The MEP in Japan: an overview (1831-1980)

In the sixteenth century, the Society of Jesus takes advantage of the political fragmentation of bakufu Japan (or shogunate) to further evangelisation, following on from the actions of famous Jesuit Saint-François-Xavier, who arrived in 1549. Between 1590 and 1610 the Church experiences a period of strong growth, but the 1614 edict causes its withdrawal with violent persecutions, forcing the catholic community to hide. Between 1650 and 1842, Iemitsu Tokugawa’s Japan closes itself in the context of the isolationist policy of sakoku, which aims at reinforcing the control of foreign trade by the shogunate. However, “Christian crypto-villages” survive, inhabited by descendants of converts.

From 1831, the MEP try to enter the land of the rising sun through the Ryūkyū islands. The creation of the Japanese mission in 1842 marks the beginnings of MEP activities in Japan. The missionaries are in charge of recovering contact with the Christian descendants in Japan more than two centuries after the persecutions. According to P. Petitjean’s account, on the 17^th of March 1865, contact is established with Christians from the Urakami village, near Nagasaki. Quickly, these Christians face persecutions and deportations by the central authorities. Despite the end of the bakufu resulting in the imperial restauration proclaimed on the 3^rd of January 1868, religious liberty is only really acquired in 1889, ratified by the new Constitution.

In order for the missionaries to cover this vast territory, Japan is first divided into two apostolic vicariates in 1876, and then three in 1888. In 1891, the Propaganda fide establishes dioceses covering the whole of Japan.

Between 1899 and 1945, with Japan entering a troubled twentieth century, the evolution of Japanese Catholicism happens along with the rise of absolutism, nationalism and the country being dragged into a series of devastating armed conflict. Whilst Catholicism is less and less tolerated by the Japanese authorities, it also becomes an instrument used by the state to support the country in the war effort. Simultaneously, in 1940, a Japanese law establishes that no foreign subject can have any authority over Japan. The MEP gradually lose their responsibility in the Japanese dioceses and live through a difficult period until the surrender of Japan in 1945. After the war, many missionaries and nuns are sent there. Gradually, the MEP hand over their responsibilities to a Japanese Church.

Chronology

1549: St. François-Xavier arrives in Japan.

1614: Tokugawa Ieyasu bans Christianity for the whole of Japan. Many deportations of missionaries and clergymen follow.

1650-1842: sakoku isolationist policy implemented in Japan, aiming at a stricter control of foreign trade.

1831: the pope Gregory XVI assigns the Korea mission to the Missions étrangères de Paris. Japan and the Ryūkyū islands are attached to this mission.

1842: creation of the Japan mission.

1846: M^gr Forcade becomes Japan’s first vicar apostolic.

1856: P. Louis Furet reaches the coasts of Hakodate; it is the first excursion in Japan by an MEP father.

1858: Franco-Japanese treaty, ensuring notably the free exercise of religious worship.

1862: P. Eugène Mermet-Cachon, first catholic missionary to live in post-sukaku Japan, builds the first Catholic church in Japan in Yokohama.

1865: P. Petitjean meets Christians from the Ukarami village, descendants of the sixteenth century Japanese martyrs. This date marks the beginning of the evangelisation of “crypto-Christians” by the missionaries.

1866: P. Petitjean is nominated vicar apostolic of Japan.

1868: end of the shogunate and imperial restauration. Former anti-Christian laws are not repealed.
Imperial rescript forbidding the “detestable Christian sect”.
Out of the 3,750 Catholics in Ukarami, 3,400 are exiled in Kyūshū.

1873: inauguration of the Nagasaki seminary and printing press.

1876: Japan is divided into two apostolic vicariates: Northern Japan, under the direction of M^gr Pierre Osouf, and Southern Japan, with M^gr Petitjean at its head.

1882: ordination of the first three Japanese priests by M^gr Petitjean.

1888: the apostolic vicariate of Southern Japan is divided into two. The apostolic vicariate of Osaka, under the direction of M^gr Félix Midon, and the Nagasaki one, with M^gr Cousin at its head, succeeding to M^gr PetitJean who died in 1884.

1889: The Constitution of the Empire of Japan is promulgated. It recognises religious freedom.

1890: first synod of the Japanese Church.

1891: the Propaganda fide establishes four dioceses replacing the three apostolic vicariates (Tokyo: Mgr Osouf, Hakodate: Mgr Berlioz, Nagasaki: Mgr Cousin; Osaka: Mgr Midon).

1940-1945: the Second World War weakens the MEP position in Japan.
17 MEP fathers disappear from natural or violent death.
Half of Nagasaki’s catholic population disappears under the atomic bomb.

1952: there are 200,000 Catholics in Japan. This number represents a 25 to 30% growth compared with the year before, demonstrating the dynamism of Catholicism in post-war Japan.

1965-1980: the economic growth of the country is combined with a decrease in evangelisation.

Learn more

• JAPON 1550-1945 LA REDECOUVERTE | Missions Étrangères de Paris (missionsetrangeres.com)
• L’Eglise au JAPON: 444 ANS D’HISTOIRE