Bulletin of Friends' Historical Association
The History of Seventy Years of the Society of Friends in Japan (review)Yukio Irie
Bulletin of Friends' Historical Association
Friends Historical Association
Volume 47, Number 2, Autumn 1958
pp. 108-109
Review
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Book Reviews The History of Seventy Years of the Society of Friends in Japan. Edited by Kiyoshi Ukaji and Ichiro Koizumi. Published by Japan Yearly Meeting, 1957. In Japanese. 150 pages. Not for sale.
This work consists of four parts. 1. The Origin and Development of the Society of Friends in the World. 2. The History of Seventy Years of the Society of Friends in Japan. 3. The State of Japan Yearly Meeting Today. 4. Organizations connected with the Society of Friends in Japan. Parts 1, 3 and 4 are introductions to Quakerism in the world and in Japan, chiefly for the convenience of those who are not Quakers. Part 2, of course, is the central part of the book, and is really for nobody else than the Japanese Quakers. It is a prayerful confession, searching selfexamination and challenge to themselves ! As a history it is not a well-knit one, especially in the first half of the period, 1885-1936. There are a number of things that have characterized Japan to which this book pays little attention, as if they had had nothing to do with Quakerism, such as Shintoistic nationalism and the Imperial Rescript on education, the social and racial segregations, the inequality of men and women, the Russo-Japanese War, and the First World War (during which the first Japanese Monthly Meeting and Japan Yearly Meeting were established). And yet, sketchy as it is, it is a valuable record of the continuous struggles and awakenings of Japanese Friends with the ever devoted service and encouragement of love from abroad, especially from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting ever since the Cosands landed at Yokohama in 1885. The latter half of the history, from 1937 on, gives us an exact and touching picture of the progress of the Society of Friends. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Society of Friends in Japan was forced to join the nationalistic United Church, by which, as the writer says, the Society of Friends in Japan came to an end, except for two private groups: several people who looked after the "Bowies' Home," and the group of Young Friends, about twelve in number, who continued to have their meetings for worship in private homes. They proved to be "The atom nucleus stronger than all the oppressions from outside" that brought about in 1947 the second birth of the Society of Friends in Japan. A remarkable thing is that since the war Japanese Friends have come to be more and more firmly convinced that they must realize these three things as the vital principles of the re-born Society of Friends in Japan: (1) Non-programmed silent meetings for worship; (2) No paid workers for ministry; and (3) Financial independence. Virtually the same thing had been expressed as far back as the Society's anniversary in 1936. The 108 Book Reviews109 writer says that the failure to realize these principles must have been one of the causes which made the Society of Friends in Japan un-Quakerly for so long. Of course, the three things as mere rules do not make Quakerism. As for financial independence, for instance, in what spirit should Friends keep it? The Society of Friends in Japan will prove the importance of these principles in future years through its life under God's guidance. This history is a noble attempt to show what Quakerism has meant to the Japanese and how the Japanese Quakers have received God's guidance . It is a courageous social testimony of their faith.
Tokyo, Japan
Yukio Irie
Ernest E. Taylor: Valiant for Truth. By J. Roland Whiting. London: Bannisdale Press. 1958. 135 pages. $2.50.
The author of this book is possibly better known to Friends in the United States than is his subject, since Roland and Evelyn Whiting this year completed a term at Pendle Hill. Ernest E. Taylor, who was behind the scenes in much of the Quaker writing and publishing in England during the last half century, was a visitor at Pendle Hill for only five days in 1934. Quaker historians, however, should have a special interest in reading this life, for whilst Ernest Taylor published only two books, Cameos...
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ISSN
1934-1504
Print ISSN
0033-5053
Pages
pp. 108-109
Launched on MUSE
2012-04-04
Open Access
No
Download PDFShare
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Recommend
Additional Information
ISSN
1934-1504
Print ISSN
0033-5053
Pages
pp. 108-109
Launched on MUSE
2012-04-04
Open Access
No
