Honda Yoichi - Honda Yoichi

Japanese: 本多庸一 - ほんだ・よういつ

Year of death: March 26, 1912 (Meiji 45)
Year of birth: December 13, 1849 (January 7, 1849)
A Christian leader in the late Edo and Meiji periods, he was the first bishop and educator of the Methodist Church in Japan. He was the eldest son of Honda Hisamoto and Tomoko, samurai of the Tsugaru domain. He was born in Hirosaki, Mutsu Province (Aomori Prefecture). His childhood name was Tokuzou. In 1865, he became the supervisor of the domain school Keikokan. In 1870, he read part of the Chinese translation of the Bible into Genesis. In the same year, he was ordered by the domain to study in Yokohama, and entered J. H. Barra's school to learn English, where he encountered Christianity. In 1872, he again studied in Yokohama at his own expense, was baptized by Barra, joined the Church of Christ in Japan, and evangelized in Kanagawa Prefecture and the Boso region. In 1873, he returned home and became the head of To-o Gijuku, the successor to Keikokan, and evangelized with J. Inge, and founded the Hirosaki Methodist Church the following year. He formed the Kyodo Kai and participated in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, petitioning for the establishment of a national parliament. In 1882, he was elected to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly, and played an active role as its chairman. He traveled to Tokyo to work on the issue of building a railway between Tokyo and Aomori. In 1886, he resigned from his position as a member of the Diet and took up his post as pastor of Sendai Church (Sendai Gokyo Church). The following year, he became head and professor of Tokyo Eiwa School (the predecessor of Aoyama Gakuin) and pastor of Aoyama Mii Church. In 1896, he traveled to the United States, and after escaping a train accident, he resolved to devote himself to evangelism and education, and studied at Drew Theological Seminary. In 1898, he became principal of Tokyo Eiwa School, and ran the school for the next 17 years. During this time, he was active as a leader in the "conflict between education and religion" in 1890 and in the movement against the Ministry of Education's instruction No. 12, which banned religious education in 1897, and in the First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, he organized battlefield comfort troupes and otherwise cooperated with the war effort. In 1897, the three Methodist denominations merged, and he became the first director. In 1900, he was active as a representative of Christianity in the joint Shinbutsu-Ki Sankyokai. With a spirit of "respect for the Emperor and patriotism," he worked hard to establish Christianity in Japan. <Works> Takagi Jintaro (ed.), "Honda Yoichi Sensei's Posthumous Manuscripts" <References> Okada Tetsuzou, "The Life of Honda Yoichi"; Aoyama Gakuin (ed.), "Honda Yoichi"

(Tetsuya Ohama)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治45.3.26(1912)
生年：嘉永1.12.13(1849.1.7)
幕末明治期のキリスト教界の指導者で日本メソヂスト教会初代監督,教育者。津軽藩士本多久元,とも子の長男。陸奥国(青森県)弘前生まれ。幼名徳蔵。慶応1(1865)年藩校稽古館司監。明治3(1870)年に漢訳聖書の創世記を一部読む。同年藩命で横浜に留学,英語を学ぶためJ.H.バラの塾に入り,キリスト教と出会う。同5年に再び自費で横浜遊学,バラより受洗,日本基督公会に参加し,神奈川県をはじめ,房総地方に伝道。同7年に帰郷,稽古館の後身東奥義塾塾頭となり,J.イングと共に伝道,翌年弘前公会を設立。共同会を結成して自由民権運動に参加,国会開設を請願する。同15年青森県議会議員に当選,議長として活躍。東京―青森間鉄道敷設問題で上京奔走する。同19年に議員を辞し,仙台教会(仙台五橋教会)牧師として赴任。翌年東京英和学校(青山学院の前身)校主兼教授および青山美以教会牧師に就任する。同21年に渡米,列車事故をまぬかれたのを契機に伝道・教育に専心する決意をかため,ドゥルー神学校に学ぶ。同23年東京英和学校校長に就任,以後17年間学校経営に当たる。その間,同25年の「教育と宗教の衝突」や同32年の宗教教育を禁止する文部省訓令第12号反対運動の指導者として活躍するとともに,日清,日露戦争では戦地慰問団を組織するなど,戦争協力に励んだ。同40年メソヂスト3派合同がなり初代監督となる。同45年の神仏基三教会同ではキリスト教の代表者として活躍。「尊皇愛国」の志をもってキリスト教を日本に根づかすべく尽力した。<著作>高木壬太郎編『本多庸一先生遺稿』<参考文献>岡田哲蔵『本多庸一伝』,青山学院編『本多庸一』

(大濱徹也)

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