Vorträge Mittwoch, 6. November 2024, 18:30–20:00 Mark Williams (ICU): ‘Christianity in the Religious Melting Pot of Japan and the Problem of Enculturation’

How are we to account for the fact that, in two recent (ostensibly equally reputable) surveys of religious affiliation in Japan, we find the figure for “Shinto affiliation” as 3% in one and 69% in the other? The answer lies, in no small measure, on the varying interpretations of the precise meaning of religious affiliation: whereas it is perfectly credible that more than two-thirds of the population would admit to engaging in some kind of religious act (making a financial contribution, offering up a prayer, etc) when they visit a shrine (and it should be noted that more than half the population visited a shrine or temple on the first three days of this year alone), very few would claim to be “Shintoist” and the majority, if pressed, would claim to be “mushūkyō” (no religious affiliation).

I introduce this scenario by way of background to the discussion I wish to initiate concerning the religious context that confronted the first missionaries to Japan from Iberia in the mid-16th century and the extent to which they sought to adapt the faith to this unique religious context. In short, how important was it for them to “enculturate” their “western” tradition, to create a “Japanese form” of Christianity? To this end, I shall be examining the version of the Bible that emerged in Meiji Japan (when the oral tradition that had been preserved by the Kakure (Hidden) Christians for some ten generations was finally written down) and the efforts made by those such as the author, Endō Shūsaku, and the theologian, Inoue Yōji, to retailor what they described as the “western clothing” they had adopted with baptism into a “Japanese-style kimono”.

Mark Williams is Vice President for International Academic Exchange at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan. Until 2017, he was Professor of Japanese Studies and Head of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. He took his BA in Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford and a PhD in Japanese Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He was Chair of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Leeds between 2006-11 and President of the British Association for Japanese Studies, 2007-11. Between 2011 and 2014, he was seconded to Akita International University, Japan, where he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs.
He has published widely in both English and Japanese – on themes such as Christianity and Japan, the literature of post-war Japanese author, Endō Shūsaku, and literary representations of the Asia Pacific War.