Episode 352 – The Rising Sun Will Come to Us From Heaven, Part 4

August 21, 2020 2 Comments

This week, we’ll cover the striving of Japanese Christians to be accepted as genuine patriots by the government during the pre-war era. This striving will lead to closer and closer ties between the state and religion; it will also invite danger once we get into the war years.

Sources

Garon, Sheldon M. “State and Religion in Imperial Japan, 1912-1945.” Journal of Japanese Studies 12, No 2 (Summer 1986).

Murayama-Cain, Yumi. “Japanese Church History: Historical Background and the Issue of Identity.” Humanistica e Teologia 31, No 2 (2010).

Ikado, Fujio. “The Origin of the Social Status of Protestant Christianity in Japan (1859-1918).” Contemporary Religions in Japan 2, No 1 (March, 1969).

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers.

Images

One of many fascinating stories I didn’t have time to tell today: Oogi Akajiro, a young Christian who was drafted into the Kaiten human torpedo squads during the war, survived, and became a priest after the war. Like many young Japanese Christian men, Oogi was forced to fight for his country even as he was hounded with suspicion for his faith.
A letter from Archbishop Chambon to the government protesting the loyalty of Japanese Christians during the Sophia University incident in 1932.
Archbishop Peter Doi in 1938. Doi was one of several Japanese Christians ordained in the leadup to the eventual expulsion of foreign preachers in 1940; he would eventually become Japan’s first cardinal in the Catholic Church.

 

2 thoughts on “Episode 352 – The Rising Sun Will Come to Us From Heaven, Part 4”

  1. Did the Russian Orthodox church attempt to missionize in Japan if so who were the people joining that faith and how was it treated by the state? Did the 1904 war effect how Japan dealt with Orthodox faithful? Also what about after the Russian revolution when Japan took over much of Russia’s sphere of influence where many Orthodox Christians had moved?

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