Kanamori Michitomo was a Japanese Christian minister. He also went under the English name Paul Kanamori and published as Kanamori Tsurin.
Current
prime minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...
,
Shigeru Ishiba
Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of ...
is Kanamori's great-grandson.
Early life and education
Kanamori was born in
Higo province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces.
History
The cas ...
, Japan, in what is now
Tamana, Kumamoto prefecture on October 2, 1857. He was born into a samurai family. He attended the Kumamoto Yogakko, where he was a member of the
Kumamoto Band. He converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in 1875. He continued his education at
Doshisha University
, also referred to as , is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1875, it is one of Japan's oldest private institutions of higher learning, and has approximately 30,000 students enrolled on four campuses in Kyoto. It is one of Japa ...
and graduated in 1879.
He had several children, including and .
Career
After graduation Kanamori became a missionary in
Okayama prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...
. His work was sponsored by the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian mission, Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the l ...
. He then moved to Tokyo and served as a pastor for a large congregation there. He was later invited to teach theology at Doshisha University by
Joseph Hardy Neeshima.
During this period he also wrote and translated several books, such as his 1891 ''The Present and Future of Christianity in Japan''.
Kanamori renounced his Christian faith in the 1890s because he and other pastors interpreted Christian doctrine differently.
During this period he worked in the Interior Ministry and in business. He returned to the church after the death of his wife in 1914.
From 1915 onward he travelled all over Japan giving sermons for thousands of people. He later also travelled to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to give sermons to the Japanese-speaking populations there.
He became well known for his "Three-hour sermon" and for evangelizing.
He later joined the Holiness Movement in 1927, but left in 1933.
Kanamori died in
Kōriyama
is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 321,938 people in 141760 households, and a population density of 425 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Kōriyama is designated as a core city and ...
, Japan on March 4, 1945. He is buried at
Tama Cemetery
in Tokyo is the largest municipal cemetery in Japan. It is split between the cities of Fuchū, Tokyo, Fuchu and Koganei, Tokyo, Koganei within the Tokyo Metropolis. First established in April 1923 as , it was redesignated Tama Cemetery in 1935. ...
in Tokyo.
Further reading
*
External links
*
References
1857 births
1945 deaths
Japanese Protestant missionaries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanamori, Michitomo