THURSDAY,
Christian Missionaries Bailed
By ROBERT CRABBE
United Press International
TOKYO (UPI) - "Wareware
no ten ni aru chichiyo
The opening words of The
Lord's Prayer tumble from the
Hps of a dozen Japanese seated
on the straw mat floor of a
Tokyo home. As Sunday service
ends, they bow politely to the
American Baptist missionary,
who is their pastor, and shuffle
out the door.
Sometimes I think we missed
our chance," the missionary
says sadly. "We should have,
had a big effort ready the day
they surrendered in 1945. That
was when they were ready for
new ideas."
A short distance away, a Jap
anese Roman Catholic priest is
saying mass in a handsome percentage is low but the mflu
church that would be a credit ' ence of Japanese Christians can-
OLDEST STUDENT Adrian C. Kelt, a fresh- commutes from his home in Holland, Mich.,
man at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, three times a week for his classes in philos-
Mlch., is a little old to wear a beanie. The ophy. (UPI)
school's oldest student, who just turned 86,
r si
STEREO
Beautiful new FMAM
RADIO-PHONOGRAPHS
1 1 that double as
functional Coffee Tables
ONLY
Model 1-ST275 In Mahogany finish.
In Walnut, $215. Also available In
Colonial styling, Maple
PROJECTS SOUND FROM BOTH FRONT AND BACK-TO SURROUND YOU
WITH THE FULL BEAUTY OF MUSIC I You enjoy true high fidelity and all the
spectacular dimensions of stereophonies, from powerful amplifier and four
speakers with coaxial tweeters. Micromatic Player lets your records last a
lifetime-Diamond Stylus is guaranteed 10 Years. Gliding top panels open to
record player, and controls without disturbing your top-of-set accessories.
Other Magnavox Stereo COFFEE TABLES from only 16950
OPEN EVERY FRIDAY
Your Horn
Entertainment
Center
111 North Central
Phone 773-7538
NOVEMBER 14, 13
to any community in America,
It was built largely with foreign
donations. Only a scattering of
people hear Uie service, and
some of these are nuns f r o m
America and Europe.
The Christian missionaries
have found JaDan a hard nut to
crack, Despite a century of in'
tense and expensive mis
sionary activity, less than one
per cent of the Japanese people
are churchgoing Christians. The
controversial words "less than
one per cent" echo throughout
the community of more than 5,-
000 foreign missionaries station
ed nere.
Discount Numbers
Jesus was never interested in
religious statistics," says the
Rev. Howard Norman. "The
the magnificent
HIGH FIDELITY
finish only $219.50
NIGHT
Ml
m
Direct
not be measured by Die number
1 0f Christians in the country. It
i te far grea(CT the num.
i . . . ,. ,
m ,0 ,ndlea, e'
There are 95 milhon people
in Japan, the Japanese Chris-
"an yearbook estimates t n a t
in 1961, 727,445 were Chnstain
church members, although
gains have been claimed since.
The year - book says that in
1961 there were a little more
than 400,000 Japanese Protes
tants, and about 290,000 Cath
olics. The rest were divided
among other denominations.
Japanese Christians are serv
ed by a corps of about 12,000
Japanese church workers and
an estimated 5,000 foreign mis
sionaries.
Overwhelmingly, the f o r eign
missionaries are dedicated and
I
MUSIC
HOUSE
Factory Dealer
self - effacing. They master the
complicated Japanese language,
and live close to the Japanese
people. It is not a job for per
sons with large egos. The mis
sionary in Japan often must be
content with laying the founda
tions of a structure which he
can only hope that others will
complete.
Look Elsewhere
There is strong evidence that
at the moment the Japanese
people are looking elsewhere
than Christianity for their spir
itual values m the post war
worm.
The fastest growing religious
organization in Japan today is
the controversial Soka Cakkai
sect, an aggressive new Japa
nese Buddhism.
Japanese intellectuals and
leftists are shopping in the
markets of European philoso
phy. Many Japanese who never
open a Bible can talk about
Sarte and Karl Marx.
Christian workers in JaDan
entered the post - war era in a
hopeful mood. Japan had come
out of the conflict with some
' wo ftard core Christians
who had stuck to their faith in
s
25000 in
MERCHANDISE
AWARDS!
(Certificates good
any Central Point
TRY
Foreign Coin Sale
Authentic coins' from many of the world's free
countries go on sale opening day at just a few
pennies each for interesting additio'ns to your collec
tion, as curiosities or souvenirs.
Refreshments . .
Coffe, Punch and
Cookies for all,
JOIN THE FUN!
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOItD. OREGON
spite of severe government dis-
approval. The new postwar re
ligious treeaom had removed
the old restrictions under which
the church worked.
However, recent growth has
been slow and costly.
The post war mood of Janan
has been materialistic, n o t
spiritual. Moreover, Christian
workers have come to grips
with Oriental attitudes striking
ly different from those in the
West.
"I'll tell you what the Japa
nese do when they get convert
ed to Christianity," said t h e
Rev. Carl Blackler. who con-
ducted a Baptist mission in To-
Kyo until bis recent death
"They buy a picture of Jesus
and put it on the family altar,
beside the statue of Buddha and
the image of the Shinto Fox
God."
Baffle Missionaries
The refusal of Japanese to ac-
cept the exclusive claims of any
one religion has baffled and ir
ritated many a missionary.
ine Japanese nas an ability
to pick out the things he likes
in a number of religions," says
Dr. William Woodard, direc-l
You're inviied to the
fflAMl OPENING
FiRSt MTIOML'S HEW
'OTNTBA
BRANCH. BUILDING
Friday, November 5h, 10 a.m. fo 6 p.m.
in trade with
Merchant)
YOUR SKILL AT ESTIMATING
Contest entry cards are available at the New Central Point
Branch all day Friday, November 15th. Make your guess
and leave your card. You could be a winner! Closest
estimate to actual amount of money in special container
wins first prize.
by Japanese Attitude
tor of the International Institute
for Study of Religions in To
kyo.
"Christianity is more dogmat
ic an all or nothing religion,"
Woodard adds. "It demands a
high degree of personal com
mitment, and many Japanese
find this disagreeable."
Woodard, whose scholarlv in
stitute is assisted by Christians,
Buddhists and Shintoists in Ja
pan, is not optimistic about
rapid growth of Christianity
nere.
Woodard points out that some
Japanese have picked up Chris
tian ideals of social service
and then decided that left wing
political parties offer the b e s t
prospect of putting them into
use.
Jotaro Kawakami, chairman
of the powerful Socialist party,
is a Christian, but he leads a
party more attuned to Moscow
t h a n to the non - Communist
West.
The Christian preoccupation
with sin also is foreign to the
Japanese mind.
Former Governor David Law
rence of Pennsylvania found
this out last year when he tour
I, M'K
-i- - -;'-i t .ir a -. t ji '1-.: y J?
ed Japan with a party of Amer
ican governors. At a religious
seminar in Kyoto, Lawrence
asked a Buddhist monk wheth
er Buddhism prohibited rape
and robbery.
Separated from Sin
The abbot looked bewildered:
"We don't concern ourselves
with those thines. mv dear sir.
The criminal code takes care of
all that."
To the Christian mind. Bud
dhism's separation of religion
from sin seems fantastic. Basic
ally it springs from the Bud
dhist's confidence that every
thing will be paid for in1 full.
They feel the wicked are pun
ished and the good rewarded
in some other life if not in this
one.
Buddhism has been in Japan
for 1,500 years. Culturally, its
effects on the country have been
more powerful than those of any
other religion. About one-third
of the Japanese people still are
thought to be practicing Bud
dhists, and it is estimated that
as many as 90 per cent still
maintain at least nominal tics.
Dwelling side by side with
Buddhism in Japan is Shinto, a
POINT
S100 MERCHANDISE
CERTIFICATE - FIRST PRIZE
S50 MERCHANDISE
CERTIFICATE -SECOND PRIZE
TEN CERTIFICATES
VALUED AT S10 EACH
CENTRAL POINT BRANCH
The Statewide Bank with Hometown Service
300 EAST PINE STREET
CENTRAL POINT
form of sun and spirit worship
that goes back to Japanese pre
history. Millions of Japanese fol
low both religions with no
sense of conflict.
Christianity in Japan is large
ly a city people's religion. For
the most part it attrects people
in the middle and upper-middle
classes.
Rural Japan is Utile touched
by Christianity, and the major
ity of the missionary effort goes
on in the cities.
Early Day Culture i
In the earlv davs of Christian!
work in the Far East, the
churches were the bringers of
western culture. They built (he
first universities, and also
brought the Orient the blessings
of western medicine.
Christian universities are in
fluential still. But, in fields like
science and engineering, the
Japanese government can now
build universities and equip
them far more elaborately than
the Christian colleges can do on
limited budgets.
More and more. Christian
workers in Japan are being
forced to campaign on purely
religious grounds.
In some ways, there are en
couraging signs. Japanese
churchmen are taking over the
leadership of Christian activities
to an Increasing degree. Tha
majority of Japanese parishes
now are led by Japanese and
about half are self supporting
although the living standards of
the clergy often are pathetically
low.
Yet there is little doubt that
the Japanese have been much
more attracted by the west's
science and technology than
ve Dce" ' '
attitudes.
1959 FORD
2 DOOR SEDAN
6 Cyl. Sdn.( Stick ..$799
Call Mr. McHenry at 482-1911
WALT'S
LITHIA MOTORS
On the Plaza
ASHLAND, OREGON
' "''