Hirado(平戸),Nagasaki
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Hirado (平戸市 Hirado-shi) is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.
The city of Hirado is located on the north western tip of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Hirado City consists of populated islands (Hirado(平戸島), Ikitsuki(生月島), Oshima(的山大島), Takushima(度島), and Takashima(鷹島) islands), numerous unpopulated islands with in its vicinity, and the town of Tabira(田平町 Tabira-chō). Part of Nagasaki Prefecture, Hirado and Ikitsuki islands are connected to the main island of Kyushu by bridges.
The part historically named Hirado is located on the island of the same name. On October 1, 2005 Ikitsuki, along with the town of Tabira, and the village of Ōshima, both from Kitamatsuura District, was merged into the expanded city of Hirado. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyūshū. The components are connected by the Hirado Bridge.
Where the East meet West.....Hirado has a long history of interaction with foreign countries. From the Sengoku Period (the Warring States Era from 1467 to 1600) to the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), the city blossomed through trade with the Netherlands and other European countries and was known as `Firando` by the Western visitors. It flourished to become a wealthy trading port that was even called `Firando, Capital of the West`. A cultural crossroad, Hirado still has many historical sites from that period of time.
Hirado had been a port of call for ships between the Asian mainland and Japan since the Nara period. During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, the local Matsuura clan held the rights to trade with Korea and with Sung Dynasty China. During the Sengoku and early Edo periods, Hirado's role as a center of foreign trade increased, especially vis-a-vis Ming Dynasty China and the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Portuguese arrived in 1550; and the English and Dutch initially reached Japan at the beginning of the 17th century. At its maximum the Dutch trading center covered the whole area of present-day Sakikata Park.
In 1637 and in 1639, stone warehouses were constructed, and the Dutch builders incorporated these dates into the stonework. However, the Tokugawa shogunate disapproved of the use of any Christian Era year dates, and therefore demanded the immediate destruction of these two structures. This failure to comply with strict sakoku(鎖国,さこく)national isolation policy was then used as one of the Shogunate's rationales for forcing the Dutch traders to abandon Hirado for the more constricting confines of Dejima, a small artificial island in the present-day city of Nagasaki. The last VOC Opperhoofd or Kapitan at Hirado and the first one at Dejima was François Caron, who oversaw the transfer in 1641.
Historian said that the transfer was actually the excuse for the Shogunate to take the Dutch trade away from the Hirado clan. During the Edo period, Hirado was the seat of the Hirado Domain. Hirado Castle is today an historical and architectural landmark.
Kakure Kirishitan - The hidden Christian
Hirado has a long Christian tradition. With the arrival of St Fransisco Xavier in the mid 16th century, many people converted to Christianity. Even during the period of Christian prohibition, people continued their faith underground. When the ban was lifted many people in Hirado became Catholics again and some kept practicing their faith as they did under the ban. They are called Kakure Kirishitan. Many beautiful churches and sights related to this long Christian history can be found in Hirado so come and Discover Hirado!
Some history on hidden Christian
Christianity was proclaimed initially by the Society of Jesus, joined later on by the less cautious Franciscan order. In 1570 there were 20 Catholic missionaries in Japan, the most famous of whom was Francis Xavier, who arrived in 1549. Nagasaki became the center of Japanese Catholicism, and maintained close cultural and religious ties to its Portuguese origins. These ties were severed once Christianity was outlawed; at this point, Catholicism went underground, its rites preserved by the Kakure Kirishitan, or "hidden Christians", who continued practicing their faith in secret. Some Japanese Catholics were killed for their faith, thus becoming martyrs. Many of these martyrs have been canonized by the Church, and their feast is still kept by Catholics as a universal memorial on February 6 each year.
Kakure Kirishitans who refused to renounce their unorthodox, secrecy practices decided not to rejoin Catholic Church, they were called Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians). Ikitsuki Island(生月島), Gotō Islands.
Yamada Church, the last remaining one in Nagasaki Prefecture to have an organized group of Hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) in practice and existence. Located near Yamada Elementary School, this small church holds much history as one of the first and last outposts of Christian belief and persecution in Japan.
Discovery in History
Hirado Castle,also known as Kameoka Castle, looks out over the surrounding blue sea. From the top of the main donjon one can admire the view of the harbour and the primeval forest of little Kurokojima island.
In Konoura village on Oshima Island you can still find the old wooden townhouses lining up next to each other creating a special atmosphere that is reminiscent of an old traditional Japan.
There is Umegayatsu Kairakuen Mansion,a old Japanese style villa.
The Dutch Trading Post, before it was ordered to be moved to Dejima in Nagasaki City, the Dutch Trading Post was located here in Hirado.
William Adams(1564-1620)
The first English citizen to arrive in Japan, Anjin Miura(三浦按針)(Williams Adams' Japanese name)or Anjin-sama became a diplomatic advisor for the Tokugawa Shogunate. William Adams (1564–1620), the English navigator, died here, and the Gravesite can be found here. he became a key advisor to the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and built for him Japan's first Western-style ships. Adams was later the key player in the establishment of trading factories by the Netherlands and England. He was also highly involved in Japan's Red Seal Asian trade, chartering and captaining several ships to Southeast Asia. He died in Japan at age 55, and has been recognized as one of the most influential foreigners in Japan during this period.
Camillus Costanzo (1571–1622)
Camillus Costanzo (1571–1622), Italian Jesuit martyr, was burnt alive in Hirado. Camillus Costanzo SJ was a soldier and a law student before joining the Naples province of the Society of Jesus in 1591. A native of Calabria, southern Italy. Initially he was sent to China by Jesuit Order ; but the Portuguese prevented his entrance into that country. Instead, his energy and calling were invested in Japan. He learned the Japanese language quickly; and he successfully encouraged converts in the region near the city of Sakai(西海市 Saikai-shi). When all missionaries were banished from Japan, he went to Macao for six years, devoting himself to studying Buddhist texts and writing pamphlets in Japanese. Despite the dangers involved in ignoring the Tokugawa shogunate's exclusionary laws (sakoku), he returned in 1621. Disguised as a soldier, he managed to elude capture until April 24, 1622 when he was arrested on the island of Hirado off the western coast of Kyushu.He was condemned to death; and he was burned alive on September 15, 1622. There is a monument to Costanzo Camillus, Jesuit martyr, located in the mainland part of the modern city of Hirado, formerly the town of Tabira, Japan.
Zheng Chenggong(郑成功/鄭成功)
The Taiwanese national hero and Ming general Koxinga(国姓爷)(1624–1662)was born here.His actual name is Zheng Chenggong(郑成功/鄭成功). Right behind Kawachi Village is a small hill on which the little Maruyama Park is located. Here one can find the mausoleum of Zheng Chenggong. Inside there's a statue of him and every year on July 14 the Tei Seiko Festival is being held at this spot.
He is the son of Zheng Zhilong(鄭芝龍), a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife Tagawa Matsu(田川松),or Weng-shi (翁氏) (1601 - 1646). Born in Kawachi village on Hirado Island, Zheng Chenggong's Japanese name is Tei Seikô.
She gave birth to Koxinga during a trip with her husband when she was picking seashells on the Senli Beach, Sennai River Bank (川內浦千里濱), Hirado.The stone beside which she gave birth still exists today as the Koxinga Child Birth Stone Tablet (鄭成功兒誕石碑), which is 80-cm tall and 3-metre wide, and submerged during high tides.
Tagawa Matsu raised Koxinga in Japan by herself until he was seven, and her closeness with her son is evident in some of the accomplishment and decisions Koxinga made in his adult life.
Later he moved to China with his parents. During the turbulent days of the decline of the Chinese Ming Dynasty and the rise into power of the Qing Dynasty he was active in the movement supporting the Ming. Famous for achievements such as conquering Taiwan and making valuable efforts towards the country’s national land development, he was also called Kokusenya or Koxinga. Koxinga died of malaria at the age of 37, at a relative young age.
In 1995, Hirado started a friendship affiliation with Nan'an City(南安) of Fujian Province, China, the birthplace and homeground of Zheng Chenggong's Chinese father.
Japanese diplomat Inagaki Manjiro(稲垣満次郎)(1861–1908) also born in Hirado.
Discovery the natural beauty
The city is surrounded by the bountiful sea and is blessed with a rich natural environment. Its main industries are fishing and agriculture. It is the northern entrance to the Saikai National Park.
Discovery of the culture
It seems like I am using my blog to promote Hirado, Japan for free.....better look for yourself at their official websites...other than believing in what I wrote to plan your trip to Hirado...
References:
1. Hirado official website, http://www.city.hirado.nagasaki.jp/english/home.htm
2. Religion: Japan's Crypto-Christians, Time Magazine, 11-1-1982 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925197,00.html
3. Ikitsuki Journal; Once Banned, Christianity Withers in an Old Stronghold, The New York Times, 25-12-2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/world/ikitsuki-journal-once-banned-christianity-withers-in-an-old-stronghold.html
4. Koxinga, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koxinga
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Japanese Hidden Christian(隠れキリシタン kakure kirishitan).
The root of the Japanese word for Christianity (キリスト教 Kirisuto-kyō) comes from the Japanese katakana transcription of the word Cristo (キリスト kirisuto), Portuguese word for Christ, and the Japanese word for doctrine (教 kyō, a teaching or precept).
Nestorian (Assyrian Church)
A Japanese Christian institute claims that there is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that Nestorian (Assyrian Church) missionaries first landed in Japan in AD 199, believing that they traveled through India, China and Korea before the Tang Dynasty. It also estimates that the first churches were fully established by the end of the 4th century especially at Nara in central Japan. Historical evidence in China have proved the arrival of Nestorian during Tang Dynasty, it is possible that some of them had arrived at Japan.
Catholic
In the year 1542, the first Europeans from Portugal landed on Kyushu in Western Japan. The two historically most important things they imported to Japan were gunpowder and Christianity. The Japanese barons on Kyushu welcomed foreign trade especially because of the new weapons, and, therefore, tolerated the Jesuit missionaries. The missionaries were successful in converting quite large numbers of people in Western Japan including members of the ruling class.
On August 15, 1549, St. Francis Xavier (later canonized by Gregory XV in 1622), Fr. Cosme de Torres, S.J. (a Jesuit priest), and Fr. John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan. The arrival started the Christian history in Japan.
On September 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Satsuma (containing the city of Kagoshima), asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a trade relationship with Europe. Within a year, however, he relented on this promise and made it illegal for people to convert.
In 1550, Francis Xavier also undertook a mission to the capital Kyoto.
The Hideyoshi's Prohibition Edict was published on July 24,1587
Towards the end of the 16th century, the Jesuits lost their monopoly position in Japan when Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto despite a first banning edict by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1597, Hideyoshi proclaimed a more serious banning edict.
日本二十六聖人 Nihon Nijūroku Seijin
On February 5, 1597, twenty-six Christians(six European Franciscan missionaries, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese laymen) including three young boys—were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki. These individuals were raised on crosses and then pierced through with spears.
List of the 26 Martyrs of 1597
•Saint Antonio Dainan
•Saint Bonaventura of Miyako
•Saint Cosme Takeya
•Saint Francisco Branco
•Saint Francisco of Nagasaki
•Saint Francisco of Saint Michael
•Saint Gabriel de Duisco
•Saint Gaius Francis
•Saint Gundisalvus (Gonsalvo) Garcia
•Saint Isabel Fernandez
•Saint Ignatius Jorjes
•Saint James Kisai
•Saint Joaquim Saccachibara
•Saint Juan Kisaka
•Saint Juan Soan de Goto
•Saint Leo Karasumaru
•Saint Luis Ibaraki
•Saint Martin of the Ascension
•Saint Mathias of Miyako
•Saint Miguel Kozaki
•Saint Paulo Ibaraki
•Saint Paul Miki or Saint Paulo Miki – Born in Japan in 1562, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1580 and was the first Japanese member of any Catholic religious order. He died one year before his ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Miki's remaining ashes and bones are now located in Macau, China.
•Saint Pablo Suzuki
•Saint Pedro Bautista or Saint Peter Baptist – He was a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines before coming to Japan. St. Peter was a companion of St. Paul Miki when Christianity was made illegal.
•Saint Pedro Sukejiroo
•Saint Philip of Jesus - Born in Mexico in 1572 (at the time "New Spain"). Upon his martyrdom he became the first Mexican saint and patron saint of Mexico City.
•Saint Thomas Kozaki
•Saint Thomas Xico
Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successors continued the persecution of Christianity in several further edicts. In 1612, the Tokugawa Regime published the Tokugawa Prohibition Edict dated 1-9-1612, by which not only the Missionaries or Religious, but all their followers were suppose to change religion or get out of Japan.
1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyūshū), 1622 (the execution of 120 missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians). Finally, the Closed Country Edict of 1635 prohibited any Japanese from traveling outside Japan or, if someone left, from ever returning. In 1636 the Dutch were restricted to Dejima, a small artificial island—and thus, not true Japanese soil—in Nagasaki's harbor.
Persecution continued sporadically, breaking out again in 1613 and 1630. By 1630, Christianity was driven underground.
On September 10, 1632, 55 Christians were martyred in Nagasaki in what became known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. At this time Roman Catholicism was officially outlawed. The Church remained without clergy and theological teaching disintegrated until the arrival of Western missionaries in the nineteenth century.
While there were many more martyrs, the first martyrs came to be especially revered, the most celebrated of which was Paulo Miki. The Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on June 8, 1862 by Blessed Pius IX and are listed on the calendar as Sts. Paul Miki and his Companions, commemorated on February 6. Originally this feast day was listed as Sts. Peter Baptist and Twenty-Five Companions, Martyrs, and commemorated on February 5.
The last persecution was during 1868-1873, the Christian in Japan endured 250 years of persecution.
For the other list of Catholic martyrs, please refer to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan , and the official website of The 26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki City, Japan, http://www.26martyrs.com/. The museum is located at Nishizaka-machi 7-8, Nagasaki City, 850-0051 Japan.
The Shimabara Rebellion(島原の乱 Shimabara no ran)1637-1638
The Shimabara Rebellion (島原の乱 Shimabara no ran) was an uprising largely involving Japanese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period.
In the wake of the Matsukura clan's construction of a new castle at Shimabara, taxes were drastically raised, which provoked anger from local peasants and lordless samurai. In addition, religious persecution against the local Christians exacerbated the discontent, which turned into open revolt in 1637. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, and after a lengthy siege against the rebels at Hara Castle, defeated them.
The Shimabara Rebellion, led by a young Christian boy named Amakusa Shiro Tokisada(天草四郎時貞), took place in 1637. The Rebellion broke out over economic desperation and government oppression but later assumed a religious tone. About 27,000 people joined the uprising, but it was crushed by the shogunate after a sustained campaign. Shiro led the defence of Hara Castle and died when it fell. The rebel leader Amakusa Shiro was beheaded, and persecution of Christianity became strictly enforced.
They are not considered martyrs by the Catholic Church since they took up arms for materialistic reasons.
Shimabara Rebellion ended in 1638, about 35,000 Christians die.
Japan's national seclusion policy was tightened, and formal persecution of Christianity continued until the 1850s.
Dutch and Chinese were restricted, respectively, to Dejima and to a special quarter in Nagasaki. Besides small trade of some outer daimyo with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's main islands. By 1641, foreign contacts were limited by the policy of sakoku to Nagasaki.
By 1650, Christianity was almost completely eradicated, and external political, economic and religious influence on Japan became quite limited. Only China, the Dutch East India Company, and for a short period, the English, enjoyed the right to visit Japan during this period, for commercial purposes only, and they were restricted to the Dejima port in Nagasaki. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were put to death without trial.
First Japanese Mass Migration - nikkeijin(日系人)
Many Japanese were deported to Macau or to the Spanish Philippines. Many Macanese and Japanese Mestizos are the mixed-race descendants of the deported Japanese Catholics. 400 were officially deported by the government to Macau and Manila, but thousands of Japanese were pressured into moving voluntarily. About 10,000 Macanese and 3,000 Japanese were moved to Manila. Some went to Siam.
Nikkeijin in Siam(タイ王国の日系人)
Some of Japanese Christian went to Siam. The Japanese quarters of Ayutthaya were home to about 1,500 Japanese inhabitants (some estimates run as high as 7,000). The community was called Ban Yipun in Thai, and was headed by a Japanese chief nominated by Thai authorities. It seems to have been a combination of traders, Christian converts ("Kirishitan") who had fled their home country to various Southeast Asian countries following the persecutions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and unemployed former samurai who had been on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara. Padre Antonio Francisco Cardim recounted having administered sacrament to around 400 Japanese Christians in 1627 in the Thai capital of Ayuthaya ("a 400 japoes christaos"). Until 1630, Ayudhyan society was very tolerant toward diverse religions.
The Japanese settlement is situated on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River in an
area called Ko Rian. It was located opposite the Portuguese settlement and was
separated from the English and Dutch settlement by the Suan Phlu canal to the north.(http://ayutthaya-history.com/Settlements_Japanese.html). Fr. Nixi took care of the Japanese in the church they had built, most probably in the Japanese settlement of Ayutthaya.
There were four hundred Japanese Christians in the Japanese enclave in 1624 and six hundred soldiers in 1628. The Christian refugees came mainly from peasant families, thus it is unlikely that this category overlapped too much with the warriors. There were specialized Japanese employees who, in turn, may have had families. Thus, a number between 2,000 and 3,000, including non-Japanese residents, seems more realistic. According to such an estimate, Ayutthaya featured one of the biggest Nihonmachi in Southeast Asia, probably second in population only Manila (which featured two Japanese settlements, in Dilao and San Miguel). At the same time it was larger than Faifo and Tourane (both in Cochinchina, today Da Nang and Hoi An in central Vietnam) and Ponhealu and Phnom Pehn (in Cambodia).
The Christian men were in all probability the only Japanese who brought their Japanese wives with them to Siam. For the rest, it can be assumed that intermarriage between Japanese men and local women (Siamese, Mon or Laotian) was likely, since Ayutthaya was cosmopolitan enough to accept unions between members of different communities. The Christians, whenever possible, probably sent their children (both males and females) to receive their teaching in the Portuguese enclave, which faced the Nihonmachi on the western side of the Menam.
There probably would have been a whole generation of young “Japanese-Thai” adults. The males among them were educated in the Japanese martial way but born and raised many thousands of miles away from Edo. “it might be inferred that through constant intermarriage with the women of the county, they have become absorbed in the mass of the population.”
(extract from http://17thcenturysiam.blogspot.com/2009/11/p.html)
In 1626, the Portuguese Jesuit Antonio Francesco Cardim visited Ayudhya together with a converted Japanese priest, Roman Friar Nixi, Nagamasa invited them for a banquet and entertained them at length. The apparent friendliness of the 'capitano' Nagamasa is described in a letter written by Cardim in Italian and sent to Rome. In the same missive, the Jesuit father talks of 400 Japanese Christian living in Ayudhya. Tolerance toward the Japanese Christians in Ayudhya might had been assured as well by the fact that the Japanese, despite their relatively small number, represented a military power the Siamese court and the other inhabitants of the entrepôt had learned to take seriously. The Japanese colony was highly valued for its military expertise, and was organized under a "Department of Japanese Volunteers" (Krom Asa Yipun) by the Thai king.
There were also Japanese communities in Ligor and Patani.
From the 1580s to the 1630s, a Japanese community of traders, mercenaries, and Catholic exiles thrived in the Ayutthaya Kingdom's capital Ayutthaya. They arrived primarily on the red seal ships which controlled trade between Japan and Siam. By 1620, the Japanese district in the city's southeast, on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River, numbered between 1,000 and 1,500 inhabitants, making it the second-largest Japanese community abroad, behind that in Manila.
Yamada Nagamasa(山田長政, 1590–1630)
One of its members, Yamada Nagamasa(山田長政, 1590–1630), who later became the governor of the Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand. He rose to prominence as a military advisor to King Songtham, attaining the rank Ok-ya Senaphimuk (ออกญาเสนาภิมุข). However, in 1630 Sri Voravong (later known as King Prasat Thong) the defense minister sent him to put down a rebellion at Ligor (today Nakhon Si Thammarat); he was wounded in the battle, and then poisoned by an emissary sent by Prasat Thong.
Following Yamada's death in 1630, the new ruler was Prasat Thong (สมเด็จพระเจ้าปราสาททอง, reigned 1629-1656), who was the first king of Prasat Thong dynasty, the 4th dynasty of Ayutthaya kingdom. He sent an army of 4000 soldiers to destroy the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya, but many Japanese managed to flee to Cambodia. A few years later in 1633, returnees from Indochina were able to re-establish the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya (300-400 Japanese). Upon hearing the news, Tokugawa Iemitsu, then shogun of Japan, cut off relations with Siam, refused to issue further Red Seal ship(朱印船 Shuinsen) permits for Siam. Red seal ships were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with a red-sealed patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1635, more than 350 Japanese ships went overseas under this permit system.
Japan was concomitantly closing itself to the world at that time, initiating the "Closed Country"or Sakoku(鎖国), period. Dutch then took over the trade between Siam and Japan.
Monseigneur Laneau(1637 in Mondoubleau-1696 in Ayutthaya) worked at propagating the Christian faith and also took care of Annamite Christians and Japanese Christian communities in Siam. He was head of a Roman Catholic mission in Indochina, with his headquarters at Ayutthaya. Laneau became bishop of Ayutthaya in 1674. During the 1688 Siamese revolution, Laneau and his missionaries were taken hostage by the Siamese.
I wonder is there any Japanese Christian now in Ayutthaya, Thailand.....
Filipino Japanese(フィリピンの日系人)
The Japanese population in the Philippines has since included descendants of Japanese Catholics and other Japanese Christians who fled from the religious persecution imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period and settled during the colonial period from the 17th century until the 19th century. A statue of daimyo Ukon Takayama, who was exiled to the Philippines in 1614 because he refused to disvow his Christian beliefs, stands a patch of land across the road from the Post Office building in the Paco area of Manila. In the 17th century, the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the 'Yellow Plaza' because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there.
Daimyo kirishitan- Dom Justo Takayama (高山右近)
Dom Justo Takayama (高山右近,or Iustus Takayama Ukon or Hikogoro Shigetomo) (1552 Haibara-cho, Nara, Japan – February 4, 1615 Manila, Philippines) was a kirishitan daimyo and a Japanese Samurai who followed Christianity in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was a layperson of the archdiocese of Tokyo.
Takayama Justo was born to be the heir of Takayama Tomoteru, the lord of Sawa Castle in the Yamato Province. His name as a child was Hikogorō (彦五郎). At the age of 12 (1564), his father converted to Catholicism and Hikogorō was also baptized Justo. After his coming-of-age ceremony, Hikogorō was named Shigetomo (重友). However, he is better known as Takayama Ukon (高山右近). The name Ukon comes from the government post he pretended, the officer of Ukonoefu (this was usual practice among samurai of the time).
Following the 1614 prohibition of Christianity by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler of the time, he was expelled from Japan. On November 8, 1614, together with 300 Japanese Christians he left his home country from Nagasaki. He arrived at Manila on December 21 and was greeted warmly by the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos there. It was reported that the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the "Yellow Plaza" because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there. Plaza Dilao is the last vestige of the old town of Paco. There is a statue of Dom Justo Takayama in Plaza Dilao, Manila. When he died in 1615, the Spanish government interred him with a Christian burial with full military honors as a Daimyo. He is the first Daimyo to be buried in Philippine soil.
Shimabara peninsula after the war
On the Shimabara peninsula, most towns experienced a severe to total loss of population as a result of the rebellion. In order to maintain the rice fields and other crops, immigrants were brought from other areas across Japan to resettle the land. All inhabitants were registered with local temples, whose priests were required to vouch for their members' religious affiliation. Following the rebellion, Buddhism was strongly promoted in the area. Certain customs were introduced which remain unique to the area today. Towns on the Shimabara peninsula also continue to have a varied mix of dialects due to the mass immigration from other parts of Japan
Period of Isolation and Hidden Christianity Period started in 1639, where there was a complete ban of Portuguese ships.
Hidden Christian(隠れキリシタン kakure kirishitan).
教会シリーズ 平戸・生月
The Catholic remnant in Japan were driven underground and its members became known as the "Hidden Christians". Kakure Kirishitans are called the "hidden" Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes. As time went on, the figures of the saints and the Virgin Mary were transformed into figurines that looked like the traditional statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. The Bible was passed down orally, due to fears of printed works being confiscated by authorities. Because of the expulsion of the Catholic clergy in the 17th century, the Kakure Christian community relied on lay leaders to lead the services
Some priests remained in Japan illegally, including eighteen Jesuits, seven Franciscans, seven Dominicans, one Augustinian, five seculars and an unknown number of Jesuit irmao and dojuku. Since this time corresponds to the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, it is possible that the checking of Catholic power in Europe reduced the flow of funds to the Catholic missions in Japan, which could be why they failed at this time and not before. During the Edo period, the Kakure Kirishitan kept their faith. Biblical phrases or prayers were transferred orally from parent to child, and secret posts (Mizukata) were assigned in their underground community to baptize their children, all while regional governments continuously operated Fumie to expose Christians. Drawn from the oral histories of Japanese Catholic communities, Shusaku Endo's acclaimed novel "Silence" provides detailed accounts of the persecution of Christian communities and the suppression of the Church.
On March 17th, 1865, some month after the opening of Oura Church in Nagasaki, some hidden Christians from Urakami come out to confirm that the catholic priest were back in Japan.
Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians)
Many secret Christians, some of whom had adopted these new ways of practicing Christianity, came out of hiding when religious freedom was re-established in the mid-19th century and rejoined the Catholic Church after renouncing their unorthodox, syncretic practices. However, there were those who decided not to rejoin. They are known as the Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians).
Following the legalization of Christianity and secularization of Japan, many Hanare Kirishitan lineages ended abruptly. Traditionally, boys learned the rituals and prayers from their fathers; when boys were uninterested or moved away from the homes, there would be no one left to continue the lineage.
In some cases, the communities drifted away from Christian teachings. They lost the meaning of the prayers and their religion became a version of the cult of ancestors, in which the ancestors happened to be their Christian martyrs.
For a while, Hanare Kirishitans were thought to have died out entirely, due to their tradition of secrecy. A group on Ikitsuki Island in Nagasaki prefecture, which had been overlooked by the Japanese government during the time of persecution, made their practices public in the 1980s and now perform them for audiences; however, these practices have acquired some attributes of theater, such as the telling of folktales and the use of statues and other images which most underground Christians had never created.
生月島（いきつきじま）
Ikitsuki (生月町 Ikitsuki-chō) is a former town on the island of the same name located in Kitamatsuura District, Nagasaki, Japan. Ikitsuki is known historically for two primary reasons: a legacy of whaling and hidden Christians. Near the south end of the island is a museum with exhibits on both these aspects of Ikitsuki's history.
Yamada church is the last remaining one in Nagasaki Prefecture to have an organized group of Hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) in practice and existence. Located near Yamada Elementary School, this small church holds much history as one of the first and last outposts of Christian belief and persecution in Japan
The anthropologist Christal Whelan uncovered the existence of genuine Hanare Kirishitans on the Gotō Islands where Kakure Kirishitans had once fled. There were only two surviving priests on the islands, both of whom were over 90, and they would not talk to each other. The few surviving laity had also all reached old age, and some of them no longer had any priests from their lineage and prayed alone. These Hanare Kirishitans had a strong tradition of secrecy.
Gotō Islands 五島列島（ごとうれっとう）
The Gotō Islands (五島列島 Gotō rettō, literally: "five-island archipelago") are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. The islands are a part of Nagasaki Prefecture.
Many of the inhabitants are descended from Christians of the Catholic-derived Kakure Kirishitan sect, and until recently Hanare Kirishitans still lived there, but the majority either returned to Catholicism after it was legalized in the 19th century or reverted to earlier practices. The islands have numerous Catholic churches, the oldest and most famous of which is Dozaki church, built in 1868 and located about 6 km north of Fukue port.
Following the legalization of Christianity and secularization of Japan, many Hanare Kirishitan lineages ended abruptly. Traditionally, boys learned the rituals and prayers from their fathers; when boys were uninterested or moved away from the homes, there would be no one left to continue the lineage.
The main reason which led to the complete extinction of Christianity in Japan by 1638 were the government's intentions to exert absolute control over its people. This would not have been possible with the interference of an aggressive and intolerant foreign religion like Christianity of that time.
After the Meiji restoration, prohibition of Christianity was abolished in 1873, on the 6th year of the Meiji Government. After World War II the number of Japanese Christians has been slowly increasing again.
Suggested movie in youtube;
1. Hidden Christians - Japan , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkw7UeX_p74, Journeyman Pictures( Since Japan's rulers outlawed Christianity in the sixteenth century, believers have hidden their faith. But what began as Christianity has evolved into something quite different).
Further reading/viewing;
1. The Cross and the Rising Sun: The British Protestant missionary movement in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 1865-1945, by A. Hamish Ion, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1993
2.Photo-Documentary of Christian history in Japan with Concentration on Hidden Christians, http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-studies/projects/kakurekirishitan/
3. Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan, http://www.26martyrs.com/
4. Shimabara - St. Olaf College, http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-studies/projects/kakurekirishitan/shimabarapics.html
Nestorian (Assyrian Church)
A Japanese Christian institute claims that there is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that Nestorian (Assyrian Church) missionaries first landed in Japan in AD 199, believing that they traveled through India, China and Korea before the Tang Dynasty. It also estimates that the first churches were fully established by the end of the 4th century especially at Nara in central Japan. Historical evidence in China have proved the arrival of Nestorian during Tang Dynasty, it is possible that some of them had arrived at Japan.
Catholic
In the year 1542, the first Europeans from Portugal landed on Kyushu in Western Japan. The two historically most important things they imported to Japan were gunpowder and Christianity. The Japanese barons on Kyushu welcomed foreign trade especially because of the new weapons, and, therefore, tolerated the Jesuit missionaries. The missionaries were successful in converting quite large numbers of people in Western Japan including members of the ruling class.
On August 15, 1549, St. Francis Xavier (later canonized by Gregory XV in 1622), Fr. Cosme de Torres, S.J. (a Jesuit priest), and Fr. John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan. The arrival started the Christian history in Japan.
On September 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Satsuma (containing the city of Kagoshima), asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a trade relationship with Europe. Within a year, however, he relented on this promise and made it illegal for people to convert.
In 1550, Francis Xavier also undertook a mission to the capital Kyoto.
The Hideyoshi's Prohibition Edict was published on July 24,1587
Towards the end of the 16th century, the Jesuits lost their monopoly position in Japan when Franciscan missionaries arrived in Kyoto despite a first banning edict by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1597, Hideyoshi proclaimed a more serious banning edict.
日本二十六聖人 Nihon Nijūroku Seijin
On February 5, 1597, twenty-six Christians(six European Franciscan missionaries, three Japanese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese laymen) including three young boys—were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki. These individuals were raised on crosses and then pierced through with spears.
List of the 26 Martyrs of 1597
•Saint Antonio Dainan
•Saint Bonaventura of Miyako
•Saint Cosme Takeya
•Saint Francisco Branco
•Saint Francisco of Nagasaki
•Saint Francisco of Saint Michael
•Saint Gabriel de Duisco
•Saint Gaius Francis
•Saint Gundisalvus (Gonsalvo) Garcia
•Saint Isabel Fernandez
•Saint Ignatius Jorjes
•Saint James Kisai
•Saint Joaquim Saccachibara
•Saint Juan Kisaka
•Saint Juan Soan de Goto
•Saint Leo Karasumaru
•Saint Luis Ibaraki
•Saint Martin of the Ascension
•Saint Mathias of Miyako
•Saint Miguel Kozaki
•Saint Paulo Ibaraki
•Saint Paul Miki or Saint Paulo Miki – Born in Japan in 1562, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1580 and was the first Japanese member of any Catholic religious order. He died one year before his ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Miki's remaining ashes and bones are now located in Macau, China.
•Saint Pablo Suzuki
•Saint Pedro Bautista or Saint Peter Baptist – He was a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines before coming to Japan. St. Peter was a companion of St. Paul Miki when Christianity was made illegal.
•Saint Pedro Sukejiroo
•Saint Philip of Jesus - Born in Mexico in 1572 (at the time "New Spain"). Upon his martyrdom he became the first Mexican saint and patron saint of Mexico City.
•Saint Thomas Kozaki
•Saint Thomas Xico
Tokugawa Ieyasu and his successors continued the persecution of Christianity in several further edicts. In 1612, the Tokugawa Regime published the Tokugawa Prohibition Edict dated 1-9-1612, by which not only the Missionaries or Religious, but all their followers were suppose to change religion or get out of Japan.
1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyūshū), 1622 (the execution of 120 missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians). Finally, the Closed Country Edict of 1635 prohibited any Japanese from traveling outside Japan or, if someone left, from ever returning. In 1636 the Dutch were restricted to Dejima, a small artificial island—and thus, not true Japanese soil—in Nagasaki's harbor.
Persecution continued sporadically, breaking out again in 1613 and 1630. By 1630, Christianity was driven underground.
On September 10, 1632, 55 Christians were martyred in Nagasaki in what became known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. At this time Roman Catholicism was officially outlawed. The Church remained without clergy and theological teaching disintegrated until the arrival of Western missionaries in the nineteenth century.
While there were many more martyrs, the first martyrs came to be especially revered, the most celebrated of which was Paulo Miki. The Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on June 8, 1862 by Blessed Pius IX and are listed on the calendar as Sts. Paul Miki and his Companions, commemorated on February 6. Originally this feast day was listed as Sts. Peter Baptist and Twenty-Five Companions, Martyrs, and commemorated on February 5.
The last persecution was during 1868-1873, the Christian in Japan endured 250 years of persecution.
For the other list of Catholic martyrs, please refer to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan , and the official website of The 26 Martyrs Museum in Nagasaki City, Japan, http://www.26martyrs.com/. The museum is located at Nishizaka-machi 7-8, Nagasaki City, 850-0051 Japan.
The Shimabara Rebellion(島原の乱 Shimabara no ran)1637-1638
The Shimabara Rebellion (島原の乱 Shimabara no ran) was an uprising largely involving Japanese peasants, most of them Catholic Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period.
In the wake of the Matsukura clan's construction of a new castle at Shimabara, taxes were drastically raised, which provoked anger from local peasants and lordless samurai. In addition, religious persecution against the local Christians exacerbated the discontent, which turned into open revolt in 1637. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, and after a lengthy siege against the rebels at Hara Castle, defeated them.
The Shimabara Rebellion, led by a young Christian boy named Amakusa Shiro Tokisada(天草四郎時貞), took place in 1637. The Rebellion broke out over economic desperation and government oppression but later assumed a religious tone. About 27,000 people joined the uprising, but it was crushed by the shogunate after a sustained campaign. Shiro led the defence of Hara Castle and died when it fell. The rebel leader Amakusa Shiro was beheaded, and persecution of Christianity became strictly enforced.
They are not considered martyrs by the Catholic Church since they took up arms for materialistic reasons.
Shimabara Rebellion ended in 1638, about 35,000 Christians die.
Japan's national seclusion policy was tightened, and formal persecution of Christianity continued until the 1850s.
Dutch and Chinese were restricted, respectively, to Dejima and to a special quarter in Nagasaki. Besides small trade of some outer daimyo with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's main islands. By 1641, foreign contacts were limited by the policy of sakoku to Nagasaki.
By 1650, Christianity was almost completely eradicated, and external political, economic and religious influence on Japan became quite limited. Only China, the Dutch East India Company, and for a short period, the English, enjoyed the right to visit Japan during this period, for commercial purposes only, and they were restricted to the Dejima port in Nagasaki. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were put to death without trial.
First Japanese Mass Migration - nikkeijin(日系人)
Many Japanese were deported to Macau or to the Spanish Philippines. Many Macanese and Japanese Mestizos are the mixed-race descendants of the deported Japanese Catholics. 400 were officially deported by the government to Macau and Manila, but thousands of Japanese were pressured into moving voluntarily. About 10,000 Macanese and 3,000 Japanese were moved to Manila. Some went to Siam.
Nikkeijin in Siam(タイ王国の日系人)
Some of Japanese Christian went to Siam. The Japanese quarters of Ayutthaya were home to about 1,500 Japanese inhabitants (some estimates run as high as 7,000). The community was called Ban Yipun in Thai, and was headed by a Japanese chief nominated by Thai authorities. It seems to have been a combination of traders, Christian converts ("Kirishitan") who had fled their home country to various Southeast Asian countries following the persecutions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and unemployed former samurai who had been on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara. Padre Antonio Francisco Cardim recounted having administered sacrament to around 400 Japanese Christians in 1627 in the Thai capital of Ayuthaya ("a 400 japoes christaos"). Until 1630, Ayudhyan society was very tolerant toward diverse religions.
The Japanese settlement is situated on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River in an
area called Ko Rian. It was located opposite the Portuguese settlement and was
separated from the English and Dutch settlement by the Suan Phlu canal to the north.(http://ayutthaya-history.com/Settlements_Japanese.html). Fr. Nixi took care of the Japanese in the church they had built, most probably in the Japanese settlement of Ayutthaya.
There were four hundred Japanese Christians in the Japanese enclave in 1624 and six hundred soldiers in 1628. The Christian refugees came mainly from peasant families, thus it is unlikely that this category overlapped too much with the warriors. There were specialized Japanese employees who, in turn, may have had families. Thus, a number between 2,000 and 3,000, including non-Japanese residents, seems more realistic. According to such an estimate, Ayutthaya featured one of the biggest Nihonmachi in Southeast Asia, probably second in population only Manila (which featured two Japanese settlements, in Dilao and San Miguel). At the same time it was larger than Faifo and Tourane (both in Cochinchina, today Da Nang and Hoi An in central Vietnam) and Ponhealu and Phnom Pehn (in Cambodia).
The Christian men were in all probability the only Japanese who brought their Japanese wives with them to Siam. For the rest, it can be assumed that intermarriage between Japanese men and local women (Siamese, Mon or Laotian) was likely, since Ayutthaya was cosmopolitan enough to accept unions between members of different communities. The Christians, whenever possible, probably sent their children (both males and females) to receive their teaching in the Portuguese enclave, which faced the Nihonmachi on the western side of the Menam.
There probably would have been a whole generation of young “Japanese-Thai” adults. The males among them were educated in the Japanese martial way but born and raised many thousands of miles away from Edo. “it might be inferred that through constant intermarriage with the women of the county, they have become absorbed in the mass of the population.”
(extract from http://17thcenturysiam.blogspot.com/2009/11/p.html)
In 1626, the Portuguese Jesuit Antonio Francesco Cardim visited Ayudhya together with a converted Japanese priest, Roman Friar Nixi, Nagamasa invited them for a banquet and entertained them at length. The apparent friendliness of the 'capitano' Nagamasa is described in a letter written by Cardim in Italian and sent to Rome. In the same missive, the Jesuit father talks of 400 Japanese Christian living in Ayudhya. Tolerance toward the Japanese Christians in Ayudhya might had been assured as well by the fact that the Japanese, despite their relatively small number, represented a military power the Siamese court and the other inhabitants of the entrepôt had learned to take seriously. The Japanese colony was highly valued for its military expertise, and was organized under a "Department of Japanese Volunteers" (Krom Asa Yipun) by the Thai king.
There were also Japanese communities in Ligor and Patani.
From the 1580s to the 1630s, a Japanese community of traders, mercenaries, and Catholic exiles thrived in the Ayutthaya Kingdom's capital Ayutthaya. They arrived primarily on the red seal ships which controlled trade between Japan and Siam. By 1620, the Japanese district in the city's southeast, on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River, numbered between 1,000 and 1,500 inhabitants, making it the second-largest Japanese community abroad, behind that in Manila.
Yamada Nagamasa(山田長政, 1590–1630)
One of its members, Yamada Nagamasa(山田長政, 1590–1630), who later became the governor of the Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand. He rose to prominence as a military advisor to King Songtham, attaining the rank Ok-ya Senaphimuk (ออกญาเสนาภิมุข). However, in 1630 Sri Voravong (later known as King Prasat Thong) the defense minister sent him to put down a rebellion at Ligor (today Nakhon Si Thammarat); he was wounded in the battle, and then poisoned by an emissary sent by Prasat Thong.
Following Yamada's death in 1630, the new ruler was Prasat Thong (สมเด็จพระเจ้าปราสาททอง, reigned 1629-1656), who was the first king of Prasat Thong dynasty, the 4th dynasty of Ayutthaya kingdom. He sent an army of 4000 soldiers to destroy the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya, but many Japanese managed to flee to Cambodia. A few years later in 1633, returnees from Indochina were able to re-establish the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya (300-400 Japanese). Upon hearing the news, Tokugawa Iemitsu, then shogun of Japan, cut off relations with Siam, refused to issue further Red Seal ship(朱印船 Shuinsen) permits for Siam. Red seal ships were Japanese armed merchant sailing ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with a red-sealed patent issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century. Between 1600 and 1635, more than 350 Japanese ships went overseas under this permit system.
Japan was concomitantly closing itself to the world at that time, initiating the "Closed Country"or Sakoku(鎖国), period. Dutch then took over the trade between Siam and Japan.
Monseigneur Laneau(1637 in Mondoubleau-1696 in Ayutthaya) worked at propagating the Christian faith and also took care of Annamite Christians and Japanese Christian communities in Siam. He was head of a Roman Catholic mission in Indochina, with his headquarters at Ayutthaya. Laneau became bishop of Ayutthaya in 1674. During the 1688 Siamese revolution, Laneau and his missionaries were taken hostage by the Siamese.
I wonder is there any Japanese Christian now in Ayutthaya, Thailand.....
Filipino Japanese(フィリピンの日系人)
The Japanese population in the Philippines has since included descendants of Japanese Catholics and other Japanese Christians who fled from the religious persecution imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period and settled during the colonial period from the 17th century until the 19th century. A statue of daimyo Ukon Takayama, who was exiled to the Philippines in 1614 because he refused to disvow his Christian beliefs, stands a patch of land across the road from the Post Office building in the Paco area of Manila. In the 17th century, the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the 'Yellow Plaza' because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there.
Daimyo kirishitan- Dom Justo Takayama (高山右近)
Dom Justo Takayama (高山右近,or Iustus Takayama Ukon or Hikogoro Shigetomo) (1552 Haibara-cho, Nara, Japan – February 4, 1615 Manila, Philippines) was a kirishitan daimyo and a Japanese Samurai who followed Christianity in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was a layperson of the archdiocese of Tokyo.
Takayama Justo was born to be the heir of Takayama Tomoteru, the lord of Sawa Castle in the Yamato Province. His name as a child was Hikogorō (彦五郎). At the age of 12 (1564), his father converted to Catholicism and Hikogorō was also baptized Justo. After his coming-of-age ceremony, Hikogorō was named Shigetomo (重友). However, he is better known as Takayama Ukon (高山右近). The name Ukon comes from the government post he pretended, the officer of Ukonoefu (this was usual practice among samurai of the time).
Following the 1614 prohibition of Christianity by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler of the time, he was expelled from Japan. On November 8, 1614, together with 300 Japanese Christians he left his home country from Nagasaki. He arrived at Manila on December 21 and was greeted warmly by the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos there. It was reported that the Spaniards referred to the Paco Area as the "Yellow Plaza" because of the more than 3,000 Japanese who resided there. Plaza Dilao is the last vestige of the old town of Paco. There is a statue of Dom Justo Takayama in Plaza Dilao, Manila. When he died in 1615, the Spanish government interred him with a Christian burial with full military honors as a Daimyo. He is the first Daimyo to be buried in Philippine soil.
Shimabara peninsula after the war
On the Shimabara peninsula, most towns experienced a severe to total loss of population as a result of the rebellion. In order to maintain the rice fields and other crops, immigrants were brought from other areas across Japan to resettle the land. All inhabitants were registered with local temples, whose priests were required to vouch for their members' religious affiliation. Following the rebellion, Buddhism was strongly promoted in the area. Certain customs were introduced which remain unique to the area today. Towns on the Shimabara peninsula also continue to have a varied mix of dialects due to the mass immigration from other parts of Japan
Period of Isolation and Hidden Christianity Period started in 1639, where there was a complete ban of Portuguese ships.
Hidden Christian(隠れキリシタン kakure kirishitan).
教会シリーズ 平戸・生月
The Catholic remnant in Japan were driven underground and its members became known as the "Hidden Christians". Kakure Kirishitans are called the "hidden" Christians because they continued to practice Christianity in secret. They worshipped in secret rooms in private homes. As time went on, the figures of the saints and the Virgin Mary were transformed into figurines that looked like the traditional statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. The Bible was passed down orally, due to fears of printed works being confiscated by authorities. Because of the expulsion of the Catholic clergy in the 17th century, the Kakure Christian community relied on lay leaders to lead the services
Some priests remained in Japan illegally, including eighteen Jesuits, seven Franciscans, seven Dominicans, one Augustinian, five seculars and an unknown number of Jesuit irmao and dojuku. Since this time corresponds to the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, it is possible that the checking of Catholic power in Europe reduced the flow of funds to the Catholic missions in Japan, which could be why they failed at this time and not before. During the Edo period, the Kakure Kirishitan kept their faith. Biblical phrases or prayers were transferred orally from parent to child, and secret posts (Mizukata) were assigned in their underground community to baptize their children, all while regional governments continuously operated Fumie to expose Christians. Drawn from the oral histories of Japanese Catholic communities, Shusaku Endo's acclaimed novel "Silence" provides detailed accounts of the persecution of Christian communities and the suppression of the Church.
On March 17th, 1865, some month after the opening of Oura Church in Nagasaki, some hidden Christians from Urakami come out to confirm that the catholic priest were back in Japan.
Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians)
Many secret Christians, some of whom had adopted these new ways of practicing Christianity, came out of hiding when religious freedom was re-established in the mid-19th century and rejoined the Catholic Church after renouncing their unorthodox, syncretic practices. However, there were those who decided not to rejoin. They are known as the Hanare Kirishitan (離れキリシタン, separated Christians).
Following the legalization of Christianity and secularization of Japan, many Hanare Kirishitan lineages ended abruptly. Traditionally, boys learned the rituals and prayers from their fathers; when boys were uninterested or moved away from the homes, there would be no one left to continue the lineage.
In some cases, the communities drifted away from Christian teachings. They lost the meaning of the prayers and their religion became a version of the cult of ancestors, in which the ancestors happened to be their Christian martyrs.
For a while, Hanare Kirishitans were thought to have died out entirely, due to their tradition of secrecy. A group on Ikitsuki Island in Nagasaki prefecture, which had been overlooked by the Japanese government during the time of persecution, made their practices public in the 1980s and now perform them for audiences; however, these practices have acquired some attributes of theater, such as the telling of folktales and the use of statues and other images which most underground Christians had never created.
生月島（いきつきじま）
Ikitsuki (生月町 Ikitsuki-chō) is a former town on the island of the same name located in Kitamatsuura District, Nagasaki, Japan. Ikitsuki is known historically for two primary reasons: a legacy of whaling and hidden Christians. Near the south end of the island is a museum with exhibits on both these aspects of Ikitsuki's history.
Yamada church is the last remaining one in Nagasaki Prefecture to have an organized group of Hidden Christians (Kakure Kirishitan) in practice and existence. Located near Yamada Elementary School, this small church holds much history as one of the first and last outposts of Christian belief and persecution in Japan
The anthropologist Christal Whelan uncovered the existence of genuine Hanare Kirishitans on the Gotō Islands where Kakure Kirishitans had once fled. There were only two surviving priests on the islands, both of whom were over 90, and they would not talk to each other. The few surviving laity had also all reached old age, and some of them no longer had any priests from their lineage and prayed alone. These Hanare Kirishitans had a strong tradition of secrecy.
Gotō Islands 五島列島（ごとうれっとう）
The Gotō Islands (五島列島 Gotō rettō, literally: "five-island archipelago") are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. The islands are a part of Nagasaki Prefecture.
Many of the inhabitants are descended from Christians of the Catholic-derived Kakure Kirishitan sect, and until recently Hanare Kirishitans still lived there, but the majority either returned to Catholicism after it was legalized in the 19th century or reverted to earlier practices. The islands have numerous Catholic churches, the oldest and most famous of which is Dozaki church, built in 1868 and located about 6 km north of Fukue port.
Following the legalization of Christianity and secularization of Japan, many Hanare Kirishitan lineages ended abruptly. Traditionally, boys learned the rituals and prayers from their fathers; when boys were uninterested or moved away from the homes, there would be no one left to continue the lineage.
The main reason which led to the complete extinction of Christianity in Japan by 1638 were the government's intentions to exert absolute control over its people. This would not have been possible with the interference of an aggressive and intolerant foreign religion like Christianity of that time.
After the Meiji restoration, prohibition of Christianity was abolished in 1873, on the 6th year of the Meiji Government. After World War II the number of Japanese Christians has been slowly increasing again.
Suggested movie in youtube;
1. Hidden Christians - Japan , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkw7UeX_p74, Journeyman Pictures( Since Japan's rulers outlawed Christianity in the sixteenth century, believers have hidden their faith. But what began as Christianity has evolved into something quite different).
Further reading/viewing;
1. The Cross and the Rising Sun: The British Protestant missionary movement in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 1865-1945, by A. Hamish Ion, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 1993
2.Photo-Documentary of Christian history in Japan with Concentration on Hidden Christians, http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-studies/projects/kakurekirishitan/
3. Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan, http://www.26martyrs.com/
4. Shimabara - St. Olaf College, http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-studies/projects/kakurekirishitan/shimabarapics.html
Kagawa Toyohiko 賀川豊彦(1888-1960) - “Gandhi of Japan.”
Toyohiko Kagawa was a Japanese pacifist, Christian reformer, evangelist, leader of the cooperative movement, and labor activist. He wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the ordering of society.
He was hailed as a modern Saint Francis, favorably compared with Mohandas Gandhi.
Kagawa agreed that individual salvation was one important dimension of the faith, he maintained that for Christianity to be faithful to its founder’s vision and example it must also be a social movement
He is also “founding father” of Japanese consumer cooperative movement. Kagawa spoke passionately of cooperation and cooperatives:
"The capitalistic system has four main difficulties: It is based on selfish profiteering motives. It has the power to accumulate money for the few because it is based on competitive principles. The few compete with one another so that they need big concentration of capital; and this results in class struggle and revolution. But with the Christian cooperative motives we can get rid of the profiteering motives. Then there will be no need of the concentration of capital, no fear of class struggle and revolution".
石川本社ビル 賀川豊彦生誕地
Kagawa was born in Kobe, Japan to a philandering businessman and a concubine. However, both parents died while he was young. He was sent away to school, where he learned from two American missionary teachers, Drs. Harry W. Myers and Charles A. Logan, who took him into their homes.
Having learned English from these missionaries, Kagawa converted to Christianity after taking a Bible class in his youth, which led to him being disowned by his remaining extended family. Kagawa studied at the Tokyo Presbyterian College, and later enrolled in the Kobe Theological Seminary. While studying there, Kagawa was troubled by the seminarians' concern for technicalities of doctrine. He believed that Christianity in action was the truth of Christian doctrines. Impatiently, he would point to the parable of the Good Samaritan. From 1914 to 1916 he studied at Princeton Theological Seminary. In addition to theology, through the curricular exchange program with the university he also studied embryology, genetics, comparative anatomy, and paleontology while he was in Princeton
大正期神戸のスラムと賀川豊彦
“Jesus Band” was established in 1909 (Meiji 22) when Toshihiko Kagawa was 21 years old. It was initially called “Kyureidan”.
Toyohiko Kagawa rented a 5-mat-room in Shin-Ikuta and commenced his missionary activities and charity work. The funding of the activities and the work was covered by his own scholarship, the fee for translation and manuscript, and wages as well as contributions from understanding insiders and outsiders involved in church.
In 1910, the first chapel, or the rented 5-mat-room used as a houseand for engaging in missionary work (6-221 Kita Honmachi, Fukiai-ku, Kobe) was named “Kyureidan”. It changed to “Jesus Band” in 1914.
From 1910 to 1924 he lived for all but two years in a shed six feet square (about 180 cm) in the slums of Kobe. In 1912 he unionized the shipyard workers. He spent two years (1914-1916) at Princeton studying techniques for the relief of poverty. In 1918 and 1921 he organized unions among factory workers and among farmers. He worked for universal male suffrage (granted in 1925) and for laws more favorable to trade unions.
Song of Farmers(農民歌)
Kagawa was arrested in Japan in 1921 during Kawasaki-Mitsubishi Shipbuilders strike. It was during this time that he seemed to realize that he was in a movement beyond his control. What was concerned by Kagawa, was that strikers with legitimate concerns could be transformed into a violent mob. It became increasingly clear to him that it can develop into situation against his pacifism, and not abide by his Christian principles of non-violence.
At a gathering of fourteen young pastors attending the Presbyterian Pastors National Meeting on October 5, 1921, he launched the Iesu no Tomo Kai at Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian). He was the founder of the Friends of Jesus movement (Iesu no Tomo Kai イエスの友会).The five principles of the Friends of Jesus are: Piety (Devotion to God in Christ), Work (of Mind and Hand), Purity (including War on Vice and Liquor), Peace (including War on War), and Service (Social, Religious, Political).It was through the Friends of Jesus movement that Kagawa’s vision of individual and social transformation was expanded far beyond the Shinkawa slums.
He was arrested again in 1922 for his part in labour activism. While in prison he wrote the novels Crossing the Deathline and Shooting at the Sun. The former was a semi-autobiographical depiction of his time among Kobe's destitute.
Kagawa and Sugiyama Genjiro organized the Japan Farmers’ Union (Nihon NØmin Kumiai) to address the difficulties of peasants in rural areas and to slow down the flow of displaced farmers into urban centers of unemployment and poverty. His Iesu Dan イエス団 (Jesus Band) in Shinkawa served initially as the promotion headquarters of the union.
After his release, Kagawa helped organize relief work in Tokyo following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
In 1923 he was asked to supervise social work in Tokyo. His writings began to attract favorable notice from the Japanese government and abroad. He established credit unions, schools, hospitals, and churches, and wrote and spoke extensively on the application of Christian principles to the ordering of society.
He founded the Anti-War League in 1928
He began the Kingdom-of-God Movement in 1930 and traveled extensively overseas to preach and teach.
1930s was the difficult time, a pre war period where ultra-nationalism and militarism were on the rise. Despite that, Friends of Jesus Movement continued their social transformation work.
In 1940, he was arrested after publicly apologizing to China for the Japanese invasion of that country. He was arrested and held in prison for two particular crimes: 1) he organized the voiceless so that they might speak in unison to those with power and be heard, and 2) he apologized to the Chinese for the Japanese occupation of portions of China. Toyohiko's commitment to peace--one he felt compulsory for all who hoped to follow Jesus even if it cost them their lives--made him a dangerous criminal in the eyes of Military government of Japan.
In the summer of 1941 he visited the United States in an attempt to avert war between Japan and the Us. After the war, despite failing health, he devoted himself to the reconciliation of democratic ideals and procedures with traditional Japanese culture.
He died in Tokyo on 23 April 1960.
During his life, Kagawa wrote over 150 books. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947 and 1948, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1955. After his death, Kagawa was awarded the second-highest honor of Japan, induction in the Order of the Sacred Treasure. He is commemorated in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a renewer of society on April 23 of the same year.
"I read a book that a man called Christ went about doing good. It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just going about" Toyohiko Kagawa
He lived like Jesus Christ.....
Suggested readings;
1. Toyohiko Kagawa Revisited - Think Kagawa 賀川豊彦を考えるhttp://d.hatena.ne.jp/kagawa100/20081009/1223509755
2. Kawaga Memorial Hall, http://core100.net/kinenkan/map.html
3. 賀川豊彦献身100年記念事業オフィシャルサイト, http://www.kagawa100.com/
4. Ｎａｒｕｔｏ Ｃｉｔｙ Ｋａｇａｗａ Ｔｏｙｏｈｉｋｏ Ｍｕｓｅｕｍ, http://www.tv-naruto.ne.jp/kagawa-kan/kagawa13.html
5. Unconquerable Kagawa. 1951. Reader's Digest. pg.29-31
6. Telling The Stories That Matter: April 27 - Toyohiko Kagawa, Poet, Pacifist, Friend of the Poor, April 27, 2010http://www.ttstm.com/2010/04/april-27-toyohiko-kagawa-poet-pacifist.html
7. 賀川豊彦と中国, 劉家峰, http://kuir.jm.kansai-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10112/3341/1/05 (In Japanese)
8. The Legacy of Toyohiko Kagawa, http://www.nasco.coop/attachments /Kagawa_article.pdf
9 Toyohiko Kagawa Revisited, by Robert M. Armstrong, http://d.hatena.ne.jp/kagawa100/20081009/1223509755
10. Jesus Band, http://www.jesusband.jp/eng/history.html
11. Christianity as a Transnational Social Movement: Kagawa Toyohiko, by Mark R. Mullins ,http://japanese-religions.jp/publications/assets/JR32_a_Mullins.pdf
He was hailed as a modern Saint Francis, favorably compared with Mohandas Gandhi.
Kagawa agreed that individual salvation was one important dimension of the faith, he maintained that for Christianity to be faithful to its founder’s vision and example it must also be a social movement
He is also “founding father” of Japanese consumer cooperative movement. Kagawa spoke passionately of cooperation and cooperatives:
"The capitalistic system has four main difficulties: It is based on selfish profiteering motives. It has the power to accumulate money for the few because it is based on competitive principles. The few compete with one another so that they need big concentration of capital; and this results in class struggle and revolution. But with the Christian cooperative motives we can get rid of the profiteering motives. Then there will be no need of the concentration of capital, no fear of class struggle and revolution".
石川本社ビル 賀川豊彦生誕地
Kagawa was born in Kobe, Japan to a philandering businessman and a concubine. However, both parents died while he was young. He was sent away to school, where he learned from two American missionary teachers, Drs. Harry W. Myers and Charles A. Logan, who took him into their homes.
Having learned English from these missionaries, Kagawa converted to Christianity after taking a Bible class in his youth, which led to him being disowned by his remaining extended family. Kagawa studied at the Tokyo Presbyterian College, and later enrolled in the Kobe Theological Seminary. While studying there, Kagawa was troubled by the seminarians' concern for technicalities of doctrine. He believed that Christianity in action was the truth of Christian doctrines. Impatiently, he would point to the parable of the Good Samaritan. From 1914 to 1916 he studied at Princeton Theological Seminary. In addition to theology, through the curricular exchange program with the university he also studied embryology, genetics, comparative anatomy, and paleontology while he was in Princeton
大正期神戸のスラムと賀川豊彦
“Jesus Band” was established in 1909 (Meiji 22) when Toshihiko Kagawa was 21 years old. It was initially called “Kyureidan”.
Toyohiko Kagawa rented a 5-mat-room in Shin-Ikuta and commenced his missionary activities and charity work. The funding of the activities and the work was covered by his own scholarship, the fee for translation and manuscript, and wages as well as contributions from understanding insiders and outsiders involved in church.
In 1910, the first chapel, or the rented 5-mat-room used as a houseand for engaging in missionary work (6-221 Kita Honmachi, Fukiai-ku, Kobe) was named “Kyureidan”. It changed to “Jesus Band” in 1914.
From 1910 to 1924 he lived for all but two years in a shed six feet square (about 180 cm) in the slums of Kobe. In 1912 he unionized the shipyard workers. He spent two years (1914-1916) at Princeton studying techniques for the relief of poverty. In 1918 and 1921 he organized unions among factory workers and among farmers. He worked for universal male suffrage (granted in 1925) and for laws more favorable to trade unions.
Song of Farmers(農民歌)
Kagawa was arrested in Japan in 1921 during Kawasaki-Mitsubishi Shipbuilders strike. It was during this time that he seemed to realize that he was in a movement beyond his control. What was concerned by Kagawa, was that strikers with legitimate concerns could be transformed into a violent mob. It became increasingly clear to him that it can develop into situation against his pacifism, and not abide by his Christian principles of non-violence.
At a gathering of fourteen young pastors attending the Presbyterian Pastors National Meeting on October 5, 1921, he launched the Iesu no Tomo Kai at Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian). He was the founder of the Friends of Jesus movement (Iesu no Tomo Kai イエスの友会).The five principles of the Friends of Jesus are: Piety (Devotion to God in Christ), Work (of Mind and Hand), Purity (including War on Vice and Liquor), Peace (including War on War), and Service (Social, Religious, Political).It was through the Friends of Jesus movement that Kagawa’s vision of individual and social transformation was expanded far beyond the Shinkawa slums.
He was arrested again in 1922 for his part in labour activism. While in prison he wrote the novels Crossing the Deathline and Shooting at the Sun. The former was a semi-autobiographical depiction of his time among Kobe's destitute.
Kagawa and Sugiyama Genjiro organized the Japan Farmers’ Union (Nihon NØmin Kumiai) to address the difficulties of peasants in rural areas and to slow down the flow of displaced farmers into urban centers of unemployment and poverty. His Iesu Dan イエス団 (Jesus Band) in Shinkawa served initially as the promotion headquarters of the union.
After his release, Kagawa helped organize relief work in Tokyo following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake
In 1923 he was asked to supervise social work in Tokyo. His writings began to attract favorable notice from the Japanese government and abroad. He established credit unions, schools, hospitals, and churches, and wrote and spoke extensively on the application of Christian principles to the ordering of society.
He founded the Anti-War League in 1928
He began the Kingdom-of-God Movement in 1930 and traveled extensively overseas to preach and teach.
1930s was the difficult time, a pre war period where ultra-nationalism and militarism were on the rise. Despite that, Friends of Jesus Movement continued their social transformation work.
In 1940, he was arrested after publicly apologizing to China for the Japanese invasion of that country. He was arrested and held in prison for two particular crimes: 1) he organized the voiceless so that they might speak in unison to those with power and be heard, and 2) he apologized to the Chinese for the Japanese occupation of portions of China. Toyohiko's commitment to peace--one he felt compulsory for all who hoped to follow Jesus even if it cost them their lives--made him a dangerous criminal in the eyes of Military government of Japan.
In the summer of 1941 he visited the United States in an attempt to avert war between Japan and the Us. After the war, despite failing health, he devoted himself to the reconciliation of democratic ideals and procedures with traditional Japanese culture.
He died in Tokyo on 23 April 1960.
During his life, Kagawa wrote over 150 books. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947 and 1948, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1955. After his death, Kagawa was awarded the second-highest honor of Japan, induction in the Order of the Sacred Treasure. He is commemorated in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a renewer of society on April 23 of the same year.
"I read a book that a man called Christ went about doing good. It is very disconcerting to me that I am so easily satisfied with just going about" Toyohiko Kagawa
He lived like Jesus Christ.....
Suggested readings;
1. Toyohiko Kagawa Revisited - Think Kagawa 賀川豊彦を考えるhttp://d.hatena.ne.jp/kagawa100/20081009/1223509755
2. Kawaga Memorial Hall, http://core100.net/kinenkan/map.html
3. 賀川豊彦献身100年記念事業オフィシャルサイト, http://www.kagawa100.com/
4. Ｎａｒｕｔｏ Ｃｉｔｙ Ｋａｇａｗａ Ｔｏｙｏｈｉｋｏ Ｍｕｓｅｕｍ, http://www.tv-naruto.ne.jp/kagawa-kan/kagawa13.html
5. Unconquerable Kagawa. 1951. Reader's Digest. pg.29-31
6. Telling The Stories That Matter: April 27 - Toyohiko Kagawa, Poet, Pacifist, Friend of the Poor, April 27, 2010http://www.ttstm.com/2010/04/april-27-toyohiko-kagawa-poet-pacifist.html
7. 賀川豊彦と中国, 劉家峰, http://kuir.jm.kansai-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10112/3341/1/05 (In Japanese)
8. The Legacy of Toyohiko Kagawa, http://www.nasco.coop/attachments /Kagawa_article.pdf
9 Toyohiko Kagawa Revisited, by Robert M. Armstrong, http://d.hatena.ne.jp/kagawa100/20081009/1223509755
10. Jesus Band, http://www.jesusband.jp/eng/history.html
11. Christianity as a Transnational Social Movement: Kagawa Toyohiko, by Mark R. Mullins ,http://japanese-religions.jp/publications/assets/JR32_a_Mullins.pdf
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Kano Jigoro(嘉納 治五郎) - Father of Judo
Here is another opponent of Japanese militarism, he is the father of Judo, involved in International Olympic until the last day of his life. He fight for Tokyo Olympic despite the odds was against him(included the Japanese military). Because of his patriotic spirit, and opposition to militarism, he whole hearty believed by having Olympic games in Japan, it will promoted the spirit of global peace in Japan and avoiding war by Japanese militarism. He successfully gained the right for Japan to hold 1940 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, but the game was later cancelled by Japanese government after his death.
As the military took over more aspects of Japanese life, Kano resisted the use of Judo for military purposes, over the militarists strenuous objections... he was bold to tell the military government, get out from Judo....
He may had failed, but the sport he found, Judo today is one of the regular sport event in Summer Olympic Games. His name and spirit of sport and peace continue throughout the world, through sport and Judo.....
He is a Japanese hero....one of only few who dare to stand up against militarism.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納治五郎, 28 October 1860 – 4 May 1938), 柔道の父
Kanō Jigorō(嘉納 治五郎, 28 October 1860 – 4 May 1938), creator of Judo and founder of the modern Japanese educational system, member of Japan's Olympic Committee, and de-facto foreign minister for Japan was a staunch opponent of militarism. Concerned that his Judo school, the Kodokan, would be used as a military training center, he obtained a promise from the Emperor that it would not be. Alternate sources list different causes of death, and some consider his passing to be suspicious.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納 治五郎) - Father of Judo
Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking between members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort"「精力善用] and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit."「自他共栄」.
1860-1867 As a child
1860- Kano was born into a relatively affluent family. His father, Jirosaku(嘉納治朗作（希芝）,b 1813-d1885), was the second son of the head priest of the Shinto Hiyoshi shrine in Shiga Prefecture. He married Sadako Kano(b? – d1869), daughter of the owner of Kiku-Masamune sake brewing company and was adopted by the family, changing his name to Kano, and ultimately became an official in the Bakufu government.
Kano Jigoro, the youngest of five children, was born in what is now Hyogo Prefecture on October 28, 1860. Jigoro Kano was born in the seaside town of Mikage in 1860. His father and uncle were both adopted by Kano family as mukoyoshi .
Note: A mukoyōshi (婿養子) (literally "adopted son-in-law") is a man who is adopted into a family without a male heir, and who takes the family's surname. (Traditionally in Japan, a woman takes her husband's name and is adopted into his family; see married and maiden names: Japan.) This is done to preserve the name and occupation of the family when there is no suitable male heir. Usually, when there is an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, but if there is no daughter, the mukoyōshi can take a bride from outside his adopted family. Mukoyōshi have a low status in society, yet in one study, up to a quarter of heirs in a community were mukoyōshi.
Milage was located near Kobe, famous for sake industry. Kano was the proprietor of the famous Kiku Masamune brand, now under Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co.,Ltd.
1867- 188 As Student
1867- Jigoro Kano had an academic upbringing and, from the age of seven, he studied English, Japanese calligraphy (書道 shodō) and the Four Confucian Texts (四書 Shisho) under a number of tutors.
1870- Kanō became a student in 1870 in the Seitatsu Shojuku(成達書塾) in Ryōkoku, which is pretty much a school for learning how to write. His teacher was Ubukata Keidō. He also got acquainted there with the Chinese Classics. Ubukata-sensei himself was strongly influenced by Western thought and tried to convey this on to Kanō. Given Kanō’s young and inexperienced age, a first step to do was to recommend that he’d study English. He was sent to Mitsukuri Shūhei to do so.
1873- Studied at boarding school, Ikuei Gijuku, located at Karasumori-cho, Shiba, Tokyo. When he was fourteen, Kano began boarding at an English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. The culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst that caused Kano to seek out a Jujutsu (柔術 Jūjutsu) dojo (道場 dōjō, training place) at which to train.
1874- Transfer to English Department, Tokyo School of Foreign Language. Classmate included Takaaki Kato, who later become Prime Minister. Tōkyō School of Foreign Languages or Tōkyō Gaikokugo Gakkō(東京外国語学校).
1875- Attended Kaisei School(Tokyo Kaisei Gakko), Tokyo (Now 開成中学校・高等学校（かいせいちゅうがっこう・こうとうがっこう、, Kaisei Junior & Senior High School）. The school, which has produced many notable alumni, was founded in 1871. At first, it was established as a Kyōryū Gakkō of the prepschool to Senior school such as First High School（After the WWⅡ,this school was integrated into The University of Tokyo.）. It is located in Arakawa, Tokyo. The school formed the foundation for the nation’s first university, Tokyo University, four years later in 1877. ( Source: The history of modern Japanese education: constructing the national school system,1872-1890, by Benjamin C. Duke, Rutgers University Press, 2009; pg 152-156)
1877- Mr. Kano studied politics and economic at Tokyo University(就讀東京大学文学部，主修哲學 東大文学部一年). Tōkyō University or Tōdai did not exist in 1875, and was only created in 1877; the old name of Imperial University (帝國大學, Teikoku daigaku) was only given in 1886, five years after Kanō graduated, and its name was changed again in 1897 into Tōkyō Imperial University(東京帝國大學 Tōkyō Teikoku daigaku) (see: http://www.u-tokyo.a.../b03_02_e.html)
The Faculty of Letters at The University of Tokyo is Japan’s oldest humanities department. It is comprised of the “three humanities” (philosophy, history, and literature) as well as the behavioral sciences. The Faculty of Letters dates back to 1877, the year the Tokyo Kaisei School and the Tokyo Medical School were combined into the University of Tokyo. From the beginning, the Faculty featured a curriculum that combined Western knowledge with Sino-Japanese scholarly traditions, and efforts have always been made to sustain a system of learning that maintains a balance between these two traditions. The University of Tokyo was later renamed Tokyo Imperial University, and after the war it was restructured under a new system, returning to its original name.(source: The History of Faculty of Letters, http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng/history/history.html)
1878 - He was a private school student at Nisho Gakusha (二松学舎), now Nishogakusha University,二松學舍大学)
二松学舍，从1877年三岛中洲在东京麴町一番町(现实东京都千代田区三番町)开设了的汉学私塾开始。二松的名庭园有象征不变的节操，坚贞的松之木二个的根据事，又的韩愈『蓝田县丞厅墙记』请求有作为校舍的意义，作为学校到将来继续的事被命名了. 日文和汉文的二松』
1979- Approached to teach in Gakushuin while still studying . Moved to Eishoji, and started preparatory school, Kano Juku( 嘉納塾) in Feb 1979 . Kano Juku( 嘉納塾)was a tutoring school(the forerunner of the Kodokan) where Kano taught English. Similar to the Kodokan at that time, he had few pupils.
1881- He graduated in July of 1881 (Meiji 14, 7th month)from Tokyo University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Letters or Bungakushi(文学士,東京大学文学部哲学政治学理財学科卒業). Noted, many sources stated Tokyo Imperial University, which is wrong, as it was still Tokyo University.
1882 – He returned to the same Faculty of Letters to focus on Aesthetics and Moral Philosophy, in what thus was graduate study (or as they call it in England ‘Postgraduate). He finished this study in July of 1882. It is there where he also studied under Ernest F. Fennolosa.
1882-1909 As Educator
1882- The year 1882 was a landmark year for Jigoro Kano. He was appointed lecturer(学習院教授補,Relief lecturer) in politics and economics at Gakushuuin(学習院). After appointment as lecturer in Gakushuuin, he moved to Eisho Ji (永勝寺).
In 1882 Kano Jigoro organized the Kodokan judo school at Eishoji, a Buddhist temple in Shitayakita, Kita Inari-cho, Tokyo(now Higashi Ueno, Daito –ku), Tokyo. Judo (Japanese: 'the way of softness'). It started as a twelve Tatami room.
He became an instructor of the Gakushuin in 1882 and eleven years.
In 1882 he started the Kobunkan English Language School. This school was to teach Japanese children the English language. The school was closed in 1889 when Dr. Kano took his first trip abroad.
Note:
Gakushuuin(学習院), a private school for the nobility or Imperial family members and peerage(Kazoku,華族), administrated by Gakushuin (華族會館). The college was initially found in 1847 in Kyoto Imperial Palace or Kyōto Gosho (京都御所), it then moved to Kanda Nishiki-cho ,Tokyo in 1877. The meaning of Gakushuuin(学習院) is Chinese characters for "to be taught" and "to learn" in the following quotation from the Analects of Confucius: "To be taught and to learn the truth is such a precious thing."
1882 - Gakushuin become independent from Peer Club(學習院脫離華族會館獨立)，and under Ministry of education(文部卿).Note: 文部卿 was now Minister of Education( 文部大臣)from 1885.
1884 Gakushuin became a government school under the jurisdiction of the The Imperial Household Agency (宮內廳, Kunaichō), with entry now open to children from outside the ranks of the nobility as well. It was the only government college administrated by The Imperial Houehold Agency(宮內廳, Kunaichō), and not under Education ministry(文部卿).The college was under leadership of Lt General Tateki Tani , later Viscount Tani Tateki (谷干城), who later become Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in 1885.
The Imperial Household Agency (宮內廳, Kunaichō) is a government agency of Japan in charge of the state matters concerning Japan's imperial family and also keeping the Privy Seal and the State Seal. In 1911, it was named the Imperial Household Ministry (宮内省 Kunaishō).
Then, following the establishment of a higher education section, lectures in subjects such as politics, law and literature were held for 12 years between 1893 and 1905. It was later reformed in 1949 as a private university. Now it is Gakushuin University (学習院大學)(http://www.gakushuin.ac.jp/univ/english/his/index.html)
1883- Kano received his teaching license in Kito-Ryu. The dojo was moved to larger area in Kanda, Tokyo.
1884-1887 Professor of economic at Komaba Agricultural College(now Tokyo University of Agriculture)駒場農学校理財学教授(駒場農学校（こまばのうがっこう）は、日本の旧制教育機関。現在の東京大学農学部、筑波大学、東京農工大学農学部の前身にあたる農学に関する日本初の総合教育・研究機関であった)
1885- It was reported he received his Doctorate from Gakushuin in 1885 and he was promoted to Professorship(教授), some even said he become Principal of Gakushuin. But the principal of Gakushuuin was 谷干城 from 1884-1885. May be he was promoted to Soninkan,a senior official. Gakushuin was not a university, it was not possible to award a doctorate degree.(戰前學習院只有幼稚園至高等科，雖然曾經於1893年嘗試開辦大學科，但於1905年廢止).
(In Japanese ‘instructor’ 師 or 指南番or lecturer 専任講師 is not a ‘professor’ 大学教授, but some college may called its lecturer 教授)
1886- Headmaster of Goko( 第五級高等學校校長,(旧制第五高等中学校),now Kumamoto University(（現・熊本大学）.
1887- In 1887 the young son of the Meiji emperor began attending the Gakushuin and Kano had the job of supervising his education and choosing his classmates. This student was destined to become the Taisho Emperor of Japan. In 1884 Kano was promoted to Soninkan which meant that he became a senior official appointed by the Imperial Household Agency and who had to report directly to the then Emperor. It seems quite likely that Kano taught him the ‘modern’ Western sciences of economics and politics
1888- Eventually a military man by the name of Lt. General Miura Sogo(三浦梧楼)was brought in to head the Gakushuin.
1889- Promoted as Vice-Principal of Gakushuin( 学習院教頭,きょうとう). Viscount Miura Gorō (三浦梧楼)was the principal from 1888 to 1892. A clash of opinions between Kano and Miura Gorō resulted in Kano being sent abroad for sixteen months by the Imperial Household Agency to Europe to study European education. Miura being a military man favored a more cadet style education at the Gakushuin and wanted to confine the school to educating the sons of the former military families. Kano on the other hand was keen to educate the brightest people without regard to their samurai background or lack of it.
1889 - 1891 - Kano spent sixteen months touring Europe. First trip was to Paris, France.
1891-1893 - on his return to Japan, he was sent to Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu where he was appointed headmaster of the Kumamoto High school (1891-3). In 1891 he left the school and became the principal of the No. 5 Junior High School(第五高等学校長)in Kumamoto, Kyushu. While as principal at the school he introduced Judo as an additional gym class.
1893- He was appointed as Chief of the Inspectorate for School Textbooks, Tokyo. Six months later, he was appointed as Principal in the No. 1 Junior High School in Tokyo. 4 months later he become Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校)until 1897.
A Qing's Chinese education reformer, Zhang Baixi(张百熙)and Viceroy of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong (張之洞), asked Kano to instruct Chinese students in Japanese education methods in 1893.
1894- 1894 appointed as Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校),東京高等師範学校附属中学校（現・筑波大学附属中学校・高等学校）, now Junior and Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba
1896- Followed Minister of Education(文部大臣) to visit Kansai region, Japan in April(に随行して４月関西へ出張)
1898- Appointed Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校)for the 2nd time, he held the position for 6 months. He was then with the Ministry of Education (文部省 Monbushō) from 1898–1901(日本的文部省擔任部門的主管)
1899-Director/Head of Bureau of General Education or Monbusho(文部省普通学務局長).
"Kobun Gakuin" school or Hongwen xueyuan(弘文學院)was opened as preparatory school for students from Manchu China. Initially it was called 亦樂書院, opened in 1899
1901-1920- Reappointed 3rd time as Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college (Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko, 東京高等師範学校) , now University of Tsukuba（東京教育大学を経た現在の筑波大学）September of 1893, he was appointed to the position of Principal at the Tokyo Teacher's Training College, which would later become a part of Tokyo University. This was quite a prestigious position for someone only thirty-three years old. It was also a position Kano would hold for another twenty-seven years, until 1920.
筑波大学, http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/about/kano/index.html
http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/about/kano/keireki.html
Note: ^ 治五郎が東京高等師範学校附属中学校（現・筑波大学附属中学校・高等学校）の校長を務めたのは、1893年（明治27年） - 1897年（明治30年）の4年間、1898年（明治31年）に半年間、1901年（明治34年） - 1920年（大正9年）の20年間と通算では25年間近い。 同校の歴代校長の在任期間としては最長。
1899-1909 - The Kobun Gakuin(东京弘文学院) was founded as preparing schools for Chinese students in Japanese education. Approximately 8,000 students would visit this school and learn under the teachers Dr. Kano, the principal, selected. Dr. Kano was approached specifically for this. This shows how well Dr. Kano was respected in China and the rest of the world at this time. The Chinese students studied in the college included some of the famous personalities in modern China, including:
1. Lu Xun(魯迅,1881-1936）, founder of modern Chinese literature ,
2. Huang Xing(黄興,1874-1916),Chinese revolutionary leader, militarist, and statesman, was the first army commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China, his position was next to Sun Yat-sen.
3. Yang Duo(楊度,1875-1931）,politician
4. Qiu Jin(秋瑾,1875-1907）,Chinese anti-Qing Empire revolutionary, feminist and writer. She was executed after a failed uprising and today is considered a hero in China.
5. Chen Duxiu(陳独秀,1879-1942）, he was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its first General Secretary. Chen was an educator, philosopher, and politician.
6.Fan Yuanlian( 范源濂, 1876-1927), he was educationalist, Republic of China Minister of Education, Principal of Beijing Normal University
In 1902 Dr. Kano traveled to Peking, China. He went to share his ideas about solving the problem of education in China and visit Mr. Choshido . Unfortunately, the school was shut down in July of 1909; the year Dr. Kano became a member of the International Olympic Committee.
1909 July- Closed the Kobun Gakuin due to a decline in the number of students from China
Fall- Appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Became the first Japanese member of the International Olympic Committee.
Kano is often called the father of Japanese Physical-education. He was in education sector of 26 years.
1909-1938 As Olympic Committee
1911 April- Established a judo teacher training school in the Kodokan; July- Established the Japan Sports Association and was appointed president
1912 July- Japan's first participation in the Olympic Games at the 5th Olympiad in Stockholm
1920 January- Retired as principal of Tokyo Higher Normal School
1921 March- Retired as president of the Japan Sports Association and became honorary president
1922 January- Established the Kodokan Culture Association . Elected to the House of Peers.
1922- He was elected to the Upper House of Aristocrats (Ki-zoku-In 貴族議員) in 1922 when Kano had turned sixty two. The House of Peers of Japan (貴族院, Kizokuin ) was the upper house of the Imperial Diet, as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947). The House of Councillors(参議院 Sangiin) is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers.
During March 1922, Kanō brought all this to fruition through the introduction of the Kodokan Bunkakai, or Kodokan Cultural Association. This organization held its first meeting at Tokyo's Seiyoken Hotel on 5 April 1922, and held its first public lecture three days later at the YMCA hall in Kanda.
1924 March- Appointed honorary professor of Tokyo Higher Normal School((東京師範学校 Tōkyō Shihan Gakkō)
1927- Founding of Nada Middle School(灘中学). Now the school is known as Nada High School(灘高等学校),and Nada Junior High School(灘中学校)which is the affiliate school of Nada High School. The school was found by the sake producers of Nada Ku region(灘区). 嘉納治郎右衛門（菊正宗, now Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co.,Ltd.(菊正宗酒造株式会社), 嘉納治兵衛（白鶴宗, now Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Company Limited (白鶴酒造株式会社), and 山邑太左衛門(櫻正宗, now Sakuramasamune Company, Limited (櫻正宗株式会社).
1928 Attended the Olympic Games in Amsterdam as a member of the International Olympic Comittee. He was giving a speech to first batch students at Nada Middle School(灘中学第一回入学式で訓辞)
1933- The aged expert was Sir Jigoro Kano, life-member of the Japanese House of Peers and Founder/President of Kodo-Kwan school, arrived by Hakosaki Meru on his way to Japan, after European tour. He demonstrated to crowd of 300 at Seaview Hotel, Singapore(The Straits Times, 5 November 1933, Page 1)
1934- In 1934, Kanō quit giving public exhibitions. He was giving speech at the first graduation of Nada Middle School(灘中学第一回卒業式で訓辞)
1936 July- Attended the IOC Session in Berlin where Tokyo succeeded in its bid to host the 12th Olympic Games (1940). In the vote conducted at the Berlin IOC Session in July 1936, Tokyo beat off the challenge of Helsinki by 36 votes to 27. Kano said the following at this session: "My 27 years of Olympic activity since becoming an IOC member have finally borne fruit. Now, the Tokyo Olympics must be an example to the world and the Olympics must use this opportunity to become a part of global culture." the first games held outside Europe and the USA. Japan was the first country in the Far East to be given a Games.
1938- In March, the IOC held its 38th Session in Cairo. Despite all rumors to the contrary, Japan declared that it did indeed intend to stage the Games irrespective of the persistence of war with China. Klingeberg (Techinical Advisor to Tokyo Olympic appointed 1-4-1937), present in Cairo to report on Tokyo's progress, lent verbal support to Japan's resolve. Many IOC members, however, harbored severe reservations about the Games remaining in Japan. In the face of an offer from Finland to stage both Summer and Winter Games if Japan could not, the members voted to give the IOC Executive Committee full authority to transfer the Games accordingly if the need arose.
Kano sought to have the 1940 Olympics held in Tokyo. "Sportsmanship is above war," he told one press conference. He succeeded, amazingly, at a time when Japan was seen as suspect and ruthless in its colonization of its neighbors. That Kano was successful can only be attributed to the great respect he had from the world, and also, undoubtedly, respect at his courage for seeking the games, to bring the spotlight of the world on Japan. America and England, both resolutely opposed to Japanese policies in the Far East, ultimately supported Kano's controversial bid.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納治五郎) died on 4-5-1938. Kanō died at sea, while on board the NYK Line motor vessel MV Hikawa Maru, while returning from Cairo. Jigoro did not return to Japan immediately after Tokyo won its hosting bid in Cairo. Instead, he attended the memorial service being held for Baron de Coubertin in Athens. He then traveled to the United States via Italy and France. In the United States, he met with the other IOC (International Olympic Committee) members and thanked them for their cooperation in Japan's bid to host the Olympics, and requested their help in ensuring that as many athletes as possible participate. This was very much in keeping with Jigoro's Judo creed of "beginning and ending with respect (a bow)". Having completed this duty, Jigoro boarded a ship for Japan, and died en route, never to set foot in his homeland again. His advanced age, combined with fatigue from the journey, had brought on pneumonia.
Within a few weeks of Kano's death, the government of Japan cancelled the games.
At 28th meeting of the organizing committee on 16-7-1938, the Minister of Public Welfare, Marquis Kido informed Japan’s decision of cancellation of Tokyo Olympic and Sapparo Winter Olympic.( Pg 121 – Pg 123, 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report)
Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, President of Organizing Committee, informed IOC on the development after cencellation of Tokyo Olympic(pg 174 –pg 175, 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report)
The Japanese government, faced with the possibility of two more years of conflict in China and shortage of funds and materials, has abandoned its support of plans to hold the 1940 games in Tokyo.
The Japanese army’s opposition to the game as an influence for internationalism, considered hostile to the orthodox military creed of Japan, also was a powerful factor in the decision to give up the Olympic.(source: The evening idependence , St. Petersburg, Florida 13-7-1938)
Within a few months, invaded China from Manchuria. The prime minister Prince Konoe Fumimaro(近衞文麿,b1891-d 1945) and his cohorts were all avid proponents of Budo (武道). Not to be confused with militarism, budo is a process of training throughout one's life to attain mastery of self.
May be he was extremely worried about the possibility of Tokyo Olympic before he died, and sad about the development of Japanese militarism ?....
Suggested reading/articles
1. Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano, by Brian N. Watson, Trafford Publishing, 2008
2. Pg 121 – Pg 123, pg 174 –pg 175 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report
3. Adolf Hitler, Carl Diem, Werner Klingeberg, and the Thousand Year Reich: Nazi Germany and Its Envisioned Post-War Olympic World, by Garth Paton and Robert K. Barney
4. The Olympic Movement and Kano Jigoro http://www.joc.or.jp/english/historyjapan/kano_jigoro.html
5. Chen Duxiu's early years: The importance of personal connections in the social and intellectual transformation of China 1895—1920, by Anne Shen Chao, Rice University, ProQuest, 2009
6. 弘文學院退學風潮, 辛亥革命网 2010年11月11日 来源：辛亥革命網, 作者：王瑞慶http://big5.xhgmw.org/archive-50012.shtml
7.A Short History of Tokyo University of Education, http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/lionsboy/shousi.htm(in Japanese)
As the military took over more aspects of Japanese life, Kano resisted the use of Judo for military purposes, over the militarists strenuous objections... he was bold to tell the military government, get out from Judo....
He may had failed, but the sport he found, Judo today is one of the regular sport event in Summer Olympic Games. His name and spirit of sport and peace continue throughout the world, through sport and Judo.....
He is a Japanese hero....one of only few who dare to stand up against militarism.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納治五郎, 28 October 1860 – 4 May 1938), 柔道の父
Kanō Jigorō(嘉納 治五郎, 28 October 1860 – 4 May 1938), creator of Judo and founder of the modern Japanese educational system, member of Japan's Olympic Committee, and de-facto foreign minister for Japan was a staunch opponent of militarism. Concerned that his Judo school, the Kodokan, would be used as a military training center, he obtained a promise from the Emperor that it would not be. Alternate sources list different causes of death, and some consider his passing to be suspicious.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納 治五郎) - Father of Judo
Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking between members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort"「精力善用] and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit."「自他共栄」.
1860-1867 As a child
1860- Kano was born into a relatively affluent family. His father, Jirosaku(嘉納治朗作（希芝）,b 1813-d1885), was the second son of the head priest of the Shinto Hiyoshi shrine in Shiga Prefecture. He married Sadako Kano(b? – d1869), daughter of the owner of Kiku-Masamune sake brewing company and was adopted by the family, changing his name to Kano, and ultimately became an official in the Bakufu government.
Kano Jigoro, the youngest of five children, was born in what is now Hyogo Prefecture on October 28, 1860. Jigoro Kano was born in the seaside town of Mikage in 1860. His father and uncle were both adopted by Kano family as mukoyoshi .
Note: A mukoyōshi (婿養子) (literally "adopted son-in-law") is a man who is adopted into a family without a male heir, and who takes the family's surname. (Traditionally in Japan, a woman takes her husband's name and is adopted into his family; see married and maiden names: Japan.) This is done to preserve the name and occupation of the family when there is no suitable male heir. Usually, when there is an unwed daughter of a suitable age, she will marry the mukoyōshi, but if there is no daughter, the mukoyōshi can take a bride from outside his adopted family. Mukoyōshi have a low status in society, yet in one study, up to a quarter of heirs in a community were mukoyōshi.
Milage was located near Kobe, famous for sake industry. Kano was the proprietor of the famous Kiku Masamune brand, now under Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co.,Ltd.
1867- 188 As Student
1867- Jigoro Kano had an academic upbringing and, from the age of seven, he studied English, Japanese calligraphy (書道 shodō) and the Four Confucian Texts (四書 Shisho) under a number of tutors.
1870- Kanō became a student in 1870 in the Seitatsu Shojuku(成達書塾) in Ryōkoku, which is pretty much a school for learning how to write. His teacher was Ubukata Keidō. He also got acquainted there with the Chinese Classics. Ubukata-sensei himself was strongly influenced by Western thought and tried to convey this on to Kanō. Given Kanō’s young and inexperienced age, a first step to do was to recommend that he’d study English. He was sent to Mitsukuri Shūhei to do so.
1873- Studied at boarding school, Ikuei Gijuku, located at Karasumori-cho, Shiba, Tokyo. When he was fourteen, Kano began boarding at an English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. The culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst that caused Kano to seek out a Jujutsu (柔術 Jūjutsu) dojo (道場 dōjō, training place) at which to train.
1874- Transfer to English Department, Tokyo School of Foreign Language. Classmate included Takaaki Kato, who later become Prime Minister. Tōkyō School of Foreign Languages or Tōkyō Gaikokugo Gakkō(東京外国語学校).
1875- Attended Kaisei School(Tokyo Kaisei Gakko), Tokyo (Now 開成中学校・高等学校（かいせいちゅうがっこう・こうとうがっこう、, Kaisei Junior & Senior High School）. The school, which has produced many notable alumni, was founded in 1871. At first, it was established as a Kyōryū Gakkō of the prepschool to Senior school such as First High School（After the WWⅡ,this school was integrated into The University of Tokyo.）. It is located in Arakawa, Tokyo. The school formed the foundation for the nation’s first university, Tokyo University, four years later in 1877. ( Source: The history of modern Japanese education: constructing the national school system,1872-1890, by Benjamin C. Duke, Rutgers University Press, 2009; pg 152-156)
1877- Mr. Kano studied politics and economic at Tokyo University(就讀東京大学文学部，主修哲學 東大文学部一年). Tōkyō University or Tōdai did not exist in 1875, and was only created in 1877; the old name of Imperial University (帝國大學, Teikoku daigaku) was only given in 1886, five years after Kanō graduated, and its name was changed again in 1897 into Tōkyō Imperial University(東京帝國大學 Tōkyō Teikoku daigaku) (see: http://www.u-tokyo.a.../b03_02_e.html)
The Faculty of Letters at The University of Tokyo is Japan’s oldest humanities department. It is comprised of the “three humanities” (philosophy, history, and literature) as well as the behavioral sciences. The Faculty of Letters dates back to 1877, the year the Tokyo Kaisei School and the Tokyo Medical School were combined into the University of Tokyo. From the beginning, the Faculty featured a curriculum that combined Western knowledge with Sino-Japanese scholarly traditions, and efforts have always been made to sustain a system of learning that maintains a balance between these two traditions. The University of Tokyo was later renamed Tokyo Imperial University, and after the war it was restructured under a new system, returning to its original name.(source: The History of Faculty of Letters, http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng/history/history.html)
1878 - He was a private school student at Nisho Gakusha (二松学舎), now Nishogakusha University,二松學舍大学)
二松学舍，从1877年三岛中洲在东京麴町一番町(现实东京都千代田区三番町)开设了的汉学私塾开始。二松的名庭园有象征不变的节操，坚贞的松之木二个的根据事，又的韩愈『蓝田县丞厅墙记』请求有作为校舍的意义，作为学校到将来继续的事被命名了. 日文和汉文的二松』
1979- Approached to teach in Gakushuin while still studying . Moved to Eishoji, and started preparatory school, Kano Juku( 嘉納塾) in Feb 1979 . Kano Juku( 嘉納塾)was a tutoring school(the forerunner of the Kodokan) where Kano taught English. Similar to the Kodokan at that time, he had few pupils.
1881- He graduated in July of 1881 (Meiji 14, 7th month)from Tokyo University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Letters or Bungakushi(文学士,東京大学文学部哲学政治学理財学科卒業). Noted, many sources stated Tokyo Imperial University, which is wrong, as it was still Tokyo University.
1882 – He returned to the same Faculty of Letters to focus on Aesthetics and Moral Philosophy, in what thus was graduate study (or as they call it in England ‘Postgraduate). He finished this study in July of 1882. It is there where he also studied under Ernest F. Fennolosa.
1882-1909 As Educator
1882- The year 1882 was a landmark year for Jigoro Kano. He was appointed lecturer(学習院教授補,Relief lecturer) in politics and economics at Gakushuuin(学習院). After appointment as lecturer in Gakushuuin, he moved to Eisho Ji (永勝寺).
In 1882 Kano Jigoro organized the Kodokan judo school at Eishoji, a Buddhist temple in Shitayakita, Kita Inari-cho, Tokyo(now Higashi Ueno, Daito –ku), Tokyo. Judo (Japanese: 'the way of softness'). It started as a twelve Tatami room.
He became an instructor of the Gakushuin in 1882 and eleven years.
In 1882 he started the Kobunkan English Language School. This school was to teach Japanese children the English language. The school was closed in 1889 when Dr. Kano took his first trip abroad.
Note:
Gakushuuin(学習院), a private school for the nobility or Imperial family members and peerage(Kazoku,華族), administrated by Gakushuin (華族會館). The college was initially found in 1847 in Kyoto Imperial Palace or Kyōto Gosho (京都御所), it then moved to Kanda Nishiki-cho ,Tokyo in 1877. The meaning of Gakushuuin(学習院) is Chinese characters for "to be taught" and "to learn" in the following quotation from the Analects of Confucius: "To be taught and to learn the truth is such a precious thing."
1882 - Gakushuin become independent from Peer Club(學習院脫離華族會館獨立)，and under Ministry of education(文部卿).Note: 文部卿 was now Minister of Education( 文部大臣)from 1885.
1884 Gakushuin became a government school under the jurisdiction of the The Imperial Household Agency (宮內廳, Kunaichō), with entry now open to children from outside the ranks of the nobility as well. It was the only government college administrated by The Imperial Houehold Agency(宮內廳, Kunaichō), and not under Education ministry(文部卿).The college was under leadership of Lt General Tateki Tani , later Viscount Tani Tateki (谷干城), who later become Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in 1885.
The Imperial Household Agency (宮內廳, Kunaichō) is a government agency of Japan in charge of the state matters concerning Japan's imperial family and also keeping the Privy Seal and the State Seal. In 1911, it was named the Imperial Household Ministry (宮内省 Kunaishō).
Then, following the establishment of a higher education section, lectures in subjects such as politics, law and literature were held for 12 years between 1893 and 1905. It was later reformed in 1949 as a private university. Now it is Gakushuin University (学習院大學)(http://www.gakushuin.ac.jp/univ/english/his/index.html)
1883- Kano received his teaching license in Kito-Ryu. The dojo was moved to larger area in Kanda, Tokyo.
1884-1887 Professor of economic at Komaba Agricultural College(now Tokyo University of Agriculture)駒場農学校理財学教授(駒場農学校（こまばのうがっこう）は、日本の旧制教育機関。現在の東京大学農学部、筑波大学、東京農工大学農学部の前身にあたる農学に関する日本初の総合教育・研究機関であった)
1885- It was reported he received his Doctorate from Gakushuin in 1885 and he was promoted to Professorship(教授), some even said he become Principal of Gakushuin. But the principal of Gakushuuin was 谷干城 from 1884-1885. May be he was promoted to Soninkan,a senior official. Gakushuin was not a university, it was not possible to award a doctorate degree.(戰前學習院只有幼稚園至高等科，雖然曾經於1893年嘗試開辦大學科，但於1905年廢止).
(In Japanese ‘instructor’ 師 or 指南番or lecturer 専任講師 is not a ‘professor’ 大学教授, but some college may called its lecturer 教授)
1886- Headmaster of Goko( 第五級高等學校校長,(旧制第五高等中学校),now Kumamoto University(（現・熊本大学）.
1887- In 1887 the young son of the Meiji emperor began attending the Gakushuin and Kano had the job of supervising his education and choosing his classmates. This student was destined to become the Taisho Emperor of Japan. In 1884 Kano was promoted to Soninkan which meant that he became a senior official appointed by the Imperial Household Agency and who had to report directly to the then Emperor. It seems quite likely that Kano taught him the ‘modern’ Western sciences of economics and politics
1888- Eventually a military man by the name of Lt. General Miura Sogo(三浦梧楼)was brought in to head the Gakushuin.
1889- Promoted as Vice-Principal of Gakushuin( 学習院教頭,きょうとう). Viscount Miura Gorō (三浦梧楼)was the principal from 1888 to 1892. A clash of opinions between Kano and Miura Gorō resulted in Kano being sent abroad for sixteen months by the Imperial Household Agency to Europe to study European education. Miura being a military man favored a more cadet style education at the Gakushuin and wanted to confine the school to educating the sons of the former military families. Kano on the other hand was keen to educate the brightest people without regard to their samurai background or lack of it.
1889 - 1891 - Kano spent sixteen months touring Europe. First trip was to Paris, France.
1891-1893 - on his return to Japan, he was sent to Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu where he was appointed headmaster of the Kumamoto High school (1891-3). In 1891 he left the school and became the principal of the No. 5 Junior High School(第五高等学校長)in Kumamoto, Kyushu. While as principal at the school he introduced Judo as an additional gym class.
1893- He was appointed as Chief of the Inspectorate for School Textbooks, Tokyo. Six months later, he was appointed as Principal in the No. 1 Junior High School in Tokyo. 4 months later he become Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校)until 1897.
A Qing's Chinese education reformer, Zhang Baixi(张百熙)and Viceroy of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong (張之洞), asked Kano to instruct Chinese students in Japanese education methods in 1893.
1894- 1894 appointed as Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校),東京高等師範学校附属中学校（現・筑波大学附属中学校・高等学校）, now Junior and Senior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba
1896- Followed Minister of Education(文部大臣) to visit Kansai region, Japan in April(に随行して４月関西へ出張)
1898- Appointed Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college or Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko(東京高等師範学校)for the 2nd time, he held the position for 6 months. He was then with the Ministry of Education (文部省 Monbushō) from 1898–1901(日本的文部省擔任部門的主管)
1899-Director/Head of Bureau of General Education or Monbusho(文部省普通学務局長).
"Kobun Gakuin" school or Hongwen xueyuan(弘文學院)was opened as preparatory school for students from Manchu China. Initially it was called 亦樂書院, opened in 1899
1901-1920- Reappointed 3rd time as Principal of Tokyo Teacher Training college (Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko, 東京高等師範学校) , now University of Tsukuba（東京教育大学を経た現在の筑波大学）September of 1893, he was appointed to the position of Principal at the Tokyo Teacher's Training College, which would later become a part of Tokyo University. This was quite a prestigious position for someone only thirty-three years old. It was also a position Kano would hold for another twenty-seven years, until 1920.
筑波大学, http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/about/kano/index.html
http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/about/kano/keireki.html
Note: ^ 治五郎が東京高等師範学校附属中学校（現・筑波大学附属中学校・高等学校）の校長を務めたのは、1893年（明治27年） - 1897年（明治30年）の4年間、1898年（明治31年）に半年間、1901年（明治34年） - 1920年（大正9年）の20年間と通算では25年間近い。 同校の歴代校長の在任期間としては最長。
1899-1909 - The Kobun Gakuin(东京弘文学院) was founded as preparing schools for Chinese students in Japanese education. Approximately 8,000 students would visit this school and learn under the teachers Dr. Kano, the principal, selected. Dr. Kano was approached specifically for this. This shows how well Dr. Kano was respected in China and the rest of the world at this time. The Chinese students studied in the college included some of the famous personalities in modern China, including:
1. Lu Xun(魯迅,1881-1936）, founder of modern Chinese literature ,
2. Huang Xing(黄興,1874-1916),Chinese revolutionary leader, militarist, and statesman, was the first army commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China, his position was next to Sun Yat-sen.
3. Yang Duo(楊度,1875-1931）,politician
4. Qiu Jin(秋瑾,1875-1907）,Chinese anti-Qing Empire revolutionary, feminist and writer. She was executed after a failed uprising and today is considered a hero in China.
5. Chen Duxiu(陳独秀,1879-1942）, he was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its first General Secretary. Chen was an educator, philosopher, and politician.
6.Fan Yuanlian( 范源濂, 1876-1927), he was educationalist, Republic of China Minister of Education, Principal of Beijing Normal University
In 1902 Dr. Kano traveled to Peking, China. He went to share his ideas about solving the problem of education in China and visit Mr. Choshido . Unfortunately, the school was shut down in July of 1909; the year Dr. Kano became a member of the International Olympic Committee.
1909 July- Closed the Kobun Gakuin due to a decline in the number of students from China
Fall- Appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Became the first Japanese member of the International Olympic Committee.
Kano is often called the father of Japanese Physical-education. He was in education sector of 26 years.
1909-1938 As Olympic Committee
1911 April- Established a judo teacher training school in the Kodokan; July- Established the Japan Sports Association and was appointed president
1912 July- Japan's first participation in the Olympic Games at the 5th Olympiad in Stockholm
1920 January- Retired as principal of Tokyo Higher Normal School
1921 March- Retired as president of the Japan Sports Association and became honorary president
1922 January- Established the Kodokan Culture Association . Elected to the House of Peers.
1922- He was elected to the Upper House of Aristocrats (Ki-zoku-In 貴族議員) in 1922 when Kano had turned sixty two. The House of Peers of Japan (貴族院, Kizokuin ) was the upper house of the Imperial Diet, as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (in effect from 11 February 1889 to 3 May 1947). The House of Councillors(参議院 Sangiin) is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers.
During March 1922, Kanō brought all this to fruition through the introduction of the Kodokan Bunkakai, or Kodokan Cultural Association. This organization held its first meeting at Tokyo's Seiyoken Hotel on 5 April 1922, and held its first public lecture three days later at the YMCA hall in Kanda.
1924 March- Appointed honorary professor of Tokyo Higher Normal School((東京師範学校 Tōkyō Shihan Gakkō)
1927- Founding of Nada Middle School(灘中学). Now the school is known as Nada High School(灘高等学校),and Nada Junior High School(灘中学校)which is the affiliate school of Nada High School. The school was found by the sake producers of Nada Ku region(灘区). 嘉納治郎右衛門（菊正宗, now Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co.,Ltd.(菊正宗酒造株式会社), 嘉納治兵衛（白鶴宗, now Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Company Limited (白鶴酒造株式会社), and 山邑太左衛門(櫻正宗, now Sakuramasamune Company, Limited (櫻正宗株式会社).
1928 Attended the Olympic Games in Amsterdam as a member of the International Olympic Comittee. He was giving a speech to first batch students at Nada Middle School(灘中学第一回入学式で訓辞)
1933- The aged expert was Sir Jigoro Kano, life-member of the Japanese House of Peers and Founder/President of Kodo-Kwan school, arrived by Hakosaki Meru on his way to Japan, after European tour. He demonstrated to crowd of 300 at Seaview Hotel, Singapore(The Straits Times, 5 November 1933, Page 1)
1934- In 1934, Kanō quit giving public exhibitions. He was giving speech at the first graduation of Nada Middle School(灘中学第一回卒業式で訓辞)
1936 July- Attended the IOC Session in Berlin where Tokyo succeeded in its bid to host the 12th Olympic Games (1940). In the vote conducted at the Berlin IOC Session in July 1936, Tokyo beat off the challenge of Helsinki by 36 votes to 27. Kano said the following at this session: "My 27 years of Olympic activity since becoming an IOC member have finally borne fruit. Now, the Tokyo Olympics must be an example to the world and the Olympics must use this opportunity to become a part of global culture." the first games held outside Europe and the USA. Japan was the first country in the Far East to be given a Games.
1938- In March, the IOC held its 38th Session in Cairo. Despite all rumors to the contrary, Japan declared that it did indeed intend to stage the Games irrespective of the persistence of war with China. Klingeberg (Techinical Advisor to Tokyo Olympic appointed 1-4-1937), present in Cairo to report on Tokyo's progress, lent verbal support to Japan's resolve. Many IOC members, however, harbored severe reservations about the Games remaining in Japan. In the face of an offer from Finland to stage both Summer and Winter Games if Japan could not, the members voted to give the IOC Executive Committee full authority to transfer the Games accordingly if the need arose.
Kano sought to have the 1940 Olympics held in Tokyo. "Sportsmanship is above war," he told one press conference. He succeeded, amazingly, at a time when Japan was seen as suspect and ruthless in its colonization of its neighbors. That Kano was successful can only be attributed to the great respect he had from the world, and also, undoubtedly, respect at his courage for seeking the games, to bring the spotlight of the world on Japan. America and England, both resolutely opposed to Japanese policies in the Far East, ultimately supported Kano's controversial bid.
Kano Jigoro(嘉納治五郎) died on 4-5-1938. Kanō died at sea, while on board the NYK Line motor vessel MV Hikawa Maru, while returning from Cairo. Jigoro did not return to Japan immediately after Tokyo won its hosting bid in Cairo. Instead, he attended the memorial service being held for Baron de Coubertin in Athens. He then traveled to the United States via Italy and France. In the United States, he met with the other IOC (International Olympic Committee) members and thanked them for their cooperation in Japan's bid to host the Olympics, and requested their help in ensuring that as many athletes as possible participate. This was very much in keeping with Jigoro's Judo creed of "beginning and ending with respect (a bow)". Having completed this duty, Jigoro boarded a ship for Japan, and died en route, never to set foot in his homeland again. His advanced age, combined with fatigue from the journey, had brought on pneumonia.
Within a few weeks of Kano's death, the government of Japan cancelled the games.
At 28th meeting of the organizing committee on 16-7-1938, the Minister of Public Welfare, Marquis Kido informed Japan’s decision of cancellation of Tokyo Olympic and Sapparo Winter Olympic.( Pg 121 – Pg 123, 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report)
Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, President of Organizing Committee, informed IOC on the development after cencellation of Tokyo Olympic(pg 174 –pg 175, 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report)
The Japanese government, faced with the possibility of two more years of conflict in China and shortage of funds and materials, has abandoned its support of plans to hold the 1940 games in Tokyo.
The Japanese army’s opposition to the game as an influence for internationalism, considered hostile to the orthodox military creed of Japan, also was a powerful factor in the decision to give up the Olympic.(source: The evening idependence , St. Petersburg, Florida 13-7-1938)
Within a few months, invaded China from Manchuria. The prime minister Prince Konoe Fumimaro(近衞文麿,b1891-d 1945) and his cohorts were all avid proponents of Budo (武道). Not to be confused with militarism, budo is a process of training throughout one's life to attain mastery of self.
May be he was extremely worried about the possibility of Tokyo Olympic before he died, and sad about the development of Japanese militarism ?....
Suggested reading/articles
1. Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano, by Brian N. Watson, Trafford Publishing, 2008
2. Pg 121 – Pg 123, pg 174 –pg 175 1940 Tokyo Olympic Organizers Report
3. Adolf Hitler, Carl Diem, Werner Klingeberg, and the Thousand Year Reich: Nazi Germany and Its Envisioned Post-War Olympic World, by Garth Paton and Robert K. Barney
4. The Olympic Movement and Kano Jigoro http://www.joc.or.jp/english/historyjapan/kano_jigoro.html
5. Chen Duxiu's early years: The importance of personal connections in the social and intellectual transformation of China 1895—1920, by Anne Shen Chao, Rice University, ProQuest, 2009
6. 弘文學院退學風潮, 辛亥革命网 2010年11月11日 来源：辛亥革命網, 作者：王瑞慶http://big5.xhgmw.org/archive-50012.shtml
7.A Short History of Tokyo University of Education, http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/lionsboy/shousi.htm(in Japanese)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫) - Anti Military Speech
Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫, さいとう たかお, September 13, 1870 - October 7, 1949)
Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫, September 13, 1870 - October 7, 1949) was a Japanese politician and longtime member of the Imperial Diet from Hyōgo Prefecture. He was a member of the Rikken Minseito party(立憲民政党).
Speech on Army Purge(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ
The speech by Saito Takao on army purge or military cleansing(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ）on 7-5-1936. He blamed the army for the Feb 26th Rebellion.
The February 26 incident (二・二六事件 Ni-niroku jiken, or “2-2-6 incident”) was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops. At that time, the incident was called the deplorable incident in the capital (帝都不祥事件 Teito Fushyō Jiken).
粛軍演説（しゅくぐんえんぜつ）は1936年（昭和11年）5月7日に帝国議会の衆議院で斎藤隆夫が行った演説。「粛軍に関する質問演説」ともいう。
Anti-military Speech(反軍演説,（はんぐんえんぜつ)
On February 2, 1940,the Minseitō representative Saitō Takao made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China. During the seventy-fifth session of the Diet, Saitō Takao launched into a devastating critique of the government's position on China. He denounced the official slogans of “holy war”.
The Holy War mentioned was Second Sino-Japanese War(中国抗日战争,日中戦争（にっちゅうせんそう)or支那事変, July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945, where Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, started the beginning of total war between the two countries. The war developed into The Pacific War, part of World War Two.
At the plenary session of the House of Representatives on 2 February 1940 (Showa 15), during a question-and-answer session between party representatives, SAITO Takao of the Minseito lashed out at Prime Minister YONAI Mitsumasa for his mishandling of the Sino-Japanese War. He harshly criticized the policies designed to resolve the matter, announced at the end of 1938 (Showa 13) by then Prime Minister KONOE Fumimaro, pronouncing them fraudulent, and also expressed doubts over the governing ability of the WANG Chao-ming (WANG Jingwei) Administration that the Japanese Government was maneuvering to install in the Japanese conquered territory of China. In his harangue, he went on say that it was a mistake to have laid out a grand plan for the long-range future of the nation holding up such chiming concepts as international justice, moral diplomacy, coexistence and co-prosperity, while at the same time needlessly neglecting the sacrifices of the people by using the a beautiful expression, "holy war".
The Army naturally responded to his comments with indignation, so Chairman KOYAMA Matsutoshi of the House of Representatives exercised his prerogative and ordered the last half of SAITO's speech excised from the Diet's stenographic records. SAITO was summarily referred to the Disciplinary Committee, having been admonished by his colleagues to voluntarily resign from his seat as Diet member. But he refused, saying that he could "not be true to the people of the nation" quitting simply for having had part of his speech excised from the stenographic record, given that it was supposed to be a "legislature where the freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution," adding that his critics had distorted his arguments.
Nonetheless, a plenary session of the House of Representatives voted on 7 March 1940 (Showa 15) to expel SAITO.
•Support(賛成) 296 : 浅沼稲次郎・河上丈太郎・河野密・三輪寿壮・三宅正一・三木武夫・星島二郎・松野鶴平など
• Spoiled/Empty Votes( 空票): 144
• Abstain(棄権) 121 : 尾崎行雄]・鳩山一郎・水谷長三郎・西尾末広・犬養健・若宮貞夫・安達謙蔵など
* Absent/Walk Out(欠席) 23 : 安部磯雄・片山哲・鈴木文治（以上社会大衆党）など
• Oppose(反対) 7: 牧野良三・名川侃市・芦田均・宮脇長吉・丸山弁三郎（以上政友会久原派）・岡崎久次郎（民政党）・北浦圭太郎（第一議員倶楽部）
Saito Takao was expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940.
His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
In 1940, all political parties were forced to merge into the Taisei Yokusankai, a pro-military political organization headed by former prime minister Nobuyuki Abe.Taisei Yokusankai is known as Imperial Rule Assistance Association or Imperial Aid Association((大政翼賛会).
The 21st General Election of Japan, 1942
Takao was re-elected to the Diet in 1942. He ran as independent, in the election of 1942, the Home Ministry try to make him withdraw his candidacy, and when he refused, the police confiscated all his campaign materials. Nevertheless, he was reelected.
The 21st General Election of Japan of the House of Representatives took place in Japan on April 30, 1942. It was the only election in wartime Japan. At this time, the lower house no longer had any significant executive and legislative power, and power went to the military since 1936. The prime minister was not elected from the lower house since 1932, and was also appointed by the military.
As communist groups, left-wing groups, and anti-war groups were illegal since 1940, they were unable to name a candidate in the election. Communists, left-wing politicians and radical anti-military politicians were arrested and not even allowed to run as independents. Besides, anti-war politician Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫) who was expelled from the diet in 1941 was re-elected again.
The Taisei Yokusankai won 381 seats out of the total 466. In some districts, the Taisei Yokusankai candidates won uncontested. However, while the Imperial Army had gained a victory in almost every battle as of the election, public support for the war was still quite high, which was the main reason for the landslide victory of the Taisei Yokusankai. Turnout in the election was 83.16%.
After the War
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, he enjoyed some attention as one of the few really clean politicians for the Allied Occupation's efforts to democratize Japan.
Saito Takao see the wrongs of Japanese militarism, unlike many Japanese during the war period blinded by the propaganda and brainwashing of patriotism and nationalism. He stand up, and not only that, he was able to voice out from his sincere heart.
At the time he stand up to speak, he may be treated as the traitor of the nation, traitor of Japanese people...he was humiliated by speaking the truth... he was expelled from the Diet to silence his voice....his heart was painful for the nation, for the people, and personally.....
Today, the truth proved that he is right, his speech may saved Japan from the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if members of Diet listen to him, and stop the war.
He is a hero, not for Japan, but for the people of the world who see evils of the war today....
Remember you, Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫), a brave man who talk out of his heart.....
Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫, September 13, 1870 - October 7, 1949) was a Japanese politician and longtime member of the Imperial Diet from Hyōgo Prefecture. He was a member of the Rikken Minseito party(立憲民政党).
Speech on Army Purge(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ
The speech by Saito Takao on army purge or military cleansing(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ）on 7-5-1936. He blamed the army for the Feb 26th Rebellion.
The February 26 incident (二・二六事件 Ni-niroku jiken, or “2-2-6 incident”) was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops. At that time, the incident was called the deplorable incident in the capital (帝都不祥事件 Teito Fushyō Jiken).
粛軍演説（しゅくぐんえんぜつ）は1936年（昭和11年）5月7日に帝国議会の衆議院で斎藤隆夫が行った演説。「粛軍に関する質問演説」ともいう。
Anti-military Speech(反軍演説,（はんぐんえんぜつ)
On February 2, 1940,the Minseitō representative Saitō Takao made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China. During the seventy-fifth session of the Diet, Saitō Takao launched into a devastating critique of the government's position on China. He denounced the official slogans of “holy war”.
The Holy War mentioned was Second Sino-Japanese War(中国抗日战争,日中戦争（にっちゅうせんそう)or支那事変, July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945, where Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, started the beginning of total war between the two countries. The war developed into The Pacific War, part of World War Two.
At the plenary session of the House of Representatives on 2 February 1940 (Showa 15), during a question-and-answer session between party representatives, SAITO Takao of the Minseito lashed out at Prime Minister YONAI Mitsumasa for his mishandling of the Sino-Japanese War. He harshly criticized the policies designed to resolve the matter, announced at the end of 1938 (Showa 13) by then Prime Minister KONOE Fumimaro, pronouncing them fraudulent, and also expressed doubts over the governing ability of the WANG Chao-ming (WANG Jingwei) Administration that the Japanese Government was maneuvering to install in the Japanese conquered territory of China. In his harangue, he went on say that it was a mistake to have laid out a grand plan for the long-range future of the nation holding up such chiming concepts as international justice, moral diplomacy, coexistence and co-prosperity, while at the same time needlessly neglecting the sacrifices of the people by using the a beautiful expression, "holy war".
The Army naturally responded to his comments with indignation, so Chairman KOYAMA Matsutoshi of the House of Representatives exercised his prerogative and ordered the last half of SAITO's speech excised from the Diet's stenographic records. SAITO was summarily referred to the Disciplinary Committee, having been admonished by his colleagues to voluntarily resign from his seat as Diet member. But he refused, saying that he could "not be true to the people of the nation" quitting simply for having had part of his speech excised from the stenographic record, given that it was supposed to be a "legislature where the freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution," adding that his critics had distorted his arguments.
Nonetheless, a plenary session of the House of Representatives voted on 7 March 1940 (Showa 15) to expel SAITO.
•Support(賛成) 296 : 浅沼稲次郎・河上丈太郎・河野密・三輪寿壮・三宅正一・三木武夫・星島二郎・松野鶴平など
• Spoiled/Empty Votes( 空票): 144
• Abstain(棄権) 121 : 尾崎行雄]・鳩山一郎・水谷長三郎・西尾末広・犬養健・若宮貞夫・安達謙蔵など
* Absent/Walk Out(欠席) 23 : 安部磯雄・片山哲・鈴木文治（以上社会大衆党）など
• Oppose(反対) 7: 牧野良三・名川侃市・芦田均・宮脇長吉・丸山弁三郎（以上政友会久原派）・岡崎久次郎（民政党）・北浦圭太郎（第一議員倶楽部）
Saito Takao was expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940.
His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
In 1940, all political parties were forced to merge into the Taisei Yokusankai, a pro-military political organization headed by former prime minister Nobuyuki Abe.Taisei Yokusankai is known as Imperial Rule Assistance Association or Imperial Aid Association((大政翼賛会).
The 21st General Election of Japan, 1942
Takao was re-elected to the Diet in 1942. He ran as independent, in the election of 1942, the Home Ministry try to make him withdraw his candidacy, and when he refused, the police confiscated all his campaign materials. Nevertheless, he was reelected.
The 21st General Election of Japan of the House of Representatives took place in Japan on April 30, 1942. It was the only election in wartime Japan. At this time, the lower house no longer had any significant executive and legislative power, and power went to the military since 1936. The prime minister was not elected from the lower house since 1932, and was also appointed by the military.
As communist groups, left-wing groups, and anti-war groups were illegal since 1940, they were unable to name a candidate in the election. Communists, left-wing politicians and radical anti-military politicians were arrested and not even allowed to run as independents. Besides, anti-war politician Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫) who was expelled from the diet in 1941 was re-elected again.
The Taisei Yokusankai won 381 seats out of the total 466. In some districts, the Taisei Yokusankai candidates won uncontested. However, while the Imperial Army had gained a victory in almost every battle as of the election, public support for the war was still quite high, which was the main reason for the landslide victory of the Taisei Yokusankai. Turnout in the election was 83.16%.
After the War
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, he enjoyed some attention as one of the few really clean politicians for the Allied Occupation's efforts to democratize Japan.
Saito Takao see the wrongs of Japanese militarism, unlike many Japanese during the war period blinded by the propaganda and brainwashing of patriotism and nationalism. He stand up, and not only that, he was able to voice out from his sincere heart.
At the time he stand up to speak, he may be treated as the traitor of the nation, traitor of Japanese people...he was humiliated by speaking the truth... he was expelled from the Diet to silence his voice....his heart was painful for the nation, for the people, and personally.....
Today, the truth proved that he is right, his speech may saved Japan from the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if members of Diet listen to him, and stop the war.
He is a hero, not for Japan, but for the people of the world who see evils of the war today....
Remember you, Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫), a brave man who talk out of his heart.....
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄,1865-1949)@ 日本の野球の父
In the time of mass movement in the country for militarism, many people were stirred by the crowd effect of nationalism and patriotism, and forget the sense of reasoning. This revealed the majority may not be always right. It happen in Hitlers' Germany, Mao's Cultural Revolution and Japan's militarism.
Few people will have ears to hear, the noise of propaganda of war, the education of nationalism, and even the call of holy war; it polluted the sound of the inner heart, and the human lost its affection for fellow human being....
In Military Japan, however there are many brave Japanese who stand up for righteousness, calling the militarist government to stop the wars; some was killed, some was imprisoned, some was silenced....but the opposition continued....
They even have systematic thought change program called Tenko (転向, literally, changing direction). A Japanese term referring to the ideological reversal of numerous Japanese socialists who, between 1925 and 1945, renounced the left and (in many cases) embraced the "national community.". Tenko was performed especially under duress, most often in police custody, and was a condition for release (although surveillance and harassment would continue). But it was also a broader phenomenon, a kind of cultural reorientation in the face of national crisis, that did not always involve direct repression. One of the most well known of tenko came in June 1933, when Sano Manabu (1892—1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901—1979), top figures in the Communist Party leadership, renounced their allegiance to the Comintern and the policy of violent revolution, embracing instead a Japan-specific mode of revolutionary change under imperial auspices.
Many of the social reformers are Christian, and also socialist; I was wondering how the two opposing forces were able to sparks out the Japanese Reformation Movement during the war period....
Abe Isoo(安部磯雄)is one of them.
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄, 1st March 1865 - 10 February 1949) was a well known Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist.
Abe was born in Fukuoka, the second son of Okamoto Gonnojo, a samurai family. He studied at Doshisha Yogakko(Doshisha University) for 4 years and went abroad to USA in 1891. He studied at Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary, including at the University of Berlin, before becoming a Unitarian Church preacher. Abe was attracted to socialism while studying for the ministry in the United States, where he graduated from the Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary. He taught at Tokyo Semmon Gakkō from 1899, and two years later became a professor of Economic. Tokyo Semmon Gakkō later become Waseda University.
Professor Abe Isoo formed a baseball team , Waseda Nine in 1901. Their American tour in 1905 helped develop baseball in Japan. Organized the Tokyo Big Six League (TBSL), becoming its first president in 1925. Known as father of student baseball in Japan.
In 1901 he helped to found the short-lived Japanese Social-Democratic party(社会民主党), which the government swiftly prohibited.
During the Russo-Japanese War he advocated non-cooperation and participated in various early feminist movements. In 1906, he played an instrumental role in founding the first Japanese Socialist Party, from which he advocated a Christian Socialist viewpoint. However, the government outlawed this party too in 1907. In 1924 he became the first President of the Japanese Fabian Society or Nihon Febian kyôkai,(日本フェビアン協会/日本费边社),found in 1922. In 1928 voters elected Isō to the Japanese Diet as Chairman of Shakai minshûtô or Socialist People Party, where he held a seat for four consecutive elections. In 1932, he became a chairman of Shakai Taishuto or Socialist Masses Party (社会大衆党). He withdrew from politics in 1940.
Social Mass Party
Japanese government propaganda, the educational system, government repression, and social pressures effectively prevented the Japanese people from resisting government policies, military orders, or the war. Anyone against the war , Hatanaka (67) puts it bluntly: "Honestly speaking, nobody said openly that they opposed the war. If you said that you'd have been killed immediately, or taken away and killed later."
The program of thought conversion,Tenko (転向), resulted in many leftists changed their direction.
Social Mass Party, in the period of increasing extremism in politics, attempted to maintain a middle-of-the road approach, which inevitably resulted in a confused policy. The party was dominated by central and rightist elements, the lefts were mainly under government arrest, which helped to maintain unity and avoid potential splits between the fractions which had formed it.
Shakai Taishuto approved the creation of the state of Manchukuo in 1932 and voted for new military appropriations. The party took the antimilitary sentiments of Japanese workers into account; it proposed the conclusion of a Japanese-Soviet non-agression pact and in the period 1932–35 condemned Japan’s resignation from the League of Nations. It also voiced support of a campaign against inflation and poverty.
In the general election of December 1936 (Showa 11), the public pinned great hopes on the anti-fascists, still the Shakai Taishuto increased its representation in the House of Representatives, to 37 seats. The Party leaders, having built up self-confidence through their successful electoral performance, instead drew closer to the military.
In 1936 and 1937 some left-wing members of Shakai Taishuto responded to a call of the Communist Party of Japan and Nihon Musanto, a legal left-wing party of workers and peasants, to help organize an antifascist national front. However, the rightist leadership of Shakai Taishuto dismissed from the party those who supported the front.
What solidified that trend was the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937 (Showa 12), sparked by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7 (Japanese troops of the Kwangtung Army, camped on one side of the bridge, claimed a soldier of theirs was missing in nearby Wanping Town, and demanded that the Kuomintang troops there let them look, giving them an ultimatum; when the KMT refused, the Japanese bombarded the town at midnight, and set in motion the events that led to Japan overrunning Peiping(now Beijing) on July 29 and Tientsin, now Tianjin, on July 30, starting the 2nd Sino-Japanese War).
The Shakai Taishuto avidly supported the war with China. At the Party 6th convention held from 15th November 1937, the Party platform was revised so as to advocate the progress and development of the Japanese people based on the basic principle of the national polity. The Shakai Taishuto thus publicly declared its participation in the national unity framework.
Cooperating with the military, the leadership of Shakai Taishuto announced on 6th July 1940 the disbanding of the party and and becoming the first political party to join the movement for the establishment of the New Order. Formation of 2nd KONOE Fumimaro Cabinet on 22-7-1940.
Opposition to the War
He is one of the opposition voice to the Japanese militarism, prior to the Pacific War/World War 2. One of the few who dare to be difference, against the war.
In 1930, after the Taisho Democracy was passed, Abe in his 2nd election campaign, called for disarmament within the limits required for self defense. Abe's pacifism was under extreme political pressure,while his political party was trying to adjust to the nationalism of the country. He as educator, waiting to educate the younger generation through the avenue of sport, mainly baseball. But his spirit of pacifism still burning in his heart.
At the height of the war in China, Abe said " We will not have the slightest needs for the sword, in contract to the situation in the past".
The breaking point finally come on 2-2-1940.....
On February 2, 1940, Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫) made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China(反軍演説).Votes were taken in the Diet to expel him, Katayama Tetsu(片山哲), Suzuki Bunji(鈴木文治), Abe Isoo(安部磯雄), and Nishio Suehiro(西尾末広) and 6 others supported Saito Takao by walking out of the Diet. Suzuki Bunji, a lawyer and Abe Isoo, professors at Waseda University, Saito Takao was later expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940. His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
The Secretary General of Social Masses Party, Hisashi Aso(麻生久, 1891-1940),changed direction and allied himself with militarist Party, at the side of the Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro. Abe Isoo resigned in 1940 as chairman of Social Mass Party, over the issue of cooperation with the government's militaristic policies. Social Mass Party was the only leftist party allowed to function in the 1930s, it grew increasing nationalistic and militaristic, but was absorbed into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940.
Abe tried to form a new party, the Nationalist Labor Party (Kinrô kokumintô). However, the Home Ministry banned it on the grounds that it was socialist and that, representing the working class, it would instigate class struggle.
Abe Isoo withdrew from politics in 1940.
After the War
He is the President of Japan Student Baseball Association(日本学生野球協会,にほんがくせいやきゅうきょうかい) in 1946. He was regarded as Father of Japanese Baseball(日本の野球の父), and Father of Japanese student baseball(学生野球の父).
He was political adviser to Social Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakai Minshu-tō)
He died on 10-2-1949.
Abe Isoo stand up tall .......even during the war. He is universally acclaimed as Father of Japanese Socialism.
Suggested readings/references:
1. PASTOR OF A BIG JAPANESE CHURCH.; The Rev. Iso Abe, Who Has Been Study- in This Country, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html
2. 先人の風景, The Sanyo Shimbun, http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/kikaku/senjin/news/2008/04/04/20080404170108.html
3. 安部磯雄, wikipedia(in Japanese)
4. Pacifism in Japan: the Christian and socialist tradition, by Nobuya Bamba, John F. Howes, UBC Press, 1978.
Few people will have ears to hear, the noise of propaganda of war, the education of nationalism, and even the call of holy war; it polluted the sound of the inner heart, and the human lost its affection for fellow human being....
In Military Japan, however there are many brave Japanese who stand up for righteousness, calling the militarist government to stop the wars; some was killed, some was imprisoned, some was silenced....but the opposition continued....
They even have systematic thought change program called Tenko (転向, literally, changing direction). A Japanese term referring to the ideological reversal of numerous Japanese socialists who, between 1925 and 1945, renounced the left and (in many cases) embraced the "national community.". Tenko was performed especially under duress, most often in police custody, and was a condition for release (although surveillance and harassment would continue). But it was also a broader phenomenon, a kind of cultural reorientation in the face of national crisis, that did not always involve direct repression. One of the most well known of tenko came in June 1933, when Sano Manabu (1892—1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901—1979), top figures in the Communist Party leadership, renounced their allegiance to the Comintern and the policy of violent revolution, embracing instead a Japan-specific mode of revolutionary change under imperial auspices.
Many of the social reformers are Christian, and also socialist; I was wondering how the two opposing forces were able to sparks out the Japanese Reformation Movement during the war period....
Abe Isoo(安部磯雄)is one of them.
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄, 1st March 1865 - 10 February 1949) was a well known Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist.
Abe was born in Fukuoka, the second son of Okamoto Gonnojo, a samurai family. He studied at Doshisha Yogakko(Doshisha University) for 4 years and went abroad to USA in 1891. He studied at Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary, including at the University of Berlin, before becoming a Unitarian Church preacher. Abe was attracted to socialism while studying for the ministry in the United States, where he graduated from the Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary. He taught at Tokyo Semmon Gakkō from 1899, and two years later became a professor of Economic. Tokyo Semmon Gakkō later become Waseda University.
Professor Abe Isoo formed a baseball team , Waseda Nine in 1901. Their American tour in 1905 helped develop baseball in Japan. Organized the Tokyo Big Six League (TBSL), becoming its first president in 1925. Known as father of student baseball in Japan.
In 1901 he helped to found the short-lived Japanese Social-Democratic party(社会民主党), which the government swiftly prohibited.
During the Russo-Japanese War he advocated non-cooperation and participated in various early feminist movements. In 1906, he played an instrumental role in founding the first Japanese Socialist Party, from which he advocated a Christian Socialist viewpoint. However, the government outlawed this party too in 1907. In 1924 he became the first President of the Japanese Fabian Society or Nihon Febian kyôkai,(日本フェビアン協会/日本费边社),found in 1922. In 1928 voters elected Isō to the Japanese Diet as Chairman of Shakai minshûtô or Socialist People Party, where he held a seat for four consecutive elections. In 1932, he became a chairman of Shakai Taishuto or Socialist Masses Party (社会大衆党). He withdrew from politics in 1940.
Social Mass Party
Japanese government propaganda, the educational system, government repression, and social pressures effectively prevented the Japanese people from resisting government policies, military orders, or the war. Anyone against the war , Hatanaka (67) puts it bluntly: "Honestly speaking, nobody said openly that they opposed the war. If you said that you'd have been killed immediately, or taken away and killed later."
The program of thought conversion,Tenko (転向), resulted in many leftists changed their direction.
Social Mass Party, in the period of increasing extremism in politics, attempted to maintain a middle-of-the road approach, which inevitably resulted in a confused policy. The party was dominated by central and rightist elements, the lefts were mainly under government arrest, which helped to maintain unity and avoid potential splits between the fractions which had formed it.
Shakai Taishuto approved the creation of the state of Manchukuo in 1932 and voted for new military appropriations. The party took the antimilitary sentiments of Japanese workers into account; it proposed the conclusion of a Japanese-Soviet non-agression pact and in the period 1932–35 condemned Japan’s resignation from the League of Nations. It also voiced support of a campaign against inflation and poverty.
In the general election of December 1936 (Showa 11), the public pinned great hopes on the anti-fascists, still the Shakai Taishuto increased its representation in the House of Representatives, to 37 seats. The Party leaders, having built up self-confidence through their successful electoral performance, instead drew closer to the military.
In 1936 and 1937 some left-wing members of Shakai Taishuto responded to a call of the Communist Party of Japan and Nihon Musanto, a legal left-wing party of workers and peasants, to help organize an antifascist national front. However, the rightist leadership of Shakai Taishuto dismissed from the party those who supported the front.
What solidified that trend was the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937 (Showa 12), sparked by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7 (Japanese troops of the Kwangtung Army, camped on one side of the bridge, claimed a soldier of theirs was missing in nearby Wanping Town, and demanded that the Kuomintang troops there let them look, giving them an ultimatum; when the KMT refused, the Japanese bombarded the town at midnight, and set in motion the events that led to Japan overrunning Peiping(now Beijing) on July 29 and Tientsin, now Tianjin, on July 30, starting the 2nd Sino-Japanese War).
The Shakai Taishuto avidly supported the war with China. At the Party 6th convention held from 15th November 1937, the Party platform was revised so as to advocate the progress and development of the Japanese people based on the basic principle of the national polity. The Shakai Taishuto thus publicly declared its participation in the national unity framework.
Cooperating with the military, the leadership of Shakai Taishuto announced on 6th July 1940 the disbanding of the party and and becoming the first political party to join the movement for the establishment of the New Order. Formation of 2nd KONOE Fumimaro Cabinet on 22-7-1940.
Opposition to the War
He is one of the opposition voice to the Japanese militarism, prior to the Pacific War/World War 2. One of the few who dare to be difference, against the war.
In 1930, after the Taisho Democracy was passed, Abe in his 2nd election campaign, called for disarmament within the limits required for self defense. Abe's pacifism was under extreme political pressure,while his political party was trying to adjust to the nationalism of the country. He as educator, waiting to educate the younger generation through the avenue of sport, mainly baseball. But his spirit of pacifism still burning in his heart.
At the height of the war in China, Abe said " We will not have the slightest needs for the sword, in contract to the situation in the past".
The breaking point finally come on 2-2-1940.....
On February 2, 1940, Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫) made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China(反軍演説).Votes were taken in the Diet to expel him, Katayama Tetsu(片山哲), Suzuki Bunji(鈴木文治), Abe Isoo(安部磯雄), and Nishio Suehiro(西尾末広) and 6 others supported Saito Takao by walking out of the Diet. Suzuki Bunji, a lawyer and Abe Isoo, professors at Waseda University, Saito Takao was later expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940. His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
The Secretary General of Social Masses Party, Hisashi Aso(麻生久, 1891-1940),changed direction and allied himself with militarist Party, at the side of the Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro. Abe Isoo resigned in 1940 as chairman of Social Mass Party, over the issue of cooperation with the government's militaristic policies. Social Mass Party was the only leftist party allowed to function in the 1930s, it grew increasing nationalistic and militaristic, but was absorbed into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940.
Abe tried to form a new party, the Nationalist Labor Party (Kinrô kokumintô). However, the Home Ministry banned it on the grounds that it was socialist and that, representing the working class, it would instigate class struggle.
Abe Isoo withdrew from politics in 1940.
After the War
He is the President of Japan Student Baseball Association(日本学生野球協会,にほんがくせいやきゅうきょうかい) in 1946. He was regarded as Father of Japanese Baseball(日本の野球の父), and Father of Japanese student baseball(学生野球の父).
He was political adviser to Social Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakai Minshu-tō)
He died on 10-2-1949.
Abe Isoo stand up tall .......even during the war. He is universally acclaimed as Father of Japanese Socialism.
Suggested readings/references:
1. PASTOR OF A BIG JAPANESE CHURCH.; The Rev. Iso Abe, Who Has Been Study- in This Country, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html
2. 先人の風景, The Sanyo Shimbun, http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/kikaku/senjin/news/2008/04/04/20080404170108.html
3. 安部磯雄, wikipedia(in Japanese)
4. Pacifism in Japan: the Christian and socialist tradition, by Nobuya Bamba, John F. Howes, UBC Press, 1978.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社 or 靖國神社 Yasukuni Jinja) is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of Imperial Japan, particularly to those killed in wartime.It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II
Yasukuni is a shrine to house the actual souls of the dead as kami, or "spirits/souls" as loosely defined in English. It is believed that all negative or evil acts committed are absolved when enshrinement occurs. This activity is strictly a religious matter since the separation of State Shinto and the Japanese government in 1945. The priesthood at the shrine has complete religious autonomy to decide to whom and how enshrinement may occur. They believe that enshrinement is permanent and irreversible. According to Shinto beliefs, by enshrining kami, Yasukuni Shrine provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor. Yasukuni has all enshrined kami occupying the same single seat. The shrine is dedicated to give peace and rest to all those enshrined there. It was the only place to which the Emperor of Japan bowed.
History of Yasukuni Shrine
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
Shinto rites are performed at the shrine, which, according to Shinto belief, houses the kami, or spirits, of all Japanese, former colonial subjects (Korean and Taiwanese) and civilians who died in service of the emperor while participating (forced or willing) in the nation's conflicts prior to 1951.
There are over 2,466,000 enshrined kami currently listed in the Yasukuni's Symbolic Registry of Divinities. This list includes soldiers, as well as women and students who were involved in relief operations in the battlefield or worked in factories for the war effort. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Currently, Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans without consultation of surviving family members and in some cases against the stated wishes of the family members. There are numerous enshrined kami who died at Chinreisha.
Eligible categories
As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to military personnel who were killed while serving Japan during armed conflicts. Civilians who were killed during a war are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. A deceased must fall into one of the following categories for enshrinement:
1. Military personnel, and civilians serving for the military, who were:
- killed in action, or died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty outside the Home Islands (and within the Home Islands after September 1931)
- missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
- died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
2. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
3. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps during and after the war
4. Civilians who were officially mobilized or volunteered (such as factory workers, mobilized students, Japanese Red Cross nurses and anti air-raid volunteers) who were killed while on duty
5. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
6. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (e.g. Awa Maru)
7. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (e.g. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
8. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan
Enshrinement of war criminals
One of the controversies arises out of the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. According to documents released by the National Diet Library of Japan in 2007, Health and Welfare Ministry officials and Yasukuni representatives officially met 31 January 1969. After the meeting the Shrine officials and Ministry officials agreed that all "are eligible" for enshrinement based on the extant rules. After the meeting, it was specifically decided to not publicly announce the criminals' enshrinement due to the controversial decision.[42] In 1959, the kami of 1,068 executed as Class-B or C war criminals by Allied Forces military trials were enshrined at Yasukuni.[43] In 1978, the kami of 14 executed or died in prison who were sentenced or suspected as Class-A war criminals by IMTFE were enshrined at Yasukuni.[44] According to a memorandum released in 2006 by Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, enshrined Class-A was the reason Emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine from 1978 until his death in 1989.[45][46] Since the enshrinement, there have been calls from some groups of people to remove the war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine. Shrine officials have stated that unlike traditional Shinto shrines, all enshrined kami are immediately combined and therefore become impossible to be separated for removal.[47] There has been no move to separate the enshrinements.
(extract from wikipedia)
靖国神社：不为人知的攻防战
Lee Teng Hui(李登輝) & Yasukuni Shrine
In May 2007, Ex President of Taiwan Republic of China Lee Teng Hui(李登輝)visited Yasukuni Shrine. Lee said his brother was enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine as a navy with Imperial Japanese Navy who died during WW2. Lee's elder brother served in the Japanese Imperial Navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.
Lee's father was a middle-level Japanese police aide and his brother served and died in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Lee was one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school class—graduated with honors and was given a scholarship to Japan's Kyoto Imperial University, then known as Kyoto Technical School. In 1944 he too volunteered for service in the Imperial Japanese Army and became a second lieutenant officer of an anti-aircraft gun in Taiwan. He was ordered back to Japan in 1945 and participated in the clean-up after the great Tokyo firebombing of March, 1945. Lee stayed in Japan after the surrender and graduated from Kyoto University in 1946. During his youth Lee had a Japanese name, Iwasato Masao (岩里政男).
Ironically, he was presented with the first Shinpei Goto Prize by Tokyo's Shinpei Goto Society. The prize was established to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the late Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto(後藤新平),and is awarded to people who have contributed to national or regional development.
What is in the mind of a Father of Taiwan independence?.
The agreement for keeping the Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)after the war, was there will not be any state Shintoism, where Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)will only remain as purely a civilian independent religion institution, free from politic and militarism. But has the Yasukuni Shrine comply with that after the war? Just look at the movies below:
靖国神社, 軍装おじさん、自衛隊に「大和魂」を求むる
The ceremony was full of military color, reflective of revival of Japanese militarism. It was no longer just a simple family remembrance ceremony for the family members. It already become a symbolic place for the ultra-right militarist and supporters.
Will Yasukuni be the birth place of future Japanese Militarism? or as some critic said, the revival of Japanese Militarism....
This is the worry of the people all over the world.
2011
Yasukuni is a shrine to house the actual souls of the dead as kami, or "spirits/souls" as loosely defined in English. It is believed that all negative or evil acts committed are absolved when enshrinement occurs. This activity is strictly a religious matter since the separation of State Shinto and the Japanese government in 1945. The priesthood at the shrine has complete religious autonomy to decide to whom and how enshrinement may occur. They believe that enshrinement is permanent and irreversible. According to Shinto beliefs, by enshrining kami, Yasukuni Shrine provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor. Yasukuni has all enshrined kami occupying the same single seat. The shrine is dedicated to give peace and rest to all those enshrined there. It was the only place to which the Emperor of Japan bowed.
History of Yasukuni Shrine
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
Shinto rites are performed at the shrine, which, according to Shinto belief, houses the kami, or spirits, of all Japanese, former colonial subjects (Korean and Taiwanese) and civilians who died in service of the emperor while participating (forced or willing) in the nation's conflicts prior to 1951.
There are over 2,466,000 enshrined kami currently listed in the Yasukuni's Symbolic Registry of Divinities. This list includes soldiers, as well as women and students who were involved in relief operations in the battlefield or worked in factories for the war effort. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Currently, Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans without consultation of surviving family members and in some cases against the stated wishes of the family members. There are numerous enshrined kami who died at Chinreisha.
Eligible categories
As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to military personnel who were killed while serving Japan during armed conflicts. Civilians who were killed during a war are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. A deceased must fall into one of the following categories for enshrinement:
1. Military personnel, and civilians serving for the military, who were:
- killed in action, or died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty outside the Home Islands (and within the Home Islands after September 1931)
- missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
- died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
2. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
3. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps during and after the war
4. Civilians who were officially mobilized or volunteered (such as factory workers, mobilized students, Japanese Red Cross nurses and anti air-raid volunteers) who were killed while on duty
5. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
6. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (e.g. Awa Maru)
7. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (e.g. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
8. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan
Enshrinement of war criminals
One of the controversies arises out of the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. According to documents released by the National Diet Library of Japan in 2007, Health and Welfare Ministry officials and Yasukuni representatives officially met 31 January 1969. After the meeting the Shrine officials and Ministry officials agreed that all "are eligible" for enshrinement based on the extant rules. After the meeting, it was specifically decided to not publicly announce the criminals' enshrinement due to the controversial decision.[42] In 1959, the kami of 1,068 executed as Class-B or C war criminals by Allied Forces military trials were enshrined at Yasukuni.[43] In 1978, the kami of 14 executed or died in prison who were sentenced or suspected as Class-A war criminals by IMTFE were enshrined at Yasukuni.[44] According to a memorandum released in 2006 by Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, enshrined Class-A was the reason Emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine from 1978 until his death in 1989.[45][46] Since the enshrinement, there have been calls from some groups of people to remove the war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine. Shrine officials have stated that unlike traditional Shinto shrines, all enshrined kami are immediately combined and therefore become impossible to be separated for removal.[47] There has been no move to separate the enshrinements.
(extract from wikipedia)
靖国神社：不为人知的攻防战
Lee Teng Hui(李登輝) & Yasukuni Shrine
In May 2007, Ex President of Taiwan Republic of China Lee Teng Hui(李登輝)visited Yasukuni Shrine. Lee said his brother was enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine as a navy with Imperial Japanese Navy who died during WW2. Lee's elder brother served in the Japanese Imperial Navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.
Lee's father was a middle-level Japanese police aide and his brother served and died in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Lee was one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school class—graduated with honors and was given a scholarship to Japan's Kyoto Imperial University, then known as Kyoto Technical School. In 1944 he too volunteered for service in the Imperial Japanese Army and became a second lieutenant officer of an anti-aircraft gun in Taiwan. He was ordered back to Japan in 1945 and participated in the clean-up after the great Tokyo firebombing of March, 1945. Lee stayed in Japan after the surrender and graduated from Kyoto University in 1946. During his youth Lee had a Japanese name, Iwasato Masao (岩里政男).
Ironically, he was presented with the first Shinpei Goto Prize by Tokyo's Shinpei Goto Society. The prize was established to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the late Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto(後藤新平),and is awarded to people who have contributed to national or regional development.
What is in the mind of a Father of Taiwan independence?.
The agreement for keeping the Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)after the war, was there will not be any state Shintoism, where Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)will only remain as purely a civilian independent religion institution, free from politic and militarism. But has the Yasukuni Shrine comply with that after the war? Just look at the movies below:
靖国神社, 軍装おじさん、自衛隊に「大和魂」を求むる
The ceremony was full of military color, reflective of revival of Japanese militarism. It was no longer just a simple family remembrance ceremony for the family members. It already become a symbolic place for the ultra-right militarist and supporters.
Will Yasukuni be the birth place of future Japanese Militarism? or as some critic said, the revival of Japanese Militarism....
This is the worry of the people all over the world.
2011
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