Japan's Modern Prophet: Uchimura Kanzô, 1861-1930 (Asian Religions and Society)

This is the spiritual biography of one of Japan’s foremost thinkers, Uchimura Kanzo, who died in 1930 and whose ideas influenced contemporary historians, political scientists, and international religious followers. Known as the originator and proponent of a particularly “Japanese” form of Christianity known as mukyokai, Kanzo attempted to purge the Protestantism that was flowing into Japan from the accretions to the biblical faith that had developed after several centuries of Western history.

In his lifetime, Kanzo was a well-known figure, becoming famous in Europe. His major English-language works were translated into numerous languages. Best known among these works, How I Became a Christian attracted much criticism and attention. After his death, however, Uchimura’s reputation grew significantly. His Christian followers produced an enormous canon of literature, influencing the cosmopolitan intellectual milieu far beyond that of any other Japanese Christian thinker.

Through the prism of this exceptional man’s life, Howes charts what it meant to live in Japan during the rise of Christianity. It was also a time of increasing modernization. During Uchimura’s life, Japan developed into a leading world power, and one year after his death its military propelled its people into a disastrous war. Students and scholars of Asian studies, as well as readers interested in Japanese religion and culture, will find Japan’s Modern Prophet a tour de force.

John F. Howes, Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Government of Japan in 2004.