American evangelist Billy Graham has conducted evangelistic activities in Japan. This evangelism has led to controversy among Japanese Christians. This study aims to elucidate how Japanese Christians evaluate Graham's mission to Japan.
The Christian population in Japan is small. However, there are diverse denominations, and as in the United States, there are mainstream and evangelical groups. Mainline cooperation exists under the National Christian Council (NCC) and evangelicals under the Japan Evangelical Association (JEA). Both groups were reported to have adopted different attitudes toward Graham's evangelism in Japan. The Japanese mainline was not particularly supportive of Graham's evangelism in Japan because of the skepticism of Graham's mass evangelism methods and criticism of his support for the Vietnam War. In contrast, Japanese evangelicals cooperated with American missionaries after World War II to form their own identities. They invited Graham to Japan in 1956 and organized an evangelistic meeting in 1967. Graham's evangelistic mission led Japanese evangelicals to establish the JEA with the aim of fostering cooperation across denominational lines.
The impact of Graham's evangelism on various countries has been discussed in previous studies. Biographers have emphasized Graham's relationship with Asia and Africa (Martin, 2017; Wacker, 2019), and individual studies have examined Graham's influence on England and West Germany (Balbier, 2022), and Korea (Kim, 2022). However, there have been no English-language studies of Graham's evangelization in Japan. Even in Japanese language studies, there are official JEA views (JEA, 78, 84, 89, 96) and evaluations by evangelical scholars (Uda, 1993; Nakamura, 2004); however, it cannot be asserted that they have been critically discussed. This study critically analyzes how Japanese Christians evaluate Graham's evangelism in Japan.
To conduct this analysis, this paper focuses on newspapers and magazines published during the period when Graham's Japan evangelism took place. Specifically, this paper will analyze the mainstream Gospel and World (Fukuin to Sekai) and the evangelical The Christian (Kurisuchan Shimbun). This is because mainstream and evangelical groups in Japan have expressed their opinions on these media.
This study provides insight into the diverse ideas, groups, and complex history of Christianity in Japan and elucidates how the global Christian network has been constructed and maintained.
Balbier, Uta A. Altar Call in Europe: Billy Graham, Mass Evangelism, and the Cold-War West (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022).
Kim, Helen Jin. Race for Revival: How Cold War South Korea Shaped the American Evangelical Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022).
Martin, William C. “God’s Ambassador to the World,” in Andrew Finstuen, et al., Billy Graham: American Pilgrim (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017) pp. 83-116.
Nakamura Satoshi, History of Evangelicals in Japan: Another History of Japanese Christianity, 2nd ed. (Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries, 2004) [中村敏『日本における福音派の歴史：もう一つの日本キリスト教史〔第二版〕』(いのちのことば社、2004年)].
Uda Susumu, Evangelical Christianity and Evangelicals, 2nd ed. (Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries, 1993 [宇田進『福音主義キリスト教と福音派〔第二版〕』(いのちのことば社、1993年)].
Wacker, Grant. One Soul at a Time: The Story of Billy Graham (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019).
JEA, Evangelicals in Fluttering Japan: The 10th Anniversary of the JEA (JEA, 1978)[日本福音同盟『はばたく日本の福音派：日本福音同盟10周年記念』(日本福音同盟、1978年)].
---- Evangelicals in Japan: The 15th Anniversary of the JEA (Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries, 1984) [『日本の福音派：日本福音同盟15周年記念』(いのちのことば社、1984年)].
----Evangelicals in Japan: Toward the 21st Century (Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries, 1989) [『日本の福音派：21世紀に向けて』(いのちのことば社、1989年)].
----Dwelling on the Earth, Faithfulness: Japanese Evangelicals' Choices for the 21st Century (Tokyo: Word of Life Press Ministries,[『地に住み、誠実を：日本の福音派21世紀ヘの選択』(いのちのことば社、1996年)].
American evangelist Billy Graham has conducted evangelistic meetings in Japan. Numerous Japanese Christians have demonstrated a significant interest in Graham's events. Although small, the Christian population in Japan exhibits heterogeneity. Denominations are diverse and there are two groups: mainstream and evangelical. Each group has its own organization: the mainstream National Christian Council in Japan (NCC) and Evangelical Japan Evangelical Association (JEA).
This study aims to elucidate how mainstream Christianity and evangelicals in Japan evaluate Graham's mission to Japan. Specifically, it focuses on 1967 Graham's evangelistic meeting because the NCC rejected it and criticized Graham’s attitude toward the Vietnam War, while Japanese evangelicals sought a collaborative framework following the meeting. To achieve this objective, this research analyzes the publications of both mainstream and evangelical organizations. This study contributes to the understanding of the diversity of Christianity in Japan and the development of a global Christian network.