General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

THE WOMEN OF JAPAN

J. A. BRUNSON

(A lecture delivered in the Tabernacle, February 26.)

THE first glimpse of land that gladdens the eye as the vessel approaches the shore of Japan, is Fujiyama, the matchless mountain of the empire, looming up against the horizon “like a queen on a throne of granite arrayed in a garment of lava.” The first rays of the rising sun kiss into blushes her fair brow, upon which rests a crown of spotless snow, until it glitters and flashes in the morning sunlight like a coronet of pearls and diamonds, and she stands arrayed as a queen for her bridal. His last beams linger caressingly about her, vailing her in refulgent tints of gold and of purple until the night comes down, and enshrouds all things in the gray hues of death and of silence, — true emblem of all Japan, upon which a beneficent Creator has bestowed a wealth of natural beauty. GCB March 1, 1895, page 412.7

Yet the country is enshrouded in a night of superstition so dense that nothing but the gospel light can ever dissipate it. Buddhism, the most potent engine ever devised for ensnaring and keeping the people in subjection to the grossest errors, seeing the material progress of Japan, is endeavoring to bind its votaries with manacles and chains still stronger. The easiest victims are the women, because they are more ignorant and helpless than the men. A Japanese girl must have no will of her own, but must obey her parents implicitly, even if they send her to a life of torture or shame. She must go with a smile upon her face, if it hides a broken heart; then after she marries, she is compelled to obey her husband and his parents, or be sent home in disgrace. One thing that will cause a Japanese mother to endure almost any indignity rather than be divorced, is the fact that the husband, no matter how wicked and dissolute he may be, has absolute control over and possession of the children. Even if the law would permit her to take them, she could not give them bread; for there are so few means of employment for women in Japan that they become wholly dependent upon some male relative in case of divorce. GCB March 1, 1895, page 412.8

While we were in Japan a young girl who was living with her widowed mother became converted, and Mr. Brunson baptized her. Her mother, who was not unfavorable to Christianity, was compelled to drive her daughter from home, and forbid her again to enter the house unless she renounced her faith, else the support that she and her children were receiving from male relatives would have been withdrawn, not only from the daughter, but from the mother and helpless babes. And again to show you how lightly the rights and privileges of women are esteemed in Japan, I will tell you of an instance of a man who came to this country to be educated, leaving a wife and two children in Japan. During his absence, the wife worked to support herself and little ones, and by her father’s aid and the most rigid economy, managed to send him a little money to assist him in obtaining an education. After he graduated, he returned to Japan, and received a position as principal of a government school, with a large salary. Elated with his attainments and prosperity, he now began to consider his faithful little wife as beneath him, and so cast both her and the children off, and married a rich man’s daughter. Shortly after this the wife’s sister committed suicide, alleging as her reason that her poor old father and sister were so overworked and overburdened that she could not bear to tax them any longer, and so ended her life. His conduct was so far condoned that it did not affect his position either in the school or in society. GCB March 1, 1895, page 412.9

Now you can readily see that the women in Japan are so accustomed to being ruled in their domestic relations that they fall an easy prey to the machinations of their religious teachers. The priests practice upon their credulity, and extort money from them in every possible way. The women of Japan constitute the main strength of Buddhism. Consider that magnificent temple at Kyoto in process of erection. It has already cost $5,000,000, and will probably cost as much more. Why, the very ropes with which those gigantic timbers were elevated to their places were made from the hair cut from the heads of the devoted women of Japan. I noticed numbers of those ropes, immense coils almost as tall as I am, the shining tresses of maidens interwoven with the gray and faded locks of aged grandmothers. Is not that a spirit of sacrificial devotion? O, if the daughters of America, blessed beyond their sisters of all other countries, were as faithful to Christ as these poor children of the East are to Buddha, it would not be long before that grand and beautiful temple, dedicated to a heathen deity, would resound with the hymns of praise to the Redeemer. The priest who lives in this temple is regarded by the Buddhists as the Catholics regard the pope. The people pay large sums of money in order to see him, and have him bless them. For example, some time ago his son went to Kokura, where we lived, and the people actually grovelled in the dust at his feet; and they brought their children to him, and paid him fifty cents for each child upon whose head he placed his hands. The press was so great that the missionaries who distributed tracts had to be protected by the police, so eager were the people to receive them. GCB March 1, 1895, page 413.1

A sight often to be seen near the water courses in Japan is the Nagara Kanjo, or “flowing invocation.” It consists of four upright pieces of bamboo set in the ground, to which are attached a piece of cloth. Upon it a name is written, such as the priests give a person after death, with the inscription, Namu mio horen ge kio, the meaning of which is, — Glory to the salvation-bringing scriptures. In the sockets of the bamboo are placed flowers, such as one sees upon the graves in the cemeteries. There is a bamboo dipper near by, and if you wait long enough, you will notice that the passer-by dips up a ladle full of water, pours it upon the cloth, and waits till it strains through before passing on. The pathetic significance of this is as follows: A mother in the first joy of maternity has passed away, leaving a little infant to the care of others. Now the Japanese believe that all pain and sorrow in this life are due to sin committed in this or in a previous state of existence, perhaps a chiliad ago. For this she must relinquish her mother joy, and sink to the darkness of hell, — there to writhe in a lake of blood till the “flowing invocation” ceases by reason of the water falling through the worn-out cloth. In order to be efficacious, these cloths can be procured only from a priest. And it is an open secret that the wealthy, who are able to pay well for them, can obtain napkins that have been scraped so thin in the middle that the water soon drops through without straining; but the poor, who can pay only a small pittance, can procure only some sort of coarse cloth that will long resist the action of the water; and so they are tortured for months, believing that their dead are writhing in agony in this horrible lake of blood. This will give you an idea of the charity of some of the priests. GCB March 1, 1895, page 413.2

There are many temples in Japan where the people go to worship. I will give you a description of one, which will give you a general idea of what they are like. Within the temple grounds there is a babel of noise and confusion - booths where a variety of articles are sold; beggars, thieves, and pick-pockets, all plying their special vocations; vendors going about hawking their wares, and adding their quota of noise to the general hubbub. It is the busiest mart in the city, — a regular fair. At the entrance to the temple stand two gigantic and hideous demons, reminding one more of the mythological gate-keepers of the infernal regions than of the guards to a sacred place. They are adorned with sandals hung all over them by coolies and rustics, in order to propitiate them, and cause the gods to give them strength in their feet. GCB March 1, 1895, page 413.3

Within the penetralium there is a chaos of noise, dust, bad smells, and confusion. Sacred pigeons, whirring about here and there, children with dirty-faced babies on their backs, ladies arrayed in elegant silks and satins, all mingling promiscuously in the motley crowd, making their offerings and saying their prayers. The chief god is placed upon the main altar, which is protected by a wire grating; and the worshiper must be careful to throw money into the coffers before making his requests known. He writes his prayer on a slip of paper, puts it into his mouth, chews it into a soft wad, and spits it at the god. If it hits him and sticks, it is considered a good omen, and the prayer will be answered. The efficacy of the prayer, you see, depends upon the softness of the wad and the agility of the spitter. Of course this god is a disgusting looking object, with these spit-balls sticking all over him. GCB March 1, 1895, page 413.4

Near by stands the ugly old god, Benzuru, noted for his supposed therapeutical skill. He who comes to him to be healed, rubs him on that part of the body corresponding with his own diseased part, and then appropriates to himself the benefit supposed to have been received. Parts of the body are thus utterly worn away by attrition. It is greasy and filthy beyond description, and no doubt is a means of conveying infectious diseases. I have seen women bring their suffering little babes, and pray and rub this disgusting looking object, and then rub the grime and germs thus obtained into the delicate skin of their children. But pitiful beyond the power of words to express was to see old men and women, bending beneath the weight of years, tottering on the brink of eternity, supplication this monster to heal them of their bodily infirmities, and knowing nothing of the great Soul-healer. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.1

Now you can very readily see that the Japanese have very little idea of the laws of life and hygiene. I will give you a few instances of their mode of treatment. On one occasion one of our evangelists was taken quite sick, and we sent him to the house of a doctor to be treated. In a few days we went to see him, and inquired how he was getting along. He said the doctor administered some medicine which did not have the desired effect. So he then prescribed a long earth-worm. We said, “Well, did you swallow it?” “O yes,” he said, “I did! and I am doing very well now.” Some of you Sanitarium patients who have to swallow the tube for lavage think it is pretty hard, but I think you would not be willing to exchange Dr. Kellogg’s prescriptions for those which the Japanese give. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.2

There is another treatment that is called “moxa,” which consists of a little wad wound up and stuck into the flesh, to which fire is applied, and allowed to remain till it burns severely. I have noticed many Japanese with great cicatrices on their backs from this cause. After all, fomentations and spinebags are not so bad. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.3

A friend of mine had a sick child, on one occasion, who was suffering from dyspepsia. I went to see her, and found that she was feeding it upon hard boiled rice, and other indigestible Japanese eatables. I went home and prepared some suitable food, and sent it to her. The next day I paid her a visit, and asked her how the child was getting along. “O,” she said, “the little girl did not like the foreign food, so I did not insist upon her taking it.” The child was then sitting upon the floor, surrounded by the following dishes: A bowl of boiled rice, some raw fish, a plate full of hard-baked cakes, and a cup of wine. The mother was busily engaged in poking the rice into the child’s mouth with a pair of chop sticks. She would then stuff in a chunk of raw fish, and wash it all down with the wine, and this was the diet of a little dyspeptic. Can’t we send them a few nurses and women doctors, seeing that they need them so badly? GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.4

Now it is true that the Japanese have made much progress in many ways, and Christianity has also made rapid advances in Japan. But we must remember that before the Bible could be openly taught or preached, the country had been flooded with Western materialism and skepticism, infidel books being widely circulated both in Japanese and English. The works of Huxley, Darwin, and Spencer have been widely scattered among the educated classes, and there are many devotees at the shrines of these men. Infidelity is creeping like a miasma into the upper and middle classes, filling their minds with its poison, and blinding them to the truth. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.5

But there are truth-seekers the world over, and I verily believe that many of these people would accept the truth if they had an opportunity to hear it, and it seems to me that the time is ripe for the Third Angel’s Message to be proclaimed in Japan. The Japanese have been charged with fickleness. It is said that when a new thing comes along from the West, they readily accept it until something else comes, when they give it up, and take the newest fad. Is this true? I appeal to history. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.6

You will remember that when the Japanese government tried to establish Catholicism in Japan, thousands died for their faith. They were persecuted, thrown into the sea, and burned and butchered in every cruel way that hate and revenge could devise. The Christians that were tortured and martyred by Nero met death no more calmly than they did. Women came, bringing their little babes, and plunged into the flames rather than renounce their faith or leave their little ones to be taught to execrate their god. Christians in the primitive church who died for their faith can lay no truer claims to a martyr’s crown than these children of the Orient. But now they are like sheep scattered abroad without a shepherd, not knowing where peace or safety can be found. If you could see, as I have seen so many times, the look of hopeless sorrow upon the patient, suffering faces of the mothers bereaved of their children, and could see them, as I have seen them, placing food upon the graves day by day, and offering it at the shrine of idols, and binding little faded garments that their darlings wore, upon the hard stone necks of the idols in order to propitiate them, and cause them to treat their little ones kindly in the land where they believe that they have gone, and where they can never hope to rejoin them, your hearts would bleed within you, and you would feel that God has been very good to you in a land where the gospel sun has been shining for centuries, causing life to be radiant, and making bright the dark portals of death with its hallowed and glorious light. GCB March 1, 1895, page 414.7

The deluded followers of Buddha hope for no joy in the future. Their lives are so full of grinding poverty and pain and sorrow that many of them actually look eagerly forward to the time when all the rills and streams of trouble that fret over the stones of their darkened, shadowed life, shall have found surcease in the bosom of the Great Buddha. Then all shall be still and peaceful, and they shall have found perfect peace in the Lethe of nothingness. Their imagination, unaided by the gospel light, has been unable to picture a happy home beyond the grave. O, for the love of Christ and of humanity, don’t let us turn a deaf ear to that despairing cry of the dying that every breeze from the ocean bears upon its wings! Let us remember our Saviour as he stood on earth for the last time. Think of his last direct command. It applies to you and to me, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel;” and if we are faithful to the trust that has been committed to us, it will not be long before the Third Angel’s Message is proclaimed in Japan, and it can be said of them that “the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” GCB March 1, 1895, page 415.1