Congratulations Dr. Maurice Robinson!

[Yeshua1]

After 150 years of Protestant missions, only 1% of Japanese claim to be Christian, including the Catholics and the cults (JWs & Mormons are strong). Compare that to most Muslim countries with up to 5% Christian. So I'd say the missionary you helped to support was doing a great job.

What do you rgink is the main rreason they are so stubborn on salvation?

is it a cultural thing, or steeped in idols/religions, or what?

 

[John of Japan]

What do you rgink is the main rreason they are so stubborn on salvation?

is it a cultural thing, or steeped in idols/religions, or what?

That's a very complex subject, and there are various possible answers. My short answer is that it all began in the late 16th century when Catholicism was outlawed, followed up in the early 17th century when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu viciously persecuted the Catholics, killing many tens of thousands. All foreigners and Japanese expatriates were then prohibited from being in Japan on pain of death until Commodore Perry's black ships came in the mid-1800s. This turned the entire country 180 degrees away from any form of Christianity, and that direction continues to this day.

 

[Yeshua1]

That's a very complex subject, and there are various possible answers. My short answer is that it all began in the late 16th century when Catholicism was outlawed, followed up in the early 17th century when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu viciously persecuted the Catholics, killing many tens of thousands. All foreigners and Japanese expatriates were then prohibited from being in Japan on pain of death until Commodore Perry's black ships came in the mid-1800s. This turned the entire country 180 degrees away from any form of Christianity, and that direction continues to this day.

Thanks! Would there also be the part of no real indivualism, as really difficult to be seen as going on your own to getting saved? That the culture mandates all stay the same?

 

[John of Japan]

Thanks! Would there also be the part of no real indivualism, as really difficult to be seen as going on your own to getting saved? That the culture mandates all stay the same?

The societal mores against individualism are, as you say, another barrier to the Gospel. But that situation stems from the above-mentioned 17th century rescription against Catholicism, when neighborhood associations were formed, ruled by the Buddhist temples, so that no one could get away with being a Christian. Catholics were hunted down and killed around the country when discovered by the Buddhist temples, with conformity being forced.