Christianity And Christianity : Adaptation Of Catholicism In Japan

Tomoko Masuzawa’s literary work, The Invention of World Religions, provides a meticulous analysis of how the term “world religions” is categorized and used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Masuzawa addresses how the categorization of world religions has changed throughout history and how different elements of each religion, such as texts, origin, and ability to expand have shaped the classification of that religion by scholars. By using the works of well-established scholars, she is able to provide an accurate account of how the perception and analysis of these religious occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Institutions within the public domain, such as universities and hospitals, can then shape interaction with their specific audiences to abide by the practices of these world religions in order to connect with the public in a culturally competent manner.

Japan has been a home for Shinto and Buddhist religions for centuries. The Christian missionaries during the 16th, 19th and 20th centuries worked hard to evangelize the Japanese nation but could not get desired success. There efforts in past failed partly due to sanctions imposed by the local rulers. The Jesuits missionaries traveled with Spanish and Portuguese traders to many areas of America and Asia-Pacific and established their churches and religious missions. They were funded, sponsored and trained by their respective governments in order to spread Christianity. At several places they preached the Christian faith by force but the aboriginal population did not accept it wholeheartedly. Initially the Jesuits

The role of tradition within religion in medieval Japanese society was of great significance. Shinto and Zen Buddhism were two of the major religions practiced in medieval Japan. Shinto was mainly concerned with daily life, while Zen Buddhism prepared the people for the life to come. The samurai also followed an important code called Bushido, a form of warrior philosophy. The ancient Japanese religions helped people understand the universe and also provided a connection between the physical world on earth and the spiritual world.

When people think of “Medieval”, they often relate this to Europe. However, there was once a Medieval Japan too, and this time stretched from 1185-1868 CE. During this period, Shoguns ruled Japan, and they defined it as “Medieval” because, just like Europe society in Japan at this time was feudal in structure. Medieval Europe lasted from the 5th to the 15th century, and was often referred to as Christendom, because most civilians were Christians. Although they didn’t have any direct contact with one another, there were many similarities and differences in these two times. The ones this essay will focus on are; castles, health and hygiene and the social structure.

In the Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon (せい・しょうなごん) she writes a section title: To Make a Beloved Son a Priest. Her opening sentence pretty much says it all when it comes to Japanese not being very religious. She states, “That parents should bring some beloved son of theirs to be a priests is really distressing.” This, even though Sei Shonagon is not referring to a Christian priest, shows that religion did not appear to be a high priority of the Japanese, in particular the noble class. A few lines later she states, “…most people are convinced that a priest is unimportant as a piece of wood, and they treat him accordingly.” If this is how priests that preach the traditional religion of Japan are treated and looked upon as, then it pretty obvious that foreign Christian missionaries preaching a completely foreign religion won’t be accepted so warmly. Yoshida Kenkō (よしだ・けんこう), a Japanese monk and the author of the Essays in Idleness, seems to agree with Sei Shōnagon on this matter. In his short essay, If One Is Born in This World, he notes that rather than be a priest “a true hermit might, in fact, seen as more admirable”. Yoshida goes as far as to say, “The clerics impress nobody, even when they flaunt their authority and their importance is loudly proclaimed.” Thus, it is evident that, through both their Japanese authors and their great classical literary works, the Japanese culture with regards to religion is reflected as it was shown in The

Throughout history many universal religions have spread throughout the world. From cities to cities, countries to countries and so on. Christianity and Buddhism are two of the top universal religions that were practiced and spread throughout the early world. A series of events lead to the early and quick spread of Christianity and Buddhism throughout the early world. As turmoil engulfed the Jews in Judea, Christianity arose. The teaching of Christianity began with a Jew named Jesus. At the age of 30, Jesus began preaching the word of God to villagers near the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus preached, significant amounts of groups crowded around him to learn about his teachings, especially when word spread that he had performed acts of healing. Soon Jesus later formed a group of disciples or close followers to help spread his teachings.

The conflict between Japanese Culture and Christianity is a main focus within Endo’s work, and we are led to think that Christianity will have to adapt to take root in the ‘swamp’ of Japan. As Kichijiro puts it, “A tree which flourishes in one kind of soil may wither if the soil is changed. As for the tree of Christianity, in a foreign country its leaves may grow thick and the buds may be rich, while in Japan the leaves wither and no bud appears. Father, have you never thought of the difference in the soil, the difference in the water?” (Endo 179) When we look to scripture regarding culture, and the East

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

In Giles Milton’s novel, Samurai William, the reader is taken to the other side of the globe to experience the history of old world Japan. Though out the book, Milton provides reason for complex historical events and actions, while still communicating the subtleties and mysterious customs of the Japanese. The novel also closely examines the wide range of relationships between different groups of Europeans and Asians, predominantly revolving around the protagonist, William Adams. The book documents the successes and failures that occur between the two civilizations, then links them back to either the positive or negative relationship they have. As the book goes on, the correlation is obvious. Milton shows us the extreme role that religion,

This essay will compare and contrast the Japanese emperor to European pope and Japanese peasants to European peasants.

During the war that ensued in Japan, the Mori clan faced a tough dilemma. Many of the neighboring clans in the Southern part of Japan converted to Christianity. This conversion gave these clans common ground and helped connect them to form an alliance. Mori was not a Christian clan, so this strong alliance that surrounded their borders was an immediate threat to the safety of their clan and their goal of becoming shogun. Despite this alliance being an obvious threat, it took Mori several turns to realize just how powerful this neighboring alliance of Chosokabe, Miyushi, Amako, and Kono was growing. The challenging dilemma that Mori faced was to convert to Christianity, which was not their true religion, or to not convert and face possible destruction of their clan. Mori was not comfortable converting to Christianity largely because the Pope had decided he would charge their clan 2,000 gold per turn to convert to apologize for

Ultimately, the Tokugawa shogunate wanted to maintain political and social stability in Japan. By seizing power, Ieyasu was able to quell domestic unrest but another threat was still presented for total control. Foreign influence proved to be a serious threat to stability within Japan. The initial threat to Japan was presented by Christian missionaries. After an initial introduction to Christianity, the shogunate conducted a purging and outlawed the religion. This led to a prolonged isolation of Japanese society from Western influence. The shogunate wished to prevent daimyo from conspiring with foreigners thus

            Throughout history most of Asia has been viewed as strange and exotic by western cultures.  This is especially true for Japan, because, unlike other Asian nations Japan was isolated from western culture until around the year 1542 when the Portuguese landed at Tanegashima (Bryant 14).  There are several reasons for Japan’s solitude, most of them geographical.  One of the primary reasons is what the Japanese call kamikaze, or divine wind (Bryant 24).  These strong stormy winds blew across the waters surrounding Japan, making it quite difficult to approach the island.  Japan is also quite far away from most western nations, especially since the ships had to sail around Africa to get to it.  When the

The widespread of Christianity in Japan started because of Oda Nobunaga encouraged missionaries to convert many Japanese to Christians because he wanted to reduce the influence of Buddhist monasteries. However, his successors did not share the same view. Hideyoshi felt threaten by Christians, especially the Catholics because of several reasons. One of these reasons was that the Spaniards conquered the islands of Philippines (Watts). Another reason is that Hideyoshi felt threaten with the concept of foreign ruler that many Catholics recognized, the Catholic Pope. The tension finally escalated when Hideyoshi

All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.