Kanzo Uchimura

A representative Christian leader and evangelist during the Meiji and Taisho periods. Born in Edo on February 13, 1872, as the son of a samurai of the Takasaki domain. In 1873 (Meiji 6), he entered the English department of Arima Private School, and transferred to Tokyo School of Foreign Languages ​​the following year in 1874. In 1877, he entered Sapporo Agricultural College as part of its second class and signed W. S. Clark's "The Covenant of Believers in Jesus." In June of the following year, 1878, he was baptized by Methodist missionary Merriman Colbert Harris (1846-1921). He graduated from the college in 1881 and became a Hokkaido Development Commission official. Upon graduation, he and his classmates, Nitobe Inazo and others, vowed to dedicate their lives to the two Js (Jesus and Japan). In 1882, she moved to Tokyo and worked in the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, but in November 1884, she went to the United States. She worked as a nurse at an institution for mentally handicapped children in Elwyn. In September 1885, she entered Amherst College. She was greatly influenced by the president, Julius Hawley Seelye (1824-1895), and experienced a conversion in 1886. She graduated from the college in 1887, and after studying at Hartford Theological Seminary for a time, she returned to Japan in May 1888.

On his return to Japan, he was first appointed as vice principal of Hokuetsu Gakkan in Niigata, but due to conflicts with missionaries he returned to Tokyo within the same year. In January 1891, he resigned from his position as a temporary teacher at First Higher Middle School after causing the so-called "disrespect incident" at the reading ceremony of the Imperial Rescript on Education. He later became a teacher at Taisei Gakkan in Osaka, the English School in Kumamoto, and the Nagoya Eiwa School. During this time, he published his representative works, including "Consolation for Christian Faithfuls" and "Record of Seeking Peace" (1893), "Thoughts on Geography" (1894, later renamed "Jinjinron"), as well as the English versions " Japan and the Japanese " (1894) and " How I Became a Christian " (1895). In 1897, he became chief editor of the English column of the Yorozu Choho. The following year, in 1898, he founded the Tokyo Independent Magazine, where he penned scathing social and civilizational criticism based on Christianity. In September 1900 (Meiji 33), he founded the magazine Bibliographical Studies, and from then on, publishing the magazine and lecturing on the Bible became his life's work. In the same year, he became a guest writer for the Yorozu Chosui Newspaper again, and participated in the anti-mining movement at the Ashio Copper Mine and the social reform movement led by the Ideal Group. In 1903, he advocated non-war regarding the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, and left the company along with Kotoku Shusui and Sakai Toshihiko. From 1918 (Taisho 7), he participated in the Second Coming of Christ movement together with Nakada Juji (1870-1939), Kimura Seimatsu (1874-1958), and others. He died on March 28, 1930.

He also wrote many other books, including "The Greatest Legacy for Future Generations" (1897) and "A Study of the Roman Script" (1924). Not only did he create a great stir in the Christian world as an advocate of non-church Christianity, but his prophetic ideas had a wide and profound impact on many areas of Japanese religion, education, thought, literature, society, and more, and his disciples included many talented people such as Fujii Takeshi, Yanaihara Tadao (1893-1961), and Mitani Takamasa.

[Norihisa Suzuki March 19, 2018]

"The Complete Works of Kanzo Uchimura, 40 volumes (1980-1984, Iwanami Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期のキリスト教の代表的指導者、伝道者。万延(まんえん)2年2月13日高崎藩士の子として江戸に生まれる。1873年（明治6）有馬私学校(ありましがっこう)英学科に入学、翌1874年東京外国語学校に転じた。1877年札幌農学校に第2期生として入学し、W・S・クラークの残した「イエスを信ずる者の契約」に署名。翌1878年6月メソジスト教会宣教師ハリスMerriman Colbert Harris（1846―1921）より受洗。1881年同校を卒業し、開拓使御用掛(ごようがかり)となった。卒業にあたり、同期の新渡戸稲造(にとべいなぞう)らと一生を二つのJ（JesusとJapan）に捧(ささ)げることを誓い合った。1882年上京し、農商務省水産課に勤めたが、1884年11月渡米。エルウィンの知的障害児施設で看護人として働く。1885年9月アマースト大学に入学。総長シーリーJulius Hawley Seelye（1824―1895）の大きな影響を受け、1886年に回心を体験した。1887年同校を卒業し、一時ハートフォード神学校で学んだあと、1888年5月に帰国した。

　帰国するや、まず新潟の北越学館に教頭として赴任したが、宣教師と対立して同年のうちに帰京した。1891年1月、嘱託教員を務める第一高等中学校での教育勅語捧読(ほうどく)式で、いわゆる「不敬事件」を引き起こして辞職。のち、大阪の泰西学館(たいせいがっかん)、熊本の英学校、名古屋英和学校の教師となる。この間、『基督(キリスト)信徒の慰(なぐさめ)』『求安録』（1893）、『地理学考』（1894。のち『地人論』に改題）のほか、英文の『Japan and the Japanese』（1894）、『How I Became a Christian』（1895）など、その代表的著作を刊行した。1897年から『萬朝報(よろずちょうほう)』の英文欄主筆となる。翌1898年『東京独立雑誌』を創刊、キリスト教に基づく痛烈な社会批判、文明批評に筆を振るった。1900年（明治33）9月より雑誌『聖書之研究』を創刊、以後この刊行と聖書講義とがその一生の仕事となる。同年にはふたたび『萬朝報』の客員となり、足尾銅山(あしおどうざん)鉱毒反対運動、理想団による社会改良運動に従った。1903年日露開戦をめぐり非戦論を主張し、幸徳秋水(こうとくしゅうすい)や堺利彦(さかいとしひこ)らと同社を退社。1918年（大正7）からは中田重治(なかだじゅうじ)（1870―1939）、木村清松(きむらせいまつ)（1874―1958）らとキリスト再臨運動に従った。昭和5年3月28日に没した。

　著書はほかに『後世への最大遺物』（1897）、『羅馬書(ロマしょ)の研究』（1924）など多数ある。無教会主義キリスト教の主張者としてキリスト教界に大きな波動をおこしたのみならず、その預言者的思想は、日本の宗教、教育、思想、文学、社会その他多方面に広く深い影響を及ぼし、その門から藤井武(ふじいたけし)、矢内原忠雄(やないはらただお)（1893―1961）、三谷隆正(みたにたかまさ)ら多数の人材を輩出させた。

［鈴木範久　2018年3月19日］

『『内村鑑三全集』全40巻（1980～1984・岩波書店）』

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