Christian universities in Japan

Abstract

Most Japanese identify as Buddhist, hold traditional Shinto beliefs, or adhere to some combination of the two. Less than 1% of Japanese claim to be Christian. Nevertheless, Christianity has had a disproportionately large impact on Japanese society. This is especially true in the field of privatized higher education with roughly 100 protestant and catholic institutions spread out across the country, far exceeding the total number of Buddhist and Shinto schools. Furthermore, Christian universities are among the top-ranked private schools in Japan, being nearly equal in influence to private secular universities. The following chapter examines this phenomenon, looking in particular at one of the oldest and largest private institutions in Japan, Doshisha University (established in 1875). Beginning with an historical overview of Doshisha’s Christian identity, it shows how the university transitioned from being a school that had a goal of spreading the Christian faith to becoming an institution that encourages students to develop an individualized and internationalized sense of non-doctrinal morality. Yet, despite this change in focus, and notwithstanding the fact that few faculty or students individually identify as Christian, Doshisha persists in branding itself a Christian institution. Rather than abandon overt Christian symbols and references, Doshisha—as with other “mission schools” in Japan—continues to promote and advertise its Christian identity, offering it as one of the very reasons for non-Christian students to seek admittance. This chapter explores these seeming contradictions and argues that Christian universities in Japan look to maintain some form of Christian identity precisely because of the historical and cultural connections between Christianity and learning, resulting in an approach to Christian higher education that is as much about image as faith.