Mr. Robert E. Speer’s Secretary of the N. Presbyterian Board Visits Japan!

Robert E Speer

At the time there was a dispute in the Japanese Church concerning who should hold the reigns. Should it be the Foreign missions or the national church. The reverend Otis cary describes it in the following passage:

“In the Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian) the question of the relation between the presbyteries and the foreign missions was vigorously discussed. The missions associated with this church gave financial aid to the evangelistic efforts of the presbyteries. In addition to this some missions had such work of their own, paying wholly or in part the salaries of evangelists, who were therefore under the direction of the missions concerned. This was displeasing to many of the Japanese, who wished all such work to be brought under the direction of presbyteries, and to have these entrusted with all funds used in this way. In July, 1897, the Synod, after hearing the report of a committee which declared that it had not found ” a single case of proper co-operation,” passed a resolution whose preamble defined a cooperating mission as one ”that plans and executes all its evangelistic operations through a committee composed of equal numbers of the representatives of a mission working within the bounds of a presbytery of the Church of Christ in Japan, and of members of said presbytery.”

The position of the Japanese is more fully expressed in the following words of Rev. Oshikawa Masayoshi, one of their leaders:

“ Our desire is to control all evangelistic work under these proposed co-operating committees. My opinion and that of others is that the work of missions independent of presbyteries is hostile to the genuine work of the presbytery and the Church.

It tends to create a missionary party composed of men of inferior class who obey the missionary and have a foreign exotic character.”

Masayoshi Oshikawa

Another person said :

“This is no longer the time for missionaries to control, bat thev and the boards should stand off and let the Japanese control. The old slavish time must end and the Japanese Church established by the Christians of America must be followed, not led.”

This last quotation shows one of the difficulties that has attended attempts at what from an Occidental standpoint would be considered co-operation. The Japanese have had but little idea of the association of partners with equal rights. In business matters one member of the firm was recognized as its head and all others were subordinate to him. He expected that his plans would be followed, even though the majority might not think his policy the best. If dissatisfaction grew too strong, either the head partner withdrew or the whole partnership came to an end. The same method prevailed in political matters; the parties being made up of those that followed such leaders as Ito, Itagaki, Okuma, etc., rather than of those whose political views were similar.

To the Japanese Christians it seemed as though in their relations with the missionaries they must be either servants or masters; that one side must acknowledge the pre-eminence of the other. Hence, it is not strange that with the increase of the nationalistic spirit the Japanese desired to make it evident that they were not controlled by the foreigners, and that everything connected in any way with their church was fully under its authority. Where the experiment of having joint committees composed of equal numbers of Japanese and foreigners was tried, it was usually found that the latter must always yield to the views of the former, or else find themselves the object of much ill-feeling, which sometimes led to efforts for undermining their work and influence.

To the missionaries it did not seem advisable to put everything out of their own hands at so early a date. They feared that the interest of the Japanese in some features of the work would lead them to neglect others of equal importance. Moreover, the placing of a large sum of money coming from foreign sources in the hands of committees such as were proposed seemed inadvisable, at least until the raising of larger amounts by the Japanese Church than it was then contributing should increase the sense of responsibility for choosing men well fitted to administer the funds. Accordingly the Council of Co-operating Missions declared its opinion that co-operation is “best carried out where the Japanese Church in its Sessions, Presbyteries, and Synod all ecclesiastical matters, availing itself of the counsels and assistance of missions or missionaries as occasion arises; while the missions direct their own educational, evangelistic, and other missionary operations, availing themselves, likewise, of whatever counsel and assistance they may be able to obtain from their brethren in the Japanese Church.” This decision was far from pleasing to the Japanese leaders, and though open discussion of the question ceased for a while, it was actively renewed a few years later.

In considering this question of co-operation the Council was helped by the advice of Mr. Robert E. Speer, a secretary of the (Northern) Presbyterian Board of Missions, who was spending a short time in Japan. Mr. Speer also rendered valuable aid to the missionary work in general by addresses made in several cities. Another visitor of the year was Rev. J. H. Barrows, D.D., who, as President of the World’s Parliament of Religions, held at the Columbian Exhibition, had become well known to Buddhists and Shintoists as well as to Christians. Large audiences listened to his lectures, some of which were afterwards published.

 

Opposition from “Nihon Shugi”.

A movement that attracted considerable attention because of the University professors and other scholars who were its leaders aimed at a revival of Shinto. A magazine entitled Nihon Shugi (Japanese Principles) was published, and the movement was popularly known by the same name. The writers contended that Japan was in danger of losing her national characteristics by wholesale borrowing from foreign countries, that an attempt must be made to arouse the nationalistic sentiments of the masses, and that the best way to do this would be by reviving the worship of the ancient gods.

All Japanese Christians were challenged to give plain answers to the following questions:

I. Can the worship of His Sacred Majesty the Emperor, which every loyal Japanese performs, be reconciled with the worship of God and Christ by Christians ?

2. Can the existence of authorities that are quite independent of the Japanese State, such as God, Christ, the Bible, the Pope, the Head of the Greek Church (the Czar), be regarded as harmless?

3. Can a Japanese who is a faithful servant of Christ be regarded as at the same time a faithful servant of the Emperor and a true friend of His Majesty’s faithful subjects? Or, to put the question in another way, is our Emperor to follow in the wake of Western emperors and to pray : * Son of God, have mercy upon me’?

4. Can the Christian convert answer the above questions in a manner that will satisfy our reason?”

The Christian papers ridiculed these questions as showing that loud professions of loyalty were being used as a device to uphold a weak cause. The movement though at first pushed with considerable vigor, soon passed from notice without having presented any formidable obstacle to the progress of Christianity.

The old questions concerning the possibility of Christians being loyal to the Emperor.

Several events occurring in 1897 brought up the old questions concerning the possibility of Christians being loyal to the Emperor. Some of them gave rise to considerable discussion in the newspapers. A student was expelled from the Normal School in Yamaguchi because of a criticism he was said to have made upon the Imperial Rescript. The persecution was began by his fellow-students, who presented the following charges against him:

“I. He says that God is superior to His Majesty the Emperor.

“2. He tries to change the Imperial Rescript so as to make it accord with his own beliefs.

“3. He reads the Bible more than his text-books.

“4. He said that after his conversion to Christianity he became more desirous than before to enter the Normal School.

“5. He talked to Sunday school children in the summer vacation.

“6. He said that he was under great responsibility to lead others to the true religion.”

More attention was drawn to a case occurring in the Normal School of Niigata. Every year two of its graduates were sent to the High Normal School in Tokyo. Nominally the choice of the persons to be sent rested with the prefectural Governor, who was supposed to base the appointment upon the examination papers of candidates; but in reality the principal of the school decided the matter. The graduate that passed the best examination in 1897 was a Christian. The principal refused to appoint him, giving as a reason that Christianity was contrary to the Imperial Rescript, and hence, one holding that religion ought not to receive the honour in question. Several members of the faculty protested against the decision. The discussion soon found its way into the newspapers of Niigata one upholding the principal, while two condemned his action. The press in other parts of the country also published articles upon the matter. Finally, at a meeting held in the school, the Governor made an address in which he rebuked the principal and declared that there was nothing antagonistic between Christianity and the Rescript. He said that, since the Constitution guaranteed religious liberty, a man’s belief should not affect his promotion, which ought to be based on ability alone. The principal’s appointee had already begun his studies in Tokyo, so it seemed to the Governor that it would be unwise to recall him ; but he gave assurance that the Christian could have the appointment the next year, and at once promoted him to a much better school than the one in which he had begun to teach,

John R. Mott, Secretary of the World’s Student Christian Federation, Visit’s Japan!

John Raleigh Mott

Among the visitors that spent only a short time in Japan, perhaps none exerted a more beneficent influence than John R. Mott, Secretary of the World’s Student Christian Federation. Reaching the country in November, 1896, he visited forty-two schools, and in all of them made a deep impression upon the students. At Tokyo, twelve hundred students of the Imperial University listened to his addresses, and eleven hundred young men were present at a meeting held in Kyoto. Many of the meetings took the form of evangelistic services with after-meetings, in which the way of salvation through Christ was carefully taught to those who remained.

The eleven existing College Young Men’s Christian Associations were greatly strengthened, and new ones that were organized increased the number to twenty-eight. About one-half were in other than the Christian schools. In January, 1897, their delegates met in Tokyo and formed a Union of the Student Young Men’s Christian Associations of Japan, which the next summer was admitted to the World’s Student Federation.

The “Weeping Prophets” of Emmanuel Mura in Hokkaido!

The Hokkaido was being gradually occupied by settlers moving thither from the main island. In some cases, companies of Christians united in founding colonies. Rev. W. R. Andrews, of the Church Missionary Society, in 1898 thus described the condition of one of these villages whose very name showed the faith of its settlers:

“Emmanuel Mura is a settlement where there are sixty Christians. Of these, twenty belong to the Seikokwai (Native Episcopal Church) and the rest to the Congregational Church. The Seikokwai Christians have their own little church building, having erected it last year, mostly with their own hands. Sunday is well kept in this village; no one thinks of doing any work. All get up later, don their best clothes, and come to church for service at ten, and stay in church till twelve or one. The service proper lasts an hour, but religious talk, etc., keeps them afterwards. The Sunday-school, too, is generally going on while the adults are having their talk. In the evening there is another service. I was told that, however fine the day, no one would ever go out into the fields for work.”

In November of the same year, the present writer spent a Sunday with the Congregationalists of this village. The meeting was held in the cabin of one of the settlers, a rough building about thirty by fifteen feet in size, made of reeds bound to a framework of poles. The wind, rain, and sleet found easy access on every side. In the centre of the hut was a square fireplace, the fire being built on the ground. The fuel consisted of split logs about three feet long. One end of these blazed in Sie centre of the fireplace, and as the logs burned away they were gradually pushed up towards the flame, new ones being added from time to time. On three sides of the fireplace were the boards that covered one-half of the floor-space, the rest being the bare ground. There was no chimney and no opening in the roof except the crevices between the reeds with which it was thatched. In moments of calm, the smoke rose quietly upward to where the poles and reeds had been coloured a glossy, oily black from the accumulations of former years ; but every few moments a puff of wind would send the smoke into the faces of those that sat about the fire. The colonists paid little attention to this beyond squinting up their eyes when the smoke was thicker than usual, but the visitor found it best to carry on the conversation with closed eyes, and when the time came for him to preach he became in truth a weeping prophet The people themselves were not so rough as their surroundings. Their conversation showed them to be thoughtful persons, and some of them had received a good education. One shelf in the hut was heavily laden with books, most of them being of a solid character. These Congregationalists of the Hokkaido might well remind the visitor of those that colonised New England. The eastern boundary of their settlement was marked by a post inscribed: “Love never faileth,” and the western by one on which was written: “The truth shall make you free.”

Miki Sawada: Mother of Two Thousand Children

Miki Sawada

Following the defeat of WWII, while many Japanese racially mixed babies were abondoned by their parents, Miki Sawada dedicated her life to take care of the orphans.

With many American military servicemen residing in Japan to help rebuild the country, unwanted pregnancies between American men and Japanese women were not unusual. However, racially mixed children, particularly of American decent, were viewed as shameful. A culture of shame created an extraordinary influence on Japanese society to marginalize these orphans.

Miki Sawada, having the Japanese Zaibatsu (Big Business Conglomerates) family background (Mitsubishi), used her accumulated resources to provide a safe home for the orphans. She would trade her clothes to obtain food and lost much sleep in order to change countless diapers. Sawada received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for her outstanding dedication to humanity in 1960.

Ambassador’s Wife:

At age 20, Sawada married a Japanese ambassador and converted to Christianity (her husband was Christian). She traveled to several foreign countries with her husband where she met influential people who would affect her later life. One of them was Josephine Baker, an African American entertainer and political activist, who later adopted a dozen orphans from a mixture of racial backgrounds; Baker later adopted two of Sawada’s children. Sawada also befriended a French painter, Marie Laurencin, and an American Nobel Prize novelist, Pearl Buck, who took care of several orphans.

Sawada’s Mission:

The war had caused countless families to face death of their love ones, Sawada also had lost one of her youngest sons in the war.

By 1947, her children already being grown adults, her life takes a turn towards a mission she dedicated the rest of her life to. A coincidental incident has changed her life forever – she was accused of abandoning a racially mixed infant on a train; the curly-haired infant was found dead.

Instead of feeling relieved that she was able to prove her innocence, Sawada felt strong mission to save as many innocent lives as she could. Soon after that she convinced herself that it was her mission to raise these children. Many Japanese and Americans viewed her negatively. Some said that it was going to be just a fickle activity by a woman from a wealthy family. However, Sawada kept taking on child after child; she was determined to become a mother to them all. Sawada became a mother for a total of two thousand children

Establishment of Elizabeth Thunders Home:

Since the Japanese government was not supportive of Sawada, she used her own resources and solicited for donations overseas. Due to Zaibatsu kaitai (order to dissolve Zaibatsu under the U.S. command), her father was not able to offer her full support. However, in 1948, she was able to gather enough support to buy back one of the family properties and was able to build a school for the orphans. She named the school, “Elizabeth Thunder’s Home”, which was named after a British woman who was the first significant donor for the school.
Moving to Brazil:

Sawada spent all her time trying to nurture and protect children from the harsh realities of prejudice in society. However, she realized that as her children grew older, that Japanese society would not accept them as member of society when they matured to adults. Moreover, after leaving her home, some of them would get into trouble and Sawada was often asked to pick them up from police custody.

Realizing that the obstacles her children would face seem indefinite in Japan, she decided to purchase land in Brazil and went with her children to establish a farm and independence. While some had rebelled against her and left, others stayed. Without much success, the farm was finally shut down after 16 years.
Sawada’s Death in Spain:

Sawada had always tried to make sure that she remained available to support her children even after they left her home; she kept in contact with as many of them as possible. Although she started out as the mother for the children, she faced many separations as many were adopted out overseas. Sawada often traveled outside Japan to see her children, and dedicated herself to continue her social work for children’s’ welfare.

At age 78, Sawada suffered a heart attack while visiting Spain, and left her legacy behind as a mother of two thousand children.
Look up and Keep Walking:

Sawada had often encouraged her children to “look up and keep walking”. She was not only kind but also strict towards her children because she thought it was important for them to be strong to stand against social prejudice. One of her children who was interviewed after her death commented that he was not angry at his birth parents because after all, it was his responsibility to keep walking on his own, regardless of his birth parents. Not all Sawada’s children led a stereotypical happy life, however, they were blessed enough to have Sawada in their life telling them to be proud and keep walking.

Sources:

Elizabeth Blackwell Award Records, A Finding Aid, Hobart and William Smith Colleges Archives, Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

Ikeda, Michiko. Jinruiiai ni sasageta shyougai (Stories of Women who Devoted their Life to Humanity), . Tokyo: Kodansha, 1981.

Seiichi,Narita, Miki- Sawada Ao aruiha Aka, Shiro aruiha Kuro (Blue, Red, White or Black), Mitsubishi Jinbutsuden (Mitsubishi biography collection), Mitsubishi Shiryokan (Mitsubishi Museum), Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

Tonneru no Mukou ha Bokura no Rakuen Datta (Our Paradise beyond the Tunnel), A Special 45 year Celebration Program, No. 4. Tokyo. March 11, 2009. TV Tokyo.

Read more at Suite101: Mother of Two Thousand Children: One Japanese Woman’s Struggle to Save War Orphans’ Lives | Suite101.com http://naoko-charity.suite101.com/mother-of-two-thousand-children-a178915#ixzz1aX4G9L3i

Mr. Hara Taneaki, Pioneer of the Prison Ministry!

Hara Taneaki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will be remembered that several Christians had been serving as moral instructors in the prisons of the Hokkaido. A change in administration brought in a superintendent strongly prejudiced against Christianity, who soon adopted such measures as made the instructors feel that it was unwise for them to remain. Some of them, however, found other ways in which they could labour for the criminal classes. The pioneer in the work for prisoners had been Mr. Hara Taneaki. He continued to publish for the benefit of convicts a magazine that was admitted into many prisons of the land. He also sent it to many discharged criminals, especially to those whom he had known in the prisons. At a later date he established in Tokyo a temporary home for ex-prisoners, and in other ways he did much to help this class of men.