Christianity Consistent In Japan Over 450 Years

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]A Gallup poll that Taro quoted in this thread suggested growing popularity for Christianity in Japan. This article suggests differently.

Ecumenical News International: Percentage of Christians in Japan has been static for 450 years
The Christian population in Japan has remained at around one per cent of the country's population since 1549, when Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived, and it does not look likely to rise significantly says a professor of the sociology of religion at Tokyo's Roman Catholic Sophia University... "The question is how the churches will change their exclusiveness and create a positive image," said Mullins..."The attitude of the general Japanese public to religious organizations is the most severe now," he said. "Ever since the Aum incident in 1995, all religious organizations are seen as dangerous. So, one of the problems for the churches is how they will change such a negative image of the church organizations"...more...

[Ketou]

450 years later and they're still trying to mess up the Japanese.

[Charles]

450 years later and they're still trying to mess up the Japanese.

I think Hideyoshi had the right idea when he decreed that christians should be crucified. He nailed up 26 of em, that was a good start.

[FG Lurker]

There's an island in the Settou Naikai (not far from where my avatar photo was taken) where a hundred or so Christians were decapitated... Apparently they refused to leave when told to get the fuck out. There is still a chapel and memorial there actually, although I haven't been onto the island to see it yet. Maybe this summer.

[dimwit]

I think Hideyoshi had the right idea when he decreed that christians should be crucified. He nailed up 26 of em, that was a good start.

Yes it was an interesting start down the road toward xenophobic nationalism that made Japan such a bang up country in the mid 20th century.

450 years later and they're still trying to mess up the Japanese.

For example?:rolleyes:


Back to Mulboyne's Article. Christianity did seem to increase during the late 1500's and possibly got as high as 10 percent of the population before the progressive proscriptions during the 1590-1630 period more or less eliminated it.

[Charles]

Yes it was an interesting start down the road toward xenophobic nationalism that made Japan such a bang up country in the mid 20th century.

Utter horseshit. It had nothing to do with nationalism, for many hundreds of years Emperors had decreed slaughter of rival religious sects within Japan. Religious intolerance is a defining characteristic of Japanese culture, going back almost to antiquity.

[Ketou]

For example?:rolleyes:

So you think the last 2000 years of christianity has been a master example of peace and harmony on earth?

[dimwit]

So you think the last 2000 years of christianity has been a master example of peace and harmony on earth?

No religion can fit that role I'm afraid. I assume that to both you and Charles Christianity only exists as you know it in the US. Christianity is not that monolithic, and it each country that it was its own distinct personality. Catholicism of Italy for example has always been worldly, in France it has been more political. The same is equally true of Japan. Christianity in Japan can be characterized as being intellectual, socially concerned and politcally left of centre. It's contribution to Japan in the fields of education and medicine have been very important and in general positive.

Charles, you proclaim your to be a Buddhist, yet virtually all the Buddhist I have know here in Japan have a both a considerable degree tolerance if not respect for Christianity. Somehow that message seems to have missed by you.

[Greji]

Somehow that message seems to have missed by you.

Not unless the Christians are Aussies!

[kurohinge1]

. . . Charles, you proclaim your to be a Buddhist, yet virtually all the Buddhist I have know here in Japan have a both a considerable degree tolerance if not respect for Christianity. Somehow that message seems to have missed by you.

Buddhist's seek freedom from greed, hatred and delusion.

Even if Charles stumbled upon that road, his posts show that he's headed the opposite way along it to the Buddhists.

[Charles]

Charles, you proclaim your to be a Buddhist, yet virtually all the Buddhist I have know here in Japan have a both a considerable degree tolerance if not respect for Christianity. Somehow that message seems to have missed by you.

My buddhist sect respects christians but not christianity. How can I respect a heretical doctrine that leads people to suffering through mistaken perceptions of reality? But that is not necessarily the fault of the believers, most of whom have never learned of alternatives like buddhism. My sect believes all other religions are but devolved versions of the True Path. If I have any personal faults, that is the latent christianity in my background that I have not yet eliminated.

[Yorik]

If I have any personal faults, that is the latent christianity in my background that I have not yet eliminated.

Can we make a list of the things that this "latent christianity" seems to be causing? Or should we just accept you for who you are..

Being agnostic leaning towards aetheism, I have the ability to make comment on organised religion as I am not biased towards or against any one "brand." What annoys me the most is how every religion bad mouths others as being bad, wrong, unjust or incorrect. If these religions were as acceptings as they say they are, then there would be no need for this type of slandery.

[kamome]

What annoys me the most is how every religion bad mouths others as being bad, wrong, unjust or incorrect.

Just like Charles was doing in the post above yours!

[james]

My sect believes all other religions are but devolved versions of the True Path.

and herein lies the heart of why religion is such complete and utter b.s. most, if not all religions i've found have these two characteristics:

1. this is the "one true path", all others are wrong / slightly off path / leading you right to hell

2. the spread of our teachings and their effect on practioners' lives will eventually bring about a peaceful, just, and prosperous society, but only when we've finally converted everybody..

so which sect do you belong to, dear leader?

[FG Lurker]

If I have any personal faults, that is the latent christianity in my background that I have not yet eliminated.

Ahh, okay! So it's your latent Christianity that makes you an arrogant asshole. Keep working on it, hopefully you can purge that soon!

[james]

If I have any personal faults,

you do. trust us.

that is the latent christianity in my background that I have not yet eliminated.

nah, that's just genetics. very little to be done about that, so basically you're farked. sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[American Oyaji]

*sigh*

[Samurai_Jerk]

Japan's "Hidden Christians" face extinction

One by one, the sacred relics -- a medal of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and other revered objects -- are taken from a cupboard and placed on an altar for a Christmas Eve rite passed down through centuries from Japan's earliest Christians.

Then, kneeling in the simple hall built where martyrs are said to have been burned on this tiny, remote island 400 years ago, five elders murmur chants as they bow and make the sign of the cross.

The kimono-clad deacons are descendants of "Kakure Kirishitan," or Hidden Christians, who kept their religion alive on Ikitsuki and in other isolated pockets of Japan during 250 years of suppression, adapting their rites to the demands of secrecy and blending them with local beliefs.

These days, the religion faces a modern threat of extinction as young people, like those elsewhere in rural Japan, leave their homes in search of jobs, drifting away from their gods and the rituals that honor them.

"It's sad. The tradition of our ancestors is disappearing," said Ayuzo Matsuyama, one of those gathered to observe "Osanmachi" and "Gotanjo" -- Christmas Eve and Christmas -- last weekend, the last Saturday and Sunday before the winter solstice.

[Mulboyne]

[sublight]

Christianity is not that monolithic, and it each country that it was its own distinct personality.

Yes, in France they burned the Jews, in Spain they were hanged, while in Italy the townspeople simply stoned them in the village square.

Truly, the Japanese were the epitome of xenophobic nationalism.

[Greji]

Yes, in France they burned the Jews, in Spain they were hanged, while in Italy the townspeople simply stoned them in the village square.

Truly, the Japanese were the epitome of xenophobic nationalism.

Aww, but Japan was much better in offering programs for the Christians. They offered crucifixion, beheading, or hanging. Not many other countries in those days were advanced enough to provide such a diversified menu....

[sublight]

True, you can always count on excellent service here.

[Doctor Stop]

True, you can always count on excellent service here.

And there's no tipping required.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

A Japanese (Nintendo) contribution to Christianity....

[YT]<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nRMiRFJzIKA&hl=ja_JP&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nRMiRFJzIKA&hl=ja_JP&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>[/YT]

[Typhoon]

[floatl][/floatl]A Gallup poll that Taro quoted in this thread suggested growing popularity for Christianity in Japan. This article suggests differently.

Ecumenical News International: Percentage of Christians in Japan has been static for 450 years
The Christian population in Japan has remained at around one per cent of the country's population since 1549, when Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived, and it does not look likely to rise significantly says a professor of the sociology of religion at Tokyo's Roman Catholic Sophia University... "The question is how the churches will change their exclusiveness and create a positive image," said Mullins..."The attitude of the general Japanese public to religious organizations is the most severe now," he said. "Ever since the Aum incident in 1995, all religious organizations are seen as dangerous. So, one of the problems for the churches is how they will change such a negative image of the church organizations"...more...

If the Japanese had allowed the Jesuits to establish their influence and control, then Japan would have ended up as another Philippines.

The Jesuits were constantly lying to Tokugawa Ieyasu about their status in the West.