鎖国 (A Locked Country)
Once a month the Christar workers in Japan get together for a morning of prayer followed by lunch and general discussion. This past month’s meeting took place at the Christar planted church in a town called Hofu where the Japanese pastor, Yuki-sensei, shared some thoughts with us. He had some very fascinating things to share about the history of Christianity in Japan that Colby and I thought would be interesting to share with you.
Pastor Yuki shares as our team leader translates.
In a general sense, Christianity was formally introduced to Japan in 1549 by Frances Xavier who was a Jesuit missionary. The people were open and over the next few years it seemed to flourish. Pastor Yuki estimated that by 1620, around 800,000 people professed to be Christians (approximately 5% of the population at that time). Around that same time, the Tokugawa dynasty came to power. They began to see Japan’s biggest threat as colonization by the west and almost anything foreign in Japan – Christianity being one of those things – was made illegal. Anyone who was caught worshipping Christ was tortured and killed in a variety of ways unless they renounced their faith. Eventually, Japan became so closed that from 1635 to 1868 the only foreigners allowed in Japan, were Dutch traders, and even they were restricted to a small floating island in Nagasaki harbor.
The Japanese people, being an organized and systematic people, created efforts to expel Christianity that were also organized and systematic. According to Pastor Yuki, the methods used to eradicate Christianity were some of the most systematically thorough methods in the history of the world. During this period of about 250 years, each family was required to be registered with their local Buddhist temple. In those days the Buddhist temples acted like a pseudo town office. Every year, every member of the family had to visit the temple, confirm their membership (including their adherence to Shinto and Buddhism), and then to prove it, each person was required to stomp on a picture of Jesus or Mary.
One of the pictures of Jesus, called a fumie (踏み絵), that the Japanese were forced to step on.
Anyone who did not step on the carvings, or even hesitated to, was assumed to be a Christian or a sympathizer with Christianity and was sent to a place called Nagasaki to be prodded to change their beliefs. If they chose not to renounce Christianity, they were tortured and killed. Even a Christian person’s parents, siblings, grandparents, children, and grandchildren could all face potential persecution for someone in their family being a Christian. Thus, there was great societal and family pressure on a person if they chose to follow Christ. It is said that many people renounced their faith, and it is also said that the Hidden Christian movement began at this time.
When Emperor Meiji began his reign in 1868, because he wanted to open Japan to foreign influences, Christianity was once again allowed and has been ever since. Even though it is gaining in interest these days, the idea of Christianity being a foreign religion and one that is risky in that it can turn families against each other is still a deeply rooted idea. While Japanese people are free to worship whomever they desire, societal pressures are still strong in encouraging people to conform to traditional Buddhist and Shinto beliefs. This, combined with the Japanese tendency toward busyness and accumulation of material things, are a few of the reasons why it is hard for a Japanese person to become a Christian.
Please continue to pray for Colby and me as we minister here in Japan. Pray for God’s wisdom to know how best to convey the truths of the Gospel and the Japanese people’s need for the Gospel. Please pray that God would be mightily at work in Japan.