Kanamori's life-story

IN THE year 1852 the Government of the United States sent an expedition under Commodore Perry to the Far East. He came to Japan with four ships, manned by 560 men, and concluded a treaty of commerce between the United States and Japan, thus opening that hermit nation of the Far East to the light of modern civilization. This was the dawn of new Japan.

About 1870, an American soldier, Captain L. L. Janes, came to my country. But his coming was entirely different from that of the former one. He was not sent by the United States Government, but was invited by the Japanese Government to teach military tactics to her subjects.

In those days Japan was divided into about three hundred small provinces, each having its own prince or lord, and each prince having an army of his own to fight with other princes. One of these feudal princes of the southern island, called Kyushu, was quite an ambitious man. He schemed to have a strong army, which was drilled in quite up-to-date, modern military tactics of the “Western Nations,” as the Japanese called the countries of Europe and America. For this purpose he engaged Captain Janes, who was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and a captain in the Union Army, and was said to have fought four years in the Civil War, to come to his province and found a military school.

Meanwhile, this prince had selected about one hundred boys from among his own subjects, by a special examination, and put them into this military school. Thus the school was started. But soon after this a great political change took place in Japan, by which all the feudal lords of the country restored their territories to the Imperial Government, the whole country now being ruled by one supreme head, the Emperor of Japan, and all the provincial armies were dispersed. There being no longer any need of a provincial military school, this one was changed in character, and became simply an English school, where Captain Janes taught for seven years.

In this connection I must tell you how God in his providence turned this school, originally intended for the training of military officers, into a nursery for Christian workers. It was a wonderful providence, indeed, by which God raised up many “children unto Abraham” out of these rude stones.

Captain Janes was not a missionary, and had no connection with any mission board in America. But he was an earnest Christian, filled with a strong desire to lead to Christ those boys who came under his instruction. His wife, too, who was a daughter of Doctor Scudder, an early missionary to India, was a praying woman. I was told by her sister, and her brother, Dr. Doremus Scudder, when they came to my country as missionaries long years after this, how in those early days Mrs. Janes used to spend many nights in prayer with tears.

In the beginning Captain Janes could not talk much about Christianity, because he did not know the language. He could not speak Japanese at all. He did not even attempt to learn Japanese. He used English alone from the very beginning of his teachings. When he taught the alphabet to his boys he spoke English to them. Nobody could understand him. He did not employ an interpreter, because he did not like the idea of having a go-between with his students. He tried from the first to come into direct contact with his pupils, and to inspire them through his own personality. And he did inspire them. The boys were fascinated and captivated by his unique personality long before they were converted to his religious faith.

In the third year of his teaching, when the older boys began to understand him and he could talk with them in English, he began to talk about Christianity. He could not teach Christianity in the school. It was not a mission school, and to teach Christianity was not his object in coming, but he offered to teach us the Bible, if we would go to his house Saturday evenings. And he gave us several copies of the English Bible. At first, out of mere curiosity, a few of the older boys went to read the Bible with him every Saturday evening. But the Bible was a strange book to us, and we could not understand it at all. Also, Captain Janes had a very peculiar way of teaching the Bible. He did not explain much, nor argue much with his students; but from the very beginning of the Bible reading he asked us to commit to memory certain passages, such as John 1:1-18, and 3:1-21, and we did so out of sheer respect for our revered teacher. I have forgotten almost everything I heard in his Bible class, but these Scripture verses still remain in my memory.

Then in addition to this Bible reading, Captain Janes began to preach every Sunday morning in his own parlor. Though he had no theological training he used to preach fine sermons, and very long ones, often two or three hours at a time. It may be that I learned my three-hour sermon from him. But as he was an eloquent speaker we were much impressed by his Sunday morning preaching. One day when he was preaching on Paul and his great missionary work, he suddenly turned to me and said, “What do you think of this man? Is it not a glorious thing to imitate such a great man as the Apostle Paul?” From that time the name of Paul became a part of my name. Through his preaching, about a dozen boys of the school were converted. This was in the summer of 1875.

After we were converted we became very much interested in reading the Bible. But while the school was in session we could not get much time for it, because we were so pressed with our daily lessons. So when the winter vacation of that year came, a few of the Christian boys remained in the school, instead of going back to their own homes to enjoy the holidays. Our purpose in staying in the school was to read the Bible and pray together. During this vacation we tried to put aside all other books, and to read the Bible only. In those days we had no Japanese Bible. We had only the English Bible, which our teacher gave us. We had no commentaries to explain the difficult passages, nor a Bible dictionary to consult. But we spent the whole time of this vacation in reading the plain English Bible. We read mostly the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles to the Romans. I remember how we enjoyed this Bible reading. We almost devoured the Book, just as young people nowadays devour their sensational novels.

This Bible reading was the preparation for a powerful revival which soon broke out in that school. This was the first revival in modern Japan, or rather it should be called the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because there was nothing yet to revive. We did not know that it was a revival of religion. We had neither heard nor read of such things. We had not seen a single missionary. No missionary had ever visited that part of the country. We were so ignorant of the Christian world outside of us that we did not even know the modern institution of church and pastor. We did not know that the minister who preaches the Gospel can be supported by the church. We thought if we were going to preach the Gospel we must do as Paul did,—working with our own hands and preaching the Gospel. All we knew were Bible truths and Bible personages. We knew Jesus Christ and how he died upon the cross for us. We knew Paul and Peter and John and James, and how they were filled with the Holy Spirit and what mighty works they did. And we boys simply tried to imitate those great apostles.

Without knowing that it was a revival of religion, we had it, and that, too, a powerful one. It happened on this wise. When the winter vacation was over, all the boys returned to school. These boys were quite young. I was one of the oldest among them, and I was only eighteen. When the younger boys returned to the school, we older boys who had read the Bible during vacation were now so full of it that we could not help talking about it to these younger students. These students now became very much interested in hearing Bible stories, and they also began to read the Bible themselves. So we formed Bible classes and taught them. The whole school was thrown into such a fever of Bible reading that, although the new term had already commenced, the school could not resume its ordinary work because nobody cared to read any other book but the Bible, Bible, Bible. Everybody was reading the Bible, and everywhere Bible classes were going on. Consequently, for the whole of the first week of the term the regular studies were suspended, and the school was given over to Bible reading. We thought at one time that the whole school of one hundred boys was going to be converted at once. Conversion after conversion occurred. There was a boy about fifteen years of age who preached so powerfully among his fellow-students that as a result many were converted.

The revival did not confine itself within the school walls. We were not satisfied with the conversion of the schoolboys alone. We went out of the school, preaching the Gospel in our own homes, to our parents, relatives, and friends. We even went to our former Confucian teachers, and told them the new truths we had learned from the Bible. We were all Confucianists, and brought up in the Confucian school before we entered Captain Janes’ school. There were quite often very hot discussions between those old teachers and the newly converted Christian boys. But always these boys were able to confound those old Confucian scholars. As they could not withstand nor gainsay these boys’ arguments, they were enraged at them. One day I called on my old Confucian teacher, who loved me as dearly as one of his own sons, and I was also very much attached to him; but as I told him the new truths which I had learned from the Bible there arose a hot discussion between us. When he saw that I would not obey his command to renounce the Christian faith, he was greatly enraged, and said, “You must never come back again to my house to see me.”

I was almost driven out of his house, and I did not see him again before his death. But I am happy to tell you that not long after his death his widow became a Christian, and one of his grandsons is now the pastor of a Christian church.

In the midst of such a sweeping revival a great enemy appeared. Persecution broke out, not by the government, but by the families, parents, relatives, and friends of the young converts. At the instigation of the Confucian teachers, the parents and relatives tried to persuade their boys to renounce their Christian faith, and to return to the Confucian teaching.

You know that the first missionaries in Japan were Roman Catholics, sent about five hundred years ago, but the Japanese Government, as well as the people, had for many centuries bitterly persecuted these Roman Catholics. Any one who professed to be Christian was in danger of bringing capital punishment upon himself and his family. People looked upon Christians as traitors to the country, and feared that they would become the tools of the foreign nations represented by the missionaries. So the Christians were looked upon by the country at large as very detestable people, dangerous to the safety of the country.

I remember that when I was a little boy we used to see the Government’s notice boards set up everywhere with this statement: “The belief in the evil religion of Jesus is strictly forbidden by order.” In some places, sometimes, the following statement was added: “If any one knowing a believer in this religion of Jesus will inform the authorities, he shall be rewarded by the Government.” These rewards were given in money.

My grandfather was an officer of some position in our provincial government. At one time he was appointed chief officer over a large district. It was the duty of such officials to examine the religion of the people over whom they were placed. For this purpose he used to call all the people of his district once a year to his official residence. The day of such a gathering was counted among the great days of the year. It was called the “Feast of Picture Trampling.” I remember my grandfather had a small iron crucifix, such as the Roman Catholic priests carry with them. This crucifix was put in a small box, which was covered with an iron grating, so that the figure within might be seen from the outside, and this box was placed in a small hole dug for the purpose, in the middle of a large courtyard, where usually the criminals were examined. Then the people were called in, one by one, by name, in the presence of the Government officers, all dressed in their official robes, with swords and spears to guard against emergencies. The people of each township, headed by the mayor, were called in by themselves, and when they came to the place where the box was placed they trampled upon it and passed on. To this feast all people, men and women and even children, were ordered to come. When the women came into the yard, after they themselves had stepped on the box, they put down their children and made their little feet touch the crucifix, thus testifying that they were not of this religion. If any one refused to trample upon the cross he was arrested at once, and put into prison on the charge of being a Christian. My grandfather had a prison in which to put such men.

Once when I was watching those country folks trampling upon the box I asked my grandfather, “What is that figure in the box, on which these people are treading?”

He turned to me and said: “Oh, that is an unclean worm! if it is not put in that box and trampled upon by the people, it will creep out and do immense mischief to the country.”

This was the first time I came in contact with the cross of Christ, and I was told that it was an “unclean worm.” And now, only a little over ten years after those days, I myself became a Christian. No wonder that the parents and relatives should be frightened at the prospect of their boys becoming the worshipers of that “unclean worm.” Fortunately, by this time the government which had persecuted Christianity for so long was overthrown, and the present Imperial Government came into power, and there was no danger of persecution coming from that quarter. But the families tried in every way to drive out of their boys’ heads what they called “the foolish notion of believing in an unclean religion”; but it was too late. Christianity had already taken such a deep root in our hearts that nothing could uproot it. The fire once kindled by heaven cannot be quenched by any earthly means. Of course there were a few weak ones among the believing boys, who fell away from the ranks of believers because of this persecution. But there remained about forty boys with the firm determination to hold on to their new faith, even unto death.

I distinctly recall it now that it was on a fine Sunday morning, January 30, 1876, the year after our conversion, that these forty Christian boys went up a little hill called Hanaoka, its literal meaning being the “Mount of Flowers,” just outside the city of Kumamoto, where Captain Janes’ school was located. At the top of the “Mount of Flowers” there was a big old pine tree spreading out its branches. This pine tree is still standing there after half a century of the most eventful life of new Japan. Under this grand old tree, at the top of the hill, those forty Christian boys had a service dedicating themselves to God. First they drew up an article of dedication, the main meaning of which, as I remember it now, was as follows: “This day we consecrate ourselves to the service of Christ, and pledge ourselves to preach his Gospel throughout the whole empire of Japan, even though it means death.” After the reading of this article each one signed his name to it. Then they sang several hymns.

We had no Japanese hymns as yet. We knew only the English hymns, which Mrs. Janes had taught us to sing. Among them was that missionary hymn:

Another was:

Our favorite was:

This hymn exactly expressed our situation at the time. Here at the top of the “Mount of Flowers” we took up our cross, determined to follow Jesus, even unto death. Here we forsook all our fond worldly ambitions. Heretofore we had dreamed of becoming great men of the world, either statesmen or soldiers, or business men, perhaps millionaires. Human nature is the same everywhere. Young people are always dreaming of great things, but now we had chosen to become “naked, poor, despised, forsaken,” for Christ’s sake. Here we took our firm stand, and prepared to face a storm of persecution, which was just bursting upon us, to crush and overthrow this little band of forty boys. Then, as the last act of our dedication service, I offered a prayer of consecration for all. Thus armed with power from above we descended the hill, singing and rejoicing. This was indeed a bold challenge to the enemies of Christianity.

As soon as the meeting of the Christian boys at the Mount of Flowers was known abroad, our persecutors took stronger measures. Many of the Christian boys were taken out of the school and imprisoned in their own homes, or other places, being cut off entirely from their Christian friends in the school, and subjected to very severe treatment, in some cases even to cruelty.

In the home of one of the boys the mother was so grieved over her son becoming a Christian that, when she saw no simple persuasion would avail to turn his heart from following Jesus, she betook herself to a last resort. In the olden days the high class ladies in Japan carried small swords in their bosoms as a means of protection; so now, with her sword in her hand, she faced her boy and demanded an immediate renunciation of his Christian faith. And in case he would not do so within twenty-four hours, she threatened to commit suicide, to atone for the sin of dishonoring her ancestors by letting her son become a follower of an “unclean religion.”

It was not a mere threat. The mother was in earnest. I called on her that very day and begged her to let me see her boy, who was one of my dearest friends, just to bid him good-bye before we should die. In those days we Christian boys, on our side, were determined to die before we would renounce our allegiance to Christ. It was a life and death struggle between us and our enemies. But when I saw her I trembled, because she was in such a determined mood that I felt as though I were standing before a dead person, pale and ghastly, and she said calmly to me:

“No, you cannot see my boy, but if you insist on seeing him, kill me first, and then you may see him.”

I said to her, “My aunt, I did not come here to kill you, but only to see your boy.” Thus saying, I left her house with a heavy heart, full of fear and anxiety, thinking that before the next day dawned either the mother or the son in that home would die.

Something happened, providentially. I cannot now recall what it was, but the mother was prevented from committing suicide, and her son was saved from renouncing his faith. And this same mother, long years after, herself became a Christian, and died in the faith.

There were several such cases in the homes of these Christian boys. In another home the father was so enraged that he came with his drawn sword in his hand, and actually attempted to take his son’s life. You know that in the olden days the Samurai class, which was the warrior class in old Japan, used always to carry two swords, one long and the other short, and were in the habit of using them quite freely. These boys all belonged to this Samurai class.

I was one of the most bitterly persecuted. After receiving severe treatment at the hands of my relatives for many months, I was finally disowned and cast out of my father’s house. I lost everything except my English Bible and Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” which became now my sole possessions.

Though they were made to pass through the ordeal of much persecution, the Christian boys finally gained the victory. Persecution could not accomplish the purpose of our enemies. The more bitterly they persecuted us, the more we were confirmed in our faith. We used to comfort one another by saying, “Is not this the living proof of the truth of Christianity? We see right here in our midst the perfect fulfilment of the word of Christ spoken nineteen centuries ago, ‘A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’”

This band of forty boys was afterwards called the “Kumamoto Band,” well known in the early history of Christian missions in modern Japan.

Thus far I have told you only one side of this story of the “Kumamoto Band.” But there is another side to it, even more wonderful than this, which I must not omit. In the summer of 1865, just ten years before the time of which I am speaking, a young Japanese arrived in the city of Boston. He had left his country a year before, in an American schooner. In those days to leave the country was almost certain death to a Japanese. But the young man dared this certain death, and after a year of hardship and suffering in a sea voyage he finally reached his goal, the land of liberty and enlightenment. He was poor and destitute, and was without any friends to look after him in this strange land. He remained in this helpless condition after his arrival for many weeks. At one time he was so discouraged that he almost despaired of obtaining the object of his coming to America, and was on the verge of insanity. But Heaven did not forsake him. A generous and noble-hearted Christian citizen of Boston, Mr. Alpheus Hardy, owner of the ship in which he had come, hearing of his case, took him into his home, and recognizing the fine spirit and noble ambition of this young man, Mr. Hardy decided to adopt him and give him a thorough American education. He was first placed in the Phillips Academy at Andover, then was sent to Amherst College, and finally to the Andover Theological Seminary to be trained for the Christian ministry.

After ten years of training and preparation, this young man returned to Japan, in 1874, and the next year, 1875, which was the very year when those Kumamoto boys were converted, he opened a Christian school under the auspices of the American Mission Board in Japan, in the city of Kyoto, the old capital. This was Dr. Joseph Hardy Neeshima, a man of God, and the greatest Christian leader in Japan. He was filled with a burning zeal for the salvation of his countrymen, and was looking eagerly for like-minded young men who would come and join him in the great work of evangelizing Japan.

Here you see again the wonderful working of the providence of God. While on one hand God was preparing and disciplining those forty boys of the “Kumamoto Band” by special education under Captain Janes, as well as by bitter persecution, he was at the same time training this great Christian leader of Japan through the kind help of Alpheus Hardy in America. Dr. Neeshima knew nothing of these Kumamoto boys, and they knew nothing of Dr. Neeshima and his school. Though entirely unknown to each other, we were all in the same Hand, being moulded and shaped for the coming work of his kingdom.

In the spring of 1876, when Captain Janes, through an American newspaper, heard of Dr. Neeshima and his Christian school, he at once communicated with him, and told him all about the “Kumamoto Band.” It came as a great surprise to Dr. Neeshima and his colleagues. I was told by one of the missionary teachers who was with Dr. Neeshima at the time that it seemed to them as though the forty boys fell down straight from heaven. They had never dreamed such a wonderful thing was going on in such an obscure part of the country.

On our side it was a great joy and comfort in the midst of persecution to hear of such a Christian man and school existing in our own country. By the fall of that year almost all of the “Kumamoto Band,” having been driven out of their homes and their native province, came to this school of Dr. Neeshima, and joined him in his great work. Thus was started the first Christian college, “The Doshisha University,” which was destined to become a center of Christian education and Christian influence in Japan, and from which came the new impulse for Christian work in that country, and Dr. Neeshima became its first president.

Of the “Kumamoto Band,” about fifteen boys who had already finished their preparatory education in Captain Janes’ school, entered the theological class, the first in Doshisha University. For three years they received theological training and preparation for the Christian ministry. After graduating in 1879, most of these boys went out as home missionaries, preaching the Gospel of Christ all over Japan, and founding Congregational churches in many parts of the country.

In Japan the Presbyterian churches now have the largest number of believers. Then come the Congregational churches, and after that those of other denominations. But though the Congregational churches come second in membership they have the largest number and the strongest churches. This is due mostly to the work of the “Kumamoto Band.” From it came forth the most influential and foremost preachers and pastors of the Congregational churches in Japan.

One of this band, a graduate of 1879, has been now over forty years a pastor of a large Congregational church. He is called the Bishop of Southern Japan, without appointment. Another of this band is one of the greatest Christian scholars in Japan, and is now the President of the National Sunday-School Association. The present President of the Doshisha University is also a member of this band. After Dr. Neeshima, the first President, died, in 1890, four of the presidents of that university came from this band. Not only in the religious and educational work, but also in Government service, in the House of Parliament, as well as in the business world, some of the members of this band were able to hold quite important positions.

So you see this “Kumamoto Band” was used mightily by the hand of God for establishing a Christian testimony in modern Japan. And you know now how it came about. It was not started by a missionary, nor by a minister. It was started by a layman, by a soldier who had no theological training or ministerial experience, and who had not come to my country to teach Christianity, but to teach military tactics, the English language and modern science. But as a by-product of this layman’s work this “Kumamoto Band” sprang up and became a power in the Christian world of Japan. A wonderful working of Providence! Indeed, God can use anything as his instrument to execute his own purpose. He used a jawbone of an ass in the hand of Samson to destroy a thousand Philistines. It may be that the “Kumamoto Band” and Captain Janes were as the jawbone of an ass.

My friends, do you think that there are no such promising young men to be found in my country now? Oh, yes, there are the makings of “Kumamoto Bands” always and everywhere. If you will send out missionaries filled with burning zeal for the salvation of souls, who will come into direct personal touch with young men and women and inspire them through their own personalities by the aid of the Holy Spirit, you can find any number of such bands even now.

Not only in Japan, but in all the mission fields of the world, there are thousands of such boys just waiting for some Captain Janes to come and form them into a band of Christian workers. Therefore the question is not whether we can find such “Kumamoto Bands” now, but whether we can find such Captain Janes’.