Essay on Christianity to Japan

the New World was to convert the locals to Christianity. For example, some important religious figures were Friar Bernardino de

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

In Asia, European nations, especially those who were Catholic, were interested in spreading Christianity to Asia. Countries, such as Spain were successful in spreading Christianity throughout the Americas. Western Europe was looking for the same success in Asia that they had in the Americas. Many missionaries were sent to Asia to fulfil these hopes. In document 4, Matteo and his lay companion Paul Siu Kwang-k’i, a painting depicting Ricci, left, and Paul Siu, right. Ricci is depicted wearing traditional Chinese attire. The Jesuits, the group for which Ricci was associated with, believed that the best way to convert a civilization, such as China, was to immerse themselves in their culture. Missionaries did not just focus their efforts in China. As document 13 shows, Writing of St. Francis Xavier Letter from Japan - 1551, these missionaries worked to translate the Bible to allow those they were converting to better understand Christianity in their own language. This would allow a significantly higher number of people in Japan to convert, and the missionaries would be considered successful. On the other hand, the document also shows the fears that the Japanese had in regards to converting to Christianity. According to Xavier, the Japanese see the “rightness” of Christianity as opposed to their previous beliefs, but he sites that their princes cause

Herman Cortés brought the first religious figure, Bartolome de Olmedo, to the New World. They also brought 3 others. In 1523, the first missionaries unloaded in Mexico. Their names were Johan Vander Auwera, Johan Deber and Pierre de Gante. They changed their names to Juan de Aora, Juan de Tecto and Pedro de Gand. The first two sailed with Cortés a year prior, towards Honduras, however they divided on the expedition. Pedro de Gante began to learn Náhatal to convert the people in Texcoco. A year later the missionaries came to Mexican lands in a group of 12, just as the disciples of Jesus christ. They arrived May 13, 1524 and walked barefoot to Mexico City, to meet with Cortés, the Spanish captains and the citizens. They kneeled and kissed the

People have explored with the idea of spreading religion to new lands. On August 3rd, 1590, Coronado made a report to Viceroy Mendoza. Coronado wrote, “the purpose of my coming to this country, which is, in the name of His Majesty and the commands of Your Lordship, that they and all the others in this province should become Christians and should know the true God for their Lord”(Doc H). This shows that Coronado traveled to this land to spread his country’s religion. Coronado wanted to convert the natives into Christians.

In addition to their stylistic differences, these two authors also differed in their portrayal of Christianity in Portuguese-occupied Japan. Hamilton introduces his work by discussing the situation of Christianity in Japan. According to his account, “the Portuguese found this island and Japan to be easily brought over to their notions of Christianity.” Indeed, they converted 180,000 families and “it was believed that the Emperor himself would have become Christian, but a Civil War [was]breaking out in Japan” (Hamilton 299). Therefore, from Hamilton’s account, it seems clear that not only were the Portuguese intent on converting the people of Japan to Christianity, they had little difficulty in doing so. In fact, it seems that conversion was

Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.

Buddhist priests were forced out of their shrines if they refused to convert, and shunned by the religious community. Buddhist temple land was seized by the government, and temples were burned to the ground. Government officials also began to worry about the presence of Christianity in Japan, fearing it would gain strength. Acting swiftly, on May 15th, 1868, the government issued an order to all clans saying:

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

lthough it demanded the rapid expulsion of Christian missionaries, the edict served as a symbolic rejection of foreign influence over Japanese religious life, and was not aggressively enforced for nearly a decade.

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

He converted tens of thousands in India, and thousands of Japanese. There were more missionaries and catholicism was spreaded internationally. Jesuit missionaries succeeded in restoring Catholicism to parts of Germany and eastern Europe who were Protestants. As you can see, the Catholic Reformation was successful because it introduced the Society of Jesus, who used education and missionaries to revive catholicism.

Western Influence on Japan Japan, as a nation, is a continually changing society. Ever since western nations became involved with Japan, its changes over recent times have increased at a substantial rate. Japan now faces cultural, economical and social differences as a result of the western involvement. The involvement was initiated by the Japanese themselves, beginning during the Meiji Period1 through current times.

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.

Japans history dates back almost 53,000 years and is filled with interesting and fascinating events. Most of Japans actions have left the major world powers in the world stunned. The base of this amazing country is astonishing just by itself. The base is a bunch of active and large under water volcanoes. Japans uniqueness from the rest of the world ranges from its culture to its very interesting history to the change in government every few hundred years and their trading dilemma with petroleum and their assortment of fish that they export. Japan as a country is so very appealing and kind compared to the rest of the world its no wonder that it’s geographically separate from the rest of the world.