천황제 국가의 전쟁과 일본 개신교

Abstract

The 19th century, for the Eastern Asian Civilization, was a time of transition from an agricultural and Confucian way to the Western and capitalist. In 1854, Japansignedthepeacetreatywiththe U.S.A. to open its gates to the modern Western Capitalist world order. Following this, the two catalysts that moved Japan towards modernity were the invasive wars, and the extension of the empire. The empire required a national belligerence as well as a strong sense of national unity to disseminate and support the war sentiments. The victories in wars made the state an “empire” and reinforced and expanded the foundation of the empire within the Japanese society. The empire and the war had a symbiotic relationship. This study will explore how the state, as an empire, established the basis of social support during the wars with China (the Ching) and Russia, and what perceptions led the Japanese Protestantism to the response it had towards the wars. Furthermore, this paper will examine how Japanese Protestantism responded to the 15-year period of war in modern Japan and adjusted its Christian worldview, as well as the process in which it transformed itself into a war-cooperative institution subject to the government through theological justification of “the glory of the state”. The conclusions of this study are; first, that the Japanese Protestantism identified itself with modern Western Civilisation rather than distinguishing itself from it; second, why the protestants promoted themselves as a group with “Western skills and manners” while claiming the value of Christianity rather than as an independent body from the imperial state; third, their perception of the world focused on only the differences and similarities between the Western and the Japanese, resulting in a lack of perception regarding Asia. These three features made the modern Japanese Protestantism lose its identity and the Christian spirit of transcendence, in order to validate the aspirations of the imperial state to invade other countries, much as the Western countries invaded non-Western countries under the justification of the superiority of the Western Capitalist Civilisation.