Part 18

At present the Japanese are too materialistic properly to appreciate a religion so spiritual as ours. In religion, as in all other things, they desire to receive some present material benefit; and when the rewards of Christianity are found to be chiefly spiritual, and most of them not realized in the present life, a deaf ear is turned. This is an era of great material prosperity in Japan, and the minds of the people are fully occupied with commercial and industrial questions, to the exclusion of moral and religious ones.

The most common attitude of the Japanese public toward Christianity to-day is one of absolute indifference. The people think that if the government permits this religion it cannot be so very bad; it is making little progress anyway, and they need give it no notice whatever. If others care to go and hear about it, all right, but as for themselves, they have no relations with it. The usual experience now when a new chapel is opened and preaching begun is that for a few times large numbers of people will come out of curiosity; then after a little they stop, and no further regard is paid to the chapel or the preaching. The conflict of religions, the inconsistencies and shortcomings of the old faiths, the advancing knowledge, have combined to bring about a state {316} of indifference, wide-spread and hard to overcome. It is in many respects more hurtful than a position of open antagonism.

The natural tendency of the Japanese mind to be skeptical in regard to all supernatural questions has been fostered by education to such an extent that educated Japan is to-day largely a nation of atheists, or at least of agnostics. The proud pharisaic spirit is abroad, indisposing the race to accept Christ.

The course of Christianity in the future will not be an unopposed, easy march to victory. There yet remains a great deal to be done, Many clouds still linger on the horizon, making us anxious about the morrow. But so much has already been done that the churches at home should feel encouraged to renew their energies for the final contest. When one division of an army has forced a breach in the enemy's lines, it is not left to hold the position alone, but reinforcements are hurried forward to its assistance, and the advantage gained is instantly followed up. The attack has been made in Japan; the enemy's lines have been broken, but the victory is not yet. This is no time for retreat, for hesitancy, or for cavil; this is a time for prompt reinforcement and liberal support. Let the home churches feel that such is their present duty toward the work in Japan.

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Although the outlook to-day is not to the natural eye very bright, to the spiritual eye all is as noonday. The victory has been assured from the beginning. However indisposed by nature the people among whom we labor may be, whatever hindrances may oppose our work, the word of the Almighty has gone forth--_the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ_. The victory is sure, because God reigns. In His own good time every opposing influence will pass away, and the banner of King Immanuel will wave over all this fair land. It may not be in the present century; it may not even be in the lifetime of any now living; but it will surely be when God's time is fulfilled.

With an assured faith, built upon the firm promises of God, we confidently look forward to the time when the empire of Japan shall no longer be a mission field, but shall herself send the message of light and life to the darkened millions around her.

May God hasten the day.

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INDEX

Ainu, 10, 33.

American Board (Congregational), 171; history of work, 179; strained relations with native church, 182.

Ancestors, worship of, 117, 270, 301.

Animals, 29.

Art, 95.

Asama, 11.

Ashikaga, 42.

Ballagh, Rev. Mr., baptized first convert, 175.

Banking, 103.

Baptists, 171, 187.

Bathing, 83.

Beautiful, love of the, 59.

Belief, missionary's, 198.

Berry, Dr. J. C., opinions on vacations, 218, 220, 223; his medical work, 265.

Bible, first portions translated, 147, 174; translation of, essential, 162; translation committee and work, 175; distribution to soldiers, 311.

Bible and tract societies of America and England, work of, 190.

Bicycle, 245.

Birds, 30.

Biwa, 14.

Bridges, 16.

Brotherhood, universal, unknown, 136; repugnant, 273.

Brothers, relation of, 134.

Brown, Rev. Dr. S. R., 170; drafts of New Testament, 174.

Buddhism, introduction of, 40; principal features of, 126; history of, 127; formative power of, 128; temples and priests, 129; and Christianity, 126, 130, 279; vitality of, 278, 311.

Camphor, 26.

Census of 1893, 9.

Chamberlain, Professor, on advance of Christianity in Japan, 312.

Chaplains, Christian, appointed by the government, 310.

Character, missionary's, 200.

Cheerfulness, native, 53.

Children, an allowance for, 214.

China, early influence of, 39; ancient civilization of, 90; recent war with, 49, 310.

Christianity, first introduction of, 144; early successes, 148; attempted extermination of, 154; cannot be extirpated, 156; prohibitions of, 157, 172; edicts against, removed, 176; reaction against, 178; by nature diffusive, 243; revolutionizing tendency of, 267; exclusiveness of, 269; past record of, 274; advance of, 312.

Church, first organized, 175; sifting of, 178.

Church of Christ in Japan, 184.

Civilization, definition of, 89; Japan's compared with Western, 106; adoption of Western, 177.

Climate, 19-22.

Clothing, 73, 82.

Commercial honor, 67; morality, 120.

Confucianism, and Japanese morality, 109; ethics of, 110; history of, 130; basal principles of, 131; nearest approach to Christianity, 135; contrasted with Christianity, 243.

Consecration of missionary, 197.

Constitution of Japan, 47, 96.

Converts, first, 175; social ostracism of, 279; requirements of, 288; indigent, 289.

Curiosity, native, 212.

Customs, bearing of, upon mission work, 70, 269.

Davis, Rev. and Mrs. J. D., 180.

Death, not afraid of, 65.

Disappointments, missionary's, 226.

Doshisha University, 180; rationalistic teaching of, 181.

Duty, ours to the missionary, 229; joy of doing, 231.

Earthquakes, 12, 13.

Educational system of Japan, 93, 255; antagonistic to Christianity, 276.

Educational work of missions, compared with evangelistic, 250; criticism of, 253; hinders self-support, 260.

Embassy to Rome, 149.

Emperor, power of name, 55; worship of picture, 112, 301.

Environment, missionary's, unfavorable, 227.

Episcopalians, 170, 183; five branches of, 186; native church, 187, 303.

Ethnology, 32, 33.

Europeanization of Japan, 46, 91; our hope, 312.

Evangelization, 234; missionaries must be evangelists, 235; subordinated to educational work, 236; local, 237; itinerating, 242.

Exiles, missionaries, 225, 228.

Exports, 27.

Facial expression, 53.

Farms, 23.

Festivals, religious, 302.

Feudalism, rise of, 41; conditions under, 145.

Fish, 30.

Food, 80.

Foreign pastor, 230.

Foreigners, treatment of, 44, 136; country open to, 170, 171; ungodly example of, 282.

Formosa, 9.

Franchise, limited, 96.

Friends, 135.

Fuji-san, 12.

Fujiwara family, 41.

Funerals, 84.

Geography of Japan, 9-15.

Girls' boarding-schools, 255; purpose of, 256; end defeated by etiquette, 257; reasons for and against, 258, 259.

Goble, Rev. J., translation of Matthew, 174.

God, Japanese word for, 249, 262.

Government, Japanese, 95; paternalism of, 58; hostile to Christianity, 172, 173, 313.

Gratitude, 66.

Greek Church (Russian), 165; its founder, 166; its cathedral, 167; its work, 168.

Greene, Dr. and Mrs., 180.

Greetings, 88.

Gulick, Rev. O. H., 180; story of his teacher, 172.

Hara-kiri (belly-cutting), 85.

Haughty bearing of missionary, 241.

Health of missionary, the first qualification, 193; medical examinations, 195; allowance for, 215; and vacations, 216.

Heathen faiths opposed to Christianity, 277, 311.

Hibachi, 80.

Hideyoshi, 43; persecutor of Christians, 150.

Hindrances to Christianity, 266; common to all fields, 267; peculiar to Japan, 271; the greatest, 313.

Hiroshima, 18.

Hollanders, 10, 44, 156, 158.

Homes, mission, necessity of as examples, 207, 211; comfort of, 210; a Western home, 212.

Hondo, 9.

Houses, Japanese, use of, 76; construction of, 78; furniture, 79.

Human life, cheap, 64.

Imitativeness, 64.

Imperial University, 94.

Inconsistency, 63.

Inland Sea, 10.

Inns, Japanese, 245.

Inquirers, how to deal with, 238, 286.

Instability, of people, 61, 314; of civilization, 105.

Intellectual life, 54; open-mindedness, 59.

Islands of Japan, 9, 10, 11.

Itinerating, 242; greatest hindrance to, 246; kinds of, 247; objections to, 249.

Iyeyasu, 43, 109; and the battle of Sekigahara, 153; persecution of Christianity, 153.

Japan, the land of, 9; new, birth of, 45; religions of, 122.

Japanese, reliable history of, 40; characteristics, 51; manners and customs, 69, civilization, 89; morality, 107; skeptical, 316.

Jesuits, introduction of Christianity by, 45.

Jimmu Tenno, 36, 38.

Jingo, Empress, 39.

Jinrikisha, 63, 244.

Joys of the missionary, 231.

Kagoshima, 18.

Kanagawa, 18.

Kasatkin, Bishop Nicolai, founder of Greek mission, 166.

Korea, subjugation of, 39.

Kyoto or Saikyo, 10, 17, 18.

Kyushu, 9; Dutch residence on, 10.

Lakes, 14.

Land, cultivated, 11, 22; picturesque, 14; irrigation of, 22; terracing, 23.

Language, structure of, 55; difficult to learn to read, 93; first dictionary of, 174; talent for, essential to the missionary, 203; difficult to master, 262, 284.

Lawrence, Dr. E., on common sense, 204; on exiles, 225; "axioms of missions," 292.

Laws, 96.

Libraries, how regarded, 72.

Life, chief of all evils, 127.

Liggins, Rev. J., 170.

Lights, 103.

Literature, native, 92; Christian, 261, 263.

Love of humanity, missionary's, 199.

Loyalty, first moral principle, 111, 132.

Lutherans, missionary problems of, 188; purpose in Japan, 189.

McDonald, Dr., on furloughs, 224.

Mails, 101, 246.

Manufactories, 104.

Marriage, customs, 75; relation, 133; essential to missionary, 206.

Martyrs, 115.

Materialism in Japan, 277, 315.

Maxims, 117, 272.

Medical missions, 264; no longer needed in Japan, 265.

Mental qualifications of the missionary, 201.

Methodist Church in Japan, 171, 183; branches of, 185, 304; present status of, 186.

Mikados, 41.

Minamoto, great clan, 41.

Minerals, 28,

Missionaries, lives in danger, 171; qualifications of, 192; private life of, 209; extent and variety of work of, 234; number of, in Japan, 309.

Missions in Japan, modern Roman and Greek, 160; Protestant, 169; the "happy time" of, 177; differing policy of, 182; small bodies, 190; results of, 191; projected on too high a plane, 260; hindrances to, 266; special problems of, 286; the outlook of, 306.

Morality, compared with West, 109, 117; chief defect of, 121.

Music in the Greek Church, 167.

Mutsuhito, 47.

Mythological history, 36-39.

Mythology, 34, 122.

Nagasaki, 10.

Nagoya, 18.

Native church, its relation to the missionary, 182, 228, 299, 314; missionary's crown, 232; development of, 242; hurtful national feeling in, 273; problem of, 290; polity of, 290; self-support, 293; reasons for dependence, 294; attitude toward national habits and customs, 300; condition of, to-day, 307.

Native ministry, educated, 251; how provided, 295; how trained, 297.

Neesima, Dr., 181.

Newspapers, Japanese, 92; value of Christian, 263.

Nihon, native name of empire, 10.

Nihon-bashi, center of empire, 16.

Nobunaga, 43; patron of early Christianity, 148; assassinated, 150.

Obedience, result of, 58.

Official honor, 68,

Okayama, 18.

Omiiki, founder of Tenrikyo, 138.

Open ports, 19.

Originality, native, 63.

Outlook in Japan, 306; bright to spiritual eye, 317.

Parental relation, 133.

Parental respect, 57; great ethical principle, 116.

Passports, 246.

Patriotism, extreme, 55; hinders Christianity, 272, 313.

Perry, Commodore, and the opening of Japan, 44.

Persecutions, causes of, 150; Christians exiled, 172; United States government and, 176; cessation of, 177; memory of, 275.

Physique, native, 33.

Politeness, the exalted virtue, 85; ridiculous extremes, 87.

Portuguese, discovery of Japan, 43; captain and Hideyoshi, 150.

Prayer, 169.

Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in the United States, 169, 170.

Problems, special, 286.

Railways, 97.

Rainfall, 21.

Reformed Church in America, 170.

Religion, Japanese, composite, 123; influence of, 142; and morality, 268.

Rivers, 13.

Roads, 15, 16.

Roman Catholic Church in Japan, pioneer work of, 144; driven out, 154; early mistakes, 158, 161; the work resumed, 160; peculiar hindrances to, 163; prosperity of, 164.

Ronins, story of the forty-seven, 112.

Sake, 119.

Salary of the missionary, 213; when on furlough, 219.

Schools, Sunday, 239; mission, 251; academical, 253; girls', 255.

Sectarianism, a hindrance to missions, 281; disappearing, 303; advantages of coöperation, 304.

Self-control of missionary, 205.

Sermons, kind of, 249.

Sexes, relation of, 73.

Shikoku, 10.

Shimabara, fall of, 155.

Shinto, revival of, 45; morality, 108; history of, 123; state religion, 125; ancestors, 270; opposing Christianity, 278.

Shogun (tycoon), 42; abolition of the office, 46.

Sign language, graceful, 76.

Simmons, Dr. D. B., 170.

Sin, no word for, 249, 262.

Society, missionary's need of, 216, 217, 225.

Spiritual qualifications of the missionary, 197.

Steamers, 99.

Suicides, 65, 120.

Taira, great clan, 41.

Taylor, Dr. W., 265; opinions on missionary's qualifications, 194; furloughs, 220, 221, 224.

Telegraphs, 99, 246.

Tenrikyo, missionary religion, 137; origin of, 138; teachings of, 139; distinguishing characteristics, 141.

Theological training, necessity of, 251; in English language, 252; abroad, 252, 299; place of native religions in, 298.

Theology, native, rationalistic, 181; desire for, 274; formative stage, 308.

Tidal waves, 13.

Tokaido, most famous road, 16.

Tokyo, the capital, 10, 17.

Tone-gawa, largest river, 14.

"Topsyturvydom," 70.

Treaties, American, 45, 107; English, 170; revision of, 48, 178.

Typhoons, 22.

Vacations of missionaries, summer, 216; furloughs, 218, 224; argument against, 219; medical opinions in favor of, 220; from an economic standpoint, 221; useful to native and home churches alike, 222.

Vegetarians, 80.

Verbeck, Rev. Dr. G. F., 171, 175.

Visitation, advantages of, 239; and Japanese etiquette, 240.

Volcanoes, 11.

Wife, missionary's, health of, 196.

Williams, Rev. C. M. (Bishop), 170, 175.

Work, methods of, 234.

Xavier, St. Francis, first missionary to Japan, 146.

Yezo, 9; location and climate, 10,

Yoritomo, first shogun, 42.

Yokohama, 11.