Jesus in Japanese Culture: From Tokugawa Catacombs to Endo Shusaku
Vedran Golijanin Golija nin
1
Abstract :
The process of the amalgamation of Christian and Japanese religious traditions,
which started in the 16 th century, led to the formation of several distinctively Japanese images of Jesus Christ. Deprived of the European Christian missionaries due to the conservative politics of Touga Tougawa wa !aufu, Japanese Japanese hidden Christians " Kakure Kirishitan# identified Christ as one of the bosatsu "!odhisattva# of $ahayana %uddhism. The search for the true image of Christ continued after the $ei&i 'estoration of imperial rule "1(6(#, particularly in the )rotestant circles of *!apti+ed !ushido. This long process finally reached its conclusion in the literary wors of one of the greatest Japanese Christian writers, Endo -husau, who found the true image of Christ in the sufferings of the aure irishitan. /ollowing historical line, the author presents the development of a!ovementioned images and shows how the Japanese themselves understood the 0ospel and the )ersona of Christ. !"#$%&#: 2345 78988 ;2<=>8?@5 < 9878?@5 A952@5 B28<4<95 @39< 95 7353 16.
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-husau, /rancis [avier, fumie, Japanese Christianity, Jesus
Christ, aure irishitan, a+o itamori, )ure \and %uddhism, shin!utsu shugo, -hinto, Theology of the )ain of 0od
]
)ntroduction
Jesus Christ is one of rare historical persons who can find the way to popularity and worship in all cultures. This is due to the fact of allQencompassing character of ^is message, and its a!ility to adapt to cultural environment of almost every nation. The message of Jesus can !e e_pressed in all inds of terminologies, !ut its core remains firm and sta!ile, sowing the seed of love in human hearts, and !ringing them into unity with the Divine. ^owever, these words are nothing new in Christian literature. `e usually tend to enclose ourselves inside the !orders of European and -emite understanding of 0od and, in the worst case, we create thic walls around our own citadel of orthodo_y, ignoring not &ust other, heterodo_ !ranches of Christianity, !ut the entire world as well. n this ind of utopia, theologians feel no need for wider nowledgeb their interest is literally limited to the spirits of Zthens and Jerusalem, and even 'ome seems lie an e_oplanet when seen from inside these narrow !orders of our world. -uch theologian can !e compared to an astronomer whose scientific study does not go any further from Earths top layer of atmosphere, as if there are not any other planets that are illuminated !y the same -un as our own planet. Zs long as the museum of the /athers of the Church is open, we can repeat the stories of their victories over heretics, present already solved pro!lems and draw conclusions that already e_ist in thousands of theological !oos. The point is not, however, in critici+ing the theologians who deal with the history of dogma, for it is uite important for a Christian to !e fully aware of the historical !acground of his faith. The pro!lem lies in the lac of theologians who loo beyond the !orders of JudeoQChristian estate. Christ is present in other cultural environments too, !ut these cultures seem so far and e_otic, so we lose interest in them. The truth is, however, that we rarely "or never# had any real interest in cultural, historical and theological circumstances of distant nations, e_cept when we unnecessarily attac and refute them in apologetics. t is sad to say, !ut we are somehow afraid to e_press the spirit of scientific adventure and to finally cross the oceans of ignorance in order to discover new worlds. Christ visited those lands long ago and we are still hesitating to go after ^im, for it is much more *fun to follow ^is steps on the road from Jerusalem to Zthens. ^e is now standing in ndia, China, $ongolia, orea, and Japan, fighting new !attles and adapting to new environments, calling us to meet new !rothers and see how they painted ^is picture with their own !rush and colors. The history of Jesus in Japan is particularly interesting. Jesuit missionaries arrived on the islands of Japan in 16 th century, initiating the process which resulted in great variety of
Christian religious traditions, and some of them even created uniue Japanese image of Christ which is uite different from its European counterparts. The appearance of Japanese Christ was affected not only !y %uddhist and -hinto traditions, !ut also !y Japanese secular mentality, politics, and !oth positive and negative historical circumstances. -ome may consider that this Japanese form of Christianity is heretical, !ut we must sustain from that ind of &udgment, !ecause Japanese Christians were deprived of missionaries only half of the century after its arrival in Japan, and that period of isolation lasted for a!out ] years. That was more than enough time for native Christians to dress Jesus in imono, deprive ^im of some original characteristics, and to ascri!e ^im some other characteristics that fitted very well with Japanese religious mentality in general. ^ostile Japanese environment turned !etter for Christians after the Tougawa !aufu was overthrown !y the new 0overnment and $ei&i Emperor in 1th century " Meiji Ishin, or $ei&i 'estoration of imperial rule, 1(6(#. That is when Japanese Christianity was *updated with new forms of )rotestantism and rthodo_y, !ut some Christian natives were not ready to a!andon the faith of their ancestors, and thus continued to practice Kakure Kirishitan "hidden Christians# religion. $odern Japanese images of Christ are not understanda!le if we ignore !oth religious and historical circumstances that shaped the destiny of Christianity in Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to e_pose aforementioned circumstances !efore we put Jesus among the multitude of the ami, %uddhas, and !odhisattvas in Japanese religious and artistic thought. This is especially important for rthodo_ Christians, !ecause we usually tend to present Japanese Christianity as a young chic that hatched from its egg &ust few minutes ago. The reality is, however, completely different. Christ came to Japan almost three centuries !efore -aint jiolai asatin, and this fact calls for a new academic approach to Japanese Christianity as a whole. n order to accomplish this tas, we must get out of usual frames and review the history of Japanese Jesus from the very !eginning, all across the tur!ulent period of persecution, and to the formation of distinctive image of Nihon no Iesu Kirisuto.
k
The En*ironment o+ Shinbutsu Shugo
nderstanding the way in which early Japanese image of Christ was formed reuires nowledge of Japanese religious mentality in general. There lies the reason for naming this section shinbutsu shugo " shin amib butsu !uddhasb shugo Q amalgamation#, which is a term that designates harmony !etween various schools of %uddhism and popular religious practices, commonly nown as -hinto. The harmony was !ased on %uddhist doctrine of honji suijaku
"original essence, descended manifestation#, applied to e_plain the relation of
%uddhas "original# to the ami "manifestations#. The first element of Japanese spirituality is, therefore, harmony !etween different religions, also called ta no wa "harmony in diversity#. This harmony can !e e_plained !y following image: *t is as though the Japanese waled silently up $t. /u&i from different directions and, when they reached the top, they remained silent and paid no attention to each other, looing out in different directions "$aseQ ^asegawa, ](: #. Znother important contri!utor to the formation of Japanese religious mentality is the geography of the Zrchipelago. npredicta!le ocean and volcanoes were tools in the hand of the ami, who often e_press their vengeful nature upon the innocent people. Therefore, the pacification of the ami !y sacrificial offerings was a daily o!ligation. The feeling of awe gradually developed into another prominent feature of Japanese mentality amae, which can !e translated as *dependence, and it is a core part of Japanese social life. 1 *This dependency is !ased on a feeling which is uniue and originally refers to an infants desire to !e passively sheltered in its mothers love "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: k1#. Zccordingly, every aspect of life in Japan was influenced !y amae, especially its native religiosity. jative religion of Japan is called Shinto or kami no michi, which means *the way of the gods or *the way of the ami. Kami is usually translated as !oth *god and *gods, !ut it
is not the only meaning that it has.
*The second usage allows -hinto to claim that others "Chinese, `esterners# have not understood -hinto at all. t refers to the ami nature within something else a tree, waterfall, etc. This usage turns ami into an ad&ective that modifies. -o ami means divine or sacred or holly.
t is the manifestation of the sacred that one e_periences "`illiams, ]: ]#. ne
1
Every student of Japanese language must learn the rules of amae in order to fully participate in comple_ social intercourse. The dependence upon other people is e_pressed in everyday conversation, especially when people meet for the first time. %oth sides will use e_pressions such as yoroshiku and onegaishimasu "please !e nice to me, do me a favor#, which present a person as completely dependent on the politeness of the partner in conversation. Even the dependence upon the nature is e_pressed !efore every meal !y utili+ing the word itadakimasu, signifying the gratitude to the plants and animals that died !ecause of human needs.
ind of ami holds special significance for our su!&ect, and that is marebito ,] a guest ami who !rings good harvest. et, there was another aspect of mare!ito: he !rings innovations and improvements, including those of religious nature. /or e_ample, *%uddha was depicted as mare!ito, a ami who visits a community at special times to confer !lessings, which strengthened the appeal of that type of religion ")icen, 1k: 1#. Therefore, -hinto did not immediately accept %uddhas as original forms of the native ami, !ut rather as foreign ami, marebito ,
those which !ring cultural and religious innovations to Japan. *Through this we
now that -hinto possesses a potentiality for development and reali+es its a!ility to preserve the ancient elements of Japan and at the same time !rea through it "-aurai, ]6: 1#. Jesus was understood as a mare!ito !y some Japanese, too. nfortunately, Christian missionaries were mostly occupied with %uddhism. n their eyes, -hinto was a mere polytheism, which is clearly emphasi+ed in Myotei Mondo, a wor !y native Japanese Jesuit /a!ian /uan. ^e considered oshida school of -hinto, a prominent religious movement during 16th and 1th centuries, as !ar!aric !elief system. Znother Christian missionary, /r. 0aspar ilela, had a different point of view. nder the influence of Chu ^si Confucianism, oshida -hinto transformed ami unitootachi into an omnipotent and eternal creator, similar to Christian 0od. ilela and oshida -higeata, a head of oshida clan, were thus a!le to discover common theological ground for a dialogue, and Jesuits !orrowed oshida term for 0od Tendo, a!andoning the use of such terms as Dainichi and Deusu. %y the end of Tougawa !aufu, Japanese nationalist -hinto movements arose all across the country, the most famous !eing kokugaku "national learning#. ^irata Ztsutane "16Q1(k# and uni Taamasa "1]Q1(1#, !oth ougau scholars, were o!viously fascinated !y Christianity, !ut also had their own visions of how to incorporate the teachings of Jesus into modern Japanese society. Taamasa even *came to !elieve that Christianity was a good religion whose arrival in Japan was preQordained !y the -un 0oddess and which might, given certain conditions, namely the erection of -hinto structures, !e accommodated in the new Japan "%reen, ]: ]#. %uddhism was much closer to Christians. n the !eginning, two esoteric schools were dominant in Japan: -aichos Tendai and uais -hingon. *t was esoteric %uddhism, promulgated a!ove all !y Tendai and -hingon, with its offerings of a wide range of !enefits through a range of specific rituals that !est responded to the social, political, and religious ]
Zccording to Japanese scholar $atsumae Taeshi "1: 1#, villagers performed yearly rites to welcome the guest ami from Tokoyo no Kuni, the utopian land of fertility across the sea, and mare!ito would give them rich harvest as a sign of gratitude. This initial understanding of mare!ito as a !enevolent foreigner was later transferred to the field of philosophy and religion and applied to %uddhism, Taoism, and other schools of thought.
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needs of the capital elites. ". . .# n short, with the advent of esoteric rites, %uddhism !ecame useful for the individual in his lifetime in addition to !eing used to sacrali+e the imperial state "Zdolphson, ]: ]1k#. Esoteric rites were meant to strengthen the rule of the Emperor, !ut powerful daimyos "feudal lords# forced the royal house to create the institution of shogun a military commander of the entire land, who ruled instead of Emperor. Japan entered the era of constant civil wars, and the common people suffered the most. )opular %uddhist movements spread all across Japan, mostly preaching the doctrine of individual salvation. */urthermore, a %uddhist doctrine of time and history gained wide acceptance around the eleventh century. ". . .# Time was conceived of as an ine_ora!le process leading to the final conflagration of all worlds, an event whose date was proposed in several scriptural sourcesb the final period of history " mappo# leading to the ultimate conflagration was !elieved in Japan to !egin in the year 1] "0rapard, 1: ]#. Zccording to historical %uddha, the goal of life is to attain nirvana, a selfless state when all !ounding armas and illusion of e_istence are gone. This doctrine was not so interesting to Japanese %uddhists, so they turned to the Pure and %uddhism a school with almost Christian soteriology and eschatology. )ure \and %uddhism is part of $ahayana tradition, particularly popular in East Zsia and partially in Ti!etan a&rayana %uddhism. This school is primarily directed to %uddha Zmita!ha "Japanese, !midab Chinese, "mitu #o# and his realm Sukhavati, nown as the )ure \and in China " jingtub Japanese, jodo#. -uhavati was understood as a reward for !odhisattva way of life. *n the other hand, the )ure \and as a place of refuge and li!eration was a creation of Zmita!has !eneficent vows to save all sentient !eings and as such !ecame a goal for those seeing li!eration not through their own effort !ut through faith in Zmita!has salvific power "0et+, ]k: 6(#. The )ure \and, or &odo, is literally a paradise where all !eings can meditate in peace and finally attain spiritual li!eration "nirvana#. *)eople in the )ure \and never e_perience pain, desire, or human suffering. Zmidas ingdom has a lotus pond, am!rosia groves, and trees of &ewels. %irds and !ells perch on the trees. %uddha and his angels circle in the sy, scattering petals "'o!erts, ]1: #. This picture of paradise was surely more attractive to the Japanese than formless nirvana, !ut this was also the first step of moving Japanese religion closer to Christianity. Zmida was -avior, &ust lie Jesus, and his
%uddhism is divided !etween three principal traditions: Theravada, $ahayana, and a&rayana. Theravada "Teaching of the Elders# is the oldest surviving school, mostly present in -outh and -outheast Zsia. -ome historians of religions, including $ilin, call this tradition *^inayana, which is actually a pe&orative used !y $ahayana followers "$ahayana 0reater ehicleb ^inayana \esser ehicle#. a&rayana "Diamond ehicle# is an esoteric form of %uddhism, practiced primarily in Ti!etb anyway, its sects can !e found all across China and Japan. The )ure \and %uddhism !elongs to $ahayana tradition, !ut it also shares some common elements with a&rayana. Japanese )ure \and sects, such as Jodoshu and Jodo -hinshu, differ from original Chinese schools, mostly !ecause of emphasi+ing the nem!utsu practice as superior to all other forms of contemplation.
)ure \and can !e compared to the ingdom of 0od. Znother following element of the !elief in Zmida was nembutsu, a prayer that corresponds to Jesus )rayer in mystical practice of hesychasm. t is a simple repetition of the name of Zmida, pronounced *jamo mitu /o in Chinese, and *jamu Zmida %utsu in Japanese. Zccording to )ure \and !eliefs, sole repetition of this holy name will transfer the !eliever to the &odo. n the end, Christianity and )ure \and %uddhism share the same idea that stands in the core of their teachings. %oth Dharma and 0ods \aw are eternal, !ut the new way to salvation appeared: one is Zmida, and the other is Jesus. f Christians !elieve that 0od was preparing the Jews for the coming of Christ through the \aw, and the 0rees through the philosophy, than it is not wrong to assume that other nations also have their own q which connect them to the ne . n the case of Japan, these q would !e aforementioned elements of -hinto and )ure \and %uddhism. t is historical fact that some Japanese scholars understood Christ as mare!ito, a guest ami who !rings improvements. Therefore, -hinto was open for the new religion, &ust lie it was open for %uddhism 1 years !efore the arrival of Christianity. n the other hand, )ure \and practices were almost Christian in nature. The people were already tired of elite esoteric %uddhism, so they turned to the religion that offered them consolation in this world and the hope for the afterlife in paradise. t was )ure \and %uddhism at first, !ut Christianity too its place in 16th century. First Japanese )mage o+ Christ: 'irisuto ,osatsu
Christianity came to Japan in 1k, when Jesuit missionary /rancis [avier landed on agoshima, yushu, with )ortuguese merchants and few more fellow Jesuits. nitial difficulties in preaching were caused primarily !y the lac of appropriate terms for the ne 0od, Jesus, -aints, ingdom of 0od, and other important elements of Christian faith. The pro!lem was similar to that in China, where names lie Jesus or Jehovah meant nothing to the Chinese without the right terms which can e_plain the nature of these )ersons. -earching for a solution, missionaries e_amined old Chinese te_ts and Confucian Classics, and finally came upon proper name. They used the term Shang Di "^igh \ord# to designate 0od, !ecause it was the name of the supreme deity of Chinese pantheon in -hang dynasty "16 %C
(
1kx1k6 %C#.k n the other hand, Japanese religion was una!le to offer Christians such deityb Zmaterasu and other ami were not even close to the concept of Christian 0od. Even the )ersonality of Jesus was !arely translata!le to Japanese. jo ami had ever died for the sins of manind, and the very concept of sin as we now it never e_isted in Japan. Therefore, Jesuits decided to preach only *one part of Jesus, the one that represents ^im as a powerful Divine Teacher and Judge. *The theology of the cross was not preached widely in Japan during the early Jesuit missionb rather an emphasis was placed upon the resurrection of Jesus and the powerful, almighty 0od "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: 1#. [avier supposed that developed Christology would !e incomprehensi!le to Japanese people, so he decided to tae Joao de %arros simple Catechism, which covered all ma&or events from the %i!le, and use it as the main missionary te_t. Zn&iro, Japanese merchant who converted to Christianity some time earlier, was [aviers chief assistant. t seems that he understood Christian teachings very well, *!ut it was unfortunate that Zn&iro was given the tas of translation. ^is nowledge of the Japanese language and religions was only average, and furthermore reading the si_teenthQ century Japanese religious te_ts reuired nowledge of Chinese, almost e_clusively the property of elite intellectuals. Zccordingly, !y telling Zn&iro to translate a catechism into Japanese, [avier was, consciously or not, e_pecting from Zn&iro the sills and nowledge of an intellectual cleric or scholar, a Japanese counterpart to himself "^igashi!a!a, ]1: (#. This was the first time that any te_t a!out Jesus Christ " Iesu Kirisuto# was translated to Japanese language. The first efforts of preaching Christianity in Japan proved to !e successful. t even seemed that Zn&iro found the right name for 0od Dainichi. n their fiery sermons Jesuits acnowledged to the Japanese that they have sinned against the almighty Dainichi !y worshiping wooden idols, and that they will end up in jigoku if they do not repent and follow the way of esu irisuto. [aviers suspicions grew after the confused people told him that they already worship Dainichi. n the end, it turned out that [avier unconsciously preached %uddhism for almost two years, or at least people understood his teachings as %uddhist. *Dainichi, the Japanese euivalent of $ahavairocana or airocana, is the %uddhist personification of purity and wisdom, the first or original %uddha "'o!erts, ]1: ](#. That is why [avier a!andoned the use of Dainichi and started to use \atin word for 0od, Deus. Zfter this incident, )adre %altha+ar 0ago "11Q1(# revised Zn&iros translation of the k
sing the name -hang Di for Christian 0od produced false conception of ancient Chinese monotheism, which was disproved !y the results of archeological findings at the sites of -hang culture. Chinese from the -hang dynasty worshiped do+ens of ancestors and nature spirits, while -hang Di was !ut a supreme deity who ruled the ^eavens. nfortunately, this false theory of Chinese monotheism still has its place in our official te_t!oo for ^istory of religions "see: $ilin, ]]: 1k(, 1k#.
Catechism in 1x6 and discovered over fifty pro!lematic terms. *The translation adopted many %uddhist terms to e_press Christian religious concepts. %uddhist terms Zn&iro used in his translation included Dainichi "$ahavairocana#, jodo ")ure \and#, jigoku "hell#, ten$nin "heavenly persons#, tamashii "souls#. ". . .# -tarting with 0agos revision of [aviers Japanese catechism in 16, only former Japanese %uddhist priests or mons translated Christian te_ts into Japanese. jeither the sender and the receiver of the Christian message could help using %uddhist terms as mediators "^igashi!a!a, ]1: #. n such conditions the )ersonality of Christ had to !e put aside in order to esta!lish the firm faith in Deusu among the Japanese. /igures similar to Jesus already e_isted in their religion, !ut 0od the Creator was a!sent. nfortunately, this strategy had serious conseuences affecting !oth )ersonality of Christ and ^is teachings in irishitan religion. /irst adaptation of Jesus to Japanese religious thought can !e found in the final version of Japanese catechism, called Dochiriina Kirishitan. n this te_t, the goal of Christian life is to !e saved in the a%terli%e. This is very interesting, especially !ecause such doctrine does not e_ist in the original )ortuguese catechism. The first hint is in the translation of a passage from $ar: The one who believes and is bapti&ed will be saved' but the one who does not believe will be condemned "$ar
16:16#. n Japanese version, the word *saved is translated as
*saved in the afterlife. `hy was this doctrine put in the mouth of Jesus Zccording to %uddhism, !efore one attains nirvana and !ecomes a %uddha, he enters the state of arhant or !odhisattva, which is similar to sainthood in Christianity. The saving grace of Zmida delivers people from this world and helps them to !e re!orn in )ure \and, where all of them are !odhisattvas. n other words, salvation is not possi!le in this life !ut in the afterlife, i.e. in the )ure \and. *`ith the idea of salvation in the afterlife deeply rooted in the Japanese religious sentiment, the irishitan teachings which emphasi+ed the afterlife as the place of human salvation were a!le to have a strong religious %lavor in Japan. (osho "the afterlife# was a religious idiom when the Jesuits came, and the idiom was, with respect to its origin, colored !y %uddhist soteriology, especially that of )ure \and teachings. `hen the phrase %or the sake o% salvation in the a%terli%e was
inserted here and there in irishitan te_ts it made those te_ts
similar to other religious teachings in Japan "^igashi!a!a, ]1: (1#. The )ersonality of Christ is rather o!scure in some of the most important catechisms of the irishitan, !ecause the emphasis was placed on Deusu and the salvation in the afterlife. Christ was, of course, depicted as the 'edeemer and 0od, !ut some of the most important details of ^is life were omitted, not to cause confusion among new followers of Christianity. Zpart from irishitan te_ts, the most detailed account of Jesus and ^is life is given in an antiQ 1
irishitan te_t !y zen mon Sesso Sosai "1(Q16k#. n his Taiji jashu ron "n uelling the pernicious faith#, the critiue is aimed at Jesus ^imself. Zccording to -esso, Jesus founded a sect of %uddhism after learning a!out the teachings of -ayamuni: *-i_ thousand years after Deus created heaven and Earth, Jesus Christ was !orn. ^e said: I am the incarnation o% Deus) the lord o% Paraiso) the divine without beginning or end) who created heaven and earth and gave li%e to everything* I have provisionally descended to the world to save sentient beings in their a%terli%e* Those who %ollow my teachings and rely on Tenshu +the lord o% heaven, will have their sins and evils eliminated) however serious they may be) and the Tenshu will give them happiness o% heaven .
". . .# Christ said: I will be hung on the cross with satis%action to
save sentient beings in their a%terli%e) to su%%er in place o% them) and to compensate %or their sins*
^e revived after seven days to wor various miracles, which resulted in peoples great
reverence to him. \ater, he ascended to heaven, saying: There is no other path o% human salvation than this law* This li%e is in a dream' -uickly have %aith in the teaching o% this sect
"-esso, 1: k6(, k, uoted from: ^igashi!a!a, ]1: (6#. -adly, this image of Jesus is somewhat more faithful to the 0ospels than that of Christian missionaries. Even the theology of cross can !e seen in -essos wor, while Jesuits presented it as something too difficult to comprehend and forced it out of their preaching. n the other hand, -esso presents Jesus as a Christian version of Zmida who saves people in the afterlife, mi_ed with Confucian doctrine of \ord of ^eaven " Tenshu#. /urther development of the image of Christ in Japan was completely influenced !y this initial omission of ^is )ersonality in early catechisms. t almost seems as if missionaries purposely allowed the doctrine of *salvation in the afterlife and other %uddhist elements to intertwine with Jesus original teachings. This assumption, supported !y historical evidences of Jesuits preference for large num!er of adherents !efore the actual indoctrination, leads to the conclusion that the whole image of Christ was scheduled for later clarification. [avier, alignano, and other Christian missionaries in Japan pro!a!ly never imagined that the persecution of the irishitan will tae place in near future. /ounder of the Tougawa !aufu, Tougawa eyasu "1kQ1616#, allowed Jesuits, /ranciscans, Zugustinians, and Dominicans to enter Japan, !ut only !ecause he wanted to trade with )ortugal and -pain. nfortunately for them, the Dutch and the English traders came to Japan in 16 and 161 and offered to eyasu honest trade without evangelical motives. Therefore, eyasu changed his tolerant policy into open persecution of Christian missionaries and their followers. Endangered !y this new attitude of 0overnment towards them, Christians were forced to secretly practice their faith, and thus they !ecame Kakure Kirishitan "hidden Christians#. 11
eyasus successors sought to eradicate all irishitan. Their methods were torture, death penalties, %umie, and written statements of apostasy. $any Christians and missionaries who refused to leave Japan or to a!andon the faith were crucified or !eheaded. Those who a!andoned Christianity were forced to perform fumie once a year, and were constantly under 0overnment officials supervision. The ritual of fumie meant stepping on the crucifi_ion and image of Jesus or irgin $ary. */umie were not only done for the Japanese !ut also forced upon foreigners who were a!out to enter Japan. The record tells that Zmerican, %ritish, Chinese, and Danish stepped on fumie in the 1 th century "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: , footnote 1]#. Zpostates were usually pardoned for their former irishitan !eliefs, !ut their *!ad image was the reason why their families were considered suspicious for generations. n order to prevent more Japanese from converting to Christianity, Tougawa !aufu pu!lished several literary wors in which the *evil religion is refuted. Kirishitan Monogatari, 1th century antiQirishitan wor, presents irishitan as *a ra!!le of idiots and weirdoes who are social outcasts. *This image of Christians as antiQsocial and dehumani+ed is central to the way Kirishitan Monogatari functions.
mages from the opening section of the te_t, where the
foreign Catholic priests are descri!ed as long.nosed ". . .# with long %ingernails and toenails) tall and dark.skinned with red noses and teeth longer than those o% horses ,
are e_tended to
also create a dehumani+ing image of Japanese Christians as beasts with no culture ")aramore, ]: 6#. Zs for irishitan literature, almost all copies of Myotei Mondo !y /a!ian /uan and Dochiriina Kirishitan were
destroyed. Christian teachings were transmitted orally, and the
result of isolation was syncretistic mi_ture of Christianity, %uddhism, and -hinto. ne of rare documents which demonstrate this syncretism is Tenchi /ajimari no Koto "%eginning of ^eaven and Earth#, written !y a irishitan in jagasai, pro!a!ly during 1( th century. *t uotes largely from the ld and jew Testaments, !ut it includes %uddhist concepts and local legends and dialects as wellb for instance, heaven is associated with the twelve heavenly !eings of %uddhism, 0od is called /otoke or %uddha, and Christ is once called "sho or %uddhist priest "jo+omu, ](: 11, 11k#. ^aving no contact with fellow Christians outside Japan, irishitan leaders developed uniue tradition which e_cluded %aptism, monotheism, and some other original Christian teachings. *Deprived of missionaries, these communities preserved their faith !y secretly transmitting their tradition of prayers and rituals. They also concealed or disguised religious o!&ects. %oth Christian and -hintox%uddhist images were ept together "or sometimes com!ined# and offered on the %uddhist altar. They created an indigenous Christian fol art in which -hintox%uddhist images were adapted to represent 1]
Christian figures or sym!ols, such as tiny crucifi_es, statues of the Christian 0od under the guise of -hinto deities, and %uddhist statues lie Maria Kannon "$aseQ^asegawa: ](: 1#. 0oddess annon was originally !odhisattva Zvaloitesvara, nown as 0uanyin in China. -he has thirty three different forms, the most popular !eing annon holding a child in her arms " Koyasu Kannon # and annon the $erciful $other " 0ibo Kannon #. %oth of these forms were used !y aure irishitan to represent irgin $ary, now nown as Maria Kannon. *They also often used a figure of a %osatsu in place of one of Jesus. Zccording to interrogations of raami faithful recorded at the end of the !aufu regime some professed to consider the image of $aria annon to !e the hon&on "the principal image# and that of Jesus to !e a wakibutsu "a companion %uddhist figure on the side# "$iya+ai, ]: ]1, ]]#. ^aving initial missionaries mistae in mind, it is not so surprising that aure irishitan worshiped irisuto as secondary deity. f the theology of cross was preached in the !eginning, Japanese would pro!a!ly see Christ as a compassionate 0od and worship ^im accordingly, !ut this was not the case. Christ was preached only as eual to Deusu, and Deusu condemns people to hell if they do not !elieve in ^im. Therefore, Jesus was understood !y the irishitan as a Judge, the !odily manifestation of strict and almost merciless Deusu. /acing torture and painful death in the land of Tougawa, the irishitan had to renounce Deusu and worship %uddhas and the ami, while still secretly practicing Christianity. They new that apostasy was a grave sin, !ut they did not now whether Deusu will forgive them or not. *0radually the faith of the underground irishitan tended to move away from a 0od who was a strict father and &udge and focus on a forgiving motherly 0od of infinite tenderness, $ary "$iya+ai, ]: ]1#. Christ ept the status of irishitan deity, !ut received less worship than ^is $other. )ersecutions lasted for more than two centuries, !ut Japan finally opened itself to `esterners in 1(. jew missionaries arrived in Japan, wondering if the sheep of their former floc were still alive. t turned out that many aure irishitan were still practicing Christianity, and the first thing they ased from missionaries was to see the image of $aria annon. $issionaries were struc !y the *heretical teachings of the irishitan, so they had to convert them again. -ome Japanese Christians refused to *return to Catholicism and remained faithful to their old ways. They were pro!a!ly confused !y the multitude of new forms of Christianity which came to Japan !y the end of Tougawa regime: Catholicism, rthodo_y, many )rotestant sects, etc. Therefore, the year 1( mars the !eginning of new era of Christianity in Japan and the rise of new images of Christ.
1
Christ in -odern Japanese Theolog(
Zfter $ei&i 'estoration in 1(6(, Japanese image of Christ was developed mostly in )rotestant circles. jew 0overnment wanted to create modern Japan, which meant that old Tougawa system must !e destroyed. Zpart from the shogun, the samurai and local lords were the greatest o!stacle in process of moderni+ing, so their properties were confiscated and former warrior class was reduced to a level of common citi+ens. n such conditions, the bushido
ethic lost the !asis which it had in Tougawas military regime, !ut the !ushido
consciousness continued to live in the minds of the samurai. )rotestant missionaries introduced them to a new \ord they can serve Jesus Christ. $any samurai thus converted to Christianity and redefined !ushido as service to Christian 0od, simultaneously trying to harmoni+e the feelings of Japanese nationalism and Christian universality. Therefore, Japanese theology !ecame *!apti+ed !ushido. This new intellectual spirit among the former samurai produced great theological wors, in which the image of Christ was reintroduced to Japan, this time clearer than three centuries ago. Japanese theology has several streams, and each stream has several important representatives. -ome of them produced uniue image of Christ in accordance to nationalist feelings, such as an+o chimura "1(61Q1#. chimuras Christology is not as developed as his ecclesiology, !ut the image of Christ that he had in mind is surely a core of his ideal Christian community. chimura is nown for his nonQchurch movement, !ased on free interpretation of the message of Jesus. Zware of certain contradictions in )rotestant theology, as well as difficulties in applying such theology to contemporary Japanese political situation, chimura argued that Christ wanted to esta!lish a Church as spiritual assem!ly !ased on faith in ^im, rather than an institutional Church with rules !y regulations. Therefore, *his theology is evangelical in his attempt to construct it on the !asis of his !i!lical study, and also indigenous in his attempt to mediate Japan and Christianity " jo+omu, ](: 1]#. Due to his nationalist feelings, chimura wanted to esta!lish a uniue form of Christianity which would correspond to general Japanese religiosity. ^is Jesus was a mediator !etween 0od and humans, and the ingdom of 0od can !e reali+ed in this world. 'eal Christiani+ation of Japan is, according to chimura, possi!le only through a nonQchurch community, !ecause the ingdom of 0od is not contained in hierarchical Church, !ut rather in pure faith in Jesus. This nationalist theology was predominant in Japan until defeat in `orld `ar , and it lies !ehind all attempts to adapt Jesus to new political and social circumstances. ^owever, some theologians did not support chimuras e_treme nonQchurch solution. Zs the matter of 1k
fact, the *father of Japanese )rotestantism, $asahisa emura "1((Q1]#, fought for traditional Christianity in order to adapt Japan to Jesus, and not vice versa. *^is theology was !ased on an evangelical faith in the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the -on of 0od and in the redemption of human sins !y the death and resurrection of Christ on the crossb in addition, he thought that Christianity could purify Japanese social &ustice as found in samurai ethics "jo+omu, ](: 11#. $ay!e emuras traditional Christology would not attract that much of the attention if it was not e_pressed in the de!ate with another Japanese )rotestant, Dan&o E!ina6 "1(6Q1#. E!ina understood relationship !etween 0od and Christ in accordance to Confucian ethics and its principle of %ilial piety . /or E!ina, Jesus was the ultimate reali+ation of this Confucian principle, and only through filial piety did ^e !ecome a 0od. Jesus could reali+e this !ecause all humans have the divine principle in their !eings. n other words, Christianity as religion is not e_clusive, !ecause every single human !eing, no matter to which religion he or she !elongs, has the same particle of divinity lie Jesus had. This teaching was e_posed in E!inas wor *The Doctrine of the Trinity and $y 'eligious Consciousness, where the concept of Divine Jesus was e_plained !y the notion of logos. *Zccording to E!inas analysis, the logos concept arose out of the interaction !etween Judaism and 0ree philosophy. Christians then identified Jesus of ja+areth with this logos as the mediator !etween 0od and man. The accompanying doctrines of the ^oly -pirit, and then the trinity, su!seuently came to !e formulated. Christians, however, are to practice the religion o% Jesus, not the religion about Jesus. ". . .# Zs other Christian thiners did, we too, !oth as followers possessing Christs spirit and ^is own religious consciousness, and as people of our own day, must use contemporary thought in articulating our own religious awareness "Jennings, ]: 1(#. E!ina was actually a representative of -hin -hingau, or the jew Theology, which denied some of the most important Christian doctrines in order to recreate Christianity as open and syncretistic religion. This form of Christianity would fit uite well in Japanese nationalist frame, !ut the )ersonality of Jesus stood against this inclusiveness. Z serious theological controversy ensued !etween E!ina and emura from 11 to 1], and E!inas opinion was supported !y $ichitomo anamori "1(Q1k#. *anamori relativi+ed and
emura was !apti+ed !y James ^amilton %allagh, a missionary of the 'eformed Church of Zmerica. ^e was ordained !y the jihon irisuto cchi yoai "the nion Church of Christ in Japan, later Church of Christ in Japan#. emura engaged in Evangelism as a pastor and wrote Sinri Ippan "Z iew of the Truth# in 1((k, which was a first theological !oo of a Japanese )rotestant. 6 E!ina !egan pu!lishing his &ournal Shinjin "jew $an# in 11, and in it he propagated Shin Shingaku "jew Theology#, which was li!eral in nature and denied some traditional Christian doctrines. -ome of his followers later engaged in constructing of soQcalled *-ocial Christianity.
1
reduced Christianity to an open religion !y denying the infalli!le and uniue revelation of 0od in the %i!le and the traditional views on the divinity and redemption of Christ. ver against the jew Theology as found in anamori, emura maintained in 1(1 in his 0apan 1eview that
Christianity was the a!solute religion !ased on the historicity of Jesus Christ as
descri!ed in the %i!le and that Christianity without miracles, including the resurrection, did not deserve its nameb although he accepted some of the fruits of !i!lical criticism "jo+omu, ](: 11#. E!ina, on the other hand, claimed that Christians should free themselves from unnecessary doctrines, such as !elief that Jesus of ja+areth was 0od, to which emura responded with lengthy e_position entitled *Christ and ^is `or. n this te_t the emphasis is put upon the )ersonality of Christ, who was presented according to traditional doctrine of ^is Divinity. )auls Epistles and Johns 0ospel served him as main proofs of early Christians !elief in Jesus as the -on of 0od. *n order to counter E!inas argument, emura pointed out that the Christian doctrines originated from the faith of the original Christians, and he argued that Christ could not redeem sinners if the divinity of Christ and the divinity of humans were relatively continuous with each other. %y referring to the jew Testament, emura attempted to demonstrate that the divinity and the incarnation of Christ vouchsafed his saving power for sinners in this world, although emura depended on the term subordination for e_pressing the -ons relation to the /ather in this inchoate period of theological history in Japan "jo+omu, ](: 11#. Zfter the E!ina and emura controversy "11Q]#, Evangelical Zlliance in Japan " #ukuin Domeikai# held the conference in 1] and confirmed the faith in Jesus as the incarnate 0od of human salvation. ^owever, li!eral Christianity that E!ina preached partially caused the rising of social Christian movements in Japan. These movements were similar to chimuras nonQchurch society for reali+ing ingdom of 0od on Earth, i.e. in Japan. -au+o oshino "1((Q1#, -higeru jaa&ima "1(((Q1k6#, and Toyohio agawa "1(((Q16# were main e_positors of this idea, mi_ed with philosophy of arl $ar_, while some emuras students, such as Toutaro Taaura "1((Q1k# and -eiichi ^atano "1(Q1# stood against -ocial Christianity. The ongoing fight !etween E!inas and emuras followers, although moved from the )ersonality of Christ, was actually a clash of inclusive and e_clusive versions of Christianity. *n the one hand, E!ina !oth re&ected tradition and opted for theological pluralism. emura, on the contrary, seemed not only to em!race a particular theological tradition, !ut to argue as well for e_clusivity. -een in this way, the de!ate !etween E!ina and emura hinged not so much on content as on the nature of the commitment to
16
particular historical understandings of the Church. Thus the nature of Christian thining !ecomes the primary uestion "Jennings, ]: 1#. Japanese syncretistic religious thought is fully e_pressed !y atsumi Tai+awa "1Q 1(k# and his theology of mmanuel. ^e was a follower of famous Japanese philosopher itaro jishida "1(Q1k#, through whose recommendation Tai+awa !ecame the first Japanese student of arl %arth in 1k at %onn niversity. \ater, Tai+awa was a professor of philosophical theology at yushu niversity. *Zccording to Tai+awas theology of mmanuel, the first contact of 0od and humans is e_pressed as 0od !eing with us through Christb a point stressed !y %arth and also an e_ample of the selfQidentity of the transcendent 0od and immanent humans. The second contact is reali+ed when humans !ecome enlightened as to the first contact, whether they are Christian or %uddhist " jo+omu, ](: 1]k#. The first contact is, therefore, e_pressed through Christ, !ut ^e is also the !est e_ample of secondary contact. That is why Tai+awa calls this theology *mmanuel "0od is with us#. Znyway, Tai+awas syncretistic thought and sympathies toward zen %uddhism were the reasons why he couldnt accept Jesus as 0od. *Zccording to Tai+awa, there is no difference in uality !etween Jesus Christ and any one of us we all are children of 0od. ". . .# Therefore, Jesus Christ should !e regarded as a Kien meaning literally chance and relation or mediator for our relationship to 0od. Through Jesus each of us can reali+e the secondary contact and !e awaened "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: (#. n this sense, Jesus is not so different from %uddha, who also preached enlightenment and helped people to attain it. Japanese theology changes its direction after the `orld `ar . jationalism was destroyed !y the Zmerican occupation and enforced *Declaration of ^umanity which Emperor -howa "^irohito# had to proclaim. Therefore, Japanese Emperor was not a descendent of the -un 0oddess Zmaterasu any more, and the Japanese lost their role as *chosen people with godlie attri!utes. Even though this course of events had catastrophic conseuences for -tate -hinto, its effects were visi!le in Christian theology, too. This *third rise of Japanese theology emerged from the painful feeling of defeat. The most prominent wor from this period is *Theology of the )ain of 0od "1k6# !y a+o itamori "116Q 1(#, a professor of -ystematic Theology at Toyo nion Theological -eminary. itamori argues that /ather e_perienced pain !ecause of the death of ^is -on, Jesus, and this pain is essential part of 0ods love for all !eings. *The pain of 0od consists essentially in the /ather !egetting the -on and then leading him to suffer and die on the cross, and in 0od forgiving unforgiva!le sinners, !ased on events on the cross "jo+omu, ](: 1]k#. itamori draws inspiration from traditional Japanese literature and drama. There he found the concept of 1
tsurasa, which can !e translated as *tragedy or *agony, present in theatres such as Noh. n
the other hand, he !ased this doctrine on certain passages from the %i!le. *-pecifically, through Jeremiahs mention of 0ods troubled heart "Jeremiah 1:]# and saiahs description of 0ods yearning heart or compassionate heart , itamori was struc !y what he was conceived was the a!solute truth of 0ods loving heart. -upremely in Christ, that love in pain was demonstrated in 0ods infliction of pain on himself, on his own -on, in order to save those whom he loves "Jennings, ]: 16#. itamoris *Theology of the )ain of 0od was translated in many languages, and it is the first !oo of a Japanese theologian to attract the worldQwide attention. -ome were fascinated, !ut the others saw in this wor controversial teaching of the suffering of the /ather. *Despite his persistent denials, itamoris theology of the pain of 0od has always !een accused of patripassianism. The ina!ility to mae distinctions !etween the concept o% substance and the concept o% relation accounts for the critics tendency to confuse itamoris the pain o% (od and patripassianism. The theology of the pain of 0od, according to him, does
not regard that pain as e_isting in 0od as substance, !ut it underlines the mediatory and intercessory love o% (od in relating to humanity "Chi Chung \ee, ]: ]]#. /or itamori,
0od that does not suffer the pain of love towards sinful humanity is not a 0od. The image of compassionate Jesus who reveals /athers love to this world stands !ehind his theology, and the pain that ^e suffered was also e_perienced !y /ather. This is not, however, !ecause /ather died on the cross with Jesus, !ut !ecause of /athers relation to the world in which love is accompanied !y the pain of distur!ed communication. *itamori re&ects the ontological divine !eing that does not suffer pain, and he critici+es the 0od of li!eral theology, whose love is immediacy without pain. ^uman pain and divine pain are analogically understood, as they share something in common and in pain there is a mystic unity of the divine and the human "Chi Chung \ee, ]: ]]#. Japanese )rotestantism gave many theologians who recreated the image of Christ after its decline during aure irishitan period. Catholic and rthodo_ scholars also contri!uted to the development of Japanese theology, !ut they were mostly occupied with the history of Christianity and de!ate with %uddhism. $eanwhile, )rotestants fought with their %uddhist and Confucian heritage, trying to e_plain the mystery of Christ in language that is understanda!le to the Japanese. n short, they were still una!le to get out of shin!utsu shugo, !ut no one can !lame them for that. -ome elements of traditional Japanese religiosity were appropriate for e_pressing certain )rotestant doctrines, such as saving grace of Zmida for sola gratia and sufficiency of ones faith in Zmida for sola %ide . Japanese theology, once again left
1(
alone and deprived of the tutorship of the missionaries, used native terminology in the e_planation of Christ and ^is )ersonality and gave fascinating results, !ut the theologians were not the only contri!utors in this process. There is also one artistic image of Christ which deserves special attention. .ne /iterar( )mage: Endo Shusaku0s Eternal Companion
The entire pro!lem of the relation !etween Japan and Christianity is summari+ed in the wors of one Japanese Christian novelist Endo -husau. Zs !oth Japanese and Catholic, Endo offers us a vivid picture of an inner struggle that every Christian in Japan has to suffer, more faithful than any nonQJapanese Christian could ever do. ^is Jesus is truly universal, !ut not in sense that ^e !elongs only to every nationb Endos Jesus is with every human !eing who suffers the same torment as Jesus suffered. Jesus is not changing in order to *tric one nation to !elieve in ^im, !ut rather comes to each individual and follows him through his entire life. Therefore, Endo did not paint his image of Jesus in accordance to theological literature or Churchs preaching. ^is image of Jesus is a result of personal e_perience and personal understanding of the 0ospels, and in the same time it is so glo!al that no!ody can tell it is heretical or wrong. This particular image of Christ presents reconciliation of Japan and Christianity, uite different than one might e_pect. Endo was !orn in 1] in Toyo, and at the age of 1 he was !apti+ed in Catholic Church !y the name )aul. Zt the niversity of eio he ma&ored in /rench literature. /rom 1 to 1 Endo studied in \yon, /rance. Even though he suffered racial discrimination there, years spent in \yon had a great influence on Endos thought. %oth stranger in his country for !eing Christian and stranger in Christian country for !eing Japanese, Endo understood that the image of Jesus preached !y missionaries in Japan was not complete. Cultural differences were vast, and this fact colored his early wors in which he searches for the !est way to harmoni+e Christianity with Japanese mentality. Zfter spending some time in hospital, Endo returns to Japan. arious illnesses did not stop him to produce many great novels. n 1 Endo was hospitali+ed and reuired dialysis treatment for three and a half years. During this time, he finished his last novel, Deep 1iver . ^e died in 16. Endos image of Christ has its roots in his personal confusion regarding relation !etween Christianity and Japan. ^e new that the Japanese cannot understand the concept of transcendent 0od, !ecause their gods are !eautiful humanQlie !eings, different from ordinary people only due to their great powers. The image of such gods can hardly !e replaced !y an 1
image of Christian 0od, essentially different from this world and human !eings. f one does not accept the idea of transcendent 0od, he will not !e a!le to accept other elements which mae him truly Christian. %y comparing Japanese mentality with `estern Christianity, Endo points out that the main cause for Japanese nonQacceptance of Christ is their lac of feeling of guilt. n other words, Japanese understand sin as violating the state law, and not as violating 0ods law. Endo deals with this issue in his wors 2hite Man "1#, 3ellow Man "1# and Sea and Poison "1(#.
*The Japanese lac the concept of a transcendent 0od who saves.
Therefore, sin needs to transcend legalistic offences in a different conte_t, !ecause the Japanese appreciate aesthetics more than ethics and the consciousness of sin and evil is not easily comprehended within this reality "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: 6(#. $oreover, the 4hristian concept of sin is not understanda!le to the Japanese at all. There was only one way to e_plain it, and Endo identified sin with evil that lurs inside every human !eing. %ut this wasnt the only difficulty which he faced. `estern mentality simply couldnt fit in the frame of Japanese culture, which is the opinion that Endo e_pressed in To !den
"1k#, shortly after he returned to Japan from /rance. 'acial discrimination which he
suffered made him feel a!andoned !y !oth Japanese and European cultures. The protagonist of this novel is floating !etween Europe and Zsia, una!le to decide !etween two different cultures and religions. Conflict in Endos mind ended in reconciliation !etween Catholicism and Japanese mentality, e_pressed in his 166 novel, Silence. This reconciliation Endo e_plains in an interview: *%ut after all it seems to me that Catholicism is not a solo, !ut a symphony. t fits, of course, mans sinless side, !ut unless a religion can find a place for mans sinful side in the ensem!le, it is a false religion. f have trust in Catholicism, it is !ecause find in it much more possi!ility than in any other religion for presenting the full symphony of humanity. The other religions have almost no fullnessb they have !ut solo parts. nly Catholicism can present the full symphony. Znd unless there is in that symphony a part that corresponds to Japans mud swamp, it cannot !e a true religion. `hat e_actly this part is that is what want to find out "uoted from: $aseQ^asegawa, ](: ]#. -tarting from Silence,
Endo searches for the mysterious element of Christianity that helps it to adopt to
every cultural environment. n other words, it is not Japan that must adapt itself to Christianity, !ut rather Christianity must adopt itself to the *mudQswamp of Japan. The Silence
mared the !eginning of his struggle to inculturate Christianity and to mae it truly
glo!al religion. Endos search ended when he found a true image of Christ. The uestion was not the glo!al religion any more, !ut the glo!al Christ who is as same in Europe as in Japan. ^e ]
turned to aure irishitan and saw in their sufferings a real Christ, while the Christ whom missionaries preached was not real. Jesus of the Jesuits was a 0reat ing, !ut for the irishitan ^e was a suffering figure lie them. -omehow it seemed that Christ can !e incorporated in Japanese mentality only in this form of tortured and poor man, and that is why Endo !ased his image of Jesus on the e_perience of the irishitan. *^e wrote literature and created images of Jesus Christ to satisfy himself and the Japanese. ^e was strongly convinced that the essence of the Christian faith is to !elieve in Christ, not the Christ who lived two thousand years ago, !ut in the risen Christ. ". . .# Jesus is the revelation of 0od as Christ in the depth of human life. /or Endo himself, it was not 0od in heaven a!ove, !ut Jesus who showed us the way to live "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: #. Endo wanted to communicate with nonQChristians !y using Christian sym!olic. mages of Jesus can !e seen everywhere in his novels, !ut he did not present ^im in accordance to the 0ospel history. 'ather, his image of Christ was !ased on his own investigation of jew Testament narratives, conducted in search of spiritual truth !ehind them. n his i%e o% 0esus "1#, Endo states: * myself lie to draw a clear distinction in meaning !etween %acts and truths in the 0ospel. am ready to admit that the many scenes woven into the jew Testament te_t do not necessarily represent the hard facts which they profess to depict in the passion narrative. et even nonQfactual scenes can still present truth, !ecause they derive from the faith of people who !elieved in Jesus. /aith far and away transcends the trivialities of nonQessential fact, and !ecause in the depth of their hearts the !elievers of the generation wished them so, the scenes are therefore true "Endo, 1: 1, uoted from: $aseQ^asegawa, ](: (6#. Endos images of Christ are present in all his novels, !ut the two hold special significance: Silence "166# and The Samurai "1(#. Silence is !ased on history of persecution of Christians from 161k to 16k in Japan. Jesuit missionary 'odrigue+ secretly comes to Japan !y the help of ichi&iro, who later !etrays him. 'odrigue+ was captured, tortured and forced to a!andon the faith, mostly due to the pressure of another former missionary, Christovao /erreira, who helped the authorities in persecution of Christians. `hile in custody, 'odrigue+ had conversation with noue, lord of Chiugo. This noue convinces 'odrigue+ that for Japan Christianity is lie an ugly woman, !ut also a foreign woman with whom the true Japanese should never marry. n conclusion, Japan is a swamp in which Christianity loses its original shape and !ecomes something else. Therefore, early Jesuit mission !ore no real fruit. The picture of Jesus which 'odrigue+ had !efore he came to Japan helped him to endure one part of the torture, !ut he later steps on fumie. This moment of apostasy presents the culmination of his faith. ^e is afraid of 0ods punishment, !ut the ]1
voice comes out of fumie: 3ou should trample { 3ou should trample { *Zs the protagonists physical circumstances deteriorate, so he comes to imagine less a figure of powerful authority, rather a !eing whose clear blue eyes were gentle with compassion, with tran-uil features and a %ace %illed with trust "`illiams, $., 1: 1]#. -uddenly, this humiliating image of Christ on the fumie seems to 'odrigue+ lie a true face of the -avior. ^e actually came to this world to !e despised and trampled on, !ut the fact of humiliating ^im does not change ^is endless love. Thats why Jesus says to 'odrigue+ from the fumie: 3ou should trample { Christ forgives 'odrigue+ for stepping on ^is image, and this particular scene shows how Endo understood the faith of the irishitan. They were forced to offend Jesus, !ut only through this did Jesus revealed ^imself to Japanese Christians as a loving figure, forgiving all evil and identifying ^imself with the wea ones. The image of compassionate and suffering Christ is even more developed in The Samurai.
The novel is !ased on actual historical events, of a &ourney made !y a Japanese
group to the `est. The main character, ^aseura Tsunenaga, was a lowQraning samurai who &ourneys to $e_ico, -pain, and atican. ^e meets various images of Christ on his voyage. ^is companions are a -panish missionary elasco, an opposite image to the Japanese ^aseura, and lord Tanaa. %oth ^aseura and Tanaa are unwillingly converted to Christianity in order to meet the )ope, thus sacrificing their honor for the !enefit of Japan, !ut the shogun later changes his mind and refuses to trade with the `est. Tanaa commits seppuku "ritual suicide, haraQiri#, and ^aseura a!andons Christianity upon his return to Japan. Znyway, he lost his honor !y converting to enemies religion and the elders demanded that ^aseura commits seppuu. nce again, ^aseura sacrifices himself for the sae of his country. *%y a!andoning his faith in Christianity, ^aseura reali+ed the importance of his image of Christ. -ince he first saw the crucifi_, he could not forget Christ. n the suffering of the samurai, Jesus Christ suffered, and the suffering of Christ healed his pain. ^aseura saw Jesus Christ in his own Japanese %uddhist conte_t as an everQfaithful retainer, who accompanied him at any time, at any place, and even to his death. Zt last, the samurai understood Jesus Christ as a savior and the eternal companion of the despised, poor, neglected, and a!andoned "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: 16#. ^aseura understood that in human hearts there is a constant need for a partner in life, the one who will never !etray, a!andon, or harm, as one priest in Tecali told him. /inally, in the last moments of his life, ^aseura reali+es that this partner was always Jesus, and he sees the image of Jesus in his everQloyal retainer named o+o. *%y the corresponding narrative identification of o+o with the personal Christ, as e_tolled !y the renegade priest in Tecali, ]]
Endo finally and simply presented the image of Christ as an eternal companion a sympathetic and loyal partner, the figure of a man who is a!andoned, forgotten, despised, and discarded !y everyone lie a slain dog !ut who stays with each person in need and taes on the !urden of humanity "$aseQ^asegawa, ](: 1#. Contrary to the image of Jesus which Jesuits !rought with them to Japan, this Jesus in moments of apostasies or certain death seems more real. ^e is not an arrogant ing any more, !ut rather a poor and compassionate %eing, ready to participate in ones sufferings and to understand him completely. ^e is a Judge, !ut ^e also forgives, &ust !ecause he loves all humans. *The image is one to which Endo would freuently return. ^ere is Christ, the companion " dohansha# figure so prominent in the authors wor, a !eing who, resolved not to loo down in &udgment, chooses rather to share in the individuals pain and anguish as his companion "`illiams, $., 1: 1]]#. n Endo -husaus novels we can see the end of general Japanese search for an image of Christ who would !e in the same time old Jesus of the Tradition and new Jesus of Japanese culture. Endo returns to the very !eginning of Japanese Christianity, in the era of aure irishitan, and finds a true image of Christ there. This Jesus does not care if people understand ^im as a ing, Judge, or a mere man. Jesus of the aure irishitan is Jesus on the cross, suffering and dying for the sae of all manind, no matter if they are arrogant Europeans or arrogant Japanese. %y finding Jesus among *heretical aure irishitan, Endo shows how European Christianity forgot the most important aspect of Jesus )ersonality: ^is compassion for the poor and oppressed, !ecause Jesus was poor and oppressed ^imself. Therefore, Endos Jesus is more present in the humiliating fumie than in glorious cathedrals of Europe. `hile looing for Jesus in places and moments of early irishitan history, Endo finally found the way to transfer Christianity into the *mudQswamp of Japan, and thus answered the uestion which occupied many generations since 1k.
Conclusion
]
Three distinctive images of Christ developed inside the !orders of Japanese culture: Jesus the %odhisattva, Jesus of )rotestant theology, and Endo -husaus Jesus. Zt first, religious tradition of shin!utsu shugo influenced the image of Jesus among Japanese Christians more than Europeans might find accepta!le. The difference !etween ^im and Zmida was small in the eyes of the aure irishitan, !ut it was $aria annon who actually entered their hearts. Due to the o!scurity of Jesus )ersonality in early Japanese catechisms, it was easy for new converts to understand ^im in terms of an e_isting religious though. The same pro!lem is evident in writings of Japanese )rotestant theologians from $ei&i 'estoration to the end of `orld `ar . Japanese mentality is e_tremely syncretistic, so the pro!lem was not in accepting Christianity as a religion, !ut rather in accepting it as an e_clusive doctrine which denies their entire tradition. They were e_pected to use the language of European theology, as if their own philosophical schools were una!le to offer similar terminology. The main pro!lem, therefore, lies in `esterners refusal to accept Japanese religious though as eually valid and a!le to e_press Christianity, !ecause %uddhist, Confucian, and Taoist philosophies are *!ar!arian, *primitive, *pagan, *polytheistic, and *inferior to Christian thought in the `est. f we loo closer, only few Christian "especially rthodo_# theologians in the `est now a!out aforementioned religions more than what is written in te_t!oos of apologetics. Therefore, the pro!lem is not in the *inferiority of Zsian religious and philosophical thought, !ut in racial pre&udices which haunt our worldview. This hypocrisy of the `esterners has !adly in&ured Endo -husau. ^e understood that European Christianity cannot !e transferred to Japan, so he turned to Christ and found out that ^e was in his homeland since long ago. Endos Jesus is not an arrogant white man who came to the Japanese only to tell them that their religion and philosophy are inferior to European thought. This Jesus wears imono, dwells in the poor farmers houses, and participates in their sufferings. Those who preached ^is message fought against hon&i sui&au, inQang, ren and li of Confucius, and the multitude of the
ami, while Jesus ^imself was looing for a way to
Japanese heart. n the end, theologians failedb only pure faith remained, sowed in the *mudQ swamp of Japan. ut of this faith, the true image of Jesus was !orn, unchanged !ut new in the same time. Endos Jesus left all riches of Europe only to suffer once again among the aure irishitan. Therefore, the way to Japanese Christianity is not through theology, !ut rather through understanding, patience, and love for entire humanity. ^aving all these facts in mind, it would !e appropriate to recall the words of 'aimon )aniar: *Does one need to !e spiritually a -emite and intellectually a 0ree in order to !e Christian t goes without saying that put this uestion in full admiration for Z!rahamic ]k
spirituality and ^ellenic thining, further recogni+ing that these two notions are !road enough to cover a great variety of interpretations. %ut they do not e_haust the humanum , su!mit ")aniar, ]]#. f Christianity tends to !e a religion of the world, than it must have some part that everyone can agree with. f course, this part is )ersonality of Christ. The case of Japanese development of ^is image shows that even the most *alien cultures can agree with Jesus and ^is message, !ut the religious customs or the way in which people worship ^im is not a matter of dogma. t is a matter of each individual culture, including Japanese. /or us, the pro!lem of understanding Japanese culture still standsb no one can force such proud nation to thin in some other way, different from their old way of ta no wa . Therefore, in order to understand the Japanese and to present them Jesus without forcing them to change their entire culture, one must learn to love them and accept them as they are. n other words, we must follow the way of Jesus to Japanese heart, as descri!ed !y Endo -husau.
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