Editorial Letter

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 24, 1907

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book on a Trip Around the World

THIS is our seventeenth day out from Vancouver, and we have just sighted the coast of Japan. It is a welcome view after a long voyage. As we expect to arrive at Yokohama to-morrow morning, I will make a few notes concerning our experiences on board this ship.

Taking it all in all, we have had a very favorable voyage. For about two thirds of the time the sea has been quiet—like a summer sea—and the remainder of the run has been the average winter experience. The “Tartar” is a sea-worthy ship, the officers are agreeable gentlemen, and we have been made as comfortable as possible.

An unusual, but very pleasant feature of this voyage is the number of missionaries on board. Our passenger list includes eight Christian workers besides myself. Of these, three are going out to China (two returning after a furlough), three are going out to Japan, one to Korea, and one to the Philippines. As there are only twenty-two passengers in all, we have been able to exert a controlling influence in the atmosphere of the ship, and the result has been a quiet and helpful experience. Besides the regular public services on Sundays, we have maintained a devotional service and Bible study each day, and have had many opportunities for personal talks upon missionary topics. I have conducted the Bible study three times, and spoken at the public service on the one Sunday.

Some of these missionaries had never met a Seventh-day Adventist before, and the others knew practically nothing about this advent movement, and it has been a privilege to talk with them about this message as opportunity has offered. Of course the Sabbath question has been discussed more than any other one topic in our private talks, and when we came to the day line, we had rather an interesting experience. As we approached the one hundred and eightieth degree of west longitude, it became evident that Sunday would be the day which ought to be dropped, but rather than to do this (on account of certain special privileges granted to the ship’s crew on that day) it was announced on Friday, December 14, that the next day would be Sunday, December 16, although, as the commander himself said, it was really Saturday. The next day was accordingly observed by all on the ship, and I took occasion to tell the missionaries that they were observing the true Sabbath with me. This circumstance served to emphasize the question of the Sabbath.

Two interesting addresses have been given by missionaries who have been home on furloughs, one on the Philippine Islands and the other on China. At the close of these addresses opportunity was given for asking questions, and much valuable information was thus gained. By this personal contact with those who have been working for years in these lands in the far East, I have already gained something of an introduction to the experiences of a missionary on the ground.

Among the missionaries is a Japanese Christian who has been to America for an education, and is now returning to his own people as a teacher of the gospel. I have had some interesting talks with him, and he has made special inquiry concerning our people and their work. He is very hopeful that Japan will be speedily evangelized, and is desirous of having a part in the work.

Since coming on board I have read with interest a missionary book entitled “Japan and Its Regeneration,” and have endeavored to get an intelligent idea of the general condition of the first country which I am to visit. In describing the present situation the writer says:—

As Japan has passed through great changes affecting all other departments of human life and thought, the religious beliefs and sentiments of the people could not remain unaffected. The old religions have been subjected to a great strain, and have failed to satisfy those who were receiving new ideas from the West. Young people taught the truths of science can not, as their parents did, bow their heads and worship the rising sun; they can not go into the Buddhist temples, kneel before the images made of wood or stone, and from their hearts repeat the Buddhist prayers. The forms may at times be preserved, but the reality has gone. Hence multitudes of the young men speak of themselves as having no religion. . . .

Japan might be described as a nation in search of a religion. Though young men may be satisfied for a while with agnosticism, the people as a whole can not be. Thoughtful men are recognizing that irreligion tends to moral degeneracy. . . . Hence many writers for the periodical press are declaring that the great need of the country is religion. . . .

Success or failure [in missionary operations] will not be confined to Japan. It is no longer a secluded nation. What is done there affects other countries, and especially those of Eastern Asia. . . . The influence of Japan upon the nations of the continent is becoming more marked. . . . If Japan should speedily become a Christian nation, Korea, Siam, and the vast empire of China would be profoundly influenced by the event itself, while the Japanese Christians, imbued with a missionary spirit, would join the churches of the West in hastening forward to bring about the redemption of Asia.

As I have pondered over these words, I have wondered if the situation thus described was not in itself a special call to us to carry this message quickly to Japan. I shall earnestly study this problem with our workers now in that field, and shall doubtless report some of our conclusions in my later letters.

Yokohama, Dec. 25, 1906.