Pocky Balboa
Well-known member
The average modern Japanese has a positive view of Christianity as a whole. If they were xenophobic about Christianity there wouldn't be a stereotype in Japan that Christian-run schools and colleges/universities are elite education locations and there wouldn't be the phrase "born Shinto, marry Christian, die Buddhist" in Japan.
That saying is key to Japanese views on faith. The modern Japanese is agnostic, with all of these religious things being considered to be cultural things to do. Here's another example, one that's noted in English language encyclopedias even back in the 80s, but no one ever mentions in the weeb parts of the Internet. Non-Christian Japanese attend those Nativity plays held by the local churches and Christian schools even if they don't have any kids or other relatives involved. Why? Because it's what you do in Christmas, just like how you tie pieces of paper with your wishes on Tanabata, even if you're a Japanese Christian. Back when I was teaching in Japan I was asked by some students and faculty if they could come to the church I attended for our Christmas program, as the local churches basically had a full house. And this attitude also extends to Shinto and Buddhist rituals. There is no interest in the "faith" portion of any religion for the average Japanese The only ones who would be serious, as in actual belief and doctrine, about it would be the actual Shinto priests and Buddhists monks, same as the Christian pastors or priests.
People always like to point to the whole Tokugawa sakoku thing as their evidence of what modern Japanese think of Christianity, but forget this little thing called the Meiji Restoration and the efforts to modernize Japan. And that is where people REALLY should be looking at for modern Japanese views on Japan. Obviously, missionaries started coming in once Japan was opened up again, but what's the difference this time, as opposed to the Warring States Era?
Protestants. And, more importantly to the Japanese, the fact that the Protestants' prosletyzation was also tied with education. While they weren't interested in the faith aspect, the fact that the Protestants tied that missionary work with education in the sciences and public morals (as morality that is practical and can produce good citizens) that would help in modernizing Japan and making it peer to the Western nations, gave the Protestants and their view of Christianity very, very positive press with the Japanese. A good number of Japanese intellectuals of the day believed Christianity was key in instilling moral values in the Western powers that aided in their development as powerful modern civilized states, and, even for those intellectuals who didn't believe in it or any religion, it was still something to be introduced into Japanese society for the moral education of the citizenry. For example, Ōkuma Shigenobu, the second PM of Japan and founder of Waseda University, for example, valued Christianity as a method of moral education, even if he considered it fiction. In short, the pedagogical over the doctrinal was preferred, and the Protestants delivered. Tying in that moral and doctrinal instruction to other educational topics has resulted in a good number of these foreign Protestant educators to be still highly regarded today, if not beloved, in Japan today. Take for example, William S. Clark. The man remains a national figure in Japan, and his parting words to his students and faculty in Sapporo Agricultural College, "Boys, be ambitious!" is one of the few English phrases every Japanese will know.
This is why Christianity today in Japan isn't called "kirishitan" as in the Warring States and the Edo period, but "kirisutokyou" in the Meiji era; churches were "kyoukai", religious missions were "senkyou", junkyousha is "martyr"; you'll notice they all have "kyou" in them; that kanji means "teaching", emphasizing the educational aspect over doctrine. It's also the reason why Protestant pastors are called sensei, while Catholic priests are not. This is also why you have the stereotype of Christian-run private schools being high spec, and it's a deserved stereotype. Take two of the MARCH universities, which are five private universities located in Tokyo and are considered to be among the most prestigious and famous universities in the country, with a highly selective acceptance rate (15% average). Each letter in MARCH stands for the first letter of the university's name; the "A" is Aoyama Gakuin University, Methodist-affiliated (and part of the Aoyama Gakuin educational institute, which compromises every level of schooling, all affiliated with the Methodists) , and the "R" is Rikkyou Gakuin (aka St. Paul's University), the largest Anglican-affiliated university in Japan.
Let's also look at anime, manga and video games again. While Sailor Moon's Rei Hino attends a Catholic Girls school (T.A. Jogakuin), it is actually based on a prestigious Methodist school, Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin (T.E. Jogakuin). You'll also notice in Japanese media that a lot of these modern Japanese elite schools attended by the offspring of the well-to-do or the high-spec students, fake or real, in front (St. Hebereke from Ranma 1/2, St. Paulia from Saint Tail, St. Hermelin in the first Persona game, etc.), despite usually being called Catholic, they're all based on Protestant-affiliated schools in Japan.
So, TL;DR: Protestants generally have a very positive reputation with the Japanese population, even if there's not much interest in doctrinal things and in Japanese fiction, thanks to their work during the Meiji Era, while the Roman Catholic Church gets has the bad rap in fiction overall. Well, I suppose in general, as from what I recall of the statistics, I believe as of 2020-2021 there are about 600,000 Japanese Protestants compared to the approximately 400,000 Japanese Catholics in Nippon.
Unfortunately for our Orthodox members, despite not doing major proselytization until the Meiji era, same as the Protestants, the Japanese can't tell the difference between you and the Catholics since your rituals and organizational structure are, in their eyes, too similar, so the Orthodox Church tends to get the blowback on the negative depictions, though considering the Berthe faith in Ogre Battle 64 was pretty much an Orthodox expy, if the Japanese do remember to separate Catholics and Orthodox, the latter tends to be seen on the positive side.
Here's an article by a Momoyama Gakuin associate professor of religion and war studies that goes over the Meiji era's influence on how modern Japan views Christianity.
Nonsense. Off the top of my head for successful manga/anime there's Kaitou Saint Tail for a supporting Christian members (since that's the character type the comment you quoted is referencing), and Amakusa 1637 for an entire protagonist cast of Japanese Christian students. Actually, shoujo works tend to have more positive Christian characters than any other genre in anime and manga from what I've seen.
That saying is key to Japanese views on faith. The modern Japanese is agnostic, with all of these religious things being considered to be cultural things to do. Here's another example, one that's noted in English language encyclopedias even back in the 80s, but no one ever mentions in the weeb parts of the Internet. Non-Christian Japanese attend those Nativity plays held by the local churches and Christian schools even if they don't have any kids or other relatives involved. Why? Because it's what you do in Christmas, just like how you tie pieces of paper with your wishes on Tanabata, even if you're a Japanese Christian. Back when I was teaching in Japan I was asked by some students and faculty if they could come to the church I attended for our Christmas program, as the local churches basically had a full house. And this attitude also extends to Shinto and Buddhist rituals. There is no interest in the "faith" portion of any religion for the average Japanese The only ones who would be serious, as in actual belief and doctrine, about it would be the actual Shinto priests and Buddhists monks, same as the Christian pastors or priests.
People always like to point to the whole Tokugawa sakoku thing as their evidence of what modern Japanese think of Christianity, but forget this little thing called the Meiji Restoration and the efforts to modernize Japan. And that is where people REALLY should be looking at for modern Japanese views on Japan. Obviously, missionaries started coming in once Japan was opened up again, but what's the difference this time, as opposed to the Warring States Era?
Protestants. And, more importantly to the Japanese, the fact that the Protestants' prosletyzation was also tied with education. While they weren't interested in the faith aspect, the fact that the Protestants tied that missionary work with education in the sciences and public morals (as morality that is practical and can produce good citizens) that would help in modernizing Japan and making it peer to the Western nations, gave the Protestants and their view of Christianity very, very positive press with the Japanese. A good number of Japanese intellectuals of the day believed Christianity was key in instilling moral values in the Western powers that aided in their development as powerful modern civilized states, and, even for those intellectuals who didn't believe in it or any religion, it was still something to be introduced into Japanese society for the moral education of the citizenry. For example, Ōkuma Shigenobu, the second PM of Japan and founder of Waseda University, for example, valued Christianity as a method of moral education, even if he considered it fiction. In short, the pedagogical over the doctrinal was preferred, and the Protestants delivered. Tying in that moral and doctrinal instruction to other educational topics has resulted in a good number of these foreign Protestant educators to be still highly regarded today, if not beloved, in Japan today. Take for example, William S. Clark. The man remains a national figure in Japan, and his parting words to his students and faculty in Sapporo Agricultural College, "Boys, be ambitious!" is one of the few English phrases every Japanese will know.
This is why Christianity today in Japan isn't called "kirishitan" as in the Warring States and the Edo period, but "kirisutokyou" in the Meiji era; churches were "kyoukai", religious missions were "senkyou", junkyousha is "martyr"; you'll notice they all have "kyou" in them; that kanji means "teaching", emphasizing the educational aspect over doctrine. It's also the reason why Protestant pastors are called sensei, while Catholic priests are not. This is also why you have the stereotype of Christian-run private schools being high spec, and it's a deserved stereotype. Take two of the MARCH universities, which are five private universities located in Tokyo and are considered to be among the most prestigious and famous universities in the country, with a highly selective acceptance rate (15% average). Each letter in MARCH stands for the first letter of the university's name; the "A" is Aoyama Gakuin University, Methodist-affiliated (and part of the Aoyama Gakuin educational institute, which compromises every level of schooling, all affiliated with the Methodists) , and the "R" is Rikkyou Gakuin (aka St. Paul's University), the largest Anglican-affiliated university in Japan.
Let's also look at anime, manga and video games again. While Sailor Moon's Rei Hino attends a Catholic Girls school (T.A. Jogakuin), it is actually based on a prestigious Methodist school, Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin (T.E. Jogakuin). You'll also notice in Japanese media that a lot of these modern Japanese elite schools attended by the offspring of the well-to-do or the high-spec students, fake or real, in front (St. Hebereke from Ranma 1/2, St. Paulia from Saint Tail, St. Hermelin in the first Persona game, etc.), despite usually being called Catholic, they're all based on Protestant-affiliated schools in Japan.
So, TL;DR: Protestants generally have a very positive reputation with the Japanese population, even if there's not much interest in doctrinal things and in Japanese fiction, thanks to their work during the Meiji Era, while the Roman Catholic Church gets has the bad rap in fiction overall. Well, I suppose in general, as from what I recall of the statistics, I believe as of 2020-2021 there are about 600,000 Japanese Protestants compared to the approximately 400,000 Japanese Catholics in Nippon.
Unfortunately for our Orthodox members, despite not doing major proselytization until the Meiji era, same as the Protestants, the Japanese can't tell the difference between you and the Catholics since your rituals and organizational structure are, in their eyes, too similar, so the Orthodox Church tends to get the blowback on the negative depictions, though considering the Berthe faith in Ogre Battle 64 was pretty much an Orthodox expy, if the Japanese do remember to separate Catholics and Orthodox, the latter tends to be seen on the positive side.
Here's an article by a Momoyama Gakuin associate professor of religion and war studies that goes over the Meiji era's influence on how modern Japan views Christianity.
Nonsense. Off the top of my head for successful manga/anime there's Kaitou Saint Tail for a supporting Christian members (since that's the character type the comment you quoted is referencing), and Amakusa 1637 for an entire protagonist cast of Japanese Christian students. Actually, shoujo works tend to have more positive Christian characters than any other genre in anime and manga from what I've seen.
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