KAGAWA—A BEGGAR FOR CHRIST: JAPAN’S CHRISTIAN REFORMER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 49, 25 May 1948, Page 7

KAGAWA—A BEGGAR FOR CHRIST: JAPAN’S CHRISTIAN REFORMER

(Contributed by the , Ministers’ Association)

A few years ago Kagawa was regarded by many as one of the outstanding men of the contemporary world and the great spiritual genius of the Far East, writes Rev. R. Kenwood. The events of the war and Kagawa’s statements in connection with them brought doubts into the minds of many former admirers and caused them to question the sincerity of this man. While I was in Japan I had the privilege of attending one Kagawa’s meetings and observed him campaigning among his own people. There is no doubt in my mind as to the worth and sincerity of this man. He still has his great power and passion for social righteousness. That uncompromising appeal for the application of Christian love to all life’s relationships accompanied by a clear presentation of the practical issues of Christianity which Kagawa has made so peculiarly his own sphere is not in any way diminished. Kagawa was lecturing in Shimonoseki. It was a bleak winter night with a knifing wind and whirling snow. The meeting was held in a draughty, dilapidated, barnlike building that had once been used as a Japanese army barracks. There were no seats and the audience, several hundred of them, squatted or knelt on the hard bare floor. Despite the cold and penetrating discomfort Kagawa held the fixed attention of that audience for more than two hours. It was a reasoned and impassioned appeal for Christ and Uis way against all the materialistic “isms” of the day. Kagawa looks much older now. The strain of the war years and the privations of internment have taken a heavy toll of his none too robust frame. People flock to his meetings and the largest halls and auditoriums are crowded out with the people eager to hear his message. Already under the stimulus of religious freedom more than two million Japanese have moved to embrace the Christian faith.

Kagawa is also keenly interested in various forms of relief work for war orphans, refugees, and repatriates. He is an adviser to the Government on Social Welfare. As president of the Co-operative Union he is the moving spirit behind the Christian Co-operative Movement which seeks to offer Japan an alternative to capitalistic or communistic systems. This Christian Cooperative Movement finds a large place in the policy of the Social Democrat Party, the largest single party in the House of Representatives today.