Background
Kagawa was born on July 10, 1888, in Kobe, Japan to a philandering businessman and a concubine. Both parents died while he was young.
(Nashville 1935 Cokesbury Press. Interpretations by Lois E...)
Nashville 1935 Cokesbury Press. Interpretations by Lois Erickson, introduction by Sherwood Eddy. Poetry. Sm.8vo., illustrations by Julian Brazelton, black cloth. Near Fine.
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(Once more in the twentieth century I am reflecting on the...)
Once more in the twentieth century I am reflecting on the words of the Lord Jesus, when he said, "Those who merely repeat 'Lord, Lord,' cannot enter into Heaven, but only those who really practice His words will do so." I have never heard of such a period as the present, when the teachings of Christ are being challenged. If the Church were trying to practice love in society, there would be a reason for its existence. With creeds alone I do not expect it to be able to save the world. Not that creeds are unimportant, but along with creeds and dogmas there is need for the application of redeeming love in social life. Capitalism to-day is like a fisherman going out to fish. He prepares the rod and bait, but the fish have their own ideas! There is no coordination, but rather conflict, between the underlying purposes of fisherman and fish. In the new age we must solve this unnatural contradiction between two things which properly go together, supply and demand. We must bridge over the gap between producers and consumers with brotherly love. Otherwise, society will never be saved; but depression, panic, and unemployment will go on forever. The theory of relativity and quantum mechanics have completely done away with the nineteenth century's conception of matter, and have rolled solidified determinism into the world of possibilities! Hence, in the twentieth century materialistic capitalism and materialistic communism also must both be abandoned. In this book I have tried to discover a new way to reach the new social order through psychological, or conscious, economy. This volume is a development of the theme which was presented in four lectures on the Rauschenbusch Foundation at the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in April, 1936, under the title, "Christian Brotherhood and Economic Reconstruction." The first draft of this volume was written on the Pacific Ocean as I was on the voyage to the United States. If Mr. Sosuke Suzuki had not helped me on the rough seas, I might not have been able to finish the book. The manuscript was written originally in Japanese, and was sent back to Japan, where Miss Jessie M. Trout and Reverend Kiyozumi Ogawa gave me kind assistance in translating it into English. Several students of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Andover-Newton Theological School and Chicago Theological Seminary assisted in literary criticisms of the English manuscript. Since that time it has been somewhat expanded and reshaped through the good offices of Miss Helen F. Topping, who has been assisting me for many years, Miss Esther Strong, Assistant Secretary of the International Missionary Council, and Professor Earle B. Cross, Chairman of the Rauschenbusch Lectureship Committee. I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to these friends who have given their services to the preparation of this volume for the press.
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(CHRIST AND JAPAN by TOYOHIKO KAGAWA Originally published ...)
CHRIST AND JAPAN by TOYOHIKO KAGAWA Originally published in 1934. Translator's Preface: This volume contains penetrating insights and illuminating Interpretations of the Japanese mind and heart by one who has plumbed both and knows his fellow-nationals as few know them. The creative process back of this book opens a window into Dr. Kagawa's technique as a writer. Impaired eyesight, periodically bordering on blindness, makes both reading and writing impos sible. For six months, in the midst of a program which would drive most men to distraction, he somehow found time to mull over this production* and then, for ten terrific days and nights, with his whole personality aflame, he dictated it to his Japa nese amanuensis. The translator has striven to convey to the Eng lish reader the message and the mood o the author. The effort to lure the English language into giving adequate expression to the scintillating thoughts and the glowing soul of the writer, has been an agonizing yet fascinating task. Dr. Kagawa has ap proved of the English text in Its final form. WILLIAM AXLING. Contents include: CHRIST CLAIMS JAPAN: A Prologue 3 I. JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE 7 II. STRONG AND WEAK FEATURES OF JAPANESE CHARACTER 20 III. THE JAPANESE SPIRIT IN THE MODERN WORLD 42 IV. THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE JAPANESE 72 V. JAPAN NEEDS CHRIST 104 VI. GIVE CHRIST A CHANCE! 120 Index 143. Christ and Japan. Prologue: realm Inviolate. It Is an astounding story, but In Japan's centuries-long history not one of her myriad Islands has passed Into the possession of an alien hand or land. This genius for preservation has unfortunately Included the bad as well as the good. In the same careful way she has preserved the world-wide system of public prostitution, the deadly syphilis brought by the Portuguese traders, the curse-laden liquor and the sin which has reigned since Adam's day. But must Japan preserve these vices forever? Must the sword which the samurai so proudly bore for ever be In evidence? Must the brothel, the saloon, the penitentiary, and oppressive police power for ever remain in the picture? O Japan! Eternal love keeps calling! Petulant Japan! Isolated Japan! Abandon your sulky mood and kneel before the God of Infinite love. In your effort to rid yourself of sin and to sanctify your soul you, too, must go by the way of the cross. Christ opened a way of salvation even for Japan. Yes! Though the whole wide world forsakes her, Christ, the reveal er of eternal love, will never cease to woo Japan until he wins, Japan Is famishing for love. Love, God's love, can only be found and fathomed in Christ. He has laid siege to Japan's soul, and she belongs to him. The cruelties which for three hundred years char acterized the persecutions under the Tokugawa Shogunate can hardly be paralleled in the history of mankind. Yet, when the Shogunate fell and the Meiji government proclaimed freedom for the propagation of the gospel, over twenty thousand Christians came triumphantly forth from hidden islands and secluded villages. Japan had not turned her back on Christ. Japan possesses a mysterious power of preserving values. Confucianism has all but perished In China, the land of Its birth. But, In Japan, it Is still a vital force. Buddhism has fallen into decay In India where It was cradled. With us It has flowered into new life. 3
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evangelist peace activist reformer author labor activist
Kagawa was born on July 10, 1888, in Kobe, Japan to a philandering businessman and a concubine. Both parents died while he was young.
On a scholarship from a Christian mission Kagawa attended the Presbyterian College in Tokyo from 1905 to 1908, when he was stricken with tuberculosis and settled in the slums of Shinkawa. In 1914 he came to the United States and studied at Princeton University for two years. In addition to theology, through the university's curricular exchange program he also studied embryology, genetics, comparative anatomy, and paleontology while at Princeton.
Kagawa became a Christian late in his teens. In Tokyo, for 14 years, Kagawa gave himself without stint to the poor people of this, one of the worst slums in the world, and finished his Before the Dawn (1924) and The Psychology of Poverty, which brought the Japanese government's attention to slum conditions. In 1914 he came to the United States and studied at Princeton University for two years, returning to Japan to organize the Labor Federation in 1918 and, later, the Farmers' Union. The political phase of his organizing work led to his arrest during the rice riots of 1919 and again during the shipyard strikes of 1921, but he was successful in winning universal manhood suffrage for the Japanese and in having the law against trade unionism amended. After the great earthquake in 1923 he went to Tokyo to organize the social work, and in one year he entirely reorganized the Bureau of Social Welfare. Perhaps his most important work was in espousing the cooperative movement in Japan, which had been in existence since about 1900 but which he greatly revitalized and expanded, founding schools, hospitals, and churches, remaking the credit-union movement, and spreading the Christian ideals of fellowship and service. He came to the United States in 1931, 1935, and 1941 to urge the widespread formation of cooperatives as an economic foundation for world peace. An ardent pacifist, he was jailed for one month by the Japanese authorities in 1940 for "violating the military code. " He reputedly engaged in antiwar activities during World War II and later became a leader in Japan's struggle toward democracy. Kagawa was the author of 134 published works, which include Christ and Japan (1934), Brotherhood Economics (1936), Behold the Man (1941), and Love, the Law of Life (1951). He died April 23, 1960, in Tokyo.
(Once more in the twentieth century I am reflecting on the...)
(CHRIST AND JAPAN by TOYOHIKO KAGAWA Originally published ...)
(Nashville 1935 Cokesbury Press. Interpretations by Lois E...)
(Vintage hardcover)
Kagawa reputedly engaged in antiwar activities during World War II and later became a leader in Japan's struggle toward democracy.
Quotations:
"Whosoever will be great among you. .. shall be the servant of all. A ruler's sovereignty, Your Majesty, is in the hearts of the people. Only by service to others can a man, or nation, be godlike. " (1936);
"Communism's only power is to diagnose some of the ills of disordered society. It has no cure. It creates only an infantile paralysis of the social order. ";
"I read in 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. ";
"It seemed that everyone was attacking me - the Soviet Communists, the anarchists, the capitalists, the foul-mouthed literary critics, the sensationalist newspaper men, the Buddhist who could not compete with Christ, and those many Christians who profess Christ but believe in a Christianity which is sterile. "
Member of the House of Peers (Japan)