[Gutenberg 42304] • The Gist of Japan: The Islands, Their People, and Missions

The Gist of Japan, The Islands, Their People, and Missions by R. B. Peery : (full image Illustrated)

PREFACE

Although a great deal has already been published in English concerning Japan and the Japanese people, nothing, to my knowledge, has yet been published which attempts to give a full treatment of mission work in Japan. "An American Missionary In Japan," by Dr. Gordon, is the only book I am aware of that deals exclusively with this subject; but its scope is quite different from that of the present volume. Therefore I have been led to believe that there is a place for this book.

I have written for the common people and hence have tried to give the subject a plain, popular treatment. There has been no attempt at exhaustive discussion, but great pains have been taken to make the hook reliable and accurate.

In the preparation of this little book I have consulted freely the following works in English: "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan"; files of the "Japan Mail"; "Transactions of the Osaka Conference, 1882"; Rein's "Japan"; Griffis's "Mikado's Empire"; Griffis's "Religions of Japan"; Chamberlain's "Handbook of Things Japanese"; Miss Bacon's "Japanese Girls and Women"; Dr. Lawrence's "Modern Missions in the East"; "Report of the World's Missionary Conference, London, 1888"; and reports of the various missionary societies operating in Japan. In Japanese I have consulted some native historians and moral and religious writers—especially in the preparation of the chapters on History, Morality, and Religions.

The book is sent forth with the prayer that it may be the means of begetting in the American churches a deeper interest in the work it portrays.

R. B. P. SAGA, JAPAN.

CONTENTS

I. The Land of Japan

II. A Brief History of the Japanese People

III. Japanese Characteristics

IV. Manners and Customs

V. Japanese Civilization

VI. Japanese Morality

VII. Religions of Japan

VIII. First Introduction Of Christianity

IX. Modern Roman and Greek Missions

X. A Brief History of Protestant Missions in Japan

XI. Qualifications for Mission Work in Japan

XII. Private Life of the Missionary

XIII. Methods of Work

XIV. Hindrances

XV. Special Problems

XVI. The Outlook

I. THE LAND OF JAPAN

The empire of Japan consists of a chain of islands lying off the east coast of Asia, and extending all the way from Kamchatka in the north to Formosa in the south. Its length is more than 1500 miles, while the width of the mainlands varies from 100 to 200 miles. The entire area, exclusive of Formosa, recently acquired, is 146,000 square miles—just about equal to that of the two Dakotas or the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. On this territory, at the beginning of the year 1893, there lived 41,089,940 souls.

The country is divided into four large islands and more than two thousand smaller ones. The larger ones are named respectively Hondo, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Yezo. Of these the first named is by far the largest and most important. This island originally had no separate name, but in recent years it is very generally called Hondo. Western geographers have frequently made the mistake of applying the term "Nihon" to it; but "Nihon" is the native name for the whole empire, and not for its chief island. The capital, Tokyo, the ancient capital, Kyoto, and the commercial center, Osaka, are all situated on this island.

Kyushu is the second largest island in the group, and lies southwest of the main island.