Harris, Townsend

Japanese: ハリス - Ｈａｒｒｉｓ，Ｔｏｗｎｓｅｎｄ

Year of death: 1878.2.25 (1878.2.25)
Born: October 4, 1804
American diplomat during the late Edo period. Born in Sandy Hill, New York, as the fifth son of a hat merchant. At the age of 14, he began working for a textile merchant in New York City, and in 1820, he joined his brother's ceramic import business and took charge of retail sales. He also studied languages and other subjects, and as a devout Christian, he taught Sunday school. He was also chosen as a trustee of the savings bank because of his upstanding character. As a Democrat, he devoted himself to community service, and his activities as a member of the board of education are particularly noteworthy. He became a member of the New York City Board of Education in 1941, and was elected chairman in June 1946. In January 1947, he proposed the establishment of a tuition-free institution of higher education, the Free Academy (City University of New York), and once the city's citizens agreed, he worked hard as chairman of the construction committee. He lost his mother in 1947, resigned as chairman of the board of education in January 1848, and the store went bankrupt shortly thereafter. In May 1849, he left New York and became a shipowner, engaging in trade activities across San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. In August 1854, he was appointed American consul in Ningbo, but returned to Japan before taking up the post. He campaigned to be appointed as the first American consul general in Japan, and in August 1855, he was appointed by presidential order (formal appointment in June 1856). He arrived in Shimoda on July 21 (August 21), 1856. On June 19 (July 29), 1856, the long-awaited Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan was concluded, and at the end of the same year, he was promoted to minister to Japan, and left Japan in April 1862. <Works> "Harris's Japan Travels" (Translated by Sakata Seiichi) <References> "Townsend Harris" by Nakanishi Michiko

(Takashi Utsumi)

Harris

Year of death: May 8, 1921
Born: July 9, 1846
A Meiji-era Methodist Episcopal missionary. He participated in the Civil War, and after graduating from university, he came to Japan with his wife, FLB Harris, in December 1873. He lived in Hakodate the following year, and in 1885, he had the first two Protestant baptized in Hokkaido. He laid the foundations of the Hakodate Church amid incidents of arrests at Christian burials and Bible lecture meetings. In 1887, he baptized students from Sapporo Agricultural College who had been taught by WS Clark, but Uchimura Kanzo and other key figures eventually rebelled against denominationalism, and in 1882, they founded the Sapporo Christian Church (Sapporo Independent Christian Church), and the Sapporo mission that Harris had begun was discontinued. In 1888, he moved to Tokyo, where he taught at Bikai Theological Seminary and Kokyo Gakusha (both of which are the origins of Aoyama Gakuin). After returning to Japan temporarily in 1884, he was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Japan and Korea in 1902, and returned to Japan the following year. He died in Tokyo. Hakodate Church has the Episcopal Harris Memorial Chapel. <References> "100 Year History of the Hakodate Church of the United Church of Christ in Japan"

(Rui Kohiyama)

Harris

Year of death: September 7, 1909 (Meiji 42)
Born: February 14, 1850
A female Methodist Episcopal missionary in the Meiji period. She obtained her MA from Allegany College. In 1873, she married fellow student MC Harris, and came to Japan with her husband in December. She began living in Hakodate the following January, assisting her husband in pioneering mission work. She gathered Japanese children at her home and taught them English, handicrafts, and manners, as well as conducting Bible classes. When she spoke about the need for women's education in Japan in the Methodist Episcopal Women's Missionary Journal, The Friend of Heathen Women, Mrs. CR Wright sympathized with her message, and in 1882 she donated funds to establish Iai Girls' School (Iai Gakuin). In 1882 she was transferred to Tokyo, but in 1884 she returned to Japan due to poor health. She worked among Japanese people living in America. In 1803 she returned to Japan with her husband. She died in Tokyo. She is also known for writing the lyrics to Hymn 343, translating Japanese literature such as Tosa Nikki into English, and being friends with Uchimura Kanzo. <Works> "Mrs. Harris's Manuscripts" edited and translated by Takeshiro Shintani, "Mrs. Harris's Poems" translated by the same author <References> "A Hundred Years of Love"

(Rui Kohiyama)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1878.2.25(1878.2.25)
生年：1804.10.4
幕末のアメリカの外交官。ニューヨーク州サンディ・ヒルに帽子商の5男として生まれる。14歳でニューヨーク市の繊維商に奉公,1820年に兄が営む陶磁器輸入商に加わって小売店を担当した。その傍ら語学修得など勉学に努め,敬虔なキリスト者として日曜学校の教師を引き受けていたほか,廉潔な性格を買われて貯蓄銀行の評議員にも選ばれている。民主党員としては社会奉仕に力を尽くし,なかでも教育委員としての活動は特筆される。41年ニューヨーク市の教育委員となり,46年6月には同委員長に選出された。47年1月,授業料免除の高等教育機関フリー・アカデミー(ニューヨーク市立大学)の創設を提案,市民の賛同が得られるや建設実行委員会の委員長として尽力した。47年に母を失い,48年1月には教育委員会委員長を辞任,その後まもなくして店が倒産した。 49年5月ニューヨークを去り,船主となってサンフランシスコ,太平洋,東南アジア,インド洋を股にかけた貿易活動に従う。54年8月,寧波のアメリカ領事に任命されるが赴任せず帰国。来たるべき初代駐日総領事に任ぜられるよう運動し,55年8月に大統領命令の形で拝命(正式な任命は56年6月)。安政3(1856)年7月21日(8月21日),下田に到着した。同5年6月19日(7月29日)念願の日米修好通商条約を結び,同年末駐日公使に昇任,文久2(1862)年4月に日本を離れた。<著作>『ハリス日本滞在記』(坂田精一訳)<参考文献>中西道子『タウンゼンド・ハリス』

(内海孝)

ハリス

没年：大正10.5.8(1921)
生年：1846.7.9
明治期のアメリカ・メソジスト監督派の宣教師。南北戦争に参加,大学卒業後の明治6(1873)年12月夫人のF.L.B.ハリスと来日。翌年より函館に居住,同8年に北海道初のプロテスタント受洗者2人を得た。キリスト教式の埋葬や聖書講義の集会で検挙される事件が起こるなかで函館教会の基礎を築く。同10年札幌で,W.S.クラークの薫陶を受けた札幌農学校の学生に授洗したが,内村鑑三ら中心人物がやがて教派主義に反発,同15年札幌基督教会(札幌独立基督教会)を設立するにおよび,ハリスに始まった札幌伝道は中断した。同11年東京に転じ,美会神学校,耕教学舎(いずれも青山学院の源流)などで教えた。同19年一時帰国後,同37年日本および韓国のメソジスト監督教会の監督に選出され,翌年再来日。東京で没。函館教会にはハリス監督記念礼拝堂がある。<参考文献>『日本基督教団函館教会100年史』

(小檜山ルイ)

ハリス

没年：明治42.9.7(1909)
生年：1850.2.14
明治期のアメリカ・メソジスト監督派の婦人宣教師。アレガニー大学でM.A.取得。明治6(1873)年同学のM.C.ハリスと結婚,12月夫と来日。翌1月より函館に居住し,夫の開拓伝道を補佐。自宅に日本人子女を集め,英語,手芸,作法などを教えるとともに,バイブル・クラスを行う。メソジスト監督派婦人伝道局の機関誌『異教徒の女性の友』に日本での女子教育の必要性を説いたところ,C.R.ライト夫人が共感,同15年遺愛女学校(遺愛学院)創立の資金を献金した。同11年東京に転任,同19年健康を害し帰国。在米邦人のなかで働く。同38年夫と再来日。東京で没。賛美歌343番の作詞,『土佐日記』など日本文学の英訳,内村鑑三との親交でも知られる。<著作>新谷武四郎編訳『ハリス夫人遺稿集』,同訳『ハリス夫人詩集』<参考文献>『遺愛百年史』

(小檜山ルイ)

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