerating evangelism. The missionaries through whom +northern Europe and England were converted were itinerants. And those +who to-day in mission fields take their valises well stocked with +tracts and sermons and go out into the country on long evangelistic +tours can feel that they are following in the footsteps of worthy +exemplars. + +We can hardly overestimate the importance of this work. The word of +mouth is still the most effective means of conveying a message to the +masses, and a knowledge of Christian principles that could else hardly +be given is in this way spread abroad throughout the land. + +[Illustration: Jinrikishas.] + +The facilities for itinerating in Japan are excellent. Most of the +important points are easily reached by rail or water. But in general, +on an itinerating tour, the missionary has little use for the steamers +and railways. The points he wants to visit are not on the great +thoroughfares, but are in out-of-the-way places. There is, however, a +good system of roads, and the jinrikisha, which is everywhere found, is +easily capable of carrying one 40 or 50 miles a day. This little cart +resembles a buggy, except that it has only two wheels and is much +smaller. The seat is {245} just large enough to accommodate one +person. A small Japanese coolie between the shafts furnishes all the +necessary motive power. These are very convenient and comfortable +little conveyances, and are the ones in ordinary use by missionaries in +their itinerating work. + +In recent years the bicycle has become popular for this purpose. As +the "wheel" has been made to serve almost every other interest, it is +but fair that it should also serve the gospel. Perhaps to-day one half +of all the male missionaries in Japan ride wheels. They have decided +advantages over the jinrikisha, chiefly in the way of speed, personal +comfort, and pleasure. I wish my readers could see their +representatives in Japan just starting on their wheels for a tour in +the interior. Dressed in negligée shirts, caps, and knickerbockers, +with a large bundle tied upon the wheel in front of each one, they +present a comical appearance. Many sermons have been preached in Japan +in negligée shirts and knickerbockers. + +There are nice, clean little inns in all the villages and towns, and +the missionary is not put to such straits for a place in which to rest +and sleep as he is sometimes in other mission fields. But as the food +offered him is unpalatable to most foreigners, he carries with him a +few things, such as bread, canned meats, and condensed milk. + +{246} + +The splendid telegraph system extending over all Japan keeps him in +communication with his family and friends, no matter where he may go, +and he need not hesitate to go into the interior on that score. A good +daily mail system is also at hand to carry his letters. + +Formerly the greatest hindrance to itinerating in Japan was the +difficulty of obtaining passports to travel in the interior. No one +was permitted to go outside of certain limits without a special +passport, and such passports were only given for two purposes: for +health, and for scientific observation. The government did not intend +by this restriction to prohibit mission work in the interior, but aimed +simply to prohibit foreigners from engaging in interior trade. As the +missionaries were not going for purposes of trade, many of them availed +themselves of these passports; but there were some whose consciences +would not permit them so to do. Several high officials were directly +spoken to about the matter by missionaries; and they replied that, in +the eyes of the law, a man could want to travel for only three +purposes: for health, for trade, or for scientific observation. As +this restriction was simply to prevent foreigners from engaging in +interior trade, and as the missionaries were not going for that +purpose, they were told that they should go on with their work. The +government knew well {247} the purpose for which they were going, and +permitted it; hence their consciences might be at rest. These +explanations on the part of the officials removed the difficulty in the +minds of some, but not of all. Fortunately, since the revision of the +treaties, passports are granted without any question as to the purpose +for which they are wanted, and all who ask it are freely given +permission to travel where they will. Since this restriction has been +removed more itinerating is being done, and it is probable that it will +still increase. + +The missionary does two kinds of itinerating in Japan: (1) he visits +periodically a large number of outstations, where are native +evangelists; (2) he goes into regions where there are no evangelists +and heralds the gospel. + +Itinerating among stations where native workers are located and regular +work kept up is by far the most frequent. These tours are generally +made about every two or three months, one missionary visiting perhaps a +dozen stations. The local evangelist makes all preparations for the +meetings, which are generally of a special character. There will +probably be a special preaching service for non-believers, and a +communion service with the Christians. If there are any baptisms the +sacrament is then administered. The visit of the missionary is +intended to be as much a stimulus and encouragement to the evangelist +{248} as anything else. These men, living in out-of-the-way places +where there are few, if any, Christians, are apt to get despondent and +discouraged, and they need occasionally the sympathy and advice of a +fellow-worker. The missionary who has charge of this kind of work is a +sort of bishop, with an extended parish. + +When fields where no regular work is carried on are visited the work is +necessarily different. In this case the missionary must take his +helper with him. He seldom goes alone, for various reasons. When on +one of these tours he will spend one or two days in a village, talking +personally with all who will come to him. Very likely he will rent a +room in the inn in which he is stopping, and he and his helper will +there preach one or two evenings. Sometimes, if the weather is good, +he obtains permission of the authorities to hold the meeting in the +open air, and preaches on the street or in the public squares. +Wherever an audience can be gathered the message is told. After one or +two days spent in this manner they move on to the next town, and there +do as they did before, thus going their whole round. The most that is +accomplished by this method of preaching is to spread abroad a general +knowledge of Christianity among the people and break down their +prejudice against it. Not many conversions result from it. + +{249} + +Some may ask what kind of sermons one preaches on these itinerating +tours. They should be of the plainest, simplest character. It is +profitable to consume a good deal of time in disproving the false ideas +which prevail concerning Christianity, and in giving the people correct +views of its nature. The nature of God must be carefully explained, +both because the word we use for God is in Japanese applicable to an +earthly hero as well as to a divine being, and because the divinities +of Japan differ very much in nature from the Christian conception of +God. One can preach a long time on sin before getting the people +properly to understand it. The Japanese are really without any sense +of sin, and have no word in their language to express the idea exactly. +We use the word which means crime or offense against the laws of the +land. Then the old story of Christ simply told always commands a +hearing everywhere. + +The kind of itinerating last described is open to serious objection. +It is uncertain and fitful. One visit may be made to a town each year, +or some years not even one. No provision is made for carrying on the +work, or for keeping alive any interest that may have been aroused. To +be made very profitable such itinerating should be regular and +systematic; the visits should not be too far apart; and as soon as some +inquirers are {250} found, a native evangelist should be stationed +there to care for them. When conducted in this way it is conducive of +great good. + + + +_Educational Work_ + +The educational department of mission work has in recent years been +coming more and more into prominence. This feature of the work +attracts the attention of the visitor from the home lands more than any +other, because it makes more show. The imposing buildings that are +erected, and the large number of students that can be gathered into +them, make a favorable impression. + +Educational work is generally more attractive than evangelistic. The +former is regular, while the latter is desultory. The former is +continuous, occupying one's time and attention every day; the latter is +intermittent. The former can be pursued at home, and the missionary +can enjoy the constant society of his family; the latter takes him away +from his family and occupies him abroad. Educational work is usually +carried on in the open ports and large cities, where one enjoys all the +conveniences of life, with sympathetic society; evangelistic work takes +the missionary into the interior, where there are few conveniences and +no society. Lastly, educational work is more {251} or less welcomed by +the natives, while evangelistic work is unwelcome. + +Japan possesses a large number of mission schools. Their imposing +buildings are seen in almost every city of the empire. Every mission +of large size has its schools for both boys and girls. The annual +support of these schools costs the various boards more money than all +the evangelistic work that is done in Japan. More missionaries are +engaged in educational than in evangelistic work. + +A certain amount of educational work seems necessary to the success of +every mission. First in importance is theological training. A body of +well-trained native pastors is absolutely essential. Especially in +this land, where there are many educated people and where all forms of +rationalism and skepticism are rife, is it necessary that the +evangelist have a liberal education, that he be well rooted and +grounded in Christian doctrine, and able to answer the philosophical +objections to Christianity that meet him on every side. An educated +ministry is just as necessary in Japan as it is in the West, and the +schools that are providing such a ministry are doing a good work. + +But some of the methods used by them are open to criticism. Heretofore +most theological training has been in the English language, and {252} +the language alone has taken up a great deal of the student's time and +strength. And again, very few Japanese young men gain a sufficient +knowledge of English to appreciate or derive full benefit from a +theological course in that language. Against this is urged the paucity +of Christian literature in Japanese, and the wide field of religious +thought which a knowledge of the English language opens to the student. +This is very true; but if the same amount of time and energy that has +been expended in instruction in English had been given to the creation +of a native Christian literature the evil would not exist. I am glad +to note that recently nearly all the theological schools have +introduced courses in the vernacular for those who cannot take the +English course. It would be well if the English course were dispensed +with entirely and all instruction were given in the vernacular. + +Many of the missions operating in Japan have sent worthy young men to +America and England for theological training. In nearly every instance +this has proved an unwise investment. The good people at home take up +these young men and nurse and pet them until they are completely +spoiled. They come back to Japan unfitted by taste and education for +the position they must occupy and the work they must do. Most of them +become dissatisfied in the work after a few {253} years. Foreign +education largely denationalizes them and removes them from the +sympathies of their own people. Of course there have been some +exceptions to this rule; but, in general, experience has proved that +locally trained evangelists are best suited for the work and give most +satisfaction in it. + +By this it is not intended to imply that Japanese pastors and teachers +should not have the advantages offered by the Western seminaries when +they desire them and are able to obtain them for themselves. They are +as capable of receiving advanced instruction as we are, and have the +same right to it. But the money which foreign boards spend for +training evangelists should be spent in the field. + +Besides the theological schools there are large numbers of academical +schools for young men, in which a great deal of mission money is spent. +In justification of these it is argued that they are necessary for the +preparatory training of evangelists. It is said that the education of +these future pastors of the church should be Christian from the +beginning, and this is true. But more than half the evangelists now +laboring in Japan have not received such training. The education they +received from government and private schools answers very well in their +case. Actual experience has proved that, whatever may be the {254} aim +of these academies, as a matter of fact they do not train evangelists. +Most of the men who take their full course enter other professions. +One of the oldest missions in Japan, employing about twenty +evangelists, has among them only one man who has taken the full +academical course in its mission college; but many men have been +educated at the church's expense for other professions. + +Again, it is said in justification of these academies and their large +expenditure of mission money that a Christian education must be +provided for the children of the constituency of the mission. The +church provides a Christian education for her sons and daughters at +home; why should she not do it for her wards abroad? Far be it from me +to attempt to minimize the importance of Christian education; but will +it not be time enough for such education when the constituency of the +native church feels its need to such an extent that it will demand this +education itself, support the schools with its money, and send its sons +and daughters to them? At present even the Christian people frequently +prefer a government school to a mission school; and they often send +their children to the latter, when they do send them, because they will +there be given financial aid. + +There was a time when Christian schools did a good work in Japan. +Before the government {255} schools were brought up to their present +standard the mission schools were well patronized, and they +considerably benefited the cause of missions. But to-day the +government has schools of every grade, and frequently they are better +than the mission schools. The students who formerly flocked to the +mission schools now flock to those of the government, and the former +have but few pupils. The times have changed, and these large, +expensive schools are now hardly needed. In so far as they are needed +for the preparatory training of a native ministry, and can be made to +serve that end, they may be all right, but certainly as an evangelizing +agency they are not justified. The native church should be encouraged +and stimulated to educate its own children; it might even be assisted +in the attempt, when it has shown an honest effort to do this; but its +children should not be educated for it by the mission free of charge. +To spend so large an amount of the people's money in purely secular +education seems to me a misappropriation of funds. + +More than half the mission schools in Japan are boarding-schools for +girls. Nearly all the unmarried women engaged in mission work are in +these schools, and there are many of them. Some of these schools have +very fine locations and buildings, about as good as those of the +average {256} girls' college at home. That they are more popular and +better patronized than those for boys is because the government does +not provide for the higher education of girls as it does for boys. + +The purpose of these girls' boarding-schools is to train up earnest +Christian women, who will be the wives and mothers of the new Japan. +It is said that if the mothers of the nation are made Christian the +evangelization of the whole people will speedily follow. This purpose +is a worthy one. Most of the girls who enter these mission schools +become Christians, and the training given them seems to be good. I +recently attended the closing exercises of one of the largest of these, +and was surprised at the progress made by the girls. They could paint +and draw, and recite classical music as well as the young ladies of the +seminaries at home; and I have no doubt that the graduates leave the +schools pure-minded, earnest Christians, with worthy aims and +aspirations, and with a full intention to exert their influence for God +and His church. + +But alas! when they go back to their homes the position Japanese +etiquette assigns them so effectually ties their hands that the results +are bitterly disappointing. I will mention one case which came under +my own observation. A young lady was educated by a mission school in a +certain city, who was noted for her piety and {257} earnest Christian +spirit. Her teachers had most extravagant hopes as to the strong +positive influence she would exert for Christianity. After her +graduation she spent several years in the same school as a teacher, and +her Christian life was broadened and deepened by longer and more +intimate contact with the foreign teachers. She finally married and +removed to her new home, in a distant city. There she attended church +once or twice and then stopped entirely. Neither the urgent personal +request of the native pastor nor the oft-repeated invitation of the +Christian congregation could induce her to come any more. Instead of +exerting an influence for good upon others she herself became a fit +subject for mission work. I have known several cases of this kind, and +all missionaries have had the same experience. Social conditions in +Japan are such that a girl marrying into a non-Christian home can exert +little Christian influence. + +But admitting for the moment the utility of this Christian training for +the girls, these large schools are open to serious objections on other +grounds. The course is too long, and the instruction given too +advanced. In many of these schools the girls are kept for twelve or +fourteen years. During all this time they are more or less supported +by mission funds, even down to pin-money. They are taught all kinds of +abstract {258} sciences and advanced ideas that can be of no possible +use to them. Latin and Greek, biology, geology, psychology, and many +other things are taught them that they neither need nor can appreciate. +Painting, drawing, vocal and instrumental music form a prominent part +of the curriculum. Girls are made to practise on the piano for ten +years or more who will in all probability never see a piano after they +leave school. Of course these are not the only subjects taught; more +useful ones are taught as well. + +If mission schools for the education of girls should exist at all the +instruction should be much more elementary and practical. A course of +two or three years, teaching them how wisely to fill their position as +wives and mothers, would amply suffice. + +It is claimed by the Japanese with great reason that these schools +unfit the girls for the sphere they must occupy in after life. A life +of ten, twelve, or fourteen years in constant association with foreign +teachers, in a foreign building, with all necessaries and conveniences +supplied, pursuing a pleasant course of study, does not fit the pupil +for life in her humble home. No wonder she loves the school and dreads +to see the day approaching when she must leave it. Having lived so +long under much better circumstances, her home, with its thatched roof, +narrow walls, {259} and homely duties, becomes distasteful to her. Of +what use now are her music and painting, her Latin and Greek, when her +time must be spent in boiling rice and mending old, worn-out clothes? +There is such a thing as educating people above their sphere in life, +and such education is more hurtful than otherwise. + +But it is said, "We are training future Bible-women who will go out and +teach the gospel to their country-women." In reply to this it can be +answered that not a great many graduates of girls' schools become +Bible-women; and it is the experience of nearly every missionary that +the best Bible-women are middle-aged women, who may never have been in +a mission school. + +Again, it is said that it is worth while to have these schools if only +to train educated Christian wives for the native evangelists. But many +of the evangelists, even among those who themselves have received a +more or less foreign training, prefer wives who have never been in a +mission school, saying that these girls who have lived so long under +better surroundings will not be contented and happy in the homes they +can provide. It is also true that many of the young ladies who +graduate from these schools object to marrying at all, feeling that +they have been unfitted for the life they would have to lead. + +A very serious objection to the present {260} educational method in use +by many missions in Japan is that it hinders self-support in the native +churches. These large foreign plants, with their costly appliances, +can never be supported by the native churches, and the evident futility +of the effort so discourages them that they will not even do what they +can. The day when the churches of Japan can become self-supporting is +very much postponed by the existence of these costly schools. At +present the native churches could hardly keep the school buildings in +repair. + +The whole work of missions in Japan was in the beginning projected on +too high a plane. To many it seems a great mistake that such large and +costly buildings were erected and the schools started on a foreign +basis. Should not the buildings have been entirely of native +architecture from the beginning, and the educational work projected on +a plane corresponding to Japanese life? If small wooden houses, with +straw roofs and no furniture, are good enough for these people to live +in and to transact all kinds of business in, then they are good enough +for them to study in and to worship God in. If from the very beginning +the schools and churches had been built on a plane corresponding with +ordinary Japanese houses and life the day would much sooner have come +when the Japanese themselves could undertake their support. When, in +the providence of {261} God, the native church shall have been +sufficiently developed, materially and spiritually, to undertake the +education of her children and the training of her own pastors, the +manner in which she will do it will be very different from that in +which it is now done by the mission boards. + +I am aware that many missionaries in Japan, for whose opinions I have +all respect, will not agree with these views. But, after most careful +thought and investigation, the above are the conclusions to which I +have arrived; and I am glad to know that my views are shared by many of +my fellow-missionaries. It is my sincere conviction that most of the +money now being used for educational purposes in Japan is misapplied, +and would yield far greater results if used in other ways. + + + +_Literary Work_ + +One of the most important and fruitful branches of missionary work is +the literary. The creation of a sound Christian literature is one of +the first and most imperative duties pressing upon the missionary to +the heathen. + +This is an exceedingly difficult task. When we think of how much labor +and how many precious lives our own Christian literature has cost us, +we begin to have some conception of the immensity of the task of +creating a Christian {262} literature in a heathen land. In the first +place, the missionary must have a complete mastery of the language,--in +Japan an appalling task,--and then he must create the terms to express +so many ideas. Many of our Christian ideas have no counterpart in +non-Christian lands, and the very words to express them must be coined. +A common device is to take words of kindred meaning and to make them +serve the purpose, endeavoring to attach our own meaning to them by +gradual processes of instruction and use. Thus with the words for God +and sin in use by most missions in Japan. These words are _kami_ and +_tsumi_. Now _kami_ is the word used for numerous mythological +divinities, with natures very different from our God, and is also +applied to the ancient heroes of Japan. As it expresses the idea +better than any other word we have, we use it for God; but we must be +careful always to explain the sense in which we use it. The word +_tsumi_ means crime, or offense against the laws of the land. Our idea +of sin is lacking in the Japanese mind, and hence there is no word that +exactly expresses it. We take the word _tsumi_ as being nearest it, +and endeavor to impart to it our own meaning. In this way we have not +only to translate the ideas, but also to coin or modify the words to +express them. + +This work of the missionary is very different {263} from that of +translating English books into a European language which has a circle +of ideas similar to our own, for there the words are found ready-made +to express the ideas. + +Generally the first literary work to be done by missionaries is the +translation and publication of portions of Scripture and of tracts. As +soon as their knowledge of the language is sufficiently advanced, they +translate the whole Bible and some good hymns. Then follow +apologetical and evidential works, and treatises on theology and +morality. Afterward biographical and devotional books, magazines, and +Christian newspapers are published. We cannot overestimate the value +of a good Christian newspaper. It will carry gospel truth to people +whom the missionary and the native evangelist cannot reach, and it will +help much to nourish and strengthen the life of the native converts. +In such a paper the latter will probably see their religion set forth +in all its relations to the questions of practical life in a way they +seldom hear it done in sermons. I think parish papers, which are +becoming so common at home, would also exert a splendid influence in +Japan. + +In this field a considerable Christian literature has already been +created. Among the most important books translated so far might be +mentioned the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, {264} Luther's Small +Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, Bynyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." A +considerable number of books on apologetical, evidential, dogmatic, and +historical theology have been published, besides biographical, ethical, +and devotional books. There are also several Christian newspapers, and +recently the missionaries of the American Board have begun the +publication of a Christian magazine. + +A Christian literature which will be a powerful auxiliary to our work +is at present forming rapidly in Japan. + + + +_Medical Work_ + +Medical work is one of the youngest departments of missionary labor. +Christ healed the body as well as the soul, and it is peculiarly +fitting that the missionary be able to heal the body likewise. Medical +missions have done more in some countries toward breaking down the +prejudice against Christianity than any other one thing. Doors +effectually closed to the evangelist have been opened wide to the +doctor. The power for good of a consecrated physician in many mission +fields is boundless. The mission boards have fully recognized this +fact, and have wisely used large numbers of medical missionaries. + +In former times medical missionaries accomplished much good in Japan. +They helped greatly {265} to break down the prejudice and opposition to +Christianity. Many who came to the hospitals to have their bodies +healed went away having their ears filled with words from the great +Physician, and their hearts moved by the kindness and love of these +Christian doctors. Not only was much direct mission work accomplished +in this way, but the principles of physiology and medicine were also +taught to large numbers of native physicians and students. Among the +men who did most in this work were Drs. Hepburn, Berry, and Taylor. + +Although they have accomplished much good, medical missions are no +longer needed in Japan. The Japanese themselves have become adepts in +medical science, and especially in surgery. Every town and city has +one or more hospitals where competent medical consultation and +treatment can be had, and these now occupy the position formerly filled +only partially by the mission hospitals. A few hospitals and +dispensaries are still kept in operation by some missions, but most of +them were years ago dispensed with as no longer profitable. We rejoice +that Japan has so far progressed as to be well able to care for the +health of her own people, and we adapt ourselves to the changed +circumstances, diverting into more fruitful channels the energies +formerly expended in this way. + + + + +{266} + +XIV + +HINDRANCES + +Many of the hindrances that oppose the progress of Christianity in +Japan have already been indirectly suggested in other portions of this +book. But that they may be more clearly apprehended by the friends of +missions at home, and that the effect of their militating influence may +be fully felt, we will endeavor in this chapter to arrange them in +order and show just how they oppose our work. For the sake of +clearness and logical order we will consider the subject under two +divisions: 1. Hindrances in Japan common to all mission fields; 2. +Hindrances peculiar to Japan. + +1. There are certain things inherent in the very nature of Christianity +that impede her progress. They are necessities of her being, and +cannot be gotten rid of. These things may be either a part of +Christianity herself, belonging to her nature, {267} or they may be +necessary results of her acceptance by non-Christian peoples. For this +reason they are encountered wherever the gospel is propagated; they are +common hindrances to the advance of our faith alike in China, India, +Africa, and Japan. + +Although not peculiar to Japan, it seems to me wise briefly to refer to +these universal hindrances, because often they are not realized in +their full force and power either by the people of our home churches or +even by our pastors. To appreciate fully their militating influence +one must go to the mission field, and there observe them actually +hindering the rapid progress of evangelization. There they are seen in +a new light, and are impressed upon the mind as they can hardly be +otherwise. If I can succeed in causing the constituency of the +churches at home to realize the number, magnitude, and power of these +hindrances I will have done good service for the cause of missions. + +As the first one of these universal militating influences, inherent in +the very nature of missions, opposing the progress of Christianity +wherever its teachings are newly propagated, I would mention its +_revolutionizing tendency_. Christian missions are in their nature +revolutionizing. The result is inevitable and unavoidable. The +advance of Christianity in a heathen land {268} necessitates the +revolutionizing of many institutions that have obtained for centuries. +Not only must the religious ideas undergo a revolution, but all moral +ideas, and manners and customs as well. The reasons for this are very +evident. + +Religion is intimately connected with the life of man. It furnishes +the motive power of his life, controls his actions, creates his +morality, determines his manners and customs, and shapes his laws. The +ethnic religions are just as intimately interwoven with the lives of +their adherents as Christianity is with the lives of Christians; and +Buddhism, Confucianism, and Brahmanism have shaped and determined the +lives and actions of their adherents. + +The connection between religion and morality is a necessary and +indissoluble one. The two are united in their growth and development, +and the form of morality is necessarily colored by the dominant +religion. Wherever the Buddhist faith has been accepted there has +sprung up a system of morality peculiar to it; so that we speak of a +Buddhistic in opposition to a Christian morality. This morality is +dependent upon the religion, and a change of religion must bring about +a change of morality. + +Christianity, having necessarily developed a morality in accord with +its principles, must, as it advances, destroy the existing systems and +create {269} widely different ones. While the better element in +heathen nations has more or less outgrown its religious ideas and +superstitions, and can calmly contemplate a change of religion, yet its +moral system has a stronger hold, and anything which antagonizes it is +severely condemned. This necessary revolutionizing of moral ideas very +much opposes the progress of Christianity. + +The acceptance of Christianity necessitates also a revolution in +manners and customs. These are partially an expression of the faith +that is in us, their nature being determined by it. A change of +religion, therefore, means a change in all of these. + +People have great respect for time-honored customs, and that which +antagonizes these brings upon itself condemnation. Christianity +changes the manners and customs, and therefore the people do all they +can to oppose it. + +In these ways the work of missions is revolutionizing, and must expect +to encounter the opposition of the spirit of conservatism, which is +much stronger in the East than in the West. + +A second principle inherent in the very nature of Christianity which +hinders its progress in heathen lands is its _exclusiveness_. Our +religion is among the most intolerant in its attitude toward other +faiths. We believe and teach that "there is none other name under +heaven given among {270} men, whereby we must be saved," than the name +of Christ. While acknowledging that other religions contain grains of +truth, we must affirm that, as religious systems, they are false. +Christ sent forth His apostles to make disciples of all, winning them +to the Christian faith. And the aim of the church to-day is, not to +cultivate brotherly love and communion with other _religions_, but +rather to exterminate them and make Christians of all. She can brook +no rival. Her adherents must give their allegiance to her alone. + +Christianity not only claims to be the only religion, but she can offer +no hope to those outside of her pale. While the Bible does not demand +that I teach the Japanese that their ancestors are surely lost, it +certainly gives me no ground for assuring them of their salvation. We +all revere our forefathers, but none so much as the Oriental. He pays +periodical visits to the tombs of his ancestors; he worships his father +and commemorates the day of his death by mourning. A heaven from which +his ancestors are excluded has little attractions for him. Often does +the Shintoist say, "I would rather be in hell with my ancestors than in +heaven without them." + +If Christianity could be less exclusive and more tolerant of other +faiths she would find a much more ready acceptance at the hands of +non-Christian peoples. But she cannot be so and be true {271} to her +own nature and mission. In ancient Rome, when the church was called to +pass through fire, the manifestation of a more tolerant spirit would +have saved her from that awful persecution. The Romans had many gods +and did not object to one more. They adopted those of all the +conquered peoples, and were ready to adopt the Christians', and erect +an altar to Him, if the Christians would acknowledge Him as simply one +among the other gods. And from that day to this the exclusive claims +of Christianity have brought upon her trials and persecutions, and have +hindered her progress throughout the earth. Especially is this +religious exclusiveness unpopular in Japan, because there the native +religions are very tolerant of one another. + +These are some of the strongest hindrances to the rapid progress of +Christianity in pagan lands. They belong to the very nature of our +faith, and cannot be avoided. Their antagonizing influence is +encountered wherever the gospel is preached. + +2. But I think that the greatest hindrances to mission work in Japan +to-day are those which are peculiar to this field. Many circumstances +conspire to make Japan stand alone among mission fields. She has been +pronounced at once the most promising and the most difficult of all +fields for evangelistic work: the most promising because of the life, +force, and ability of her people; the {272} most difficult because of +the host of peculiar hindrances under which the evangelist must labor +there. I will proceed to point out some of these. + +(1) Perhaps the most potent at present is the _extreme nationalistic +feeling_, which has brought into disrepute everything of foreign +origin. The Christian religion, being a foreign institution, is +therefore unpopular, and is thought to be less adapted to the people +and less liable to nourish a strong national feeling than the native +Shinto. + +It is hard for us to realize the fanatical intensity of their +patriotism. Having been taught for so many centuries that this is the +first virtue, the people have exalted it above everything else. "Japan +first, forever, and always," is the universal motto. There is hardly a +man, woman, or child in the empire to-day who would not be perfectly +willing to lay down his life for the good of the country. + +This extreme patriotism operates in several ways to hinder the progress +of Christianity. It prevents the ready acceptance of the new religion. +There are a great many so ignorant and inconsistent as to hate +Christianity just because it is of foreign origin, thinking that +nothing good can originate outside of Japan. Such people adhere to the +native religion, in spite of its inferiority, simply because they think +that to do so is patriotic. But there is a much larger and more {273} +influential class that is led to antagonize Christianity from patriotic +motives other than this. They hold that a belief in the native +religions is necessary to preserve their darling patriotic spirit, and +that the adoption of any foreign religion would gradually destroy all +patriotism and loyalty. Christianity is not national, but +cosmopolitan. It teaches the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +man, both of which great ideas are repugnant to most Japanese, because +they do not harmonize with their ideas of the divine origin of the +imperial family, and their national superiority to the other races of +the world. They want a religion which exalts Japan above everything +and inculcates patriotism and loyalty to her alone. + +But the most hurtful influence of this extreme nationalism is felt +within the pale of the church herself. Actuated by it, many of the +native Christians, both clerical and lay, want to do away with +everything foreign in connection with the churches. The more strictly +national they can make their work the better satisfied are they. Not +only do they antagonize the missionary and try to push him off the +field, but they also antagonize foreign theology, and want to build up +a native system with no foreign taint. The result is great friction +between the native and foreign workers, strained relations, and in many +instances {274} open antagonism. This want of cordiality and harmony, +for which the national feeling is largely responsible, is very hurtful +to the best interests of our work. + +But the desire for a purely native theology, which this strong, +benighted patriotism begets, is even more hurtful than its sowing seeds +of discord among the workers. Many of the leading native ministers and +laymen say that it is folly for their churches to perpetuate the +theological divisions and creeds of the West, and they propose to +develop a theology peculiarly their own. Now Christianity cannot be +kept pure and sound without paying due regard to its historical +development; and the Japanese, in cutting loose from this, have already +run into heresy. The danger is that a Christianity may be developed +which is lacking in all that is distinctively Christian, and which will +be harder to overcome than the old heathenism. + +(2) Another hindrance which has operated with great power throughout +the whole history of Protestant missions in Japan is the _past record +of Christianity_. In a former chapter upon the "First Introduction of +Christianity" I have told how Christianity was first introduced, how it +grew to magnificent proportions, and how finally it was crushed by the +secular arm. The fact that the government once felt constrained to +extirpate {275} Christianity, at whatever cost, and especially the fact +that the Christians dared oppose the government, have brought our +religion into disrepute. Since, according to native morality, whatever +government does is right and whatever government opposes is wrong, the +mere fact of this opposition on the part of the government is enough to +condemn Christianity in the eyes of many. Then the fact that the +Christians at last rebelled gives color to the idea already formed that +Christianity is disloyal to Japan. That idea prevails widely, and in +many quarters Christians are regarded with suspicion. + +A memory of the past bitter persecutions and of the hated rebellion +still lingers. The old people talk of them around the hibachi, as they +sip their tea and smoke their pipes; the young read of them in the +histories, and thus their memory is kept alive. Many are still living +who saw and read the rigid prohibitions of Christianity on the +sign-boards over all the country, and they cannot forget them. There +are not a few people in the empire who to this day have hardly learned +that the changed attitude of the government toward Christianity is more +than outward; and these still regard the foreign faith as the chief of +all evils. It is really pathetic sometimes to hear them talk of it. +There was an old man living near a Christian chapel not far from here, +who one day was {276} complaining of his woes and wishing to die. He +said it had been a bad year, and none of his crops had done well, two +of his children had died, his country had been insulted by a foreign +power, and, to cap the climax, Christianity had come and taken up its +abode next door to him. This last evil was too much, and he wanted to +die. He still regarded our faith as the worst of evils. I once gave a +few tracts to some old men in a mountain village near Saga, and they +remarked that they remembered the time when it would have meant certain +death to be seen with one of those little books. + +(3) The _character of the education_ prevalent in Japan to-day is also +antagonistic to Christianity. The Japanese are a studious race and are +capable of high mental development. The country is so well supplied +with schools--nearly all of them government institutions--that no one +is too poor to receive some education. There is, on the part of the +school authorities, no open antagonism to Christianity as such. +According to the regulations, no one religion is to be favored more +than another in the schools, and complete religious liberty is to be +allowed. But the general tenor of the education given is +unchristian--an exaltation of reason above faith, of science above +religion. Especially is the tendency of the higher education against +any form of religion. The {277} educators of Japan are training a +nation of atheists and agnostics. The scientific schools of the West +that have no room for religion are studied earnestly and copied by +educated Japan. In philosophy Herbert Spencer and his school have been +acknowledged masters. Indeed, it never seems to have occurred to the +minds of thinking Japanese that there are systems of philosophy other +than the materialistic. All religious sentiment is crushed in the +schools, other things being substituted. Science, learning, is thought +to be all that is necessary, and religion is left for old women and +children. Men who still believe in religion are thought superstitious +and uneducated, and are regarded with a sort of lordly contempt. In a +conversation some time ago with a graduate of the Imperial University I +was dogmatically told that Christianity was acknowledged to be absurd +by all thinking men everywhere, that all religions are only for the +infancy of the race, and that full-grown men can dispense with them. +This man's views are the usual product of the higher education, of +Japan to-day. Hence it happens that few students of the higher schools +are Christian, and frequently men go there with Christian sentiments, +only to lose them before they leave. + +(4) The _old religions of Japan_ strongly oppose the march of +Christianity. Men often speak as though the old heathen faiths had +lost their power {278} and were no longer really believed. Their power +is on the wane, but they lack much of being dead. They still possess +enough vitality strongly to oppose the evangelization of this land. +The old Shinto faith, having the decided advantage of national origin, +and fitting in exactly with Japanese ideas of their relative national +importance and the nature of their emperor, is a strong opposing +influence. Buddhism still possesses a strong hold upon the masses of +the people. It has the recommendation of age, has played a prominent +part in the national history, and is dear to the hearts of the people. +It occupies a decided vantage-ground from which it opposes us and our +work. To some in the West it seems almost incredible that these people +should really believe and trust in these faiths. And yet be assured +that they do believe and trust in them. There are about the same +sincerity, the same confidence, and the same faith placed in Buddhism +by its adherents as are placed in Christianity by its. The religious +cravings and instincts of the people are, on the whole, satisfied by +their native religions. + +The opposition of Buddhism to Christianity does not consist solely in +misrepresentation, nor is it founded on ignorance, but is an +intelligent opposition. Some of the Buddhist priests study carefully +our language for the purpose of reading {279} our theology and +informing themselves as to our faith. It is said that one of the very +best collections of books of Christian evidences and apologetics to be +found in all Japan is in the Buddhist library in Kyoto. Buddhism has +learned some useful lessons from Christianity. She is now learning the +value of stated preaching for the information of her people in Buddhist +doctrine, and the value of organized, systematic effort. A Young Men's +Buddhist Association has been formed, after the model of the Young +Men's Christian Association, which is doing much toward holding the +young men to the Buddhist faith. Buddhism is on the alert, is quick +and active, antagonizes us at every turn, and is one of the very +strongest hindrances to the progress of Christianity. + +(5) The _social ostracism_ visited upon those who become Christians +very much hinders our progress. Most of our converts, unless their +relatives and friends are Christians, are ostracized; in many cases +they are entirely cut off from their families and are disinherited. In +America, when one becomes a Christian, he has the encouragement and +sympathy of all good people, and his family and friends rejoice with +him. In Japan for a member of a family to become a Christian is +considered a disgrace, and the united influence of family and friends +is powerfully exerted to prevent such a {280} calamity. Influential +men in our city have told me that perhaps the greatest hindrance to my +work is that by becoming a Christian a man shuts himself off from his +family and friends. I am convinced that many would take a stand for +Christ much more readily if the home influence were not so +antagonistic. A student in the Normal School of our city, who came to +me for many months to study Christianity, told me that his family +bitterly hated the Christian religion, and that he could not return +home if he became a believer. In spite of this he was led by the +Spirit to ask for baptism, and I baptized him. Afterward he wrote very +dutiful letters to his home, trying to explain that he felt impelled by +duty to take this step, and that Christianity was not so heinous a +thing as they supposed; but no answers came. In course of time, being +compelled to return to his own town on business, he went to his home to +spend the night; but his mother and brothers would not recognize him, +and he had to go away to a hotel. His father was dead, and his mother +tried to disinherit him, but was by the law prevented. His family and +friends have never forgiven him, and now he never sees them. Similar +cases could be cited without number proving the same thing. Is it not +natural, then, for a man to hesitate to take this step? + +{281} + +(6) Another obstacle to the progress of missions in Japan is that the +_church is too much divided_. Almost every small religious body known +has felt it incumbent upon itself to undertake work here. It may be +true that denominations working separately are no hindrance to the +cause of Christ in the home field, but I think they are surely a +hindrance in the foreign work. It is a fine rhetorical figure to liken +the various denominations and sects to different divisions of one vast +army, all engaged under the same general, in the same work; but the +figure does not represent the facts. We do not have one vast Christian +army, each division occupying only its own field, directed by one mind, +and moving in unison. The most optimistic cannot so regard the +different denominations and sects of Christendom. Like other oft-used +figures, this one is entirely at variance with the facts. Oftener is +it true that these sects oppose one another, and much prefer their own +welfare to that of the whole body of Christ. + +You cannot satisfactorily explain to non-Christian people the reasons +why you must have a Lutheran, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, and a +Baptist church; and if they could be brought to understand our +differences this would in no way recommend us or our creed to them. It +is a great pity that each mission field is not allotted to some one +denomination and left alone by all {282} the others. If this cannot +be, at least only one body should work in one town. Then these +complications would be partially avoided, and Christianity would more +recommend itself to the thoughtful citizen. + +We suffer in Japan more from a superfluity of sects than of +denominations. The Universalists and Unitarians are here with their +heresies, and are poisoning many minds. Many other bodies are here, +antagonizing the established order of things and teaching religious +anarchy. I suppose there is no mission field in the world that has a +larger number of sects and divisions. + +But the regular orthodox denominations work more harmoniously in Japan +than in the home lands. Strifes and jealousies between them are rare, +while expressions of mutual appreciation and of Christian courtesy are +common. + +(7) I think the _foreign communities_ in the open ports of Japan are a +hindrance to the work of evangelization. In the seven treaty ports +there are regular concessions for foreign residence and trade, and +thousands of foreigners live in them. These communities are largely +composed of merchants and of those connected with the various +consulates, most of whom have come here for purposes of gain, and are +interested in nothing besides money-getting. A large per cent. of this +population is very undesirable. As representatives {283} of Western +civilization (the product of Christianity) the foreign settlements +should be model Christian communities, and were they such they could +exert a powerful influence for good. But as it is, their example does +not recommend itself to the Japanese. + +To say nothing whatever of the charges of immorality and dissoluteness +preferred against these men, they are certainly not Christians. One +would think, to observe them, that they had not come from Christian +lands at all. Many who are here only temporarily, being away from all +home influences and restraints, set a most ungodly example. They will +not attend church; they take no interest in religious work; they speak +disparagingly of religion in general, and of the Christian religion in +particular; and to them a missionary is an eyesore. While we are +laboring to Christianize the people, our own countrymen, the +representatives of Christian lands and the exponents of a Christian +civilization, are in the foreign ports setting a most ungodly example. +The natives are quick to notice these things, and they reason that, if +our faith is as good as we represent it to be, why have our countrymen +not profited better by it? The presence of these antichristian +representatives of Christendom is a great hindrance. + +But not all of the foreigners in the open ports {284} of Japan are of +this character. There are some good Christian men and women among the +business classes, who are interested in all kinds of Christian work. +And yet the prevailing tendency of the foreign business communities is +against Christian work. + +(8) The last but not the least hindrance I will mention is the +_language_. It has been said of both Chinese and Japanese that they +were invented by the devil to keep Christian missionaries from speaking +freely with the natives. Whether that be true or not, it certainly is +true that Japanese is one of the most difficult languages on the globe. +To know it well, three different languages must be acquired: spoken +Japanese, written Japanese, and Chinese. The colloquial and the book +language are quite different, the literary being partly Chinese. The +latter is written by ideographs, and you must have a sign for each +idea. About five thousand of these characters will enable one to get +along, although there are probably fifty thousand in all. By a sheer +act of memory to learn five thousand hideous characters is no little +task. The colloquial itself is exceedingly difficult to use aright. +My readers may be surprised to learn that of the missionaries laboring +in Japan one third cannot speak the language intelligibly to the +natives. It seems that many Occidentals, laboring never so hard, +really cannot {285} acquire the language. One never feels sure in this +language that he is saying just what he wants to say. If it were less +difficult, so that missionaries could acquire complete command of it +and use it as readily as they do their mother tongue, the work of +evangelization would go on more rapidly. + +These, as I understand them, are the principal things which at present +hinder the progress of Christianity in Japan. Some of them are +inherent in the very nature of the work, and will be encountered to the +end. Others, I believe, are transient, and will by and by pass away. + + + + +{286} + +XV + +SPECIAL PROBLEMS + +In the broad sphere of labor which the missionary must fill he daily +meets most difficult problems, whose solution requires the exercise of +consummate judgment, skill, and patience. Although these problems are +not given a prominent place in mission reports, and are not therefore +very well known at home, they loom up mountain-high before every +missionary. They have a practical importance in the field surpassed by +none other. Men differ so widely in regard to their solution that they +not infrequently work division in a mission. + +A brief presentation of some of these problems will enable the home +churches better to understand our work and to sympathize with us, and +will be of practical worth to those who contemplate coming to work in +this field. + +The first problem to meet the missionary is, _how to deal with +inquirers_. + +{287} + +In Japan not one in three at first comes with sincere motives and good +intentions. On the contrary, he comes seeking some material advantage, +hoping in some way to profit by his association with the missionary, or +vaguely expecting to be benefited by an alliance with what appears to +be a stronger and more living cause. Those who from the first are +impelled to come by real spiritual motives are indeed rare. How to +deal with such inquirers is the question. To turn them away would be +to send them back into heathenism. Manifestly we must hold them until +they have more spiritual motives. + +I suppose all missionaries would agree that, no matter how material and +selfish their motives, inquirers should be encouraged to continue +coming, with the hope of gradually leading them into the truth. We +could hardly expect them at first to have pure motives, as such are +practically unknown to them. Heathenism, with its degrading idolatries +and immoralities, does not beget these, and we cannot expect to +discover them until the old religions have been discarded and the +inquirers have been brought under the instruction and care of the +church. Therefore, whatever the motive, we should receive them, and +after a long period of Christian teaching and discipline look for a +change of heart. But the length of this probation before they are +received {288} into the church, and whether it shall be required--those +are matters upon which the practice of missions differs widely. Some +have a prescribed time which must elapse before candidates are admitted +to membership; others leave it to the judgment of the local evangelist +or missionary. The latter seems the better plan. + +Another question is, _Just how much shall candidates for +church-membership be required to give up_? As to strictly heathen +practices, such as idolatry and gross immorality, there can be no +question. But what of practices about which the judgment of men +differs? Some missions require total abstinence from all intoxicating +drinks. Some, like the Methodist, require abstinence from the use of +tobacco, especially on the part of pastors and evangelists. These +churches urge in favor of their position the comparative ease with +which such restrictions may be applied in the young churches of Japan. +Shall we follow the lead of these more conservative churches, or shall +we adopt a more liberal policy? Shall we require converts who are +engaged in any way in the manufacture or sale of tobacco or liquor to +change their business? The practice of our own mission (the Lutheran) +is, except in the manufacture, sale, or inordinate use of intoxicants, +to allow liberty of conscience. + +{289} + +Another and a very perplexing problem we find to be, _what to do with +honest inquirers who have no means of support_. This class is +numerous. There are a great many poor in Japan--in fact, nearly all +are poor. As Japanese custom--even more in ancient times than at +present--made the poorer classes look to the rich for their maintenance +and support, many converts look to the missionary, not to support them +outright, but to help them into positions where they can earn a living. +Not a few have their means of support cut off by the very act of +becoming Christians. In such cases it seems but fair that the mission +should do what it can to assist them. But how? To support them is too +expensive, besides being demoralizing to them and the community. In +some mission fields industrial schools, mission farms, and various +other enterprises are established to provide employment for such, and +in this way they are helped to support themselves. But in a country +like Japan, where industrial and commercial life is highly organized +and developed, it is almost impossible for the missions to do such +work. We have neither the means nor the skill to compete with the +industries around us. This question of support for the poor of the +churches is a pressing one, and causes the missionary much anxiety and +thought. The native church can do {290} much more toward its solution +than the missionary, and as the church grows in influence and resources +the problem may solve itself. + +After a body of converts has been gathered, and the time has come for +organizing a church, the greatest problem of all arises--_the problem +of the native church_. + +This is not one problem, but is rather a combination of problems, some +of which are the following: What shall be the form of its organization? +How shall its ministry be supplied? How shall it be supported? What +is the relation of the missionary to the native church? What shall be +its attitude toward national customs? These are important and +difficult problems, and on their right solution will depend in no small +measure the prosperity and success of the native church. + +Some missions do not seem thoroughly to grasp and give due prominence +to this idea of the native church. They interpret their commission to +mean the evangelization of the masses rather than the building up of a +strong native church. But the Christianization of any land will +ultimately depend upon the native church, and not upon the foreign +missionary. Therefore the first and chief aim of the missionary should +be to call out and develop a strong, self-supporting, and +self-propagating native church, in whose hands the {291} evangelization +of the masses of the people can ultimately be left. + +In the organization of the native church, what polity shall be given +it? Shall it be organized exactly as the home church which the mission +represents, or shall it be free to develop its own form of +organization? Both of these plans are unsatisfactory. Most churches +are agreed that no special form of church polity has divine sanction, +this being merely a question of expediency; and that therefore the new +churches should, as far as possible, be left free to adopt a +constitution in harmony with the national character and habits. + +At the same time, forms of church government that have been tried at +home and approved should not be ignored. What has stood the test of +time, and proved its worth in many lands, doubtless will in its main +features be of substantial value in the mission field. It is but +natural that Presbyterian societies should organize native churches +under their own form of government, Methodist under theirs, and +Episcopal under theirs. But, in the very nature of the case, a first +organization will only be tentative. As the church develops it will +probably develop a polity of its own. In view of this, the polity +imposed upon the native church by the mission at its first organization +should be as flexible as possible. + +{292} + +It would be folly for the Lutheran Church, for instance, which has one +polity in Germany, another in Sweden, another in Iceland, and still +another in America, to attempt permanently to impose any one of those +special forms upon the Japanese Lutheran Church; it will have its own +special polity, but this should not cause us any anxiety or concern. +If the faith and life of the church are right, it matters but little +about its polity. We should be more concerned for the broader +interests of the kingdom than for the perpetuation of our special form +of the church, for the promise of final triumph is only to the kingdom. + +Experience has settled certain points in regard to the native church, +which Dr. Lawrence, in his admirable book on "Modern Missions in the +East," denominates "axioms of missions." My own experience and +judgment lead me to give them my hearty indorsement. Three are named: + +1. "The native church in each country should be organized as a distinct +church, ecclesiastically independent of the church in any other +country." + +2. "The pastorate of the native church should be a native pastorate. +Whatever else the missionary is, he should not be pastor." + +3. "The principles of self-control, self-help, and self-extension +should be recognized in the {293} very organization of the church. To +postpone them to days of strength is to postpone both strength and +blessing." + +The question of self-support and independence is one of the gravest in +connection with the native church. All are agreed as to its +desirableness, and all aim ultimately to attain it; but the success +hitherto attained in Japan is not what might be expected. There are +perhaps a larger number of self-supporting churches in Japan than in +most mission fields, but not so many as there should be. The native +churches, as a rule, do not contribute what they should or could toward +their own support. In this regard the statistics usually given are +very deceptive. Many of those churches put down as self-supporting +either are so largely through the private contributions of the +missionaries of the station, or are churches in connection with mission +schools, where the expense is small because one of the professors, who +draws a salary from the board, acts as pastor. I have heard of one +church marked "self-supporting" that was composed of only one man and +his family. This man was the evangelist, who, having some private +means, supported himself. + +While the annual statistics show fairly good contributions "by the +native churches," it should be borne in mind that the contributions of +a large body of missionaries, who are liberal givers, are {294} +included. At most stations they give more than the whole native church +combined. + +Native Christians do not contribute as much toward the support of the +gospel as they formerly did toward the support of their false +religions. The reasons for this are, first, that heathenism induced +larger gifts by teaching that every one who makes a contribution for +religious purposes is thereby heaping up merit for himself in the life +to come. And, second, that the native churches have from the beginning +leaned on the missionaries and societies, until independent giving and +self-sacrifice have been discouraged. The mission board is looked upon +as an institution of limitless resources, whose business it is to +provide money for the work. And, third, that in many instances the +native evangelists do not heartily second the efforts of the +missionaries to bring the churches to a self-supporting basis. They +would much rather draw their salaries from the mission treasurer than +from the members of their churches. The reasons for this are obvious: +they could not conscientiously urge their flocks to support them on a +better scale than they themselves live, but they can ask the mission to +do this; again, when their salaries come from the mission they are +prompt and sure, while if they come from the churches they are +irregular and uncertain. But in justice to Japanese {295} pastors it +should be said that, while the above is true of many of them, there are +others who have willingly made personal sacrifices, living on much +smaller salaries than formerly, in order to assist their churches to +self-support. + +How to overcome all these obstacles and develop a liberal, +self-supporting spirit in the native church is a difficult problem with +which the mission boards are at present grappling. The Congregational +Church has more nearly solved it than any other, yet its number of +independent churches fell off considerably during the past year. + +The native church must not be judged too harshly for its failure in +self-support. It has not yet been educated in giving as the home +churches have, and its resources are very limited. Most of its members +are exceedingly poor and have all they can do to provide for the +support of themselves and families. Our proper attitude toward them in +this matter is one of patience, sympathy, and help. + +How shall the native church be provided with a competent ministry? +This is a perplexing question to the churches in the home lands; how +much more so in a mission field! It is necessary to provide pastors, +evangelists, catechists, teachers, Bible-women, etc.--a whole army of +workers. + +{296} + +The first question in this connection is, How is the material to be +provided? Shall bright, active boys who seem adapted to the work be +selected out of the mission schools and especially trained for this +work at the expense of the mission, without waiting for a divine call? +This is the usual method, but it is far from satisfactory. Such, not +having sought the ministerial office, do not feel its dignity and +responsibility as much as those who are brought into it by a personal +call. Some of the brightest and most promising, after having been +educated at the expense of the mission, are easily enticed into other +callings. Men so chosen and educated are very apt to consider +themselves, and to be considered by others, as simply paid agents of +the mission. Often their labors are performed in a mere routine and +perfunctory manner, they evidently caring more for employment than for +conversions. These are serious objections, and yet many good and noble +men have been so trained; it does seem that in the early stages of +mission work there is hardly any other way of providing a native +ministry. + +So soon as a native church is developed, with its accompanying +Christian sentiment, the personal call to the ministry can be relied +upon to furnish the material. An effort is then made by most of the +larger missionary bodies to give a broad training to many men, and to +rely upon a {297} certain number, in answer to a divine call, seeking +the ministerial office. In this way the mission schools supply a +portion of the theological students, but in Japan the larger portion +are not graduates of the mission schools. + +After the men are supplied, how shall they be trained for work? Shall +instruction be given in Japanese only, or shall English be taught also? +(For full discussion of this question see Chapter XIII.) Shall Greek +and Hebrew be studied? How far shall the native religions be taught? +Shall the curriculum in other respects be about what it is at home, or +shall it be modified and especial stress laid upon certain subjects? +Shall students study privately with the missionaries, or shall +theological seminaries be erected? Shall students be encouraged to +complete their theological training in Europe and America? Space does +not permit a discussion of each of these questions, but only a bare +statement of the consensus of judgment and practice in Japan after +years of experience. + +Shall instruction in the original languages of Scripture be given? As +to the desirability of this there can be no question; but as the whole +science of theology is entirely new here, and a study of its more +important branches requires a long time, it has not been customary to +give instruction in either of these languages. In recent years some +seminaries have been trying to {298} introduce primary courses in Greek +and Hebrew, and as the schools grow older, and their equipment +improves, these languages will gradually be added to the curriculum. + +Shall the religious systems and books of Japan be taught in theological +schools? It is highly desirable that native ministers clearly +understand and be able intelligently to combat the false religions +around them; and to this end some seminaries give instruction in the +doctrines of Buddhism and Shinto as well as Christianity. In one or +two instances Buddhism is taught in Christian theological schools by +Buddhist priests, but it is usually taught by Christian teachers in +connection with dogmatic theology. As a rule, the native ministry +desires more thorough instruction in the native religions, while the +missionaries oppose any extension of the curriculum in that direction. + +In general the same branches of theology are taught here that are +taught at home. It is especially desirable that instruction in +dogmatics and apologetics be thorough and sound, and these branches +should perhaps be emphasized more than others. + +Experience has proved that it is much better to have theological +schools where the native ministry may be instructed than for the +missionary to undertake such instruction in private. All the larger +missions have fairly well-equipped {299} theological schools, and +private instruction is only given by a few men whose missions have not +yet been able to establish these. It is unfortunate, both for the +student and for the missionary, when theological instruction must be +given in private. + +Many Japanese have been sent abroad to complete their theological +course, but the experiment has not been satisfactory. The consensus of +opinion now is that for the main body of pastors and evangelists a +local training is much better than a foreign one. A few men of +exceptional ability may be educated abroad as teachers and leaders, but +great care must be taken not to denationalize them. + +Another perplexing question in connection with the native church is its +relation to the missionaries. On this subject there is great diversity +of opinion. Shall the missionary retain any control over the native +church, or shall he have only advisory power? Can he take an active +part in its deliberations, or shall he be excluded from them? + +As the church grows and develops it will come more and more to rely +upon itself and to act independently of the mission. The majority of +Japanese Christians take the ground that the missionary has nothing to +do with the organized native church, but that his sphere is with the +unevangelized masses and unorganized chapels. {300} In the +Congregational churches the missionaries have no voice or vote in the +meetings and councils, and are recognized only as advisory members. In +contrast to this policy is that of the Episcopal and Methodist bodies, +in whose councils natives and foreigners meet together and deliberate +in harmony. The meetings are presided over by the foreigners, and they +have a controlling voice in all legislation. The Presbyterians also +take part in presbytery and synod, but the Japanese usually preside and +are in the majority. + +Certainly the missionary should not be pastor of the native church and +should not exercise lordly control over it; but it "does seem that he +should retain some influence, or at least should have veto power +against unwise legislation. + +What shall be the attitude of the native church toward certain national +habits and customs? Here is a problem that often perplexes +missionaries and evangelists. It is recognized by all that anything +squarely in contradiction to Christianity must be opposed. On the +other hand, it is recognized that national customs should be carefully +observed when they are not antichristian or immoral. There are some +customs in Japan about the nature of which great difference of opinion +prevails, such as the honors shown dead ancestors, bowing before the +emperor's picture, contributing to certain religious festivals, etc. + +{301} + +When a parent dies it is customary for the children to pay regular +visits to the tomb, to make offerings there, and to reverence or +worship the departed. In the eyes of some this act involves real +worship; to others it is merely an expression of reverence and respect. +It seems that Paul's principle of not eating meat for his weak +brother's sake should be applied here. The act in itself may be +performed without compromising a Christian's conscience; but for the +sake of the common people, to whom it means worship, it should be +omitted by Christians, and the churches generally forbid it. + +In all the schools, at certain festivals, the emperor's picture is +brought out, and all teachers and pupils are required to bow before it. +This is a national custom very dear to the hearts of the people, and +any one failing to comply with it is severely censured. Much has been +said and written as to the religious significance of the act. To the +more enlightened of the Japanese this prostration before the emperor's +picture may be only an act of deep reverence and respect, such as is +shown to royalty in the West by the lifting of the hat, but to the +masses it doubtless is real worship, in so far as they know what +worship is. This is not strange when we remember the almost +universally accepted belief as to the divine origin of the mikado. The +government itself virtually {302} acknowledged the religious +significance of the act when it passed a law permitting foreign +teachers in the various schools to absent themselves on the day of the +exaltation of the imperial picture, if they so desired. + +Now here is a national custom very dear to the people, in itself +harmless, but which in the eyes of many involves real worship. What +shall be the attitude of the church toward it? + +Some religious festivals are observed in Japan which have more or less +political significance. While they are generally held in connection +with some temple, there may be nothing distinctively heathen about the +festival itself. To provide for the expense, each house is asked to +contribute a certain amount of money--the Christians along with the +rest. There is no legal compulsion in the matter, but every one +contributes, and there is a moral necessity to do so. Now what stand +shall the Christian church take on this matter? Shall the members be +advised to comply with the custom, or shall they be forbidden to do so? + +How to remain faithful to her Lord, and yet not unnecessarily wound the +national feelings of her countrymen, is the delicate and difficult +problem which the native church must solve. + +A very important problem is, _how to bring about more coöperation in +mission work_. It is highly desirable that Christianity present an +{303} undivided front to the enemy, that its forces at least work in +harmony with one another. + +While men's views on important theological questions differ so +radically as at present it is useless to talk of organic union; but +there can and should be brotherly recognition, mutual assistance +whenever possible, respect for one another's views, absence of +controversy, scrupulous regard for another's recognized territory, and +hearty coöperation in all possible ways. + +There is something of this realized in Japan to-day. The Christian +bodies, as a rule, dwell together in peace and harmony, rejoicing in +one another's welfare. Contentions and strife are much less common +than in the West. All the various branches of the Reformed and +Presbyterian churches are laboring in hearty coöperation to build up +one united native church. The various Episcopal bodies, while +themselves organically distinct, are also building up an undivided +Japanese Episcopal Church. + +But much yet remains that might be done in this line. In matters of +publication, theological education, etc., that involve heavy expense, +plans might be devised whereby several missions could coöperate, and +thus the expense be lessened to each and the work better done. To +illustrate: here is a small mission, with only a few workers and a very +small amount of money wherewith to {304} operate. It has all the +evangelistic work it can do, and is unable to support its own +theological school. Some of its missionaries are taken from the +evangelistic work and forced to train, as best they can, one or two +theological students. In the same community is a good theological +school belonging to a sister mission, that has only a few students and +would be glad to give its advantages to the students of the other +mission. It does seem that some plan of coöperation should be devised +whereby each could be accommodated. This problem is unsolved, and each +little mission goes on working independently of all the others, at the +cost of larger expenditure and poorer work. An easier form of +coöperation very much to be desired, which has not yet been +consummated, is that between different branches of the same church. +That those known by the same name, whose doctrine and polity differ but +little, and who are separated in the West only by geographical +divisions, should coöperate on the mission field is a plain duty, +failure to effect which is culpable. Take the great Methodist Church. +There are five different Methodist bodies at work in Japan--each one +prosecuting its work separate and distinct from the others. There is +no conflict between them, neither is there any coöperation. What a +saving there would be if these bodies would coöperate, especially in +the matter of {305} educational work! As it is, each one of them +supports its own academical and theological school, at a cost of men +and money almost sufficient for the needs of all if united. Many of +these different schools are at present poorly attended and consequently +poorly equipped; whereas if the whole educational work were done by one +or at most two institutions there would be a large number of students +and the equipment could be made first-class. + +An effort has been made on several occasions to unite these various +Methodist bodies, and most of them desire a union, but as yet it has +failed of accomplishment. + +The responsibility for this failure lies much more with the home boards +than with the missionaries. The latter generally desire more +coöperation, and could bring it about were it not for the restrictions +placed upon them. This is a problem to the solution of which the +various missionary societies should set themselves in earnest. If the +advance of the kingdom is partly hindered by a lack of this +coöperation, then the mission boards are responsible before God. + +The above are but some of the problems which present themselves to-day +in Japan. If I have succeeded in impressing the reader with their +number, complexity, and difficulty of solution, my purpose is +accomplished. + + + + +{306} + +XVI + +THE OUTLOOK + +It is exceedingly difficult to form a reliable conjecture concerning +the future state of Christianity in Japan. In this land the unexpected +always happens. It has been called a land of surprises. Instability, +vacillation, and change are its characteristics. What is in favor +to-day may be out to-morrow; what is out of favor to-day may be in +to-morrow. The signs of the times may clearly indicate a certain trend +of events for the next year, but ere that year has come all may change +and the happenings be quite different from what was expected. The fact +is, Japan is undergoing a peaceable social and political revolution, +and it is hard to tell what a day may bring forth. + +But there are certain factors which, if left to their natural +development, will tend to bring about a certain condition, and by +considering {307} those factors we can tell something about what that +condition ought to be. We will attempt, then, to take a bird's-eye +view of the influences in operation on this mission field, and will +make a surmise as to their probable outcome in the future. + +There are three factors which must be considered in attempting to form +an opinion as to the outlook: _the working forces; the opposition to +their work; and the natural adaptability or inadaptability of the +people_. We will endeavor to look right closely into these. + +Humanly speaking, the forces engaged in any work will determine, to +some extent, the future condition of that work. The future of +Christianity in Japan will depend in part upon the present working +Christian forces. These forces are the native church, the body of +missionaries, and the whole mass of mission machinery. + +The burden of the work rests with the native church. The +evangelization of the masses must be chiefly by her effort. The +standing of Christianity in the empire will depend upon her. If true +to her Lord, and faithful in the discharge of the task which He has +given, the result will probably be good. Now what is the condition of +the native church in Japan to-day? There are 100,000 Christians, +including Protestants, Greeks, and Romanists. These Christians have +manifested commendable zeal, earnestness, and {308} piety. The native +church is organized, hopeful, and aggressive, yet in many respects not +what her friends desire and what they pray she may be. Very much is +yet to be desired in the matters of orthodoxy, self-support, and +internal harmony, but it is not sure that this native church is more +lacking in these respects than native churches in other mission fields. +Church history seems to indicate that the church in every land must go +through a certain period of doctrinal development. The old heresies of +Arianism, Pelagianism, and Sabellianism spring up in their order on +each mission field, and are finally succeeded by orthodoxy. Japan is +now in that developing period, and loose theological views are to be +expected. There are many men of unorthodox views in the native church, +who exert a strong influence; but there are also many men of sound +evangelical views, who will be able probably to restrain the radicals +and determine the future development. I think in time there will come +to the church in Japan a sounder faith and a fuller Christian +consciousness, and that she will faithfully bear her part in the +evangelization of this land. Although there are now many elements in +the church which should not be there, we must have faith to leave the +removal of them to the influence of time and the guidance of the Holy +Spirit. God will take care of His church {309} and endow her for the +work He has given her to do. + +The foreign missionaries in Japan can be depended upon to do all in +their power to bring about the triumph of Christianity. They are a +large body of earnest, consecrated workers, led by the Spirit of God. +With but a few exceptions, a more faithful and talented body of men +cannot be found. There are in all branches of the church, including +Greek and Roman Catholics, 876 European missionaries. This number +includes single and married women. Such a force, led by the Holy +Spirit, ought to be able to do much to hasten the coming of the kingdom +in Japan. + +Besides the native and foreign workers, all the machinery and +institutions of various kinds necessary for the growth and expansion of +the church are now in operation. A good Christian literature is +rapidly forming, numerous Christian schools of various grades are +planted over all the empire, and a large number of Christian colleges +and theological seminaries are already open. + +When we thus review the human forces upon which the future depends we +have reason to feel encouraged. + +But no matter how strong and consecrated the body of workers, the +success of the work will in some degree be conditioned by the +hindrances {310} which are placed in the way. There may be certain +social or governmental oppositions, certain combinations of militating +circumstances, which will prove insurmountable to the best workers, +effectually hindering the future of a work otherwise promising. + +Formerly, as has been shown, the government put every opposition it +could in the way of Christian work. Long after the prohibitions of +Christianity were removed governmental influence was exerted against it +in many ways. Even after religious liberty was granted by the +promulgation of the constitution it was far from being realized. In +certain departments of the governmental service, especially in the +military and educational departments, until very recent years +persecutions were still practised in a mild but effective way. But all +this is now a thing of the past. + +The attitude of the government has changed recently, and instead of +hindering it has actually encouraged and in several ways helped in our +work. During the late war with China it permitted the sending to the +army of three native chaplains, and on the field encouraged and helped +them all it could. These men were not officially styled "Christian +chaplains," but were called _imonshi_, or comforters. It is not true, +as has recently been affirmed by a minister in New York, {311} that +there are regularly appointed permanent Christian chaplains to the +Japanese army. None but these three have ever been appointed, and +their appointment was only temporary. But the fact that the government +granted them permission to accompany the armies and encouraged their +work shows clearly a changed attitude toward the Christian religion. + +The same is indicated by the fact that the authorities willingly gave +permission for the distribution of Bibles to the soldiers in every +department of the army. They even aided in the distribution, and often +arranged for those who distributed them to preach to the soldiers. I +think few non-Christian lands have ever gone so far as this in their +encouragement of Christianity. + +From these facts I infer that the government will no longer place +obstacles in the way of our work. Such obstacles have in the past +prevented many from favoring Christianity, and their removal augurs +well for the future. + +The native religions have very much hindered the evangelization of +Japan. Their militating influence is still active and powerful, but I +think it is gradually declining. Buddhism will die hard, but she is +too old, effete, and corrupt permanently to withstand her younger and +more powerful foe. The inherent truth of Christianity must ultimately +give it the victory. As Japanese education and {312} enlightenment +advance, the intrinsic superiority of Christianity over Buddhism must +appear and must recommend it to the people. + +The hope of our religion in this land lies largely in the fact of the +insatiable desire of the people for Western learning and civilization. +The ever-increasing introduction of Western literature, the adoption of +our civilization and institutions, will necessarily bring about a +better acquaintance with Christianity, its spirit and aims. Then the +prejudice against it will gradually die out, and it will, appealing to +them in its true light,--the germ and base of all true civilization, +and the foster-mother of education and enlightenment,--be readily +accepted. + +The social hindrances operating against Christianity to-day are all +local and personal, and will probably become less and less until they +die a natural death. Every part of the empire is absolutely open, and +there is nothing to hinder a full and free proclamation of the gospel +in every town, village, and hamlet in Japan. + +The superior position of Christianity at present to that which it held +a few years ago is striking. Professor Chamberlain, a very close +observer, whose experience in Japan has extended over many years, says: +"To those who can look back thirty years, or even only twenty years, +the change in the position of Christianity in Japan {313} is most +striking, indeed well-nigh incredible." From a hated and despised +thing it has risen to a position in which it commands the respect of +many of the best men in the land. + +But there is another element which must be taken into consideration in +making up an estimate of the outlook, and that is the natural +adaptability or inadaptability of the people for Christianity. The +farmer may labor long and hard; he may sow the best seed; sunshine and +rain may lend their encouragement; but if the soil is uncongenial the +yield will be small. In the same way, a strong, consecrated working +force may labor, unopposed, with might and main in the mission field, +but if the soil is not congenial the results will be small. + +Are the Japanese people well or ill adapted by nature to the reception +of Christianity? The strongest opposition to our work, and the one +which makes us most anxious for the future, lies in the natural +constitution of the people for whom we labor. Many natural +characteristics of this people predispose them to reject Christianity. + +I must again refer to that strong nationalistic feeling which is inborn +in every Japanese and which hinders the rapid progress of the gospel. +This principle, operating within the church, threatens to destroy the +orthodoxy and integrity of the faith. Animated by a patriotic feeling +{314} that is more blind than enlightened, the creeds, the polity, the +life of the church of the West, are considered as of little worth, and +many parts of the native church are extremely anxious to cut off +everything possible that has a foreign flavor, and to create a form of +Christianity peculiarly Japanese. + +Again, the nationalistic feeling prompts many, both in the church and +out of it, to chafe at the presence of foreign religious teachers in +their midst. The very presence of these teachers is looked upon as an +implication that the Japanese are not competent to instruct themselves +in religious matters, and this is much resented. As a prominent +Japanese put it not long ago, "What could be more inconsistent or +improper than for great Japan, that has so recently humbled China and +forced the admiration of the world for her skill in arms, as well as +for her educational, commercial, and industrial development, to be +instructed in religious matters by foreigners?" + +Operating in these ways, Japanese patriotism ill adapts the people for +a reception of Christianity. + +Another feature of the native character which is not favorable is its +lack of seriousness and stability. Religion is a serious, solemn +matter, but the Japanese are not a serious-minded people. Their +beliefs have always sat lightly upon them, to be taken off and put on +at will. Where these {315} characteristics are largely wanting the +progress of Christianity will probably be slow. + +At present the Japanese are too materialistic properly to appreciate a +religion so spiritual as ours. In religion, as in all other things, +they desire to receive some present material benefit; and when the +rewards of Christianity are found to be chiefly spiritual, and most of +them not realized in the present life, a deaf ear is turned. This is +an era of great material prosperity in Japan, and the minds of the +people are fully occupied with commercial and industrial questions, to +the exclusion of moral and religious ones. + +The most common attitude of the Japanese public toward Christianity +to-day is one of absolute indifference. The people think that if the +government permits this religion it cannot be so very bad; it is making +little progress anyway, and they need give it no notice whatever. If +others care to go and hear about it, all right, but as for themselves, +they have no relations with it. The usual experience now when a new +chapel is opened and preaching begun is that for a few times large +numbers of people will come out of curiosity; then after a little they +stop, and no further regard is paid to the chapel or the preaching. +The conflict of religions, the inconsistencies and shortcomings of the +old faiths, the advancing knowledge, have combined to bring about a +state {316} of indifference, wide-spread and hard to overcome. It is +in many respects more hurtful than a position of open antagonism. + +The natural tendency of the Japanese mind to be skeptical in regard to +all supernatural questions has been fostered by education to such an +extent that educated Japan is to-day largely a nation of atheists, or +at least of agnostics. The proud pharisaic spirit is abroad, +indisposing the race to accept Christ. + +The course of Christianity in the future will not be an unopposed, easy +march to victory. There yet remains a great deal to be done, Many +clouds still linger on the horizon, making us anxious about the morrow. +But so much has already been done that the churches at home should feel +encouraged to renew their energies for the final contest. When one +division of an army has forced a breach in the enemy's lines, it is not +left to hold the position alone, but reinforcements are hurried forward +to its assistance, and the advantage gained is instantly followed up. +The attack has been made in Japan; the enemy's lines have been broken, +but the victory is not yet. This is no time for retreat, for +hesitancy, or for cavil; this is a time for prompt reinforcement and +liberal support. Let the home churches feel that such is their present +duty toward the work in Japan. + +{317} + +Although the outlook to-day is not to the natural eye very bright, to +the spiritual eye all is as noonday. The victory has been assured from +the beginning. However indisposed by nature the people among whom we +labor may be, whatever hindrances may oppose our work, the word of the +Almighty has gone forth--_the kingdoms of this world shall become the +kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ_. The victory is sure, because +God reigns. In His own good time every opposing influence will pass +away, and the banner of King Immanuel will wave over all this fair +land. It may not be in the present century; it may not even be in the +lifetime of any now living; but it will surely be when God's time is +fulfilled. + +With an assured faith, built upon the firm promises of God, we +confidently look forward to the time when the empire of Japan shall no +longer be a mission field, but shall herself send the message of light +and life to the darkened millions around her. + +May God hasten the day. + + + + +{319} + +INDEX + + +Ainu, 10, 33. + +American Board (Congregational), 171; history of work, 179; strained +relations with native church, 182. + +Ancestors, worship of, 117, 270, 301. + +Animals, 29. + +Art, 95. + +Asama, 11. + +Ashikaga, 42. + + +Ballagh, Rev. Mr., baptized first convert, 175. + +Banking, 103. + +Baptists, 171, 187. + +Bathing, 83. + +Beautiful, love of the, 59. + +Belief, missionary's, 198. + +Berry, Dr. J. C., opinions on vacations, 218, 220, 223; his medical +work, 265. + +Bible, first portions translated, 147, 174; translation of, essential, +162; translation committee and work, 175; distribution to soldiers, 311. + +Bible and tract societies of America and England, work of, 190. + +Bicycle, 245. + +Birds, 30. + +Biwa, 14. + +Bridges, 16. + +Brotherhood, universal, unknown, 136; repugnant, 273. + +Brothers, relation of, 134. + +Brown, Rev. Dr. S. R., 170; drafts of New Testament, 174. + +Buddhism, introduction of, 40; principal features of, 126; history of, +127; formative power of, 128; temples and priests, 129; and +Christianity, 126, 130, 279; vitality of, 278, 311. + + +Camphor, 26. + +Census of 1893, 9. + +Chamberlain, Professor, on advance of Christianity in Japan, 312. + +Chaplains, Christian, appointed by the government, 310. + +Character, missionary's, 200. + +Cheerfulness, native, 53. + +Children, an allowance for, 214. + +China, early influence of, 39; ancient civilization of, 90; recent war +with, 49, 310. + +Christianity, first introduction of, 144; early successes, 148; +attempted extermination of, 154; cannot be extirpated, 156; +prohibitions of, 157, 172; edicts against, removed, 176; reaction +against, 178; by nature diffusive, 243; revolutionizing tendency of, +267; exclusiveness of, 269; past record of, 274; advance of, 312. + +Church, first organized, 175; sifting of, 178. + +Church of Christ in Japan, 184. + +Civilization, definition of, 89; Japan's compared with Western, 106; +adoption of Western, 177. + +Climate, 19-22. + +Clothing, 73, 82. + +Commercial honor, 67; morality, 120. + +Confucianism, and Japanese morality, 109; ethics of, 110; history of, +130; basal principles of, 131; nearest approach to Christianity, 135; +contrasted with Christianity, 243. + +Consecration of missionary, 197. + +Constitution of Japan, 47, 96. + +Converts, first, 175; social ostracism of, 279; requirements of, 288; +indigent, 289. + +Curiosity, native, 212. + +Customs, bearing of, upon mission work, 70, 269. + + +Davis, Rev. and Mrs. J. D., 180. + +Death, not afraid of, 65. + +Disappointments, missionary's, 226. + +Doshisha University, 180; rationalistic teaching of, 181. + +Duty, ours to the missionary, 229; joy of doing, 231. + + +Earthquakes, 12, 13. + +Educational system of Japan, 93, 255; antagonistic to Christianity, 276. + +Educational work of missions, compared with evangelistic, 250; +criticism of, 253; hinders self-support, 260. + +Embassy to Rome, 149. + +Emperor, power of name, 55; worship of picture, 112, 301. + +Environment, missionary's, unfavorable, 227. + +Episcopalians, 170, 183; five branches of, 186; native church, 187, 303. + +Ethnology, 32, 33. + +Europeanization of Japan, 46, 91; our hope, 312. + +Evangelization, 234; missionaries must be evangelists, 235; +subordinated to educational work, 236; local, 237; itinerating, 242. + +Exiles, missionaries, 225, 228. + +Exports, 27. + + +Facial expression, 53. + +Farms, 23. + +Festivals, religious, 302. + +Feudalism, rise of, 41; conditions under, 145. + +Fish, 30. + +Food, 80. + +Foreign pastor, 230. + +Foreigners, treatment of, 44, 136; country open to, 170, 171; ungodly +example of, 282. + +Formosa, 9. + +Franchise, limited, 96. + +Friends, 135. + +Fuji-san, 12. + +Fujiwara family, 41. + +Funerals, 84. + + +Geography of Japan, 9-15. + +Girls' boarding-schools, 255; purpose of, 256; end defeated by +etiquette, 257; reasons for and against, 258, 259. + +Goble, Rev. J., translation of Matthew, 174. + +God, Japanese word for, 249, 262. + +Government, Japanese, 95; paternalism of, 58; hostile to Christianity, +172, 173, 313. + +Gratitude, 66. + +Greek Church (Russian), 165; its founder, 166; its cathedral, 167; its +work, 168. + +Greene, Dr. and Mrs., 180. + +Greetings, 88. + +Gulick, Rev. O. H., 180; story of his teacher, 172. + + +Hara-kiri (belly-cutting), 85. + +Haughty bearing of missionary, 241. + +Health of missionary, the first qualification, 193; medical +examinations, 195; allowance for, 215; and vacations, 216. + +Heathen faiths opposed to Christianity, 277, 311. + +Hibachi, 80. + +Hideyoshi, 43; persecutor of Christians, 150. + +Hindrances to Christianity, 266; common to all fields, 267; peculiar to +Japan, 271; the greatest, 313. + +Hiroshima, 18. + +Hollanders, 10, 44, 156, 158. + +Homes, mission, necessity of as examples, 207, 211; comfort of, 210; a +Western home, 212. + +Hondo, 9. + +Houses, Japanese, use of, 76; construction of, 78; furniture, 79. + +Human life, cheap, 64. + + +Imitativeness, 64. + +Imperial University, 94. + +Inconsistency, 63. + +Inland Sea, 10. + +Inns, Japanese, 245. + +Inquirers, how to deal with, 238, 286. + +Instability, of people, 61, 314; of civilization, 105. + +Intellectual life, 54; open-mindedness, 59. + +Islands of Japan, 9, 10, 11. + +Itinerating, 242; greatest hindrance to, 246; kinds of, 247; objections +to, 249. + +Iyeyasu, 43, 109; and the battle of Sekigahara, 153; persecution of +Christianity, 153. + + +Japan, the land of, 9; new, birth of, 45; religions of, 122. + +Japanese, reliable history of, 40; characteristics, 51; manners and +customs, 69, civilization, 89; morality, 107; skeptical, 316. + +Jesuits, introduction of Christianity by, 45. + +Jimmu Tenno, 36, 38. + +Jingo, Empress, 39. + +Jinrikisha, 63, 244. + +Joys of the missionary, 231. + + +Kagoshima, 18. + +Kanagawa, 18. + +Kasatkin, Bishop Nicolai, founder of Greek mission, 166. + +Korea, subjugation of, 39. + +Kyoto or Saikyo, 10, 17, 18. + +Kyushu, 9; Dutch residence on, 10. + + +Lakes, 14. + +Land, cultivated, 11, 22; picturesque, 14; irrigation of, 22; +terracing, 23. + +Language, structure of, 55; difficult to learn to read, 93; first +dictionary of, 174; talent for, essential to the missionary, 203; +difficult to master, 262, 284. + +Lawrence, Dr. E., on common sense, 204; on exiles, 225; "axioms of +missions," 292. + +Laws, 96. + +Libraries, how regarded, 72. + +Life, chief of all evils, 127. + +Liggins, Rev. J., 170. + +Lights, 103. + +Literature, native, 92; Christian, 261, 263. + +Love of humanity, missionary's, 199. + +Loyalty, first moral principle, 111, 132. + +Lutherans, missionary problems of, 188; purpose in Japan, 189. + + +McDonald, Dr., on furloughs, 224. + +Mails, 101, 246. + +Manufactories, 104. + +Marriage, customs, 75; relation, 133; essential to missionary, 206. + +Martyrs, 115. + +Materialism in Japan, 277, 315. + +Maxims, 117, 272. + +Medical missions, 264; no longer needed in Japan, 265. + +Mental qualifications of the missionary, 201. + +Methodist Church in Japan, 171, 183; branches of, 185, 304; present +status of, 186. + +Mikados, 41. + +Minamoto, great clan, 41. + +Minerals, 28, + +Missionaries, lives in danger, 171; qualifications of, 192; private +life of, 209; extent and variety of work of, 234; number of, in Japan, +309. + +Missions in Japan, modern Roman and Greek, 160; Protestant, 169; the +"happy time" of, 177; differing policy of, 182; small bodies, 190; +results of, 191; projected on too high a plane, 260; hindrances to, +266; special problems of, 286; the outlook of, 306. + +Morality, compared with West, 109, 117; chief defect of, 121. + +Music in the Greek Church, 167. + +Mutsuhito, 47. + +Mythological history, 36-39. + +Mythology, 34, 122. + + +Nagasaki, 10. + +Nagoya, 18. + +Native church, its relation to the missionary, 182, 228, 299, 314; +missionary's crown, 232; development of, 242; hurtful national feeling +in, 273; problem of, 290; polity of, 290; self-support, 293; reasons +for dependence, 294; attitude toward national habits and customs, 300; +condition of, to-day, 307. + +Native ministry, educated, 251; how provided, 295; how trained, 297. + +Neesima, Dr., 181. + +Newspapers, Japanese, 92; value of Christian, 263. + +Nihon, native name of empire, 10. + +Nihon-bashi, center of empire, 16. + +Nobunaga, 43; patron of early Christianity, 148; assassinated, 150. + + +Obedience, result of, 58. + +Official honor, 68, + +Okayama, 18. + +Omiiki, founder of Tenrikyo, 138. + +Open ports, 19. + +Originality, native, 63. + +Outlook in Japan, 306; bright to spiritual eye, 317. + + +Parental relation, 133. + +Parental respect, 57; great ethical principle, 116. + +Passports, 246. + +Patriotism, extreme, 55; hinders Christianity, 272, 313. + +Perry, Commodore, and the opening of Japan, 44. + +Persecutions, causes of, 150; Christians exiled, 172; United States +government and, 176; cessation of, 177; memory of, 275. + +Physique, native, 33. + +Politeness, the exalted virtue, 85; ridiculous extremes, 87. + +Portuguese, discovery of Japan, 43; captain and Hideyoshi, 150. + +Prayer, 169. + +Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in the United States, 169, 170. + +Problems, special, 286. + + +Railways, 97. + +Rainfall, 21. + +Reformed Church in America, 170. + +Religion, Japanese, composite, 123; influence of, 142; and morality, +268. + +Rivers, 13. + +Roads, 15, 16. + +Roman Catholic Church in Japan, pioneer work of, 144; driven out, 154; +early mistakes, 158, 161; the work resumed, 160; peculiar hindrances +to, 163; prosperity of, 164. + +Ronins, story of the forty-seven, 112. + + +Sake, 119. + +Salary of the missionary, 213; when on furlough, 219. + +Schools, Sunday, 239; mission, 251; academical, 253; girls', 255. + +Sectarianism, a hindrance to missions, 281; disappearing, 303; +advantages of coöperation, 304. + +Self-control of missionary, 205. + +Sermons, kind of, 249. + +Sexes, relation of, 73. + +Shikoku, 10. + +Shimabara, fall of, 155. + +Shinto, revival of, 45; morality, 108; history of, 123; state religion, +125; ancestors, 270; opposing Christianity, 278. + +Shogun (tycoon), 42; abolition of the office, 46. + +Sign language, graceful, 76. + +Simmons, Dr. D. B., 170. + +Sin, no word for, 249, 262. + +Society, missionary's need of, 216, 217, 225. + +Spiritual qualifications of the missionary, 197. + +Steamers, 99. + +Suicides, 65, 120. + + +Taira, great clan, 41. + +Taylor, Dr. W., 265; opinions on missionary's qualifications, 194; +furloughs, 220, 221, 224. + +Telegraphs, 99, 246. + +Tenrikyo, missionary religion, 137; origin of, 138; teachings of, 139; +distinguishing characteristics, 141. + +Theological training, necessity of, 251; in English language, 252; +abroad, 252, 299; place of native religions in, 298. + +Theology, native, rationalistic, 181; desire for, 274; formative stage, +308. + +Tidal waves, 13. + +Tokaido, most famous road, 16. + +Tokyo, the capital, 10, 17. + +Tone-gawa, largest river, 14. + +"Topsyturvydom," 70. + +Treaties, American, 45, 107; English, 170; revision of, 48, 178. + +Typhoons, 22. + + +Vacations of missionaries, summer, 216; furloughs, 218, 224; argument +against, 219; medical opinions in favor of, 220; from an economic +standpoint, 221; useful to native and home churches alike, 222. + +Vegetarians, 80. + +Verbeck, Rev. Dr. G. F., 171, 175. + +Visitation, advantages of, 239; and Japanese etiquette, 240. + +Volcanoes, 11. + + +Wife, missionary's, health of, 196. + +Williams, Rev. C. M. (Bishop), 170, 175. + +Work, methods of, 234. + + +Xavier, St. Francis, first missionary to Japan, 146. + + +Yezo, 9; location and climate, 10, + +Yoritomo, first shogun, 42. + +Yokohama, 11. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gist of Japan, by R. B. Peery + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42304 *** |