was a Japanese author, Christian evangelist, and the founder of the
Nonchurch Movement (
Mukyōkai) of
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 ...
during the
Meiji and
Taishō periods in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. He is often considered to be the most well-known Japanese pre-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
pacifist.
Early life
Uchimura was born in
Edo
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, and exhibited a talent for languages from a very early age; he started to study the English language at the age of 11. At age 13 he entered a foreign language school to continue to study English, and planned to pursue a government job. In 1877, he gained admission to the
Sapporo Agricultural College (present-day
Hokkaido University
, or , is a public research university in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded in 1918, it is the fifth-oldest government-authorised university in Japan and one of the former Imperial Universities.
The university finds its roots in Sapporo A ...
), where English was the main language of instruction.
Prior to Uchimura's arrival,
William S. Clark, a graduate as well as the president of
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
, had spent the year assisting the Japanese government in establishing the college. While his primary role was to teach agricultural technology, Clark was a committed lay Christian
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
who introduced his students to the Christian faith through Bible classes. All of his students converted and signed the "Covenant of Believers in Jesus", committing themselves to continue studying the Bible and to do their best to live moral lives. Clark returned to the United States after one year, but Uchimura felt his influence through the small Covenant group that was left behind. Under considerable pressure from his ''
senpai'' (先輩, a term for strongly-influential senior peers), Uchimura signed the Covenant during his first year at the College at the age of 16 and went on to receive
baptism
Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
from a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
missionary in 1878.
Dissatisfaction with the mission church, however, led Uchimura and his Japanese supporters to establish an independent church in
Sapporo
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
. This experiment turned out to be a precursor to what is now called the
Non-church Movement. Through Clark's teaching and example, this small group believed that they could practice and live an authentic life of faith without depending on a religious institution or a professional clergy.
He was a close friend of
P. Y. Saeki, an
Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
, but their relationship turned sour later.
Overseas career

Uchimura departed for the United States following a brief and unhappy first marriage in 1884. He was first befriended by Wister Morris and his wife, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
couple, who helped him find employment at
Elwyn Institutes as a caregiver shortly after his arrival in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. The Quaker faith and pacifism made a lasting impression upon Uchimura. He and his Sapporo friend
Nitobe Inazō
was a Japanese agronomist, diplomat, political scientist, politician, and writer. He studied at Sapporo Agricultural College under the influence of its first president William S. Clark and later went to the United States to study agricultural ...
were influential in the establishment of the
Friends School in Tokyo as a result of his sojourning in the Philadelphia area.
Following eight months of stressful work in
Elwyn, Uchimura resigned and traveled through
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, entering
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
in September 1885.
Julius Hawley Seelye, the president of Amherst College, became his spiritual mentor, and encouraged him to attend the
Hartford Theological Seminary. After completing his second bachelor's degree (B.Sc.) in general science at Amherst, he enrolled in Hartford Seminary, but quit after only one semester, disappointed by theological education. He returned to Japan in 1888.
Japanese religious leader
After his return to Japan, Uchimura worked as a teacher, but was fired or forced to resign in several instances over his uncompromising position toward authorities or foreign missionary bodies that controlled the schools. The most famous such incident was his refusal to bow deeply to the portrait of
Emperor Meiji
, posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...
and the
Imperial Rescript on Education
The , or IRE for short, was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan. The 315 kanji, character document was read aloud at all important school ...
in the formal ceremony held at the
First Higher School
The First Higher School (第一高等学校, Daiichi ''Kōtō Gakkō'') was a university preparatory boy's boarding school in Tokyo, Japan. It is the direct predecessor of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo.
Overview
...
(then preparatory division to the
Tokyo Imperial University
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...
). Realizing that his religious beliefs were incompatible with a teaching career, he turned to writing, becoming senior columnist for the popular newspaper, ''
Yorozu Chōhō''. Uchimura's fame as a popular writer became solid as he launched a series of sharp criticism against industrialist Ichibei Furukawa over one of modern Japan's first industrial pollution cases involving Furukawa's
Ashio Copper Mine
The was a copper mine located in the town of Ashio, Tochigi (now part of the city of Nikkō, Tochigi), in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It was the site of Japan's first major pollution disaster in the 1880s and the scene of the 1907 ...
.
Uchimura's career as a journalist was cut short as well, largely due to his pacifist views and vocal opposition against the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
in his newspaper columns, which came into conflict with the paper's official editorial views. He started publishing and selling his own monthly magazine, ''Tokyo Zasshi'' (Tokyo Journal) and later ''Seisho no Kenkyu'' (Biblical Study), and supported himself by addressing weekly audiences of 500–1000 people in downtown Tokyo in lectures on the Bible. His followers came to share Uchimura's attitude that an organized church was actually a hindrance to the Christian faith, and Christian sacraments, such as baptism and
communion, are not essential to salvation. Uchimura named his Christian position as "
Mukyōkai" or Nonchurch Movement. Uchimura's movement attracted many students in Tokyo who later became influential figures in academia, industry, and literature. His "prophetic" views on religion, science, politics, and social issues became influential beyond his small group of followers.
His writings in English include: ''Japan and the Japanese'' (1894) and ''How I Became a Christian'' (1895), and reflect his struggle to develop a Japanese form of Christianity. In his lifetime, Uchimura became famous overseas. His major English-language works were translated into numerous languages. After his death, however, Uchimura's reputation grew more, as his followers produced an enormous amount of literature.
Works
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** Japanese/English; new English translation:
Kazuo Inamori
was a Japanese philanthropist, entrepreneur, Zen Buddhist priest, and the founder of Kyocera and KDDI. He was the chairman of Japan Airlines.
Inamori was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering in 2000 for innovation i ...
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Notes
References
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*Hiroshi, Shibuya. 2013. ''Living for Jesus and Japan: The Social and Theological Thought of Uchimura Kanzo.'' Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
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*Jennings, Raymond P. 1958. ''Jesus, Japan, and Kanzo Uchimura: A Brief Study of Non-Church Movement and its Appropriateness for Japan.'' Tokyo: Christian Literature Society.
External links
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* (brief biography with grave's pic)
Non-church Christian HomeUchimura Kanzō (AC 1887) Collectionat the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchimura, Kanzo
1861 births
1930 deaths
Amherst College alumni
Christian apologists
Hartford Seminary alumni
Japanese Christian pacifists
Japanese Christian Zionists
Japanese Methodists
Japanese theologians
Methodist socialists
Writers from Tokyo
Activists from Tokyo
People of the Meiji era
Burials at Tama Cemetery