Christianity Made in Japan A Study of Indigenous Movements
Mark R. Mullins
Contents
Preface vii
Ch 1 Christianity as World Religion and Vernacular Movement
- Sociological Considerations
- The Japanese Context
- Approaching Indigenous Christian Movements
Ch 2 The Social Sources of Christianity in Japan
- From Roman Catholic to Protestant Mission Churches
- From Transdenominational Cooperation to Denominational Mission Churches
- Christianity As a Lay Movement: The Sapporo and Kumamoto Bands
- The Development and Growth of the Mission Churches
- Transplanted Churches under Japanese Civil Religion
- The Postwar Period
- From Transplanted Churches to Indigenous Movements
- ChurchSect Theory and the Study of Indigenization
Ch 3 Charisma, Minor Founders, and Indigenous Movements
- The Social Background of the Indigenous Movements
- The Enabling Factor: Imported and Native Elements
- Minor Founders, Innovation, and Charismatic Authority
- The Reappearance of Charismatic Christianity
Ch 4 The Fountainhead of Japanese Christianity Revisited
- Uchimura Kanzo * and the Nonchurch Movement
- Western Traditions and the Bible in Uchimura's Christianity
- Christianity as a Japanese Religion
- Conclusion
Ch 5 Christianity As a Path of Self Cultivation
- Matsumura Kaiseki and The Way
- Kawai Shinsui and Christ Heart Church
- Some Comparative Observations
Ch 6 Japanese Versions of Apostolic Christianity
- Murai Jun and the Spirit of Jesus Church
- Otsuki* Takeji and the Holy Ecclesia of Jesus
- Teshima Ikuro* and the Original Gospel Movement
- Conclusion
-
Ch 7 Japanese Christians and the World of the Dead
- The Place of Ancestors and Spirit Belief in Japanese Culture
- Protestant Missionary Theology and the Ancestors
- Memorialism in Indigenous Christianity
- Reading the Bible with Japanese Eyes
- Care for the Dead in the Spirit of Jesus Church
- The Japanese Christian Response to Indigenous Spirit Beliefs
- Conclusion
Ch 8 Comparative Patterns of Growth and Decline
- The Sociology of Transplanted Churches
- Indigenization: A CureAll?
- The Dilemmas of Christianity in Japan
- Intersocietal Relations: The Neglected Dimension
- The Transplantation of Korean Christianity to Japan
- The Shamanization of Korean Christianity
- The Expansion of Korean Pentecostalism to Japan
- Healing Services and Testimonials in the Japan Grace Academy
- The Future of Korean Pentecostalism in Japan
Ch 9 The Broader Context of Japanese Christianity
- The "Ways" of Japanese Christianity
- Charisma and Leadership Succession
- Alternative Patterns of Appropriation
- The Global Context
Appendix: Bibliographical Guide to Indigenous Christian Movements 201
- Notes 217
- General Bibliography 261
- Acknowledgments 266
- Index 267
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Ch 5—Christianity As a Path of SelfCultivation
As we have seen, Uchimura Kanzo * was the first Japanese leader to articulate a clear alternative to transplanted Christian churches. His call for the development of an independent and indigenous expression of the faith resonated with the deep aspirations of numerous other Japanese Christians. Many shared Uchimura's independent spirit and sympathized with his break from mission churches, but some were not entirely satisfied with the alternative version of Christianity he created. Carlo Caldarola has referred to Uchimura's Nonchurch movement as "Christianity the Japanese Way," implying that it was the only authentic Japanese expression of
Christianity. The successive appearance of indigenous movements over the past century, however, suggests that there are other ways to be both Japanese and Christian.
This chapter considers the reinterpretation of Christianity by two other important figures involved in the earliest phase of indigenization: Matsumura
Kaiseki, who founded The Way in 1907, and Kawai Shinsui, who founded Christ Heart Church in 1927. These two groups represent important Japanese alternatives to both the mission churches and Uchimura's Nonchurch movement. In some respects the early faith of both these founders closely resembled Uchimura's evangelical Christianity, despite the fact that their introduction to the faith came by way of missionaries of the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions with strong ecclesiastical concerns that contrast with those of W S. Clark, the lay educator who had a formative influence on the Sapporo Band that nurtured Uchimura's early faith. In their autobiographies, Matsumura and Kawai refer to their early understanding of Christianity, a reliance on OtherPower. Eventually they came to the conclusion that this is only the beginning of the Christian life, and that authentic faith also requires the exercise of selfpower. It seemed to them that Uchimura, like the Western missionaries, put too much stress on OtherPower to the neglect of selfcultivation and selfexertion. One of Kawai's disciples went so far as to claim that the founder had "graduated" from the intellectualism of Uchimura and laid the experiential foundation for Japanese Christianity.
Matsumura and Kawai also conceived of Christianity more as a "path" or "way" than as a narrowly defined set of doctrines. Kawai, for example, referred to his version of Christianity as the "heavenly way"; and the name that Matsumura chose for his movement, Dokai *, means literally ''Association of the Way." Despite their shared conviction of the excessively doctrinal leanings of Western Christianity, their own Japanese reinterpretations of the faith were not without distinctive creeds and the contours of a basic theology. Moreover, although Matsumura and Kawai show a similar stress on the importance of selfcultivation in the religious life, their interpretations of Christianity differ markedly. A comparison of the two founders and the movements they initiated further illustrates the complex interaction of various religious traditions that goes into the process of indigenization. The following treatment does not by any means aim to be exhaustive, but it will attempt to identify the major religious and cultural elements that have been incorporated into these distinct interpretations of the teaching and practice of Christianity.
Matsumura Kaiseki and the Way
Matsumura Kaiseki (1859–1939) is relatively unknown today, but in the world of Japanese Christianity during the lateMeiji, Taisho*, and early Showa* periods he was a leading intellectual figure In fact, it was not uncommon for him to be
referred to as one of the "three muras" along with Uchimura and Uemura Masahisa. 1 While the latter have been given a central place in most historical accounts, Matsumura has largely dropped out of the picture, even though he played a similarly important role in the Japanese church of his time. Matsumura was not only an important intellectual figure within Japanese Protestantism but also a widely respected leader in the field of moral education. Like Uchimura, Matsumura was a prolific writer and popular speaker. The bibliography of his published works runs to over fifty pages and includes more than forty books and pamphlets devoted to religion.2 Through his lectures and writings he also had an influence on the founders of other new religious movements.3
In spite of Matsumura's importance, it is not hard to understand why his name has fallen into obscurity. The movement he initially intended as an authentic Japanese expression of Christianity soon evolved into a new religion that denied the traditional doctrines of the incarnation and atonement. Consequently, Matsumura was labeled as an apostate4 and ignored by the wider Christian community in Japan. His movement had to struggle for survival in the postwar period and in the end all but disappeared, leaving today no more than three hundred members nationwide. Notwithstanding the ambiguous status of The Way as a "Christian" movement, I have included it in this study because at various stages in its historical development the founder and followers understood themselves as an indigenous expression of Christianity.
Matsumura's Conversion and Religious Development
Matsumura was born in Akashi, a town just southwest of Kobe, in 1859—the very year the first Protestant missionaries arrived in Japan. Like Uchimura, Matsumura was from a samurai family and received his early education in the Chinese Confucian classics from his father. Following the Meiji Restoration and the new government's 1873 promulgation of a new law of military conscription for all, many a young man born into the several hundred thousands of samurai families of Japan found himself without land or stipend, and was forced to find another means of livelihood. With the encouragement of his father, Matsumura decided to pursue an academic career. At the age of twelve he was sent to Tokyo to continue Confucian studies in the juku of Yasui Sokken (1799–1876). Many leaders in the early Meiji period recognized the importance of Western learning for Japan's modernization, with the result that scores of young men from samurai families were prompted to continue their education in one of the schools of Western Learning that were being set up in various locations around the coun
try. In 1874, at the age of sixteen, Matsumura began his study of English at the Osaka School of Foreign Languages. Later that year he moved to Kobe * and continued his English studies with the missionary John Atkinson. This was Matsumura's first direct encounter with Christianity and the Bible. Two years later he returned to Tokyo to pursue his studies and in 1876 entered the Hepburn School in Yokohama, then under the direction of John Ballagh, an American missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Besides his study of English, Matsumura wrestled with the doctrines of Christianity that were being taught by missionaries associated with the Hepburn School and the
Yokohama Band. According to his spiritual autobiography, Fifty Years in the Faith, one night in December 1876 he had a divine revelation that the God of
Christianity was none other than Tentei , the God of Confucianism. As a result of this experience he made a profession of faith and was baptized in 1877 in the Sumiyoshicho* Church. The following year he returned home for a brief visit to evangelize members of his own family. For a short while he supported himself on a meager income by assisting missionaries with translation and evangelistic activities and by working as an elementary school teacher. Unable to cope with the pressures of his new responsibilities, Matsumura had a nervous breakdown diagnosed as neurasthenia, apparently triggered by overwork and an erratic diet. James Ballagh made arrangements for him to recuperate in the village of Yamanaka in the Hakone region. During his convalescence, while at prayer one evening in the mountains, Matsumura had another decisive revelatory experience, which persuaded him that he was being called by God to serve in Christian ministry as an evangelist.
To prepare for the ministry Matsumura returned to Tokyo in 1880 and enrolled in Union Theological School, an institution established by a number of Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed missionaries associated with the Yokohama Band. After only two months Matsumura felt obliged to withdraw from the program. By his own account, he was disappointed with the quality of the teachers and students. He was also unable to accept the strict missionary interpretation of the Sabbath and the prescription against smoking and drinking, which led to conflicts with various missionary instructors, including James Ballagh and the President James Amerman. The final straw was the refusal of the school authorities to observe a school holiday commemorating the anniversary of the death of Emperor Jinmu. The missionaries argued that this festival was simply a form of idol worship and as such should not be honored with a school holiday. Matsumura maintained that the missionaries were ignorant of Japanese history and the national character of the Japanese people, and that the school should
cancel classes out of respect for tradition. The missionaries went on with business as usual, but a number of the students sided with Matsumura and absented themselves. After being called in and reprimanded for the negative influence he was having on his classmates, Matsumura had no choice but to leave the seminary. 5
Following this abrupt departure in 1881, Matsumura moved to the Kansai area for a period of six years. After being employed briefly by a newspaper in Osaka, he served as pastor of the Takahashi Church in Okayama for three years and then returned to Osaka as a writer for the Christian newspaper Fukuin shimpo* (Gospel news). This was a formative period in Matsumura's intellectual development as he encountered many new ideas and came in contact with a much larger circle of missionaries and Japanese Christian leaders. His first year in Osaka, for example, he read Darwin's Origin of the Species, which shook the foundations of his traditional Christian faith. While he was able to recover his "faith in God" after several days of deep doubt and distress, he found he was no longer able fully to accept the "orthodox" doctrines of traditional Christianity.6
During this time he also came to the realization that the ReformedPresbyterian tradition of the Yokohama Band was only "one among many" versions of Christianity. Some European missionaries and denominations, in fact, were advocating a more rational interpretation of Christianity and, in stark contrast to Matsumura's American missionary teachers, were far more relaxed in their attitudes toward alcohol, tobacco, and the Sabbath. In particular, the leaders associated with the Congregational and Unitarian churches exposed him to new ideas that were to radically reshape his interpretation of the Christian tradition. Two persons deserve mention in this connection.
Kanamori Michitomo (1857–1945), who was trained at Doshisha* and ordained for ministry in the Congregational Church by Niijima Jo*, befriended Matsumura when he moved to the Kansai area and helped position him in his first pastorate. Niijima also introduced Matsumura to the new theology and the higher biblical criticism that had recently been imported from Europe. Several years later Kanamori was to make a name for himself as the leading exponent of the new theology. In
1892, his free translation of Otto Pfleiderer's Religionsphilosophie auf geschichtlichter Grundlage (1878) appeared in Japanese, and along with his own book, The Present and Future of Christianity in Japan (1891), played a major role in introducing the new theology to Japan.7
It was also during his stay in Osaka that Matsumura was introduced to the NeoConfucian philosophy of O* Yomei* by another Japanese pastor, Yoshioka Koki*
(1847–1932). Matsumura's encounter with Yoshioka not only rekindled his interest in the Confucian classics, which had formed the core of his early child
hood education, but also provided him with a new philosophical perspective from which to integrate the spiritual wisdom of East and West. From that point on, Matsumura began thinking seriously about forging a Confucian Christianity that could be integrated with the new theology from Europe.
After a brief stint as editor of the Kirisutokyo * shimbun (Christian newspaper) in Tokyo, Matsumura spent a time in educational work. He served as the head teacher of the Yamagata English School for approximately six months and then moved to Niigata, where he succeeded Uchimura Kanzo* at the Hokuetsu Gakkan in 1887. Like Uchimura, Matsumura's educational philosophy was to excite serious criticism from the missionaries associated with the school, leading to his resignation in 1891. His next appointment was as lecturer at the Kanda Kirisutokyo* Seinen Kaikan, which lasted for approximately five years. Through his lectures and writings his influence spread. By the end of his term his Saturday lectures were attended by four or five hundred people. Despite his popularity, the board of directors were less than pleased with his theological views, and he was asked to resign in 1897.
Withdrawing from public life, Matsumura spent the next few years in Kamakura engaged in serious study and writing, publishing such works as A History of the Rise and Fall of Nations (1902), Modern European History (1903), and Saint Socrates (1903). This was a time of harsh religious discipline for Matsumura and of deep reflection on his life and future. Although he had been planning to return to the field of education, another "direct revelation" from God instructed him to devote the rest of his life to religious work. In 1905, at the age of fortyseven, Matsumura resolved to begin an independent church and to commit his remaining years to teaching "pure religion" with the aim of bringing about a new, reformed Christianity for Japan.8
From Church of Japan to New Religion
During the first several years of its development Matsumura's independent expression of Christianity evolved rapidly.9 He initially called his movement the One Heart Association, but in 1907 renamed it the Church of Japan and rented quarters to hold regular meetings. The following year he launched the magazine The Way, which became the primary carrier of his new Confucian version of Christianity. In one of the early issues Matsumura laid out the purposes of the magazine as to express independent religious views, to explore psychic phenomena, to apply higher criticism to Christianity, and to integrate the culture and ideas of East and West.10
Matsumura Kaiseki, founder of The Way.
Matsumura initially organized the Church of Japan, as we mentioned, to create a new and reformed Japanese Christianity independent of Western control. As his religious beliefs and convictions gradually came to be systematized, it became increasingly apparent that it was misleading to refer to his movement as a "Church." Ironically, it was his most sympathetic Japanese colleagues from the Unitarian Church who forced him to recognize that he had clearly departed from the Christian faith. 11 To reflect his new orientation, Matsumura renamed the movement The Way in 1912, referring to it as a "new religion" of the "eternal way." Some years later Matsumura explained that he started the Church of Japan in an effort to reform the traditional version of Christianity, to rid it of its many superstitions, and to ground faith and religious beliefs on scientific thought. What began as a reform ended up as a revolution that could only be called a "new religion."12 Although Matsumura's new position took shape over a number of years in the pages of The Way, it was the publication of his 1925 book, New Religion, that was the final turning point.
Matsumura understood his new religion as an effort to get back to the essentials of authentic religion. He maintained that all religions had been corrupted by unnecessary accretions that were only a source of competition and conflict. In this sense, The Way represented an attempt at purification and simplification. It was also an effort to reconcile religious belief and practice with the results of higher criticism and modern science. This emphasis is particularly clear in his 1929 book, A Critique of Religions. Matsumura admits that he had once believed in the traditional Christianity of the missionaries and worked to spread this version of the faith. But critical scholarship had convinced him that the central beliefs of orthodox Christianity were no longer tenable. In fact, he went so far as to claim that the doctrines of the infallibility of the Bible, the virgin birth of Jesus, and the theory of atonement are nothing more than lies.
Traditionalist churches have no future, he concluded, because they continue to proclaim these falsehoods, ignoring the advance of knowledge and scholarship. 13 Critics argued that a Christianity without Christ as Savior would not stand, but Matsumura stood his ground and maintained that the Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of Man were the only essential teachings of Jesus.14
The Teachings of The Way
In addition to the claim that he was establishing a New Religion, Matsumura argued that he was elaborating the basic truths shared by all the ancient religions of the world. His teaching was based on claims to personal experiences of revelation as well as on an appreciation of the truths contained in the sacred writings of Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism.15 His approach is condensed in a small booklet, The Summit Moon, which was based on a radio talk he gave on 7 February 1926.16 In it he summarizes in simple terms the basic beliefs and intent of The Way. The title is drawn from the line of the wellknown waka poem:
Many are the roads
ascending from the foot of the mountain, but the same summit moon is visible to all.
Gautama the Buddha looked at the moon from India, Confucius from China, and Jesus from Palestine, but each was affirming the same basic reality. Established religions have obscured this common religious experience and faith through corruption and the secondary trappings of scriptures and doctrinal elaborations. All doctrinal debates between religions and between denominations within Christianity are ultimately irrelevant and fruitless. (He mentions by name the conflict between James and Paul in the New Testament, between Luther and Zwingli within the Reformed tradition, and between Catholics and Protestants.) What ultimately matters is spirit, sincerity, and character—not theory. The Way is based on the conviction that it is possible to reduce the central truths of all major religions to the following four basic teachings, which he calls the shi koryo* :
1. Belief in God ( shinjin)
The most basic shared belief is faith and worship of the Lord of the universe ( Tenchi shusai no kami). In Christianity this is spoken of as faith in the
Creator who is God the Father; Buddhism speaks of True Suchness or ultimate reality; and in Shinto the focus of this faith is referred to as Omoto* no Kami
( ). Whether faith be monotheistic, polytheistic, or pantheistic, each religion is founded on belief in the same ultimate reality—the same summit moon. Faith in ultimate reality or God is central, but not in the sense of an absolute OtherPower. Human character can never be improved without discipline and selfexertion. 17 Indeed, Matsumura notes, many religions have deteriorated precisely because they focused exclusively on belief in God without teaching that individuals are responsible for their own development.
2. Cultivation of Moral Character ( shutoku*)
Authentic religion is not concerned with "thisworldly benefits" but focuses on the cultivation of virtue and requires strenuous effort to follow the Way. In one fashion or another, all religions instruct us to cultivate virtue and harmonize our lives with the Way. In Shinto this is referred to as rokkon shojo* ( mi o osameru). In short, true religion requires discipline and ascetic practice. It is worth dwelling briefly on this point, which is central to the faith of The Way.
Matsumura rejected the Christian doctrine of original sin in favor of the Confucian understanding of human nature as essentially good ( seizensetsu).
Accordingly, he saw religious life as a process of selfcultivation that proceeds by stages, not as the onceandforall dramatic conversion so often emphasized in the
Christian churches. Matsumura felt that his understanding was more suited to the Japanese psyche, and in 1916 published a short booklet explaining the famous Zen Oxherding Pictures as a guide to the path of spiritual cultivation and awakening to ultimate reality. At the same time, he insisted that such an understanding is not incompatible with the teaching of Jesus, who taught in the Parable of the Prodigal Son that individuals can come to their senses and return to God the Father on their own. The transformation that took place in the character of the son was the result of a gradual awakening and did not depend on an outside mediator or on any vicarious sacrifice.18
The standpoint taken by Matsumura and his successors is clearly indebted to the NeoConfucianism of O* Yomei*. There we see a strong faith in the divine and an emphasis on cultivating the inner insight ( kokoro no ryochi*), which is the innate capacity of each individual to follow the correct path and
enter into union with the Great Void of the universe ( Taikyo). 19 All persons, not just the saints and sages, are born with the same "true heart" that needs only to be stimulated and developed. The problem is that the average person is not aware of this inherent power to live according to the Way. One contemporary member expressed it this way: "Each person's heart is like a mirror that simply needs to be polished in order to choose the correct path." Worship, study, and seated meditation
( shinjin gattai).
3. Love of Neighbor ( airin)
Selfcultivation should not be misunderstood as a form of religious individualism. At their best, all religions teach us to live for others rather than to focus on individual or personal salvation. Our worship and respect of the "one lofty moon" requires that we love our neighbors. This is interpreted broadly to mean that each individual is responsible to live for emperor, nation, and humankind. In short, selfcultivation is not simply for individual liberation but the necessary first step in the wider process of bringing all of life—family, nation, world, universeinto harmony with the way. If we cultivate a heart of sincerity ( makoto), then we will naturally love our neighbor and contribute to the reordering of all things.20
4. Eternal Life ( eisei)
All religions teach that there is more to life than material existence. Eternal life refers to the indestructibility of the soul and life in the world to come. The Shinto
tradition explains this as the process of becoming divine and entering the Plain of High Heaven ( kami ni natte takamagahara ni agaru). The notion of eternal life with God in heaven is also central to Christianity. Death may be inevitable but it is not the end. Our bodies may be burned or buried, but we are spiritual beings that continue to exist in the spirit world. This last teaching is the special gift of religion that enables us to live with hope.
Matsumura defined The Way as an association dedicated to putting these four beliefs into practice in everyday life. The vows that its members recite together at the conclusion of each religious service and in daily practice are expressions of commitment to follow this way:
We promise to hold fast to belief in God and always seek to serve him.
We promise to hold fast to the cultivation of virtue and always seek to improve and elevate our character.
We promise to hold fast to our belief in love of neighbor and always serve our nation, the universe, and humankind.
We promise to hold fast to our belief in eternal life and always live with hope. 21
The Practice of the Way
As we have seen, NeoConfucianism (more specifically, Yomeigaku*) provided the primary orientation for Matsumura's spiritual path of selfcultivation. The scientific theory of evolution and higher criticism laid the foundations for his critique and eventual rejection of traditional Christianity. In the early years of the movement, services and rituals were largely patterned after the other Christian churches in Japan. The Bible, the Protestant hymn book, and the organ were used in worship services; the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper were observed. It was not long, though, before Matsumura came to realize that traditional Christian worship contained ideas contrary to his own fundamental beliefs. Since the words of most hymns contradicted what he was teaching, he decided to replace them with his own lyrics. He also experimented briefly with the use of traditional Japanese instruments in services. In the end, however, he returned to the organ, but only for a carefully selected number of hymns that were judged consistent with the teachings of The Way or for traditional tunes to which he had supplied new words.
Matsumura also realized that he could not simply imitate the rituals observed in Christian churches. Baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for example, was clearly out of place as a rite of initiation for a movement that rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. Within two years, baptism was dropped as a requirement for membership and replaced with a signature and oath. Since Matsumura had thrown out traditional Christology with its doctrine of the atonement, it was inevitable that he would also discontinue the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Christian influence remained, but borrowings from Shinto rituals were introduced to give a more authentically Japanese character to worship services.
In 1915 Matsumura secured a piece of land in Tokyo on which to build his headquarters. It was located in an area of Shibuya providentially named Kamiyama,
God's mountain. A Shinto ceremony of purification ( jichin
Followers of The Way with the founder, (second row, eighth from the right), in front of the Hall of Divine Worship.
sai) was held on the site, and by the following year several buildings had been erected there. The main structure was called the Haitendo * ( ), or Hall of Divine Worship, and was modeled on Japanese religious buildings rather than on Westernstyle churches. The dedication of this building in 1917 for worship and religious training, along with the publication of the Dokai* Guidebook, confirmed the establishment of the movement as a religion.
According to my informants, the founder felt that in its original form Shinto was a simple and pure reflection of Japanese culture and customs. It only stood to reason, therefore that Shinto traditions would play a role in shaping forms of worship. Matsumura had a Shintolike altar placed in the Hall of Divine Worship, where a mirror and sacred strips of paper ( makoto no hyogen*). One member described the Hall as follows:
It was built at a time when Japan was caught up in ''worshipping the West." It was unusual to build such a Japanese building at this time. The outside was constructed in the style of a Buddhist temple, but the inside was designed according to the Shinto pattern.
The services also had a Shinto character. At each service, Matsumura performed the Shintostyle clapping of the hands ( kashiwade) prior to reciting written
prayers before the altar. Services included a period of quiet sitting, a scripture reading (from the Dokai * Bible or some Confucian text), and a sermon elaborating some aspect of the four basic teachings of The Way. The service concluded with a prayer, a collective recitation of The Way's oath, and a hymn. Although the Christian rituals of baptism and the Lord's Supper were dropped, weddings and funerals continued to be provided for members.
In addition to formal worship services, members were encouraged to recite the oath daily, and to observe times of prayer and meditation each morning and evening. Just as a Shintolike altar was used as a focus for worship in the Hall of Divine Worship, Matsumura felt that individual members needed a similar focus for religious practice in their homes. For this purpose he prepared a hanging scroll inscribed with the name of God in Chinese characters: . He instructed his followers to place it over a Shinto altar or in an alcove so that incense could be burned before it during daily prayer and meditation. One of my informants explained that many people regarded these hanging scrolls as protective amulets. Outsiders criticized the use of these hanging scrolls as no more than idol worship, but Matsumura considered that beginners needed a concrete symbol on which to center their religious activity.22
The Way in Process
The religious teaching and practice described above were characteristic of The Way until the end of World War II. Several of my informants who were active in
Inner sanctuary of the Hall of Divine Worship, at Matsumura's funeral (1939).
The Way as students during the war years insisted that they understood it as a separate religion and not as a part of Christianity. The building and worship were Japanese style, the Confucian classics and Eastern thought were always stressed, there were very few references to the Bible in lectures and sermons, Christian hymns were rarely sung, and one never heard the refrain "Amen" used at any of the services. In short, there was very little "smell of Christianity" in The Way.
Since the end of the war, the leaders of The Way have reemphasized the Christian roots of the movement. Matsumura's successor, in fact, referred to the movement as a form of "liberal Christianity." 23 A sign displayed outside the headquarters of The Way in Tokyo identifies itself today with the same phrase. This new selfunderstanding only gradually evolved in the postwar environment. The "antiShinto atmosphere" that followed Japan's defeat and the American Occupation persuaded the leaders that it was prudent to dismantle the Shinto altar in the Hall of Divine Worship and put in its place a simple table with flowers. In 1955 Bible lectures were resumed and the use of the Bible and hymns in religious services gradually increased. The postwar transformation was completed with the rebuilding of the Hall of Divine Worship in 1989, this time designed like a Western church with stainedglass windows and pews. On the surface, The Way looks very much like a Christian institution today, and its high regard for Jesus' teaching about the Fatherhood of God and love of neighbor reconfirm this impression. Other traditional Christian doctrines, however, are still dismissed and the emphasis continues to be placed on the NeoConfucian teaching regarding selfcultivation.
Kawai Shinsui and Christ Heart Church
Matsumura was not the only Japanese leader to stress the importance of selfcultivation in the religious life. Another important illustration of this concern in Japanese Christianity can be found in the life and work of Kawai Shinsui (1867–1962), the founder of Christ Heart Church. Reinterpreting the faith through the lenses of Confucian and Buddhist traditions, this Japanese church maintains that Christianity offers a more complete path of selfcultivation and advocates traditional Buddhist disciplines of meditation to achieve a Christian satori (enlightenment), which is understood in terms of union with God. Although not as prolific a writer as Uchimura and Matsumura, Kawai did author a number of books, and his disciples edited and published a number of his lectures.24 Although he shared their concern for the development of an independent Japanese expression of Christianity, his own understanding and expression of the faith differed significantly from the intellectualism of the Nonchurch movement, the liberalism of The Way, and the simplistic interpretation of Christianity he encountered in most of the mission churches.
Kawai's Religious and Intellectual Development
Like Matsumura, Kawai's early Christian formation began in mission churches and institutions. Born in the village of Onuma in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1867, Kawai's serious encounter with Christianity dates from a personal tragedy as a young man of twentytwo. Over the course of one year, five members of his family became seriously ill and died. His search for meaning in the midst of this despair led him to the New Testament. Comforted by Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," Kawai converted and received baptism in a Methodist mission church in 1890. Three years later he enrolled in Tohoku * Gakuin, a theological school related to the German Reformed mission, in order to prepare for Christian ministry. Although he received instruction from missionary teachers during his time at Tohoku Gakuin College, his principal mentor was Oshikawa Masayoshi.25 From Oshikawa he learned that deep religious experience and union with God ( shinjin goitsu*) through selfcultivation were important aspects of the Christian faith that its Western missionary
representatives had overlooked. Although Kawai was not to establish an independent church of his own for several decades, a new understanding of the Christian faith was largely shaped during his time of study and work in Sendai (1893–1901).26
In his religious autobiography, My Spiritual Experiences, Kawai recalls how he began to reflect on the relationship between his Christian faith and the Asian religious traditions rooted from of old in the soil of Japan:
While thus I was pursuing my study, a sudden idea came to me: What if Buddha, Confucius, Socrates should meet Christ? What if Wang YangMing, Dogen*, Nichiren, or Hakuin should believe in Christ? I am sure they would discover something in addition to what Peter, James, John, and Paul had found. This being so, some greater truth beyond the Christianity conveyed from the West may be revealed by embodying the minds of these saints, and thus providing the West with the secret of truth found also in Japan.27
Kawai thus came to the realization that the Bible does not exhaust the teaching and richness of Christ. In fact, he reasoned, Jesus' message and teaching would have been different had he encountered Confucius or Buddha, rather
than the simple peasants of Israel. To explain the teaching of Christ through an encounter with these saints from Asia became Kawai's mission.
Kawai Shinsui in his study at the Fujiyoshida headquarters, (1954, age 88).
In order to achieve an understanding of Christianity that could unite East and West, Kawai saw that more than academic study of ancient texts was needed—nothing less than an existential encounter with the wisdom of these Asian saints. While carrying on his theological studies, Kawai began to meditate every evening for five or six hours in a nearby field. After two years of serious practice, he experienced firsthand the reality of union with God, a teaching that his mentor Oshikawa had shared with him several years before. "At that instant," Kawai recalls, "I experienced and understood these words too: 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God' (Mt. 5:8)." 28 This confirmation of faith provided Kawai with the confidence to develop his own independent expression of Christianity. "Once I had seen God with my own eyes, the logic of the learned was no match for my faith."29
Kawai's Interpretation of Christianity
In 1927 Kawai established Christ Heart Church within the grounds of Gunze Silk Manufacturing Company, where he had been head of the education department for almost twenty years. As he explained in one of his early lectures at Gunze, his reinterpretation of the Christian faith is based on thirtysix years of study, insights gained through intense meditation, direct revelations from God, and the wisdom of the saints of East and West.
As I pointed out earlier in the discussion of continuing revelation (chapter three), Kawai came to understand and elaborate the significance of Jesus for Japanese in terms of the "fulfillment" theology contained in the Gospel of Matthew. Like Uchimura, he argued that God had been actively at work in
Kawai with students from his Gakusei Shudoin * in Tokyo, 1919.
Asian history and culture long before the arrival of Western missionaries. This new understanding and conviction was expressed in the creed of Christ Heart Church as follows: "We believe the ways of the ancient saints are not destroyed but fulfilled by the coming of Christ." For Kawai, these "ancient saints" included Buddha, Confucius, the NeoConfucianist WangYang Ming, and a number of Buddhist saints (Honen*, Shinran, Nichiren, Dogen*, and Hakuin).30 Like John the Baptist in ancient Palestine, these Asian saints prepared the way for the coming of Christ and in essence constitute the "Old Testament" for Japanese Christians. Kawai writes that, while engaging in meditation in May of 1921, he experienced communion with the soul of Confucius and ''reached the conviction that the mind of Christ and the spirit of Confucius were indeed similar manifestations." His elaboration of this fulfillment theology in relation to Confucius is worth quoting at length:
I revere your brightest life as a forerunner to Christ with your seventyfour years on earth when you labored courageously. The great work you left behind you of saving the world depends now entirely upon us. Though you have been long in the realm of the unseen world, and I am here on earth, I will ask you to come to our help that we may together accomplish the sacred work to build up the Kingdom of Heaven.31
Students engaged in the morning practice of kyokenjutsu * (Tokyo, 1925).
In stark contrast to the displacement theology to which the missionaries appealed in their rejection of Japanese religiosity, Kawai stressed that the Confucian and Buddhist traditions offered much of value that could be incorporated into the lives of Christians. Accordingly, Zen meditation and kyokenjutsu ( , another influential form of bodily training and discipline) became important means of spiritual development in the Christ Heart Church. Christianity does not require that we reject the goodness that appears outside of the Christian tradition; rather, we are called in Christ to "gather together all of the truth, goodness, and beauty from other religious traditions."32 Kawai expressed a deep appreciation for the "riches" of Asian religions, but at the same time he was convinced that Jesus the Christ fulfilled and transcended these traditions.33 What distinguished Jesus from the saints of earlier times and other places was his unique teaching that the spirit of the living God would dwell in us and guide us along the path of perfection, and the fact of his resurrection from the dead and promise of the world to come.
Two passages from the New Testament form the core of Kawai's interpretation of Christianity.34 The first passage is from Philippians: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (2:5). This text constitutes the first pillar of Kawai's teaching and the inspiration for the name of his church. To be a Christian, Kawai explains, means to take on the "mind [heart] of Christ." In the
same way that Zen Buddhism is referred to as the religion of the Buddhamind (Busshinshu * ). Christianity is not just about "believing" in Jesus as savior, but involves discipleship, training, and practice in order to acquire the mind of Christ. Medical learning does not of itself cure illness if one does not follow the prescribed treatment. So, too, a knowledge of doctrine does not save without practice of the faith. In Kawai's words, "One cannot be saved by a faith based on doctrinal knowledge alone. There is no transformation without practice, and no salvation without transformation."35 The transplanted doctrinal expressions of Christianity are like guidebooks to Mount Fuji sitting on a shelf Their descriptions of slopes, trails, and peaks may all be correct, but the point is to climb and experience the mountain for oneself. Similarly, the aim of religion is to experience God directly and to undergo personal transformation. Instead of talking about salvation and union with God, Kawai's concern was to guide individuals to experience the reality firsthand.
The second New Testament passage emphasized by Kawai are the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: "Be ye perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect" (5:48). Christ requires perfection of his disciples, which can only be accomplished through serious spiritual training.36 Commenting on the passage, Kawai explains that God's ultimate purpose is to bring all of creation to perfection, including human beings who have been created in the image of God. Just as the time it takes to complete a marathon varies from runner to runner, the time it will take each one of us to complete the path of perfection also varies. Those of us who fail to open our eyes and make progress on the path in this life will face the purifying fire of God's "education" in the world to come.37 While we are reconciled with God through faith in Christ, the process of being remade in the image of Christ takes discipline and effort.
Borrowing the language of this New Testament passage, Kawai refers to his teaching of the way as the "Perfect Faith." God is perfect and his son Christ is both the perfect savior and the perfect teacher of humankind.38 Kawai continued to affirm the traditional Christian doctrine of salvation from sin and eternal life through Jesus Christ.39 He insisted, however, that this was not the whole of Christianity and that an exclusive emphasis on this teaching led to a shallow or superficial form of religion. I cite from the official translation:
To take Jesus as a mere savior is to see His half side. To take Jesus as a mere master is also to see His other half. Both sides are of equal importance, and we should neither show any partiality nor weigh the importance of the two. As His way of salvation, plain and allpermeating, is necessary, so His way of instruc
tion, solid and uplifting, is indispensable. In order that we may be saved, reliance would always suffice us; but in order that we may be educated, spiritual training is necessary. 40
The way of Christ, therefore, includes both OtherPower and selfpower.41 One must persevere and complete the training process in order to become like the
Master.42
Although Christianity is supposed to be a religion that unifies faith and ethical practice, Kawai observed that many Christians have fallen into a kind of "Pure Land Buddhist faith" that lacks a concern for moral training and discipline.43 If all we do as Christians is pray and ask God for favors, we are in no position to criticize others for their religion of thisworldly benefits. This is precisely what he found troubling about the transplanted mission churches and the Protestant theology that accompanied it. Kawai argued that most Protestants followed the interpretation of the German Reformer Martin Luther and failed to understand and appreciate the Epistle of James and its teaching about practice or the "works" of faith. Luther thought this New Testament letter obscured the gospel of "grace" taught by the Apostle Paul and hence regarded it as an "epistle of straw.'' By doing so, however, Luther was only able to grasp half of the New Testament faith.44 It is interesting to note here that Kawai spoke positively of the Roman Catholic tradition insofar as it affirmed the value of ascetic discipline in the lives of the saints and mystics.45
This special concern and emphasis on practice and selfcultivation is incorporated into the creed of Christ Heart Church, along with Kawai's fulfillment theology and affirmation of traditional Christian doctrines.
1. We believe in God the only Perfect Heavenly Father: Infinitely Great, Truly Sincere, Supremely Strong, Absolutely Good, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Supremely Beautiful, and of Divine Love; who made this heaven and earth and all things therein; and reigns, teaches, saves, judges, protects, destroys, and completes in the end.
2. We believe in Jesus Christ who represents and reveals this Heavenly Father in perfection, and saves and educates all the world, always working together with the Heavenly Father.
3. We believe in the Holy Spirit who develops, helps, comforts, and sanctifies us, working in our hearts all the time.
4. We believe the ways of ancient saints are not destroyed but rather fulfilled by the coming of Christ.
5. We believe that the practical way of serving our Heavenly Father and contributing to our fellowmen is to stand on the basis of sincerity which Christ valued most, and to aim at the perfection of the Heavenly Father which Christ indicated, and then, through perfect faith, to develop perfect character, do our duty perfectly, love men perfectly—thus each of us advance to perfection and thereby bring on earth the Kingdom of God.
6. We believe in the life everlasting and the existence of the world to come. 46
On 1 January 1927, Kawai made a public declaration that he was establishing Christ Heart Church as a new and independent religious path.47 That same year he published the final version of his poem, A Eulogy on Jesus Christ. These verses on the life of Christ, along with the Seven Great Vows and Prayers, became a part of the enlarged canon of the Christ Heart Church. Kawai had worked on the poem during his many years at Gunze and published an earlier and shorter version in Matsumura's magazine The Way in 1914. The revised version was based on "additional revelations from God." Written in classsical kanbun style, the text provided a concise synopsis of the life of Christ that could be memorized easily and used as a focus for daily meditation. It was also read in Sunday services along with the
Bible.48
From the very beginning, Kawai made it clear that he had no intention of developing a popular movement for the masses; rather, his aim was to gather a small group of dedicated disciples who were committed to the path of selfcultivation and perfection. Enhancing the character of the few was regarded by him as more important than attracting a large number of mediocre or average members. The Seven Great Vows and Prayers ( Shichi dai seigan), which define the meaning of membership and discipleship in the Christ Heart Church, reveal the high expectations and elitist orientation of the movement (what Max Weber referred to as "virtuosi religiosity").49 Inspired by the Buddhist tradition in his development of these vows, Kawai expanded the four great vows "that all bodhisattvas make at the outset of their spiritual careers."50 These vows were regarded as the perfect expression of the heart of religion and understood to be a "completion and fulfillment" of Buddhist wisdom in light of the revelation of Christ.51 I reproduce the text of the vows here:
The Seven Great Vows and Prayers
We pray and vow that we may ever be loving and adoring our Heavenly Father and the Son.
We pray and vow that we may ever be faithful to the Holy Spirit and conscience.
We pray and vow that we may ever be repentant and void of all sin and all folly.
We pray and vow that we may ever be serving all men and cherishing
all things in all the world. 52
We pray and vow that we may ever be diligent in our day's exertions, thinking highly of our duties.
We pray and vow that we may ever be learning, the mysterious perfect way pursuing.
We pray and vow that the sacred peace of the Kingdom of God may come and abide with us.
Religious Practice in Christ Heart Church
Kawai instructed his disciples that to keep these vows and complete the path to perfection that ends with union with God requires the daily discipline of prayer, meditation, Bible study, and practice. He likened these four to "a fourwheeled carriage that runs on the rail of love and leads individuals to the Kingdom of God." If the carriage does not ride smoothly when one of the wheels is missing, neither can spiritual development advance without all its elements in place. Prayer and meditation are referred to as the quiet disciplines; Bible study and practice, as dynamic disciplines.53
Prayer marks the beginning of the religious life; it is the means whereby we express our basic faith in God and seek to understand his will for us. Care must be taken not to allow prayers to become shallow and selfcentered by constantly asking special favors of God. Prayer is how we honor God and prepare our hearts for meditation.
Meditation guides us to personal transformation and enlightenment. Although the term meiso* , a repetitive prayer or chant) during meditation: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."54 Meditation is understood as a duty to God and not simply as a means to enlightenment. Through it one loses the sense of separate existence and experiences oneness
Saint Takahashi Mutsuko laid out in state, with Kawai and three disciples (Fujiyoshida, 1947).
with God. Without it, one can only hunger for the heaven and eternal life Jesus Christ spoke, but not taste it. Not even prayer and good works are complete without the discipline of meditation.
Spiritual Bible study opens the faithful to knowledge of Jesus as savior and teacher, to the indwelling Spirit of God, the kingdom of God, and life in the world to come. The Bible is a book of faith and must be read with eyes of faith and internalized through quiet reflection.
Finally, authentic faith requires practice. Selfcultivation, personal spiritual advancement, and enlightenment are not the terminus of the religious life. Their whole purpose is to open one to live for others and for the kingdom of God. Those who seriously pursue the path and acquire the heart of Christ will be engaged in lives of service to humankind.
By following these methods for four years in Sendai Kawai "encountered the living Christ" and experienced "union with God" as a young man of thirty in 1896. 55 His debt to the wisdom of the East is clear, and yet Kawai insisted on a clear difference between the Zen enlightenment of satori and his own teaching and experience of "the perfect, wondrous way" ( kanzen myodo*). Zen creates the sense of equality with ultimate reality, whereas the Christian path preserves the idea that God transcends all.56
During his lifetime, only five or six direct disciples were recognized by Kawai as having achieved this enlightenment experience. One of them, a
The Seven Great Vows and
Prayers in Kawai's calligraphy.
The Holy Image used in the Christ Heart Church.
woman named Takahashi Mutsuko, took her asceticism to extremes. While serving as Kawai's secretary and personal assistant, Takahashi committed herself to lifelong religious training and celibacy. In spite of frequent illnesses, she fasted regularly and seriously pursued the fourfold disciplines advocated by Kawai. Upon her untimely death at the young age of fortyfour, it was discovered that she had been engaging in more austere measures. Among her belongings were found a box containing Kawai's A Eulogy on Jesus Christ and no less than 115 copies of the New Testament. Every page of every book—about 30,000 pages in all—had been drenched in blood drawn from an incision in her side. Kawai was moved by Takahashi's "bloodstained sanguiscripts," and encouraged other disciples to imitate her spirit but not her methods. Clearly she had gone too far, but this did not deter Kawai from declaring her a saint, affirming that she had achieved satori and penetrated the inner mystery of Christ Heart Church. 57
Like Matsumura before him, Kawai recognized the need for visible symbols on which to focus one's spiritual cultivation. He encouraged followers to keep a small copy of a portrait of Christ with them to remind them of the presence of Christ. The founder himself carried one in the sleeve of his kimono for many years as an aid to his own spiritual development. A larger version of that same "holy image" may be found today on the sanctuary walls of the movement's churches.
Despite the special stress put on individual spirituality in Christ Heart Church, various forms of community worship and training are also observed. Following the pattern of traditional Christian churches, services are usually held on Sunday morning and generally follow the Protestant order of worship, including hymns, Bible reading, a sermon, and prayer. In addition, services today include a reading from Kawai's A Eulogy on Jesus Christ, ritual bowing before the "holy image" and a photograph of the founder also hung in the sanctuary, and a group chanting of the Seven Great Vows. Baptism is observed as a membership ritual, but the Lord's Supper has never been observed. Curiously, Kawai's writings make no mention of this traditional Christian observance, either as a memorial or as a sacrament, and no one in the movement today seems to have any explanation for why it was left out of religious practice in the Christ Heart Church. 58
The buildings used by Christ Heart Church are frequently referred to as a dojo*, since they serve as a place for religious training and not just as a sanctuary for worship services. Sunday services are frequently followed by meditation and study sessions. Since, as we saw, Kawai had come to regard the Confucian classics as a kind of Old Testament for the Japanese, these works are often studied along with his own commentaries and lectures.
In addition to local weekly and monthly meetings, a churchwide Cultivation Meeting is held for several days each summer at the Sohonzan* church located near the founder's birthplace in Fujiyoshida (Yamanashi Prefecture). These meetings contain lectures and worship services, teachers providing concentrated instruction in meditation and bodily training.59 As a part of the training program participants clean the buildings, grounds, and grave sites. The annual retreat concludes with a memorial service for the founder.
Another feature of Christ Heart Church that distinguishes it from most other Christian churches in Japan is its flexible position regarding participation in the rituals of other religious traditions. Unlike the mission churches, which generally took a strong stand against such involvement with other groups, members are encouraged to show proper respect and to share in traditional customs as their conscience dictates. As a result, in addition to memorial services within the church, many members continue to participate in various Buddhist services for deceased family members and friends. For example, the church avoids conducting services during the annual period of festivals for the dead known as obon in order that members can freely participate in ancestral memorial rituals with other relatives.
The stated position of the church is that it is appropriate for Christians to show respect for those who have died, whether it be at church services, Buddhist memorials, or even Yasukuni Shrine (the Shinto shrine where many of Japan's war dead are enshrined). At one time Christ Heart Church was a member of the Kirisutokyo * Rengokai*, an ecumenical association of Christian churches in Japan, but found it necessary to withdraw because of the strong opposition voiced by the association against taking part in rituals honoring the war dead at Yasukuni Shrine. The leaders of Christ Heart Church decided it could no longer remain a part of an organization that would discourage its members from showing proper reverence for their deceased relatives.
Some Comparative Observations
In this chapter I have tried to highlight some of the major influences on Matsumura and Kawai in their development of independent Japanese expressions of Christian belief and practice. Both movements illustrate the complexity of the indigenization process and some alternative ways in which Western traditions and ideas (Reformed theology, higher criticism, and the new theology) have been interpreted and appropriated in light of diverse Asian or indigenous traditions (NeoConfucianism, Zen Buddhism, Shinto). In response to the doctrinal emphases and rigidity of Western churches, Matsumura and Kawai stressed the importance of personal religious experience. Following in the steps of Uchimura Kanzo*, these founders rejected the control of Western mission churches and shared a positive orientation toward different aspects of Asian religious and philosophical traditions, as well as a general disdain for priestly and sacramental traditions and rituals of Western churches (although Christ Heart Church has continued baptism as a rite of initiation). Matsumura's acceptance of higher criticism and the new theology distinguishes him from both Uchimura and Kawai.
Without denying the importance of faith in OtherPower, what distinguishes both founders and movements from Uchimura's Nonchurch movement is their conviction that selfpower and moral cultivation are equally important aspects of the authentic religious life. This particular emphasis is hardly unique to these new Christian movements. It resembles in many ways the Shingaku movement that flourished in the Tokugawa period. As an earlier synthesis of NeoConfucianism and Zen traditions, this movement similarly stressed cultivation of the mind or heart through meditation.60 This movement was in rapid decline by the early Meiji period, but the concern for selfcultivation reappeared
in a number of New Religions that were established over the course of Japan's modernization. This has been widely recognized with reference to such movements as Kurozumikyo *, Hitonomichi Kyodan*, and PL Kyodan.61 The foregoing pages should make it clear that even the subculture of Japanese Christianity has been reshaped significantly by this important tradition.
