Christianity Made in Japan: A Study of Indigenous Movements

by Mark R. Mullins

For centuries the accommodation between Japan and Christianity has been an uneasy one. Compared with others of its Asian neighbors, the churches in Japan have never counted more than a small minority of believers more or less resigned to patterns of ritual and belief transplanted from the West. But there is another side to the story, one little known and rarely the rise of indigenous movements aimed at a Christianity that is at once made in Japan and faithful to the scriptures and apostolic tradition. Christianity Made in Japan draws on extensive field research to give an intriguing and sympathetic look behind the scenes and into the lives of the leaders and followers of several indigenous movements in Japan. Focusing on the "native" response rather than Western missionary efforts and intentions, it presents varieties of new interpretations of the Christian tradition. It gives voice to the unheard perceptions and views of many Japanese Christians, while raising questions vital to the self-understanding of Christianity as a truly "world religion."

This ground-breaking study makes a largely unknown religious world accessible to outsiders for the first time. Students and scholars alike will find it a valuable addition to the literature on Japanese religions and society and on the development of Christianity outside the West. By offering an alternative approach to the study and understanding of Christianity as a world religion and the complicated process of cross-cultural diffusion, it represents a landmark that will define future research in the field.

Genres: Japan, Christianity

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Martin Crowhurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presented, without much coloring by the author, as analytical research rather than an easy “how to guide”, I would still recommend this as well worth reading for any Christian workers arriving to do ministry in Japan. Mullins looks at the pre-eminent indigenous Christian Movements. Among these, the non church movement, mu-kyoukai, gets the most detailed treatment. This is appropriate for several reasons. It’s probably one of the churches new workers are most likely to hear about, and therefore it would be good for them to understand its heritage and values, both past and present. Also, my understanding of the book was that Uchimura, its founder, had significant influence on the leaders of several of the other indigenous movements. In most cases, that started with similar points of dissatisfaction with western Christianity. However, Uchimura’s model was still considered inadequate by many and this led to the further diversity of indigenous churches. Five critiques of western church models for Japan were; (only the first two being significant to the non-church movement)
 A dislike of imposed colonial type models and controls
 A dislike of the clergy laity divide. (Although, even if not deliberately, this seems to have ended up being replaced with a Japanese i.e. (household) system of leadership and lineage.
 A failure of missionaries to address culturally important issues, such as rites of passage and ancestral worship / respect.
 A failure to address spirit world issues and live Holy Spirit empowered lives, that include normative experiences of the gifts of healing and tongues etc.
 A lack of practiced spiritual disciplines such as meditation, memorization, poverty etc

Although the issues listed above continue to represent ongoing issues and weaknesses of many Japanese Churches, most of the groups reviewed in the book have peaked in their significance and are now having to redefine themselves as they struggle to survive. The exception to this would be the Spirit Of Jesus Church and, for this reason, it perhaps should be examined further. It was also interesting to note that all these groups seemed to emerge with quite outspoken leadership, that didn’t feel a need to wait for consensus to initiate vision. Actually, in many cases, visions received by the leadership were one of the normative patterns for leadership of these indigenous groups. I would suggest this leadership style is the opposite of that practiced by the Pastors of most small Japanese churches. We can therefore read this as a helpful critique of the leadership style of many Pastors or take it as a warning of the risks of deviating from what other Christians can recognize as acceptable doctrine when using such a leadership model.
In his conclusion Mullins notes that
“Japanese religiosity is characterized by a stronger emphasis on ritual than doctrine.” This is one of the areas I feel we as missionaries are prone to overlook and therefore, should challenge ourselves to try and understand better, if we are going to going to do better than previous generations of missionaries, to help Japanese have contextualized models that are helpful to them.
The other question that comes through is one about generational succession. The non church and those using its approach of non ordained leadership with no structures for succession of group leadership, and meeting in either homes or rented space, rather than owning property, have all struggled to keep growing beyond the first generation. At the very least, this should caution a house church movement that may be very effective in growing and meeting the needs of its current membership, but will not be able to continue to meet those needs when its affiliates are less mobile. This would be compounded if there aren't recognized ways to train up successive generations of leaders. Then again, some might argue that new expressions of church are always needed and that it's better to leave nothing than to leave structures, buildings and organizations that compel people to service them, even though they have long since lost their original heart and effectiveness.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fairly brief book detailing some of the crazy history of Christianity in Japan. (And, yes, "crazy" is the word.) I used parts of it for a comparative study I attempted with certain forms of popular Japanese Buddhism.