Two Empires In Japan :: English Literature Essays

Two Empires In Japan Two Empires In Japan by John M.L. Young and The Christian Confrontation with Shinto Nationalism by Kun Sam Lee were the two books I used for this topic. The former, an intimate 100 year chronicle of the persecution by the Asian government with their demands that all people bow in Kyujo-yohai, ( worshipping the Imperial House from afar); and the struggle of the Japanese Christians in times of compromise and triumph under such totalitarian pressure. The latter a more detailed historical account of old Shinto and the earliest Christian missionaries. The following essay will focus on the conflicting ideologies within Japan between the Shinto militarists and the Protestant mission effort from it ¹s germination in 1859 until 1957. Dr. Young cites the entrance of Christianity into Japan at 1542 when a ferocious storm found two Portuguese sailors shipwrecked on the southern island of Tanegashima. The Japanese accepted the Romish syncretism of the gospel, but were more interested in the goods and technology that came with later Roman Catholic missionaries who arrived in 1549. The priests ¹ attempts at proselytization were not very difficult; the spirit in which their efforts were received is aptly demonstrated :  ³The images of Buddha, with slight application of the chisel, served as images for Christ. Each Buddhist saint found his counterpart in Roman Christianity; and the road- side shrines of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, were rededi- cated to Mary. Temples, altars, bells, holy water vessels, censers, and rosaries were all ready and could be easily adapted to the needs of the new religion. ( Young, pp. 12 ) Oda Noyabunga welcomed the Roman missionaries, for he needed their advanced weaponry to successfully defeat the Ashikaga Shogunate. Shortly after his victory, Noyabunga was assassinated and all priests were driven out of Japan in 1587 vis a vie a decree from Hideyoshi the Great. Sadly, Japan went more than 400 years without the influence of true religion in the entire land. Until the arrival of two Presbyterian missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Hepburn in 1859. As the new missionaries became established they began starting mission schools for the children in which could become trained in the way of the gospel. However, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 ( which consisted of the demotion of 270 Daimyo and over 2 million samurai giving up thier sword and status ), the indigenous religion of Japan, Shintoism, took a revitalized grip on the masses.