p. 13 | WALTER L. FOSTER by WALTER L. FOSTER

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 21, 1909

WALTER L. FOSTER

By WALTER L. FOSTER

From the “Far East”—Japan

WALTER L. FOSTER

DAI-NIPPON, or Nihon, is “the great kingdom of the rising sun.” To the Japanese it does seem great. They say, “Japan of yesterday is not Japan of to-day.” Certainly it is not great in size, for its area is a little less than that of California. To get a picture of Japan, let us consider it a range of mountains, with four large peaks and hundreds of little ones appearing above the waters of the Pacific. Fuji-san, Mt. Fuji, is the sacred mountain of Japan. It is considered by tourists to be one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, and is regarded by the people the same as the sun and many other things in nature—an object of worship. The beautiful little islands and the low ranges of mountains clothed with luxuriant green, present a pleasing picture to the eye; but all is not beautiful, and all is not good, for the curse of sin rests heavily upon the people.

For more than two thousand years the most degrading influences of heathenism have filled their sad lives with darkness. Their religions are Shintoism, the national faith, which is largely a worship of ancestors and of the emperor; Confucianism; and Buddhism, whose temples, some of which are very magnificent, are found everywhere, upon every high hill and in every fine grove in the country. Truly, a messenger bearing the last gospel invitation to a fallen world, finds much in this dark land to call forth his deepest sympathy, and cause him to strive more earnestly for the reward that fadeth not away.

One of the great difficulties that immediately confronts a missionary in Japan is the language. To say the least, it is one of the most difficult languages used in the world to-day. Japanese is an interesting study, however; and while it resembles other languages somewhat, it is, on the whole, widely different. With a few exceptions, the words have no accents, and the nouns are without gender or number.

Japan has a large commercial and tourist population. These people are very much disliked by the Japanese, and their influence has a demoralizing effect upon the work of the missionaries, and it serves to sink the people deeper and deeper in sin. At present over thirty societies are at work to evangelize Japan, but only a little has been accomplished. Our work has only a beginning. Climb with me on a clear day to the top of a neighboring peak, and you will see the tile roofs of the simple abodes that contain a million souls without Christ—people that go each day to the temples to make an offering, to bump their heads on the stones, and to offer their prayers to the great Buddha, or perhaps to an idol of wood or stone.

If our brethren in the more favored America could only realize the needs of these dark lands, the greatness of the work, and the shortness of time, they would double their efforts to finish the work. May it be in the near future that the angel of Revelation 18 will unite his voice with the voice of the third angel, and the world be flooded with light.