DBWI: Japan doesn’t turn Christian after WWII

The story of Emperor Hirohito after World War II announcing he had become a Christian is well-documented, and his countrymen followed suit - today over 70% of Japan is Christian, and Shinto is seen to the younger generations much the way the Ancient Greek religion is to people today.

But the real story is more fascinating. Douglas MacArthur recounted being asked by the Emperor about converting the population, and MacArthur told him it would have to be on a “voluntary basis.” Somewhat flippantly, Emperor Hirohito asked him, “What if I converted?” MacArthur replied, “If it’s what you feel in your heart, follow Jesus. But don’t demand that the people do the same.

Hirohito didn’t demand that Japan adopt Christianity, but they did anyway, with Buddhism being the largest minority religion and an interesting Christian-Buddhist fusion in the Church of Japan.

What if he didn’t convert? He’s seen as Christianity’s most important concert since Emperor Constantine.
 
today over 70% of Japan is Christian, and Shinto is seen to the younger generations much the way the Ancient Greek religion is to people today.

OOC: A bit too much? I think at most you'll see 55% of Japan being Christian, with a Shintoism being the second largest religion.
 
OOC: A bit too much? I think at most you'll see 55% of Japan being Christian, with a Shintoism being the second largest religion.

OOC: Not If the Emperor converts. And bear in mind Shinto was the state religion of Imperial Japan, so a phasing out of the religion may be in order.
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
OOC: The Emperor already lost much of his status and authority after the surrender of Japan. If he converts to Christianity he loses even more authority, and Japan might even become a republic. Converting to Christianity after the surrender just makes him look weak.
 
OOC: The Emperor already lost much of his status and authority after the surrender of Japan. If he converts to Christianity he loses even more authority, and Japan might even become a republic. Converting to Christianity after the surrender just makes him look weak.

OOC: True. Plus...based on my experiences with Japanese people, Shinto and Buddhism run very deep. I can't see them abandoning a faith that, while a very quiet one, is an abiding one.
 
Today both Korea and Japan are roughly 70-80 percent Christian. To get Japan not to be Christian, you pretty much need to reverse the Soviet occupation. I think the best way to do this is to stop the USSR from joining the Axis Powers, or better yet, to butterfly Ribbentrop-Molotov. Without worrying about Hitler to the West, Trotsky was able to capitalize on the collapse of the Japanese position in Manchuria. Meanwhile, while the German army purged its best generals in 1943, the USSR occupied Korea and began island hopping Japan's northern islands. By the time the USA entered WW2, the USSR had already gained a toehold in mainland Japan. It took until 1947 to kick out the Russians out of Japan (and early 1949 to kick them out of Korea entirely), and by then, Japan and Korea had lost approximately 20-25% of their total populations. It took nuking Berlin and Moscow to end the war, which was no easy task as the back of the Luftwaffe was only broken in 1947 and there was that atomic bomb scare in 1950 when the USSR finally tested a successful bomb. Thankfully they did not have a delivery system before the war ended in 1951.

US aid, particularly Presbyterian missionaries, were so crucial to helping rebuild east-asian society (outside of China). I think it took the mass death from atheists on one hand, and the salvific work of missionaries on the other (with the positive view of friendly occupying western forces) to do the trick. By the time the Emperor converted, like Constantine, a sizeable portion of his population had already converted. He just followed suit.
 
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