AHC: Japan with a significant Christian population

Using South Korea as an example approximately 30% of South Koreans are Christian, but this relatively large population is almost entirely a 20th century phenomena.

As late as 1945 only 2% of Koreans were Christian and at the turn of the last century that population was almost negligible.

How could Christianity have seen a similar growth in Japan over the 20th century? Also what if any major impacts would come from that?
 
Perhaps Americans decide launch Operation Downfall and occupation is longer and harsher. Then Americans send there missionaries.
 

Geon

Donor
Perhaps Americans decide launch Operation Downfall and occupation is longer and harsher. Then Americans send there missionaries.

I don't think sending a lot of missionaries is going to be the answer. Here I am speaking from some experience knowing missionaries who have labored for years in Japan.

Japan is both an open and closed society. They are open in many ways to ideas and technologies from the west, but in other areas they are closed. The Japanese consider their versions of Buddhism and Shintoism unique. Their culture believes in conformity and adherence to the old religions in even the most nominal form is considered a given. Outside religious influences disturb that conformity and that includes religions like Christianity.

In order to see similar growth in Japan there would have to be a major change in Japanese culture-and that means going back centuries, not just decades to change it.
 
A subset of the middle or ruling class split off during a coup or civil war and establish a rival government on a peripheral island chain/colony. Having a European power back them up would help. Being militarist nationalist to enforce the religious change would be normal, possibly even successful if the base japanese settler population is small enough before the transition.
 
Perhaps the Mormons gain a foothold during the occupation. I think there were a few followers of the prophet on mcarthur’s staff.
 
You need a pre-1700s POD where the Catholic population isn’t systematically exterminated. If you avoid that, then a Christian Japan is fairly possible. Minor POD: nuking Somewhere other than Nagasaki would mean there’d be more native Japanese Christians, as that was one of the major Christian enclaves.

It’s considered the hardest mission field for any denomination by far, tougher even than the closed Middle East.
 

elkarlo

Banned
Perhaps the Mormons gain a foothold during the occupation. I think there were a few followers of the prophet on mcarthur’s staff.
That's the least likely imho. LDS is incredibly unpopular here. Too demanding time wise to people with no free time.
Aa was said it'd take a massive change. Japan has basically an ethnic religion, you'd really have to go to vreat length to discredit it and replace the institutions
 
Using South Korea as an example approximately 30% of South Koreans are Christian, but this relatively large population is almost entirely a 20th century phenomena.

As late as 1945 only 2% of Koreans were Christian and at the turn of the last century that population was almost negligible.

How could Christianity have seen a similar growth in Japan over the 20th century? Also what if any major impacts would come from that?

What factors caused the growth of the Korean church? I can't imagine it was the US presence there, since there was a full-fledged occupation of Japan, and IIRC, churches were pushing hard to get missionaries into Japan.

On an unrelated note, I'd be interested to see what the number of Korean missionaries is relative to the size of the Korean church. When I was in the Middle East, there were more Korean missionaries than you could shake a stick at. Pretty impressive, especially considering the size of Korea versus America
 
What factors caused the growth of the Korean church? I can't imagine it was the US presence there, since there was a full-fledged occupation of Japan, and IIRC, churches were pushing hard to get missionaries into Japan.

On an unrelated note, I'd be interested to see what the number of Korean missionaries is relative to the size of the Korean church. When I was in the Middle East, there were more Korean missionaries than you could shake a stick at. Pretty impressive, especially considering the size of Korea versus America

I'm not an expert but I believe it was simply down to successful missionaries? Interesting enough Christian Koreans themselves represent a large proportion of Christian missionaries worldwide now.
 
What factors caused the growth of the Korean church? I can't imagine it was the US presence there, since there was a full-fledged occupation of Japan, and IIRC, churches were pushing hard to get missionaries into Japan.

On an unrelated note, I'd be interested to see what the number of Korean missionaries is relative to the size of the Korean church. When I was in the Middle East, there were more Korean missionaries than you could shake a stick at. Pretty impressive, especially considering the size of Korea versus America

Korean Nationalism.

If you think Korean christians are puppets of any sort you are very very wrong. Christianity had a history in korea before Japan occupied it, and they were one of the few religions that had the guts to publically defy the japanese and didn't worship the empeor. When the Japanese occupation ended and the country became independent a lot of people remembered that.
 
You'd need a pre-1900 POD.

Contrary to most people here I think it's doable with a Bakumatsu-Early Meiji-era date. The key is who controls the education system? Christianity was successful in Korea and China in large part due to the ability to found long lasting Christian institutions of learning by the missionaries, which left an impression in the minds of at least some students. Whereas Japan, of course, had a system that is even more so than its neighbors a Prussian-derived system, with less room for what I would call parochial education (yes, Catholic schools exist, but they were hardly the forefront of education like they were in other countries).

So I could see a pre-Meiji reform effort to set up mission schools in the major port cities, that sort of thing.

Technically you could do that in Occupation era Japan, by a different educational policy, but by then I think the institutional changes would cause much social disruption, which is the last thing McArthur would have wanted.
 
The American Occupation of Japan lasts several decades and is much harsher. Americans strongly repress the native religions of Japan. The Americans also hand over the Emperor to the Soviets as part of the piece deal. The Soviets than execute him. Many Japanese viewed the Emperor as a god, so his execution would force people to admit he was not a god. American Missionaries are given lot’s of power during the occupation and end up controlling all the orphanages and most Japanese orphans are raised Christian. Also many Americans permanently settle in Japan as teachers as most Japanese teachers are Blacklisted by the American authorities for “anti-americanism.”
 
Korean Nationalism.

If you think Korean christians are puppets of any sort you are very very wrong. Christianity had a history in korea before Japan occupied it, and they were one of the few religions that had the guts to publically defy the japanese and didn't worship the empeor. When the Japanese occupation ended and the country became independent a lot of people remembered that.
A history of getting oppressed, though. The Joseon executed missionaries not a few times (the French didn't attack without reason). The Christian population didn't hit double digits until well into the 20th century, IIRC, after independence.

But yeah, there definitely was an element of nationalism that helped it spread.

There's also all of the charity work the missionaries did, i.e. building hospitals and schools. Yonsei among the SKY universities started as a Christian school, with a couple hundred other schools sharing a similar history.

Among other factors, like rapid economic growth, ties with the US, recovery from the devastation of war, etc.

Japan would have to be very much oppressed, basically occupied by the Soviets for decades, for them to abandon their old faiths and turn to something new. And even then, probably wouldn't work out too well.
 
The American Occupation of Japan lasts several decades and is much harsher. Americans strongly repress the native religions of Japan. The Americans also hand over the Emperor to the Soviets as part of the piece deal. The Soviets than execute him. Many Japanese viewed the Emperor as a god, so his execution would force people to admit he was not a god. American Missionaries are given lot’s of power during the occupation and end up controlling all the orphanages and most Japanese orphans are raised Christian. Also many Americans permanently settle in Japan as teachers as most Japanese teachers are Blacklisted by the American authorities for “anti-americanism.”

Why Americans would continue occupation several decades? Longer is possible but I can't see occupation of decades being possible. Too expensive and it would cause just more resistanse. And I can't see that execution of Hirohito just gets Japanese lost their faith. Bit same if Muslims would lost their faith if Mecca would be nuked. It not work that way. And even in OTL emperor confessed that he not be god and it didn't destroy Shintoism.
 
Top