| Description |
This paper is an attempt to compare the two great periods of Christian entry into Japan and to discuss the reasons why the Christian religion was accepted at certain times and by certain groups of people and rejected at other times and by other groups. The first period, called Kirishitan (the Japanese rendering of the Portuguese term for Christian), covered nearly one century from 1549 to 1639. The second period under consideration followed the opening up of Japan in 1853 by Commodore Matthew C. Perry. This study shall concentrate on a discussion of the years from the first arrival of Christian missionaries in 1859 until the commencement of the Asian War in 1937. A general historical background of the two periods is presented in the first chapter. The following chapter discusses the Japanese response to the theological and ethical aspects of Christianity. It examines the reasons why Christian theology was generally rejected by the Japanese of the Kirishitan era and why Christian ethics were accepted by certain groups of Japanese in the modern era as essential to the modernization of Japan. The third chapter deals essentially with problems between the missionaries and Japanese converts. The problems that Eastern and Western cultural differences pose in creating an indigenous Christian Church are discussed. In the fourth chapter, the close connection between Christian proselyting and trade, politics, and the international situation are discussed. It includes a presentation of the reasons why Christian missionary work was initially permitted and finally prohibited. The final chapter involves a discussion of the responses of Japanese Christians and non-Christians during periods of persecution and government opposition to Christianity. The whole is presented to show that generally Christianity has been 'rejected by the Japanese, but that under certain circumstances, Christianity has been accepted or tolerated by certain groups of Japanese who saw in it a means of achieving other worthy Japanese objectives. |
