Part 3 - Japan
| Part 1 Vocation |
Part 2 Mission |
Part 3 Japan |
Part 4 The Dream |
hristianity arrived in Japan in 1549 with the landing of St. Francis
Xavier. In one of his travels to the many islands, Francis had heard reports of the highly advance kingdom of Japan, as yet unknown to Westerners. Determined to make Japan his next mission field, he landed there, on a Chinese boat, after many adventures, on August 15, 1949. He had taken with him Fr. Cosme de Torres and Bro. Joâo Fernandez. He quickly recognized the sophistication of Japanese culture, and realized that a change in approach to mission and special methods would be needed in order to preach the gospel to such people. Whereas before he had tended to see himself as building on barren grounds, now he felt a need to comprehend the local culture, to discover its latent strengths and virtues and to find ways of connecting these with the Gospel message. In India he had fished with a net, here, in Japan, he realized the missionary would have to use the fishing rod.
"It would be better to say, ‘Lord, here I am. What do you want me to do? Send me wherever you wish, and if it be convenient, to the poorest and the most abandoned’.”
Saint Francis Xavier
Francis remained in Japan for 27 months, long enough to establish several small groups of converts. In the middle of a rigorous winter, he had even traveled on foot from Yamaguchi to Miyaco (today’s Kyoto), capital of the Empire. The supposed “Emperor” was a mere figure-head. Japan was really ruled by feudal lords, more powerful than the weak emperor, and dealing with them required skill, patience and credibility. His was only a beginning, however, and his initial work prepared the ground for the wave of Jesuits and other missionaries that would follow – many to lose their lives during later persecutions.
In the meantime, Francis had set his sights on yet another great, and as yet virtually unknown, frontier: China.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)