The Church in Japan
Laures, Johannes
THE CHURCH IN JAPAN By JOHANNES LAURES IN A recent address to the Shanghai Young Men's Club, on the Reasons for the Progress of Japan, the Japanese Professor Inui attributed the marvelous...
...Parents of the well-to-do classes want to give their daughters a general education and above all a knowledge of foreign languages...
...The present economic conditions of the country are favorable to an expansion, because land, labor and material are cheap...
...Even the moderate sum of $250,000 needed for the present new structures is by no means secured...
...The Catholic Church should leave nothing undone to utilize Japanese eagerness for western learning for the spread of the one great knowledge that alone can lead men to perfect and lasting happiness, the holy Catholic religion...
...At the same time night courses and a summer school were established with 130 and 230 students respectively...
...As a result Japan has become a world power comparable in many respects to the great nations of the West, and this within the short period of sixty years...
...In 1918 there came a standstill as a result of its inability to comply with the new government regulation...
...With regard to universities, the number of these institutions is perhaps comparatively too great, and the prospect of finding employment is the main factor in the choice of an alma mater...
...It seems that all great Catholic eiterprises must according to God's Providence struggle against odds of a very material nature...
...In this respect the imperial universities have a great advantage over private institutes, for they dispose of a great number of important positions...
...The conclusion then would be primarily to erect as many Catholic middle schools as possible in order to reach a large number of young people...
...In both respects Catholic schools can easily compete with rival institutions, and the schools taught by Catholic nuns are among the best girls' schools of the country...
...If the Catholic University...
...Competition is much greater in university education...
...Even today the Japanese are eager to learn from the West, and the Catholic Church can make good use of this Japanese docility for the spread of Catholicism...
...The influence and progress of Catholicism in the far East in general and in Japan in particular will to a great extent depend upon the standing and development of the Catholic University in Tokio...
...When the new structures are finished they will dominate all the buildings, in the very heart of the city...
...This will be an advertisement for the school and undoubtedly conditions will improve considerably...
...Had the whole of Europe been Catholic at the time when Japan opened her ports to foreigners, it would probably have been comparatively easy to win over the whole people to the religion of the Cross, but even so the case is not at all hopeless...
...THE CHURCH IN JAPAN By JOHANNES LAURES IN A recent address to the Shanghai Young Men's Club, on the Reasons for the Progress of Japan, the Japanese Professor Inui attributed the marvelous development of his country chiefly to the eagerness of his countrymen to learn from other nations...
...The great earthquake in 1923 which destroyed the building of the Catholic University made things worse...
...The Catholic University has thus far only two departments: philosophy-literature and commerce...
...Hence it is but natural that every student tries to find entrance to one of these universities...
...An adjoining piece of land half the size of the present property could be bought for $250,000, whereas in normal times it would cost considerably more...
...The advantage it has in its foreign teachers is partly offset by the many facilities given to students of the imperial universities for studying abroad after they have finished their courses at home...
...The prerequisite for every new department is an additional sum of $50,000 to be invested in government securities...
...When she realized the superiority of western civilization it was her honest endeavor to choose from all nations what seemed best suited for her future development...
...It is to be regretted that Japan adopted the western civilization without the Christian religion...
...After enormous difficulties a sum of $300,000 was raised (to a great extent by loan) and an imperial charter was granted in the spring of 1928...
...The present year shows again a very large increase: the day students number over 300 and the night students 190...
...thus the total number amounts to more than 500...
...Not only does the Catholic University have to compete with the imperial universities having at their disposal many influential positions, but there are also many private universities with considerable financial resources and a high standard of learning...
...Since women are not as yet generally admitted to universities their education is a comparatively simple affair...
...At present the plans for new buildings are ready and the subsidiary structures have actually been started, though the main building has been somewhat delayed on account of numberless formalities and government regulations...
...This required private universities to invest large sums in government securities and to deposit them with the government in order to secure an imperial charter with the right of giving degrees like the imperial universities...
...As a result the number of students rose immediately to 150...
...If it can impress the Japanese people by its size and its standing, it will attract greater and greater numbers of young people and impart to them Christian ideas together with western learning...
...Thus imbued with Catholic ideas and under October 22, 1930 THE COMMONWEAL 639 the wholesome influence of their teachers, a fair number of them become Catholics...
...The great success of Catholic high schools, above all girls' high schools, is due to a great extent to this attitude of the Japanese people...
...Hence the greatest and about the only difficulty for the development of the University is the financial problem...
...All of these gratifying changes have been going on while the temporary university building made a poor showing in contrast to the palatial structures of the other twenty universities of the city...
...Medicine and engineering, which have the best prospects for success call for enormous funds on account of the expensive equipment...
...But the fact that thus far all difficulties and calamities have not prevented the Catholic University of Tokio from maintaining itself and even expanding considerably gives good hope for its harmonic and constant growth in the future...
...Japan enthusiastically took over the Chinese civilization during the middle ages and thus reached a high culture of her own...
...Although a temporary building was put up and courses were resumed shortly after, the lack of a charter made itself felt more and more, the number of students decreasing constantly...
...Japanese parents of the better classes are most eager to secure to their children a thorough training in western ideas and western manners, and they know very well that this can best be attained in schools conducted under western auspices...
...founded in 1913, is to compete successfully with these institutes it must have not only a high standard of learning but also a powerful employment organization...
...This alone would be a great step forward...
...If these schools have a high standard they possess an advantage over native institutions and will secure to their best students admission to the great national universities...
...With little demand for advanced learning among women, girls' high schools are less numerous than boys' middle schools, and there is less competition in educating girls...
...According to him Japan was never too proud to learn from her sister nations...
...Hence the hope of the Catholic mission in Japan lies in the field of education, especially of middle-school education...
...As a result, many children attend Catholic schools...
...The year 1929 brought an enrolment of more than 200...
...From its foundation until the end of the world war the number of students was growing slowly but constantly...
...In other countries of the far East the foreigner is looked upon as a national enemy, but in Japan he is treated with great courtesy and considered an elder brother from whom one can learn many things...
...In spite of its limited financial means, however, the recent development of the Catholic University shows that it can meet this keen competition...
Vol. 12 • October 1930 • No. 25
