{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42304/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42304","id":"gutenberg_42304","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42304","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Japan -- Social life and customs","Missions -- Japan"],"text":"[Illustration: Cover]\n\n\n\n\n[Frontispiece: Fuji San.]\n\n\n\n\nThe Gist of Japan\n\nThe Islands Their People And Missions\n\n\nBy the Rev.  R. B. Peery, A.M., Ph.D.\n\n\n\nWith Illustrations\n\n\n\nNew York -- Chicago -- Toronto\n\nFleming H. Revell Company\n\nM DCCC XCVII\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, 1897, by Fleming H. Revell Company\n\n\n\n\nTo My Wife\n\nTo whose Kindly Sympathy and Help is Largely Due Whatever of Value\nthere may be in these Pages This Book is Affectionately Dedicated\n\n\n\n\n{3}\n\nPREFACE\n\nAlthough a great deal has already been published in English concerning\nJapan and the Japanese people, nothing, to my knowledge, has yet been\npublished which attempts to give a full treatment of mission work in\nJapan.  \"An American Missionary In Japan,\" by Dr. Gordon, is the only\nbook I am aware of that deals exclusively with this subject; but its\nscope is quite different from that of the present volume.  Therefore I\nhave been led to believe that there is a place for this book.\n\nI have written for the common people and hence have tried to give the\nsubject a plain, popular treatment.  There has been no attempt at\nexhaustive discussion, but great pains have been taken to make the hook\nreliable and accurate.\n\nIn the preparation of this little book I have consulted freely the\nfollowing works in English: \"Transactions of the Asiatic Society of\nJapan\"; files of the \"Japan Mail\"; \"Transactions of the {4} Osaka\nConference, 1882\"; Rein's \"Japan\"; Griffis's \"Mikado's Empire\";\nGriffis's \"Religions of Japan\"; Chamberlain's \"Handbook of Things\nJapanese\"; Miss Bacon's \"Japanese Girls and Women\"; Dr. Lawrence's\n\"Modern Missions in the East\"; \"Report of the World's Missionary\nConference, London, 1888\"; and reports of the various missionary\nsocieties operating in Japan. In Japanese I have consulted some native\nhistorians and moral and religious writers--especially in the\npreparation of the chapters on History, Morality, and Religions.\n\nThe book is sent forth with the prayer that it may be the means of\nbegetting in the American churches a deeper interest in the work it\nportrays.\n\nR. B. P.\n\nSAGA, JAPAN.\n\n\n\n\n{5}\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  I. The Land of Japan\n  II. A Brief History of the Japanese People\n  III. Japanese Characteristics\n  IV. Manners and Customs\n  V. Japanese Civilization\n  VI. Japanese Morality\n  VII. Religions of Japan\n  VIII. First Introduction Of Christianity\n  IX. Modern Roman and Greek Missions\n  X. A Brief History of Protestant Missions in Japan\n  XI. Qualifications for Mission Work in Japan\n  XII. Private Life of the Missionary\n  XIII. Methods of Work\n  XIV. Hindrances\n  XV. Special Problems\n  XVI. The Outlook\n\n\n\n\n{7}\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\nFuji San . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_\n\nA Bridge Scene\n\nA Kitchen Scene\n\nHara-kiri\n\nA Shinto Temple\n\nA Buddhist Priest\n\nA Buddhist Cemetery\n\nThe Author's Home\n\nJinrikishas\n\n\n\n\n{9}\n\nI\n\nTHE LAND OF JAPAN\n\nThe empire of Japan consists of a chain of islands lying off the east\ncoast of Asia, and extending all the way from Kamchatka in the north to\nFormosa in the south.  Its length is more than 1500 miles, while the\nwidth of the mainlands varies from 100 to 200 miles.  The entire area,\nexclusive of Formosa, recently acquired, is 146,000 square miles--just\nabout equal to that of the two Dakotas or the United Kingdom of\nEngland, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.  On this territory, at the\nbeginning of the year 1893, there lived 41,089,940 souls.\n\nThe country is divided into four large islands and more than two\nthousand smaller ones.  The larger ones are named respectively Hondo,\nKyushu, Shikoku, and Yezo.  Of these the first named is by far the\nlargest and most important.  This island originally had no separate\nname, but {10} in recent years it is very generally called Hondo.\nWestern geographers have frequently made the mistake of applying the\nterm \"Nihon\" to it; but \"Nihon\" is the native name for the whole\nempire, and not for its chief island.  The capital, Tokyo, the ancient\ncapital, Kyoto, and the commercial center, Osaka, are all situated on\nthis island.\n\nKyushu is the second largest island in the group, and lies southwest of\nthe main island.  It was on this island, in the town of Nagasaki, that\nthe Dutch lived for more than two hundred years, forming the only means\nof communication Japan had with the outside world.\n\nShikoku is next in size.  It lies south of Hondo and northeast of\nKyushu.  Shikoku and Kyushu are separated from the main island by the\nInland Sea, one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world.\n\nThe island of Yezo is in the extreme north, It has very cold winters\nand resembles the central part of North America somewhat in climate and\nproductions.  On this island the aborigines of Japan, called Ainu, now\nlive.\n\nAmong the more important of the smaller groups are the Liukiu Islands,\nin the extreme south; the Goto Islands, in the west; and the Kuriles,\nin the north.  Besides these there are numerous other islands of\nconsiderable size lying {11} around the coasts, and the whole Inland\nSea is beautifully dotted with them.\n\nJapan is a very mountainous country.  For this reason hardly twelve per\ncent. of her total area is cultivated.  In general the land gradually\nascends on both sides as it recedes from the ocean, at first forming\nhills and table-lands, and then huge mountains.  Thus a chain of\nmountains is formed in the center of the islands, extending throughout\nthe whole length of the empire.  The mountains are nearly all of\nvolcanic origin, which accounts for their jagged appearance.  There are\nmany active volcanoes, continually sending up great clouds of smoke,\nand occasionally emitting streams of fire and molten lava, deluging the\nwhole neighborhood with sulphur and ashes.  One of the first sights\nthat greets the traveler from the West as he approaches Japan is the\nsmoke of a volcano, ever active, on Vries Island, in the entrance to\nYokohama harbor.  The chief volcanoes active at present are Asama,\nShirane-san, Bandai-san, Aso-san, and Koma-ga-take.  I shall never\nforget the ascent of Asama at night, in 1894.  The volcano had been\nunusually active recently, and a large part of the crater had fallen\nin, completely changing its appearance.  The sulphurous vapors and\nsmoke came up so thick and fast that we dared not approach near the\ncrater for fear of {12} suffocation.  At that time we could not see\ndown into the crater at all, but occasionally one can see the blue-red\nflames curling and writhing far down in the bowels of the earth like a\nsea of fire, a veritable gate of hell.\n\nOf extinct volcanoes Japan boasts a large number.  The mightiest of\nthese is the peerless Fuji-san, the pride of every Japanese, the\nhighest mountain in Japan.  It is 12,365 feet high, and snow is found\non its summit at all seasons.  This mountain is now a huge pile of\nashes, lava, and boulders--apparently harmless.  As late as 1708 it was\nin eruption, and when I stood on its snowy summit in August, 1893,\nthere were certain places where vapors hot enough to cook an egg came\nup from the ground.  For aught we know, it may at any time burst forth\nagain and devastate whole provinces.\n\nThis is a land of earthquakes.  The records show that from earliest\ntimes this country has been subject to great ruin by their visitations.\nWhole villages and towns have been suddenly swallowed up, and huge\nmountains have disappeared in a day.  These earthquakes are of frequent\noccurrence.  The seismic instruments now in use throughout the empire\nrecord about three hundred and sixty-five per year--one for each day.\nCertain localities are much more exposed to them than others, although\nnone is {13} entirely free from them.  These disturbances are very\ndestructive of life and property, especially injuring railways,\nbridges, and high buildings.  They have left their mark upon the whole\ncountry.  Through the effect of volcanoes and earthquakes together, the\nsurface of Japan presents an appearance seldom seen in any other land.\n\nThe forces of nature are unusually destructive in Japan.  Besides the\nvolcanoes and earthquakes, the country is subject to occasional tidal\nwaves, which kill thousands of people and destroy millions of dollars'\nworth of property.  Impelled by some mighty force, the great sea rises\nin its bed mountain high, and, angrily breaking out of its accustomed\nbounds, sweeps everything before it.  While I am writing this chapter\n(June, 1896) news has come of one of the most destructive waves known\nhere for decades, which has just swept over the north coast of Hondo.\nMore than 30,000 people were killed instantly, and great destruction\nwrought to property.  So terrible is nature in her fiercer aspects!\n\nJapan being a very narrow country, her rivers are short and small, few\nof them being serviceable for navigation.  Ordinarily they are quiet,\nlazy streams, but when the heavy rains fall in the mountains, the\nwaters sweep down like a flood, swelling these rivers to huge size and\nconverting them into fierce, angry torrents.  The {14} Tone-gawa is the\nlongest and widest river, but its length is only 170 miles.  Other\nimportant ones are the Shinano-gawa, the Kiso-gawa, and the Kitakami.\nA peculiar feature about these rivers is that none of them bears the\nsame name from source to mouth, but all change their name in nearly\nevery province.\n\nThere are few lakes of importance.  The largest is Lake Biwa, near\nKyoto; it is 50 miles long, and 20 wide at its widest point.  Lake\nInawashiro is of considerable size.  Lake Chuzenji, at the foot of\nNantai-zan, is unrivaled for beauty, and is hardly surpassed in any\nland.  Hakone is also a beautiful lake, and the reflection of Fuji-san\nin its waters by moonlight is a sight well worth seeing.  Indeed, the\nwhole of Japan abounds in picturesque landscapes and scenic beauty.\nMountain scenes rivaling those of Switzerland; clear, placid lakes, in\nwhich the image of sky and mountains blends; and smiling, fertile\nvalleys, heavily laden with fruits and grain, make the landscape one of\nsurpassing beauty.  Few countries are more pleasing to the eye than is\nJapan.\n\nThe coasts are indented by many bays and inlets, affording fine\nharbors.  The seas are very deep and often wild and stormy.  The\nislands are favorably located for commercial enterprises, and the\nJapanese are by nature destined to be a {15} maritime people.  As\nregards situation and harbors, there is a striking resemblance to\nEngland.  The two countries are of nearly equal size, they both are\ninsular powers, and are situated about equidistant from a great\ncontinent.  It is safe to assume that Japan's development will be along\nlines somewhat similar to England's.\n\nThere is a good system of roads.  The mountain roads are carefully\ngraded; hollows are filled up and ridges cut through in such a manner\nas we employ only for railroads.  Indeed, some of the roads are so\ncarefully graded that ties and rails could be laid on them almost\nwithout any further modification.  Many of them are as straight as the\nengineer's art can make them.  A new road was built recently from Saga\nto the small seaport town of Wakatsu, and between the two towns it is\nas direct as a bee-line.  This road crosses a river just at the\njunction of two streams.  The fork of the river lay exactly in the path\nof the road; by slightly swerving to either the right or the left a\nbridge half the length of the present one would have sufficed, but the\nlong, costly bridge was built rather than have the road swerve from its\ncourse even a little.\n\nIn the plains most of the roads are elevated three or four feet above\nthe surrounding fields.  They are not macadamized, but are covered with\nlarge, coarse gravel known as _jari_.  When this {16} jari is first\nspread on, the roads are almost impassable, but it soon becomes beaten\ndown and makes a good road.  Unfortunately, it must be applied nearly\nevery year.\n\nSome of the chief highways are very old.  The most famous is the\nTokaido, extending from the old capital, Kyoto, the seat of the\nimperial court, to the city of Yedo (now called Tokyo), the seat of the\nshogun's government.  It was over this road that the ancient daimios of\nthe western provinces used to journey, with gorgeous pageantry and\nsplendid retinues, to the shogun's court.\n\nSome highways are lined on either side with tall cryptomeria and other\ntrees, giving a delightful shade and making of them beautiful avenues.\nThe most beautiful of these is the road approaching Nikko.  This is\nsaid to be lined on both sides with rows of magnificent cedars and\npines for a distance of 40 miles.\n\nThe bridges add a great deal to the peculiar beauty of the landscape.\nThey are substantial, beautiful structures, generally built in the\nshape of an arch, and are of stone, bricks, or wood.  The Japanese are\nvery careful about bridges, and little streams across foot-paths, where\nin America one sees at best only a plank or log, are here carefully\nbridged.  The bridge called Nihon-bashi, in Tokyo, is said to be the\ncenter of the empire, the point at which all roads converge.\n\n[Illustration: A Bridge Scene.]\n\n{17}\n\nJapan is a land in which the rural population largely predominates.\nMost of the people live in the villages and small towns.  But in recent\nyears a process similar to that going on in America has set in, and\nlarge numbers of the rural classes are drifting into the cities.\n\nThe chief city is Tokyo, with a population of 1,323,295.  Being now the\nhome of the emperor and the seat of government, it is held in much\nreverence by the people.  In popular parlance this city is exalted on a\npedestal of honor, and the people speak of \"ascending to\" or\n\"descending from\" it.  It is really a fine city, with broad, clean\nstreets and many splendid buildings, and has been called the \"city of\nmagnificent distances.\"  One can travel almost a whole day and not get\noutside the city limits.  It was formerly called Yedo, but when the\nemperor removed his court hither after the Restoration its name was\nchanged to Tokyo.  The term means \"east capital.\"  The city has enjoyed\na marvelous growth and is to-day a vigorous, active place.  It has many\nof the conveniences of modern Western cities, such as electric lights,\nwater-works, tram-cars, telephones, etc.\n\nKyoto is the ancient capital, the place where the mikados lived in\nsecluded splendor for so many centuries.  It was the most magnificent\ncity of old Japan, and many highly cherished {18} national memories and\ntraditions cluster around it.  The old classical Japanese, to whom the\nancient r\u00e9gime is far superior to the present, still lingers fondly in\nthought round its sacred temples, shrines, and groves.  When the\nimperial court was removed to Tokyo the name of Kyoto was changed to\nSaikyo, a term meaning \"west capital.\"  Western geographers frequently\nhave been guilty of the error of calling this city \"Miyako\"; but that\nhas never been the city's name, and is simply the Japanese word for\n\"capital.\"  Kyoto is a beautiful, prosperous city, with a population of\n328,354.\n\nOsaka is the commercial center.  It is a city of manufactories, and\nnearly all native articles of merchandise bear the mark, \"Made in\nOsaka.\"  As a business center this city surpasses all others in the\nempire.  It is centrally located, at the head of Osaka Bay, about 20\nmiles from the open port of Kob\u00e9.  Here we find the imperial mint, with\nlong rows of splendid buildings.  The population is 494,314.\n\nThe next largest city is Nagoya, with a population of 206,742.  Other\nprominent cities are: Hiroshima, 91,985; Okayama, 52,360; Kanagawa,\n89,975; Kagoshima, 55,495, etc.\n\nThere are seven open ports in which foreigners reside at present and\nengage in commerce.  In the order of importance they are: Tokyo, {19}\npopulation 1,323,295; Osaka, 494,314; Yokohama, 160,439; Kob\u00e9, 150,993;\nNagasaki, 67,481; Hakodate, 66,333; Niigata, 50,300.  Formerly Nagasaki\nwas in the lead, but now has fallen to the fifth place.  It is probable\nthat other ports will be opened to foreign trade in the near future.\n\n\n\n_Climate_\n\nAs Japan is so long a country, she has every variety of climate.  In\nthe northern provinces, and especially on the northwest coast, it is\nextremely cold in winter, and snow falls in such quantities as\npractically to stop all kinds of business.  In Formosa and Liukiu there\nis perpetual summer.  That part of Japan in which the West is most\ninterested, and about which it knows most,--which is far the most\nimportant portion of the empire,--has a mild, damp climate, free from\ngreat extremes of either heat or cold.  Each winter snow falls\nfrequently, but it is seldom known to lie on the ground for more than a\nfew hours at a time.  Cold frosts are rare.  Judged by the thermometer,\nthe summers are no warmer than those of the Carolinas or Tennessee, but\ntheir effect upon people of the West resident here is much more trying\nthan the summers of those places.  Various reasons are assigned for\nthis.  Physicians are well aware that humidity affects {20} health for\ngood or bad as much as temperature.  In considering the healthfulness\nof a climate, not only is the temperature to be taken into account, but\nthe amount of moisture in the air must also be considered.  Now, in\nJapan there is so excessive an amount of moisture in the atmosphere\nthat it makes the heat exceedingly depressing.\n\nThe presence of this dampness makes it very hard to keep things clean\nand free from rust and mold.  Sewing-machines, bicycles, scissors,\nknives, and such things have to be watched carefully and oiled.\nCarpets, clothing, shoes, etc., have to be sunned well and then shut up\nin air-tight boxes during the summer season.  Often a single night is\nsufficient to make a pair of shoes white with mold.  Were it only on\nthe machines and clothing that the dampness and mold settle, it would\nnot be so bad; but we feel that this same clammy mold is going down\ninto our very bones and marrow, gradually sapping their vigor and\nstrength.\n\nBesides this great excess of moisture in the atmosphere, there are\nother reasons why the climate is so debilitating.  One of these is the\nlack of ozone.  This element is known to be one of the greatest\natmospheric purifiers, and also to have a very invigorating and\nstimulating effect upon mind and body.  The proportion of ozone in the\natmosphere of Japan is only about one {21} third as great as that in\nthe atmosphere of most Western countries.\n\nThe proportion of electricity in the atmosphere is also thought to be\nmuch below the average.  While not much is known in regard to the\neffect of atmospheric electricity upon the healthfulness of a country,\nit is generally believed by scientific and medical men that the\nproportion of electricity in the air has much to do with our physical\nwell-being.\n\nThese three factors, viz., too much moisture, not enough ozone, and not\nenough electricity, are named as the chief causes which conduce to make\nthe climate depressing and enervating to people from the West.  We\nmissionaries have neither the energy nor the strength to do here what\nwe could do at home, and after a five or six years' residence, to do\neffective work must be permitted to recuperate in the home lands.\n\nThe rainfall is far above the average of most countries.  Two thirds of\nthe annual downpour falls during the six months from April to October.\nThe rainy season proper begins early in June and lasts about six weeks.\nAt this season it sometimes rains for weeks consecutively.  This year\n(1896) during the rainy season we did not once get a sight of the sun\nfor at least three weeks.  The amount of rain varies greatly from year\nto year, as also in different localities.\n\n{22}\n\nNotwithstanding the heavy rainfall, bright, sunny days are far in\nexcess of dark, rainy ones.  Clear, balmy skies are the rule rather\nthan the exception.  There is a softness and delicacy about Japanese\nskies rare in America, but common in European countries bordering on\nthe Mediterranean Sea.\n\nJapanese winds are irregular and violent, and subject to sudden\nchanges.  During three months of the year the dreaded typhoons are\nexpected, and once or twice each year great damage is done by them.\nThese typhoons generally blow from the southwest.  They often sweep\nhouses, forests, and everything else before them, their wake being a\nmass of ruins.  In fair weather, on the sea-shore, there is a gentle\nland- and sea-breeze in summer.\n\n\n\n_Productions_\n\nJapan is blessed with a fertile soil, capable of bearing a variety of\nproducts.  By centuries of the most careful fertilization and\nirrigation (arts in which the Japanese are adepts) the land has been\nbrought to a very high state of cultivation.  One of the peculiar\nthings to the people of the West is the manner in which the fields are\nirrigated.  Nearly all the land under cultivation can be freely watered\nat the will of the cultivator.  {23} Streams and canals everywhere wind\nin and out through the plains and round the hills, making easy the\nirrigation of all arable lands.\n\nA striking feature of the farming is the manner of terracing the sides\nof the hills and mountains.  These are not cultivated in their natural\nstate, as in America, but stone walls are built at regular gradations\non the mountain-sides, and the soil dug down until level with the tops\nof the walls.  Arranged in this way a mountain-side looks not unlike a\nhuge stairway, and lends beauty to the landscape.\n\nThe land here is not divided into large farms, as is usual in the West.\nMost of the farms are very small.  One never sees a field of ten or\nfifteen acres, but little plots hardly as large as our vegetable\ngardens.  The cultivation is mostly done by hand, the women laboring in\nthe fields with their husbands and brothers.  The implements in general\nuse are very rude.  Plows are used, but they are roughly made of wood,\nwith an iron point attached, and do poor work.  Nearly all the\ncultivating is done with a hoe, the blade of which is almost as long as\nthe handle, and is attached to it at an angle of less than forty-five\ndegrees, making it an awkward thing to use.  All grains are harvested\nand threshed by hand.  The land being so fertile, the yield is large.\n\nIn enumerating the products of their country, {24} the native writers\nusually begin with the _go-koku_, or five cereals--wheat, rice, millet,\nbeans, and sorghum.  Fine crops of wheat are grown, especially in the\nsouthern provinces.  Perhaps no country in the world produces better\nrice or a greater quantity per acre.  One half of all the land under\ncultivation is used in the production of rice.\n\nGreen grasses are remarkably rare in Japan, and the soil does not seem\nto be adapted to their growth.  Long plains of green meadow- and\npasture-lands, so pleasing to the eye in home landscapes, are never\nseen.  Almost the only grass in the empire is the long, coarse grass\nthat grows on the hills and mountains.\n\nCorn and oats are met with rarely.  The cultivation of corn is now\nbeing introduced in the northern provinces, however, and will probably\nsoon become more general.  Hemp and cotton both flourish.  The cotton\ndoes not grow as large or yield as bountifully as it does in our own\nSouthern States, but a very good crop is raised each year.  There is a\nlarge variety of vegetables, such as turnips, pumpkins, radishes,\nbeets, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, etc.\n\nJapan produces a great variety of fruits and berries.  We can have\nfresh fruit all the year round.  Some of the more prominent are\noranges, persimmons, figs, apricots, pears, peaches, {25} plums,\nloquats, grapes, etc.  As a rule the fruit is inferior to that of the\nWest, but the oranges, persimmons, and figs are excellent.\n\nUntil comparatively recent years apples were unknown here, but now they\nare being rapidly introduced and successfully cultivated.  They are\ngrown only in the northern provinces, the southern soil not being well\nadapted to them.\n\nFor bright, gay flowers Japan can hardly be excelled.  At certain\nseasons the whole country resembles an immense garden.  The\ncrysanthemum is the national flower, and magnificent specimens of it\nare grown.  The cherry blossoms are universal favorites, and when they\nare at their best the whole population turns out to see them.  Lotus\nflowers are highly prized, and in our city of Saga there is an old\ncastle moat, 200 or 300 yards wide and more than 1 mile long, filled\nwith them, which in July and August is a sea of large red-and-white\nblossoms, beautiful to behold.  The hills and valleys abound in wild\nflowers, but the natives seem to prize them less than the cultivated\nones.  In recent years Western flowers are being extensively\ncultivated, and most of them do well.  Flowers that must be carefully\nhoused and nursed in America, such as geraniums, fuchsias, etc., will\ngrow all the year in the open in Japan.  Some one only partially\nacquainted with Japan has said that the flowers have no {26} odor, but\nthis is not true; they are, however, less fragrant than those of the\nWest.\n\nThere is no country in the East so well supplied with useful timber.\nOn the island of Yezo alone there are thirty-six varieties of useful\ntimber-trees, including the most useful of all trees, the oak.  These\nvast forests as yet are untouched practically, and the whole of the\nHokkaido is one huge lumber-yard.  The main island, Kyushu, and Shikoku\nare also well timbered.  But the demand for building material,\nfire-wood, and charcoal is so great that rapid inroads are being made\nupon the supply of timber.  Unless a more thorough system of forestry\nis adopted the supply will some day be exhausted.  The mulberry-tree\nflourishes, and immense tracts of land are given to its cultivation.\nThe fruit is not used, but the leaves are highly valuable in silk\nculture.  Lacquer-trees also abound, from which a considerable revenue\nis derived.\n\nThe camphor-supply of the world is almost entirely in the hands of\nJapan.  Magnificent camphor-trees are growing over all southern Japan,\nand in the newly acquired territory of Formosa there are large groves\nof them.  The camphor industry is a lucrative one, and happy is the man\nwho possesses a few trees.  Within a few yards of my former home in\nSaga, on a little strip of waste land, there were four camphor-trees\nwhich sold, standing, for $2000, silver.\n\n{27}\n\nThis account would be very incomplete without a notice of the bamboo,\nwhich grows in large quantities over all the empire.  In the northern\nprovinces it is only a small shrub; in the southern it grows to a large\ntree.  The uses to which it is put are innumerable, and the people\nhardly could do without it.\n\nThe chief articles of foreign export produced in Japan are silk, tea,\nand rice.  Silk is produced throughout the country, with the exception\nof the island of Yezo, but the best yielding districts are in the\ncenter and north of the main island.  The Japanese cocoon seems to be\nequally as good as the European, but the methods of manufacturing are\nnot yet up to the highest standard; for this reason Japanese silks are\nhardly as good as those of France or Italy.  The annual export of silk\nis worth to Japan about $30,000,000.\n\nSecond only to silk in importance among exports is tea.  Most of it is\nshipped by foreign merchants to America, Chinese and Indian teas being\nmore popular in Europe.  About 40,000,000 pounds are annually exported.\nThe quantity consumed at home must be very great, at least equal to\nthat sent abroad.\n\nThe foreign trade in rice is large, and is increasing continually.\nJapanese rice is far better than that grown in India or Burmah, and is\nesteemed highly in European markets.  Formerly {28} the government\nexported the rice, as it levied taxes in rice and hence had great\nstores of it; but this practice has been discontinued.  Native\nmerchants are now taking up this branch of the export trade and are\npushing it with vigor.  The value of the export varies very much each\nyear, in accordance with the crop produced.\n\nJapan is not only rich and fertile, yielding the greatest variety of\nproducts, but she is also endowed with great mineral wealth.  Kaempfer,\nin the first history of Japan given to the West, enumerates the\nminerals thus: sulphur, gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, coal, salt,\nagates, jasper, pearls, naphtha, ambergris, etc.  Coal of fairly good\nquality is present in great quantities in many parts of the empire.\nMuch of it is sold to the foreign steamers that call here on their way\nto China.  The export of copper amounts to more than $5,000,000 per\nyear.  Iron, chiefly in the form of magnetic oxide, is present along\nthe sea-coast and in the diluvium of rivers.  As yet the iron resources\nhave not been developed.  Gold and silver are present in many places,\nbut the mines have never been worked to very great advantage.  Large\nquantities of salt are made from sea-water.  Traces of petroleum are\nfound in several localities, but not much has yet been made of it.  The\ngreat mineral wealth of Japan as yet is developed only partially.\n\n\n{29}\n\n_Animals_\n\nThe fauna is represented generally as very meager, but this is an\ninjustice.  A large portion of the animals now found here may have been\nimported, but, taking Japan as we find her to-day, animals are abundant.\n\nHorses and oxen are the beasts of burden, and are found everywhere.\nThe horses are smaller than those of the West, and are not so gentle,\nthough very sure-footed and hardy.  An effort is now being made to\nimprove the breed by importing American and Australian horses.  Native\noxen do most of the carrying and plowing.  Strange to say, the oxen are\ngentler and more manageable than the horses.  There are very few sheep,\nand it seems that the country is not adapted to them.  Almost the only\nsheep I have seen here were in menageries, caged, along with lions,\nbears, etc.  Pigs are found, but the people are not fond of their\nflesh, and consequently not many are raised.\n\nDomestic animals are plentiful, such as cats, dogs, ducks, geese,\nchickens, etc.  Many of the cats have no tails, and the people are\nprejudiced against cats that have tails.  If one happens to be born\nwith a tail they will probably cut it off.  Turkeys are scarce.\n\n{30}\n\nThere are many wild animals, such as bears, wild boars, deer, monkeys,\n_tanuki_, wild dogs, foxes, and hares.  The people are fond of the\nchase, but, as large game is rare, the opportunity to indulge this\ntaste is very limited.\n\nAmong the wild birds are found herons, cranes, ducks, geese, pheasants,\npigeons, storks, falcons, hawks, ravens, woodcocks, crows, and a small\nbird, called _uquisu_, resembling the nightingale.  The stork and the\nheron are perhaps most popular, and have been pictured in all kinds of\nnative art.  Wild geese and ducks spend the summer in Yezo and the\nwinter in Hondo.  Singing birds are rare, but not, as some have\naffirmed, unknown.\n\nThe seas surrounding Japan, and her numerous bays and rivers, are\nteeming with animal life, and for multitude and variety of edible fish\nare perhaps unsurpassed by any in the world.  Salmon, cod, mackerel,\nherring, bait, tai, and other small fish are very abundant, so much so\nthat in many places they are used as a fertilizer.  From time\nimmemorial fish have formed a prominent part of the daily diet of the\npeople.  Whales are numerous on the shores of Kyushu and the southern\nshores of Hondo, where they are taken by means of harping-irons or\ndarts.  Quantities of oil are extracted from them, and their flesh is\nmuch relished for food.\n\nThe foregoing account will perhaps give the {31} reader some idea of\nthe nature, extent, climate, and products of the land of Japan.  With a\nfertile soil, rich deposits of minerals, a genial climate, and a\nlandscape unsurpassed, surely this is a country highly favored by\nHeaven.  How sad to think that those to whom God has given so much know\nso little of Him!  How one's heart bleeds to see God's beautiful\nhandiwork all marred and stained by images and idols, and that praise\nwhich the people so justly owe Him given to gods of wood and stone!\nBut such is the case in Japan to-day.  The people know that they are\nindebted to some higher power for innumerable blessings, but they do\nnot know that this power is the God whom we preach to them.\n\n\n\n\n{32}\n\nII\n\nA BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JAPANESE\n\nNothing definite is known concerning the origin of the Japanese people.\nSome authorities think that the southern portion of Japan was first\npeopled by sailors and fishermen from Malay, who were drifted thither\nby the strong current of the Black Stream.  That this has happened to\nshipwrecked sailors in the present time is cited in confirmation of\nthis view.\n\nSome of the northern islands are within sight of the mainland, and it\nis possible that tribes from northern Asia made their way across the\nnarrow seas and settled there.  Ethnological and philological evidence\nindicates that some immigrants came over from Korea, which they could\neasily have done, as the southern part of Korea is very near.\n\nIf these suppositions are true, two races mingled in Japan--the Malay\nfrom the south and the {33} Mongol from the west--and the Japanese\npeople are the joint product of the two.  But there is no certain\ninformation regarding these immigrations, and we cannot affirm them as\nhistoric facts.\n\nTwo of the greatest authorities on this subject, Baelz and Rein, affirm\nthat the Japanese are of Mongol origin.  Dr. Baelz supposes that there\nwere two chief streams of immigration from northern and central Asia by\nway of Korea.  The immigrants gradually spread eastward and northward\nand settled in the land, becoming the progenitors of the present\ninhabitants.\n\nIt is historically certain that some Chinamen and Koreans have settled\nin Japan and contributed toward the production of the Japanese race;\nboth Chinese and Japanese histories contain accounts of such\nimmigration; but it is likely that settlers were already here long\nbefore these, of whom we have historic accounts, arrived.\n\nThis problem is made more difficult by the fact that there are two\nseparate and distinct races here--the Japanese and the Ainu.  The\nlatter do not appear to be Mongols.  The Japanese call them the\naborigines.  When they entered Japan, and where they came from, is not\nknown.  There is very little intermixing of these two races.  The\nJapanese have gradually forced the Ainu back to the northern island,\njust as the settlers in the United States have driven back the Indians.\n{34} Efforts are being made lately to better the condition of this\nrace, but they do not meet with much success.  The Ainu appear to have\nlittle capacity for civilization, and the race is rapidly becoming\nextinct.\n\nSo much for the origin of the people.  We will endeavor to treat their\nhistory, very briefly, under three heads: mythology, mythological\nhistory, and reliable history.\n\n\n\n_Japanese Mythology_\n\nAlthough we of the West are perplexed as to the origin of the Japanese,\nthe national records give what has been a very clear and satisfactory\naccount of this.  Hence I have included a very brief statement of this\nnative account of the origin of the Japanese people under the head of\nhistory, although it is pure mythology.\n\nJapanese history teaches that in the beginning all things were chaos.\nThere was no Creator, and no First Cause of the universe.  There was\nmerely a cosmic mass.  By and by the ethereal matter sublimed and\nformed the heavens; what remained formed the earth.  From the warm mold\nof the earth sprang up a germ which became a self-animate being--the\nfirst of the gods.  Then four other gods were generated, all sexless\nand self-begotten.  These gods separated the {35} primordial substance\ninto the five elements of wood, fire, metal, earth, and water, and gave\nto each its properties.  The last of these spontaneous divine\ngenerations were a brother and a sister, named Izanagi and Izanami.\nUniting in marriage, they became the parents of the various islands of\nJapan and of gods and goddesses innumerable.  Izanami died when giving\nbirth to the god of fire.  Her divine consort afterward visits her in\nthe lower regions to induce her to return to him.  She would fain do\nso, but must first consult the gods of the place.  Going to ask counsel\nof them, she does not return, and Izanagi, impatient at her tarrying,\ngoes in search of her.  He finds her a mass of putrefaction, in the\nmidst of which the eight thunder-gods are sitting.\n\nDisappointed in his hope, he returns to Japan and purifies himself by\nbathing in a stream.  As he bathes new gods are born from his clothing\nand from each part of his body.  The sun-goddess was born from his left\neye, the moon-god from his right eye, and Susanoo, the last of all, was\nborn from his nose.  What a prolific breeder of gods was he!\n\nThe mythology goes on relating, tale after tale, the absurd actions of\nthese gods residing together for several generations in Japan, the\ncenter of the universe, frequently visiting both heaven and hell, and\nperforming all kinds of miraculous feats.  {36} In native history this\nperiod is called the \"period of the gods.\"  About six generations after\nIzanagi and Izanami, in the direct line of descent from them, the first\nhuman emperor of Japan was born.  His name was Kamu-Yamato-Ihare-Biko,\nposthumously called Jimmu Tenno.\n\nThose Japanese to whose minds the problem of the origin of the outside\nnations ever occurred solved it in this fashion: the barbarian nations\nmust likewise have descended from the mikado, the son of heaven, in\nvery remote times, but have wandered off and are now far from the\ndivine source.  The Japanese, being still under the protection of their\ndivine father, are very much nearer in the line of descent, and hence\nare the first race in the world.\n\nThus they trace their descent direct to the gods, and their emperor is\nto this day considered the divine father of his people.  It is a pity\nwe cannot join with them in accepting this easy solution of the\ndifficult problem of their origin.\n\n\n\n_Mythological History_\n\nBy this term I would designate that period in Japanese history in which\nmythology and history are so blended as to be inseparable.  For almost\none thousand years records purporting to be historical are so\nintermingled with that which is {37} purely mythological as to make it\nnext to impossible to discriminate between them.\n\nJapanese historians claim that the authentic history of their country\ndates from the time of Jimmu Tenno (600 B.C.), and the national records\nare unbroken from that time to the present.  Most European and American\nhistorians have accepted these records as true, and yet critical\nscholars here feel bound to reject them.  The oldest Japanese histories\nwere not written until the eighth century A.D., and it does not seem\nprobable that traditions handed down by word of mouth for more than a\nthousand years would be reliable.  The records themselves are\ncontradictory and self-refuting.  Contemporary Chinese and Korean\nhistory, in which are frequent references to the \"land of Wa,\" i.e.,\nJapan, does not agree with the Japanese records, which bear evidence of\nhaving been written for a purpose other than a true statement of\nhistorical facts.  These and other reasons have led Messrs. Aston and\nChamberlain, the scholars who have studied this subject perhaps more\nthan any others, to conclude that Japanese records prior to the date\n461 A.D. are unreliable.\n\nThis period in dispute (from 600 B.C. to 461 A.D.) I have designated\nthe period of mythological history.  Even in the Japanese so-called\nhistories the mythology for centuries is narrated along with that which\nclaims to be genuine {38} history; the gods still mingle with men and\ntake part in their affairs.  The legends of the gods and those of the\nemperors are given side by side in the same book, and as much credence\nattaches to the one as to the other.\n\nOrthodox Shinto scholars, while recognizing the fact of the parallelism\nof the mythology and the history, inconsistently reject the\nmythological legends of the gods while strenuously holding to those\nrelating to the emperors.  My own opinion is that most of the important\nevents related in the records during this period had some basis in\nfact, but that the accounts of them are exaggerated and perverted.\n\nCommencing with the period which native historians assign as the\nbeginning of authentic history, the first important event we find is\nthe accession of Jimmu Tenno to the throne (600 B.C.).  But the very\nexistence of Jimmu Tenno as an historical personage is not at all\ncertain.  The evidence adduced has never been sufficient to satisfy\nWestern scholars, although the Japanese would consider it almost\ntreason to disbelieve in him.\n\nJapanese histories for this period are very meager.  They consist, for\nthe most part, of a recital of the names and ages of the mikados, with\nperhaps a sentence or two concerning the state of the country during\ntheir reigns.\n\nOne of the most important events noted in {39} this early period is the\nsubjugation of Korea by the Empress Jingo.  She is said to have\ncollected a large army, and, by the help of the fishes great and small,\nand of favorable winds and currents, to have crossed over into Korea in\nsmall junks, and completely subjugated the country, reducing it to the\nposition of a tributary state.  The Japanese firmly believe this story,\nand are proud of the early success of their arms in this foreign war.\nKorean records justify us in assuming that Japanese influence was\npredominant in Korea at this time, but the story of the Empress Jingo,\nespecially in its details, must be received with caution.  She is\nperhaps an historical personage, but whether she invaded Korea or not\nis doubtful.\n\nThe next event of importance in the records is the introduction of\nChinese art, science, and learning, which took place in the early\ncenturies of the Christian era, and exerted an incalculable influence\nupon the people of Japan.  Learning, religion, philosophy, literature,\nlaws, ethics, medicine, art--all were brought over bodily.  From this\ntime forward the Japanese were largely students and imitators of China.\nKorea was the medium through which these continental influences were\ntransmitted.  With the introduction of learning and literature\nhistorical records began to be kept over all Japan, and oral tradition\nwas no longer relied upon.  From this time the authentic history of\nJapan begins.\n\n\n\n{40}\n\n_Reliable History_\n\nChamberlain, Aston, and others agree that the first trustworthy date in\nJapanese history is 461 A.D., and that for the succeeding century too\nmuch confidence must not be placed in details.  This disproves the\npretty stories told by the Japanese, and by many Western writers as\nwell, as to the great age of this nation, and its unbroken line of\nemperors extending at least as far back as 600 B.C.; but it is not the\nfirst time that pretty theories have been rudely broken up by an\ninvestigation of facts.  The imperial line is probably as old as that\nof the popes, but hardly older.  Japan, in fact and in authentic\nhistory, is younger than Christianity.  Her existence as a state began\nabout the time of the fall of the Roman empire.\n\nWith the year 461 historical events and personages appear, and, in the\nmain, we may accept the history from this time forward as accurate.\n\nAbout the middle of the sixth century began one of the most important\nprocesses in Japanese history--the conversion of the nation to\nBuddhism.  For some centuries previous Chinese learning and arts had\nbeen gradually filtering into Japan; but they had not as yet gained\ngeneral acceptance.  The Buddhist priests brought Chinese civilization,\nand in the course of two {41} centuries it spread over the country,\ninfluencing morality, politics, and everything.  Sweeping changes were\nmade in the government, which was then organized on the Chinese\ncentralized plan.  Arts, sciences, and literature flourished.  This was\nthe golden age of classical Japan.\n\nIn the year 670 A.D. the great Fujiwara family came upon the stage.\nThe mikados were in theory absolute rulers, but eventually they became\nmere figureheads.  Their mode of life was not such as to make of them\nable rulers.  Surrounded by an effeminate court, living in indolence\nand debauchery amid priests and court women, they were hardly competent\nto direct affairs.  The emperor was often a mere child, who, when he\ngrew up, either abdicated freely or was forced to abdicate the throne\nin favor of another child as weak as himself.  The government was\nadministered by the most powerful vassals.  The great Fujiwara family\nheld the affairs of state in its own hands from 670 to 1050 A.D.: all\nthe important posts were filled by its sons, while its daughters were\nmarried to the imbecile emperors.\n\nThe next important event in Japanese history is the rise of feudalism.\nThe warlike samurai classes, disgusted with this weak petticoat\ngovernment, arose in arms and overthrew it.  The great clans of Taira\nand Minamoto appeared and alternately held the reins of government for\nnearly {42} two centuries.  Lawlessness and disorder prevailed.  The\nleader who could command the most men and win the victory with his\nsword was master of the empire.  All Japan became a military camp, the\nchieftains waging war against one another.  Thus feudalism took its\nrise and prevailed for many centuries, powerfully affecting every form\nof thought and life, just as it did in Europe at a similar period.\n\nThe Taira family was finally overthrown by the Minamotos, and the chief\nof the latter clan, Yoritomo, was raised to the supreme power.  This\nman was the first to obtain from the imperial court in Kyoto the title\nof \"shogun\"--generally spoken of in the West as \"tycoon.\"  From this\ntime forward (1190-1867) the shogun was the real ruler of Japan.  The\nmikado was still the theoretical head of the state, descendant of the\nsun-goddess, and fountain of all honor, but he lived in the retirement\nand seclusion of his court, never seen by his subjects, and all matters\nof government were attended to by the shogun.  Yoritomo's descendants\ngradually degenerated, and were finally overthrown by the Ashikaga\nfamily.\n\nThis powerful clan took charge of the government in 1338 and held it\nuntil 1565.  It encouraged literature and the arts, and the court\nbecame a center of elegance and refinement.  Especially {43} did the\nintricate tea ceremonies flourish at this time.  This family became\nweak and effeminate finally, like its predecessors, and was overthrown.\n\nJapan was first discovered by Europeans probably in 1542, when the\nPortuguese adventurer Mendez Pinto landed on her coasts.  He brought\nthe first definite information concerning her received in Europe, and\nhis reports were so highly exaggerated that he was spoken of everywhere\nas \"mendacious Pinto.\"  Soon after his visit numbers of Portuguese\nadventurers came, who were received warmly by the impressible people.\nWith them came the Jesuits and the introduction of Christianity.  The\ngrowth of Christianity, and the bloody persecutions it encountered,\nbegin from this time.  These interesting subjects will be treated in\nanother chapter and hence are passed over here.\n\nDuring this period lived successively three of the greatest men in\nJapanese history--Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu.  On these men\ndevolved the tasks of breaking the power of the feudal lords and\nbringing them into more complete subjection to the shogun; of unifying\nthe empire and of strengthening the central government.  The plan was\nconceived by Nobunaga, begun by Hideyoshi, and completed by Iyeyasu.\nThe former was the friend and patron of the Christians, the two latter\ntheir bitter persecutors.\n\n{44}\n\nAfter the rulers had succeeded in stamping out Christianity the country\nwas closed to foreign influence, and for two hundred years remained\nhermetically sealed.  Even shipwrecked foreign sailors found on her\ncoasts were executed, and no Japanese was permitted to leave the\ncountry on pain of death.  The only communication with the outside\nworld reserved was through the Hollanders, a small band of whom were\npermitted to reside at Nagasaki.  Through them various arts and\nsciences, including medicine, were introduced.\n\nThis calm seclusion was rudely broken in upon by the coming of\nCommodore Perry, in 1853-54, with his big guns.  He came to establish\ntreaties of commerce and trade, and to secure better treatment for\nAmerican ships and sailors--peaceably if possible, forcibly if\nnecessary.  Here it is needful, in the interests of truth, to disprove\nanother pretty story, to the effect that Perry and his crew were very\npious, godly men, and that they secured the concessions desired by\npeaceable methods--by praying and singing psalms.  The fact is that the\nconcessions gained were _forced_ from Japan by intimidation, by\nthreats, and by a show of strength.  Commodore Perry also used the same\ntactics in Liukiu.  He effected his purpose, it is true, without using\nhis guns, except for intimidation, but it is safe to say that he would\nnot have accomplished it without them.\n\n{45}\n\nThe treaties then forced from the government were humiliating to Japan;\nfor example, granting exterritoriality, by virtue of which foreigners\nshould live under their own consuls and in no sense be amenable to the\nlaws of the land.  Such concessions are demanded by civilized states of\nthe uncivilized only, and their very existence implies inferiority.\nBut nothing else was possible at that time, nor did Japan object.\n\nThe coming of Perry, and his forced opening of the country, marked the\nbirth of new Japan, so different from the old, and the beginning of an\nera of unprecedented prosperity.  The Japanese now recognize this, and\nspeak of Perry as one of their greatest benefactors.\n\nDuring the years immediately preceding this there was a great revival\nof learning.  A school of literati arose, which zealously studied the\nantiquities of its own country as opposed to the imported Chinese\nclassics.  A revival of Shinto sprang up, and with it grew again that\ngreat reverence and esteem for the ancient imperial line, the divine\nmikados, as against the upstart shoguns.  In this way began the\nmovement which ended in the revolution of 1868 and the overthrow of the\nshogunate.\n\nWhen Perry came the shogun's government was already tottering to its\nfall, and when this government made treaties with foreign countries,\n{46} admitting the \"barbarians\" to this \"land of the gods,\" a loud cry\narose against it over all the land.  Finally the imperial court at\nKyoto, prompted by the mighty daimios of Choshu, Satsuma, and Tosa,\ndecided upon the abolition of the shogunate.  The shogun himself\nsubmitted to the decree of the mikado, but many of his followers did\nnot.  The War of the Revolution ensued, and after much fighting the\nimperial troops were victorious; the shogunate was forever abolished,\nand the emperor once more took personal charge of the government.\n\nThe literary party had triumphed.  Buddhism was largely supplanted by\nShinto; the shogunate, which had admitted the foreigners, was\nabolished; and the literati fondly supposed that the court would now\nexpel the intruders, abolish the treaties, again shut up the country,\nand affairs would go on as in the \"good old times.\"  But they were\ndeceived.  The mighty lords of Tosa, Satsuma, and Choshu now declared\nin favor of foreign intercourse and the adoption of European\ncivilization.  These princes were too powerful not to be heard.  Their\nadvice was heeded; the foreigners were welcomed, the country was opened\nmore and more, old abuses were corrected, and the Europeanization of\nJapan was begun.\n\nThe reformation was ably assisted from the very quarter where we would\nexpect to find it {47} most bitterly opposed.  The young and able\nemperor Mutsuhito, coming out of the obscurity which had enshrouded his\nancestors for ages, and putting aside the traditions of centuries, ably\nseconded the efforts of his ministers in every reform.  The\nunparalleled progress during his long and enlightened reign is due in\nno small part to his wisdom and prudence.  He has shown himself a\nliberal, enlightened monarch, and I am sure that I express the\nsentiment of every friend of Japan in saying, Long live his Majesty\nMutsuhito!\n\nThe reformation of the country, the assimilation of Western\ncivilization and institutions, and the gradual opening and development\nof the empire have gone on uninterruptedly since the restoration of the\nemperor to the supreme power.\n\nIn 1871 the daimiates were abolished and the old daimios retired to\nprivate life.  Thus feudalism was at last broken up and the central\ngovernment strengthened.  In this same year the postal and telegraph\nsystems were introduced and a mint was established.\n\nIn 1889 the constitution was promulgated, whereby the people were given\na voice in the government, and Japan became a constitutional monarchy,\nvery much like Prussia or other European states.  In this year local\nself-government was also established.  In accordance with the\nconstitution, the first Diet was opened in 1890.  {48} This highest\nlegislative body in Japan resembles somewhat, in its organization and\nfunctions, the German Reichstag.\n\nOne of the greatest recent events in Japanese history is the successful\nrevision of the treaties.  After the Restoration and the adoption of\nWestern institutions and civilization, efforts were continually being\nmade to have these treaties revised on a basis more favorable to Japan;\nbut these efforts were always defeated.  Thus Japan was for many years\nforced to submit to treaties made long ago, which were good enough\nthen, but are outgrown entirely now.  No recognition whatever was made\nof her great progress during these thirty years, and the foreign powers\nstill treated her as an inferior.  This was unjust, and the people\nnaturally chafed under it.  Finally, by the wisdom and perseverance of\nthe present Japanese statesmen, treaty revision has been secured on the\nbasis of equality.  By this revision she regains the concessions forced\nfrom her in former years.  After the year 1900 all foreigners residing\nin Japan will become amenable to her laws; exterritoriality will be\nabolished; power to levy taxes upon imports within prescribed limits\nwill be regained; and Japan will be recognized as an equal by the great\npowers of the West.  In return for these concessions on the part of\nforeign powers, she gives liberty of residence and travel {49} in any\npart of the empire, and all privileges generally accorded aliens in\nWestern nations, except the right of ownership of land.  We rejoice\nwith Japan that justice has at last been accorded her, and that the\ntreaties have been satisfactorily revised.\n\nA sketch of Japanese history would be incomplete without some mention\nof the recent war with China.  This war was especially interesting\nbecause it afforded the first opportunity Japan has had of trying her\nstrength with her new arms.  For years she has been to school to the\nWestern nations; now she goes out to put into practice the lessons she\nhas learned.  Her fine army and navy, constructed after the most\napproved Western models, are tested for the first time.  The results\nare such as to more than satisfy Japan with her new equipment.  The\nstory of her splendid success against a nation outnumbering her ten to\none is familiar to all and need not be recounted.\n\nThe war was a positive gain to Japan in many ways.  Aside from the\nmaterial gain in indemnity and the extension of her territory, it gave\nher an opportunity to demonstrate to the world the substantial progress\nshe has made.  Nothing else would have gained for her so much respect\nfrom Western powers as her prowess exhibited in this war.  A\ndemonstration of force and of ability to fight great battles is still\nregarded as a mark of progress and civilization.\n\n{50}\n\nThe war also helped to settle many troublesome internal questions.\nSome feared the people would be so elated by their phenomenal success\nthat their pride and arrogance would be unendurable.  But it was not\nso.  The Japanese expected to win from the beginning, and were not\nsurprised at the result.  After the war was over they settled down to\nthe even tenor of their ways as though nothing had happened.  They have\nshown themselves as able to bear victory as to win it.\n\nSuch is an all too brief account of the history of this interesting\npeople.  An acquaintance with the main facts of this history I thought\nnecessary to enable American Christians rightly to appreciate the work\nof their missionaries in their efforts to plant the church in Japan.\n\n\n\n\n{51}\n\nIII\n\nJAPANESE CHARACTERISTICS\n\nIt is next to impossible for an alien to judge accurately the\ncharacteristics of a people.  That a foreigner's interpretation of a\nnation's character, and of the moral influences that direct and mold\nits life, is apt to be imperfect and erroneous is now a recognized\ntruth.  An Englishman cannot understand a Frenchman, nor a Frenchman an\nEnglishman.  Even people so closely related as the English and\nAmericans, with a common ancestry, common history and traditions, a\ncommon speech, common laws, and a common faith, find great difficulty\nin properly understanding one another.  The American essayist Emerson\ndid not venture to write \"English Traits\" until he had visited England,\nmingled freely with the people, and familiarized himself with the\nmanifold phases of English character; and Bryce's excellent work on\n\"The American Commonwealth,\" in {52} which American characteristics are\nreflected more truly than they have been by any other English writer,\ndid not see the light until its author had made frequent visits to the\nUnited States and had carefully studied his subject for seventeen years.\n\nIf it is so hard to understand a kindred people, how much harder it is\nto understand a people so alien as the Japanese!  Here the religion,\nlanguage, manners and customs, and moral ideas are so different from\nour own that the task of portraying the real characteristics of the\nrace becomes a colossal one.  It should be attempted only by men who\nhave had years of practical experience with the people, who can read\ntheir language and look at things from their standpoint, and who bring\nto their task a loving sympathy with the people whose life they would\nportray.\n\nBut nothing is more common than to meet with sweeping judgments on\nJapanese character by persons utterly incompetent to make them.  Men\nwho have perhaps never seen Japan sit in judgment upon her with a gusto\nunequaled.  Globe-trotters, spending at most only a few weeks here, and\nnecessarily learning nothing of the inner life of the people, have made\nmost sweeping statements concerning the traits of national character,\nsuch as: \"The Japanese are a nation of liars;\" \"They are mere\nimitators, originating nothing;\" \"They are fickle and quite {53}\nunreliable;\" \"Licentiousness is the most prominent trait in the\nnational character,\" etc.  Now it is unnecessary to say that judgments\nformed in this way are worthless.  Here, if anywhere, it behooves one\nto write only after careful study and observation, and even then to\nspeak with caution.\n\nPhysically the Japanese are inferior to the races of the West.  They\nare shorter of stature and lighter of weight than Europeans or\nAmericans.  The upper part of their bodies is developed perhaps as\nfully as our own; but the lower limbs have been so cramped by sitting\non the floor for centuries that they are shorter and weaker.  Their\nhabits of life and their vegetable diet have combined to make of them a\nphysically weak people.  They age earlier than the races of the\nOccident.\n\nIn color they do not differ much from the American Indians or the\nhalf-breeds of the South.  There are two types of facial expression:\nthe old samurai or noble classes have a long, narrow face, sharp nose,\nhigh, narrow forehead, and oblique eyes; the lower classes have fat,\nround, pudding faces, with broad mouths and flat noses.  These two\ntypes are distinguished readily on the streets, and rank can be judged\nby them.\n\nThe Japanese are a cheerful race.  The cares of life seem lightly to\nweigh upon them.  On the surface they appear always smiling and happy.\n{54} They are very fond of gay scenes and bright colors.  Politeness is\na national characteristic.  Etiquette has been carried to such an\nextent as to have largely degenerated into empty forms.\n\nMentally they are bright and intelligent, receiving and apprehending\ninstruction readily.  The students are equally as diligent and earnest\nas are those in the academies and colleges of America, though\nphysically they are not so able to endure prolonged study.  They have\ngreat thirst for knowledge, and study for the sake of learning itself;\nhence the various devices for evading study so common in the schools at\nhome are almost unknown.  The intensity of this thirst for knowledge on\nthe part of the young is remarkable.  Hundreds of young men over all\nJapan are struggling for an education against very great odds.  Many\nare now educated abroad, and these take their stand in our best\ncolleges and universities along with the brightest of our own students.\nWhen their course is completed they are able to carry on all kinds of\nlearned scientific investigations independently of their teachers.\nWitness what they have done in seismology, botany, and medicine.  These\nfacts indicate that the Japanese are an intellectual race.\n\nIn order rightly to appreciate the national character we must remember\nthat the idea of personality is developed here only partially.  {55}\nThis is strikingly evident in the structure of the language, which\nconsists of nouns and verbs almost exclusively.  Distinctions of person\nand number are generally ignored, and true pronouns are entirely\nwanting.  From ancient times men have been considered, not as\nindividuals, but _en masse_.  The family has been exalted above the\nindividual, who is hardly considered to have an existence apart from\nit.  Thus, in ancient times, as among Occidental races also, if one\nmember of a family came under the censure of the government, all were\ncensured.  When one member was put to death, all were executed.  As the\nfamily, and not the individual, was the unit with which the laws dealt,\nthe family became the subject of prime consideration.  To perpetuate\nthe family line came to be considered a very essential thing, and in\norder thereto the system of concubinage was introduced.  It is proper\nto state that in regard to this exaltation of the family over the\nindividual Japan is now in a transition period, and that the individual\nis becoming more and more important in the eyes of the law.\n\nA marked characteristic of the Japanese is their strong patriotism.\nThere is no more patriotic people on the face of the earth.  It is said\nthat the name of the emperor, whispered over the heads of an excited\nmob, will calm it as readily as oil poured on troubled waters.  In the\nrecent war {56} with China there were many more volunteers for active\nservice than could be sent to the front.  I have seen old men lament,\nwith tears in their eyes, that they could no longer serve their country\nas soldiers, even to the death if need be.  This principle of loyalty\nis the strongest motive power in Japan to-day.  It supersedes all\nothers.  A man's duty to his family, even to his parents, is nothing\nwhen compared with his duty to his country; and Japanese history\nabounds in pathetic stories of men, women, and even children, who have\ncounted all other duties as naught and have willingly sacrificed their\nlives for their country.\n\nPatriotism here amounts to a passion--I had almost said a fanaticism.\nFrom earliest infancy it is instilled into the minds of the children,\nand there is not one of the little ones in whose heart his country has\nnot the first place.  A native writer has expressed the sentiments of\nevery Japanese thus: \"My native land! everywhere and always the first\naffections of my heart and the first labor of my hands shall be thine\nalone.\"\n\nThis patriotism is not always held intelligently.  The masses of the\npeople have very mistaken ideas as to what patriotism is.  I meet not a\nfew who believe that love for Japan necessitates a hatred of all other\ncountries, and that no man can be loyal and at the same time admire and\npraise foreign lands.  Fortunately, the class {57} whose nationalism is\nso unenlightened is not an influential one; otherwise patriotism itself\nwould check the growth and development of the country.  As it is, the\nstrong nationalistic feeling serves to prevent a too indiscriminate\nadoption of Western institutions and to preserve the good elements of\nold Japan.\n\nRespect for parents and teachers is one of the most prominent elements\nin the national character.  The first principle of Confucian ethics, as\ntaught in China, is reverence and obedience to parents; and although in\nJapan this has been subordinated to the principle of loyalty, it is\nstill a prominent factor in the national life.  The proper attitude of\nchildren toward parents, and pupils toward teachers, is not one of\nlove, but one of absolute obedience and reverence.  It is said here\nthat true love can come only from a superior to an inferior, while the\nproper feeling of inferiors toward their superiors is one of reverence.\nThis relation of superior and inferior is carried into every phase of\nsociety, and on it depends much of the family and national life.  The\nprinciple of obedience is almost the only moral teaching given to the\ngirls, and when they are grown up their moral ideas cluster round this\none point.  In olden times parents had absolute control over their\nchildren and could dispose of them as they saw fit, even killing them\nif they so desired.  But now the {58} parent's control over the child\nis limited by law.  Children are expected to yield implicit,\nunquestioning obedience to their parents, and Japanese children are\nusually more virtuous in this respect than the children of Americans.\n\nAs a result of this fundamental principle of obedience, inculcated from\nchildhood, has grown the universal respect for authority found in\nJapan.  Whatever the government does the common people do not question.\nEven petty officials are respected and obeyed in a manner surprising to\nus independently thinking people of the West.  No matter how\ndisagreeable and unjust an act on the part of the authorities may be,\nit is usually accepted meekly with the comment, \"There is no help for\nit.\"\n\nThe counterpart of this reverence and unquestioning obedience to\nauthority is a feeling of meekness and dependence.  The government is\ndepended upon for much more than is the government in the United\nStates.  It is expected to inaugurate all great commercial and\nindustrial enterprises.  Thus the building of railroads, the\nconstruction of telegraphs, and other great works have had to be\nexecuted by the government.  In recent years this spirit is changing\nsomewhat, and private corporations are beginning to inaugurate great\nenterprises.  But in general it may be said that the national character\nis lacking in independence and decision.\n\n{59}\n\nLove of the beautiful is a prominent and highly developed Japanese\ntrait.  Their ideals of beauty differ much from Western ideals, and\nmany things that they pronounce beautiful would not be so judged in the\nOccident.  Most Americans at first cannot appreciate Japanese art,\nlandscape scenery, or flowers; but a short residence here and an\nacquaintance with native life and scenes soon bring one to appreciate\nthem.  The esthetic faculty is much more highly developed than in\nAmerica.  It is possessed by all classes.  The gardens of the rich are\nlaid out with especial care, and no money or pains are spared to make\nthem beautiful.  I have seen day-laborers stand and gaze for a long\ntime at a beautiful sunset, or go into raptures over a dwarfed\ncherry-bush just putting forth its tiny buds.  Men who have worked in\nthe fields all day, until they are exhausted, on their return home in\nthe evening will stop by the wayside to pluck some beautiful shrub or\nflower and carry it back with them.  Go into the room of a school-boy\nand you will almost invariably find his table brightened by a pretty\nbouquet of flowers.  When the cherries are in bloom the whole\npopulation leaves off work and turns out to enjoy them.  Japan is a\nbeauteous land, and no people are more capable of appreciating her\nbeauty than her own.\n\nThe Japanese are open-minded and receptive of truth, from whatever\nquarter it may come.  Were this not true it would have been impossible\n{60} for her to have become what she is to-day.  When Buddhism was\nfirst brought to Japan it was seen to possess elements of religious\npower that Shinto did not have, and the people by and by accepted it.\nWhen Confucianism was introduced its moral teachings were seen to be\nlofty and inspiring, and it was given a warm welcome.  When\nChristianity first came many of the daimios took especial pains to\nexamine into it to see if it were likely to benefit their country, with\nthe full intention of accepting it.  How many of them did accept it is\ntold in another chapter.  The present attitude of opposition is the\nresult of prejudice, instilled in part by past experience with\nChristianity, and in part by the misrepresentation of its enemies; it\nis not the result of natural intolerance.  The readiness with which\nWestern learning of all kinds has been adopted, and the patient hearing\nand investigation native scholars give to all new theories of science\nand knowledge, clearly show that their mind is an open and receptive\none.  A native professor has expressed this characteristic in these\nwords: \"The Japanese as a race are open-hearted, with a mind free from\nprejudice and open to conviction.\"  But that it is as receptive of\nprejudice and misrepresentation as of truth and knowledge is evidenced\nby its present attitude toward Christianity.\n\nMany critics have pronounced the Japanese a {61} very speculative\npeople, but it is doubtful if this is true.  By nature, I think, they\nare more inclined to be practical than speculative.  Abstract\nmetaphysical and theological ideas have little charm for them.\n\nBut there is a large element in Japan that simulates a taste for\nphilosophical study.  Philosophy and metaphysics are regarded by them\nas the profoundest of all branches of learning, and in order to be\nthought learned they profess great interest in these studies.  Not only\nare the highly metaphysical philosophies of the East studied, but the\nvarious systems of the West are looked into likewise.  Many of the\npeople are capable of appreciating these philosophies, too; but they do\nit for a purpose.\n\nJapanese character is lacking in steadfastness and fixedness of\npurpose.  Huge enterprises will be begun with great enthusiasm, only to\nbe abandoned in a short while.  There is not that steadfastness and\nfixedness which lays out far-reaching plans, extending years into the\nfuture, and which adheres to these plans until their purpose is\naccomplished.  On the contrary, they are vacillating and changeful, as\nis shown by their migratory disposition.  This want of steadfastness is\neven evinced by many ministerial candidates.  It is a frequent\noccurrence for young men to enter the mission schools with the firm\nintention of {62} becoming evangelists, and, by the time their academic\ncourse is finished, to change their mind and go into some other\ncalling.  Some of those who have become evangelists are restless and\nvacillating, and after they have been located in one place for a few\nyears like to be transferred to another.  The \"stick-to-it-iveness\" of\nthe Anglo-Saxon is largely wanting.  But we must not speak too\ndogmatically upon this point, for the Japanese government has shown\nitself capable of laying out far-reaching plans, and of adhering to its\noriginal purpose until it is successfully accomplished.\n\nInconsistency is another trait of the Japanese mind, which often turns\nsquare about and takes positions exactly opposed to its avowed\nprinciples, realizing no inconsistency in doing so.  This is well\nillustrated in the political life of the people.  In theory the\nemperor, as the divine head of the nation, cannot go wrong, and\nwhatever he does is necessarily right.  It is the duty of every subject\nunquestioningly to obey the will of the emperor.  To this all Japanese\nwill readily agree, but in practice the people are often found\narraigned against the government, which has the emperor for its head.\nLines of policy which the emperor himself has mapped out and pursued\nfor years are often bitterly opposed; and yet the people are all\nunconscious of this, and resent very much any insinuation that they are\nopposing his will.\n\n{63}\n\nAnother evidence of inconsistency is seen in their opposition to\nChristianity.  The usual objection that is made against our faith is\nthat it is a Western religion, and there are thousands of people who\noppose it solely on this ground.  But, even while opposing the Western\nreligion, they are daily using all kinds of Western institutions\ngladly.  All manner of material things are received from abroad with\npleasure, and are considered none the worse for their foreign origin,\nthe line being drawn at religion.\n\nJapanese character is largely wanting in originality.  The people have\noriginated almost nothing, having accepted nearly everything at the\nhands of others.  In ancient times Japan had Korea for a teacher;\nafterward she studied under China; now she is at school to Europe and\nAmerica.  Her medieval civilization was accepted bodily from Asia, just\nas her modern is from Europe.  No important inventions have been made.\nEven the little jinrikisha, which is the universal means of locomotion,\nand which, I believe, is found nowhere else except in certain Chinese\nports, is said to have been first made by an American missionary for\nthe comfort and convenience of his invalid wife.  It should be said,\nhowever, that some claim the native origin of the jinrikisha, and\ncontend that its inventor lived in Kyoto.\n\nBut while the Japanese are not originators, they {64} are excellent\nimitators.  The ability to imitate well is a power not to be despised.\nThis, when coupled with assimilation, is a very fruitful source of\nprogress, as the Japan of to-day witnesses.  The ease and facility with\nwhich Japan has imitated the West and assimilated her institutions,\napplying them to new and changed conditions, is marvelous.  Given a\nmodel, the people can make anything, no matter how diminutive or\ncomplicated.  Even the American dude is most successfully imitated.\n\nThe Japanese do not slavishly follow their models, but are able to\nchange, modify, and develop them at will.  Given the general idea, they\ncan easily construct the rest.  Thus in the adoption of Western\ninstitutions they have in some cases actually improved upon their\nmodels.  Especially is this true of the postal and telegraph systems,\nwhich, though copied after our own, are in many respects superior.\nThey are not blind followers of their teachers, but often start out on\nindependent exploration and investigation.  Such powers of imitation\nare second only to those of invention, and have made Japan what she is\nto-day.\n\nAnother national peculiarity is the slight value placed upon human\nlife.  The idea that the family, and not the individual, is of supreme\nimportance, and the Buddhistic teaching that life itself is the\ngreatest of all evils, are responsible for this.  To {65} pour out\none's blood upon the battle-field for one's lord has from of old been\nconsidered a privilege.  Death has not that terror that it has in the\nWest, and the people are not afraid to die.  Hence suicides are of very\nfrequent occurrence, and to take one's own life is, under certain\ncircumstances, considered a meritorious act.  Under the old r\u00e9gime a\nmember of the samurai or warrior classes could not be executed like a\ncommon man, but after condemnation was left to take his own life.\n\nAbout seven thousand suicides occur in Japan each year.  The slightest\nreasons will induce a man to take his own life.  Statistics show that\nthe proportion of suicides varies with the success or failure of the\nrice crop.  If sustenance is cheap, people live; if it is dear, they\nrid themselves of the burden of life.  The number of suicides also\nvaries much with the season of the year, showing that such little\nmatters as heat and discomfort will outweigh the value put upon life.\n\nA young girl recently came to Saga from Kagoshima as a household\nservant She did not like her new home, and asked her mistress to send\nher back to her birthplace.  The mistress refused, and the next morning\nthe poor girl was found dead in the yard, having hanged herself during\nthe night--all, forsooth, because she could not go home.  So low is the\nvalue placed upon life here!  Human life is valued highly in the West\n{66} solely because of Christian teaching; outside of Christendom it is\ncheap.\n\nIt has been charged upon the Japanese that they are wanting in\ngratitude, or, at least, that their gratitude lasts only so long as\nthey are looking for favors.  This is but partially true.  Ever since I\ncame to Japan I have been teaching a few boys English at odd hours, and\nthey have really embarrassed me by the number of their presents.  On\nthe other hand, I have helped young men with money at school, who were\nat first grateful apparently, and would come to my home to perform\nvarious small services in return, but by and by would object to doing\nthe least service, even while living on my charity.\n\nIn past years Japan has in various capacities employed a great number\nof Americans and Europeans, and has usually rendered them a very\nadequate return for their services.  In addition to the stipulated\nsalary, she has often given them costly presents.  But recently a good\ndeal of complaint has been made by foreign employees to the effect\nthat, after they have given the best years of their lives to the\nservice of Japan, they have been summarily dismissed, without previous\nnotice and without thanks.\n\nEvidences of ingratitude are very numerous in the native church.  The\nmissionary who has left home, friends, and country for the sake of\nthese {67} people, and who labors for them with all the powers God has\ngiven him, is often not rewarded by that gratitude and kindness on the\npart of his converts which he reasonably expects.  Frequently he takes\nyoung men from the humbler walks of life, provides both their food and\nclothing, gives them six or eight years' instruction in well-equipped\nschools, supports them liberally as evangelists, only to have them rise\nup against him, oppose him in his work, and pronounce him an ignoramus.\nIn many parts of the native church there is a strong anti-missionary\nspirit, and the feeling of gratitude which these churches should have\nfor their founders, organizers, and supporters is wanting.  From such\nfacts as these we are forced to conclude that the feeling of gratitude\nis not very strong.\n\nMuch has been said in regard to the commercial honor and integrity of\nthe Japanese.  Our first American minister to Japan, Townsend Harris,\npronounced them \"the greatest liars upon the face of the earth.\"  A\nforeign employee in a government school, when asked concerning the\nnative character, replied in two words--_deceit_ and _conceit_.  The\nnumerous exceptions to upright dealing in mercantile circles seem to\njustify these judgments.  Native merchants are unreliable in such\nmatters as punctuality, veracity, and the keeping of contracts.  They\nwill do all in their {68} power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract\nwhich would entail a loss.  The artisan class is even more unreliable\nin these respects than are the merchants.\n\nTo offset this, it should be said that, while the people are frequently\nunreliable in private matters, in public affairs and in all\ngovernmental relations they are honest and fair-dealing.  Public office\nis seldom perverted for private ends, and the national conscience would\nquickly call to account any official who would enrich himself at the\npublic expense.  In this respect Japan is in striking contrast with the\nother nations of the East, and, alas! with many of those of the West as\nwell.\n\nI have not endeavored to give an exhaustive statement of the national\ncharacteristics of the Japanese people, but have simply tried to give\nenough to help my readers to an appreciation of the native character.\nI have endeavored to be strictly truthful and at the same time to do\njustice to the race.  While fully recognizing the failings of the\nJapanese, we must also recognize the great improvement of the national\ncharacter in recent years, and must remember that they are in many\nrespects laboring at a great disadvantage, and deserve, not hatred and\ncontempt, but our warmest sympathy and love.\n\n\n\n\n{69}\n\nIV\n\nMANNERS AND CUSTOMS\n\nA study of the manners and customs of foreign peoples is both\ninteresting and profitable.  If we have no knowledge of the customs of\nother nations we are apt to think that our own customs have their\nground in eternal reason, and that all customs differing from ours are\nnecessarily false and wrong.  But if we study the manners of other\nlands, and learn of the daily observance of customs many of which are\nsquarely opposed to our own, and which nevertheless work well, we will\nbe led to value our own customs at their true worth, and to realize\nthat we have not a monopoly of all that is good, convenient, and useful.\n\nTo know the manners and customs of a country is to know much about that\ncountry.  There is no truer index of the character of a people's life.\nKnowing these, the prevailing morality and governing laws may be very\nlargely inferred.  In fact, {70} every phase of a nation's life has so\nintimate a connection with the manners and customs that a study of\nthese is exceedingly profitable.\n\nSuch a study is especially necessary to those who would gain a correct\nknowledge of the nature and difficulties of mission work in foreign\nlands.  The customs of a people will have a direct bearing upon mission\nwork among them.  If Christianity violates national customs it will be\ncondemned; if it observes them it will be tolerated.  Whether it\nobserves or violates them must depend upon the nature of the customs\nthemselves.  The success of Christianity in any country will depend, in\npart, upon the nature of the customs prevalent there.  Therefore it is\nwise for us to study those of Japan, in order to a better understanding\nof the people and of the condition and prospects of mission work among\nthem.\n\nOne of the most striking facts in connection with Japanese customs is\nthat many of them are exactly opposed to those which prevail in the\nWest.  People who have been accustomed to doing certain things one way\nall their lives, and have come to look upon that as the only way, upon\ncoming out here are shocked to find these very same things done in\nprecisely the opposite way.  This is so to such an extent that Japan\nhas been called \"Topsyturvydom.\"  But to those who are acquainted with\nthe customs of both East and {71} West it is a serious question which\none is topsy-turvy.  After one has become used to them, many of the\ncustoms appear just as sensible and convenient as those of America or\nEurope.  Why this opposition, we do not know, but perhaps the fact that\nthe Japanese are antipodal to us makes it fitting that their customs\nshould be antipodal too.  I will point out a few of the things that are\nso different.\n\nThe manner of making books and of writing letters is very different\nfrom that to which my readers are accustomed.  An Occidental has an\nidea that something inherent in things necessitates that a book begin\nat the left side, and the thought of beginning at the other side\nappears to him ridiculous.  But in reality it is every whit as\nconvenient, fitting, and sensible to begin at one side as at the other;\nand all Japanese books begin at the side which people of the West call\nthe end, i.e., at the right side, and read toward the left.  While\nEnglish books are printed across the page in lines from left to right,\nJapanese books are printed from right to left in columns.  An\nOccidental generally turns the leaves of his book from the top with his\nleft hand; an Oriental turns them from the bottom with his right hand.\nIn Western libraries the books are placed on their ends in rows; in\nJapan they are laid flat down on their sides and piled up in columns.\nIf we see several good dictionaries {72} or encyclopedias in a man's\nstudy we are apt to infer that he is a man of studious habits; the\nJapanese of olden times inferred just the opposite.  The idea seems to\nhave been that a scholar would already have the meaning and use of all\nwords in his head and would not need to refer to a dictionary.  A\nJapanese friend who came into my study one day expressed great surprise\nat seeing several large dictionaries there.  \"You have certainly had\nbetter educational advantages than I have,\" he said, \"and yet I can get\nalong with a very small dictionary; why cannot you?\"  Upon inquiry, I\nlearned that many Japanese keep their dictionaries concealed, because\nthey do not want it said that they must refer to them often.\n\nThe manner of addressing letters in Japan is exactly opposed to ours.\nTake a familiar example.  We write:\n\n  MR. FRANK JONES,\n      110 Gay Street,\n          Knoxville,\n              Tennessee.\n\nA Japanese would write it:\n\n  Tennessee,\n      Knoxville,\n          Gay Street, 110,\n              JONES, FRANK, MR.\n\nThe latter is certainly the more sensible method, because what the\npostmaster wants to see is not {73} the name of the man to whom the\nletter is addressed, but the place to which it is to go.\n\nIn matters of dress there are some customs quite opposed to our own.\nThe American lady, especially if she goes to a ball, has her neck and\narms bare, but she would be shocked at the very mention of having her\nfeet bare.  The Japanese lady puts her heaviest clothing on her arms\nand shoulders, but does not at all mind being seen with bare feet and\nankles.  Many of the ladies do not wear any foot-gear at all in the\nhouse, but these same women could hardly be induced to expose their\narms and necks as Western women do.\n\nA Western lady is very anxious to have a thin, narrow waist; her\nJapanese sister wants a broad one.  In the West curly hair is highly\nprized on girls and women; in the East it is considered an abomination.\nIf you tell a little girl here that her hair is curly, she will\nconsider it a disgrace and will cry bitterly.  The most striking\ndifference in regard to dress, however, is in mourning dress.  Whereas\nin the West it is always black, in Japan it is always white.\n\nAnother remarkable contrast is found in the relation of the sexes.  In\nAmerica the woman is given the precedence in everything.  Her husband,\nand all other men who come within her influence, must serve and honor\nher.  Attend an evening party and see woman in her glory.  How {74} the\nmen crowd round her, anxious to serve or entertain!  When supper is\nannounced they vie with one another for the honor of escorting her to\nthe dining-room.  She must have first seat at table and be first\nserved, and during the progress of the meal the men must be careful to\nsee that she has everything her sweet will desires.  When supper is\nover the ladies precede the men to the drawing-room, and by the time\nthe men again appear on the scene the ladies, including the hostess,\nare settled in the easiest chairs.  When the time for departure has\ncome it is my lady who announces to the hostess--not the host--her\ndeparture, and her husband or escort simply awaits her bidding.  In\nJapan all of this is changed.  The man takes precedence everywhere, and\nthe woman must serve him.  At meals the woman must first wait on her\nhusband and then she herself may eat.  When, guests come, the husband\nis the chief entertainer, and the wife takes a back seat and says\nlittle.  On passing through a door, entering a train or carriage, etc.,\nthe husband always precedes his wife.  When walking on the street\ntogether she does not walk by his side, but comes along behind.  The\nmen do not intend to mistreat the women; they simply take what they\nregard their due as the head of the family.\n\nAmong the customs most peculiar in the eyes of Westerners and most\nsquarely opposed to their {75} own are those relating to marriage.  In\nJapan the young man and woman have nothing whatever to do with the\nmatch-making, except to give their consent to the arrangements of their\nparents; and frequently even this is not asked.  The wedding is\narranged in some such manner as this: Whenever the parents of a young\nman think their son old enough to get married they secure the services\nof some friend, who acts as \"go-between.\"  It is the duty of this party\nto search out a suitable girl and win the consent of her parents to the\nmarriage.  While this is going on it is not likely that either of the\nyoung people is aware of it, but as soon as the parents have arranged\nmatters to their own satisfaction they are informed.  It often happens\nthat the man has never seen his bride until the wedding-day.  Young\npeople seldom object to the arrangements of their parents, and\nmarriages made in this way seem to work well.\n\nIn the West the wedding often takes place in church; in Japan the\ntemples are studiously avoided at such times.  There a minister is\nnearly always present; here they are very careful to exclude priests.\nThe wedding is to be joyous, and as priests are known best as\nofficiators at funerals, and ideas of sadness and misfortune are\nassociated with them, they are excluded.\n\nIn the West, if the wedding does not take place in church, it will\nprobably be held in the home of {76} the bride; in the East it is\nalways held in the home of the groom.  There the bride's household\nprepares the feast; here the groom's prepares it.  There the groom must\ngo to fetch his bride; here she must come to him.  It makes no\ndifference whether she lives in the same city or in a distant province;\nshe must go to the groom, not he to her.\n\nThe poor mother-in-law is evil spoken of in the East as well as in the\nWest; but while there it is the mother of the bride who is said to make\nlife miserable for the groom, here it is the mother of the groom who\noften makes life miserable for the bride.\n\nCustoms in regard to the use of houses are quite different.  In America\nthe front rooms of a house are considered most desirable; in Japan the\nback rooms are preferred.  There the parlors, sitting-rooms, etc., are\nin front, and the kitchen and store-rooms are relegated to the back;\nhere the kitchen and store-rooms are in front, and the parlors and\nsitting-rooms behind.  There the front yards are kept clean, but the\nback yards are proverbially dirty; here all sorts of dirt and trash may\nbe lying around in the front yard, while the back yard is a perfect\nlittle garden of beauty.\n\nSigns made with the hands are very different in Japan from those to\nwhich my readers are accustomed, and are much more graceful.  Here,\nwhen we call some one to us by the hand, {77} instead of the awkward,\nungainly motion of the index-finger used in the West, we simply hold\nout the whole hand horizontally in front of us and gently move all the\nfingers up and down.  The latter motion is very graceful, while even a\npretty girl cannot execute the former one gracefully.  Here, when we\nrefuse a request or repel one from us by a sign of the hand, instead of\nturning the palm of the hand outward and pushing it from the body in a\nrough, uncivil manner, we merely hold the hand perpendicularly before\nthe face, palm outward, and move it back and forth a few times.\n\nJapanese carpenters saw by pulling the saw toward them instead of\npushing it from them; the planes cut in the same way; and screws are\nput in by turning them to the left instead of the right.\n\nEven in the nursery we find customs directly antipodal.  While the\nAmerican nurse takes the child up in her arms, the Japanese nurse takes\nit on her back.\n\nThese are some of the customs most squarely opposed to our own.  The\nfirst thought of my readers when learning of them will probably be, how\nridiculous and inconvenient!  And yet they are just as convenient and\nsensible as their own, and some of them much more so.  There is nothing\nin the nature of things why most customs should be either this way or\nthat.\n\n{78}\n\nThe most interesting things about foreign peoples are those connected\nwith their daily lives--their homes, food, and dress.  Let us examine a\nJapanese house, take a meal with its occupants, and then observe their\nmanner of dress.\n\nThe houses are usually very light structures, built of wood, one or two\nstories high.  They resemble an American house but little.  The roofs\nare made of tiles, straw, or shingles.  Tiles make a pretty and durable\nroof, but they cost much more than straw, and hence the common people\ngenerally use the latter.  The skilful Japanese workman can make a very\npretty, lasting, and effective roof of straw.  The houses of the rich\nare large and have many nice rooms in them; those of the poor are\nsmall, with only one or two rooms.  Houses are so constructed as to\npermit the air to pass through them freely.  The rooms are separated\nonly by light, detachable partitions made of paper, and these are\nfrequently taken away and the whole house thrown into one room.  Many\nof the outer walls are also detachable, and on a warm summer day are\nput aside, when a delightful breeze constantly passes through the\nhouse.  The floors are covered with thick, soft straw mats, which are\nkept so clean that the people, even when dressed in their best clothes,\nsit or loll on them.  On entering a Japanese house you must leave your\nshoes at the door, just as you {79} do your hat.  It would be an\nunpardonable offense to come inside and tread on the mats with your\nshoes on.\n\n[Illustration: A Kitchen Scene.]\n\nThe average Japanese eats, sleeps, and lives in the same room.  He has\nno chairs, no bedsteads, and no tables to get in his way.  During the\nday he sits on the soft straw mats; when evening comes two large\ncomfortables are brought, and one is spread on the floor to lie on,\nwhile the other is used for covering.  No sheets are used, and the\npillow is a funny little block of wood.  On this simple bed the man\nsleeps as soundly as we in our more elaborate ones.  In the morning the\nbed is rolled up and packed away.  At meal-time little tables, four or\nsix inches high and about sixteen inches square, are brought, and one\nis placed before each person.  The food is served in pretty little\nlacquer or china bowls, and each one's portion is placed on his own\ntable.  The people eat with chopsticks about eight inches long and one\nfourth of an inch in diameter.  These answer their purpose well, but\nare hard to use until one is accustomed to them.  When the meal is over\nall these things are carried away to the kitchen, and the room is ready\nfor any other use to which one may desire to put it.  In this way one\nroom is made to serve for all the purposes of a household.\n\nThe most conspicuous thing in a Japanese room {80} is the _hibachi_--a\nlittle wooden or china box about one foot square.  This is kept half\nfull of ashes, and on top of the ashes is a handful of burning\ncharcoal.  On this usually sits a little tea-kettle, filled with\nboiling water used in making the tea, which is drunk without milk or\nsugar at every hour of the day.  When one first enters a Japanese\nhouse, politeness requires that the host or hostess immediately offer\nthe guest a small cup of this tea.  There is no other provision than\nthis hibachi for heating a room; and, as one would imagine, it gives\nout but little heat Japanese houses are very cold in winter.  They\nwould not at all answer in a cold climate, and even here the people\nsuffer from the cold.\n\nJapanese food is unpalatable to most foreigners, and the eating of it\nis an art which must be acquired gradually.  After repeated experiments\nwe learn to like it, and can live on it fairly well; but most foreign\nresidents usually take more or less European food with them every time\nthey go into the interior.\n\nFrom of old Buddhism forbade the eating of anything that had animal\nlife, and hence it came about that the Japanese are probably as\nvegetarian in their diet as any people on earth.  Even such animal food\nas butter and milk is not used.  Butter is very unpalatable to them,\nbut many are beginning to use a little milk.  Bread, so necessary {81}\nto a Western table, forms no part of a Japanese bill of fare.  The\nstaple here is rice, not boiled and mashed to pieces, with milk and\nbutter, but simply boiled in water sufficiently to cook it well without\nbreaking the grains.  When it is cooked each grain remains intact, and\nit is snowy white and perfectly dry.  No salt or seasoning of any kind\nis put into it, as it is thought to spoil the flavor.\n\nThe rivers, lakes, and seas of Japan are teeming with splendid fish,\nwhich form an important part of the native diet.  It seems that\nBuddhism, while forbidding the use of meats generally, permitted the\neating of fish.  Certain kinds of fish, cut into thin slices and eaten\nraw with a kind of sauce, are considered a great delicacy.  The idea of\neating raw fish seems very repugnant, but many of my readers would eat\nit without realizing what it is unless they were told.  I often eat it.\nBut only a few of the fish consumed are eaten raw; most are boiled or\nfried.\n\nForeign vegetables are rare, and are not much liked by the natives.\nBut there is an abundance of native vegetables.  The most common one is\na large, coarse radish called _daikon_, which is pickled, and eaten at\nnearly every meal.  This daikon is very cheap, and is a chief part of\nthe diet of that small portion of the population that cannot afford\nrice.  Sweet potatoes are abundant and cheap.  {82} They are considered\nthe poor man's food, and the well-to-do people are ashamed to eat them.\nOften at hotels, when I have asked for sweet potatoes, the servant has\nreplied in astonishment, \"Why, do you eat sweet potatoes?  They are for\ncoolies.\"  A mountain-potato and the roots of the lotus and bamboo are\nalso eaten.  Since the country has been opened to foreign trade and\nforeigners have settled here it is possible to get meats and flour and\nsome foreign vegetables at most places.\n\nJapanese clothing is frequently conspicuous by its absence.  Many of\nthe people do not realize the necessity of burdening themselves with\nclothing on a hot summer day, and wear very little.  The government has\nbeen constrained to make laws against nudity, but these are enforced\nonly in the cities.  The usual summer garment of many of the children\nin my city is simply the dark-brown one given them by nature.  Most of\nthe coolies wear nothing but a little loin-cloth when at work.\n\nThe real native costume is both pretty and becoming.  It consists\nusually of a single robe reaching from the shoulders to the ankles, and\ntied round the waist with a heavy girdle.  Tight-fitting undergarments,\nin foreign style, are sometimes worn now, but they form no part of the\noriginal native costume.  A black outer garment, {83} reaching only to\nthe knees, is placed over the ordinary robe on state occasions.\nFormerly the Japanese did not wear hats, and even now half of the men\none meets on the street are bareheaded.  The women wear neither hats\nnor bonnets.\n\nIt is not considered improper to go barefooted in Japan, but generally\nthe better classes are shod when they go out of doors.  If anything\nresembling a stocking is worn, it is what they call _tabi_, a sort of\nfoot-glove, made of either white or black cloth, with a separate\ninclosure for the great toe.  A block of wood called _geta_ corresponds\nto our shoes.  It has two cords attached to the same place in front,\nand then dividing, one being fastened on each side at the back.  These\ncords slip in between the great toe and the others, and, passing over\nthe foot, secure the geta.\n\nJapanese bathing customs are peculiar.  Perhaps there are no other\npeople on earth that bathe as often as they.  It is customary for every\none, even the coolies, to bathe well the whole body every day.  The\nbaths are taken very hot--about 110\u00b0F.  Each private house has a large\nbath-tub, which in many instances is capacious enough to accommodate\nthe whole family at once.  Besides these private baths each city and\ntown has its public ones, where a good hot bath, in a place large\nenough for you to swim round, can be had for one cent.  Men, women, and\nchildren go into {84} them at the same time, indiscriminately.  Japan\nis a land of hot springs, so that almost every district has its natural\nhot baths.  Most of them have medicinal value, and the people flock to\nthem by thousands.\n\nThe funeral customs are very different from ours.  It is a strange\nfeature of the native character that when one is deeply moved he is\nvery likely to cover up his emotion with a laugh.  If a man announces\nto you the death of his child, he will probably laugh as he does so.\nAt funerals there is not that solemn silence which we expect, but\nfrequently loud talking and laughter.  The coffin is a square, upright\nbox with considerable ornamentation.  The corpse is placed in it in a\nsitting posture.  In Japan are found the hired mourners of whom we read\nin the Bible.  Anciently they were employed to follow the corpse,\nmourning in a loud voice; but that has become obsolete, and now they\nsimply follow in the procession, wearing the white garments.  The usual\nmanner of disposing of dead bodies is by interment, but cremation is\nrapidly growing in favor.  The government will not permit a body to be\nburied until it has been dead twenty-four hours.\n\nFor several weeks after a body has been interred it is customary for\nthe members of the bereaved family to make daily visits to the tomb and\npresent offerings to the departed spirit in the temple.  {85} Each\nyear, on the anniversary of the death, the children are expected to\nvisit the tomb and worship the spirit of the departed.  This custom of\nancestor-worship is forbidden by Christianity, and hence the people\ncharge us with teaching disrespect to parents and ancestors.\n\n[Illustration: Hara-kiri.]\n\nA custom peculiar to Japan is a form of suicide known as hara-kiri, or\n\"belly-cutting.\"  From time immemorial, to take one's own life in this\nmanner has been considered very honorable and has expiated all crimes\nand offenses.  In olden times, if the life of any one of noble blood\nbecame hurtful to the state, he was simply sent a certain kind of short\nsword.  This meant that he was to take his own life by the favorite\nnational method.  So the recipient quietly ate his last meal, bade his\nfamily farewell, and, seating himself squarely on the mat, deliberately\nthrust the sword into the left side of his abdomen, and drew it across\nto the right side.  As this cut does not kill immediately, a retainer,\nfrom behind, placed there for that purpose, struck off his master's\nhead with one blow of a heavy sword.  In the eyes of the law this death\natoned for all sins and offenses; hence it was often practised in old\nJapan.  It is almost obsolete now.\n\nThe Japanese are an exceedingly polite people.  They have been called\nthe Frenchmen of the Orient in recognition of this national\ncharacteristic.  Politeness is exalted above everything, above {86}\neven truth and honor.  If you ask an ordinary Japanese which is better,\nto tell a falsehood or be impolite, he will at once reply, \"To tell a\nfalsehood.\"  But while the people are exceedingly polite, a large part\nof this politeness is merely surface, without any meaning.  Etiquette\nrequires that you always address and treat your equals as though they\nwere your superiors.  There is a separate form of address for each step\nin the social scale.  I have seen Japanese men stand at a door for five\nminutes, and blush, and beg each other to pass through first, each\nhesitating to precede the other.  A Japanese gentleman never stops to\nconverse with a friend, be he only a child, without taking off his hat.\n\nTo look down upon one from a superior elevation is considered very\nimpolite.  Thus if the emperor or any one of especial distinction\npasses through a city, all the upper stories of the houses must be\nvacated.  Under no circumstances are any permitted to observe the\nprocession from an upper window.  I was out walking one day in our good\ncity of Saga with a foreign friend who was leading his little boy by\nthe hand.  It happened that a countess was passing through the city.\nThe policemen had cleared the street for the procession, and a large\ncrowd was standing at the corner.  We joined this crowd.  The little\nboy could not see, so his father held him up that {87} he might look\nover the people's heads.  At once the police forbade it and made him\nput the child down.\n\nIn many instances forms of politeness are carried to a ridiculous\nextreme.  When you give a present, no matter how nice, you must\napologize by saying that it is so _cheap_ and _insignificant_ that you\nare ashamed to _lift it up_ to the honorable person, but if he will\n_condescend_ to accept it he will make you very happy.  If you receive\na present you must elevate it toward the top of the head (as that is\nconsidered the most honorable part of the body) and at the same time\nsay that it is the _most beautiful thing on earth_.  When you are\ninvited to a dinner the invitation will carefully state that no special\npreparation will be made for the occasion.  At the beginning of the\nmeal the hostess will apologize for presuming to set before you such\nmean, dirty food, and will declare that she has nothing whatever for\nyou to eat, although she will doubtless have a feast fit for a king.\nEven if it should not be good, you must say that it is and praise it\nextravagantly.\n\nThe greetings between friends are sometimes right funny.  I have often\noverheard such conversations as the following.  Two men meet in the\nstreet, and, taking off their hats, bow very low, and begin as follows:\n\n_A_.  \"I have not had the pleasure of {88} hanging myself in your\nhonorable eyes for a long time.\"\n\n_B_.  \"I was exceedingly rude the last time I saw you.\"\n\n_A_.  \"No; it was surely I who was rude.  Please excuse me.\"\n\n_B_.  \"How is your august health?\"\n\n_A_.  \"Very good, thanks to your kind assistance.\"\n\n_B_.  \"Is the august lady, your honorable wife, well?\"\n\n_A_.  \"Yes, thank you; the lazy old woman is quite well.\"\n\n_B_.  \"And how are your princely children?\"\n\n_A_.  \"A thousand thanks for your kind interest.  The noisy, dirty\nlittle brats are well too.\"\n\n_B_.  \"I am now living on a little back street, and my house is awfully\nsmall and dirty; but if you can endure it, please honor me by a visit.\"\n\n_A_.  \"I am overcome with thanks, and will early ascend to your\nhonorable residence, and impose my uninteresting self upon your\nhospitality.\"\n\n_B_.  \"I will now be very impolite and leave you.\"\n\n_A_.  \"If that is so, excuse me.  _Sayonara_.\"\n\n\n\n\n{89}\n\nV\n\nJAPANESE CIVILIZATION\n\nThe question is often asked, Are the Japanese a civilized people?  The\nanswer will entirely depend upon our definition of civilization.  If\ncivilization consists in a highly organized commercial and industrial\nlife, in the construction and use of huge, towering piles of\nmanufactories and commercial houses, such as are seen in New York and\nChicago, in amassing enormous capital, controlling the trade of the\ncountry by monopolies, and doing the work of the world by machinery\nthat moves with the precision of clockwork, then Japan is not yet\ncivilized.  But if civilization consists in a courteous, refined\nmanner, in a calm enjoyment of literature and the arts, in an ability\nto live easily and comfortably with a due regard to all the amenities\nof life, then the Japanese are a civilized people.\n\nA very brilliant writer on Japanese subjects[1] {90} has said that the\nJapanese have been a civilized people for at least a thousand years.\nChinese civilization was brought to Japan early in the Christian era,\nand flourished for more than fifteen hundred years.  While it differs\nmuch from European civilization, it is a highly organized and developed\nsystem, venerable with age.  When people of the West speak of civilized\ncountries they are apt to think of Europe and America, to the exclusion\nof all the rest of the world.  This is unfair.  Chinese civilization is\nmuch older than our own.  Long before the dark ages of Europe the\nChinese were living under a regular system of laws and were engaged in\nall peaceful pursuits.  Systematic methods of agriculture, the art of\nprinting, gunpowder, and the mariners' compass were all known and used.\nWhile our own forefathers in northern Europe roamed the forests as wild\nmen and dressed in skins, the Chinese were living quietly in cities and\ntowns, dressed in silks.  This venerable Chinese civilization was\nreadily adopted in Japan, and prevailed down to the time of the\nRestoration, in 1868.  Since that time the adoption and assimilation of\nWestern civilization have been progressing with a rapidity and success\nwhich have no precedent in the history of the world.  The old immobile,\ncrystallized Chinese civilization has been thrown off, and the\nvigorous, elastic forms of the West have been successfully {91}\nadopted.  Japanese civilization of to-day is European, only with a\nnational coloring.\n\n\n[1] Lafcadio Hearn.\n\n\nOn the advice of an American missionary,[2] who was then president of\nthe Imperial University, and who arranged the program for the\nexpedition, in 1872 a committee of seventy intelligent Japanese\ngentlemen, many of them from the noble families, was sent to the West\nto visit the capitals of the several countries, examine into their\nforms of government and civilization, and, of all that they found, to\nchoose and bring back with them what was best adapted to Japan.  This\ncommittee, after visiting Washington, London, Berlin, and other places,\nand carefully examining into their different institutions, returned and\nreported to the government.  From this time began the rapid adoption of\nWestern civilization, which is still in progress.\n\n\n[2] Dr. Verbeck.\n\n\nForeign employees have played an important part in this peaceful\nrevolution.  At first nearly everything that was adopted was under\nforeign superintendence; but the Japanese are such apt learners that\nthey are now capable of managing this new civilization for themselves,\nand the foreign employees have been mostly dispensed with.\n\nWith this brief history of Japanese progress before us, let us now\nexamine into the present condition of Japanese civilization.\n\n{92}\n\nOne of the best indicators of the civilization of a country is its\nliterature.  No writers of world-wide fame have arisen in Japan, yet\nthe country has a literature of which she is not ashamed.  In ancient\ntimes the Chinese classics were alone studied, and all literature was\nmolded by Confucian ideas; to-day these models have been cast aside,\nand a school of young, independent writers has arisen, by whom history,\npolitical and moral science, botany, sociology, belles-lettres, and\nnumerous other subjects are discussed with vigor and originality.\n\nIn the number of newspapers and magazines published Japan can compare\nfavorably with any country of equal size.  The great dailies have not\nyet grown to such importance as those of America or England, but they\nalready wield a mighty influence.  Nearly every small town has its\nmorning and its evening sheet.  Even in our backward old town of Saga\nwe have two very good dailies.  There are a large number of able\nmagazines published.  Nearly every branch of learning has a magazine\ndevoted exclusively to its interests, as is frequently the case in the\nWest.  The very existence of this innumerable multitude of newspapers\nand magazines shows that the Japanese are great readers.\n\nThe educational system in vogue is a good index of a nation's\ncivilization.  Perhaps no {93} nation of the West has a better\norganized and developed free-school system than has Japan.  Schools are\nfound in every village and hamlet, and as all children of a prescribed\nage are required to attend, they are full to overflowing.  The little\nround-faced, sleek-headed Japanese children swarm round them like bees.\nThere are four grades of schools: the primary lower, the advanced\nlower, the lower middle, and the higher middle.  The lower schools are\nfound everywhere; the higher ones only in the large towns and cities.\nOf the higher middle schools (which correspond to our American colleges\nof middle grade) there are seven, distributed at various points over\nthe empire.  At the head of this whole system stands the Imperial\nUniversity in Tokyo, which is itself the outgrowth of several colleges,\nand is largely modeled after the German universities.  The lower\nschools are modeled after our American schools.  Unfortunately, so\nlarge a part of the time of the school-children must be spent in\nstudying Chinese characters that it takes about eight years to learn to\nread.  What a pity that the awkward, antiquated system of Chinese\nwriting is not abandoned!  It seems that the native _kana_, of which\nthere are about forty-eight, with a few of the more common Chinese\ncharacters, would answer all purposes; then the long years spent in\nstudying Chinese could be devoted to other things, to {94} the immense\nadvantage of the student.  In the lower schools very little is studied\nexcept Chinese.  In the middle schools the branches studied are just\nabout what American youths study in the academies.  Formerly\nconsiderable stress was laid upon the study of modern languages, and\nall students of the middle schools were required to study English and\neither French or German.  But in recent years only English has been\nrequired, and it, even, is not studied so carefully as it was.  Since\nthe revision of the treaties the study of foreign languages seems to be\non the increase.\n\nThe Imperial University compares very favorably with Western\nuniversities of the middle class.  It has six faculties, namely, law,\nmedicine, literature, science, engineering, and agriculture.  The\nmedical department is under German influence; the others have\nprofessors of various nationalities, mostly English, German, and\nJapanese.  The students number over 1000.  The government has recently\nundertaken the establishment of another university in Kyoto.  It also\nsupports two higher normal schools, a higher commercial school, naval\nand military academies, fine-arts school, technical school, the nobles'\nschool, the musical academy, and the blind and dumb school.  Professor\nChamberlain, of the Imperial University, says the leading idea of the\nJapanese government {95} in all its educational improvements is the\ndesire to assimilate the national ways of thinking to those of European\ncountries.  In view of the difference between the East and the West,\nthis is an enormous task; and great credit is due that brave body of\neducators who, fighting against fearful odds, are gradually\naccomplishing their purpose.\n\nThe Japanese are a nation of artists.  Life in one of the most\nbeautiful countries in the world has, to a rare degree, developed in\nthem the love of the beautiful; and this has expressed itself in the\nvarious phases of national art.  In general, Japanese art is pretty,\nbut small, isolated, and lacking in breadth of view.  Its chief use in\nformer times was largely decorative, to paint a screen or a piece of\nporcelain, and the artists did this to perfection.  As a nation the\nJapanese are very skilful with the pencil.  Long writing of Chinese\ncharacters has given them a control of the pencil or crayon not\ncommonly found among the people of the West.  Drawing is taught in the\nschools, and every school-boy can draw pretty pictures.  But in art, as\nin other things, the Japanese are frequently inconsistent, and show a\nhaughty disregard of details.  They excel in portraying nature.\n\nThe government of Japan is progressive and enlightened.  In reality it\nis an absolute monarchy, ruled by the \"heaven-descended mikado.\" {96}\nThe empire belongs to him by divine right, and none has ever disputed\nthis.  Unquestioning, implicit obedience is the duty of all subjects.\nBut the present emperor, who is a liberal-minded monarch, has\ngraciously given his people a voice in the government.  In 1889 the\nconstitution was promulgated, which laid the foundation for a new order\nof things.  It established the Diet, consisting of two houses, and gave\nmany rights to the people, including local self-government, within\ncertain limits.  The franchise is so limited in Japan that a man must\nannually pay a stipulated amount of tax before he can either vote or\nrun for office.\n\nJapanese laws have for years been gradually approaching Western\nstandards.  The transition has been difficult and necessarily slow, but\npraise-worthy progress has been made.  A code somewhat resembling the\nCode Napoleon is now the law of the land, and is being applied in the\ncourts as fast as circumstances will permit.  People coming from Europe\nor America will find that, in the main, the laws are not very different\nfrom those they have been accustomed to.\n\nNearly all the material expressions of an advanced civilization found\nat home are likewise met with in Japan--good railways, steamboats,\ntelegraphs, mails, electric lights, etc.  It is often a surprise to the\ntraveler from the West who has {97} read little about the country, and\nwho expects only the rudest form of civilization, to find instead\nnearly all the conveniences to which he has been accustomed.\n\nRAILWAYS.--Japanese railways are narrow gauge, and while in recent\nyears the question of changing them to standard gauge has been\nagitated, nothing definite has been done.  The narrow-gauge system\nseems fairly adequate to the present demand.  The railways are modeled\nafter those of England, and are miniature as compared with those\nthundering monsters that make the American valleys tremble with their\ntread.  The coaches are much smaller than the American and are\ndifferently arranged, opening on the side instead of the end, passage\nfrom one coach to another being precluded.  There is no conductor to\ncome around and disturb one with the continual cry of \"Tickets!\"  The\n_punch, punch, punch_, so annoying to sensitive people, is not heard.\nAs the passenger leaves the station to enter the train his ticket is\nexamined, and this ends the matter until he reaches his destination,\nwhen he must pass out through the station, where his ticket is taken by\na polite official.  One of the things that have most impressed me about\nthe railroad service is the kindness and politeness of the officials,\nin striking contrast with the gruffness and incivility one often\nencounters in America.\n\n{98}\n\nThe average Japanese train has three classes of coaches.  The first\nclass corresponds to the ordinary first-class day-coach at home; second\nclass corresponds to our smoking-cars; while third class is poorer\nstill.  The fares are just about one half what they are in America, and\none can travel in first-class style for a cent and a half per mile.\nThird-class fare is only a little over half a cent, and most of the\npeople travel in this class.  The trains do not have the conveniences\nto which my readers are accustomed.  There are no sleeping- and\ndining-cars, no provision for heating in winter, and no water.  The\naverage running speed is about 20 miles per hour--a rate which would\nnot at all suffice for the high-tensioned, nervous, always-in-a-hurry\ncivilization of the West, but which meets all the demands of the\nslower, quieter life of the East.  Running at this rate, accidents are\ncomparatively rare, and the trains easily make their scheduled time.\n\nThere is one main trunk-line running throughout the length of the land,\nbesides numerous shorter lines.  All of the more prominent towns and\ncities are connected by rail.  At present a railroad-construction craze\nhas seized Japan.  Many are being constructed, others are being\nsurveyed, and the papers daily contain accounts of new ones projected.\nSo far, Japanese railway stocks have yielded good dividends.  That the\n{99} more important lines are owned and operated by the government is\nnot the result of any political or economic theory, but simply because\nat first private individuals had neither the means nor the energy to\ninaugurate such huge and hitherto untried enterprises.  Many of the\nsmaller roads are now owned and controlled by private corporations, and\nmost of those in process of construction are private enterprises.  Some\nmonths ago a private corporation made a proposition to the government\nto buy its main railway, but the offer was rejected.\n\nSTEAMERS.--Steamboat service in Japan is good.  As the country is only\na range of islands, the largest of which are very narrow, and as all\nthe more important towns are on the sea-coast or only a short distance\ninland, it is possible to go nearly everywhere by boat.  Travel by\nwater is very popular.  There are fairly good steamers plying daily\nbetween the most important ports, but foreigners generally prefer to\ntravel only on those officered by Europeans or Americans.  There are a\nnumber of native steamers, comfortable and speedy, which are officered\nby foreigners, and differ but little from the transpacific liners.\nThese were nearly all built in England, but in recent years they are\nbuilding very good ones in Japan.  The facilities for travel in this\nempire leave little to be desired.\n\nTELEGRAPHS.--The Japanese telegraph {100} system is excellent.  It\nextends to all towns of any size in the empire, and by cable to all\nparts of the world.  From the old city of Saga, in which I live, I can\nsend a cablegram to any point in Europe or America.  A telegraph code\non the basis of the Morse code has been made in Japan, which admits of\ninternal telegrams being transmitted in the native syllabary.  In this\nrespect the Japanese system is unique among Eastern countries.  For\ninstance, in India or China telegrams can be transmitted only in Roman\nletters or Arabic figures.  By the formation of a vernacular code the\ntelegraph was brought within the reach of the masses of the people, and\nit soon became familiar and popular.\n\nThe tariff for messages is perhaps lower than any other in the world.\nA message of ten kana, equaling about five English words, together with\nname and address of sender and receiver, can be sent to any part of the\nempire for eight or nine cents.  Telegrams in foreign languages are\nsent within the empire for five sen per word, with a minimum charge of\ntwenty-five sen for five words or a fraction thereof.  No charge is\nmade for delivery within a radius of 2-\u00bd miles of the telegraph office.\n\nThere are no private telegraph corporations.  The government builds,\nowns, and operates the lines just as it does the mails.  The postal and\n{101} telegraph systems are intimately connected, and the same office\ndoes service for both.\n\nThe first telegraph line in Japan was opened in 1869.  The venture\nproving a success, the following year the line was extended and a\ngeneral telegraphic system for the whole country decided upon.  The\nrapid construction of telegraph lines began in 1872, from which year it\nhas gone forward uninterruptedly.  At present the lines extend to every\ncorner of the empire.  The first lines were surveyed, built, and\noperated under foreign experts; but the natives have learned so rapidly\nthat they have been enabled to do away with all foreign employees.  All\nof the materials and instruments in use, with the exception of\nsubmarine cables and the most delicate electrical measuring apparatus,\nare made in Japan.\n\nMAILS.--The Japanese mail system was modeled after the American in\n1871.  At first it was limited to postal service between the three\nlarge cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka; but in 1872 it was extended to\nthe whole country, with the exception of a certain part of the\nHokkaido, which was without roads and almost without population.\nTo-day there is no village or hamlet in the whole land which does not\nenjoy the convenience of a good postal system.  The mails are sent with\npromptness and despatch, and it requires only a few days to communicate\nwith any part of the {102} empire.  The postal rates are very low.\nPostal cards cost one sen and letters two sen--about five eighths and\none and two eighths of a cent, respectively.\n\nAll mail is delivered free of charge.  Not only is this so in the\ncities and larger towns, but in the villages and rural districts as\nwell.  There is no place where the dapper little postman does not go.\nAnother convenience of the mail system is its excellent parcel-post\ndepartment.  Very large parcels, containing almost anything, can be\nsent for a small charge.  Still another praiseworthy feature is that\neach office is a savings-bank, where the people can deposit small sums\nof money at any time and receive a good rate of interest.  This money\ncan be withdrawn without previous notice.  The government has\nestablished these savings-banks in connection with the post-offices to\nencourage the people to lay up small sums of money, and they accomplish\ntheir purpose well.\n\nJapan was admitted into the International Postal Union in 1879, with\nfull management of all her postal affairs.  As all her rates are now\nbased on a silver standard, postage to foreign countries is much\ncheaper than from them to Japan.  To the United States or to China we\npay five sen (about two and a half cents) per letter; to all other\ncountries within the Postal Union ten sen per letter.\n\n{103}\n\nLIGHTS.--The system of lighting is an index of the civilization of a\ncountry.  In this respect Japan is not yet so far advanced as the\nleading countries of the West, yet she is well lighted.  In all the\nlarge cities there are good electric plants, and electricity is\nextensively used.  The streets and many of the best stores and shops\nare very well lighted with it.  However, electric lights are seldom\nfound in interior cities of less than 40,000 people.  I think\nelectricity is too costly to come into general use, except in the\ncenters.  Illuminating gas is very little used.\n\nThe only oil used in former times was extracted from whales and large\nfish, and chiefly from the seed of a certain tree.  Since the opening\nof the country, kerosene has come into general use, immense quantities\nbeing imported from the United States and from Russia.  Oil has been\nfound in several places in Japan, but as yet has never been developed.\n\nBANKING.--One of the most useful products of the introduction of our\nmodern civilization is the present system of banking.  This system will\ncompare favorably with those of the West.  There are a number of\nnational banks distributed over all the land, together with many\nsubstantial private banking corporations.  All forms of banking\nbusiness are transacted, and good interest is given on deposits.  The\ngreat {104} popularity of the banks is shown by the fact that to-day in\nTokyo, only eight years after bank-checks have come into use, the\namount annually drawn exceeds $100,000,000.\n\nHaving taken this rapid view of Japanese civilization, we are in a\nposition to judge as to whether or not this is a civilized land; and we\nanswer that it is.  But although modeled after that of the West, it in\nmany respects differs from Western civilization.  Japan has shown\nherself capable of doing great things, but she does not do them in the\nsame way that they are done in Europe or America.  For example,\nconsider her manufactories, which now threaten to compete with those of\nour own country.  In America manufactories mean enormous capital\ninvested.  Costly factories must be erected, the most approved\nmachinery provided, and the completed plant operated at great expense.\nHere almost no capital is used.  The buildings are low, one-story\nsheds, not more costly than a row of stables at home.  It is true that\nJapan has a few large, substantial buildings for manufacturing\npurposes; but such are rare, and, when found, look out of harmony with\ntheir surroundings.  Even nature seems to protest against huge piles of\nbrick and stone, as she so frequently demolishes them.  Most of the\nwares of Japan are manufactured in small, cheap buildings, and little\nmachinery is used.  The best silk {105} made is woven in a house that\ncost scarcely $500.  The best cloisonne, of which only a small piece a\nfew inches high will cost hundreds of dollars, is made in a little,\ntwo-story house with only six rooms.  Some of the greatest\nporcelain-makers in the world, whose products are better known in\nLondon and Paris than in their own country, do their work in small\nwooden houses in Kyoto, no better than the homes of the American\nlaborer.  \"The vast rice crop is raised on millions of tiny farms; the\nsilk crop in millions of small, poor homes; the tea crop on countless\nlittle patches of soil.  Japan has become industrial without becoming\nessentially mechanical and artificial.\"[3]  On this small scale the\ngreat work of Japan is done.  Japanese civilization, in its parts, is\nminiature.\n\n\n[3] Lafcadio Hearn.\n\n\nWhen compared with the civilization of the West, it is unstable; in\nfact stability is almost unknown.  The land itself is a land of change.\nThe outlines of the coasts, the courses of the rivers, the form of the\nmountains, by the combined action of volcanoes, earthquakes, winds, and\nwaves, are constantly changing.\n\nThe people themselves are continually drifting about from place to\nplace, changing their residence with the seasons.  It has been said\nthat no people in the world are so migratory.  {106} Preparation can be\nmade in a few hours for the longest journey, and all the necessary\nbaggage wrapped up in a handkerchief.  Japanese life is in a constant\nstate of fluidity.\n\nThe average house, likewise, seems built but for a day.  The walls, the\nroof, the floors, are made of the lightest materials, and apparently\nthere is no thought of permanence.\n\nWe of the West are wont to think that no real progress can be made\nwithout stability, but Japan has proved the contrary.  A uniformly\nmobile race is, correspondingly, uniformly impressionable.  The fluid\nmass of the Japanese people submits itself to the hands of its rulers\nas readily as the clay to the hands of the potter, and thus it moves\nwith system and order toward great ends.  It is thus that Japanese\ncivilization is strong.\n\nWhen compared with Western civilization, that of Japan is seen to be\nless organized and developed, less hasty and feverish in its movements,\nIt does not impress one so much with its hugeness and ponderosity.  It\nis lighter, brighter, quieter, more soothing.  It is the civilization\nof the West robbed of its immensity and seriousness, and reflecting the\nnational characteristics of these light-hearted sons of the East.\n\n\n\n\n{107}\n\nVI\n\nJAPANESE MORALITY\n\nJapanese morality has been much written about by men of the West, and\nmany dogmatic judgments have been pronounced upon it.  At one extreme,\nwe have been told that \"they are the most immoral people on the face of\nthe earth\"; at the other, we are told that in morality \"they have\nnothing to learn from the people of Christendom.\"  There is about as\nmuch--or rather as little--truth in the one statement as in the other.\nThe fact is that it is necessary to have an experimental acquaintance\nwith Japan before one can really understand or appreciate the moral\ncondition of her people.  The moral ideas and teachings to which they\nhave been accustomed from childhood are so different from our own that\nthey could not be expected to approximate to our standards.  Judged by\nthe ideas of the West, they are lacking in morality; but from {108}\ntheir own standpoint they are a moral people.  While we cannot accept\ntheirs as the true standard, it is but fair that, in judging them, we\nkeep this in view.\n\nBefore the introduction of Chinese ethics there was no such thing as a\nmoral code.  The original native religion, Shinto, taught no doctrines\nof morality, as we understand them.  According to it, to obey\nimplicitly the mikado was the whole duty of man.  As for the rest, if a\nJapanese obeyed the natural impulses of his own heart he would be sure\nto do right.  Modern Shinto writers, in all seriousness, account for\nthis absence of a moral code by stating that originally Japanese nature\nwas pure, clean, and sinless, possessing no tendency to evil or wrong.\nBarbarians, like the Chinese and Americans, being by nature immoral,\nwere forced to invent a moral code to control their actions; but in\nJapan this was not necessary, as every Japanese acted aright if he only\nconsulted his own heart.  They explain the need for the present moral\nlaws--a need which they acknowledge--by the fact of association with\noutside nations.  Immorality and dissoluteness were introduced by the\nChinese and Western peoples, to counteract the evil influence of which\nthey now have the shameful spectacle of a moral law even among the\nchildren of the \"heaven-descended mikado.\"  So much for the teaching of\nShinto in {109} regard to morality.  It would be exasperating were it\nnot ludicrous.\n\nConfucius is the master of Japanese morality.  His teachings were\nintroduced into Japan early in the Christian era, but they became\npredominant only in the time of Iyeyasu, in the seventeenth century.\nThis great statesman, warrior, and patron of learning caused the\nChinese classics to be printed in Japan for the first time; and from\nthat day to this the morality of Japan has been dominated by Confucian\nideas.\n\nIn order to understand Japanese morality, it is necessary for us to\nshift our moral base and try to look at the subject through Japanese\neyes.  The average native of the West thinks of \"morality\" as something\nbelonging to the individual.  Even in religion his first thought is to\nsave his own soul.  The value of the soul, its immortality, its\nimmediate relation to the infinite and eternal Father--these have been\nemphasized ever since the first establishment of the church.  In\nconsequence, there is a duty which man owes to himself.  He may not\ndisregard it even at the command of father or king.  Within the soul is\nthe holiest of all, for there is heard in conscience the voice of God\nhimself.  No external authority may be supreme, and at no external\nvoice may one violate his own convictions of truth.\n\nThis thought exalts the individual, and, {110} therefore, sins which\ndegrade our own personality become most repulsive.  Thus, among\nhigh-minded men truth is almost first among the virtues, and an\naccusation of falsehood the most hateful of insults.  For truth seems\npeculiarly personal and spiritual, as if belonging to the very\nsanctuary of one's nature.  And in like manner, among women, in popular\nesteem chastity is of the essence of morality, as its violation seems\nto contaminate and debase her holiest self.\n\nNow the Confucian ethics rest upon a quite different principle, and in\nthis are at one with the ancient teaching of the Greeks and Romans.\nThe supreme duty is not to the self, but to the organization of which\none is but a part--that is, to the family or to the state.  The great\nChinese moralists were statesmen, and their chief concern was, not the\nsalvation of the individual, but the peace and prosperity of the state.\nIn their view, the family was the unit, and the state a greater family.\nSo the conflict of duties, in their questions of casuistry, is never\nbetween individual and social duties, but between duties owed to family\nand to state.  Loyalty to the state and obedience to parents must be\nsupreme; but China and Japan differ as to the value of these two.\n\nAccording to original Confucianism, the first duty of men is obedience\nto parents; the second, loyalty to rulers; but in Japan the order of\nthese {111} duties has been changed, the second being given first place.\n\nThe people have learned well this teaching of Confucius.  Japan was\nprepared soil for its sowing.  The native religion taught that the\nemperor was a direct descendant of heaven, who ruled by divine right;\nthe provincial lords were his ministers, and hence loyalty was a plain\nduty.  The Confucian teaching only strengthened, deepened, and gave\nform and outline to a sentiment already existing.  This principle of\nloyalty thus became the foundation stone of Japanese ethics, and one's\nduty to one's lord paramount to all other duties.\n\nIn the olden times the people did not look beyond their own feudal\nlords and clans to the emperor and the nation.  They were to be\nfaithful unto death to these, but no further.  Now that loyalty once\nshown to the local princes and clans finds its apotheosis in the\nemperor and the empire.\n\nA man's duty to his friends, to his wife and children, and even to his\nparents, is counted as nothing in comparison with his duty to rulers\nand country.  There are many instances in Japanese history of men who,\nhaving slain their own parents, children, wives, for the sake of their\nprince, were praised.  At the time of the recent tidal wave in northern\nJapan, when the waters were rushing furiously into one home, a husband\nand {112} father turned a deaf ear to the cries of his drowning wife\nand children, permitting them to perish that he might save the\nemperor's picture; and he was applauded for the act.  A fire recently\ndemolished the beautiful new buildings of the middle school in Saga.\nThe library, laboratories, and scientific apparatus were mostly\ndestroyed, and many of the students lost their clothing and books.  The\nloss in buildings alone was some $20,000.  Yet the thing the loss of\nwhich they lamented most deeply was a photograph of the emperor which\ncould easily be replaced for a few yen.\n\nA characteristic story, showing the devotion with which the old samurai\ncarried out this principle of loyalty, is the tale of the forty-seven\nronins.  It is rather long to insert here, but as it illustrates so\nwell the power of this principle, I will relate it.\n\nIn the year 1701 the lord of Ako, Asano by name, visited Yedo to pay\nhis respects to the shogun.  While there the shogun appointed him to\nreceive and entertain an envoy from the mikado.  Now, the reception of\nan envoy from the imperial court was one of the greatest state\nceremonies of the day, and as Asano knew little of ceremonies and\netiquette, he asked the advice of another nobleman, named Kira, who was\nexpert in such matters.  This man, who seems to have {113} been of a\nvery mean disposition, grudgingly gave the information desired, and\nthen asked a fee for the same.  Asano refused to give the fee, and\nKira, becoming angry, twitted and jeered at him, calling him a country\nlout, unworthy the name of daimio.  Asano endured the insults patiently\nuntil Kira peremptorily ordered him to stoop down and fasten his\nfoot-gear for him,--a most menial service,--when he drew his sword and\ngave the offender a deep cut across the face.  This quarrel took place\nin the precincts of the palace, and instantly the whole court was in an\nuproar.  To degrade the sacred place was an insult punishable with\ndeath and the confiscation of all property; and Asano was condemned to\ntake his own life by hara-kiri that same evening, his estates were\nconfiscated, his family declared extinct, and his clan disbanded.\nHenceforth his retainers became ronins (\"wandering men\"), with no\ncountry and no lord.  According to the ethics of their country, it was\ntheir bounden duty to avenge the death of their lord, and we shall see\nhow relentlessly they followed their purpose until it was accomplished.\n\nThe senior retainer of the dead Asano, Oishu Kuranosuke, together with\nforty-six others of his most trusty fellow-lieges, took counsel as to\nhow they might avenge their lord.  They all were willing to lay down\ntheir lives in the attempt, but {114} even then the task was difficult,\nbecause of the vigilance of the government.  For such vengeance was\nrigidly prohibited by law, although as rigidly required by custom.\nNotwithstanding the fact that all who slew an enemy for vengeance were\npunished by death, not to take such vengeance never entered the mind of\nany chivalrous Japanese.  After much planning the forty-seven ronins\ndecided that to avoid the suspicions of the government it would be\nnecessary for them to separate and for the time conceal their purpose.\nSo they separated, settling in different cities, and taking up various\noccupations.  Many of them became carpenters, smiths, and merchants,\nand in these capacities gained access to Kira's house and learned all\nabout its interior arrangements.  The leader of this faithful band,\nOishu, went to Kyoto and plunged into a life of drunkenness and\ndebauchery.  He even put away his wife and children, and led the most\ndissolute life possible, simply to throw off the suspicions of the\nauthorities.  All of the ronins were closely watched by spies, who\nsecretly reported their conduct to Kira.  But by these devices they\nfinally lulled all suspicion, and the vigilance ceased.  Then the day\nlong waited for had come.  Suddenly, on the night of January 30, 1703,\ntwo years after the death of their lord, in the midst of a violent\nsnowstorm, these forty-seven faithful men attacked {115} Kira's castle,\nforced the gate, and slew all the retainers.  Kira, who was a coward at\nheart, concealed himself in an outhouse.  The ronins found him there,\ndrew him forth, and requested him to kill himself by hara-kiri, as was\nthe privilege of a man of his rank.  But he refused out of fear, and\nthe retainers of Asano were forced to kill him as they would have\nkilled a common coolie.  Thus did they accomplish their purpose and\nfulfil the high duty of loyalty to their dead lord, after two years of\nwaiting, most careful planning, and ceaseless vigilance.\n\nBy the time their purpose was accomplished day had dawned, and, in\nplain view of the whole city, this brave band marched in order to the\ntemple of Sengakuji, where Asano was buried.  The citizens showed them\nevery honor on the way.  A wealthy nobleman, as a reward for their\nloyal deed, sent them out costly refreshments.  When they arrived at\nthe temple the head abbot received them in person and showed them every\nhonor.  Finding the grave of their dead lord, they laid thereon the\nhead of the enemy by whom he had been so deeply wronged, and then felt\nthat their duty was done.  They were all sentenced to commit hara-kiri,\nwhich they did willingly.  Afterward they were buried together in the\nsame temple grounds with their lord, where their graves can be seen to\nthis day.\n\n{116}\n\nThese men simply obeyed the ethical code of their time and country, and\nas a reward for their loyalty they have received the enthusiastic\npraise of their countrymen for two centuries.  No other story is so\npopular to-day, or so stirs the hearts of the people, as this.  While\nwe, believing that vengeance belongs to the Lord, cannot indorse this\ndeed, we must admire the loyalty and faithfulness of those ronins, and\nthe perseverance with which they adhered to their purpose.  In this\ntrue story we see clearly the power of this first principle of Japanese\nmorality--loyalty.\n\nThe sister principle of loyalty in Confucian ethics is obedience to\nparents.  Unquestioning, absolute, implicit obedience is required of\nall children.  Formerly the child was considered the property of the\nparents, and could be disposed of at will, even to the taking of its\nlife.  To-day the father may sell his daughter to a life of shame, or\n\"lend\" her to a private individual for immoral purposes; and, however\nmuch she may dislike such a life, obedience to parents requires that\nshe acquiesce in his will, which she does uncomplainingly.\n\nThis principle of obedience is the foundation stone of Japanese family\nlife.  The relation between parents and children is stronger than that\nbetween man and wife, and is given a prior place.  An only son cannot\nbe forced to leave his mother {117} and become a soldier, but a husband\nmay be forced to leave his wife.  Within the family circle, the son's\nduty to his aged parents always precedes his duty to his wife.  Every\nJapanese feels deeply this obligation to his parents, and properly to\nsupport and nourish them in old age he holds to be a sacred duty.\nAmericans could learn much that would be profitable from the reverence\nand respect shown for parents and teachers by the Japanese.\n\nIn Japan, however, this principle is carried too far.  It continues\nafter death as binding as before, and divine honors are paid to dead\nancestors.  Periodical visits are made to their tombs, religious\ncandles are kept burning in their honor, and prayers are said to them.\nAmong the more enlightened to-day there is perhaps nothing in these\nceremonies but reverence and respect; yet by the masses of the people\nancestors are worshiped.\n\nThere are two moral maxims that show well the relative importance in\nwhich parents, relatives, and wives are held.  They are the following:\n\"Thy father and thy mother are like heaven and earth; thy teacher and\nthy lord are like the sun and the moon.\"  \"Other kinsfolk may be\nlikened to the rushes; husbands and wives are but as useless stones.\"\n\nIt is apparent that virtues have differing values in the Confucian and\nChristian systems.  We can {118} appreciate their point of view best,\nperhaps, as we remember the ethics of an army.  Here obedience,\nloyalty, self-devotion, courage, are supreme.  Much is forgiven if\nthese are manifested.  The organization is everything, and the\nindividual nothing, save as he is a fraction of the great machine.\nCarry that idea into the social community, and think of it as an army,\nwith all, women as well as men, of value only as parts of the greater\nwhole, and we shall understand why and how the Japanese may esteem men\nand women righteous whom we judge debased and even criminal.  So would\nthe Japanese judge them, were the motive mere passion or selfish\ndesire, but not when the controlling power is loyalty or obedience.\nThus the forty-seven ronin were pre-eminently \"righteous\" when they\ndebauched themselves with every swinish vice.\n\nOf course this view of morality puts great temptation in the way of\nparents and rulers.  Having supreme power, they may use it to the\ndegradation of those whom they control.  Confucius, it is true, taught\nparents and rulers that they too owed duties to the state, and that use\nof their Heaven-given powers for selfish ends was treason against the\nsupreme law; but, beyond doubt, the duty of submission, of loyalty and\nunquestioning obedience, was so exaggerated that evils many and great\nresulted.  At the same time {119} a sympathetic view leads one to\nwonder the rather that the ethical results are so wholesome.\n\nTurning from this general view, one finds in particulars much the same\nconditions as in other lands.  For example, immense quantities of\nalcoholic stimulants are consumed annually.  There is a native liquor\ncalled \"sake,\" made from rice, that is very popular and, in some of its\nforms, very intoxicating.  Its manufacture and sale is one of the most\nlucrative businesses in the empire.  Foreign whiskies, wines, and beers\nare sold in large quantities, but they are so costly as to be beyond\nthe reach of all but the wealthy.  Outside of the small circle of\nChristians, there are few people who do not drink.  The total abstainer\nis a rarity.  But, while nearly every one drinks, in general the\nJapanese do not drink to such excess as other nations.  One seldom sees\nsuch beastly drunkenness as is often seen in the West.  Drinking is\ntaken as a matter of course, and society does not condemn it.  The\nusual way in which Japanese men pass a dull day is in feasting and\ndrinking.  The use of alcoholic stimulants is much more common here\nthan at home.\n\nIn business and commercial morality there is much to be desired.  The\nmerchants do not sell according to the worth of an article, but\naccording to what they can make the purchaser pay.  They are great\nbargainers.  Recently I wanted to buy {120} two large wall-pictures.\nThe dealer asked me $21 for them, but finally sold them for $5.  It is\na very common thing to buy articles for less than half the price first\nasked.  In matters of veracity and in the fulfilment of contracts\nJapanese merchants are not generally to be trusted.  The average man is\nfamous for lying, and the merchants and tradesmen seem to have acquired\nan extra share of this general characteristic.  A Japanese trader will\ndo all in his power to avoid the fulfilment of a contract if it entails\na loss.  This lack of commercial honor is recognized by the foreign\nfirms doing business here, and it has hindered not a little the growth\nand development of trade.\n\nThe moral sense of the people in regard to taking one's own life is\nvery different from that of Christendom.  From ancient times, suicide\nhas been thought to be a praiseworthy act, and has been extensively\npractised.  Formerly it was encouraged, and sometimes required, by the\ngovernment; but now it has no official sanction whatever.  Still, the\ncustom exists, and some authorities place the annual number of suicides\nas high as 10,000.  The people laugh at our Western idea that it is\nwrong to take one's own life.  On the contrary, they hold that when\nmisfortunes and calamities make this life unattractive it is the part\nof wisdom to end it.  Even the feelings of young Japanese, {121} who\nhave been educated somewhat into our own way of thinking, do not seem\nto have changed on this point; they still adhere to the old Roman view\nthat self-destruction is permissible and often meritorious.  The\nWestern fiction that all suicides are the result of some form of\ninsanity is not countenanced here.  The various causes leading to\nself-destruction are coolly and carefully tabulated, and very few are\nattributed to insanity.  Contrariwise, long and careful study of the\nsubject has shown that self-destruction is gone about with as much\ncoolness, precision, and judgment as any act of daily life.\n\nThe above are in brief the leading moral ideas and principles that\ngovern the Japanese people.  For their loyalty and obedience we have\nonly admiration.  But both of these principles are given an undue\nimportance and are carried to extremes.  The chief defect of Japanese\nmorality is the minor place it gives to the individual.  The moral need\nof the nation is a Christian morality--not just the morality of the\nWest, but a morality founded on the ethical principles inculcated in\nthe Bible.  This would exalt truth and chastity, would soften and\ntemper the great duties of loyalty and obedience, and would make of\nJapan an honest, temperate nation.\n\n\n\n\n{122}\n\nVII\n\nRELIGIONS OF JAPAN\n\nThe Japanese are by nature a religious people.  In the earliest times a\nconglomerate mass of superstitions and mythological ideas was made to\ndo service as a religion.  Fetishism, phallicism, animism, and tree-\nand serpent-worship were very common.  The line of distinction between\nthe Creator and the creature was not clearly marked; gods and men\nmingled and intermingled, and were hardly known apart.  But it is not\nour purpose here to trace the ancient religious ideas of Japan, but\nrather to give a short account of contemporary religions.  Therefore we\ncannot dwell on these unwritten mythological-religious systems.\n\nThe religions of contemporary Japan are four--Shinto, Buddhism,\nConfucianism, and Tenrikyo.  Shinto and Tenrikyo are indigenous;\nBuddhism and Confucianism have been imported from China and Korea.\nTenrikyo is of recent origin and has {123} not yet the influence and\nstanding of the others.  Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism have\nexisted here side by side for centuries.  There is no great antagonism\nbetween them, as there is between Christianity and the ethnic\nreligions.  Many of the people are disciples of all three at the same\ntime, taking their theology from Shinto, their soteriology and\neschatology from Buddhism, and their moral and economic ideas from\nConfucianism.  No inconsistency is felt in thus believing all three\nreligions and worshiping at their shrines.  Indeed, these three faiths\nhave so commingled, the ideas and practices of one have so filtered\ninto the others, that it is hard now to distinguish the pure teachings\nof each.  In the minds of the masses they are not distinguished in\ndetail.  And yet as regards origin, history, and teachings they are\nseparate and distinct faiths.\n\n\n\n_Shinto_\n\nShinto may be called the national cult of Japan.  The word \"Shinto\"\nmeans \"the way of the gods.\"  This system hardly deserves the name\nreligion.  It has no moral code, no dogmas, no sacred books.\nOriginally it consisted chiefly of ancestor- and nature-worship, and of\ncertain mythological ideas.  A chief feature of it still is the worship\nof ancestors, who are exalted to a high pedestal in thought {124} and\nworshiped as gods.  The divine origin of the imperial family, and the\nobligation to worship and obey it, was a prominent teaching of Shinto.\nThe ancestors of the imperial family were to be held in supreme\nreverence and were the objects of especial worship.\n\nAccording to the Shinto of this period, there was neither heaven nor\nhell, but only an intermediate Hades.  There was a sort of priesthood,\nbut its duty was to watch over particular local gods, not to preach to\nthe people.  Pure Shinto taught that a man's whole duty lay in absolute\nobedience to the mikado and in following the natural promptings of his\nown heart.\n\nShinto was very much affected by the introduction of Buddhism, about\nthe middle of the sixth century, and its further growth was checked.\nBuddhism adopted and largely absorbed it.  Shinto gods were given a\nplace in the Buddhist pantheon, and many of the Shinto ceremonies were\nadopted.  But Shinto was completely overshadowed by Buddhism, and lay\nin a dormant state from the year 550 to 1700, a night of more than a\nthousand years.\n\n[Illustration: A Shinto Temple.]\n\nSince the beginning of the eighteenth century a revival of Shinto has\nsprung up.  Native scholars tried to call up the past, to find out what\npure Shinto was before its corruption by Buddhism, and to teach it as\nthe national faith.  In this effort {125} they were partially\nsuccessful.  The old Buddhistic accretions were largely thrown off, and\nmany of the temples, stripped of their Buddhist ornaments, were handed\nover to the Shinto priests.  Buddhism was disestablished, and Shinto\nagain became the religion of the state.  A Shinto \"Council for\nSpiritual Affairs\" was appointed, which had equal rank with the Council\nof State.  This, however, was reduced gradually to the rank of a\ndepartment, then to a bureau, later to a sub-bureau.  At present Shinto\nis the state religion, in so far as there can be said to be any state\nreligion; but in reality there is no established religion.  The\nconnection of the government with Shinto extends no further than the\nmaintenance of certain temples and the attendance of certain officials\non some ceremonies.  Shinto enjoys a large amount of popularity because\nit is indigenous, while Buddhism and Confucianism labor under the\ndisadvantage of being of foreign origin.  The majority of the upper\nclasses in Japan who to-day have any religion at all are Shintoists.\n\n\n\n_Buddhism_\n\nThe religion founded by Buddha in India is six centuries older than\nChristianity.  Its nominal adherents comprise almost one third of the\nhuman race.  Its philosophical precepts are deep {126} and profound,\nwhile its ethical teachings are, for the most part, lofty and\nennobling.  This religion is worthy the careful study of any man who\nhas the time and inclination.\n\nWe cannot attempt to give a full exposition of it, but will have to\ncontent ourselves with a bare mention of its more prominent teachings.\nCertain resemblances to Catholicism in ritual, ceremony, and\nornamentation strike one very forcibly in observing Buddhist rites.\nThe candles, the incense, the images and processions, all resemble\nRome.  But this resemblance extends no further than ritual and\nceremony.  In point of doctrine Buddhism is widely separated from every\nform of Christianity.  In Buddhism the condition on which grace is\nreceived is not faith, but knowledge and enlightenment.  Salvation is\naccomplished, not by the vicarious sufferings of a Redeemer, but by\nself-perfection through self-denial and discipline.\n\nDr. Griffis, a man who has written much and well on Japan, has\npronounced the principal features of Buddhism to be atheism,\nmetempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, and absence of caste.\n\n[Illustration: A Buddhist Priest.]\n\nBuddhism knows nothing of the existence of a supreme God who created\nthe world.  It inherited ideas of certain gods from Brahmanism, but\nthese are made secondary to the _hotoke_, or buddhas, {127} who are\nsimply men who have finally reached the calm of perfect holiness after\ntoiling through endless ages and countless existences.  It teaches that\nexistence itself is the chief of all evils.  Instead of longing for\neternal life, the Buddhist longs for annihilation.  Happy, well-fed\nWestern people, to whom existence is a delight, can hardly understand\nhow any one can really desire its cessation.  But the life of the lower\nclasses in many countries of the East is one daily struggle for bread,\nso full of sorrow and misery that it is not unnatural they should\ndesire to end it.\n\nThis religion teaches that the evil of existence springs from the\ndouble root of ignorance and human passions, and is to be overcome by\nknowledge and self-discipline.  The heaven it offers is absorption in\nthe Nirvana--the loss of personal identity and practical annihilation.\n\nBuddhism numbers more devotees and exerts a greater influence than any\nof the other religions of Japan.  It was received from Korea about the\nmiddle of the sixth century.  After it had been transplanted and had\ngrown into popular favor, many Japanese were sent to Korea and China to\nstudy its doctrines more fully; and they brought back with them not\nonly Buddhism, but also Chinese literature and civilization.  At first\nBuddhism encountered fierce opposition, but it was fortunate in\nsecuring court patronage, and {128} very soon the opposition entirely\nceased, so that in two or three centuries it spread itself throughout\nthe whole empire.  If ever a nation was ripe for the introduction of a\nforeign religion, that nation was Japan at that time.  The national\ncult was silent, or almost so, in regard to the destiny of man and many\nother questions which religion is expected to answer.  The religious\nnature of the people was asserting itself, and they were longing for\nmore light on the great questions of life--its _whence_, _why_, and\n_whither_.  Buddhism gave this light, and therefore was warmly\nwelcomed.  It had the whole field to itself, and took complete\npossession of it.\n\n[Illustration: A Buddhist Cemetery.]\n\nFrom the time of its introduction into Japan down to the present,\nBuddhism has enjoyed a wide popularity and exerted a powerful\ninfluence.  It is not too much to say that Buddhism has largely formed\nJapanese civilization and national life.  In the words of Professor\nChamberlain, \"All education was for centuries in Buddhist hands.\nBuddhism introduced art and medicine, molded the folk-lore of the\ncountry, created its dramatic poetry, deeply influenced politics and\nevery sphere of social and intellectual activity.  In a word, Buddhism\nwas the teacher under whose instruction the Japanese nation grew up.\"\n\nBuddhism has by no means lost its hold in Japan.  It still has great\nlife and power.  Some {129} writers have said that they have never seen\na new temple in Japan--only old ones falling into decay.  Their\nexperience must have been limited.  I see plenty of new temples, some\nof which are very costly.\n\nBuddhist temples are numerous, and many are of imposing architecture.\nBeing generally surrounded by tall trees, they have a lonely, mournful\nappearance.  Hideous beasts, dragons, and serpents are carved upon\nthem, and large, fierce-looking stone lions guard them, the effect\nbeing to awe and terrify the beholder.  Some are furnished with\ngorgeous altars covered with beautiful flowers, images, and statues.\nBesides the temples there are everywhere little shrines.  The religious\nspirit of the people prompts them to dedicate the most beautiful spots\nand nooks to the gods, and there to erect shrines and idols.\n\nBuddhist priests dress in robes not very unlike the official robes of\nthe Episcopal clergy.  Their heads are always close-shaven, a mark by\nwhich they are easily distinguished.  Forbidden to marry, they are\nexpected to lead lives of purity and chastity.  They have greatly\ndegenerated, a large per cent. being illiterate and immoral.  Their\nlives will not bear comparison with those of the Christian evangelists.\nThat nearly all the cemeteries of Japan are in their hands gives them\ngreat influence.\n\n{130}\n\nJapanese Buddhism is divided into numerous sects, chief of which are\nthe Tendai, Shingon, Jodo, and Zen, of Chinese origin, and the Shin and\nNichiren, of native origin.  The latter two are most prosperous.\n\nBuddhism has profited by its contact with Christianity.  As the\nreaction of Protestantism upon Catholicism was beneficial to the\nlatter, so the reaction of Christianity upon Buddhism has been\nhealthful It has forced a revival and purification of the Buddhist\nfaith, and to-day it is better and more active than before it\nencountered Christianity.  Still, Christianity is gradually encroaching\nupon its domain and is crippling its influence.  That Buddhism is bound\nto perish in its encounter with Western civilization and Christianity\nseems a foregone conclusion.\n\n\n\n_Confucianism_\n\nConfucianism is even less deserving the name of a religion than Shinto.\nIt consists chiefly in a set of moral teachings, of narrow application\nand mostly of a political nature.  Confucius, avoiding all metaphysical\nabstractions and devotional rhapsodies, confined himself to the much\nmore practical field of morals and politics.  But his disciples and\ncommentators, especially during the middle ages, expanded his doctrines\nand added ideas {131} more or less religious.  Thus developed, it\nbecame a sort of religious system, the only one believed by the old\nsamurai or warrior classes.\n\nConfucius, its founder, was born in the year 551 B.C., in the state of\nLu, province of Shantung, China.  He was an earnest student of the\nolder Chinese classics, and one of the most learned men of his time.\nHe gathered round him a circle of young men, whom he instructed, like\nSocrates, by questions and answers.  He died in 478 B.C.  No other\nhuman teacher has had more disciples or exerted a wider and stronger\ninfluence.\n\nFrom its birthplace in China Confucianism spread to Korea, where it\nsoon became, and still continues to be, the predominant faith.  From\nKorea it advanced to the Japanese archipelago, where for many hundred\nyears it has had much to do with shaping and molding the character of\nthe people.  Confucianism has undergone many modifications.  At first a\ncomparatively simple system of ethics and politics, it has expanded\nuntil to-day it is a complicated philosophico-religious system.\n\nThe basal principles of Confucian ethics are the \"five relations.\"\nThese are: sovereign and minister; father and son; husband and wife;\nelder brother and younger brother; friend and friend.  I have named\nthem in the order of their importance.  The duty of loyalty is above\nthat of filial {132} obedience, while the relation of husband and wife\nis inferior to both of these.  We will briefly consider each of these\nrelations separately.\n\nThe duty of a minister, or servant, to his prince, or sovereign, is the\nfirst duty of man, and is emphasized to an extreme degree.  In order to\ndischarge this obligation to the feudal lord or emperor, one must, if\nnecessary, give up everything: house, lands, kinsmen, name, fame, wife,\nchildren, society--all.  And Japanese history is filled with instances\nof retainers who have counted their lives, their families, their all,\nas less than nothing when compared with their duty to their lord.\nLoyalty is the one idea which dominates all others in the Confucianism\nof Japan.  Thus it has exerted an influence hardly second to Shinto in\ninculcating loyalty to the emperor and to Japan, and making the people\nfanatically patriotic.\n\nThe second relation is that of father and son, or parent and child.  My\nreaders perhaps would consider the relation of husband and wife the\nfirst of all human relations, but not so the Oriental.  With him the\nfamily is of far more importance than the individual, and the chief aim\nof marriage is the maintenance of the family line.  If the wife becomes\na mother she is honored because she assists in perpetuating the family\nline; if she is childless she is probably neglected.  Where there are\nno children adoption is the universal practice.  {133} The one adopted\ntakes the family name and perpetuates it.  No greater misfortune can be\nconceived than for the house to become extinct.\n\nThe relation of parent and child is very different from that to which\nwe are accustomed.  Mutual love hardly exists.  The parent feels\ncompassion and love for his child; the child reverences the parent.  To\nspeak of a child's love for his father, or a man's love for God, is\nrepugnant to the Confucianist.  It is thought to be taking an undue\nfamiliarity, and the proper relation is considered one of dependence\nand reverence.  In old Japan the father was absolute lord and master,\nand had power over the life and death of his child.  In recent times\nhis power is more limited, and the idea is beginning to dawn upon\nthinking natives that children have rights as well as duties.  A\nJapanese child feels more reverence for its parents, or at least for\nits father, than does the average child reared in the Christian homes\nof the West.\n\nThe third relation is that of husband and wife.  On this point the\nteaching of Confucius is very different from that of Christ.  Instead\nof having two parties bound together by mutual love, with equal rights\nand duties, we have the relation of superior and inferior, of master\nand servant.  The husband precedes the wife in all things.  She must\nserve him and his family zealously and {134} uncomplainingly.  She must\nbe especially on her guard against the foolish sin of jealousy, and is\nnot to complain if her husband introduces a concubine into the same\nhouse in which she resides.  She is to yield absolute obedience to him\nin all things.  She can be divorced for very slight reasons, and\ndivorces are matters of every-day occurrence.  Statistics show that the\nannual number of divorces is about one third the number of marriages.\nSentiment is gradually changing in this regard, and marriage and\ndivorce laws are becoming more strict.\n\nConfucius condemned adultery as a heinous crime, but this teaching is\nmade to apply only to the wife.  She must remain true to her husband,\nbut he is not considered under the same obligation to her.\n\nThe fourth relation is that of elder brother and younger brother.  This\nis evident from the language used to express the relation of children\nof the same household to one another.  The word for brother or sister\nis seldom used; in fact, there is no word to express just that idea.\nIn its stead we hear \"elder brother,\" \"elder sister,\" and \"younger\nbrother,\" \"younger sister.\"  The children of a household are not\nconsidered equals; the elder ones are given the preference in all\nthings.  Especially does the eldest son hold a position of prominence\nfar above that of the other children.  {135} He is looked upon as the\nperpetuator of the family line and is given especial honor.  His\nyounger brothers and his sisters, and even his mother, must serve and\nobey him.\n\nThe younger sons are subjects for adoption into other families,\nespecially into those where there are daughters to be married and\nfamily names to be perpetuated.  This is in accordance with the Eastern\nidea that the house is of more importance than the individual.\nConfucian ethics largely overlooks the idea of personality.\n\nThe fifth relation is that between friends.  Some writers have spoken\nof this as that of man to man, and have thus read Christian ideas into\nConfucianism; but this relation as taught by Confucius is only between\nfriends.  As regards man and man, Confucius taught the duties of\ncourtesy and propriety, but no others.  He taught the duty of kindness\nto strangers, but most students of his writings are of the opinion that\nhe did not include foreigners among strangers.  The nearest approach to\nChristianity in Confucianism is the negative of the golden rule, \"Do\nnot do unto others as you would not have others do unto you.\"  This\napproaches the teaching of Christ very nearly, but only in a negative\nform.  Some have thought that Confucius taught the duty of returning\ngood for evil, but this is a mistake.  One of his contemporaries,\nLao-tse, did teach {136} this duty; but when Confucius was asked about\nit he replied, \"What, then, will you return for good?  Recompense\n_injury with justice_, and return good for good.\"\n\nCertain it is that this relation, as understood in Japan, does not\napply to foreigners.  How the Japanese treated foreigners in former\ntimes is well known.  Foreign sailors shipwrecked on her coasts were\ntortured and executed.  Ships from abroad, bringing shipwrecked\nJapanese back to their own country, were met with powder and ball and\nrepulsed.  Commodore Perry, in attempting to establish a treaty with\nJapan, justly complained to the native authorities that the dictates of\nhumanity had not been followed, that shipwrecked men were treated with\nuseless cruelty, and that Japan's attitude toward her neighbors and all\nthe world was that of an enemy and not of a friend.  The fifth relation\ndid not teach a common brotherhood of men and obligations of kindness\nto foreigners.  It applied only to the charmed circle of friendship.\n\nOn these five relations rests the whole Japanese social and moral\nstructure.  Family and national life has been shaped and molded by\nthem.  They are the ten commandments of the East.  How very different\nfrom the principles which have determined our own family and social\nlife!\n\nConfucianism in Japan has been developed into {137} a highly\ncomplicated religious system, and in this form is believed by large\nnumbers of high-class, educated Japanese.  It is wholly pantheistic in\nits teaching, having points of resemblance with German pantheism.  It\nknows no such thing as God as a separate existence.  Rather, all is\nGod.  Dr. Martin, of China, has well styled it \"a pantheistic medley.\"\n\nAlthough Confucianism has long had a strong hold upon Japanese minds,\nits influence is waning.  The ancient classics are little studied, and\nthe younger generation knows almost nothing of them.  The great temple\nof Confucius in Tokyo, the Seido, has been changed into an educational\nmuseum.\n\n\n\n_Tenrikyo_\n\nPerhaps some will think that Tenrikyo does not deserve mention along\nwith the before-named great religions.  Certainly it is not worthy of\nthe respect accorded to them, and has not exerted such an influence as\nthey have.  It is of very recent origin and is as yet confined to the\nlower strata of society.  But its disciples constitute one of the most\nvigorous and active religious bodies in Japan to-day.  Its growth has\nbeen remarkably rapid, especially during the past five years.\nGovernment recognition has been already gained, and it is gradually\nmaking a place for itself among {138} the religions of Japan.  Some\nauthorities place the number of its adherents as high as 5,000,000, but\nthese figures are probably too high.\n\nTenrikyo is a missionary religion, having very earnest representatives\nin almost every district in Japan.  These men rely almost exclusively\nupon preaching for the propagation of their doctrines, and their\nefforts are generally successful.\n\nSpace permits us to say only a few words in regard to the origin of\nthis religion.  Its founder was a peasant woman named Nakayama Miiki,\npopularly called Omiiki, who was born of a very poor family in the\nprovince of Yamato in 1798, There was nothing remarkable about her life\nuntil her fortieth year, when she fell into a trance.  While in this\nstate one of the old Shinto deities, Kuni-Toko-Tachi No Mikoto,\nappeared to her, and, after causing her much distress, left her for a\nshort time undisturbed.  After this brief interval of quiet she again\nfell into a trance, and was visited by a large number of gods, some of\nthem the greatest of the Shinto pantheon.  These gods revealed to her\nthe substance of her teaching, representing it as the only true\ndoctrine and the one which would ultimately triumph over all others.\nThey also informed her that she was the divinely appointed instrument\nthrough whom this revelation was to be given to the world.  From {139}\nthis time forward Omiiki devoted herself to the propagation of this\nrevelation.\n\nNot wishing to break entirely with the old religions, she represented\nher revelation as having been received from the Shinto gods, and gave a\nplace in her teaching to some prominent Buddhist elements.  By this\nmeans she won popular favor and gained an earnest hearing.\n\nThe term \"Tenrikyo\" signifies the \"Doctrine of the Heavenly Reason.\"\nWhile many of its teachings differ but little from current Shinto and\nBuddhistic ideas, its more prominent tenets are radically different.\n\nIn the first place, Tenrikyo tends much toward monotheism.  Omiiki\nherself accepted polytheism, but taught that man's real allegiance is\ndue to the sun and the moon.  These she regarded as the real gods; but\nas they always work together, and as the world and all things therein\nare the product of their joint working, they are practically one.\nSince her death the teaching has become more and more monotheistic in\ntendency, and some of its preachers teach explicit monotheism.\n\nOmiiki taught a new relation between the gods and men--a relation of\nparents to children.  The gods watch over and love their children just\nas earthly parents do.  The emperor is the elder brother of the people,\nwho rules as the representative of the divine parents.\n\n{140}\n\nFaith-healing formed a prominent part in the original teaching of\nTenrikyo.  It asserted that neither physicians nor medicine was needed,\nbut that cures are to be effected through faith alone.  Marvelous\nstories are told of the wonderful cures it has accomplished, many of\nwhich seem well authenticated.  But while there seems no good reason\nfor doubting the genuineness of some of these cures, the power of mind\nover mind, and the influence of personal magnetism in certain kinds of\nnervous disorders, are so well known that they can be easily explained\nwithout any reference to the supernatural.  The faith-cure feature of\nthis religion is now falling into disuse.\n\nTenrikyo makes very little of the future state, although Omiiki assumed\nits reality.  In one passage she refers to the soul as an emanation\nfrom the gods, and says that after death it will go back to them.  She\nteaches that the cause of suffering, disease, and sin is found in the\nimpurity of the human heart, and that the heart must be cleansed before\nbelievers can receive the divine favor.  She insists over and over\nagain that no prayers nor religious services are of any avail so long\nas the heart is impure.\n\nThe aim of Omiiki and her followers seems to be a worthy one.  The\nmovement is highly ethical, and there is little doubt but that the\nadherents of the Tenrikyo are superior in morals to {141} the rest of\ntheir class.  Some features of this new religion are, however, looked\nupon with suspicion, and it is being closely watched by the government.\nCharges of gross immorality have been preferred against it, especially\nin reference to the midnight dances, in which both sexes are said to\nparticipate indiscriminately; but these charges are made by its enemies\nand have never been proved.\n\nIn many respects Tenrikyo materially differs from the other religions\nof Japan.  Its adherents assemble at stated times for worship and\ninstruction, while the Buddhists assemble in the temples for worship\nand preaching only three or four times a year, and the Shintoists\nseldom, if ever, assemble.  The worship of Tenrikyo, for the most part,\nconsists of praise and thanksgiving by music and dancing; but prayer is\nalso practised.\n\nAnother distinguishing characteristic of Tenrikyo is that it is\nexclusive.  The other religions of Japan are very tolerant of one\nanother; one may believe them all.  But Tenrikyo will not tolerate\neither Buddhism or Shinto.  Its adherents must give their allegiance to\nit alone.\n\nIt is interesting to conjecture as to the influence Christianity has\nhad upon Tenrikyo.  It does not seem probable that Omiiki was at all\ninfluenced by it, unless the traditions of the Catholic Christianity of\nsome two or three hundred years previous reached her in some way.  But\nthe expansion {142} and development of the system by its later teachers\nhave been very much affected by Christianity.  Some of its present\npreachers, in constructing their sermons, borrow largely from Christian\nsources.  In the minds of the common people Tenrikyo is generally\nassociated with Christianity.\n\n\nThere are several other small religious sects in Japan, such as the\nRemmon Kyokwai, Kurozumi Kyokwai, etc., but they are not of sufficient\nimportance to command notice here.\n\nAny statement of the religions of contemporary Japan would be\nincomplete without notice of Christianity, but that will be reserved\nfor another portion of this book.\n\nThe three great religions, Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism, are\ncompletely woven into the warp and woof of Japanese society.  As\nChristianity has shaped the political, social, and family life of the\nWest, so these ancient faiths have that of the East.  The laws, the\nmorality, the manners and customs of these peoples all have been\ndetermined by their religions.  And to-day the masses of the people\nlook to them for principles to guide their present life, and for their\nfuture spiritual welfare, with just as much confidence and trust as my\nreaders look to Christianity.  The missionary, in his work, must\nencounter and {143} vanquish all of these religions, which is no light\ntask.  They all have elements of superstition, and their origin and\nsupernatural teachings will not bear the search-light of the growing\nspirit of criticism and investigation.  Each one of them is even now\nmodifying gradually its doctrines in some features, so as to bring them\ninto harmony with true learning and science; and as the nation\nprogresses intellectually the hold of these ancient faiths upon the\ncommon mind will become more and more precarious.  We expect to see\nthem gradually retreating, though stubbornly resisting every inch of\nground, until they shall finally leave the field to their younger and\nmore vigorous antagonists, Christianity and civilization.\n\n\n\n\n{144}\n\nVIII\n\nFIRST INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY\n\nOne of the most interesting chapters of Japanese history is that\nrelating to the introduction and growth of Catholic Christianity in the\nsixteenth century.  This story has been eloquently told in nearly all\nEuropean languages, and is familiar to the reading public.  The\nterrible persecutions then enacted are vividly represented in paintings\nand other works of art on exhibition in art galleries of Europe and\nAmerica.  This chapter is not written with the hope of saying anything\nnew upon the subject, but because a story of mission work in Japan\nwould be incomplete without it; and it may be that some for the first\ntime will here read this story.\n\nIn order rightly to appreciate the introduction and spread of\nChristianity in Japan, it is necessary that we take a bird's-eye view\nof the internal condition of the country about the middle of the {145}\nsixteenth century.  The Japanese were not then, as now, a homogeneous\npeople with a strong central government.  The emperor, although the\nnominal ruler, was in reality the creature of the shogun, who was the\nreal ruler.  His title to the shogunate was frequently disputed,\nhowever, and rival claimants waged fierce war upon him.  The whole of\nJapan was divided into warring factions that were hardly ever at peace\nwith one another.  The feudal lords of the various provinces were only\nbound to the central government by the weakest ties, and were\ncontinually in a state of rebellion.  Many of these daimios were great\nand powerful, able to wage war with the shogun himself.  Jealousy and\nrivalry between the provinces kept up constant quarrels and divisions.\nBad government, internal wars, the disputes and quarrels of different\nclans, and the ambitions and jealousies of their rulers had destroyed\nthe resources of the country and had devastated her rich and beautiful\ncities.  Even the fine old capital of Kyoto is represented as at that\ntime in a state of dilapidation and ruin, its streets filled with\nunburied corpses and all kinds of debris and filth.  Kamakura, the seat\nof the shogun's government, once boasting 1,000,000 inhabitants, was in\nashes.\n\nIn those dark times there was little in the prevalent religions to\ncheer and uplift discouraged {146} men.  Shinto was so completely\novershadowed by Buddhism that it was little more than a myth.  Buddhism\nhad become a political system, and paid little attention to purely\nreligious matters.  The priests had degenerated into an army of\nmercenaries, living in luxury and dissoluteness.  The common people\nwere in a continual state of excitement and ferment.\n\nInto this disordered, chaotic society Catholic Christianity was first\nintroduced.  The conditions were favorable to its reception.\n\nSt. Francis Xavier, one of the most devoted, earnest, and successful\nmissionaries ever sent out by the Roman Church, has the honor of having\nbeen the first missionary to Japan.  He was led to go there in the\nfollowing manner: A refugee from Japan, named Anjiro, had wandered to\nMalacca, and there he met Xavier, who was at that time engaged in\npreaching the gospel in India and the Sunda Islands.  Through Xavier's\ninfluence Anjiro was converted to Christianity.  The stories which he\ntold of his own people fired the great evangelist with the desire to\npreach the gospel to the Japanese.  A few years prior to this some\nPortuguese traders had made their way to Japan, had been warmly\nreceived, and had begun a lucrative trade.  Some of the daimios\nexpressed to them a desire to have the Christian religion taught to\ntheir people; and Xavier no {147} sooner heard of this than he set out\nfor Japan, accompanied by the native convert Anjiro.\n\nThey landed at Kagoshima, a large city on the coast of the southern\nisland of Kyushu, August 15, 1549.  The prince of Satsuma gave Xavier a\nhearty welcome, but afterward became jealous because one of the rival\nclans had been furnished with firearms by the Portuguese merchants, so\nthat Xavier was compelled to remove to Hirado.  From there he went to\nNagato, thence to Bungo, where he again met a warm reception.  Although\nso great a missionary, and having labored in so many countries, Xavier\nis said never to have mastered completely a single foreign tongue.  He\nstudied the rudiments of Japanese, but, finding that way much too slow,\nbegan preaching through an interpreter, with marked success and power.\nAnjiro had translated the Gospel of Matthew, writing it in Roman\nletters, and Xavier is said to have read this to the people with\nwonderful effect.  He stayed only two and a half years in Japan; yet in\nthat short time he organized several congregations in the neighborhood\nof Yamaguchi and Hirado, and visited and preached in the old capital\nKyoto.  He then left the work in the hands of other missionaries, while\nhe undertook the spiritual conquest of China.  This ancient empire,\nwith her hard, conservative civilization, impervious to foreign\ninfluence, lay like a burden {148} on his heart.  Contemplating her\nlearning, her pride, and her exclusiveness, he uttered the despairing\ncry, \"O mountain, mountain, when wilt thou open to my Lord?\"  He died\nDecember 2, 1551, on an island in the Canton River.\n\nThe inspiring example of Xavier attracted scores of missionaries to\nJapan, and also incited the native converts to constitute themselves\nmissionaries to their kinsmen and friends; and their labors bore much\nfruit.  In a very short time, in the region of Kyoto alone, there were\nseven strong churches; and the island of Amakusa, the greater part of\nthe Goto Islands, and the daimiates of Omura and Yamaguchi had become\nChristian.  In 1581 the churches had grown to two hundred, and the\nnumber of Christians to 150,000.  The converts were drawn from all\nclasses of the people; Buddhist priests, scholars, and noblemen\nembraced the new faith with as much readiness as did the lower classes.\nTwo daimios had accepted it, and were doing all in their power to aid\nthe missionaries in their provinces.  At this period the missionaries\nand Christians found a powerful supporter in Nobunaga, the minister of\nthe mikado.  This man openly welcomed the foreign priests, and gave\nthem suitable grounds on which to build their churches, schools, and\ndwellings; and under his patronage the new {149} religion grew apace.\nCatholic Christianity took its deepest root in the southern provinces,\nflourishing especially in Bungo, Omura, and Arima; but there were\nchurches as far north as Yedo, and evangelists had carried the tidings\nof Christ and the \"Mother of God\" even to the northern boundaries of\nthe empire.  This was the high tide of Japanese Catholicism.\n\nThe native Christians were so earnest and loyal to the church that, in\n1583, they sent an embassy of four young noblemen to Rome to pay their\nrespects to the pope and to declare themselves his spiritual vassals.\nThey were suspected by some of their countrymen of desiring to become\nhis vassals in another sense as well.  This embassy was received with\nthe greatest honors by the pope, as well as by the European princes,\nand was sent away heavily laden with presents.  After an absence of\neight years it returned to Nagasaki, accompanied by seventeen more\nJesuit fathers.  Up to this time all of the priests laboring in Japan\nwere members of this order.  From time to time other embassies were\ndespatched from Japan to Rome, one of which was sent many years after\nthe persecutions had begun.  Catholic histories put the number of\nnative Christians at this time at about 600,000, but native authorities\nput it much higher.\n\n\n\n{150}\n\n_Persecutions_\n\nSuch was the happy state of Christianity in this empire as the\nsixteenth century was drawing to a close.  But, thick and fast, clouds\nwere gathering over the horizon, and suddenly and furiously the storm\nbroke.  The loss of their protector, Nobunaga, was the beginning of the\nmisfortunes of the Christians.  This great man was slain by an\nassassin, Akechi by name, who attempted to take the reins of government\ninto his own hands.  Hideyoshi, one of the greatest men Japan ever\nproduced, now came upon the stage.  He was the loyal general of the\nmikado, and, by the help of the Christian general Takayama, he\noverthrew the usurper Akechi, and became the molder of the destinies of\nthe empire.  He was the unifier of Japan.\n\nHideyoshi was at first tolerant of Christianity; but his suspicions\nwere by and by aroused, and he became a cruel and relentless\npersecutor.  According to Dr. Griffis, his umbrage arose partly because\na Portuguese captain would not please him by risking his ship in coming\nout of deep water and nearer land, and partly because some Christian\nmaidens of Arima scorned his degrading proposals.  The quarrels of the\nChristians themselves also helped to bring on the persecutions.  {151}\nFranciscan and Dominican missionaries from Spain had recently landed in\nJapan, and they were continually at strife with the Portuguese Jesuits.\nThe jealousy and indiscretion of these unfriendly religious orders, and\nthe slanders circulated by the Buddhists, stirred up the popular fury,\nand a persecution of fire and blood broke out.  Hideyoshi issued an\nedict commanding the Jesuits to leave the country in twenty days; but\nthis edict was winked at, and the persecutions were carried on only\nlocally and spasmodically.  The converts increased faster during these\npersecutions than before, about 10,000 being added each year.\n\nIn open violation of the edict, four Franciscan priests came to Kyoto\nin 1593 with a Spanish envoy.  They were allowed to build houses and\nreside there on the express condition that they were not to preach or\nteach, either publicly or privately.  Immediately violating their\npledge, they began preaching openly in the streets, wearing the\nvestments of their order.  They excited a great deal of discord among\nthe Jesuit congregations and used most violent language.  Hideyoshi was\nangered at this,--as he had good reason to be,--and caused nine\npreachers to be seized while they were building chapels in Osaka and\nKyoto, and condemned to death.  These, together with three Portuguese\nJesuits, six Spanish {152} Franciscans, and seventeen native\nChristians, were crucified on bamboo crosses in Nagasaki, February 5,\n1597.  They were put to death, not as Christians, but as law-breakers\nand political conspirators.\n\nHideyoshi was further confirmed in his opinion that these foreign\npriests had political designs by the remark of a Spanish sea-captain\nwho showed him a map of the world, on which the vast dominions of the\nKing of Spain were clearly marked, and who, in reply to the question as\nto how his master came by such wide territories, foolishly replied that\nhe first sent priests to win over the people, then soldiers to\nco\u00f6perate with the native converts, and the conquest was easy.\nHideyoshi's fears were not entirely ungrounded.  The truth is that\nCatholic Christianity has always been, and was especially at that time,\nso intimately connected with the state that her emissaries could not\nkeep from entangling themselves in politics.\n\nHideyoshi died in 1597, and with the death of their persecutor the\nmissionaries again took heart and began their work anew.  The political\nsuccessor of Hideyoshi was Iyeyasu--a man even greater, perhaps, than\nhis predecessor.  He was not permitted to assume direction of affairs\nwithout a fierce and bloody struggle.  Around the capital 200,000\nsoldiers were gathered under ambitious rival leaders.  Soon the camps\nwere {153} divided into two factions, the northern soldiers under\nIyeyasu, and the southern soldiers under their own daimios.  Most of\nthe Christians were naturally allied with the latter party.  Believing\nIyeyasu to be a usurper, the Christian generals arrayed themselves\nagainst him and went forth to meet him in the open field.  On the field\nof Sekigahara a bloody battle was fought, and 10,000 men lost their\nlives.  The Christians were beaten, and were dealt with after the\ncustom of the time--their heads were stricken off.  Iyeyasu, finding\nhimself in undisputed possession of the reins of government, began at\nonce the completion of the work of Hideyoshi, i.e., the creation of a\nstrong central government and the subjugation of the several daimios.\nHenceforth the Christians had to deal with this central government\ninstead of the petty local ones.\n\nSystematic persecutions were now begun in the different provinces,\nculminating in the year 1606, when Iyeyasu issued his famous edict\nprohibiting Christianity.  At this time there were more than 1,000,000\nChristians in Japan.  An outward show of obedience warded off active\npersecution for a few years, when the Franciscan friars again aroused\nthe wrath of the government by openly violating the laws and exhorting\ntheir converts to do likewise.  In 1611 Iyeyasu is reported to have\ndiscovered documentary evidence of the {154} existence of a plot on the\npart of the native Christians and the foreign emissaries to overthrow\nthe government and reduce Japan to the position of a subject state.\nTaking advantage of the opportunity thus afforded, he determined to\nutterly extirpate Christianity from his dominions.  January 27, 1614,\nhe issued the famous edict in which he branded the Jesuit missionaries\nas triple enemies--as enemies of the gods, of Japan, and of the\nbuddhas.  Desiring to avoid so much bloodshed, if possible, he tried\nthe plan of transportation.  Three hundred persons--Franciscans,\nJesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians, and natives--were shipped from\nNagasaki to Macao.  But many priests concealed themselves and were\noverlooked.  The native Christians refused to renounce their faith.  It\nwas evident that the end was not yet.  The Christians were sympathizers\nwith Hideyori, who had been a rival claimant with Iyeyasu for the\nshogunate, and whose castle in Osaka was the greatest stronghold in the\nempire.  In this castle Hideyori gave shelter to some Christians, and\nIyeyasu called out a great army and laid siege to it.  The war which\nfollowed was very brief, but, if the report of the Jesuits is to be\nrelied upon, 100,000 men perished.  The castle finally fell, and with\nit the cause of the Christians.  Hidetada, the next shogun, now\npronounced sentence of death upon {155} every foreigner, whether priest\nor catechist, found in the country.  All native converts who refused to\nrenounce their faith were likewise sentenced to death.  The story of\nthe persecutions that followed is too horrible to be described.  Fire\nand sword were freely used to extirpate Christianity.  Converts were\nwrapped in straw sacks, piled in heaps of living fuel, and then set on\nfire.  Many were burned with fires made from the crosses before which\nthey were accustomed to bow.  Some were buried alive.  All the tortures\nthat barbaric cruelty could invent were freely used to rid the land of\nthem.  The calmness and fortitude with which they bore their lot,\ngladly dying for their faith, command our warmest admiration.  The\npower of our religion to uphold and sustain even in the midst of\ntorture was never more strikingly illustrated, and the ancient Roman\nworld produced no more willing martyrs than did Japan at this time.\n\nAt last even the patient, uncomplaining Japanese Christians could stand\nit no longer.  Persecuted until desperate, those who remained finally\narose in rebellion, seized and fortified the old castle of Shimabara,\nand resolved to die rather than submit.  The rebelling party probably\nnumbered about 30,000, and there was not one foreigner among them.  A\nveteran army, led by skilled commanders, was sent against the rebels,\n{156} and after a stubborn resistance of four months the castle was\ntaken.  Men, women, and children--all were slaughtered.  There is an\nold story to the effect that many of them were thrown from the rock of\nPappenburg into the sea; but it lacks confirmation and doubtless is\nonly a myth.  It has also been charged against the Protestant\nHollanders then resident in Nagasaki that they assisted in the\noverthrow of the Shimabara castle and the destruction of the Catholics\nwith their heavy guns, but this probably is untrue.\n\nThere was now left no power to resist, and the sword, fire, and\nbanishment swept away every trace of Christianity.  The extermination\nappeared so complete that non-Christian writers have pointed to Japan\nas a land in which Christianity had been entirely conquered by the\nsword, thus proving that it could be extirpated.  But the extirpation\nwas not so thorough as at first appeared.  Christian converts remained,\nand assembled regularly for worship; but the utmost secrecy was\nobserved, for fear of the authorities.  When the country was reopened\nin 1859, the Catholic fathers found remaining in and around Nagasaki\nwhole villages of Christians, holding their faith in secret, it is\ntrue, but still holding it.  During the two hundred years in which they\nhad been left alone the faith had become corrupt, but there were still\nthousands of people who, amid {157} much ignorance, worshiped the true\nGod and refused to bow at pagan shrines.  Christianity was not entirely\ncrushed, neither can be, by the secular arm.\n\nAfter the government had, as it fondly supposed, entirely suppressed\nthe hated foreign religion, in order to prevent its return it\ndetermined upon the most rigid system of exclusiveness ever practised\nby any nation.  The means of communication with the outer world were\nall cut off; all ships above a certain size were destroyed, and the\nbuilding of others large enough to visit foreign lands rigidly\nprohibited; Japanese were forbidden to travel abroad on pain of death;\nnative shipwrecked sailors who had been driven to other lands were not\npermitted to return to their own country, lest they should carry the\ndreaded religion back with them; and all foreigners found on Japanese\nterritory were executed.  Over all the empire the most rigid\nprohibitions of Christianity were posted.  The high-sounding text of\none of them was as follows: \"So long as the sun shall continue to warm\nthe earth, let no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; and let all\nknow that the King of Spain himself, or the Christians' god, or the\ngreat God of all, if He dare violate this command, shall pay for it\nwith His head.\"  These prohibitions could still be seen along the\nhighways as late as 1872.\n\n{158}\n\nDuring this period of exclusion the only means of communication with\nthe outside world was through the Dutch, a small colony of whom were\npermitted to reside in Nagasaki as a sort of safety-valve and a means\nof communication with the outside world when such communication became\nabsolutely necessary.  They enjoyed the confidence of Japan more than\nany other nation.  These Hollanders were compelled to live on the\nnarrow little island of Desima, in Nagasaki harbor, always under strict\nsurveillance.  Ships from Holland were permitted to visit them\noccasionally, and they carried on a very lucrative trade between the\ntwo countries.\n\nThe mistake of Catholic Christianity in Japan during the century the\nhistory of which we have been reciting was its meddling in politics and\ngetting itself entangled in the internal affairs of the country.  If it\nhad avoided politics and been at peace and harmony with itself, it\nmight have enjoyed continued prosperity, and Japan to-day might have\nbeen one of the brightest stars in the pope's crown.\n\nWhile this was, as we firmly believe, a very corrupt form of\nChristianity, we must remember that it was immeasurably better than any\nreligion Japan had yet known.  Although it taught Mariolatry, salvation\nin part by works, penance, and many other errors, it also taught that\nthere {159} is but one God, and that His Son died for men.  It very\nmuch improved the morals of its adherents, and purified and exalted\ntheir lives.\n\nAt the present day very little remains of this century of Christianity\nbesides the few scattered and corrupt congregations found by the\nJesuits on their return, the introduction of firearms and a few rude\ntools, and the infusion of a handful of foreign words into the\nlanguage.  The most important effect of this period is an inborn and\ninveterate prejudice against and mistrust of Christianity on the part\nof the people, which to-day hinders much our work of evangelization.\n\n\n\n\n{160}\n\nIX\n\nMODERN ROMAN AND GREEK MISSIONS\n\n\n_Roman Church_\n\nThe Roman Church was not discouraged by the fierce persecutions she was\ncalled upon to endure during the seventeenth century.  Nothing daunted,\nshe continued to send missionaries at intervals during the eighteenth\ncentury; but they were thrown into prison or executed as soon as they\nlanded.  In order to be in readiness for the opening of the country,\nwhich could not be much longer delayed, the pope, in 1846, nominated a\nbishop and several missionaries to Japan.  These men took up their\nstation in the neighboring Liukiu Islands and patiently awaited their\nopportunity.  As soon as the treaties with foreign nations were made,\nand the country was opened, they at once entered Japan, and resumed the\nwork so rudely interrupted two hundred years before.\n\n{161}\n\nA few years later these priests had the joy of discovering in the\nneighborhood of Nagasaki several Christian communities that had\nsurvived the bloody persecutions and had perpetuated their faith for\nmore than two centuries, in spite of the vigilance of the authorities\nand the rigid prohibitions of Christianity.  Left for so long without\ndirection and guidance, bound for the sake of their lives to strictest\nsecrecy, and, above all, not having the Bible to enlighten them, the\nfaith of these communities had become very corrupt.  But they still\nretained a certain knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the Virgin\nMary.  The rite of baptism and some prayers also survived.\n\nOf the existence of these Christian communities, and the perpetuation\nof their faith in secrecy for more than two hundred years, there is not\nthe slightest room for doubt.  The persecuting spirit, which had also\nsurvived, found large numbers of them in 1867, and more than 4000 who\nrefused to renounce their faith were banished.  After six years of\nexile they were permitted to return to their homes.\n\nThe mistake of the Romanists here, as elsewhere, was in not translating\nthe Bible into the vernacular.  Xavier and his successors did not give\nthe Word of God to the churches, and hence when the priests all were\nbanished the people were left without any light to guide them.  Had\n{162} they possessed a Japanese Bible, the reopening of the country\nwould have shown us, instead of a few corrupt Christian communities, a\nvigorous, aggressive native church, only made stronger by persecution.\nSuch was the case in Madagascar, and such probably it would have been\nin Japan had the people been given the Word of God.\n\nThe relative importance of the Bible to the Romanist and the Protestant\nis well shown in this matter of Bible translation.  One of the first\nefforts of the Protestant Churches in Japan was a translation of the\nBible, and an excellent version was prepared and published more than\nten years ago.  The Roman Church, with more than a century of\nunprecedented prosperity in former times, and with the same advantages\nenjoyed by the Protestants in recent years, has not yet published its\nBible in Japanese.  Some priests and native scholars are now engaged on\na translation of the Vulgate, which will doubtless be published soon.\n\nEver since the opening of the country the Church of Rome has been very\nearnest and zealous in her efforts to evangelize this land.  She has\nused a great many men, who have labored hard and faithfully, and has\nexpended large sums of money.  Her success has not been great, because\nshe has had to contend against fearful odds.  The hindrances that have\nmade the progress of {163} Protestant missions in this land very slow\nhave had to be overcome also by Catholicism, besides some other strong\nmilitating influences.  I will mention two of the most important of\nthese hindrances peculiar to Catholicism.\n\n1. The genius of the Catholic Church is not adapted to Japan.  The\npriority of the spiritual over the temporal ruler, the exaltation of\nchurch over state, the allegiance required to a foreign pope, the\nunqualified obedience to foreign ecclesiastical authority, and numerous\nother things, come into conflict with the strong national feeling now\nanimating the Japanese, and seem to them to conflict with the great\nduty of loyalty.  The celibacy of the clergy and the rite of extreme\nunction are also very unpopular.  Both Catholicism and Protestantism\nare regarded as evils, but the former is, on account of its nature and\norganization, considered the greater.\n\n2. The past history of Catholicism in Japan also militates very much\nagainst its progress.  The people recognize it as the specific form of\nChristianity that the government, in former times, felt bound, for the\nsake of its own safety, to persecute to the death.  They cannot forget\nthat, although under great provocation, it dared bare its arm against\nthe imperial Japanese government and inaugurate a bitter rebellion.  In\ntheir work to-day the priests encounter all of these {164} objections,\nand must satisfactorily explain them away--a difficult task.\n\nBut, notwithstanding, the Roman Church has enjoyed an equal degree of\nprosperity with the Protestant Churches since the opening of Japan in\n1858.  The statistics for the year 1895 show 50,302 adherents--about\n10,000 more than the Protestants.  But the manner of compiling\nstatistics differs so much that these figures do not fairly represent\nthe numerical strength of the two bodies.  The Catholics not only count\nall baptized children, but all nominal adherents; while Protestants\ncount no nominal adherents, and many of the denominations do not even\ncount baptized children.  If the same method of compiling statistics\nwere used by both bodies, their numerical strength would probably\nappear to be about equal.\n\nThese 50,302 adherents are comprised in two hundred and fifty\ncongregations.  There are one hundred and sixty-nine churches and\nchapels; one theological seminary, with 46 pupils; two colleges, with\n181 pupils; three boarding-schools for girls, with 171 pupils;\ntwenty-six industrial schools, with 764 pupils; and forty-one primary\nschools, with 2924 pupils.\n\nThe Catholic Church throughout the East is noted for its splendid\ncharities.  It is doing more to care for the helpless, aged, and infirm\nthan all the Protestant bodies combined.  It supports in {165} Japan\none hospital for lepers that is exceedingly popular with that\nunfortunate class.  The government has one good leper hospital, but it\nis said that the lepers much prefer going to the Catholic hospital,\nbecause there they are treated so much more kindly and considerately.\nThere are 70 lepers in this Catholic hospital.  The Catholic Church has\nalso one hospital for the aged, with 31 inmates; and nineteen\norphanages, with 2080 children in them.  This large number of\ncharitable institutions supported by the Roman Church makes a strong\nappeal to the Japanese public and does much toward overcoming the\nprejudice against her.\n\nThe active working force of the Catholic mission, besides the lay\nmembers of the native church, consists of 1 archbishop, 3 bishops, 88\nEuropean missionaries, 20 native priests, 304 native catechists, 25\nEuropean friars, 85 European sisters, and 42 novices.  The archbishop\nand bishops reside respectively in Nagasaki, Osaka, Tokyo, and Hakodate.\n\n\n\n_Greek Church_\n\nThe Greek Church has had a flourishing mission in Japan ever since\n1871.  It is always spoken of here as the \"Greek Church\" or the \"Greek\nCatholic Church,\" although it would more properly be called the\n\"Russian Church,\" {166} as it was founded and is supported by the\nnational church of Russia.\n\nThis mission is largely the result of the prodigious labors of one\nman--Bishop Nicolai Kasatkin.  He first came to Japan in 1861 as\nchaplain to the Russian consulate at Hakodate, but it was his desire\nand intention from the beginning to do mission work.  For some years he\nwas so absorbed in the study of the language that he made no attempt\nwhatever to preach or teach.  After he had been in Hakodate several\nyears a Buddhist priest who came to revile him was converted through\nhis influence.  This man was the first convert to the Greek Church in\nJapan, and was baptized in 1866.  Three years afterward the second\nconvert, a physician, was baptized.\n\nThe zeal of these converts, and Nicolai's own conscience, now incited\nhim to throw his whole life and influence into the cause of a mission\nin Japan.  He was led deeply to regret that he had not done more to\nmake Christ known to the Japanese, instead of giving all his time and\nattention to scholarship and letters.  In 1869 he returned to Russia\nand began to agitate the founding of a mission in Japan.  The Holy\nSynod gave the desired permission the next year, and appointed Nicolai\nits first missionary.  In 1871 Nicolai returned to Japan and made his\nheadquarters in the capital city, Tokyo.  From this {167} time his\nactive missionary work began, and in it he has shown himself a master.\nWhether in the work of preaching, translating, financiering, building,\nor what not, he has been director and chief laborer.  In 1872 a new\npriest, Anatoli by name, came out from Russia and ably assisted Nicolai\nfor eighteen years, at the end of which time declining health forced\nhim to return.\n\nNicolai again returned to Russia in 1879, and was consecrated bishop of\nthe Greek Church in Japan.  At this time he began a work which had long\nbeen on his heart, viz., the collection of funds for the erection of a\nfine cathedral in Tokyo.  This cathedral was begun in 1884 and\ncompleted in 1891.  It is a magnificent building, by far the finest\necclesiastical structure in Japan.  It stands on an eminence from which\nit seems to dominate the whole city.  The cost of this cathedral was\n$177,575, silver.\n\nHere one may hear the finest choral music in the empire.  Those who\nbelieve it to be impossible to train well Japanese voices have but to\nattend a service at this cathedral to have their ideas changed.  A\nchoir of several hundred voices has been trained to sing in perfect\nharmony, and the music is inspiring.  Travelers who have heard the\nmusic of the most famous cathedrals and churches of Europe and America\nsay that this will compare favorably with the best.  The {168}\ndevelopment of music in the Greek Church of Japan has been marvelous.\n\nThe work of this church, while scattered over the whole empire, is\nchiefly carried on in the cities and larger towns.  Like the Roman\nChurch, it refuses fellowship with the various Protestant bodies.  Some\nmen of note belong to it, and it is to-day recognized as one of the\ninfluential religious bodies.\n\nA notable feature of its work is that it has employed comparatively few\nforeign missionaries.  The burden of the work has been done by Bishop\nNicolai and an able body of trained native assistants.  At present\nthere are only two foreigners in connection with it, and there have\nnever been at any time more than three or four.  While foreign priests\nhave been little used, several of its native priests have been educated\nabroad.\n\nThis church has 21 native priests and 158 unordained catechists.  It is\nnow conducting work in two hundred and nineteen stations and\noutstations.  It has one boarding-school for boys, with 47 pupils; one\nfor girls, with 76 pupils; and one theological school, with 18 pupils.\nThe membership at the close of the year 1895 was 22,576, and the amount\ncontributed for all purposes during that year was $4754.95.\n\n\n\n\n{169}\n\nX\n\nA BRIEF HISTORY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN JAPAN\n\nDuring Japan's period of seclusion, when no foreigner dared enter the\ncountry upon pain of death, many godly people were praying that God\nwould open the doors, and some mission boards were watching and waiting\nfor an opportunity to send the gospel to the Japanese.  When, in the\nyear 1854, treaties were made with Western powers, and it became known\nthat Japan was to be reopened to foreign intercourse, great interest\nwas at once manifested by the friends of missions in the evangelization\nof this land.\n\nThis same year the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church\nin the United States of America requested one of its missionaries in\nChina to visit Japan and examine into the condition of affairs there,\nwith the purpose of establishing a mission.  At this time permanent\n{170} residence of foreigners was not secured, and it was doubtless for\nthis reason that no progress was made toward the establishment of a\nmission.\n\nThe country was not actually opened to foreign residence until the year\n1859, and by the close of that year three Protestant missionary\nsocieties, quick to take advantage of the opportunity offered, had\ntheir representatives in the field.  The Protestant Episcopal Church of\nthe United States has the honor of sending the first Protestant\nmissionaries to Japan.  It transferred two of its missionaries from\nChina, the Rev. C. M. Williams and the Rev. J. Liggins.  Previous to\nthis time a few missionaries had made transient visits from China to\nKanagawa and Nagasaki, and found opportunity to teach elementary\nEnglish; but this work accomplished little.\n\nAccording to the treaty with England, the four treaty ports of Japan\nwere opened July 1, 1859; according to that with America, July 4th.\nMr. Liggins arrived in Nagasaki May 2d, two months before the actual\nopening of the port; he was joined by Mr. Williams one month later.\n\nOn, October 18th of the same year the first missionaries of the\nPresbyterian Church in the United States of America, Dr. and Mrs. J. C.\nHepburn, arrived at Kanagawa.  A fortnight later the Rev.  S. R. Brown\nand D. B. Simmons, M.D., of the Reformed Church in America, reached\nNagasaki.  {171} The Rev. Dr. G. F. Verbeck, also of the Reformed\nChurch, reached Nagasaki one month later.  Thus it will be seen that\nmissionaries were sent here as soon as the country was opened to\nforeign residence, the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Reformed\nchurches of America beginning the work almost simultaneously.\n\nThe example set by these boards was soon followed by others.  The\nAmerican Baptists began the work in 1860, the American Board\n(Congregationalist) in 1869, and the American Methodists in 1873.  From\ntime to time other boards also sent representatives.\n\nAlthough the country was now open to foreign residence, it was by no\nmeans open to the propagation of the foreign religion.  All that the\nmissionaries could do was to study the language and teach English.  In\nthis early period many of them found employment in the schools of the\nvarious daimios and in those of the national government.\n\nThe first years were very trying ones.  The missionaries were in\nimminent danger of their lives; attacks without either provocation or\nwarning were very common.  Foreigners, and especially those who wanted\nto teach the foreign religion, were everywhere bitterly hated.  The\nlordly samurai walked about with two sharp swords stuck into his belt,\nand his very look was {172} threatening.  At their houses and when they\nwalked abroad foreigners had special guards provided them by the\ngovernment.\n\nGreat difficulty was at first experienced by the missionaries in\nemploying teachers, because of the suspicion in which foreigners were\nheld.  Those who finally agreed to teach were afterward found to be\ngovernment spies.\n\nThe government was still confessedly hostile to Christianity as late as\n1869.  Shortly before this time some Roman Catholic Christians who had\nbeen found around Nagasaki were torn from their homes and sent away\ninto exile.  The sale of Christian books was rigidly prohibited.  The\nprohibitions against Christianity were still posted over all the\nempire, and were rigidly enforced.  If a conversation on religious\nsubjects was begun with a Japanese his hand would involuntarily grasp\nhis throat, indicating the extreme perilousness of such a topic.\n\nThe following story shows what native Christians had to endure in some\nparts of Japan as late as 1871.  \"Mr. O. H. Gulick, while at Kob\u00e9, had\na teacher, formerly Dr. Greene's teacher, called Ichikawa Yeinosuke.\nIn the spring of the year named this man and his wife were arrested at\ndead of night and thrown into prison.  He had for some time been an\nearnest student of the Bible, and had expressed the desire to receive\n{173} baptism, but had not been baptized.  His wife was not then\nregarded as a Christian.  Every effort was made to secure his release;\nbut neither the private requests of the missionaries, nor the kindly\noffices of the American consul, nor even those of the American\nminister, availed anything.  Even his place of confinement was not\nknown at the time.  It was at length learned that he had been confined\nin Kyoto, and had died there November 25, 1872.  His wife was shortly\nafterward released.  She is now a member of the Shinsakurada church in\nTokyo.\"\n\nAt this early period no distinction was made between Catholic and\nProtestant Christianity, and both were alike hated.  There was no\nopportunity to do direct Christian work, and many of the supporters of\nmissions at home were beginning to doubt the expediency of keeping\nmissionaries where they were not permitted to work.  Some boards even\ncontemplated recalling their men.  But the missionaries were permitted\nto remain and await their opportunity, which soon came.  With the\ngradual opening of the country, and especially with the dissemination\nof a knowledge of foreign nations and their faith, the opportunities\nfor work more and more increased and the old prohibitions were less and\nless enforced.\n\nDuring the period of forced inactivity the missionaries were busily\nengaged in a study of the {174} language and in the writing of various\nuseful books and tracts.  At first Chinese Bibles and other Christian\nbooks were extensively used, the educated classes reading Chinese with\nfacility.  The first religious tract published in Japanese appeared in\n1867.  One of the most important of the literary productions of the\nmissionary body, Dr. J. C. Hepburn's Japanese-English and\nEnglish-Japanese Dictionary, appeared in this same year.  It was a\nscholarly work, the result of many years of hard, persevering labor.\nThe first edition was speedily exhausted, and a second was issued in\n1872.  The translation of the Holy Scriptures was also begun and gotten\nwell under way in this period.  Several separate portions of the\nScriptures from time to time appeared.  The first was the Gospel of\nMatthew, translated by the Rev. J. Goble, of the Baptist mission, and\npublished in 1871.  Dr. S. R. Brown had previously prepared first\ndrafts of some portions of the New Testament, but unfortunately they\nwere destroyed by fire.  Translations of Mark and John, by Drs. Brown\nand Hepburn, were published in 1872.\n\nThis irregular, piecemeal method of translation was not satisfactory;\nso in order to expedite the work, and to elicit an active interest in\nit on the part of all the missionaries in the country, a convention on\nBible translation was called to meet {175} in Yokohama on September 20,\n1872.  As a result of this convention the Translation Committee was\norganized.  At first it consisted of Drs. Brown, Hepburn, and Greene.\nOther names were afterward added.  This committee was ably assisted in\nits work by prominent Japanese Christian scholars.  The great\nundertaking was brought to a successful conclusion in 1880, when an\nedition of the whole Bible was published in excellent Japanese.\n\nWe have anticipated matters somewhat.  Let us now go back a few years\nand take up the thread where we left off.  The work of the missionaries\nfor a long time was fruitless, but the day of reaping was near.  The\nfirst Protestant convert of Japan was baptized in Yokohama by the Rev.\nMr. Ballagh, in 1864.  Two years later Dr. Verbeck baptized two\nprominent men in southern Japan.  In 1866 Bishop Williams, of the\nEpiscopal Church, baptized one convert.  Who can tell the joy of these\nmissionaries when, after so many years of hard work, they were\npermitted to see these precious fruits?  From time to time others were\nbaptized, but for many years accessions were rare.  The first church\nwas organized in Yokohama in 1872.  It was left to draft its own\nconstitution and church government, and was a very liberal body.\n\nDuring all this time the prohibitions of {176} Christianity were still\nposted over all the land, and the government had never officially\nrenounced its policy of persecution.  But the infringement of the laws\nwas permitted, and gradually they became a dead letter.  Many Japanese\nof influence and of official position traveled abroad, and learning of\nthe status of Christianity in the countries of the West, and\nparticularly of the attitude of the chief nations of the world toward\nthe persecution of Christians, exerted their influence to have these\nprohibitions rescinded.  Especially did the strong stand taken by some\nWestern governments influence Japan in favor of toleration.  Our own\nSecretary of State in Washington plainly informed the Japanese\ncommittee then visiting there that the United States could not regard\nas a friendly power any nation that persecuted its Christian subjects.\n\nAs a result of various influences, the edicts against Christianity were\nremoved from the signboards in 1873.  This was an event of the utmost\nimportance to Christian work, for, although the infringement of the\nedicts had been for some time winked at, their very existence before\nthe eyes of the people had a great deterring effect.  The government\nannounced that this action did not signify that the prohibition of\nChristianity was now abrogated.  It declared that the edicts were\nremoved because their subject-matter, {177} having been so long before\nthe eyes of the people, \"was sufficiently imprinted on their minds.\"\nAnd yet their removal conveyed the idea to the people at large that\nliberty of conscience was henceforth to be allowed, and this virtually\nproved to be so.  Persecutions ceased and the work was allowed to go on\nuntrammeled.  The object for which the church abroad had waited and\nprayed, and for which the missionaries on the ground had longed and\nlabored, was at last realized.  Joy and hope filled the hearts of the\nworkers.  The cause of missions had received a new and powerful\nimpulse, which ere long made itself felt in a wide enlargement of its\noperations.\n\nThe work now went on much more rapidly.  Soon a great pro-foreign\nsentiment sprang up.  With the rapid adoption of Western civilization\nthere grew up not only a toleration, but an actual desire for the\nWestern religion.  It became rather fashionable to confess Christ.\nSome statesmen even went so far as to advocate as a matter of policy\nthe adoption of Christianity as the state religion.\n\nIn this happy time Christian schools, which had sprung up like\nmushrooms over all the land, were filled with eager students; the\nchurches and chapels were crowded with interested listeners; and large\nnumbers were annually added to the church.\n\n{178}\n\nBut the pendulum had swung too far.  About 1888 a reaction set in,\ncaused largely by the impatience of the Japanese at the refusal of\nWestern nations to revise the treaties on a basis of equality.  A\nstrong nationalism asserted itself.  Everything foreign was brought\ninto disrepute.  Christianity was frowned upon as a foreign religion,\nand the old native religions again came into favor.  Attendance at\nChristian schools fell off almost fifty per cent.; the churches and\nchapels became empty; and few names were added to the church rolls.  A\nsifting process began which very much reduced the membership.  When\nChristianity was popular many had hastily and as a matter of policy\njoined the churches, who in this time of disfavor fell away.  This\nreactionary feeling has lasted uninterruptedly down to the present, and\nin recent years the losses numerically have almost equaled the gains.\nThis reaction has in some respects worked good to the churches.  The\nformer growth was too rapid.  Many unconverted men came into the bosom\nof the church.  Such have fallen away; the church has been pruned of\nher old dead branches, and is now a livelier, healthier body.\n\nIn the judgment of some, this reactionary period is now on the decline.\nThe recent growth and progress of Japan have been recognized by the\nWest; treaty revision on a basis of equality has {179} been granted\nher, and the cause which brought about the reaction has thus been\nlargely removed.  For these reasons we may look for a gradual breaking\ndown of the prejudice and opposition toward foreign institutions and\nreligion, though such a pro-foreign wave as swept the country during\nthe eighties will not probably be experienced again.\n\nIn order to give a correct idea of the work now being done by the\nvarious missions in Japan, It will be well to give a short sketch of\neach one separately.  We will consider them in the order of their size\nand influence.\n\n\n\n_American Board Mission_\n\nThis mission is conducted by the American Board of Commissioners for\nForeign Missions (organized on an undenominational basis, but now\nCongregational), and has met with great success.  Begun in 1869, it is\nyounger than either the Episcopalian, Reformed, Presbyterian, or\nBaptist missions, but has exerted a greater influence than any of them.\nIt has for years enjoyed the distinction of having more adherents than\nany other Christian body at work here.  But there has been a large\nfalling off in its membership, and during the past year or so very few\nnew names have been added to its rolls.  At the {180} close of 1895 the\nChurch of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian) was only about 62 members\nbehind this body, and by the close of 1896 will in all probability be\nahead.\n\nThis mission was especially fortunate in reaching a wealthy,\ninfluential class of people, which has given it a position and prestige\nsuperior to the other missions.  In the number of self-supporting\nnative churches it has led all other denominations.\n\nThe first missionaries of the American Board to Japan were Dr. and Mrs.\nGreene.  They arrived in Yokohama November 30, 1869, and, with the\nusual intermissions for rest, have labored here continuously since that\ntime.  Three years later the Rev. O. H. Gulick and wife, and the Rev.\nJ. D. Davis and wife, joined the mission.  Since that time the number\nof missionaries has been rapidly increased until now it reaches 74.\nThe membership of the native church is about 11,162.  There are 60\nordained native ministers and 54 unordained.  There are four\nboarding-schools for girls, with 863 students.  The most advanced of\nthese is the Girls' School of Kob\u00e9, with a curriculum as high as that\nof most female colleges in America.  There is also one school for the\ntraining of Bible-women.\n\nThe chief educational institution of this body is the Doshisha\nUniversity, in Kyoto.  This {181} school is largely the result of the\nlabors of Dr. Neesima, easily the first Christian preacher and teacher\nJapan has yet produced.  It is a large school, beautifully located and\nwell housed.  Last year only 320 students were in attendance, a great\ndecline from former years.  Unfortunately this institution does not now\nexert the positive influence for Christianity that it formerly did.\nHigher criticism and speculative philosophy have largely supplanted\nChristian teaching.  The school is now entirely in the hands of the\ntrustees (all natives), and the mission has no control over it\nwhatever.  Recently all of the missionaries of the American Board who\nwere serving as professors in the Doshisha have, because of\ndissatisfaction with the policy of the school authorities, resigned.\nThe trustees affirm that it is their intention to keep the school\nstrictly Christian, but they refuse to define the term \"Christian.\"\nSuch vital matters as the divinity of Christ and the immortality of the\nsoul are not positively affirmed.  The rationalism which has emanated\nfrom this school has perhaps done as much in recent years to impede the\nprogress of Christianity as any other one cause.  It is very sad to see\nan institution, built up at great expense by bequests of earnest\nChristian people, intended by its founder to lead the evangelical\nChristianity of this country, thus turned aside from its original\npurpose.  {182} We trust that a gradual growth of a deeper Christian\nconsciousness and a more positive faith in the hearts of the trustees\nand professors may yet lead them to make of this school a positive\nforce for evangelical Christianity.\n\nThe mission of the American Board has experienced more trouble in\nrecent years than any other, especially in the attempt properly to\nadjust the relations between the native and foreign workers, and in the\nmatter of mission property.  Most of the valuable property of the\nmission has passed into native hands, and in some instances has been\nperverted from its original purpose.  The missionaries are regarded\nwith jealousy by many in the native church; they are entirely excluded\nfrom the church councils, and are being gradually pushed out of the\nmost important positions, and their places filled with Japanese.  It is\na question just how far the policy adopted by this mission from the\nbeginning is to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs.  This\npolicy has been to push the native workers to the front, to give them\nthe important positions, and to allow them perfect freedom in all\nchurch matters.  As a consequence, that which was at first granted as a\nconcession is now demanded as a right.  As a teacher in one of their\nown schools has comically put it, the mission said in the beginning--in\nJapanese phraseology--to the native brethren, {183} \"Please honorably\ncondescend to take the first place,\" and they are just doing what they\nwere bidden to do.  Other boards, with a different policy, have fared\nbetter.  The Episcopal Church of Japan, which is one of the most\nactive, vigorous bodies at work here, is governed by foreign bishops,\nand nearly all the positions of importance are filled by foreign\nmissionaries, and yet the relations between the native and foreign\nworkers are, on the whole, cordial and harmonious.  The Methodist\nChurch is governed by foreign bishops, and nearly all the presiding\nelders are foreign missionaries, yet complete harmony prevails between\nthe native and the foreign ministry.  The Presbyterian Church, with a\npolicy somewhat resembling the Congregational, is encountering the same\ndifficulties in a milder form.  These facts seem to indicate that, at\nleast in part, the policy of the mission is itself responsible for the\nposition in which it now finds itself.\n\nBut in nearly every mission field, as soon as a strong native church is\ndeveloped, misunderstandings and friction between the native and\nforeign workers have arisen.  Questions regarding the position of the\nnative church and its relation to the foreign boards and missionaries\nalmost inevitably arise.  Therefore what the American Board has\nencountered may be partially encountered by all as soon as a stronger\nnative church is {184} developed.  Perhaps the national characteristics\nof the people are to some extent responsible also for this trouble and\nfriction.\n\n\n\n_The Church of Christ in Japan_\n\nThis body represents an attempt at church union on a large scale.  It\nis composed of all the Presbyterian and Reformed churches working in\nJapan.  These are the Presbyterian Church in the United States of\nAmerica, the Reformed Church in America, the United Presbyterian Church\nof Scotland, the Reformed Church in the United States, the Presbyterian\nChurch in the United States (South), the Woman's Union Missionary\nSociety, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  All of these bodies\nare engaged in building up one and the same native church--the Church\nof Christ in Japan.  Yet each has its own field and is doing its own\nindividual work.\n\nThe growth and success of this body have been phenomenal.  It has\n11,100 members, 60 ordained native ministers, 113 unordained\ncatechists, and 146 missionaries.  Its leading educational institution\nis the Meiji Gakuin, in Tokyo, with both an academic and a theological\ndepartment.  This is a large, well-equipped school, with a good faculty.\n\nIn connection with this Church of Christ there {185} is a good academic\nand theological school in Nagasaki, known as Steele College, and\nsupported by the Dutch Reformed and Southern Presbyterian missions.\nThis school is as thoroughly evangelical and positive in its teachings\nas any to be found in Japan.\n\nThere are besides these five boarding-schools for boys, with 376\nstudents, and sixteen boarding-schools for girls, with 795 pupils.\n\nThe representatives of the Church of Christ are found throughout the\nlength and breadth of the land and are doing a good work.  It is likely\nthat this church will take the lead in the future.\n\n\n\n_Methodist Churches_\n\nThere are five branches of the Methodist Church at work, namely, the\nAmerican Methodist Episcopal, the Canadian Methodist Episcopal, the\nEvangelical Association of North America, the Methodist Protestant, and\nthe American Methodist Episcopal (South).  There is no organic union\nbetween these bodies, but harmony and fraternity prevail.  Efforts at\nunion have been made time and again, but have been as yet unsuccessful.\nWe hope the future Methodist Church of Japan will be a united body.\n\nAt present each one of these different bodies supports its own schools;\ntheir efficiency is thus {186} impaired, and great loss of men, time,\nand money entailed.  In the whole Methodist Church there are five boys'\nboarding-schools, with 329 scholars; sixteen girls' boarding-schools,\nwith 970 scholars; and five theological schools, with 60 students.\n\nThere are 143 missionaries, 115 native ministers, 116 catechists, and\n7678 members.\n\nThe Methodist missions have had a rapid, substantial growth and are\nexerting a strong influence.  They surpass all other bodies in annual\ncontributions per member, and I think it may be said that the native\nMethodist churches have shown less of self-seeking and more of\nself-sacrifice than the others.  The emotional character of Methodism\nadapts it to the taste of the people.\n\n\n\n_Episcopalians_\n\nThe five branches of this church working in Japan are laboring unitedly\nfor the establishment of one native church, called _Nippon Sei Kokwai_.\nThese five bodies are the American Protestant Episcopal Church, the\nChurch Missionary Society (English), the Society for the Propagation of\nthe Gospel (English), the Wyclif College Mission (Canada), and the\nEnglish Church in Canada.  The united body has 149 missionaries, 30\nnative ministers, 124 unordained helpers, and 5555 communicant members.\n\n{187}\n\nThis church conducts five boarding-schools for boys, with 169 scholars;\neight boarding-schools for girls, with 263 scholars; and four\ntheological schools, with 52 students.  This body has done a great deal\nof hard, substantial work, and has enjoyed a fair degree of the popular\nfavor.  During these late reactionary years, when other missions have\nmade little progress, its growth has continued uninterruptedly.  The\nNippon Sei Kokwai is presided over by five bishops, four of whom are\nEnglish and one American.  Two are located in Tokyo, one in Hokkaido,\none in Osaka, and one in Nagasaki.\n\n\n\n_Baptists_\n\nThere are four Baptist societies doing mission work in Japan: the\nBaptist Missionary Union (United States), the Disciples of Christ, the\nChristian Church of America, and the Southern Baptist Convention.\nThere is no organic union between them, but the first- and last-named\nbodies work together.  The four bodies unitedly have 92 missionaries,\n14 native ministers, 68 native catechists, and 2327 members.\n\nThey have one boarding-school for boys, with 14 students; six\nboarding-schools for girls, with 205 students; and two theological\nschools, with 21 students.\n\n{188}\n\nThe Baptist missionaries laboring in Japan are an able, hard-working,\nevangelical body of men, and there are some good, strong native Baptist\nministers.\n\n\n\n_Lutherans_\n\nThe Lutheran Church began mission work in Japan only four years ago,\nand as yet her mission is small.  It is supported by the United Synod\nof the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South (United States).  The\nLutheran Church in the United States has occupied a peculiar position.\nA large per cent. of the emigrants from the Old World are of Lutheran\nantecedents.  Hundreds of thousands of them have come over and settled\nin the West, and the energies of the American Lutheran Church have been\nlargely expended in caring for these unhoused and unshepherded sheep of\nher own flock.  It seems that Providence has allotted to her this\nspecial work.  No other church in America is carrying on home mission\nwork on so large a scale, among so many different nationalities, and in\nso many languages.  Because of the great home mission work that has\nnaturally fallen into her hands and demanded her men and money she has\nnot engaged in foreign work as extensively as some other American\nbodies.\n\nAnd yet the American contingent of this old {189} mother church of\nProtestantism has a foreign-mission record of which she is not ashamed.\nShe has supported for many years a mission on the west coast of Africa,\nat Muhlenberg, that is by universal consent the most successful mission\nin West Africa.  She is also supporting two large and successful\nmissions in India.\n\nThe Lutheran mission in Japan was begun as a venture.  The after\ndevelopment of the work has amply justified the wisdom of the\nundertaking.  It is not the purpose of the Lutheran Church to\nantagonize any of the bodies now at work in Japan, but rather to stand,\namid all the doctrinal unrest characteristic of Japanese Christianity,\nfor pure doctrine, as she has always done.  It is her purpose to teach\na positive, evangelical Christianity.\n\nThe working force of the mission consists of 2 missionaries and their\nwives, 2 native helpers, and 1 Bible-woman.  The field occupied is\nsmall.  There is only one station, and that is in the city of Saga, on\nthe island of Kyushu.  Much work is done in the surrounding villages\nand towns from Saga as a center.  It is not the purpose of this mission\nto use large numbers of men and great quantities of money, as some\nothers have done.  It purposes working intensively rather than\nextensively.  It attempts to devote all of its time to evangelistic\nwork, and does not engage in {190} educational work further than\ntheological instruction.\n\nAlthough the missionaries came to Japan in 1892, the station was not\nopened until 1893.  Since that time about 55 converts have been\nbaptized.\n\n\nThere are numerous small Christian bodies at work, such as the\nScandinavian Japan Alliance, the Society of Friends, the International\nMissionary Alliance, the Hephzibah Faith Missionary Association, and\nthe Salvation Army.  There are also three liberal bodies working here,\ngenerally classed as unevangelical: the Evangelical Protestant\nMissionary Society, the Universalist mission, and the Unitarian mission.\n\nThe English and American Bible and tract societies have ably seconded\nthese missionary bodies by the circulation of large numbers of Bibles,\ntracts, and various kinds of Christian books.  The value of their work\ncan hardly be estimated.  The American Bible Society, the National\nBible Society of Scotland, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the\nAmerican Tract Society, and the London Religious Tract Society have all\nhad a part in the work.\n\nSuch is a brief enumeration of the Christian forces at work in Japan.\nWith so large a body of consecrated workers and so much missionary\n{191} machinery, it seems that the work of evangelization ought to go\non rapidly.  A great deal has already been accomplished, as the figures\ngiven above show.  A native church of 40,000 people is no mean prize;\nbut this is only the smallest part of the work of the missions.  They\nhave created a Christian literature, disseminated a certain knowledge\nof the gospel among the people, and in a hundred different ways\nindirectly influenced the life of this nation.  Japanese missions have\nbeen a brilliant success.\n\n\n\n\n{192}\n\nXI\n\nQUALIFICATIONS FOR MISSION WORK IN JAPAN\n\nFor mission work, as for every other calling in life, some men are\nnaturally adapted, others are not.  Those by nature fitted for the work\nwill in all probability have a reasonable degree of success, while no\namount of zeal or spiritual fervor can make successful those not so\nfitted.  It is true to a large extent that missionaries are born, not\nmade.\n\nHow important it becomes, then, that mission boards and societies\nshould carefully consider the qualifications of all applicants before\nthey are sent to the mission field!  How necessary it is for all those\ncontemplating work in certain fields, before offering their services to\nthe boards, to examine whether their qualifications are such as to\njustify an expectation of a reasonable degree of success in those\nfields!\n\nFor the benefit of the various missionary {193} societies that are\nannually choosing and sending out new men to Japan, as well as for the\nadvantage of those who contemplate offering themselves for work in this\nfield, I will put down a few thoughts on the necessary qualifications\nfor successful mission work here.\n\nThese may be roughly classified as physical, spiritual, and mental.\n\nPHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS.--I regard physical qualifications as of\nsupreme importance.  Many of my readers will think that the spiritual\nshould precede the physical, but with this opinion I do not agree.\nHealth is absolutely essential to successful work; deep spirituality,\nwhile greatly to be desired, is not so essential.  Many men have failed\non the field and have been forced to withdraw because of a lack of\nphysical qualifications, while few have failed for lack of spiritual\nqualifications.  I think it is true that young men who when in college\nand seminary appear to be almost consumed with missionary zeal and\nenthusiasm, who are pointed out as examples in spirituality, and who\nare burning with a desire to get into the foreign field, do not make as\ngood missionaries as some others.  Men who pledge themselves in youth,\nand who, actuated by a wild enthusiasm, which has more zeal than\nknowledge, urge themselves upon the mission boards, do not do as good\nwork as those chosen {194} by the boards themselves, who may never have\nconsidered seriously foreign work before the call was extended to them.\nEnthusiasm and zeal are good things in their place, but they are apt to\nlead men to extremes.  People who enter mission work simply because\nthey are filled with a burning enthusiasm and zeal are not likely to\nstay as long or work as well as those who enter upon the work with more\nhesitation, after careful deliberation and a counting of the cost.\n\nWallace Taylor, M.D., of Osaka, Japan, himself an experienced\nmissionary of the American Board, says: \"I should advise that men be\nchosen for their physical and mental adaptation and ability rather than\nfor their burning zeal for the foreign work.  To maintain health and be\na successful missionary a man must possess more judgment than\nenthusiasm and more discretion than zeal.  Enthusiasm and zeal are good\nqualities in a missionary, but to these you must add that which is\nbetter--judgment, wisdom, and self-control.  The burning fire shut up\nin the bones, that cannot be controlled, only consumes vital energies\nand speedily produces failing health.  We need men who can stand and\nface the white harvest and the many calls to work, and yet with cool\ndeliberation preserve their strength for future work.  We want men sent\nfor their cool deliberation and self-control rather than for their\n{195} burning zeal and enthusiasm.  We need men who are intellect\nrather than a bundle of nerves.  A nervous, excitable, uneasy person\nwill fret and wear himself out in from six months to three years in\nJapan.\"\n\nIt is desirable, then, in the first place, that the missionary be a\nsound physical man.  No one should be accepted by a mission board for\nwork in Japan who cannot secure a policy in a reliable life-insurance\ncompany, and it would be well if the medical examination were made by\nan examiner for such company.  The examinations made by a physician\nappointed by the mission boards are usually mere farces, for the desire\nto go as a missionary frequently covers up many physical weaknesses and\nprevents a thorough examination.  The examination should therefore be\nmade by a disinterested medical man, who will not be influenced by such\nmotives.\n\nIt seems hard to subject candidates for mission work to such rigid\nexaminations, and perhaps refuse to send them because of some small\nphysical defect; but the interests of the work make it imperative.\nOtherwise the young missionary will, in all probability, break down and\nhave to go home in three or four years, before he has been able to do\nany active work.  The experiment will have cost the board a large\namount of money and a loss of several years, and the {196} missionary\nsome of the best years of his life, probably making of him an incurable\ninvalid.  In so serious a matter as this the boards cannot afford to be\nswayed by sentiment.  Nothing but sound business principles should be\nfollowed.\n\nThe same physical requirements should be made for the woman as for the\nman.  She, too, should be subjected to a medical examination, and any\nserious defect in her constitution should cause her immediate\nrejection.  It seems hard to subject the wife to this test, as she is\nnot a missionary in the strict sense of the term, and to many the\nrequirement will be distasteful; but for their protection, and for a\njudicious use of consecrated funds, the boards should require it.  A\nlittle thought will show that the failure of the wife's health is just\nas disastrous for the mission as the failure of her husband's.  It\ncripples his efficiency while on the field, and ultimately drives him\nhome.  Most boards operating in Japan have not made this requirement,\nand as a consequence many missionaries' wives are in poor health, and\nas many men have had to return home because of the failure of their\nwives' health as for any other one cause.\n\nThe mission boards should not appoint too young men to work in Japan.\nIt is well known that young men cannot endure so well as older ones\nchange of climate and hard work.  Those {197} who are physically and\nmentally immature will very probably be unable to bear the strain.  In\ngeneral, no one should be sent out under twenty-five years of age, and\nit would be safer if all who came had attained the age of thirty.\nAgainst this it is argued that a young person will acquire the language\nmore readily than an older one, and this is doubtless true.  But health\nis of first importance.\n\nSPIRITUAL QUALIFICATIONS.--Although I consider spiritual qualifications\nafter physical ones, I nevertheless regard them as of great importance.\nIt is highly desirable that every missionary be a deeply spiritual man,\nfully consecrated to the cause of Christ.  The consecration needed in\nthe missionary is little different from that needed in the home pastor.\nIf he has given himself and all that he has to Christ, he will be ready\nto work for Him anywhere.  Those who come to the mission field without\nsuch consecration, expecting the grandeur of the work to beget it, will\nbe bitterly disappointed.  In many instances contact with heathenism\nweakens more than it strengthens consecration.  The societies should\nrequire that those who are to do spiritual work should be consecrated,\nspiritual men.\n\nThe missionary should be sound in the faith, should clearly discern and\nreadily accept the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and should\n{198} be able to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials,\ntenaciously holding to the former, while allowing liberty in regard to\nthe latter.  He will encounter many strange things in his new\nenvironment; many of his pet theories will be exploded, and he will\nmeet much that will try his faith.  His belief in the essentials of\nChristianity should be so strong that even if his views undergo a\nchange in non-essentials he shall not be shaken at the center.  He must\nbe able to defend his faith against its enemies, as well as to impart\nit to those to whom he is sent.  To do this his own hold upon it must\nbe firm and unyielding.\n\nThe missionary should have a positive, not a negative, faith.  His\nposition should continually be one of offense, not of defense.  His\nfaith must be aggressive and dominant in its hold upon others, must be\nboth persuasive and constructive.  He must be sure of the faith in\nwhich he trusts, and must be positive in his presentation of it to the\nworld.\n\nIt is especially important that the missionary's doctrinal development\nbe full and rounded.  He should see all the doctrines of the Christian\nsystem in their proper relation to one another, and should give due\nimportance to each.  A one-sided, eccentric man, who has struck off\nfrom the main line of doctrinal development and is on a {199}\nside-track, having exalted some one phase of the Christian teaching or\nlife to the exclusion of others, is not fitted for mission work.  He\ncan be used to better effect at home, because there he is continually\nunder restraining influences, while here there are no restraints.  For\nthis reason what would be only a harmless eccentricity at home may\nresult in great mischief abroad.  Those who are to found the church in\nJapan, to shape its theology and its life, should be well-rounded men,\nwho will not unduly exalt any one doctrine, but who, having a\ncomprehensive view of the Christian system, will give due importance to\nevery part.\n\nIt is very important that prospective missionaries fully count the\ncost, and be prepared beforehand to endure patiently the trials and\nhardships that will be sure to meet them.  No one should go out without\nhaving carefully considered all of these things, and gained the full\nconsent of his heart to endure them.  If the cost has not been counted,\nand the work willingly entered upon with a full knowledge of its\nhardships and difficulties, the encounter of these upon the field is\napt to result in disappointment and dissatisfaction.\n\nEvery missionary should be a lover of humanity, even in its lowest and\nmost degraded forms.  It is useless for us to attempt to persuade and\ninfluence non-Christian men if we do not love {200} them.  The\naudiences we address may not be moved by our logic or rhetoric; our\nmost eloquent sermons may have no effect on them; but practical\nillustrations of our love for them will always meet with a hearty\nresponse.  Love is the key that opens all hearts.  \"Faith, hope, love,\nthese three; but the greatest of these is love.\"\n\nTo love refined Christian men and women is easy, but to love humanity\nin its more degraded forms is hard.  And yet the missionary must be\nprepared to love an alien race, that regards him with coolness and\ndistrust.  He must be ready to associate with lowly people, amid humble\nand immoral surroundings, and to be patient, kind, and loving to the\nmost degraded.  No one who has not lived on the mission field and\nassociated freely with the people knows how hard this is.  Such love\nwill win more men to Christ than eloquent preaching or most careful\ninstruction.  The man who possesses a large amount of it, other things\nbeing equal, will meet with success.\n\nThe missionary should, as far as possible, present in his own character\nall Christian graces.  He will be looked upon as a product of the faith\nhe represents, and will exercise more influence by his life than by his\nwords.  He must not be impatient, quarrelsome, or wilful, and, above\nall, he must not be proud.  Constant association with an inferior race\nis apt to beget a haughty, {201} domineering manner, and the missionary\nneeds to be especially on his guard against this.  He may present no\nstriking defects of character, else his faith will be held responsible\nfor them.  Peculiarities and faults that are known to be merely\npersonal at home are regarded in the mission field as the result of a\nbad religion.\n\nIt is very important that the missionary be an attractive man,\npossessed of personal magnetism.  He should by nature draw men, not\nrepel them.  Although hard to define, we all know what this power is.\nLet a little child come into a room where two men are sitting.  It will\nreadily go to the one, but no amount of coaxing will induce it to go to\nthe other.  The one possesses an innate power to attract, while the\nother repels.  Where the personal element plays so important a role it\nis essential that the missionary possess the power to draw men.\n\nMENTAL QUALIFICATIONS.--Hardly less important than physical and\nspiritual are the mental qualifications.  A mediocre man cannot do good\nwork in any mission field, least of all in a field like Japan.  None\nbut strong men should be sent out.  In former years, when the science\nof missions was little understood, it was thought a waste to send a man\nof unusual intellectual endowments, because an ordinary man could do\nthe work just as well; but the boards have wisely {202} abandoned that\npolicy.  Experience has clearly demonstrated the wisdom of sending the\nvery best men that can be had.\n\nIn the first place, the prospective missionary to Japan should have as\ncomplete and thorough a mental training as possible.  A full academic\nand theological course is highly desirable.  He should know how to\nreason logically and profoundly, and should be a skilled dialectician,\nable to meet the native scholars on their own ground.  The subtle\nphilosophies of the East, which he will daily encounter, can only be\ndealt with by a man thoroughly trained.  The atheistic and agnostic\nphilosophies of the West are spread over all Japan, and the missionary\nmust be able to combat them.\n\nAnother reason why the missionary should be as highly educated as\npossible is that large numbers of the Japanese people are highly\neducated, and a man of poor ability and training cannot command their\nrespect.  Education is to-day being diffused more and more throughout\nJapan, and the missionary must work among an educated people.  It is\nnecessary that he feel himself to be at least the intellectual equal of\nall with whom he comes in contact.\n\nIn order, then, successfully to combat the subtle philosophies of the\nEast, to show the fallacies of the prevalent skeptical philosophies of\nthe {203} West, and to command the respect of the people among whom he\nlabors, the missionary to this land should have a thorough intellectual\ntraining.\n\nLinguistic talent is another essential, and especially so in Japan.  No\none should be sent here who is deficient in this.  This language is\nperhaps the most difficult of all spoken languages for an Occidental to\nacquire.  It is so thoroughly unlike any of the European languages that\nthe student must change his view-point and learn to look at things as\nthe Japanese do before he can make much progress.  To master it one\nmust study both Japanese and Chinese.  While a fair linguist can, by\nhard work, preach with comparative intelligibility after three years of\nstudy, a complete mastery of the language is the work of a lifetime.\n\nIf any one contemplating mission work in Japan remembers that he was a\npoor student of languages at college and made little progress in them,\nlet him feel assured that he can probably serve the Lord better at\nhome.  I state this matter strongly because just here is where so many\nmissionaries fail.  There are men who have been here ten or fifteen\nyears and yet who experience great difficulty in constructing the\nsmallest sentence in Japanese.  Such men are not useless; in certain\ndepartments they serve well; {204} but they would probably be of more\nuse at home.  At least one third of all the missionaries in Japan, if\ncalled upon to make an extempore address in Japanese, would be found\nwanting.  In view of these facts, how important it becomes that only\nthose men be sent out who have a reasonable expectation of learning the\nlanguage!\n\nAlong with natural linguistic talent, the prospective missionary should\nhave a large amount of perseverance.  Nothing but persistent, slavish\nwork through many years will enable one to speak Japanese well; and no\none should come here who is not willing to stick to an unattractive\ntask until it is accomplished.\n\nIt is of primary importance that the missionary have a large endowment\nof common sense.  Nothing else will make up for deficiency in this.  It\nalone gives power to adapt one's self to a new environment and to live\nunder changed conditions.  The demands upon common sense here are much\ngreater than at home, because the conditions under which we live are so\ndifferent, and the practical questions that daily meet us are so\nnumerous.  Dr. Lawrence finely says: \"At home so much common sense has\nbeen organized into custom that we are all largely supported by the\ngeneral fund, and many men get along with a very slender stock of their\nown.  But on the {205} mission field, where Christian custom is yet in\nthe making, the drafts on common sense would soon overdraw a small\naccount.\"\n\nA knowledge of music will be found of great assistance to the\nmissionary, the more the better.  He will often have to start his own\nhymns, play the organ, or direct the music.  He may have to translate\nhymns and set them to music, or even compose tunes himself.  Good\nchurch music is now so essential in worship that every missionary\nshould have a knowledge of it.  But this qualification, while highly\ndesirable, is not indispensable.\n\nThe missionary also needs to a great degree the power of self-control.\nHe should be a cool, conservative man, able to govern himself under all\ncircumstances.  He must not be moved to excessive labor by the present\nneeds of the work, but must exercise self-restraint, husbanding his\nstrength for future tasks.  One of the most difficult things to do is\nto refrain from overwork when the need of work is so apparent.  But the\nmissionary must consider the permanent interests of the work ahead of\nits temporary needs.\n\nTo sum up the desired intellectual qualifications: a missionary to\nJapan should have a good mind, well disciplined by thorough training;\nan abundant supply of common sense; linguistic ability, and the power\nof self-control.\n\n{206}\n\nThere is one other qualification, that can hardly be classed under any\nof the above heads, i.e., _the missionary should be a married man_.\nThe vast majority of missionaries in the field to-day are unanimous in\nthis judgment.  The experience of the various mission boards and\nsocieties also confirms it, and they are sending out fewer single men\neach year.\n\nMarried men make more efficient workers for many reasons.  They enjoy\nbetter health and are better satisfied.  They have a home to which they\ncan go for rest and sympathy, and in which they can find agreeable\ncompanionship.  They have the loving ministrations of a wife in times\nof sickness and despondency, and they also have the cheer and\nrelaxation of children's society.  All of these things tend to make the\nmissionary healthier and happier, and enable him to do better work.\n\nAgain, he should be married because a man of mature years who is single\nis regarded with more or less suspicion.  To the Japanese celibacy is\nan unnatural state, and it is seldom found.  Most unmarried men here\nare immoral, and therefore the unmarried missionary is naturally\nsuspected of leading an immoral life, which cripples his influence.\n\nBut the strongest argument in favor of married as against single\nmissionaries is that the former {207} alone are able to build Christian\nhomes.  The homes of single men are very poor things at best, and\ncertainly cannot be pointed to as models.  But the married man\nestablishes a Christian home in the midst of his people, and sets them\na concrete example of what Christian family life should be.  This\nexample is one of the most potent influences for good operating on the\nmission field.\n\nIn home life perhaps more than in any other respect Japanese society is\nwanting.  The renovation of the home is one of the crying needs of the\nhour.  An open Christian home, exhibiting the proper relations between\nhusband and wife, parents and children, will do much toward bringing\nthis about.\n\nThis argument is not intended to apply against single women who come\nout to teach in the girls' schools.  Their work is entirely different,\nand is such as can be done best by single women.  The argument applies\nonly to the missionary engaged in evangelistic work.\n\nSuch I believe to be the qualifications essential to successful mission\nwork in Japan.  To many the requirements may seem too strict.  But the\nwork to which the missionary is called is a high and noble one, and the\nideal for a worker should be correspondingly high.  The extreme\ndifficulty of the work, and its great expense, make it imperative that\nonly men adapted to it be sent out.  {208}\n\nWhile setting forth this high ideal of what a missionary to this land\nshould be, no one is more sensible than the writer of the fact that\nmany missionaries, including himself, fail to realize it.  But he is\nglad to be able to affirm that a large per cent. of these desired\nqualifications are found in the majority of the missionary brethren in\nJapan.\n\n\n\n\n{209}\n\nXII\n\nPRIVATE LIFE OF THE MISSIONARY\n\nIt is our purpose in this chapter to show the churches at home\nsomething of the life which their missionaries lead in Japan.  We will\nattempt to draw aside the veil and look at their private life--the holy\nof holies.  This is a delicate task, and I hesitate to undertake it.\nAnd yet I think a knowledge of the trials, perils, discouragements,\ntemptations, hopes, and fears of the missionary may be very profitable\nto those who support our missions.\n\nMissionaries are men of like appetites, passions, hopes, and desires\nwith those at home.  They long for and enjoy the comforts and amenities\nof life.  They have wives and children whom they love as devotedly, and\nfor whom they desire to provide as comfortable homes, as the pastor at\nhome.\n\nThere was a time when missionaries were {210} called upon to forego\nnearly all social pleasures and submit to endless discomforts, but that\ntime is past.  The mission home to-day is frequently as comfortable as\nthat of the pastor in America.  It is right that the standard of living\nin the home lands should be maintained by the missionaries abroad, and\nthat they surround themselves with all available pleasures and\nconveniences.  There is no reason why a man should lay aside all\npleasures and comforts so soon as he becomes a missionary.\n\nThose who live in the foreign ports in Japan have nice, roomy houses\nmodeled after Western homes.  Many of them are surrounded with\nbeautiful lawns and fine flowers, and are a comfort and delight to\ntheir possessors.  Most of the missionaries who live in the interior\noccupy native houses, slightly modified to suit foreign taste.  By\nbuilding chimneys, and substituting glass for paper windows, the native\nhouses can be made quite comfortable, though they are colder in winter\nand do not look so well as foreign ones.  The writer has lived in such\na home during most of his residence in Japan, and has suffered little\ninconvenience.  Some of the wealthier mission boards have built foreign\nhouses even in the interior, and to-day there are a good many such\nscattered over Japan.\n\nAs has been before remarked, the mission {211} home is one of the most\nimportant factors in connection with the work; it is a little bit of\nChristendom set down in the midst of heathendom.  It presents to the\nnon-Christian masses around it a concrete example of exalted family\nlife, with equality and trust between husband and wife, and mutual love\nbetween parents and children--things not generally found in the native\nhome.  It is a beacon-light shining in a dark place.\n\nThis is one of the many reasons why a missionary should be a married\nman.  The single man cannot create this model home, which is to teach\nthe people by example what Christian family life should be.  In this\nrespect Catholic missions are deficient, the celibacy of the priests\nprecluding family life.\n\nFirst, then, the mission home is an example to the non-Christian people\naround it.  It is frequently open to them, and they can see its\nworkings.  They often share its hospitality and sit at its table.\nTheir keen eyes take in everything, and a deep impression is made upon\nthem.\n\nJust here arises one of the greatest difficulties the missionary has to\ncontend with in his private life.  The people are so inquisitive\nnaturally, the mission home is so attractive to them, and our idea of\nthe privacy and sanctity of the home is so lacking in their etiquette,\nthat it is hard to keep {212} the home from becoming public.  People\nwill come in large numbers at the most unseasonable hours, simply out\nof curiosity, wanting to see and handle everything in the house.  It is\noften necessary, in self-defense, to refuse them admittance, except at\ncertain hours.  Not only are the seclusion and privacy of the home\nendangered, but the missionary also is in great danger of having his\nvaluable time uselessly frittered away.\n\nNotwithstanding all that the mission home is to the people, it is much\nmore to the missionary.  It should be to him a sure retreat and\nseclusion from the peculiarly trying cares and worries of his work.  It\nshould be a place where he can evade the subtle influences of\nheathenism which creep in at every pore--a safe retreat from the sin\nand wickedness and vice around it.\n\nThe mission home should be a Western home transplanted in the East.  It\nmay not become too much orientalized.  It should have Western\nfurniture, pictures, musical instruments, etc., and should make its\npossessor feel that he is in a Western home.  It should be well\nsupplied with books and newspapers, and everything else that will help\nto keep its inmates in touch with the life of the West.  The missionary\nmay not be orientalized, else he will be in danger of becoming\nheathenized.\n\nFor the sake of his children the missionary's {213} home should be as\nexact a reproduction of the Western home as possible.  These children\nare citizens of the West, heirs of its privileges; and to it they will\ngo before they reach years of maturity.  Therefore it is but fair that\ntheir childhood home should reflect its civilization.\n\nIn order that the missionary may be able to build up such a home it is\nnecessary that he be paid a liberal salary.  While living in native\nstyle is very cheap, living in Western style is perhaps as dear here as\nin any country in the world.  Clothing, furniture, much of the food,\netc., must be brought from the West; and we must pay for it not only\nwhat the people at home pay, but the cost of carrying it half-way round\nthe world, and the commission of two or three middlemen besides.\n\nMost boards operating in Japan pay their men a liberal salary.  They\nalso pay an allowance for each child, health allowance, etc.  All this\nis well.  Man is an animal, and, like other animals, he must be well\ncared for if he is to do his best work.  No farmer would expect to get\nhard work out of a horse that was only half fed, and no mission board\ncan expect to get first-class work out of a missionary who is not\nliberally supported.  The missionary has enough to worry him without\nhaving to be anxious about finances.\n\nEspecially is it wise that the boards give their {214} men an allowance\nfor children.  The expenses incident to a child's coming into the world\nin the East are very high.  The doctor's bill alone amounts frequently\nto more than $100.  Then a nurse is absolutely necessary, there being\nno relatives and friends to perform this office, as sometimes there are\nin the West.  The birth of a child here means a cash outlay of $150 to\n$200, to pay which the missionary is often reduced to hard straits.  If\nhe belongs to a board that makes a liberal child's allowance he is\nfortunately relieved from this difficulty.\n\nThe allowance is also necessary to provide for the future education of\nthe child.  As there are no suitable schools here, children must be\nsent home to school at an early age.  They cannot stay in the parental\nhome and attend school from there, as American children do, but must be\nfrom childhood put into a boarding-school, and this takes money.  Now\nno missionaries' salaries are sufficiently large to enable them to lay\nup much money, and unless there is a child's allowance there will be no\nmoney for his education, in which event the missionary must sacrifice\nhis self-respect by asking some school or friends to educate his child.\nHe feels that if any one in the world deserves a salary sufficient to\nmeet all necessary expenses without begging, he does; and it hurts him\nto give his life in hard service to {215} the church in a foreign land,\nand then have his children educated on charity.\n\nAll mission boards should give their men an allowance for each child,\nunless the salary paid is sufficiently large to enable them to lay\naside a sufficient sum for this very purpose.\n\nThe health allowance is also a wise provision because the climate is\nsuch as often to necessitate calling in a physician, and doctors' bills\nare enormously high.  If the missionary is not well he cannot work; but\nif he is left to pay for medical attendance himself out of a very\nmeager salary, all of which is needed by his wife and children, he will\nfrequently deny himself the services of a physician when they are\nreally needed.\n\nThe work of the missionary is most trying, and the demands on his\nhealth and strength are very exhausting.  The petty worries and trials\nthat constantly meet him, the rivalries and quarrels which his converts\nbring to him for settlement, the care of the churches, anxiety about\nhis family, etc., are a constant strain on his vital force, in order to\nwithstand which it is necessary that he should have regular periods of\nrest and recreation.  Nature demands relaxation, and she must have it,\nor the health of the worker fails.\n\nIt is customary in Japan for the missionaries to leave their fields of\nwork during the summer season and spend six weeks or two months in\n{216} sanatoria among the mountains or by the seashore.  Here their\nwork, with its cares and anxieties, is all laid aside.  The best-known\nsanatoria in Japan are Karuizawa, Arima, Hakone, Sapporo, and Mount\nHiezan.  In most of these places good accommodations are provided, and\nthe hot weeks can be spent very pleasantly.  Large numbers of\nmissionaries gather there, and for a short time the tired, isolated\nworker can enjoy the society of his own kind; his wife can meet and\nchat with other housewives; and his children can enjoy the rare\npleasure of playing with other children white like themselves.  These\nresorts are cool, the air is pure and invigorating, and the missionary\nreturns from them in September feeling fresh and strong, ready to take\nup with renewed vigor his arduous labors.\n\nIt is objected to these vacations that they take the missionary away\nfrom his field of work, and that so long an absence on his part is very\ninjurious to the cause.  This is partially true; but a wise economy\nconsiders the health of the worker and his future efficiency more than\nthe temporary needs of the work.  The absence of the foreign worker for\na short period is not as hurtful as one would at first glance suppose.\nA relatively larger part of the work is left in the hands of the native\nhelpers in Japan than in most mission fields, and these evangelists\nstay at their posts {217} all through the summer, and care for its\ninterests while the foreigner is away.  The same need of a vacation\ndoes not exist in their case, because they are accustomed to the\nclimate, and they work through their native tongue and among their own\npeople.\n\nThe need of this missionary vacation is so evident that we need only\ngive it in outline.  In the first place, the unfavorable climate makes\na change and rest desirable.  As I have already stated, the climate of\nJapan is not only very warm, but also contains an excessive amount of\nmoisture and a very small per cent. of ozone, and is lacking in\natmospheric magnetism and electricity; hence its effect upon people\nfrom the West is depressing.  Besides the climate, the missionary's\nwork is so exhaustive and trying, and its demands upon him are so\ngreat, that a few weeks' rest are absolutely necessary.  The same\nreasons which at home justify the city pastor in taking a vacation are\nintensified in the missionary's case.\n\nNot least of these reasons is that the missionary may for a while enjoy\ncongenial society.  Many of us spend ten months of the year isolated\nalmost entirely from all people of our own kind.  The Japanese are so\ndifferent that we can have but little social life with them; and it is\nbut natural and right that, for a short period, we should have the\nopportunity to meet and {218} associate with our fellow-missionaries.\nThe work which we do the remainder of the year is done much better\nbecause of this rest and fellowship.\n\nDr. J. C. Berry, in a paper read before the missionary conference at\nOsaka in 1883, discusses very fully this question of missionary\nvacations and furloughs.  After elaborating the reasons for them, which\nreasons I have given in brief above, he says: \"It therefore follows\nthat, because of the numerous and complex influences operating to-day\nto produce nerve-tire in the missionary in Japan, regard for the\npermanent interests of his work requires that a vacation be taken in\nsummer by those residing in central and southern Japan, the same to be\naccompanied by as much of recreation and change as circumstances will\npermit.\"\n\nWith all the care and precaution that can be taken, with systematic\nrests and vacations, there soon comes a time when it is necessary for\nthe missionary to return to his home land, to breathe again the air of\nhis youth, and to replenish his physical, mental, and moral being.  All\nthe mission boards recognize this and permit their men in this and in\nother fields to return home on furlough after a certain number of\nyears.  The definite time required by the different missions before a\nfurlough is granted varies from three to ten years, the latter period\nbeing the most general.  {219} But this has been found to be too long,\nand failing health usually compels an earlier return.  Some boards have\nno set time, but a tacit understanding exists that the missionary may\ngo home at the end of six or eight years.\n\nAt the end of the prescribed period the missionary family is taken home\nat the expense of the board, and is given a rest of a year or eighteen\nmonths.  During this time, if the missionary is engaged in preaching or\nlecturing for the board, as is generally the case, he is paid his full\nsalary.  If he does no work he is sometimes paid only half his salary.\nThis is very hard, as the salary is just large enough to support him\nand his family, and their expenses while at home are almost as great as\nwhile in the field.  If the salary is cut down the pleasure and benefit\nof the furlough are curtailed.  If the missionary in the service of the\nboard exhausts his health and strength in an unfavorable climate it\nseems but fair that he should be properly supported while endeavoring\nto recuperate.  When a church at home votes its pastor a vacation,\ninstead of cutting down his salary during his absence, it is customary\nto give him an extra sum to enable him to enjoy it.  Why should not the\nsame be done for the missionary?  He should at least be permitted to\ndraw the full amount of his small salary.\n\nAgainst these vacations is urged their great {220} expense to the\nboards, the greater loss to the mission because of the absence of the\nworker, and the moral effect of frequent returns upon the church at\nhome.  All of these objections have weight, but they are far outweighed\nby the reasons that necessitate the furlough.  The accumulated\nexperience of the different boards makes the judgment unanimous that\nthese are necessary.  The judgment of competent medical men also\nconfirms the statement.  Dr. Taylor said in the Osaka conference: \"I am\nconvinced that a missionary's highest interest requires, and the\ngreatest efficiency in his work will be secured by, a return home at\nstated intervals.\"  Dr. Berry said in the same conference: \"The new and\nstrange social conditions under which the missionary is obliged to\nwork; the effects of climate, intensified in many cases by comparative\nyouth; the absence of many of those home comforts and social,\nintellectual, and religious privileges with which the Christian\ncivilization of to-day so plentifully surrounds life; the home ties,\nstrengthened by youthful affections,--all these combine with present\nfacilities of travel to render it advisable that the young missionary\nbe at liberty to take a comparatively early vacation in his native\nland.\"\n\nFrom an economic standpoint it is wise to grant these furloughs.  It is\npoor economy to keep the workers in the field until they are completely\n{221} broken down, and then have to replace them by inexperienced men,\nwho will not be able to do the work of the old ones for years.  Far\nwiser is it to let them stop and recuperate in the home lands before\nthis breakdown comes.  It costs less money to keep a missionary well\nthan to care for him during a long, unprofitable period of sickness.  I\nquote again on this point Wallace Taylor, M.D., who, in the paper\nreferred to above, said: \"The present haphazard, unsystematic methods\nof most missions and boards is attended with the greatest expense and\nthe poorest returns.  Some of the boards working in Japan have lost\nmore time and expended more money in caring for their broken-down\nmissionaries than it would cost to carry out the recommendations herein\nmade.  Again, I observe that many who do not break down begin to fail\nin health after the fourth or fifth year from entering on their work.\nThey remain on the field, and are reluctantly obliged to spend more or\nless time in partial work, while experiencing physical discomfort and\ndissatisfaction of mind.  Very many of these cases would have\naccomplished more for the means expended by a furlough home at the\nclose of the fifth or sixth year....  Over $90,000 have been expended\nin Japan by one mission alone in distracted efforts to regain the\nhealth of its missionaries.\"\n\nThese furloughs are also needed to keep the {222} missionary in touch\nwith the life of the home churches.  The West is rapidly progressing in\ncivilization, in arts and sciences, and in theology as well.  The\nmissionary who spends ten or more years on the field before returning\nhome finds himself in an entirely new atmosphere, with which he is\nunfamiliar.  He looks at things from the standpoint of ten or more\nyears ago; his methods of work, his language, all are belated.  In\norder that he may give to the nascent churches of Japan the very best\ntheology, the very best methods, and the very best life of the Western\nchurches, it is necessary for him to return frequently to breathe in\ntheir spirit and life and keep up with their forward march.\n\nFor the missionary's personal benefit he should be permitted to come\ninto frequent contact with the home churches.  A too long uninterrupted\nbreathing of the poisonous atmosphere of heathenism has a wonderfully\ncooling effect upon his ardor and zeal, and is trying to his faith.  He\nneeds to come into contact with the broader faith and deeper life of\nthe home churches, and receive from them new consecration and devotion\nto his work.\n\nThe church at home needs also to come frequently into contact with its\nmissionaries.  Nothing will so stir up interest and zeal in the mission\ncause as to see and hear its needs from living, {223} active workers,\nfresh from the field.  If missionaries were more frequently employed to\nrepresent the cause to the churches at home perhaps our mission\ntreasuries would not be so depleted.  Mission addresses from home\npastors are abstract and theoretical; those from missionaries are\nconcrete and practical.  The former speak from reading, the latter from\npersonal experience.  The address of the missionary comes with power\nbecause he speaks of what he has seen and felt, and his personality is\nthrown into it.\n\nFor the sake, then, of the work abroad, of the missionary himself, and\nof the home churches, missionaries should be required to take regular\nfurloughs at stated intervals, and should spend them in the home lands.\n\nHow long can the missionary safely work in Japan before taking his\nfirst furlough?  That will depend upon the nature of the man himself,\nand the kind of mission work in which he is engaged.  The average\nlength of time spent here by the missionaries before the first furlough\nis about seven years.  There are no men more competent to pass judgment\nupon this matter than Drs. Berry and Taylor, who have spent the better\npart of their lives here, in the service of the American Board, and who\nare thoroughly acquainted with the conditions that surround us.  Dr.\nBerry says: \"I do not hesitate to affirm that the {224}\n'ten-year-or-longer rule,' still adhered to by some missionary\nsocieties, and by many missionaries as well, is too long for the first\nterm....  I indorse what in substance has been suggested by my friend\nDr. McDonald, viz., that the time of service on the field prior to the\nfirst furlough be seven years, and that prior to subsequent furloughs\nbe ten years; this plan to be modified by health, existing conditions\nof work, home finances, and by individual preferences.\"  Dr. Taylor\nsays: \"My observations have led me to the conclusion that the first\nfurlough ought to be taken at the close of the fifth or sixth year, and\nafter that once every eight or ten years.\"\n\n\nWe have yet to look at the trials and sorrows, the encouragements and\njoys, of the missionary.  We have already looked into the missionary's\nhome; let us now endeavor to look into his heart.  If the former is his\n_sanctum_, this is his _sanctum sanctorum_; and I trust my missionary\nbrethren will pardon me for exposing it to the public view.\n\nWe will pass by all physical hardships, such as climate, improper food,\npoor houses, etc.  Although these are often greater hardships than the\npeople at home know, they are but \"light afflictions\" to the\nmissionary.  His real trials lie in an entirely different sphere.\n\nThe greatest hardship the missionary has to {225} bear is his\nloneliness and isolation.  Separated almost entirely from his own race,\nhe is deprived of all those social joys that are so dear to him.  The\nthought of his kinsmen and friends is ever in his mind, but alas! they\nare so far away.  He must go on year after year living among a people\nfrom whom an impassable gulf separates him, leading the same lonely\nlife.  For the first year or two he rather enjoys the quiet and\nprivacy, but by and by it becomes almost unendurable.  Dr. Edward\nLawrence has correctly styled the missionary \"an exile.\"  We cannot do\nbetter than quote his words: \"Very many of the missionary's heaviest\nburdens are summed up in the one word whose height and breadth and\nlength and depth none knows so well as he--that word 'exile.'  It is\nnot merely a physical exile from home and country and all their\ninterests; it is not only an intellectual exile from all that would\nfeed and stimulate the mind; it is yet more--a spiritual exile from the\nguidance, the instruction, the correction, from the support, the\nfellowship, the communion of the saints and the church at home.  It is\nan exile as when a man is lowered with a candle into foul places, where\nthe noxious gases threaten to put out his light, yet he must explore it\nall and find some way to drain off the refuse and let in the sweet air\nand sun to do their own cleansing work....  The {226} missionary is not\nonly torn away from those social bonds that sustain, or even almost\ncompose, our mental, moral, and spiritual life, but he is forced into\nclosest relations with heathenism, whose evils he abhors, whose power\nand fascinations, too, he dreads.  And when at last he can save his own\nchildren only by being bereft of them, he feels himself an exile\nindeed.\"\n\nThe missionary's life is full of disappointments.  Men for whom he has\nlabored and prayed it may be for years, and in whom he has placed\nimplicit confidence, will often bitterly disappoint him in their\nChristian life.  Boys who have been educated on his charity, who are\nwhat they are solely by his help, will frequently be guilty of base\ningratitude, and, worse yet, will repudiate his teachings.  The native\nchurch not having generations of Christian ancestry behind it, and not\nbeing in a Christian environment, is often, it may be unwittingly,\nguilty of heathen practices that sorely try the heart of the\nmissionary.  The struggle between the new life and the old heathenism\nis still seen in the church-members and even in the native ministry.\nEach missionary, if he would be well and cheerful in his work, must\nlearn to cast all burdens of such a character on the Lord, and not be\noppressed by them.\n\nOne of the greatest trials some of us have to bear is that we must live\nin an environment so {227} unconducive to personal growth and\ndevelopment There is a great deal of ambition lurking about us still,\nand we do not like to see our own development cut short because of an\nunfavorable environment, while our friends and classmates at home, who\nwere no more than our equals in former days, far surpass us in\nintellectual development and in influence and power.  Perhaps a\nmissionary should be above such thoughts and should be perfectly\ncontent with a life of obscurity and partial development; but\nmissionaries are still men, and to many an ambitious one the limits\nplaced upon his personal development are very irksome.\n\nBut why are the conditions unfavorable to high personal development?\nBecause those stimulants to prolonged, vigorous effort that exist in\nthe West are lacking.  The stimulus of competition, the contact of\nthinking minds, so necessary to enlist the full exercise of a man's\npowers, are largely wanting.  One is shut up to his own thoughts and to\nthose he gets from books, and his development, in so far as it does\nproceed, is very apt to be one-sided.  This is the reason why so many\nmissionaries are narrow, unable to see a subject in all its relations\nand to give due importance to each.\n\nThe work of the missionary from beginning to end is one of\nself-sacrifice and self-effacement.  {228} There is no future for him\nin the councils of the native church.  As the work grows and extends he\nmust gradually take a back seat.  As the native ministry develops, the\nforeign minister is less and less needed, and must gradually withdraw.\n\nAgain, the home land, father and mother, brothers and sisters, friends\nand companions, are just as dear to the missionary as to any one else.\nYet it seems inevitable that he will gradually grow away from them and\nbe forgotten by them.  Prolonged absence brings forgetfulness; diverse\nlabors and interests put people out of sympathy with one another.  When\nthe new missionary first comes out to his field, communication between\nhim and friends is frequent.  Letters pass regularly, little\nremembrances are sent from time to time, and he is still in touch with\nhis friends at home.  But by and by a change comes.  After one or two\nyears exchange of presents and remembrances ceases; gradually the\nletters cease also, and none come except those from his immediate\nfamily.  Even these become less and less frequent.  The arrival of the\nmails, which at first was looked forward to with so much joy, is now\nscarcely noted.  An old American gentleman who has spent some forty\nyears in the East tells me that he now receives from the home land not\nmore than two or three letters per year.  {229} After a few years of\nresidence here one feels that he is largely out of touch with the life\nof the West, and that he is forgotten, by home and friends.\n\nIt seems to me that churches and friends can do much toward preventing\nthis, and toward brightening the lives of their missionaries, if they\nwill.  Let pastors and friends throughout the church take special pains\nto write interesting personal letters to the missionary.  It will do\nhim good just to be remembered in this way.  It is natural that the\nsame kindness, attention, and love that are shown to the home pastor\nshould not be shown to the missionary, because he is so far away and\nthe strong personal element is wanting.  But if the churches would make\nan effort to share their kindness and beneficence between the home\npastor and the foreign one it would be highly appreciated by the latter.\n\nEspecially does this seem but fair in a case where a church supports\nits own missionary and where most of its members are personally\nacquainted with him.  Such churches speak of having two pastors; one at\nhome ministering to them, and one abroad, in their stead, preaching the\ngospel to the heathen.  Why should not these pastors have equal place\nin their hearts and receive equally their kindness and their gifts?  If\nany preference is shown, it would seem that it should {230} be to the\nforeign pastor, for he has much the harder work.  But the foreign\npastor is generally forgotten, while the home pastor, with whom living\nis much cheaper, is paid a larger salary; he is given a vacation, and a\npurse to enable him to spend it pleasantly; at Christmas he is\nsubstantially remembered, and all through the year he is presented with\nnumerous gifts and shown many favors.  The poor lonely missionary is\npaid a moderate salary and is given no further thought.  Imagine the\nfeelings of a man in a mission field, supported by one church which\nalways speaks of him as its foreign pastor, as he takes up a church\npaper and reads of the favors shown the home pastor; among them such\nitems as \"a nice purse of fifty dollars,\" \"a three months' leave of\nabsence, and expenses to ----.\"  He cannot help thinking with a sigh of\nthat unpaid doctor's bill of fifty dollars incurred by his wife's ill\nhealth last summer, or of the money needed to send his boy home to be\neducated.\n\nA church should try to remember its pastor abroad as well as the one at\nhome.  The home pastor himself could see to it that this is done.  If\nhe should simply say, when handed a present for some purpose, \"Our\nforeign pastor has not been remembered by us, and he needs it more than\nI, therefore we will send this to him,\" the result would probably be\nthat he and the foreign {231} pastor would both be remembered.  If\nlittle expressions of appreciation and kindness, such as this, were\noccasionally shown the missionaries, it would do much to brighten and\ncheer their hard lives.  These are little things, but the little things\nhave much to do with our happiness.\n\nIf the missionary life has its sorrows and disappointments, it has its\npleasures and joys as well.  It is with great pleasure that I turn from\nthe dark to the bright side of our lives.\n\nFirst I would mention that sweet peace and joy that come from the\nconsciousness of doing one's duty.  The true missionary feels that God\nhas called him into the work, and that he is fulfilling the divine\nwill.  This knowledge brings with it much pleasure.  The joy is all the\nsweeter because of the sacrifices that must be undergone in answer to\nthe divine call.  He feels not only that he is in the field by the call\nof God, but also that God is with him in his work, leading, guiding,\nblessing, helping him.  He hears the words of his Master, \"Lo, I am\nwith you alway,\" and he gladly responds, \"In Thy presence is fullness\nof joy.\"  The brooding Spirit of God is especially near the Christian\nworker in foreign lands, and imparts to him much joy and peace.\n\nAnother of the missionary's joys is to see the gospel gradually taking\nhold of the hearts of the people and renewing and transforming them.\nIt {232} is passing pleasant to tell the gospel story, so full of hope\nand joy, to these people whose religious ideas and aspirations are only\ndark and gloomy.  Who could desire sweeter joy than to watch the\ntransforming power of the gospel in the heart of some poor heathen,\nchanging him from an idol-worshiping, immoral creature into a pure,\nconsistent Christian?  It is the good fortune of the missionary to see\nsuch changes taking place in the people to whom he ministers.  And what\na change it is!  For gloom and dejection it gives joy and hope; for\nblind, irresistible fate it gives a loving providence.  The change is\nso great that every feature of the face expresses it.\n\nLastly, the crown of the missionary's life is to see a strong, vigorous\nnative church springing up around him, the direct result of his labors;\nto see it gradually and silently spreading itself throughout the whole\nnation as the leaven through the meal, permeating every form of its\nlife and impressing itself upon every phase of its character.  To this\nnative church he confidently looks for the evangelization of the masses\nand the accomplishment of all that for which he has labored so long and\nso earnestly.  When the missionary can look upon such a native church\nwith the feeling that it will be faithful to its Lord and do His work;\nwhen he can sit in its pews and hear soul-nourishing gospel sermons\nfrom his {233} own pupils, now grown strong in the Lord--then indeed\nhis cup of joy is full.  The trials and sorrows that were endured in\nconnection with the work are all forgotten, and his only emotion is one\nof glad thanksgiving.\n\nIn some lands many missionaries have already received this crown to\ntheir labors; it has been partially received in Japan, and if we are\nbut faithful to our trust shall yet be received in all lands.\n\n\n\n\n{234}\n\nXIII\n\nMETHODS OF WORK\n\nMissionaries attempt in various ways to evangelize the nations to which\nthey are sent.  The extent and variety of the work which the missionary\nis called upon to perform are much greater than the people at home are\napt to think.  He must be at the same time a preacher, a teacher, a\ntranslator, a financier, a judge, an author, an editor, an architect, a\nmusician.  The great variety of the work necessitates a well-rounded\nman.\n\nAll of these offices are, in an indirect sense, ways of doing mission\nwork; but we will here confine ourselves to the consideration of the\nmore direct and positive methods in vogue in Japan.  These are direct\nevangelization, educational work, literary work, and medical work.\n\n\n\n_Direct Evangelization_\n\nBy this I mean the actual propagation of the gospel, by word of mouth,\nto the people to whom {235} we are sent.  I mention this first because\nI regard it as the most important of all methods.  The supreme vocation\nof the missionary is, not to educate, not to heal, but to preach the\ngospel.  It is well for mission boards and missionaries to remember\nthis, for there is danger in many places of making this primary method\nsecondary to education.  While it is probably true that the\nevangelization of the masses will depend ultimately upon the efforts of\nthe native ministry, this should not therefore be construed to mean\nthat the foreign missionary has nothing to do with this department of\nthe work.  He should personally engage in this evangelistic work,\nshould himself come into actual contact with the unevangelized masses,\nand should proclaim the gospel directly to them.  In this way only can\nhe understand thoroughly the nature of the work in which he is engaged,\nand be enabled to sympathize with and advise his evangelists.  He\nshould not only train native evangelists, but should be an evangelist\nhimself, teaching his helpers, by earnest, zealous example as well as\nby precept, right methods of the proclamation of the gospel.  Such work\nmust also bear direct fruit in the conversion of souls; for even in\nthis land, in spite of the great nationalism and strong prejudice\nagainst foreigners, a foreigner will draw larger congregations and be\nlistened to with more attention than {236} a native.  And this is not\nsimply because of curiosity; the people have more confidence in his\nability properly to represent the foreign religion.  For these reasons,\nthen, viz., for the sake of the souls he may win, for the sake of the\nexample he may set to his helpers, and for his own sake, that he may\nrightly understand and appreciate the work, every missionary should, as\nfar as possible, be an evangelist.  This is emphasized here because in\nmany places the evangelistic work is in danger of being subordinated to\nthe educational, and missionaries are not lacking who take the strange\nground that it is neither necessary nor profitable for the missionary\npersonally to come into contact with the unevangelized masses.  This\nseems to me to be a very mistaken view of the sphere of the foreign\nworker.  He should not only train helpers, support and advise them, but\nhe should also go with them among the people and preach to them himself.\n\nThe direct propagation of the gospel may be either local or\nitinerating.  The missionary may reside in one place, have a fixed\nchapel, and there teach all who come to him; or he may go on long tours\nthrough the country, preaching from town to town and from village to\nvillage.  In general these methods are combined in Japan.  The\nmissionary is located in one town and to the work there gives most of\nhis attention; but he {237} also at stated intervals visits the\nsurrounding towns and country, doing evangelistic work wherever he can.\n\nLOCAL EVANGELISM.--For obvious reasons, local evangelistic work yields\nthe greatest returns.  To it the missionary gives his constant care and\nattention, while his visits to the country are only periodical.  Local\nevangelistic work in Japan is carried on somewhat in the following\nmanner:\n\nA house, as centrally located in the town as possible, is rented and\nfitted up as a chapel.  The only furnishings needed are a small table\nand some lamps.  Japanese houses are so constructed that the whole wall\non the street side can be removed, and people standing in the street\ncan see and hear all that is going on within.  In this new chapel, one\nor two evenings a week, the gospel will be preached.  In China there is\npreaching in such chapels every day, but in Japan the people will not\ncome oftener than once or twice a week.  In all probability both the\nmissionary and the native evangelist will preach the same evening, one\nafter the other.  At first very few people will come into the house,\nbut numbers will congregate in the street and will listen to what is\nsaid.  After the service is over an opportunity is given for personal\nconversation on religious topics.  By and by a little interest is\nmanifested, and some begin to come into the house.  A great {238} deal\nhas been gained when people will go so far as to come up into the\nChristian chapel, in plain view of the multitudes, and hear the sermon.\n\nIn many cases the native evangelist lives in the chapel (in the same\nbuilding, but occupying different rooms) and daily meets and talks with\npeople about religion.  In this way he hears of those who are\ninterested, and he and the missionary visit such in their homes and\nconverse privately with them.  In my own mission, as soon as any are\ninterested, they are organized into a catechetical class, which meets\nweekly, and are thoroughly instructed in Luther's Small Catechism.  But\nI find that unless this is preceded by more elementary instruction this\nexcellent little manual will not be well understood.  Real inquirers\nare glad to come and study the catechism and the Bible, and they study\nthem well.  Some of the most satisfactory work I have done in Japan has\nbeen along the line of catechetical instruction.  Some of the larger\nmissions working here have not been sufficiently careful about giving\ntheir converts sound elementary instruction in Christian doctrine, but\nhave left them to gather all the necessary knowledge from the sermons\nthey hear and the instruction given in the Sunday-schools.  One of the\ndesiderata of most missions in Japan is more systematic catechetical\ninstruction.\n\nAmong the first things a missionary does in {239} beginning work in a\ntown is to open a Sunday-school.  The children are generally more\naccessible than the older people, and many of them will come to the\nschool.  They cannot at first be organized into classes, as their\ninterest is not sufficiently great to induce them to attend regularly\nand to study.  The first instruction is usually by means of large Bible\npictures that catch the eye and teach a religious truth.  By and by,\nwhen the work becomes more substantial and the interest more developed,\nthe pupils can be organized into classes and more systematic\ninstruction given.  If there are any Christians in connection with the\nchapel their children form the backbone of the Sunday-school.\n\nA considerable part of the time of the missionary doing local\nevangelistic work, if he is wise, will be occupied in house-to-house\nvisitation.  The Japanese are a very social people, and it is wonderful\nhow a little personal kindness and interest in them will break down the\nprejudice against us and our work.  As a rule, the missionary who goes\ninto a native home with humility, simplicity, and love will gain the\ngood will of the whole household.  Men feel freer to talk about\nreligious subjects in the privacy of their own homes.  In a discourse\nto a promiscuous audience the truth is scattered broadcast, and each\none catches what he can; but in a private {240} conversation in the\nhome the truth especially adapted to the hearer can be given.  It is\nlike a man trying to fill a bottle with water; he will get it full much\nquicker by taking it up in his hand and pouring the water into it than\nby throwing a whole bowlful at it from a distance.\n\nIt is a very pleasant experience to enter a friendly home in the\nevening, to sit around the social hibachi (fire-box), sip tea, and talk\nabout the great questions of time and eternity.  One is generally\nreceived with cordiality and made to feel at home.  He is listened to\nattentively and respectfully, and the questions asked are intelligent,\nappreciative ones.  If the missionary expects his host immediately to\nbe convinced by his eloquence, to agree to all he says, to discard at\nonce his old religion and embrace the new, he will be disappointed.\nBut if he is content to seek an opportunity to present the truth under\nmost favorable circumstances, leaving it to do its own work silently\nand gradually, he will be sure to find it.\n\nHouse-to-house visitation and personal talks with the people are of\ngreat importance in local evangelistic work.  But in doing such work\ngreat care should be taken to comply strictly with Japanese etiquette\nand rules of propriety, and especially to avoid a haughty bearing.  The\nordinary native home is much smaller, simpler, {241} and frequently\ndirtier, than the missionary's, and the people are constantly watching\nfor any recognition of this fact on his part.  He should carefully\nguard himself against any look or expression which might imply his\nsuperiority, or his dissatisfaction with things around him.\n\nI have been both amused and pained by overhearing Japanese imitate the\nsayings and actions of two visiting missionaries.  According to the\nimitation, the one bears himself haughtily and proudly; as soon as he\ncomes near the door he instinctively draws back as though fearing bad\nodors; when he comes in he bows stiffly, seats himself on the best mat,\ncarefully draws up his clothes as though fearing contamination, casts a\nscornful look at the bare walls, utters a few commonplace sentiments,\nand hastily departs.  The other one comes with a cheery greeting, a\nsmiling countenance, and a humble demeanor.  He never notices the lowly\nhouse and bare walls, but quietly and unconcernedly takes the place\nassigned him, freely and appreciatively partakes of the tea and cakes\nset before him, and kindly and sympathetically talks with the people as\none of them.  It is very evident which one of these two will do the\nmost good.\n\nAs soon as the work grows and a small company of believers has been\ngathered the duties of the missionary increase.  There now rests upon\n{242} him that burden which so oppressed Paul--the care of the\nchurches.  He must look after the regular worship of the church, must\ndevelop in his people a church-going sentiment, and must instruct them\nin the observance of all Christian duties.  In this work he will need\nmuch patience, wisdom, and zeal.  The native converts, not having\ngenerations of Christian ancestors as we have, will need oft to be\nexhorted, oft rebuked, and loved much.  Christian duties that are with\nus almost habitual must be urged upon these people time and again.  The\nchurch must be organized and developed into an harmonious working body.\nIn all of this the missionary is fortunate if he has the assistance of\na wise, godly native helper.\n\nPerhaps the most attractive and interesting feature of all mission work\nis this forming and molding, under one's own hand, of the theology, the\nlife, and the activities of a young church.  The one who is privileged\nto do this occupies a position of responsibility than which none could\nbe greater.  May God give us grace to do it aright.\n\nITINERATING EVANGELISM.--No true missionary living in a non-Christian\nland will confine his labors to the town in which he resides.  His\nheart will be constantly yearning over the people in the surrounding\ntowns and country, and he will gladly take advantage of every\nopportunity {243} to make them occasional visits, telling to them also\nthe old, old story.\n\nBut there are other workers whose sole business it is to visit these\noutlying points and carry a knowledge of the gospel to those who cannot\nhave regular gospel ministrations.  Perhaps this feature of missionary\nwork is the one most prominent in the minds of the people at home, who\nare fond of picturing their missionary as a man who goes about from\ntown to town and from village to village, proclaiming the gospel to all\nwho will hear.\n\nChristianity is by nature diffusive.  It spreads itself as naturally as\nthe leaven spreads in the meal.  Confucius taught: \"The philosopher\nneed not go about to proclaim his doctrines; if he has the truth the\npeople will come to him.\"  In striking contrast to this Christ taught:\n\"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.\"\nWe are not only to teach those who come to us, but we are also to go\nout in search of hearers, to carry our message to the people.\n\nWhen our Saviour was upon earth the work He did was largely\nitinerating; going about from place to place, teaching in the\nsynagogue, by the wayside, or on the sea-shore.  The disciples were all\nitinerating evangelists, carrying their message from city to city and\nfrom land to land.  {244} St. Paul was an itinerating missionary on a\nlarge scale.  Not content to abide long in any one place, but looking\nout continually to the regions beyond, his life was one ceaseless\nactivity in itinerating evangelism.  The missionaries through whom\nnorthern Europe and England were converted were itinerants.  And those\nwho to-day in mission fields take their valises well stocked with\ntracts and sermons and go out into the country on long evangelistic\ntours can feel that they are following in the footsteps of worthy\nexemplars.\n\nWe can hardly overestimate the importance of this work.  The word of\nmouth is still the most effective means of conveying a message to the\nmasses, and a knowledge of Christian principles that could else hardly\nbe given is in this way spread abroad throughout the land.\n\n[Illustration: Jinrikishas.]\n\nThe facilities for itinerating in Japan are excellent.  Most of the\nimportant points are easily reached by rail or water.  But in general,\non an itinerating tour, the missionary has little use for the steamers\nand railways.  The points he wants to visit are not on the great\nthoroughfares, but are in out-of-the-way places.  There is, however, a\ngood system of roads, and the jinrikisha, which is everywhere found, is\neasily capable of carrying one 40 or 50 miles a day.  This little cart\nresembles a buggy, except that it has only two wheels and is much\nsmaller.  The seat is {245} just large enough to accommodate one\nperson.  A small Japanese coolie between the shafts furnishes all the\nnecessary motive power.  These are very convenient and comfortable\nlittle conveyances, and are the ones in ordinary use by missionaries in\ntheir itinerating work.\n\nIn recent years the bicycle has become popular for this purpose.  As\nthe \"wheel\" has been made to serve almost every other interest, it is\nbut fair that it should also serve the gospel.  Perhaps to-day one half\nof all the male missionaries in Japan ride wheels.  They have decided\nadvantages over the jinrikisha, chiefly in the way of speed, personal\ncomfort, and pleasure.  I wish my readers could see their\nrepresentatives in Japan just starting on their wheels for a tour in\nthe interior.  Dressed in neglig\u00e9e shirts, caps, and knickerbockers,\nwith a large bundle tied upon the wheel in front of each one, they\npresent a comical appearance.  Many sermons have been preached in Japan\nin neglig\u00e9e shirts and knickerbockers.\n\nThere are nice, clean little inns in all the villages and towns, and\nthe missionary is not put to such straits for a place in which to rest\nand sleep as he is sometimes in other mission fields.  But as the food\noffered him is unpalatable to most foreigners, he carries with him a\nfew things, such as bread, canned meats, and condensed milk.\n\n{246}\n\nThe splendid telegraph system extending over all Japan keeps him in\ncommunication with his family and friends, no matter where he may go,\nand he need not hesitate to go into the interior on that score.  A good\ndaily mail system is also at hand to carry his letters.\n\nFormerly the greatest hindrance to itinerating in Japan was the\ndifficulty of obtaining passports to travel in the interior.  No one\nwas permitted to go outside of certain limits without a special\npassport, and such passports were only given for two purposes: for\nhealth, and for scientific observation.  The government did not intend\nby this restriction to prohibit mission work in the interior, but aimed\nsimply to prohibit foreigners from engaging in interior trade.  As the\nmissionaries were not going for purposes of trade, many of them availed\nthemselves of these passports; but there were some whose consciences\nwould not permit them so to do.  Several high officials were directly\nspoken to about the matter by missionaries; and they replied that, in\nthe eyes of the law, a man could want to travel for only three\npurposes: for health, for trade, or for scientific observation.  As\nthis restriction was simply to prevent foreigners from engaging in\ninterior trade, and as the missionaries were not going for that\npurpose, they were told that they should go on with their work.  The\ngovernment knew well {247} the purpose for which they were going, and\npermitted it; hence their consciences might be at rest.  These\nexplanations on the part of the officials removed the difficulty in the\nminds of some, but not of all.  Fortunately, since the revision of the\ntreaties, passports are granted without any question as to the purpose\nfor which they are wanted, and all who ask it are freely given\npermission to travel where they will.  Since this restriction has been\nremoved more itinerating is being done, and it is probable that it will\nstill increase.\n\nThe missionary does two kinds of itinerating in Japan: (1) he visits\nperiodically a large number of outstations, where are native\nevangelists; (2) he goes into regions where there are no evangelists\nand heralds the gospel.\n\nItinerating among stations where native workers are located and regular\nwork kept up is by far the most frequent.  These tours are generally\nmade about every two or three months, one missionary visiting perhaps a\ndozen stations.  The local evangelist makes all preparations for the\nmeetings, which are generally of a special character.  There will\nprobably be a special preaching service for non-believers, and a\ncommunion service with the Christians.  If there are any baptisms the\nsacrament is then administered.  The visit of the missionary is\nintended to be as much a stimulus and encouragement to the evangelist\n{248} as anything else.  These men, living in out-of-the-way places\nwhere there are few, if any, Christians, are apt to get despondent and\ndiscouraged, and they need occasionally the sympathy and advice of a\nfellow-worker.  The missionary who has charge of this kind of work is a\nsort of bishop, with an extended parish.\n\nWhen fields where no regular work is carried on are visited the work is\nnecessarily different.  In this case the missionary must take his\nhelper with him.  He seldom goes alone, for various reasons.  When on\none of these tours he will spend one or two days in a village, talking\npersonally with all who will come to him.  Very likely he will rent a\nroom in the inn in which he is stopping, and he and his helper will\nthere preach one or two evenings.  Sometimes, if the weather is good,\nhe obtains permission of the authorities to hold the meeting in the\nopen air, and preaches on the street or in the public squares.\nWherever an audience can be gathered the message is told.  After one or\ntwo days spent in this manner they move on to the next town, and there\ndo as they did before, thus going their whole round.  The most that is\naccomplished by this method of preaching is to spread abroad a general\nknowledge of Christianity among the people and break down their\nprejudice against it.  Not many conversions result from it.\n\n{249}\n\nSome may ask what kind of sermons one preaches on these itinerating\ntours.  They should be of the plainest, simplest character.  It is\nprofitable to consume a good deal of time in disproving the false ideas\nwhich prevail concerning Christianity, and in giving the people correct\nviews of its nature.  The nature of God must be carefully explained,\nboth because the word we use for God is in Japanese applicable to an\nearthly hero as well as to a divine being, and because the divinities\nof Japan differ very much in nature from the Christian conception of\nGod.  One can preach a long time on sin before getting the people\nproperly to understand it.  The Japanese are really without any sense\nof sin, and have no word in their language to express the idea exactly.\nWe use the word which means crime or offense against the laws of the\nland.  Then the old story of Christ simply told always commands a\nhearing everywhere.\n\nThe kind of itinerating last described is open to serious objection.\nIt is uncertain and fitful.  One visit may be made to a town each year,\nor some years not even one.  No provision is made for carrying on the\nwork, or for keeping alive any interest that may have been aroused.  To\nbe made very profitable such itinerating should be regular and\nsystematic; the visits should not be too far apart; and as soon as some\ninquirers are {250} found, a native evangelist should be stationed\nthere to care for them.  When conducted in this way it is conducive of\ngreat good.\n\n\n\n_Educational Work_\n\nThe educational department of mission work has in recent years been\ncoming more and more into prominence.  This feature of the work\nattracts the attention of the visitor from the home lands more than any\nother, because it makes more show.  The imposing buildings that are\nerected, and the large number of students that can be gathered into\nthem, make a favorable impression.\n\nEducational work is generally more attractive than evangelistic.  The\nformer is regular, while the latter is desultory.  The former is\ncontinuous, occupying one's time and attention every day; the latter is\nintermittent.  The former can be pursued at home, and the missionary\ncan enjoy the constant society of his family; the latter takes him away\nfrom his family and occupies him abroad.  Educational work is usually\ncarried on in the open ports and large cities, where one enjoys all the\nconveniences of life, with sympathetic society; evangelistic work takes\nthe missionary into the interior, where there are few conveniences and\nno society.  Lastly, educational work is more {251} or less welcomed by\nthe natives, while evangelistic work is unwelcome.\n\nJapan possesses a large number of mission schools.  Their imposing\nbuildings are seen in almost every city of the empire.  Every mission\nof large size has its schools for both boys and girls.  The annual\nsupport of these schools costs the various boards more money than all\nthe evangelistic work that is done in Japan.  More missionaries are\nengaged in educational than in evangelistic work.\n\nA certain amount of educational work seems necessary to the success of\nevery mission.  First in importance is theological training.  A body of\nwell-trained native pastors is absolutely essential.  Especially in\nthis land, where there are many educated people and where all forms of\nrationalism and skepticism are rife, is it necessary that the\nevangelist have a liberal education, that he be well rooted and\ngrounded in Christian doctrine, and able to answer the philosophical\nobjections to Christianity that meet him on every side.  An educated\nministry is just as necessary in Japan as it is in the West, and the\nschools that are providing such a ministry are doing a good work.\n\nBut some of the methods used by them are open to criticism.  Heretofore\nmost theological training has been in the English language, and {252}\nthe language alone has taken up a great deal of the student's time and\nstrength.  And again, very few Japanese young men gain a sufficient\nknowledge of English to appreciate or derive full benefit from a\ntheological course in that language.  Against this is urged the paucity\nof Christian literature in Japanese, and the wide field of religious\nthought which a knowledge of the English language opens to the student.\nThis is very true; but if the same amount of time and energy that has\nbeen expended in instruction in English had been given to the creation\nof a native Christian literature the evil would not exist.  I am glad\nto note that recently nearly all the theological schools have\nintroduced courses in the vernacular for those who cannot take the\nEnglish course.  It would be well if the English course were dispensed\nwith entirely and all instruction were given in the vernacular.\n\nMany of the missions operating in Japan have sent worthy young men to\nAmerica and England for theological training.  In nearly every instance\nthis has proved an unwise investment.  The good people at home take up\nthese young men and nurse and pet them until they are completely\nspoiled.  They come back to Japan unfitted by taste and education for\nthe position they must occupy and the work they must do.  Most of them\nbecome dissatisfied in the work after a few {253} years.  Foreign\neducation largely denationalizes them and removes them from the\nsympathies of their own people.  Of course there have been some\nexceptions to this rule; but, in general, experience has proved that\nlocally trained evangelists are best suited for the work and give most\nsatisfaction in it.\n\nBy this it is not intended to imply that Japanese pastors and teachers\nshould not have the advantages offered by the Western seminaries when\nthey desire them and are able to obtain them for themselves.  They are\nas capable of receiving advanced instruction as we are, and have the\nsame right to it.  But the money which foreign boards spend for\ntraining evangelists should be spent in the field.\n\nBesides the theological schools there are large numbers of academical\nschools for young men, in which a great deal of mission money is spent.\nIn justification of these it is argued that they are necessary for the\npreparatory training of evangelists.  It is said that the education of\nthese future pastors of the church should be Christian from the\nbeginning, and this is true.  But more than half the evangelists now\nlaboring in Japan have not received such training.  The education they\nreceived from government and private schools answers very well in their\ncase.  Actual experience has proved that, whatever may be the {254} aim\nof these academies, as a matter of fact they do not train evangelists.\nMost of the men who take their full course enter other professions.\nOne of the oldest missions in Japan, employing about twenty\nevangelists, has among them only one man who has taken the full\nacademical course in its mission college; but many men have been\neducated at the church's expense for other professions.\n\nAgain, it is said in justification of these academies and their large\nexpenditure of mission money that a Christian education must be\nprovided for the children of the constituency of the mission.  The\nchurch provides a Christian education for her sons and daughters at\nhome; why should she not do it for her wards abroad?  Far be it from me\nto attempt to minimize the importance of Christian education; but will\nit not be time enough for such education when the constituency of the\nnative church feels its need to such an extent that it will demand this\neducation itself, support the schools with its money, and send its sons\nand daughters to them?  At present even the Christian people frequently\nprefer a government school to a mission school; and they often send\ntheir children to the latter, when they do send them, because they will\nthere be given financial aid.\n\nThere was a time when Christian schools did a good work in Japan.\nBefore the government {255} schools were brought up to their present\nstandard the mission schools were well patronized, and they\nconsiderably benefited the cause of missions.  But to-day the\ngovernment has schools of every grade, and frequently they are better\nthan the mission schools.  The students who formerly flocked to the\nmission schools now flock to those of the government, and the former\nhave but few pupils.  The times have changed, and these large,\nexpensive schools are now hardly needed.  In so far as they are needed\nfor the preparatory training of a native ministry, and can be made to\nserve that end, they may be all right, but certainly as an evangelizing\nagency they are not justified.  The native church should be encouraged\nand stimulated to educate its own children; it might even be assisted\nin the attempt, when it has shown an honest effort to do this; but its\nchildren should not be educated for it by the mission free of charge.\nTo spend so large an amount of the people's money in purely secular\neducation seems to me a misappropriation of funds.\n\nMore than half the mission schools in Japan are boarding-schools for\ngirls.  Nearly all the unmarried women engaged in mission work are in\nthese schools, and there are many of them.  Some of these schools have\nvery fine locations and buildings, about as good as those of the\naverage {256} girls' college at home.  That they are more popular and\nbetter patronized than those for boys is because the government does\nnot provide for the higher education of girls as it does for boys.\n\nThe purpose of these girls' boarding-schools is to train up earnest\nChristian women, who will be the wives and mothers of the new Japan.\nIt is said that if the mothers of the nation are made Christian the\nevangelization of the whole people will speedily follow.  This purpose\nis a worthy one.  Most of the girls who enter these mission schools\nbecome Christians, and the training given them seems to be good.  I\nrecently attended the closing exercises of one of the largest of these,\nand was surprised at the progress made by the girls.  They could paint\nand draw, and recite classical music as well as the young ladies of the\nseminaries at home; and I have no doubt that the graduates leave the\nschools pure-minded, earnest Christians, with worthy aims and\naspirations, and with a full intention to exert their influence for God\nand His church.\n\nBut alas! when they go back to their homes the position Japanese\netiquette assigns them so effectually ties their hands that the results\nare bitterly disappointing.  I will mention one case which came under\nmy own observation.  A young lady was educated by a mission school in a\ncertain city, who was noted for her piety and {257} earnest Christian\nspirit.  Her teachers had most extravagant hopes as to the strong\npositive influence she would exert for Christianity.  After her\ngraduation she spent several years in the same school as a teacher, and\nher Christian life was broadened and deepened by longer and more\nintimate contact with the foreign teachers.  She finally married and\nremoved to her new home, in a distant city.  There she attended church\nonce or twice and then stopped entirely.  Neither the urgent personal\nrequest of the native pastor nor the oft-repeated invitation of the\nChristian congregation could induce her to come any more.  Instead of\nexerting an influence for good upon others she herself became a fit\nsubject for mission work.  I have known several cases of this kind, and\nall missionaries have had the same experience.  Social conditions in\nJapan are such that a girl marrying into a non-Christian home can exert\nlittle Christian influence.\n\nBut admitting for the moment the utility of this Christian training for\nthe girls, these large schools are open to serious objections on other\ngrounds.  The course is too long, and the instruction given too\nadvanced.  In many of these schools the girls are kept for twelve or\nfourteen years.  During all this time they are more or less supported\nby mission funds, even down to pin-money.  They are taught all kinds of\nabstract {258} sciences and advanced ideas that can be of no possible\nuse to them.  Latin and Greek, biology, geology, psychology, and many\nother things are taught them that they neither need nor can appreciate.\nPainting, drawing, vocal and instrumental music form a prominent part\nof the curriculum.  Girls are made to practise on the piano for ten\nyears or more who will in all probability never see a piano after they\nleave school.  Of course these are not the only subjects taught; more\nuseful ones are taught as well.\n\nIf mission schools for the education of girls should exist at all the\ninstruction should be much more elementary and practical.  A course of\ntwo or three years, teaching them how wisely to fill their position as\nwives and mothers, would amply suffice.\n\nIt is claimed by the Japanese with great reason that these schools\nunfit the girls for the sphere they must occupy in after life.  A life\nof ten, twelve, or fourteen years in constant association with foreign\nteachers, in a foreign building, with all necessaries and conveniences\nsupplied, pursuing a pleasant course of study, does not fit the pupil\nfor life in her humble home.  No wonder she loves the school and dreads\nto see the day approaching when she must leave it.  Having lived so\nlong under much better circumstances, her home, with its thatched roof,\nnarrow walls, {259} and homely duties, becomes distasteful to her.  Of\nwhat use now are her music and painting, her Latin and Greek, when her\ntime must be spent in boiling rice and mending old, worn-out clothes?\nThere is such a thing as educating people above their sphere in life,\nand such education is more hurtful than otherwise.\n\nBut it is said, \"We are training future Bible-women who will go out and\nteach the gospel to their country-women.\"  In reply to this it can be\nanswered that not a great many graduates of girls' schools become\nBible-women; and it is the experience of nearly every missionary that\nthe best Bible-women are middle-aged women, who may never have been in\na mission school.\n\nAgain, it is said that it is worth while to have these schools if only\nto train educated Christian wives for the native evangelists.  But many\nof the evangelists, even among those who themselves have received a\nmore or less foreign training, prefer wives who have never been in a\nmission school, saying that these girls who have lived so long under\nbetter surroundings will not be contented and happy in the homes they\ncan provide.  It is also true that many of the young ladies who\ngraduate from these schools object to marrying at all, feeling that\nthey have been unfitted for the life they would have to lead.\n\nA very serious objection to the present {260} educational method in use\nby many missions in Japan is that it hinders self-support in the native\nchurches.  These large foreign plants, with their costly appliances,\ncan never be supported by the native churches, and the evident futility\nof the effort so discourages them that they will not even do what they\ncan.  The day when the churches of Japan can become self-supporting is\nvery much postponed by the existence of these costly schools.  At\npresent the native churches could hardly keep the school buildings in\nrepair.\n\nThe whole work of missions in Japan was in the beginning projected on\ntoo high a plane.  To many it seems a great mistake that such large and\ncostly buildings were erected and the schools started on a foreign\nbasis.  Should not the buildings have been entirely of native\narchitecture from the beginning, and the educational work projected on\na plane corresponding to Japanese life?  If small wooden houses, with\nstraw roofs and no furniture, are good enough for these people to live\nin and to transact all kinds of business in, then they are good enough\nfor them to study in and to worship God in.  If from the very beginning\nthe schools and churches had been built on a plane corresponding with\nordinary Japanese houses and life the day would much sooner have come\nwhen the Japanese themselves could undertake their support.  When, in\nthe providence of {261} God, the native church shall have been\nsufficiently developed, materially and spiritually, to undertake the\neducation of her children and the training of her own pastors, the\nmanner in which she will do it will be very different from that in\nwhich it is now done by the mission boards.\n\nI am aware that many missionaries in Japan, for whose opinions I have\nall respect, will not agree with these views.  But, after most careful\nthought and investigation, the above are the conclusions to which I\nhave arrived; and I am glad to know that my views are shared by many of\nmy fellow-missionaries.  It is my sincere conviction that most of the\nmoney now being used for educational purposes in Japan is misapplied,\nand would yield far greater results if used in other ways.\n\n\n\n_Literary Work_\n\nOne of the most important and fruitful branches of missionary work is\nthe literary.  The creation of a sound Christian literature is one of\nthe first and most imperative duties pressing upon the missionary to\nthe heathen.\n\nThis is an exceedingly difficult task.  When we think of how much labor\nand how many precious lives our own Christian literature has cost us,\nwe begin to have some conception of the immensity of the task of\ncreating a Christian {262} literature in a heathen land.  In the first\nplace, the missionary must have a complete mastery of the language,--in\nJapan an appalling task,--and then he must create the terms to express\nso many ideas.  Many of our Christian ideas have no counterpart in\nnon-Christian lands, and the very words to express them must be coined.\nA common device is to take words of kindred meaning and to make them\nserve the purpose, endeavoring to attach our own meaning to them by\ngradual processes of instruction and use.  Thus with the words for God\nand sin in use by most missions in Japan.  These words are _kami_ and\n_tsumi_.  Now _kami_ is the word used for numerous mythological\ndivinities, with natures very different from our God, and is also\napplied to the ancient heroes of Japan.  As it expresses the idea\nbetter than any other word we have, we use it for God; but we must be\ncareful always to explain the sense in which we use it.  The word\n_tsumi_ means crime, or offense against the laws of the land.  Our idea\nof sin is lacking in the Japanese mind, and hence there is no word that\nexactly expresses it.  We take the word _tsumi_ as being nearest it,\nand endeavor to impart to it our own meaning.  In this way we have not\nonly to translate the ideas, but also to coin or modify the words to\nexpress them.\n\nThis work of the missionary is very different {263} from that of\ntranslating English books into a European language which has a circle\nof ideas similar to our own, for there the words are found ready-made\nto express the ideas.\n\nGenerally the first literary work to be done by missionaries is the\ntranslation and publication of portions of Scripture and of tracts.  As\nsoon as their knowledge of the language is sufficiently advanced, they\ntranslate the whole Bible and some good hymns.  Then follow\napologetical and evidential works, and treatises on theology and\nmorality.  Afterward biographical and devotional books, magazines, and\nChristian newspapers are published.  We cannot overestimate the value\nof a good Christian newspaper.  It will carry gospel truth to people\nwhom the missionary and the native evangelist cannot reach, and it will\nhelp much to nourish and strengthen the life of the native converts.\nIn such a paper the latter will probably see their religion set forth\nin all its relations to the questions of practical life in a way they\nseldom hear it done in sermons.  I think parish papers, which are\nbecoming so common at home, would also exert a splendid influence in\nJapan.\n\nIn this field a considerable Christian literature has already been\ncreated.  Among the most important books translated so far might be\nmentioned the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, {264} Luther's Small\nCatechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, Bynyan's \"Pilgrim's Progress.\"  A\nconsiderable number of books on apologetical, evidential, dogmatic, and\nhistorical theology have been published, besides biographical, ethical,\nand devotional books.  There are also several Christian newspapers, and\nrecently the missionaries of the American Board have begun the\npublication of a Christian magazine.\n\nA Christian literature which will be a powerful auxiliary to our work\nis at present forming rapidly in Japan.\n\n\n\n_Medical Work_\n\nMedical work is one of the youngest departments of missionary labor.\nChrist healed the body as well as the soul, and it is peculiarly\nfitting that the missionary be able to heal the body likewise.  Medical\nmissions have done more in some countries toward breaking down the\nprejudice against Christianity than any other one thing.  Doors\neffectually closed to the evangelist have been opened wide to the\ndoctor.  The power for good of a consecrated physician in many mission\nfields is boundless.  The mission boards have fully recognized this\nfact, and have wisely used large numbers of medical missionaries.\n\nIn former times medical missionaries accomplished much good in Japan.\nThey helped greatly {265} to break down the prejudice and opposition to\nChristianity.  Many who came to the hospitals to have their bodies\nhealed went away having their ears filled with words from the great\nPhysician, and their hearts moved by the kindness and love of these\nChristian doctors.  Not only was much direct mission work accomplished\nin this way, but the principles of physiology and medicine were also\ntaught to large numbers of native physicians and students.  Among the\nmen who did most in this work were Drs. Hepburn, Berry, and Taylor.\n\nAlthough they have accomplished much good, medical missions are no\nlonger needed in Japan.  The Japanese themselves have become adepts in\nmedical science, and especially in surgery.  Every town and city has\none or more hospitals where competent medical consultation and\ntreatment can be had, and these now occupy the position formerly filled\nonly partially by the mission hospitals.  A few hospitals and\ndispensaries are still kept in operation by some missions, but most of\nthem were years ago dispensed with as no longer profitable.  We rejoice\nthat Japan has so far progressed as to be well able to care for the\nhealth of her own people, and we adapt ourselves to the changed\ncircumstances, diverting into more fruitful channels the energies\nformerly expended in this way.\n\n\n\n\n{266}\n\nXIV\n\nHINDRANCES\n\nMany of the hindrances that oppose the progress of Christianity in\nJapan have already been indirectly suggested in other portions of this\nbook.  But that they may be more clearly apprehended by the friends of\nmissions at home, and that the effect of their militating influence may\nbe fully felt, we will endeavor in this chapter to arrange them in\norder and show just how they oppose our work.  For the sake of\nclearness and logical order we will consider the subject under two\ndivisions: 1. Hindrances in Japan common to all mission fields; 2.\nHindrances peculiar to Japan.\n\n1. There are certain things inherent in the very nature of Christianity\nthat impede her progress.  They are necessities of her being, and\ncannot be gotten rid of.  These things may be either a part of\nChristianity herself, belonging to her nature, {267} or they may be\nnecessary results of her acceptance by non-Christian peoples.  For this\nreason they are encountered wherever the gospel is propagated; they are\ncommon hindrances to the advance of our faith alike in China, India,\nAfrica, and Japan.\n\nAlthough not peculiar to Japan, it seems to me wise briefly to refer to\nthese universal hindrances, because often they are not realized in\ntheir full force and power either by the people of our home churches or\neven by our pastors.  To appreciate fully their militating influence\none must go to the mission field, and there observe them actually\nhindering the rapid progress of evangelization.  There they are seen in\na new light, and are impressed upon the mind as they can hardly be\notherwise.  If I can succeed in causing the constituency of the\nchurches at home to realize the number, magnitude, and power of these\nhindrances I will have done good service for the cause of missions.\n\nAs the first one of these universal militating influences, inherent in\nthe very nature of missions, opposing the progress of Christianity\nwherever its teachings are newly propagated, I would mention its\n_revolutionizing tendency_.  Christian missions are in their nature\nrevolutionizing.  The result is inevitable and unavoidable.  The\nadvance of Christianity in a heathen land {268} necessitates the\nrevolutionizing of many institutions that have obtained for centuries.\nNot only must the religious ideas undergo a revolution, but all moral\nideas, and manners and customs as well.  The reasons for this are very\nevident.\n\nReligion is intimately connected with the life of man.  It furnishes\nthe motive power of his life, controls his actions, creates his\nmorality, determines his manners and customs, and shapes his laws.  The\nethnic religions are just as intimately interwoven with the lives of\ntheir adherents as Christianity is with the lives of Christians; and\nBuddhism, Confucianism, and Brahmanism have shaped and determined the\nlives and actions of their adherents.\n\nThe connection between religion and morality is a necessary and\nindissoluble one.  The two are united in their growth and development,\nand the form of morality is necessarily colored by the dominant\nreligion.  Wherever the Buddhist faith has been accepted there has\nsprung up a system of morality peculiar to it; so that we speak of a\nBuddhistic in opposition to a Christian morality.  This morality is\ndependent upon the religion, and a change of religion must bring about\na change of morality.\n\nChristianity, having necessarily developed a morality in accord with\nits principles, must, as it advances, destroy the existing systems and\ncreate {269} widely different ones.  While the better element in\nheathen nations has more or less outgrown its religious ideas and\nsuperstitions, and can calmly contemplate a change of religion, yet its\nmoral system has a stronger hold, and anything which antagonizes it is\nseverely condemned.  This necessary revolutionizing of moral ideas very\nmuch opposes the progress of Christianity.\n\nThe acceptance of Christianity necessitates also a revolution in\nmanners and customs.  These are partially an expression of the faith\nthat is in us, their nature being determined by it.  A change of\nreligion, therefore, means a change in all of these.\n\nPeople have great respect for time-honored customs, and that which\nantagonizes these brings upon itself condemnation.  Christianity\nchanges the manners and customs, and therefore the people do all they\ncan to oppose it.\n\nIn these ways the work of missions is revolutionizing, and must expect\nto encounter the opposition of the spirit of conservatism, which is\nmuch stronger in the East than in the West.\n\nA second principle inherent in the very nature of Christianity which\nhinders its progress in heathen lands is its _exclusiveness_.  Our\nreligion is among the most intolerant in its attitude toward other\nfaiths.  We believe and teach that \"there is none other name under\nheaven given among {270} men, whereby we must be saved,\" than the name\nof Christ.  While acknowledging that other religions contain grains of\ntruth, we must affirm that, as religious systems, they are false.\nChrist sent forth His apostles to make disciples of all, winning them\nto the Christian faith.  And the aim of the church to-day is, not to\ncultivate brotherly love and communion with other _religions_, but\nrather to exterminate them and make Christians of all.  She can brook\nno rival.  Her adherents must give their allegiance to her alone.\n\nChristianity not only claims to be the only religion, but she can offer\nno hope to those outside of her pale.  While the Bible does not demand\nthat I teach the Japanese that their ancestors are surely lost, it\ncertainly gives me no ground for assuring them of their salvation.  We\nall revere our forefathers, but none so much as the Oriental.  He pays\nperiodical visits to the tombs of his ancestors; he worships his father\nand commemorates the day of his death by mourning.  A heaven from which\nhis ancestors are excluded has little attractions for him.  Often does\nthe Shintoist say, \"I would rather be in hell with my ancestors than in\nheaven without them.\"\n\nIf Christianity could be less exclusive and more tolerant of other\nfaiths she would find a much more ready acceptance at the hands of\nnon-Christian peoples.  But she cannot be so and be true {271} to her\nown nature and mission.  In ancient Rome, when the church was called to\npass through fire, the manifestation of a more tolerant spirit would\nhave saved her from that awful persecution.  The Romans had many gods\nand did not object to one more.  They adopted those of all the\nconquered peoples, and were ready to adopt the Christians', and erect\nan altar to Him, if the Christians would acknowledge Him as simply one\namong the other gods.  And from that day to this the exclusive claims\nof Christianity have brought upon her trials and persecutions, and have\nhindered her progress throughout the earth.  Especially is this\nreligious exclusiveness unpopular in Japan, because there the native\nreligions are very tolerant of one another.\n\nThese are some of the strongest hindrances to the rapid progress of\nChristianity in pagan lands.  They belong to the very nature of our\nfaith, and cannot be avoided.  Their antagonizing influence is\nencountered wherever the gospel is preached.\n\n2. But I think that the greatest hindrances to mission work in Japan\nto-day are those which are peculiar to this field.  Many circumstances\nconspire to make Japan stand alone among mission fields.  She has been\npronounced at once the most promising and the most difficult of all\nfields for evangelistic work: the most promising because of the life,\nforce, and ability of her people; the {272} most difficult because of\nthe host of peculiar hindrances under which the evangelist must labor\nthere.  I will proceed to point out some of these.\n\n(1) Perhaps the most potent at present is the _extreme nationalistic\nfeeling_, which has brought into disrepute everything of foreign\norigin.  The Christian religion, being a foreign institution, is\ntherefore unpopular, and is thought to be less adapted to the people\nand less liable to nourish a strong national feeling than the native\nShinto.\n\nIt is hard for us to realize the fanatical intensity of their\npatriotism.  Having been taught for so many centuries that this is the\nfirst virtue, the people have exalted it above everything else.  \"Japan\nfirst, forever, and always,\" is the universal motto.  There is hardly a\nman, woman, or child in the empire to-day who would not be perfectly\nwilling to lay down his life for the good of the country.\n\nThis extreme patriotism operates in several ways to hinder the progress\nof Christianity.  It prevents the ready acceptance of the new religion.\nThere are a great many so ignorant and inconsistent as to hate\nChristianity just because it is of foreign origin, thinking that\nnothing good can originate outside of Japan.  Such people adhere to the\nnative religion, in spite of its inferiority, simply because they think\nthat to do so is patriotic.  But there is a much larger and more {273}\ninfluential class that is led to antagonize Christianity from patriotic\nmotives other than this.  They hold that a belief in the native\nreligions is necessary to preserve their darling patriotic spirit, and\nthat the adoption of any foreign religion would gradually destroy all\npatriotism and loyalty.  Christianity is not national, but\ncosmopolitan.  It teaches the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of\nman, both of which great ideas are repugnant to most Japanese, because\nthey do not harmonize with their ideas of the divine origin of the\nimperial family, and their national superiority to the other races of\nthe world.  They want a religion which exalts Japan above everything\nand inculcates patriotism and loyalty to her alone.\n\nBut the most hurtful influence of this extreme nationalism is felt\nwithin the pale of the church herself.  Actuated by it, many of the\nnative Christians, both clerical and lay, want to do away with\neverything foreign in connection with the churches.  The more strictly\nnational they can make their work the better satisfied are they.  Not\nonly do they antagonize the missionary and try to push him off the\nfield, but they also antagonize foreign theology, and want to build up\na native system with no foreign taint.  The result is great friction\nbetween the native and foreign workers, strained relations, and in many\ninstances {274} open antagonism.  This want of cordiality and harmony,\nfor which the national feeling is largely responsible, is very hurtful\nto the best interests of our work.\n\nBut the desire for a purely native theology, which this strong,\nbenighted patriotism begets, is even more hurtful than its sowing seeds\nof discord among the workers.  Many of the leading native ministers and\nlaymen say that it is folly for their churches to perpetuate the\ntheological divisions and creeds of the West, and they propose to\ndevelop a theology peculiarly their own.  Now Christianity cannot be\nkept pure and sound without paying due regard to its historical\ndevelopment; and the Japanese, in cutting loose from this, have already\nrun into heresy.  The danger is that a Christianity may be developed\nwhich is lacking in all that is distinctively Christian, and which will\nbe harder to overcome than the old heathenism.\n\n(2) Another hindrance which has operated with great power throughout\nthe whole history of Protestant missions in Japan is the _past record\nof Christianity_.  In a former chapter upon the \"First Introduction of\nChristianity\" I have told how Christianity was first introduced, how it\ngrew to magnificent proportions, and how finally it was crushed by the\nsecular arm.  The fact that the government once felt constrained to\nextirpate {275} Christianity, at whatever cost, and especially the fact\nthat the Christians dared oppose the government, have brought our\nreligion into disrepute.  Since, according to native morality, whatever\ngovernment does is right and whatever government opposes is wrong, the\nmere fact of this opposition on the part of the government is enough to\ncondemn Christianity in the eyes of many.  Then the fact that the\nChristians at last rebelled gives color to the idea already formed that\nChristianity is disloyal to Japan.  That idea prevails widely, and in\nmany quarters Christians are regarded with suspicion.\n\nA memory of the past bitter persecutions and of the hated rebellion\nstill lingers.  The old people talk of them around the hibachi, as they\nsip their tea and smoke their pipes; the young read of them in the\nhistories, and thus their memory is kept alive.  Many are still living\nwho saw and read the rigid prohibitions of Christianity on the\nsign-boards over all the country, and they cannot forget them.  There\nare not a few people in the empire who to this day have hardly learned\nthat the changed attitude of the government toward Christianity is more\nthan outward; and these still regard the foreign faith as the chief of\nall evils.  It is really pathetic sometimes to hear them talk of it.\nThere was an old man living near a Christian chapel not far from here,\nwho one day was {276} complaining of his woes and wishing to die.  He\nsaid it had been a bad year, and none of his crops had done well, two\nof his children had died, his country had been insulted by a foreign\npower, and, to cap the climax, Christianity had come and taken up its\nabode next door to him.  This last evil was too much, and he wanted to\ndie.  He still regarded our faith as the worst of evils.  I once gave a\nfew tracts to some old men in a mountain village near Saga, and they\nremarked that they remembered the time when it would have meant certain\ndeath to be seen with one of those little books.\n\n(3) The _character of the education_ prevalent in Japan to-day is also\nantagonistic to Christianity.  The Japanese are a studious race and are\ncapable of high mental development.  The country is so well supplied\nwith schools--nearly all of them government institutions--that no one\nis too poor to receive some education.  There is, on the part of the\nschool authorities, no open antagonism to Christianity as such.\nAccording to the regulations, no one religion is to be favored more\nthan another in the schools, and complete religious liberty is to be\nallowed.  But the general tenor of the education given is\nunchristian--an exaltation of reason above faith, of science above\nreligion.  Especially is the tendency of the higher education against\nany form of religion.  The {277} educators of Japan are training a\nnation of atheists and agnostics.  The scientific schools of the West\nthat have no room for religion are studied earnestly and copied by\neducated Japan.  In philosophy Herbert Spencer and his school have been\nacknowledged masters.  Indeed, it never seems to have occurred to the\nminds of thinking Japanese that there are systems of philosophy other\nthan the materialistic.  All religious sentiment is crushed in the\nschools, other things being substituted.  Science, learning, is thought\nto be all that is necessary, and religion is left for old women and\nchildren.  Men who still believe in religion are thought superstitious\nand uneducated, and are regarded with a sort of lordly contempt.  In a\nconversation some time ago with a graduate of the Imperial University I\nwas dogmatically told that Christianity was acknowledged to be absurd\nby all thinking men everywhere, that all religions are only for the\ninfancy of the race, and that full-grown men can dispense with them.\nThis man's views are the usual product of the higher education, of\nJapan to-day.  Hence it happens that few students of the higher schools\nare Christian, and frequently men go there with Christian sentiments,\nonly to lose them before they leave.\n\n(4) The _old religions of Japan_ strongly oppose the march of\nChristianity.  Men often speak as though the old heathen faiths had\nlost their power {278} and were no longer really believed.  Their power\nis on the wane, but they lack much of being dead.  They still possess\nenough vitality strongly to oppose the evangelization of this land.\nThe old Shinto faith, having the decided advantage of national origin,\nand fitting in exactly with Japanese ideas of their relative national\nimportance and the nature of their emperor, is a strong opposing\ninfluence.  Buddhism still possesses a strong hold upon the masses of\nthe people.  It has the recommendation of age, has played a prominent\npart in the national history, and is dear to the hearts of the people.\nIt occupies a decided vantage-ground from which it opposes us and our\nwork.  To some in the West it seems almost incredible that these people\nshould really believe and trust in these faiths.  And yet be assured\nthat they do believe and trust in them.  There are about the same\nsincerity, the same confidence, and the same faith placed in Buddhism\nby its adherents as are placed in Christianity by its.  The religious\ncravings and instincts of the people are, on the whole, satisfied by\ntheir native religions.\n\nThe opposition of Buddhism to Christianity does not consist solely in\nmisrepresentation, nor is it founded on ignorance, but is an\nintelligent opposition.  Some of the Buddhist priests study carefully\nour language for the purpose of reading {279} our theology and\ninforming themselves as to our faith.  It is said that one of the very\nbest collections of books of Christian evidences and apologetics to be\nfound in all Japan is in the Buddhist library in Kyoto.  Buddhism has\nlearned some useful lessons from Christianity.  She is now learning the\nvalue of stated preaching for the information of her people in Buddhist\ndoctrine, and the value of organized, systematic effort.  A Young Men's\nBuddhist Association has been formed, after the model of the Young\nMen's Christian Association, which is doing much toward holding the\nyoung men to the Buddhist faith.  Buddhism is on the alert, is quick\nand active, antagonizes us at every turn, and is one of the very\nstrongest hindrances to the progress of Christianity.\n\n(5) The _social ostracism_ visited upon those who become Christians\nvery much hinders our progress.  Most of our converts, unless their\nrelatives and friends are Christians, are ostracized; in many cases\nthey are entirely cut off from their families and are disinherited.  In\nAmerica, when one becomes a Christian, he has the encouragement and\nsympathy of all good people, and his family and friends rejoice with\nhim.  In Japan for a member of a family to become a Christian is\nconsidered a disgrace, and the united influence of family and friends\nis powerfully exerted to prevent such a {280} calamity.  Influential\nmen in our city have told me that perhaps the greatest hindrance to my\nwork is that by becoming a Christian a man shuts himself off from his\nfamily and friends.  I am convinced that many would take a stand for\nChrist much more readily if the home influence were not so\nantagonistic.  A student in the Normal School of our city, who came to\nme for many months to study Christianity, told me that his family\nbitterly hated the Christian religion, and that he could not return\nhome if he became a believer.  In spite of this he was led by the\nSpirit to ask for baptism, and I baptized him.  Afterward he wrote very\ndutiful letters to his home, trying to explain that he felt impelled by\nduty to take this step, and that Christianity was not so heinous a\nthing as they supposed; but no answers came.  In course of time, being\ncompelled to return to his own town on business, he went to his home to\nspend the night; but his mother and brothers would not recognize him,\nand he had to go away to a hotel.  His father was dead, and his mother\ntried to disinherit him, but was by the law prevented.  His family and\nfriends have never forgiven him, and now he never sees them.  Similar\ncases could be cited without number proving the same thing.  Is it not\nnatural, then, for a man to hesitate to take this step?\n\n{281}\n\n(6) Another obstacle to the progress of missions in Japan is that the\n_church is too much divided_.  Almost every small religious body known\nhas felt it incumbent upon itself to undertake work here.  It may be\ntrue that denominations working separately are no hindrance to the\ncause of Christ in the home field, but I think they are surely a\nhindrance in the foreign work.  It is a fine rhetorical figure to liken\nthe various denominations and sects to different divisions of one vast\narmy, all engaged under the same general, in the same work; but the\nfigure does not represent the facts.  We do not have one vast Christian\narmy, each division occupying only its own field, directed by one mind,\nand moving in unison.  The most optimistic cannot so regard the\ndifferent denominations and sects of Christendom.  Like other oft-used\nfigures, this one is entirely at variance with the facts.  Oftener is\nit true that these sects oppose one another, and much prefer their own\nwelfare to that of the whole body of Christ.\n\nYou cannot satisfactorily explain to non-Christian people the reasons\nwhy you must have a Lutheran, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, and a\nBaptist church; and if they could be brought to understand our\ndifferences this would in no way recommend us or our creed to them.  It\nis a great pity that each mission field is not allotted to some one\ndenomination and left alone by all {282} the others.  If this cannot\nbe, at least only one body should work in one town.  Then these\ncomplications would be partially avoided, and Christianity would more\nrecommend itself to the thoughtful citizen.\n\nWe suffer in Japan more from a superfluity of sects than of\ndenominations.  The Universalists and Unitarians are here with their\nheresies, and are poisoning many minds.  Many other bodies are here,\nantagonizing the established order of things and teaching religious\nanarchy.  I suppose there is no mission field in the world that has a\nlarger number of sects and divisions.\n\nBut the regular orthodox denominations work more harmoniously in Japan\nthan in the home lands.  Strifes and jealousies between them are rare,\nwhile expressions of mutual appreciation and of Christian courtesy are\ncommon.\n\n(7) I think the _foreign communities_ in the open ports of Japan are a\nhindrance to the work of evangelization.  In the seven treaty ports\nthere are regular concessions for foreign residence and trade, and\nthousands of foreigners live in them.  These communities are largely\ncomposed of merchants and of those connected with the various\nconsulates, most of whom have come here for purposes of gain, and are\ninterested in nothing besides money-getting.  A large per cent. of this\npopulation is very undesirable.  As representatives {283} of Western\ncivilization (the product of Christianity) the foreign settlements\nshould be model Christian communities, and were they such they could\nexert a powerful influence for good.  But as it is, their example does\nnot recommend itself to the Japanese.\n\nTo say nothing whatever of the charges of immorality and dissoluteness\npreferred against these men, they are certainly not Christians.  One\nwould think, to observe them, that they had not come from Christian\nlands at all.  Many who are here only temporarily, being away from all\nhome influences and restraints, set a most ungodly example.  They will\nnot attend church; they take no interest in religious work; they speak\ndisparagingly of religion in general, and of the Christian religion in\nparticular; and to them a missionary is an eyesore.  While we are\nlaboring to Christianize the people, our own countrymen, the\nrepresentatives of Christian lands and the exponents of a Christian\ncivilization, are in the foreign ports setting a most ungodly example.\nThe natives are quick to notice these things, and they reason that, if\nour faith is as good as we represent it to be, why have our countrymen\nnot profited better by it?  The presence of these antichristian\nrepresentatives of Christendom is a great hindrance.\n\nBut not all of the foreigners in the open ports {284} of Japan are of\nthis character.  There are some good Christian men and women among the\nbusiness classes, who are interested in all kinds of Christian work.\nAnd yet the prevailing tendency of the foreign business communities is\nagainst Christian work.\n\n(8) The last but not the least hindrance I will mention is the\n_language_.  It has been said of both Chinese and Japanese that they\nwere invented by the devil to keep Christian missionaries from speaking\nfreely with the natives.  Whether that be true or not, it certainly is\ntrue that Japanese is one of the most difficult languages on the globe.\nTo know it well, three different languages must be acquired: spoken\nJapanese, written Japanese, and Chinese.  The colloquial and the book\nlanguage are quite different, the literary being partly Chinese.  The\nlatter is written by ideographs, and you must have a sign for each\nidea.  About five thousand of these characters will enable one to get\nalong, although there are probably fifty thousand in all.  By a sheer\nact of memory to learn five thousand hideous characters is no little\ntask.  The colloquial itself is exceedingly difficult to use aright.\nMy readers may be surprised to learn that of the missionaries laboring\nin Japan one third cannot speak the language intelligibly to the\nnatives.  It seems that many Occidentals, laboring never so hard,\nreally cannot {285} acquire the language.  One never feels sure in this\nlanguage that he is saying just what he wants to say.  If it were less\ndifficult, so that missionaries could acquire complete command of it\nand use it as readily as they do their mother tongue, the work of\nevangelization would go on more rapidly.\n\nThese, as I understand them, are the principal things which at present\nhinder the progress of Christianity in Japan.  Some of them are\ninherent in the very nature of the work, and will be encountered to the\nend.  Others, I believe, are transient, and will by and by pass away.\n\n\n\n\n{286}\n\nXV\n\nSPECIAL PROBLEMS\n\nIn the broad sphere of labor which the missionary must fill he daily\nmeets most difficult problems, whose solution requires the exercise of\nconsummate judgment, skill, and patience.  Although these problems are\nnot given a prominent place in mission reports, and are not therefore\nvery well known at home, they loom up mountain-high before every\nmissionary.  They have a practical importance in the field surpassed by\nnone other.  Men differ so widely in regard to their solution that they\nnot infrequently work division in a mission.\n\nA brief presentation of some of these problems will enable the home\nchurches better to understand our work and to sympathize with us, and\nwill be of practical worth to those who contemplate coming to work in\nthis field.\n\nThe first problem to meet the missionary is, _how to deal with\ninquirers_.\n\n{287}\n\nIn Japan not one in three at first comes with sincere motives and good\nintentions.  On the contrary, he comes seeking some material advantage,\nhoping in some way to profit by his association with the missionary, or\nvaguely expecting to be benefited by an alliance with what appears to\nbe a stronger and more living cause.  Those who from the first are\nimpelled to come by real spiritual motives are indeed rare.  How to\ndeal with such inquirers is the question.  To turn them away would be\nto send them back into heathenism.  Manifestly we must hold them until\nthey have more spiritual motives.\n\nI suppose all missionaries would agree that, no matter how material and\nselfish their motives, inquirers should be encouraged to continue\ncoming, with the hope of gradually leading them into the truth.  We\ncould hardly expect them at first to have pure motives, as such are\npractically unknown to them.  Heathenism, with its degrading idolatries\nand immoralities, does not beget these, and we cannot expect to\ndiscover them until the old religions have been discarded and the\ninquirers have been brought under the instruction and care of the\nchurch.  Therefore, whatever the motive, we should receive them, and\nafter a long period of Christian teaching and discipline look for a\nchange of heart.  But the length of this probation before they are\nreceived {288} into the church, and whether it shall be required--those\nare matters upon which the practice of missions differs widely.  Some\nhave a prescribed time which must elapse before candidates are admitted\nto membership; others leave it to the judgment of the local evangelist\nor missionary.  The latter seems the better plan.\n\nAnother question is, _Just how much shall candidates for\nchurch-membership be required to give up_?  As to strictly heathen\npractices, such as idolatry and gross immorality, there can be no\nquestion.  But what of practices about which the judgment of men\ndiffers?  Some missions require total abstinence from all intoxicating\ndrinks.  Some, like the Methodist, require abstinence from the use of\ntobacco, especially on the part of pastors and evangelists.  These\nchurches urge in favor of their position the comparative ease with\nwhich such restrictions may be applied in the young churches of Japan.\nShall we follow the lead of these more conservative churches, or shall\nwe adopt a more liberal policy?  Shall we require converts who are\nengaged in any way in the manufacture or sale of tobacco or liquor to\nchange their business?  The practice of our own mission (the Lutheran)\nis, except in the manufacture, sale, or inordinate use of intoxicants,\nto allow liberty of conscience.\n\n{289}\n\nAnother and a very perplexing problem we find to be, _what to do with\nhonest inquirers who have no means of support_.  This class is\nnumerous.  There are a great many poor in Japan--in fact, nearly all\nare poor.  As Japanese custom--even more in ancient times than at\npresent--made the poorer classes look to the rich for their maintenance\nand support, many converts look to the missionary, not to support them\noutright, but to help them into positions where they can earn a living.\nNot a few have their means of support cut off by the very act of\nbecoming Christians.  In such cases it seems but fair that the mission\nshould do what it can to assist them.  But how?  To support them is too\nexpensive, besides being demoralizing to them and the community.  In\nsome mission fields industrial schools, mission farms, and various\nother enterprises are established to provide employment for such, and\nin this way they are helped to support themselves.  But in a country\nlike Japan, where industrial and commercial life is highly organized\nand developed, it is almost impossible for the missions to do such\nwork.  We have neither the means nor the skill to compete with the\nindustries around us.  This question of support for the poor of the\nchurches is a pressing one, and causes the missionary much anxiety and\nthought.  The native church can do {290} much more toward its solution\nthan the missionary, and as the church grows in influence and resources\nthe problem may solve itself.\n\nAfter a body of converts has been gathered, and the time has come for\norganizing a church, the greatest problem of all arises--_the problem\nof the native church_.\n\nThis is not one problem, but is rather a combination of problems, some\nof which are the following: What shall be the form of its organization?\nHow shall its ministry be supplied?  How shall it be supported?  What\nis the relation of the missionary to the native church?  What shall be\nits attitude toward national customs?  These are important and\ndifficult problems, and on their right solution will depend in no small\nmeasure the prosperity and success of the native church.\n\nSome missions do not seem thoroughly to grasp and give due prominence\nto this idea of the native church.  They interpret their commission to\nmean the evangelization of the masses rather than the building up of a\nstrong native church.  But the Christianization of any land will\nultimately depend upon the native church, and not upon the foreign\nmissionary.  Therefore the first and chief aim of the missionary should\nbe to call out and develop a strong, self-supporting, and\nself-propagating native church, in whose hands the {291} evangelization\nof the masses of the people can ultimately be left.\n\nIn the organization of the native church, what polity shall be given\nit?  Shall it be organized exactly as the home church which the mission\nrepresents, or shall it be free to develop its own form of\norganization?  Both of these plans are unsatisfactory.  Most churches\nare agreed that no special form of church polity has divine sanction,\nthis being merely a question of expediency; and that therefore the new\nchurches should, as far as possible, be left free to adopt a\nconstitution in harmony with the national character and habits.\n\nAt the same time, forms of church government that have been tried at\nhome and approved should not be ignored.  What has stood the test of\ntime, and proved its worth in many lands, doubtless will in its main\nfeatures be of substantial value in the mission field.  It is but\nnatural that Presbyterian societies should organize native churches\nunder their own form of government, Methodist under theirs, and\nEpiscopal under theirs.  But, in the very nature of the case, a first\norganization will only be tentative.  As the church develops it will\nprobably develop a polity of its own.  In view of this, the polity\nimposed upon the native church by the mission at its first organization\nshould be as flexible as possible.\n\n{292}\n\nIt would be folly for the Lutheran Church, for instance, which has one\npolity in Germany, another in Sweden, another in Iceland, and still\nanother in America, to attempt permanently to impose any one of those\nspecial forms upon the Japanese Lutheran Church; it will have its own\nspecial polity, but this should not cause us any anxiety or concern.\nIf the faith and life of the church are right, it matters but little\nabout its polity.  We should be more concerned for the broader\ninterests of the kingdom than for the perpetuation of our special form\nof the church, for the promise of final triumph is only to the kingdom.\n\nExperience has settled certain points in regard to the native church,\nwhich Dr. Lawrence, in his admirable book on \"Modern Missions in the\nEast,\" denominates \"axioms of missions.\"  My own experience and\njudgment lead me to give them my hearty indorsement.  Three are named:\n\n1. \"The native church in each country should be organized as a distinct\nchurch, ecclesiastically independent of the church in any other\ncountry.\"\n\n2. \"The pastorate of the native church should be a native pastorate.\nWhatever else the missionary is, he should not be pastor.\"\n\n3. \"The principles of self-control, self-help, and self-extension\nshould be recognized in the {293} very organization of the church.  To\npostpone them to days of strength is to postpone both strength and\nblessing.\"\n\nThe question of self-support and independence is one of the gravest in\nconnection with the native church.  All are agreed as to its\ndesirableness, and all aim ultimately to attain it; but the success\nhitherto attained in Japan is not what might be expected.  There are\nperhaps a larger number of self-supporting churches in Japan than in\nmost mission fields, but not so many as there should be.  The native\nchurches, as a rule, do not contribute what they should or could toward\ntheir own support.  In this regard the statistics usually given are\nvery deceptive.  Many of those churches put down as self-supporting\neither are so largely through the private contributions of the\nmissionaries of the station, or are churches in connection with mission\nschools, where the expense is small because one of the professors, who\ndraws a salary from the board, acts as pastor.  I have heard of one\nchurch marked \"self-supporting\" that was composed of only one man and\nhis family.  This man was the evangelist, who, having some private\nmeans, supported himself.\n\nWhile the annual statistics show fairly good contributions \"by the\nnative churches,\" it should be borne in mind that the contributions of\na large body of missionaries, who are liberal givers, are {294}\nincluded.  At most stations they give more than the whole native church\ncombined.\n\nNative Christians do not contribute as much toward the support of the\ngospel as they formerly did toward the support of their false\nreligions.  The reasons for this are, first, that heathenism induced\nlarger gifts by teaching that every one who makes a contribution for\nreligious purposes is thereby heaping up merit for himself in the life\nto come.  And, second, that the native churches have from the beginning\nleaned on the missionaries and societies, until independent giving and\nself-sacrifice have been discouraged.  The mission board is looked upon\nas an institution of limitless resources, whose business it is to\nprovide money for the work.  And, third, that in many instances the\nnative evangelists do not heartily second the efforts of the\nmissionaries to bring the churches to a self-supporting basis.  They\nwould much rather draw their salaries from the mission treasurer than\nfrom the members of their churches.  The reasons for this are obvious:\nthey could not conscientiously urge their flocks to support them on a\nbetter scale than they themselves live, but they can ask the mission to\ndo this; again, when their salaries come from the mission they are\nprompt and sure, while if they come from the churches they are\nirregular and uncertain.  But in justice to Japanese {295} pastors it\nshould be said that, while the above is true of many of them, there are\nothers who have willingly made personal sacrifices, living on much\nsmaller salaries than formerly, in order to assist their churches to\nself-support.\n\nHow to overcome all these obstacles and develop a liberal,\nself-supporting spirit in the native church is a difficult problem with\nwhich the mission boards are at present grappling.  The Congregational\nChurch has more nearly solved it than any other, yet its number of\nindependent churches fell off considerably during the past year.\n\nThe native church must not be judged too harshly for its failure in\nself-support.  It has not yet been educated in giving as the home\nchurches have, and its resources are very limited.  Most of its members\nare exceedingly poor and have all they can do to provide for the\nsupport of themselves and families.  Our proper attitude toward them in\nthis matter is one of patience, sympathy, and help.\n\nHow shall the native church be provided with a competent ministry?\nThis is a perplexing question to the churches in the home lands; how\nmuch more so in a mission field!  It is necessary to provide pastors,\nevangelists, catechists, teachers, Bible-women, etc.--a whole army of\nworkers.\n\n{296}\n\nThe first question in this connection is, How is the material to be\nprovided?  Shall bright, active boys who seem adapted to the work be\nselected out of the mission schools and especially trained for this\nwork at the expense of the mission, without waiting for a divine call?\nThis is the usual method, but it is far from satisfactory.  Such, not\nhaving sought the ministerial office, do not feel its dignity and\nresponsibility as much as those who are brought into it by a personal\ncall.  Some of the brightest and most promising, after having been\neducated at the expense of the mission, are easily enticed into other\ncallings.  Men so chosen and educated are very apt to consider\nthemselves, and to be considered by others, as simply paid agents of\nthe mission.  Often their labors are performed in a mere routine and\nperfunctory manner, they evidently caring more for employment than for\nconversions.  These are serious objections, and yet many good and noble\nmen have been so trained; it does seem that in the early stages of\nmission work there is hardly any other way of providing a native\nministry.\n\nSo soon as a native church is developed, with its accompanying\nChristian sentiment, the personal call to the ministry can be relied\nupon to furnish the material.  An effort is then made by most of the\nlarger missionary bodies to give a broad training to many men, and to\nrely upon a {297} certain number, in answer to a divine call, seeking\nthe ministerial office.  In this way the mission schools supply a\nportion of the theological students, but in Japan the larger portion\nare not graduates of the mission schools.\n\nAfter the men are supplied, how shall they be trained for work?  Shall\ninstruction be given in Japanese only, or shall English be taught also?\n(For full discussion of this question see Chapter XIII.)  Shall Greek\nand Hebrew be studied?  How far shall the native religions be taught?\nShall the curriculum in other respects be about what it is at home, or\nshall it be modified and especial stress laid upon certain subjects?\nShall students study privately with the missionaries, or shall\ntheological seminaries be erected?  Shall students be encouraged to\ncomplete their theological training in Europe and America?  Space does\nnot permit a discussion of each of these questions, but only a bare\nstatement of the consensus of judgment and practice in Japan after\nyears of experience.\n\nShall instruction in the original languages of Scripture be given?  As\nto the desirability of this there can be no question; but as the whole\nscience of theology is entirely new here, and a study of its more\nimportant branches requires a long time, it has not been customary to\ngive instruction in either of these languages.  In recent years some\nseminaries have been trying to {298} introduce primary courses in Greek\nand Hebrew, and as the schools grow older, and their equipment\nimproves, these languages will gradually be added to the curriculum.\n\nShall the religious systems and books of Japan be taught in theological\nschools?  It is highly desirable that native ministers clearly\nunderstand and be able intelligently to combat the false religions\naround them; and to this end some seminaries give instruction in the\ndoctrines of Buddhism and Shinto as well as Christianity.  In one or\ntwo instances Buddhism is taught in Christian theological schools by\nBuddhist priests, but it is usually taught by Christian teachers in\nconnection with dogmatic theology.  As a rule, the native ministry\ndesires more thorough instruction in the native religions, while the\nmissionaries oppose any extension of the curriculum in that direction.\n\nIn general the same branches of theology are taught here that are\ntaught at home.  It is especially desirable that instruction in\ndogmatics and apologetics be thorough and sound, and these branches\nshould perhaps be emphasized more than others.\n\nExperience has proved that it is much better to have theological\nschools where the native ministry may be instructed than for the\nmissionary to undertake such instruction in private.  All the larger\nmissions have fairly well-equipped {299} theological schools, and\nprivate instruction is only given by a few men whose missions have not\nyet been able to establish these.  It is unfortunate, both for the\nstudent and for the missionary, when theological instruction must be\ngiven in private.\n\nMany Japanese have been sent abroad to complete their theological\ncourse, but the experiment has not been satisfactory.  The consensus of\nopinion now is that for the main body of pastors and evangelists a\nlocal training is much better than a foreign one.  A few men of\nexceptional ability may be educated abroad as teachers and leaders, but\ngreat care must be taken not to denationalize them.\n\nAnother perplexing question in connection with the native church is its\nrelation to the missionaries.  On this subject there is great diversity\nof opinion.  Shall the missionary retain any control over the native\nchurch, or shall he have only advisory power?  Can he take an active\npart in its deliberations, or shall he be excluded from them?\n\nAs the church grows and develops it will come more and more to rely\nupon itself and to act independently of the mission.  The majority of\nJapanese Christians take the ground that the missionary has nothing to\ndo with the organized native church, but that his sphere is with the\nunevangelized masses and unorganized chapels.  {300} In the\nCongregational churches the missionaries have no voice or vote in the\nmeetings and councils, and are recognized only as advisory members.  In\ncontrast to this policy is that of the Episcopal and Methodist bodies,\nin whose councils natives and foreigners meet together and deliberate\nin harmony.  The meetings are presided over by the foreigners, and they\nhave a controlling voice in all legislation.  The Presbyterians also\ntake part in presbytery and synod, but the Japanese usually preside and\nare in the majority.\n\nCertainly the missionary should not be pastor of the native church and\nshould not exercise lordly control over it; but it \"does seem that he\nshould retain some influence, or at least should have veto power\nagainst unwise legislation.\n\nWhat shall be the attitude of the native church toward certain national\nhabits and customs?  Here is a problem that often perplexes\nmissionaries and evangelists.  It is recognized by all that anything\nsquarely in contradiction to Christianity must be opposed.  On the\nother hand, it is recognized that national customs should be carefully\nobserved when they are not antichristian or immoral.  There are some\ncustoms in Japan about the nature of which great difference of opinion\nprevails, such as the honors shown dead ancestors, bowing before the\nemperor's picture, contributing to certain religious festivals, etc.\n\n{301}\n\nWhen a parent dies it is customary for the children to pay regular\nvisits to the tomb, to make offerings there, and to reverence or\nworship the departed.  In the eyes of some this act involves real\nworship; to others it is merely an expression of reverence and respect.\nIt seems that Paul's principle of not eating meat for his weak\nbrother's sake should be applied here.  The act in itself may be\nperformed without compromising a Christian's conscience; but for the\nsake of the common people, to whom it means worship, it should be\nomitted by Christians, and the churches generally forbid it.\n\nIn all the schools, at certain festivals, the emperor's picture is\nbrought out, and all teachers and pupils are required to bow before it.\nThis is a national custom very dear to the hearts of the people, and\nany one failing to comply with it is severely censured.  Much has been\nsaid and written as to the religious significance of the act.  To the\nmore enlightened of the Japanese this prostration before the emperor's\npicture may be only an act of deep reverence and respect, such as is\nshown to royalty in the West by the lifting of the hat, but to the\nmasses it doubtless is real worship, in so far as they know what\nworship is.  This is not strange when we remember the almost\nuniversally accepted belief as to the divine origin of the mikado.  The\ngovernment itself virtually {302} acknowledged the religious\nsignificance of the act when it passed a law permitting foreign\nteachers in the various schools to absent themselves on the day of the\nexaltation of the imperial picture, if they so desired.\n\nNow here is a national custom very dear to the people, in itself\nharmless, but which in the eyes of many involves real worship.  What\nshall be the attitude of the church toward it?\n\nSome religious festivals are observed in Japan which have more or less\npolitical significance.  While they are generally held in connection\nwith some temple, there may be nothing distinctively heathen about the\nfestival itself.  To provide for the expense, each house is asked to\ncontribute a certain amount of money--the Christians along with the\nrest.  There is no legal compulsion in the matter, but every one\ncontributes, and there is a moral necessity to do so.  Now what stand\nshall the Christian church take on this matter?  Shall the members be\nadvised to comply with the custom, or shall they be forbidden to do so?\n\nHow to remain faithful to her Lord, and yet not unnecessarily wound the\nnational feelings of her countrymen, is the delicate and difficult\nproblem which the native church must solve.\n\nA very important problem is, _how to bring about more co\u00f6peration in\nmission work_.  It is highly desirable that Christianity present an\n{303} undivided front to the enemy, that its forces at least work in\nharmony with one another.\n\nWhile men's views on important theological questions differ so\nradically as at present it is useless to talk of organic union; but\nthere can and should be brotherly recognition, mutual assistance\nwhenever possible, respect for one another's views, absence of\ncontroversy, scrupulous regard for another's recognized territory, and\nhearty co\u00f6peration in all possible ways.\n\nThere is something of this realized in Japan to-day.  The Christian\nbodies, as a rule, dwell together in peace and harmony, rejoicing in\none another's welfare.  Contentions and strife are much less common\nthan in the West.  All the various branches of the Reformed and\nPresbyterian churches are laboring in hearty co\u00f6peration to build up\none united native church.  The various Episcopal bodies, while\nthemselves organically distinct, are also building up an undivided\nJapanese Episcopal Church.\n\nBut much yet remains that might be done in this line.  In matters of\npublication, theological education, etc., that involve heavy expense,\nplans might be devised whereby several missions could co\u00f6perate, and\nthus the expense be lessened to each and the work better done.  To\nillustrate: here is a small mission, with only a few workers and a very\nsmall amount of money wherewith to {304} operate.  It has all the\nevangelistic work it can do, and is unable to support its own\ntheological school.  Some of its missionaries are taken from the\nevangelistic work and forced to train, as best they can, one or two\ntheological students.  In the same community is a good theological\nschool belonging to a sister mission, that has only a few students and\nwould be glad to give its advantages to the students of the other\nmission.  It does seem that some plan of co\u00f6peration should be devised\nwhereby each could be accommodated.  This problem is unsolved, and each\nlittle mission goes on working independently of all the others, at the\ncost of larger expenditure and poorer work.  An easier form of\nco\u00f6peration very much to be desired, which has not yet been\nconsummated, is that between different branches of the same church.\nThat those known by the same name, whose doctrine and polity differ but\nlittle, and who are separated in the West only by geographical\ndivisions, should co\u00f6perate on the mission field is a plain duty,\nfailure to effect which is culpable.  Take the great Methodist Church.\nThere are five different Methodist bodies at work in Japan--each one\nprosecuting its work separate and distinct from the others.  There is\nno conflict between them, neither is there any co\u00f6peration.  What a\nsaving there would be if these bodies would co\u00f6perate, especially in\nthe matter of {305} educational work!  As it is, each one of them\nsupports its own academical and theological school, at a cost of men\nand money almost sufficient for the needs of all if united.  Many of\nthese different schools are at present poorly attended and consequently\npoorly equipped; whereas if the whole educational work were done by one\nor at most two institutions there would be a large number of students\nand the equipment could be made first-class.\n\nAn effort has been made on several occasions to unite these various\nMethodist bodies, and most of them desire a union, but as yet it has\nfailed of accomplishment.\n\nThe responsibility for this failure lies much more with the home boards\nthan with the missionaries.  The latter generally desire more\nco\u00f6peration, and could bring it about were it not for the restrictions\nplaced upon them.  This is a problem to the solution of which the\nvarious missionary societies should set themselves in earnest.  If the\nadvance of the kingdom is partly hindered by a lack of this\nco\u00f6peration, then the mission boards are responsible before God.\n\nThe above are but some of the problems which present themselves to-day\nin Japan.  If I have succeeded in impressing the reader with their\nnumber, complexity, and difficulty of solution, my purpose is\naccomplished.\n\n\n\n\n{306}\n\nXVI\n\nTHE OUTLOOK\n\nIt is exceedingly difficult to form a reliable conjecture concerning\nthe future state of Christianity in Japan.  In this land the unexpected\nalways happens.  It has been called a land of surprises.  Instability,\nvacillation, and change are its characteristics.  What is in favor\nto-day may be out to-morrow; what is out of favor to-day may be in\nto-morrow.  The signs of the times may clearly indicate a certain trend\nof events for the next year, but ere that year has come all may change\nand the happenings be quite different from what was expected.  The fact\nis, Japan is undergoing a peaceable social and political revolution,\nand it is hard to tell what a day may bring forth.\n\nBut there are certain factors which, if left to their natural\ndevelopment, will tend to bring about a certain condition, and by\nconsidering {307} those factors we can tell something about what that\ncondition ought to be.  We will attempt, then, to take a bird's-eye\nview of the influences in operation on this mission field, and will\nmake a surmise as to their probable outcome in the future.\n\nThere are three factors which must be considered in attempting to form\nan opinion as to the outlook: _the working forces; the opposition to\ntheir work; and the natural adaptability or inadaptability of the\npeople_.  We will endeavor to look right closely into these.\n\nHumanly speaking, the forces engaged in any work will determine, to\nsome extent, the future condition of that work.  The future of\nChristianity in Japan will depend in part upon the present working\nChristian forces.  These forces are the native church, the body of\nmissionaries, and the whole mass of mission machinery.\n\nThe burden of the work rests with the native church.  The\nevangelization of the masses must be chiefly by her effort.  The\nstanding of Christianity in the empire will depend upon her.  If true\nto her Lord, and faithful in the discharge of the task which He has\ngiven, the result will probably be good.  Now what is the condition of\nthe native church in Japan to-day?  There are 100,000 Christians,\nincluding Protestants, Greeks, and Romanists.  These Christians have\nmanifested commendable zeal, earnestness, and {308} piety.  The native\nchurch is organized, hopeful, and aggressive, yet in many respects not\nwhat her friends desire and what they pray she may be.  Very much is\nyet to be desired in the matters of orthodoxy, self-support, and\ninternal harmony, but it is not sure that this native church is more\nlacking in these respects than native churches in other mission fields.\nChurch history seems to indicate that the church in every land must go\nthrough a certain period of doctrinal development.  The old heresies of\nArianism, Pelagianism, and Sabellianism spring up in their order on\neach mission field, and are finally succeeded by orthodoxy.  Japan is\nnow in that developing period, and loose theological views are to be\nexpected.  There are many men of unorthodox views in the native church,\nwho exert a strong influence; but there are also many men of sound\nevangelical views, who will be able probably to restrain the radicals\nand determine the future development.  I think in time there will come\nto the church in Japan a sounder faith and a fuller Christian\nconsciousness, and that she will faithfully bear her part in the\nevangelization of this land.  Although there are now many elements in\nthe church which should not be there, we must have faith to leave the\nremoval of them to the influence of time and the guidance of the Holy\nSpirit.  God will take care of His church {309} and endow her for the\nwork He has given her to do.\n\nThe foreign missionaries in Japan can be depended upon to do all in\ntheir power to bring about the triumph of Christianity.  They are a\nlarge body of earnest, consecrated workers, led by the Spirit of God.\nWith but a few exceptions, a more faithful and talented body of men\ncannot be found.  There are in all branches of the church, including\nGreek and Roman Catholics, 876 European missionaries.  This number\nincludes single and married women.  Such a force, led by the Holy\nSpirit, ought to be able to do much to hasten the coming of the kingdom\nin Japan.\n\nBesides the native and foreign workers, all the machinery and\ninstitutions of various kinds necessary for the growth and expansion of\nthe church are now in operation.  A good Christian literature is\nrapidly forming, numerous Christian schools of various grades are\nplanted over all the empire, and a large number of Christian colleges\nand theological seminaries are already open.\n\nWhen we thus review the human forces upon which the future depends we\nhave reason to feel encouraged.\n\nBut no matter how strong and consecrated the body of workers, the\nsuccess of the work will in some degree be conditioned by the\nhindrances {310} which are placed in the way.  There may be certain\nsocial or governmental oppositions, certain combinations of militating\ncircumstances, which will prove insurmountable to the best workers,\neffectually hindering the future of a work otherwise promising.\n\nFormerly, as has been shown, the government put every opposition it\ncould in the way of Christian work.  Long after the prohibitions of\nChristianity were removed governmental influence was exerted against it\nin many ways.  Even after religious liberty was granted by the\npromulgation of the constitution it was far from being realized.  In\ncertain departments of the governmental service, especially in the\nmilitary and educational departments, until very recent years\npersecutions were still practised in a mild but effective way.  But all\nthis is now a thing of the past.\n\nThe attitude of the government has changed recently, and instead of\nhindering it has actually encouraged and in several ways helped in our\nwork.  During the late war with China it permitted the sending to the\narmy of three native chaplains, and on the field encouraged and helped\nthem all it could.  These men were not officially styled \"Christian\nchaplains,\" but were called _imonshi_, or comforters.  It is not true,\nas has recently been affirmed by a minister in New York, {311} that\nthere are regularly appointed permanent Christian chaplains to the\nJapanese army.  None but these three have ever been appointed, and\ntheir appointment was only temporary.  But the fact that the government\ngranted them permission to accompany the armies and encouraged their\nwork shows clearly a changed attitude toward the Christian religion.\n\nThe same is indicated by the fact that the authorities willingly gave\npermission for the distribution of Bibles to the soldiers in every\ndepartment of the army.  They even aided in the distribution, and often\narranged for those who distributed them to preach to the soldiers.  I\nthink few non-Christian lands have ever gone so far as this in their\nencouragement of Christianity.\n\nFrom these facts I infer that the government will no longer place\nobstacles in the way of our work.  Such obstacles have in the past\nprevented many from favoring Christianity, and their removal augurs\nwell for the future.\n\nThe native religions have very much hindered the evangelization of\nJapan.  Their militating influence is still active and powerful, but I\nthink it is gradually declining.  Buddhism will die hard, but she is\ntoo old, effete, and corrupt permanently to withstand her younger and\nmore powerful foe.  The inherent truth of Christianity must ultimately\ngive it the victory.  As Japanese education and {312} enlightenment\nadvance, the intrinsic superiority of Christianity over Buddhism must\nappear and must recommend it to the people.\n\nThe hope of our religion in this land lies largely in the fact of the\ninsatiable desire of the people for Western learning and civilization.\nThe ever-increasing introduction of Western literature, the adoption of\nour civilization and institutions, will necessarily bring about a\nbetter acquaintance with Christianity, its spirit and aims.  Then the\nprejudice against it will gradually die out, and it will, appealing to\nthem in its true light,--the germ and base of all true civilization,\nand the foster-mother of education and enlightenment,--be readily\naccepted.\n\nThe social hindrances operating against Christianity to-day are all\nlocal and personal, and will probably become less and less until they\ndie a natural death.  Every part of the empire is absolutely open, and\nthere is nothing to hinder a full and free proclamation of the gospel\nin every town, village, and hamlet in Japan.\n\nThe superior position of Christianity at present to that which it held\na few years ago is striking.  Professor Chamberlain, a very close\nobserver, whose experience in Japan has extended over many years, says:\n\"To those who can look back thirty years, or even only twenty years,\nthe change in the position of Christianity in Japan {313} is most\nstriking, indeed well-nigh incredible.\"  From a hated and despised\nthing it has risen to a position in which it commands the respect of\nmany of the best men in the land.\n\nBut there is another element which must be taken into consideration in\nmaking up an estimate of the outlook, and that is the natural\nadaptability or inadaptability of the people for Christianity.  The\nfarmer may labor long and hard; he may sow the best seed; sunshine and\nrain may lend their encouragement; but if the soil is uncongenial the\nyield will be small.  In the same way, a strong, consecrated working\nforce may labor, unopposed, with might and main in the mission field,\nbut if the soil is not congenial the results will be small.\n\nAre the Japanese people well or ill adapted by nature to the reception\nof Christianity?  The strongest opposition to our work, and the one\nwhich makes us most anxious for the future, lies in the natural\nconstitution of the people for whom we labor.  Many natural\ncharacteristics of this people predispose them to reject Christianity.\n\nI must again refer to that strong nationalistic feeling which is inborn\nin every Japanese and which hinders the rapid progress of the gospel.\nThis principle, operating within the church, threatens to destroy the\northodoxy and integrity of the faith.  Animated by a patriotic feeling\n{314} that is more blind than enlightened, the creeds, the polity, the\nlife of the church of the West, are considered as of little worth, and\nmany parts of the native church are extremely anxious to cut off\neverything possible that has a foreign flavor, and to create a form of\nChristianity peculiarly Japanese.\n\nAgain, the nationalistic feeling prompts many, both in the church and\nout of it, to chafe at the presence of foreign religious teachers in\ntheir midst.  The very presence of these teachers is looked upon as an\nimplication that the Japanese are not competent to instruct themselves\nin religious matters, and this is much resented.  As a prominent\nJapanese put it not long ago, \"What could be more inconsistent or\nimproper than for great Japan, that has so recently humbled China and\nforced the admiration of the world for her skill in arms, as well as\nfor her educational, commercial, and industrial development, to be\ninstructed in religious matters by foreigners?\"\n\nOperating in these ways, Japanese patriotism ill adapts the people for\na reception of Christianity.\n\nAnother feature of the native character which is not favorable is its\nlack of seriousness and stability.  Religion is a serious, solemn\nmatter, but the Japanese are not a serious-minded people.  Their\nbeliefs have always sat lightly upon them, to be taken off and put on\nat will.  Where these {315} characteristics are largely wanting the\nprogress of Christianity will probably be slow.\n\nAt present the Japanese are too materialistic properly to appreciate a\nreligion so spiritual as ours.  In religion, as in all other things,\nthey desire to receive some present material benefit; and when the\nrewards of Christianity are found to be chiefly spiritual, and most of\nthem not realized in the present life, a deaf ear is turned.  This is\nan era of great material prosperity in Japan, and the minds of the\npeople are fully occupied with commercial and industrial questions, to\nthe exclusion of moral and religious ones.\n\nThe most common attitude of the Japanese public toward Christianity\nto-day is one of absolute indifference.  The people think that if the\ngovernment permits this religion it cannot be so very bad; it is making\nlittle progress anyway, and they need give it no notice whatever.  If\nothers care to go and hear about it, all right, but as for themselves,\nthey have no relations with it.  The usual experience now when a new\nchapel is opened and preaching begun is that for a few times large\nnumbers of people will come out of curiosity; then after a little they\nstop, and no further regard is paid to the chapel or the preaching.\nThe conflict of religions, the inconsistencies and shortcomings of the\nold faiths, the advancing knowledge, have combined to bring about a\nstate {316} of indifference, wide-spread and hard to overcome.  It is\nin many respects more hurtful than a position of open antagonism.\n\nThe natural tendency of the Japanese mind to be skeptical in regard to\nall supernatural questions has been fostered by education to such an\nextent that educated Japan is to-day largely a nation of atheists, or\nat least of agnostics.  The proud pharisaic spirit is abroad,\nindisposing the race to accept Christ.\n\nThe course of Christianity in the future will not be an unopposed, easy\nmarch to victory.  There yet remains a great deal to be done, Many\nclouds still linger on the horizon, making us anxious about the morrow.\nBut so much has already been done that the churches at home should feel\nencouraged to renew their energies for the final contest.  When one\ndivision of an army has forced a breach in the enemy's lines, it is not\nleft to hold the position alone, but reinforcements are hurried forward\nto its assistance, and the advantage gained is instantly followed up.\nThe attack has been made in Japan; the enemy's lines have been broken,\nbut the victory is not yet.  This is no time for retreat, for\nhesitancy, or for cavil; this is a time for prompt reinforcement and\nliberal support.  Let the home churches feel that such is their present\nduty toward the work in Japan.\n\n{317}\n\nAlthough the outlook to-day is not to the natural eye very bright, to\nthe spiritual eye all is as noonday.  The victory has been assured from\nthe beginning.  However indisposed by nature the people among whom we\nlabor may be, whatever hindrances may oppose our work, the word of the\nAlmighty has gone forth--_the kingdoms of this world shall become the\nkingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ_.  The victory is sure, because\nGod reigns.  In His own good time every opposing influence will pass\naway, and the banner of King Immanuel will wave over all this fair\nland.  It may not be in the present century; it may not even be in the\nlifetime of any now living; but it will surely be when God's time is\nfulfilled.\n\nWith an assured faith, built upon the firm promises of God, we\nconfidently look forward to the time when the empire of Japan shall no\nlonger be a mission field, but shall herself send the message of light\nand life to the darkened millions around her.\n\nMay God hasten the day.\n\n\n\n\n{319}\n\nINDEX\n\n\nAinu, 10, 33.\n\nAmerican Board (Congregational), 171; history of work, 179; strained\nrelations with native church, 182.\n\nAncestors, worship of, 117, 270, 301.\n\nAnimals, 29.\n\nArt, 95.\n\nAsama, 11.\n\nAshikaga, 42.\n\n\nBallagh, Rev. Mr., baptized first convert, 175.\n\nBanking, 103.\n\nBaptists, 171, 187.\n\nBathing, 83.\n\nBeautiful, love of the, 59.\n\nBelief, missionary's, 198.\n\nBerry, Dr. J. C., opinions on vacations, 218, 220, 223; his medical\nwork, 265.\n\nBible, first portions translated, 147, 174; translation of, essential,\n162; translation committee and work, 175; distribution to soldiers, 311.\n\nBible and tract societies of America and England, work of, 190.\n\nBicycle, 245.\n\nBirds, 30.\n\nBiwa, 14.\n\nBridges, 16.\n\nBrotherhood, universal, unknown, 136; repugnant, 273.\n\nBrothers, relation of, 134.\n\nBrown, Rev. Dr. S. R., 170; drafts of New Testament, 174.\n\nBuddhism, introduction of, 40; principal features of, 126; history of,\n127; formative power of, 128; temples and priests, 129; and\nChristianity, 126, 130, 279; vitality of, 278, 311.\n\n\nCamphor, 26.\n\nCensus of 1893, 9.\n\nChamberlain, Professor, on advance of Christianity in Japan, 312.\n\nChaplains, Christian, appointed by the government, 310.\n\nCharacter, missionary's, 200.\n\nCheerfulness, native, 53.\n\nChildren, an allowance for, 214.\n\nChina, early influence of, 39; ancient civilization of, 90; recent war\nwith, 49, 310.\n\nChristianity, first introduction of, 144; early successes, 148;\nattempted extermination of, 154; cannot be extirpated, 156;\nprohibitions of, 157, 172; edicts against, removed, 176; reaction\nagainst, 178; by nature diffusive, 243; revolutionizing tendency of,\n267; exclusiveness of, 269; past record of, 274; advance of, 312.\n\nChurch, first organized, 175; sifting of, 178.\n\nChurch of Christ in Japan, 184.\n\nCivilization, definition of, 89; Japan's compared with Western, 106;\nadoption of Western, 177.\n\nClimate, 19-22.\n\nClothing, 73, 82.\n\nCommercial honor, 67; morality, 120.\n\nConfucianism, and Japanese morality, 109; ethics of, 110; history of,\n130; basal principles of, 131; nearest approach to Christianity, 135;\ncontrasted with Christianity, 243.\n\nConsecration of missionary, 197.\n\nConstitution of Japan, 47, 96.\n\nConverts, first, 175; social ostracism of, 279; requirements of, 288;\nindigent, 289.\n\nCuriosity, native, 212.\n\nCustoms, bearing of, upon mission work, 70, 269.\n\n\nDavis, Rev. and Mrs. J. D., 180.\n\nDeath, not afraid of, 65.\n\nDisappointments, missionary's, 226.\n\nDoshisha University, 180; rationalistic teaching of, 181.\n\nDuty, ours to the missionary, 229; joy of doing, 231.\n\n\nEarthquakes, 12, 13.\n\nEducational system of Japan, 93, 255; antagonistic to Christianity, 276.\n\nEducational work of missions, compared with evangelistic, 250;\ncriticism of, 253; hinders self-support, 260.\n\nEmbassy to Rome, 149.\n\nEmperor, power of name, 55; worship of picture, 112, 301.\n\nEnvironment, missionary's, unfavorable, 227.\n\nEpiscopalians, 170, 183; five branches of, 186; native church, 187, 303.\n\nEthnology, 32, 33.\n\nEuropeanization of Japan, 46, 91; our hope, 312.\n\nEvangelization, 234; missionaries must be evangelists, 235;\nsubordinated to educational work, 236; local, 237; itinerating, 242.\n\nExiles, missionaries, 225, 228.\n\nExports, 27.\n\n\nFacial expression, 53.\n\nFarms, 23.\n\nFestivals, religious, 302.\n\nFeudalism, rise of, 41; conditions under, 145.\n\nFish, 30.\n\nFood, 80.\n\nForeign pastor, 230.\n\nForeigners, treatment of, 44, 136; country open to, 170, 171; ungodly\nexample of, 282.\n\nFormosa, 9.\n\nFranchise, limited, 96.\n\nFriends, 135.\n\nFuji-san, 12.\n\nFujiwara family, 41.\n\nFunerals, 84.\n\n\nGeography of Japan, 9-15.\n\nGirls' boarding-schools, 255; purpose of, 256; end defeated by\netiquette, 257; reasons for and against, 258, 259.\n\nGoble, Rev. J., translation of Matthew, 174.\n\nGod, Japanese word for, 249, 262.\n\nGovernment, Japanese, 95; paternalism of, 58; hostile to Christianity,\n172, 173, 313.\n\nGratitude, 66.\n\nGreek Church (Russian), 165; its founder, 166; its cathedral, 167; its\nwork, 168.\n\nGreene, Dr. and Mrs., 180.\n\nGreetings, 88.\n\nGulick, Rev. O. H., 180; story of his teacher, 172.\n\n\nHara-kiri (belly-cutting), 85.\n\nHaughty bearing of missionary, 241.\n\nHealth of missionary, the first qualification, 193; medical\nexaminations, 195; allowance for, 215; and vacations, 216.\n\nHeathen faiths opposed to Christianity, 277, 311.\n\nHibachi, 80.\n\nHideyoshi, 43; persecutor of Christians, 150.\n\nHindrances to Christianity, 266; common to all fields, 267; peculiar to\nJapan, 271; the greatest, 313.\n\nHiroshima, 18.\n\nHollanders, 10, 44, 156, 158.\n\nHomes, mission, necessity of as examples, 207, 211; comfort of, 210; a\nWestern home, 212.\n\nHondo, 9.\n\nHouses, Japanese, use of, 76; construction of, 78; furniture, 79.\n\nHuman life, cheap, 64.\n\n\nImitativeness, 64.\n\nImperial University, 94.\n\nInconsistency, 63.\n\nInland Sea, 10.\n\nInns, Japanese, 245.\n\nInquirers, how to deal with, 238, 286.\n\nInstability, of people, 61, 314; of civilization, 105.\n\nIntellectual life, 54; open-mindedness, 59.\n\nIslands of Japan, 9, 10, 11.\n\nItinerating, 242; greatest hindrance to, 246; kinds of, 247; objections\nto, 249.\n\nIyeyasu, 43, 109; and the battle of Sekigahara, 153; persecution of\nChristianity, 153.\n\n\nJapan, the land of, 9; new, birth of, 45; religions of, 122.\n\nJapanese, reliable history of, 40; characteristics, 51; manners and\ncustoms, 69, civilization, 89; morality, 107; skeptical, 316.\n\nJesuits, introduction of Christianity by, 45.\n\nJimmu Tenno, 36, 38.\n\nJingo, Empress, 39.\n\nJinrikisha, 63, 244.\n\nJoys of the missionary, 231.\n\n\nKagoshima, 18.\n\nKanagawa, 18.\n\nKasatkin, Bishop Nicolai, founder of Greek mission, 166.\n\nKorea, subjugation of, 39.\n\nKyoto or Saikyo, 10, 17, 18.\n\nKyushu, 9; Dutch residence on, 10.\n\n\nLakes, 14.\n\nLand, cultivated, 11, 22; picturesque, 14; irrigation of, 22;\nterracing, 23.\n\nLanguage, structure of, 55; difficult to learn to read, 93; first\ndictionary of, 174; talent for, essential to the missionary, 203;\ndifficult to master, 262, 284.\n\nLawrence, Dr. E., on common sense, 204; on exiles, 225; \"axioms of\nmissions,\" 292.\n\nLaws, 96.\n\nLibraries, how regarded, 72.\n\nLife, chief of all evils, 127.\n\nLiggins, Rev. J., 170.\n\nLights, 103.\n\nLiterature, native, 92; Christian, 261, 263.\n\nLove of humanity, missionary's, 199.\n\nLoyalty, first moral principle, 111, 132.\n\nLutherans, missionary problems of, 188; purpose in Japan, 189.\n\n\nMcDonald, Dr., on furloughs, 224.\n\nMails, 101, 246.\n\nManufactories, 104.\n\nMarriage, customs, 75; relation, 133; essential to missionary, 206.\n\nMartyrs, 115.\n\nMaterialism in Japan, 277, 315.\n\nMaxims, 117, 272.\n\nMedical missions, 264; no longer needed in Japan, 265.\n\nMental qualifications of the missionary, 201.\n\nMethodist Church in Japan, 171, 183; branches of, 185, 304; present\nstatus of, 186.\n\nMikados, 41.\n\nMinamoto, great clan, 41.\n\nMinerals, 28,\n\nMissionaries, lives in danger, 171; qualifications of, 192; private\nlife of, 209; extent and variety of work of, 234; number of, in Japan,\n309.\n\nMissions in Japan, modern Roman and Greek, 160; Protestant, 169; the\n\"happy time\" of, 177; differing policy of, 182; small bodies, 190;\nresults of, 191; projected on too high a plane, 260; hindrances to,\n266; special problems of, 286; the outlook of, 306.\n\nMorality, compared with West, 109, 117; chief defect of, 121.\n\nMusic in the Greek Church, 167.\n\nMutsuhito, 47.\n\nMythological history, 36-39.\n\nMythology, 34, 122.\n\n\nNagasaki, 10.\n\nNagoya, 18.\n\nNative church, its relation to the missionary, 182, 228, 299, 314;\nmissionary's crown, 232; development of, 242; hurtful national feeling\nin, 273; problem of, 290; polity of, 290; self-support, 293; reasons\nfor dependence, 294; attitude toward national habits and customs, 300;\ncondition of, to-day, 307.\n\nNative ministry, educated, 251; how provided, 295; how trained, 297.\n\nNeesima, Dr., 181.\n\nNewspapers, Japanese, 92; value of Christian, 263.\n\nNihon, native name of empire, 10.\n\nNihon-bashi, center of empire, 16.\n\nNobunaga, 43; patron of early Christianity, 148; assassinated, 150.\n\n\nObedience, result of, 58.\n\nOfficial honor, 68,\n\nOkayama, 18.\n\nOmiiki, founder of Tenrikyo, 138.\n\nOpen ports, 19.\n\nOriginality, native, 63.\n\nOutlook in Japan, 306; bright to spiritual eye, 317.\n\n\nParental relation, 133.\n\nParental respect, 57; great ethical principle, 116.\n\nPassports, 246.\n\nPatriotism, extreme, 55; hinders Christianity, 272, 313.\n\nPerry, Commodore, and the opening of Japan, 44.\n\nPersecutions, causes of, 150; Christians exiled, 172; United States\ngovernment and, 176; cessation of, 177; memory of, 275.\n\nPhysique, native, 33.\n\nPoliteness, the exalted virtue, 85; ridiculous extremes, 87.\n\nPortuguese, discovery of Japan, 43; captain and Hideyoshi, 150.\n\nPrayer, 169.\n\nPresbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in the United States, 169, 170.\n\nProblems, special, 286.\n\n\nRailways, 97.\n\nRainfall, 21.\n\nReformed Church in America, 170.\n\nReligion, Japanese, composite, 123; influence of, 142; and morality,\n268.\n\nRivers, 13.\n\nRoads, 15, 16.\n\nRoman Catholic Church in Japan, pioneer work of, 144; driven out, 154;\nearly mistakes, 158, 161; the work resumed, 160; peculiar hindrances\nto, 163; prosperity of, 164.\n\nRonins, story of the forty-seven, 112.\n\n\nSake, 119.\n\nSalary of the missionary, 213; when on furlough, 219.\n\nSchools, Sunday, 239; mission, 251; academical, 253; girls', 255.\n\nSectarianism, a hindrance to missions, 281; disappearing, 303;\nadvantages of co\u00f6peration, 304.\n\nSelf-control of missionary, 205.\n\nSermons, kind of, 249.\n\nSexes, relation of, 73.\n\nShikoku, 10.\n\nShimabara, fall of, 155.\n\nShinto, revival of, 45; morality, 108; history of, 123; state religion,\n125; ancestors, 270; opposing Christianity, 278.\n\nShogun (tycoon), 42; abolition of the office, 46.\n\nSign language, graceful, 76.\n\nSimmons, Dr. D. B., 170.\n\nSin, no word for, 249, 262.\n\nSociety, missionary's need of, 216, 217, 225.\n\nSpiritual qualifications of the missionary, 197.\n\nSteamers, 99.\n\nSuicides, 65, 120.\n\n\nTaira, great clan, 41.\n\nTaylor, Dr. W., 265; opinions on missionary's qualifications, 194;\nfurloughs, 220, 221, 224.\n\nTelegraphs, 99, 246.\n\nTenrikyo, missionary religion, 137; origin of, 138; teachings of, 139;\ndistinguishing characteristics, 141.\n\nTheological training, necessity of, 251; in English language, 252;\nabroad, 252, 299; place of native religions in, 298.\n\nTheology, native, rationalistic, 181; desire for, 274; formative stage,\n308.\n\nTidal waves, 13.\n\nTokaido, most famous road, 16.\n\nTokyo, the capital, 10, 17.\n\nTone-gawa, largest river, 14.\n\n\"Topsyturvydom,\" 70.\n\nTreaties, American, 45, 107; English, 170; revision of, 48, 178.\n\nTyphoons, 22.\n\n\nVacations of missionaries, summer, 216; furloughs, 218, 224; argument\nagainst, 219; medical opinions in favor of, 220; from an economic\nstandpoint, 221; useful to native and home churches alike, 222.\n\nVegetarians, 80.\n\nVerbeck, Rev. Dr. G. F., 171, 175.\n\nVisitation, advantages of, 239; and Japanese etiquette, 240.\n\nVolcanoes, 11.\n\n\nWife, missionary's, health of, 196.\n\nWilliams, Rev. C. M. (Bishop), 170, 175.\n\nWork, methods of, 234.\n\n\nXavier, St. Francis, first missionary to Japan, 146.\n\n\nYezo, 9; location and climate, 10,\n\nYoritomo, first shogun, 42.\n\nYokohama, 11.","title":"The Gist of Japan: The Islands, Their People, and Missions","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":69790}