Protestantism in Japan

Last updated

Protestants in Japan constitute a religious minority of about 0.45% of total population or 600,000 people in 2020 [1] (see Protestantism by country).

Contents

All major traditional Protestant denominations are present in the country, including Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Anglicanism, [2] Methodists, Presbyterians, [3] Mennonites, [4] the Salvation Army and some others.

Pre-World War II

Episcopalian and Anglican missions

Channing Moore Williams

In 1859 the first representatives of the Anglican Communion, the Rev., later Bishop, Channing Moore Williams and the Rev. John Liggins of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America arrived in Nagasaki, Japan. Williams and Liggins were followed to Nagasaki in January 1869 by Rev. George Ensor, representing the Church Missionary Society (CMS), which followed the Anglican traditions of the Church of England. In 1874 he was replaced by the Revd H Burnside at Nagasaki. The same year the CMS mission was expanded to include Revd C F Warren at Osaka, Revd Philip Fyson at Yokohama, Revd J Piper at Tokyo (Yedo), Revd H Evington at Niigata and Revd W Dening at Hokkaido. [5] [6] [7] [8] Revd H Maundrell joined the Japan mission in 1875 and served at Nagasaki. [9] Revd John Batchelor was a missionary to the Ainu people of Hokkaido from 1877 to 1941. Hannah Riddell arrived in Kumamoto, Kyūshū in 1891. She worked to establish the Kaishun Hospital (known in English as the Kumamoto Hospital of the Resurrection of Hope) for the treatment of leprosy, with the hospital opening on 12 November 1895. Hannah Riddell left the CMS in 1900 to run the hospital.

Rev. Williams was appointed the Episcopal Bishop of China and Japan in 1866. He united various Anglican missionary efforts into one national church the Nippon Sei Ko Kai or Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan, and went on in 1874 to establish Rikkyo University. After the Meiji Restoration, significant new legislation relating to the freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, facilitating in September 1873, the arrival in Tokyo of Rev. Alexander Croft Shaw and the Rev. W. Ball Wright, the first missionaries sent to Japan by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In 1888 the Anglican Church of Canada also began missionary work in Japan.

Presbyterian missions

James Curtis Hepburn

On 18 October, 1859, Dr. James Curtis Hepburn, a medical missionary associated with the American Presbyterian Mission, and his wife arrived in Yokohama, where they stayed in a Buddhist temple, Jobutsu-ji in Kanagawa Ward. He promptly opened a clinic in nearby Soko-ji, another Buddhist temple. However, it was ordered to close. He did not open another clinic for the next four years, instead devoting his time to his study of the Japanese language.

An Ukiyo-e print of Sawamura Tanosuke III in one of his roles San Dai Mu Ze Cun Tian Zhi Zhu SAWAMURA TANOSUKE III. (Only very occasionally do we find Sawamura with the Kangi Ze Cun ).jpg
An Ukiyo-e print of Sawamura Tanosuke III in one of his roles

In May 1863, he opened another clinic in the Yokohama Foreign Settlement, specialized in optometry, but providing a wide range of medical services, including surgery. [10] At this clinic, he gained fame for amputating the feet of the famous Kabuki actor, Sawamura Tanosuke III, due to gangrene. [10] [11]

In November of that same year, Hepburn opened his second clinic, and he and his wife Clara opened a school which taught a number of high-profile individuals: Hayashi Tadasu, Takahashi Korekiyo, and Masuda Takashi, among others. Clara taught English; Hepburn taught medical science.

Later, in 1867, Hepburn would publish the results of his long study of Japanese, a Japanese-English dictionary. This dictionary contained Hepburn romanization, which is still the most common form of Romaji.

By 1887, the Hepburn Academy, which had merged with a number of other missionary projects, had become Meiji Gakuin University of Shirokane. [12] Hepburn was the school's first president. Famed poet and novelist, Tōson Shimazaki, was a member of the first graduating class and wrote the school song. [13]

Divie Bethune McCartee

Divie Bethune McCartee was a notable Presbyterian Christian missionary to visit Japan in 1861–1862. His gospel tract translated into the Japanese language was among the first Protestant literature in Japan. In 1865 McCartee moved back to Ningbo, China, but others have followed in his footsteps.

The Japanese responded favorably to the gospel in the late 19th century when Japan re-opened its doors to the West. However, this was followed by renewed suspicion and rejection of Christian teaching. The growth of Protestantism was slowed dramatically in the early 20th century because of pressure caused by criticism and the influence of the military government.

Post-World War II

The post-World War II years have seen increasing activity by evangelicals, initially with American influence, and some growth occurred between 1945 and 1960. The Japan Evangelical Association was founded in 1968.

The Japanese Bible Society was established in 1937 with the help of National Bible Society of Scotland (NBSS, now called the Scottish Bible Society), the American Bible Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society. [14]

Starting in 1957, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod sent several missionaries to Japan. In 1962, the Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church (LECC) was formed in Japan. The LECC was one of the founding members of the international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. [15]

By some estimations, there are 3,000 Protestant churches in Tokyo, and 7,700 Protestant churches in all of Japan. [16] There are several Christian TV and radio ministries broadcasting over commercial stations in the country. By law, religious organizations are not granted licenses to own and operate over the air broadcast stations. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Church in Japan</span> National Anglican church for Japan

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church representing the Province of Japan within the Anglican Communion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainline Protestant</span> Older, more establishment Protestant denominations

The mainline Protestant churches are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States and Canada largely of the theologically liberal or theologically progressive persuasion that contrast in history and practice with the largely theologically conservative evangelical, fundamentalist, charismatic, confessional, Confessing Movement, historically Black church, and Global South Protestant denominations and congregations. Some make a distinction between "mainline" and "oldline", with the former referring only to denominational ties and the latter referring to church lineage, prestige and influence. However, this distinction has largely been lost to history and the terms are now nearly synonymous.

P'ent'ay is an originally Amharic–Tigrinya language term for Pentecostal Christians. Today, the term refers to all Evangelical Protestant denominations and organisations in Ethiopian and Eritrean societies. Alternative terms include Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelicalism or the Ethiopian–Eritrean Evangelical Church. Sometimes the denominations and organizations are known as Wenigēlawī.

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is a lectionary of readings or pericopes from the Bible for use in Christian worship, making provision for the liturgical year with its pattern of observances of festivals and seasons. It was preceded by the Common Lectionary, assembled in 1983, itself preceded by the COCU Lectionary, published in 1974 by the Consultation on Church Union (COCU). This lectionary was derived from various Protestant lectionaries in current use, which in turn were based on the 1969 Ordo Lectionum Missae, a three-year lectionary produced by the Roman Catholic Church following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission partners during its 200-year history. The society has also given its name "CMS" to a number of daughter organisations around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, which have now become independent.

The Protestant Episcopal Church Mission was a Christian missionary initiative of the Episcopal Church that was involved in sending and providing financial support to lay and ordained mission workers in growing population centers in the west of the United States as well as overseas in China, Liberia and Japan during the second half of the 19th Century.

Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of Protestantism. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly Hindu majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and significant minorities in Konkan division, Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back to the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. There are an estimated 20 million Protestants and 16 million Pentecostals in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Thailand</span>

Protestants in Thailand constitute about 0.77% of the population of Thailand. Protestant work among the Thai people was begun by Ann Judson in Burma, who evangelized Thai war captives who were relocated to Burma. Protestantism was introduced to the country of Thailand in 1828 through the work of Karl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin, the first two resident Protestant missionaries in Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Ukraine</span> Aspect of religious life in Ukraine

Protestants in Ukraine number about 600,000 to 700,000 (2007), about 2% of the total population. Nearly all traditional Protestant denominations are represented in the country. According to Christianity Today magazine, Ukraine has become not just the "Bible Belt" of Eastern Europe, but a "hub of evangelical church life, education, and missions". At present, the country is a key supplier of missionaries and a center of evangelical training and press printing for all the countries of the former Soviet Union, where the legal environment is not so favourable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Russia</span>

Protestants in Russia constitute 1–2% of the overall population of the country. Additionally there are around 15.000–20.000 Doukhobors and 40.000 Molokans in Russia, who have similarities to Protestantism. By 2004, there were 4,435 registered Protestant societies representing 21% of all registered religious organizations, which is second place after Eastern Orthodoxy. By contrast in 1992 the Protestants reportedly had 510 organizations in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ordination of women in Christianity</span> Taking place in Protestant churches

In Christianity, the ordination of women has been taking place in an increasing number of Protestant and Old Catholic churches, starting in the 20th century. Since ancient times, certain churches of the Orthodox tradition, such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, have raised women to the office of deaconess. While ordination of women has been approved in many denominations, it is still a very controversial and divisive topic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in the United States</span>

Protestantism is the largest grouping of Christians in the United States, with its combined denominations collectively comprising about 43% of the country's population in 2019. Other estimates suggest that 48.5% of the U.S. population is Protestant. Simultaneously, this corresponds to around 20% of the world's total Protestant population. The U.S. contains the largest Protestant population of any country in the world. Baptists comprise about one-third of American Protestants. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest single Protestant denomination in the U.S., comprising one-tenth of American Protestants. Twelve of the original Thirteen Colonies were Protestant, with only Maryland having a sizable Catholic population due to Lord Baltimore's religious tolerance.

Articles related to Christianity include:

The New Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) is a mission society working within the Anglican Communion and Protestant, Evangelical Anglicanism. The parent organisation was founded in England in 1799. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) sent missionaries to settle in New Zealand. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, the Society's Agent and the Senior Chaplain to the New South Wales government, officiated at its first service on Christmas Day in 1814, at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Missionary Society in the Middle East and North Africa</span>

The Church Missionary Society in the Middle East and North Africa, operated through branch organisations, such as the Mediterranean Mission, with the mission extending to Palestine, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Egypt, Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and the Sudan. The missions were financed by the CMS with the local organisation of a mission usually being under the oversight of the Bishop of the Anglican diocese in which the CMS mission operated. The CMS made an important contribution to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Missionary Society in China</span>

The Church Missionary Society in China was a branch organisation established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS), which was founded in Britain in 1799 under the name the Society for Missions to Africa and the East; as a mission society working with the Anglican Communion, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians around the world. In 1812, the organization was renamed the Church Missionary Society. The missions were financed by the CMS with the local organisation of a mission usually being under the oversight of the Bishop of the Anglican diocese in which the CMS mission operated.

References

  1. ↑ The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28
  2. ↑ An Historical Sketch of the Japan Mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. Third Edition. New York: The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 1891.
  3. ↑ RPCNA Japan Presbytery web-page
  4. ↑ Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference Churches, Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference web-site
  5. ↑ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, September 1874" . C.M.S. Missionaries in Japan. Adam Matthew Digital . Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, December 1874" . Our Missionaries in Japan. Adam Matthew Digital . Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, May 1877" . The Ainos of Japan. Adam Matthew Digital . Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Church Missionary Atlas (Japan)" . Adam Matthew Digital. 1896. pp. 205–2009. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Church Missionary Gleaner, January 1875" . Appointment of Rev. H. Maundrell to Japan. Adam Matthew Digital . Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 Michio, Takaya. "James Curtis Hepburn (1815—1911)". Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity . Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "SAWAMURA TANOSUKE III". www.kabuki21.com. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  12. ↑ "University History". 明治学院大学 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  13. ↑ "Meiji Gakuin School Song". 明治学院大学 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  14. ↑ JBS Brief History
  15. ↑ "Lutheran Evangelical Christian Church—Japan" . Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "What is God Doing in Japan?", Baptist Press, May 1998, through Back to Jerusalem site
  17. ↑ Japanese Christian Links, Bible Japanese Page
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.