Christar Japan: Spreading the Gospel throughout Yamaguchi-ken...

Religion in Japan

HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS

 

According to Japanese legend, the Japanese empire was founded about 660 B.C. by Jimmu Tenno, an ancestor of the present emperor who claimed to be a descendant of the sun goddess.  Emperor Hirohito, who ascended the throne in 1926, maintained his position in spite of World War II and his confession to the people that he was not a god, but only a mortal man.  His son, Akihito, is the present emperor.  Buddhism was first introduced in about the 6^th century A.D. and has been widely accepted.  Shintoism, a form of animism which includes worship of the emperor, has roots as old as Japan itself.  Today most Japanese claim to be both Buddhist and Shintoist with weddings performed in Shinto shrines and funerals performed in Buddhist temples.

 

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN

 

A form of Christianity first appeared in the 16^th century when Spanish and Portuguese traders came to Japan.  Francis Xavier was the first of many Roman Catholic missionaries.  Great numbers embraced Catholicism and over 300,000 of the 20 million Japanese became Catholics.  Then in 1587, a suspicious shogun, Lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi, decreed Christianity illegal.  When Japan closed its doors to all outsiders in 1639, organized Christianity was persecuted with believers hunted, exiled, martyred, or forced to go underground.  After the re-opening of Japan in the 1850's, Biblical Christianity was introduced for the first time.  In 1880 the Japanese New Testament was published followed by the Old Testament in 1887. However, the missionary effort remained somewhat insignificant until the end of World War II.

 

It was in the early 1900's that Protestantism saw its greatest growth. In fact, in 1909 the number of Protestants surpassed that of the Catholics for the first time. Sadly however, this also was the period when liberalism started to invade Protestantism which adopted the higher critical view of the Bible and denied the deity of Christ and the infallibility of the Scriptures.

 

In 1939 the infamous Religious Organizations Law was enacted in order to place all aspects of the religions under strict government control. In 1940, thirty-four Protestant churches were compelled to form the one ‘Church of Christ in Japan’. Members of the churches which opposed this merger were persecuted and arrested. After the war, General MacArthur immediately abolished the Religious Organizations Law. Along with this he disestablished State Shinto as the national religion. On January 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito himself denied his right to be worshipped as a deity.  In order to fill this resultant religious vacuum in the lives of the Japanese people, MacArthur appealed to America for 1,000 missionaries. Of this amount, less than half came and many of those were Catholics.

 

The four years from 1946-1950 were the golden window of opportunity for missionary work, but few evangelical groups took real advantage of this opportunity at that time. However, during the early 1950's many denominations and mission boards sent missionaries. One of these was the Oriental Boat Mission which later became part of Christar.  At the present time opportunities for evangelism are endless in Japan. Again, as shortly after the war, many missionaries are needed, but only a handful are coming. Once again will the church in America stand by while such an opportunity lies before it?

 

We as a field have worked on a 15 year plan to plant a church within twenty minutes of populations of 15,000 people or more.  There are two church　plants that have become indigenous in Hofu and Iwakuni cities.  The　team in Ube now has a Japanese pastor and is in the process of turning　over leadership to him.  The Central Team in Hikari is seeking national leadership. Other　teams are being formed for church planting in Kudamatsu, Yanai, and　Hirao, cities.  We are in need of missionaries and nationals to work on these teams as well as help with administrative duties on the field. 

You can contact Bobby Baden with general questions at bobby.baden@gmail.com.

 

Individual missionaries can be contacted through their profile pages.

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