日本基督教会と朝鮮 : 一八九二年から一九二〇年まで

This paper was written in the course of a study project "Collecting materials concerning the history of relations between the Japanese and Korean churces, 1892-1920", which project has been supported by the Harvard-Yenching Institute and the Evangelical Church of Germany. This paper mainly deals with materials in the weekly Fukuin Shimpo ("The Evangelist"), published in relation to the Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Japan. Articles about Korea first appeared in Fukuin Shimpo around 1883. Those early articles were fairly objective about Korea and the Korean churches, as seen in the report of June 17, 1883, written by Nagasaki of the Japanese Bible Society. Gradually, however, the articles came to be tainted by the political intentions of Japan around the period of the Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895. Even Christians thought this was a gisen, a righteous war, which might broaden new civilization to the Asian continent by the defeat of the old civilization of China. Japanese Christian leaders claimed that Christian missions to Korea were very much needed to enlighten the Korean people, and that Japanese settlements must be encouraged and the settlers be given religious disciplines. When the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) broke out, there were two camps, pro and con, regarding the war. Generally, enthusiasm for the Korea missions was encouraged by the Japanese Christians of the expansionist line of thought. When Korea was annexed to Japan in 1910, some Presbyterian leaders such as Masahisa Uemura worried about the freedom of religion of the Korean churches. In most cases, Fukuin Shimpo supported the Korean churches and the mission activities of foreign missionaries in Korea, while other Japanese crticized the anti-colonialist tendencies of the Korean Christians and foreign missionaries. The Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Japan concentrated on working among Japanese residents in Korea. The Japanese Congregational Churches, on the other hand, worked among Koreans, with political and financial help from the Japanese c

olonial government, for the purpose of assimilating the Korean people into Japanese life. Because of the Korean Independence Movement in 1919, the mission work of the Japanese Congregational Churches failed. These churches largely kept silent about the atrocities of Japanese suppression of the movement. Uemura and other leaders of the Japanese Presbyterian-Reformed Church, however, were very critical about the Japnaese colonial rule - and this should be well remembered. Especially Presbyterian - Reformed ministers among Japanese residents in Korea were well informed about the movement and Japanese atrocities, and made outstanding reports to Japanese Chistians through Fukuin Shimpo. This conscientious minority is thought to have been frustrated or silenced in the later period when Japan became more fanatically engaged in expansion. This minority, however, continued to live without being publicly known in Japan.