Christianity in Japan

Japan is a country in East Asia. Though most of the country is Buddhist or Shinto, there is a small Christian population.

The first forms of Christianity to arrive were Roman Catholicism, spread by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries, and Protestantism, spread by Dutch missionaries in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Thousands of Japanese converted from Shinto and Buddhism to Catholic Christianity.

On August 15, 1549, Francisco Xavier (a Catholic Saint)Cosme de Torres (a Jesuit priest), and Father John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima from Spain with hopes to bring Christianity and Catholicism to Japan. On September 29th, Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of producing a trade relationship with Europe. During his stay in Japan, Xavier ordered all missionaries to study the Japanese language and an early form of Romaji was developed as a result. He also succeeded in baptizing and fully converting 100 people to Catholicism.

The shogunate and imperial government at first supported the Christian movement and the missionaries, thinking that they would reduce the power of the powerful Buddhist monks. The thought that Christianity would threaten to destabilize and overthrow the Japanese government arose later on. Japanese policy with regards to Christianity wavered until the 17th century (and around 1614 in particular), when Christianity was banned by Tokugawa Ieyasu and those who refused to abandon their new faith were killed, like Paul Miki or Magdalene of Nagasaki, following the Shimabara Rebellion, in which the Christian rebel army led by Amakusa Shiro was defeated by a large army of the Tokugawa Shogunate at the siege of Hara fortress.

European missionaries who did not leave the country were also killed. Many Christians fled to Europe or the Spanish Philippines. In the next two centuries, Japan remained in a state of complete isolation from the outside world. Dutch traders were limited to the island of Dejima and were forbidden to proselytize.

In secluded areas, the hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) continued to practice a corrupted Catholicism, actually a cult of their Christian ancestors with misremembered Latin and Portuguese prayers. When Meiji modernization allowed freedom of religion, several of these hidden Christians turned to Roman Catholicism while others maintained their traditions. Shusaku Endo's acclaimed novel "Silence" draws from the oral history of Japanese Catholic communities pertaining to the time of the suppression of the Church.

With the 19th century Meiji Restoration, foreign missionaries were able to return. State Shinto was made the official religion, but Christianity was allowed. In addition to Roman Catholicism being allowed back in, Protestantism and Russian Orthodoxy (from Sakhalin) also arrived. Protestant missionaries from Britain, other European countries, and especially the United States succeeded in making many conversions.

Denominations included Methodists, Episcopalians/Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Russian Orthodox, Mormons, and Unitarians. The most popular denomination was the Congregationalist Church, under the name Kyōdan (United Church of Christ).

When the military took power in 1931, Christians of all stripes were forced to merge into the United Church of Christ. During World War II, Christians were persecuted due to their perceived association with the American enemy, leading many to flee the country.

In 1945, freedom of religion was allowed, and separation of church and state enacted by the American occupation. All the former denominations were revived, as was the independent United Church of Christ.

Today, Christianity is adhered to by 1.1 million people, or less than 1% of Japan's population, though according to the US State Department 2007 Report, Japan has 3 millions Christians. Most people adhere to Shinto and Buddhism. But in the Japanese Diaspora, mostly in America, there are many Japanese Christians. Most Japanese Christians in the United States belong to the United Methodist Church, and other Protestant denominations. Some churches in America take an active missionary role in converting Japanese in Japan, and America. In the U.S., 43% of Japanese Americans claim a Christian faith. (Pilot National Asian American Political Survey, 2000-1)

In Japan today, most Christians are Protestant. Most belong to the United Church of Christ, followed by Catholics, and then other Protestant denominations. There are also Korean churches, including the Unification Church started in Korea.

Though Japanese Christians make up a small fraction of the population, Christmas is widely observed, though in a largely secularised form. Furthermore, Christian organizations have founded some important educational institutions such as the International Christian University, Kwansei Gakuin University and the Jesuit Sophia University.