|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
.
|
|
|
|
|
About the Book
Japan closed its doors to foreigners for over two hundred years because of religious and political instability caused by Christianity. By 1859, foreign residents were once again living in treaty ports in Japan, but edicts banning Christianity remained enforced until 1873.
Ion investigates the impact of American Protestant missionaries and Christian laymen, or oyatoi, from their arrival in 1859 to 1873, when Christianity was propagated openly. Drawing on an impressive array of English and Japanese sources, he grounds the hopes and aspirations of these early missionaries -- along with their efforts in private, mission, and government schools -- in the realities of Japanese opposition to Christianity. The transmission of values and beliefs in this context was not a simple matter of acceptance or rejection: missionaries saw promise even in the face of open hostility. As informal agents of the United States and as integral members of the American community in Japan, they also served as important cultural mediators between the East and the West.
American Missionaries, Christian Oyatoi, and Japan, 1859-73 brings to light a crucial but neglected aspect of the Japanese-American relationship. It will appeal to students and scholars of modern Japan, international relations, and Christian missions.
About the Author(s)
Hamish Ion is a professor of history at the Royal Military College of Canada. He is also author of The Cross in the Dark Valley: The Canadian Protestant Missionary Movement in the Japanese Empire, 1931-1945; The Cross and the Rising Sun, Volume 2: The British Protestant Missionary Movement in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, 1865-1945; and The Cross and the Rising Sun, Volume 1: The Canadian Protestant Missionary Movement in The Japanese Empire, 1872-1931.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
1 Beginnings in Bakumatsu Japan
2 Hoping for Change
3 In the Midst of a Restoration
4 Persecution
5 Overseas Students
6 Teaching in the Provinces and in Tokyo
7 Reinforcements and New Beginnings
8 The Yokohama Band
Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix 1 List of missionary societies, 1859-73
Appendix 2 Early missionaries, Christian oyatoi, and the schools where they taught
Appendix 3 Educational background of early missionaries and Christian oyatoi
Appendix 4 Early Japanese converts
Appendix 5 Number of churches and Japanese Christians, 1859-89
Notes
Glossary of Japanese Names and Terms
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
This important work depicts in persuasive detail the lives of the first Protestant missionaries to Japan as they waited fourteen years in segregated settlements for government permission to extend their faith throughout the land. They acted, in Hamish Ion’s colourful phrase, as 'walking encyclopaedias' of Western life. Based on in-depth references to Japanese and Western sources, American Missionaries, Christian Oyatoi, and Japan, 1859-73 is highly recommended.
-- John F. Howes, author of Japan's Modern Prophet: Uchimura Kanzô, 1861-1930
Hamish Ion has availed himself of an impressive array of sources in this original and nuanced study of the interaction between American Protestants and their Japanese contacts. His depiction of the complexity of their engagement makes this book invaluable reading for scholars of foreign missions and international relations, while the light he sheds on the impact of foreigners and Western ideas during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods contributes significantly to understanding of Japan at one of its most formative stages.
-- Elizabeth Dorn Lublin, History Department, Wayne State University
Hamish Ion may well be the greatest living authority on the history of Protestant missions to Japan.
-- Clifford Putney, History Department, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 34, No 2, April 2010
Sample Chapter
Download Front Matter and Chapter One (PDF)
Related Topics
Asian Studies
History
Religion
Other Ways To Order
In Canada, order your copy of American Missionaries, Christian Oyatoi, and Japan, 1859-73 from UTP Distribution at:
UTP Distribution
5201 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T8
Phone orders: 1(800)565-9523 or (416)667-7791
Fax orders: 1(800)221-9985 or (416)667-7832
Email: utpbooks@utpress.utoronto.ca
Ordering information for customers outside Canada
|
|
|
|
 |
|
