Christian History

As I have mentioned earlier, there are disagreements on when and how Christianity entered Japan. The classic historical theory, which is widely accepted by academic experts, is that Japan encountered Christianity through the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. However, due to recent discoveries, many scholars are now beginning to realize that Christianity entered Japan much earlier than the sixteenth century. In this chapter, I will be discussing both theories and after that will continue to describe further the development of Christianity in Japan during her history.

CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS: KIRISHITAN-CLAIM

It is widely accepted that Christianity was introduced into Japan in the middle of the sixteenth century. The religion was generally tolerated until the beginning of the seventeenth century, but the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867) eventually persecuted its followers. When relations with the West were restored in the middle of the nineteenth century, Christianity was reintroduced and has continued to exist in Japan with varying fortunes. In 1548, Anjiro, a thirty-six year old man, fled Japan after killing someone and boarded a Portuguese ship heading to India. There he met Francis Xavier, a Portuguese priest, who was sent by the king of Portugal as a missionary to Europeans and Indians in Malacca, a Portuguese territory.

In the boat, Xavier asked Anjiro: “If I went to Japan, would the people become Christians?”

Anjiro replied: “My people would not immediately become Christians, but they would first ask you a multitude of questions, weighing carefully your answers and your claims. Above all, they would observe whether your conduct agrees with your words. If you should satisfy them on these points by suitable replies to their inquiries and by a life above reproach, then, as soon as the matter was known and fully examined, the king (daimyo), the nobles, and the educated people would become Christians. Six months would suffice; for the nation is one that always follows the guidance of reason” (Carolyn Bowen Francis & John Masaaki Nakajima, 1991).

These historical words challenged Xavier to bring Christianity to Japan. However, Anjiro somehow miscalculated and gave six months for Japan to become a Christian nation. Already more than five centuries passed and Japan was still not a Christian nation. Soon Anjiro became a Christian and was baptized, and a year later in 1549 Xavier entered Japan together with Anjiro as his interpreter.

Xavier entered Japan during the period when Japan was not yet united. There were local lords, the Daimyos, who were fighting for their territories. Some of these Daimyo welcomed the Portuguese in order to get weapons and modern technologies from them in order to use them against their rivals and enemies. The territories of these Daimyo, the Han, were in Hizen, Tosa, and Satsuma, Choshu and other Han. Some Daimyo even commanded all their people in their territories to become Christians.

Of course, this brought the anger of the non-Christian Daimyo, and they began to fight the newly converted Christians and the Daimyo.

Two years later, after his entry to Japan, Xavier left Japan for India and recruited missionaries and workers to go to Japan to evangelize the Japanese.

Between the year 1549, when Xavier entered Japan, and 1595, approximately 300,000 Japanese became Christians, among whom there were seventeen local lords or Daimyo (Ernest E. Best, 1966). This is the classical and well accepted theory of how Christianity came to Japan.

THE CHURCH OF THE EAST:    THE KEIKYO-CLAIM

A recent discovery in Sian, China has dramatically changed the historical record of China and Asia. Asia, with China and Japan in particular, are thought of as predominately Buddhist areas. The record of the Church is very limited throughout Asia with the exception of the Philippines and Korea. As amazing as it may seem, the oldest Christian site in Asia has been dated back to A.D. 638. The site, which is near the ancient Chinese capital of Sian, has shattered the previous understanding of the role of Christianity in China, Japan, and Asia. The Nestorian Monument, a stone tablet in the city of Sian, which was discovered in the 1600s, was the only testimony of Christianity in China. What was always a puzzle was that it clearly stated that “monasteries abound in a hundred cities”. This monument, which is often called the ‘Rosetta Stone’ of Christianity in Asia, was the only proof of this past (Joseph Jr. Ken, 2001).

Therefore, according to this alternative theory, Christianity entered Japan in much earlier times than Francis Xavier’s arrival in Japan. The root of this theory begins in China.

For thousands of years China and the Middle East region had a strong trade relationship which all took place around and along the famous Silk Road. The Silk Road covered a vast length of trade road which covered Israel, Turkey, Iraq, Persia or Iran until China and Korea ended up in Japan. Along this trade road not only commercial goods and trade materials were exchanged but also scientific knowledge such as medical knowledge and architectural knowledge. At the same time, various forms of faith and belief were also entering China and Far Asia. One of them was the Christian faith through Nestorian missionaries who represented the Assyrian Church of the East. The pioneer of this was a certain man from Iran called Alopen, the Persian bishop who began the Nestorian mission in Chang-an in A.D. 635 during the T’ang Dynasty. Chang-an, the upper capital, was the centre of imperial splendor. Caravans brought with them traders and jugglers, monks and pilgrims, from Persia, Armenia and even from Antioch and Byzantium. Their strange appearances and outlandish clothes never failed to amuse the Chinese onlookers. Meanwhile, the Chinese had also been deported to Central Asia to garrison the fortifications across the steppes. Against such a setting, Nestorian Christianity first came to China (Shiu Keung Lee, 1971). Some even believe that Christianity entered China and then later on came to Japan much earlier than even the Nestorian Bishop Alopen. Studies show that as early as A.D. 86, or the third year under the reign of Yuanhe of Eastern Han Dynasty, Christianity entered China.

When studying a batch of stone carvings of the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25–220) stored and exhibited in the Museum of Han Stone Carvings, a Christian theology professor was greatly surprised by some stone engravings demonstrating Bible stories and designs of early Christian times.

Further studies showed that some of these engravings were made in A.D. 86, or the third year under the reign of Yuanhe of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Five hundred fifty years earlier the world accepted the time of Christianity's entrance into China. Members of The Church of the East have long believed that the Apostle Thomas first brought the Gospel to China through India as early at A.D. 64 and Japan in about A.D. 70 (www.keikyo.com). I believe this does not indicate that Thomas himself traveled to Japan, but rather the people and offspring of those whom he led to Christ in India brought Christianity to China and from China to Japan.

The story behind the Keikyo Christians is very interesting. I personally believe in this theory that Christianity arrived much earlier in Japan than Francis Xavier’s time. However, it depends on the reader to decide which claim to choose. If one is interested, there are fascinating books and websites on Keikyo Christians and the spread of Christianity through Assyrian and Persian missionaries in China and Japan. The first interesting book is the one written by Joseph Ken Jr., called ‘Lost Identity,’ available for free on the internet in PDF format.  In this book Joseph Ken Jr. describes, and historically proves through documents, archeological findings that Japan was once a Christian nation or had a Christian identity far before the arrival of Francis Xavier in the sixteenth century. He also claims that some parts of Japan were once multicultural societies. He even claims that some cities such as Kyoto were built with the immigrants who came to Japan to settle and work. Their cultures and habits mixed with the native inhabitants of Japan.

Another interesting book is the one written by Shiu Keung Lee in the early 1970s. In this book, The Lotus and the Cross, Lee claims, just like Joseph Ken Jr., that Christianity came to Japan through Nestorian believers, those from the Church of the East. He also discusses how the Iranian bishops spread Christianity in a rapid way. Many temples were built for worshiping Christ which later were burned down or taken away by the Buddhists. Also, the website of the Keikyo Institute gives a variety of information about the early Christians in Japan.

Which Claim to Believe?

The question of which claim to believe depends on how the reader views Christianity and from which point of view the reader is looking. If Catholicism is considered as the only form of Christianity, or a superior form of Christianity, which is strongly western-oriented, and rooted in Southern Europe, then the answer is yes! If Catholicism is considered as one form of Christianity, and that Christianity is not only a western faith, but one born in the Middle East, then the second claim, the Keikyo-claim, could be a possibility.

Christianity may have entered much earlier than what Catholics claim. Of course, later on, during the Meiji Period, another form of Christianity entered Japan—Protestant Christianity. For the rest of the information, please refer to Understanding Japan through the Eyes of Christian Faith.