Legacy of a Minority Religion: Christians and Christianity in Contemporary Japan

Abstract

Though Christianity has been practiced in Japan for over 400 years, its status as an oft-persecuted religion practiced by a minority of Japanese has long presented challenges for Japanese Christians. Since the early years of its establishment in the sixteenth century, government officials have tended to view Christianity with suspicion as they question the compatibility of a “foreign” religion with loyalty to the state. Restrictions on Christianity were lifted in the late nineteenth century, but again it became a target of political suppression when Japan began a disastrous 15-year war that brought it into conflict with Europe, the United States and much of the Asia-Pacific region. Though the past 60 years of peaceful government have allowed Christians to assume a more or less untroubled place within mainstream Japanese culture, they continue to face challenges ranging from oppressive policies to new social and political currents that compel them to examine their beliefs. This chapter focuses on the forces that have shaped Christianity since its introduction to Japan in the sixteenth century, examining in particular what changes have occurred in Japanese Christianity since 1945 and how Christians have addressed issues including sexism, homosexuality, the role of the Internet in worship, and how they see themselves in relation to contemporary Japanese trends, such as the “spiritual boom.”