When I lived in Japan in the 1960s I knew a third generation Christian missionary who spoke, read and wrote Japanese better than 90% of Japanese. I was seated at a state function beside a translator who had been assigned to him by authorities unaware of his linguistic skills. After a few minutes listening to his flawless delivery she turned to me distressed, "It creeps me out to hear a gaijin talking Nihongo like that!"
> The conversion of many samurai undoubtedly resulted in part from their resentment against social change. Their consciousness of being “the Chosen” was to some extent an expression of a desire to assert their superiority as intellectuals over the common people. Thus, in their early history, a kind of ascetic ethics combined with a sense of superiority drove them as Christians into a state of isolation from the rest of society. As Dr. Hiromichi Kozaki pointed out, many samurai had joined Christian churches as a means of demonstrating their resentment against the new society. And, it was their resentment that caused them to move from a simple and sincere confession of sin to a defense of a pure Christian faith free from idolatry, and to oppose the government’s abuse of religion in its policy of modernization.
This seems a much healthier outcome than turning to Marxism, which is what most resentful ex-elites do.
1. The autonomous Japanese Orthodox Church is the only Christian organization to never be dependent on foreign missionary personnel, having from its early period Japanese clergy. Started through the missionary efforts of St. Nikolay (Kasatkin) in 1861, though there were already Japanese Orthodox present in Japan. The first baptisms of Japanese in Tokyo were in 1868, before the laws against Christianity were lifted, i The complex services of of Byzantine origin of the Eastern Orthodox were translated St Nicolas and Nakai Tsugumaro, with Japanese chants created. It's cathedral, Nikorai-do, (House of Nicholas), damaged and rebuilt following the Kyoto earthquake of 1923, is one the largest religious buildings in Tokyo, and one of the few buildings of any kind to have survived World War 2. Today, spread among four diocese, are 64 parishes. During World War 2, the Japanese Orthodox Church provided for some 73,000 White Russians held in Japan as prisoners of War.
2. The Presbyterian Gen, Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander Allied Powers, during the occupation of Japan 1946-1952, promoted Presbyterianism in Japan as part of his "democratization" program, and efforts to suppress State Shinto. The White Russian population, though stateless, were considered "Soviet" citizens, and often treated harshly by U.S. officials as the Cold War took shape.
Im the son of christian missionaries and do art and jiu jitsu which derives from samurai martial arts. From training i marvel that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Ie: Our joints, capability for leverage against a stronger opponent, perseverance, humility and decisiveness. Perhaps doing illustration for the new york times makes me a cultural elite. But i resonate with the disenfranchised samurai who aim to contribute nonetheless.
re your footnote: The Huguenots have existed about 5 times longer than the Japanese Christians you write about, so I'd expect the Huguenots to show far more effects of winnowing from the formative selection event.
I expect there are interesting lessons about our humanity in the commonality of distinct cultural groups that persist for many generations [ie self sustaining] within larger societies.
When I lived in Japan in the 1960s I knew a third generation Christian missionary who spoke, read and wrote Japanese better than 90% of Japanese. I was seated at a state function beside a translator who had been assigned to him by authorities unaware of his linguistic skills. After a few minutes listening to his flawless delivery she turned to me distressed, "It creeps me out to hear a gaijin talking Nihongo like that!"
Singapore is a similar case of elite Christianity.
> The conversion of many samurai undoubtedly resulted in part from their resentment against social change. Their consciousness of being “the Chosen” was to some extent an expression of a desire to assert their superiority as intellectuals over the common people. Thus, in their early history, a kind of ascetic ethics combined with a sense of superiority drove them as Christians into a state of isolation from the rest of society. As Dr. Hiromichi Kozaki pointed out, many samurai had joined Christian churches as a means of demonstrating their resentment against the new society. And, it was their resentment that caused them to move from a simple and sincere confession of sin to a defense of a pure Christian faith free from idolatry, and to oppose the government’s abuse of religion in its policy of modernization.
This seems a much healthier outcome than turning to Marxism, which is what most resentful ex-elites do.
Superficial take seeing title alone, but Scorsese’s “Silence” was a great film, on this subject
Anyone want to form a culturally distinct elite and take over society with me?
Omitted are two relevant historical points.
1. The autonomous Japanese Orthodox Church is the only Christian organization to never be dependent on foreign missionary personnel, having from its early period Japanese clergy. Started through the missionary efforts of St. Nikolay (Kasatkin) in 1861, though there were already Japanese Orthodox present in Japan. The first baptisms of Japanese in Tokyo were in 1868, before the laws against Christianity were lifted, i The complex services of of Byzantine origin of the Eastern Orthodox were translated St Nicolas and Nakai Tsugumaro, with Japanese chants created. It's cathedral, Nikorai-do, (House of Nicholas), damaged and rebuilt following the Kyoto earthquake of 1923, is one the largest religious buildings in Tokyo, and one of the few buildings of any kind to have survived World War 2. Today, spread among four diocese, are 64 parishes. During World War 2, the Japanese Orthodox Church provided for some 73,000 White Russians held in Japan as prisoners of War.
2. The Presbyterian Gen, Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander Allied Powers, during the occupation of Japan 1946-1952, promoted Presbyterianism in Japan as part of his "democratization" program, and efforts to suppress State Shinto. The White Russian population, though stateless, were considered "Soviet" citizens, and often treated harshly by U.S. officials as the Cold War took shape.
This is how Africans converted but it obviously didn't work in Japan.
Priests are Catholic. The religion that Japan stamped out in the past was Catholic.
The YMCA and Christian missionaries during the 19th century were Protestant. They have ministers, not priests.
Im the son of christian missionaries and do art and jiu jitsu which derives from samurai martial arts. From training i marvel that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Ie: Our joints, capability for leverage against a stronger opponent, perseverance, humility and decisiveness. Perhaps doing illustration for the new york times makes me a cultural elite. But i resonate with the disenfranchised samurai who aim to contribute nonetheless.
Fascinating!
Fascinating article. Great read.
Do Bahaii deep dive next
re your footnote: The Huguenots have existed about 5 times longer than the Japanese Christians you write about, so I'd expect the Huguenots to show far more effects of winnowing from the formative selection event.
I expect there are interesting lessons about our humanity in the commonality of distinct cultural groups that persist for many generations [ie self sustaining] within larger societies.