Christian Religious Education Research in the Japanese Context

Protestant Christianity was brought to Japan during the modernization of that country in the middle of the nineteenth century. Before the Second World War, except for a short time, Christianity in Japan as a Western religion had experienced a difficult course of history because of hostility due to nationalism of the populace and the leaders of the power structure. The church struggled to be recognized as a religion by the country and its people. After the war, under the occupation of the United States, a boom of Christianity occurred, and many people converted to Christianity. However, such trends did not last long. The tide toward Christianity began to ebb during the 1960s with the recovery of the economy. In this article, the author traces the history of Christian education in Japan and describes the efforts made by various religious societies to study the issues confronting Christian theology and education in Japan.