Jehovah's japanese Witnesses Growth, Conflicts and Prospects of a Transplanted American New Religion,

Jack E. Nelson

THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY total population, this may not seem to be a (WTBTS) has been making noteworthy inroads significant achievement, even if it is becom­ into Japan, which now has the fifth largest ing increasingly disturbing to some other population of Jehovah's Witnesses (after the Christian groups (Boyle 1991; Wood 1990). United States, Mexico, Brazil and Italy). In Nonetheless, viewed as persistent growth in 1994 the number of active members peaked an environment that has generally been at 194,608 (calculated on the basis of those very resistant to the incursion of Christ­ who are committed enough to engage ianity, particularly since the economic monthly in proselytizing activities, thus a boom that began in the 1960s (with only the rather conservative figure) and a steady Mormon Church and the Unification Church growth rate that adds around one thousand coming anywhere near matching the cur­ new members each month. 2 There are many rent growth rate of the Watch Tower religious groups in Japan that far exceed the Society), this development is drawing more Watch Tower Society in membership. Out of and more attention to the activities of the an estimated three thousand new religious Jehovah's Witnesses in Japan. movements in Japan, twenty-five to thirty of Though at one point, during the Second these claim memberships greater than the World War, the Watch Tower Movement in Watch Tower Society (Shimazono 1993, Japan was all but destroyed, its postwar 222, 227-8). However, it is unlikely that growth has been rather impressive. During any of these achieves a higher proportion of the 1970s growth rates climbed above thir­ membership involvement in training and ty-five percent annually and were higher in proselytizing activities than the Watch Japan than anywhere else in the world Tower Society does. And in a time when (Wilson 1977). Annual growth in the 1980s many of the major new religions of Japan that peaked at fifteen percent in 1983 and were established before the Second World declined from there to seven percent at the War are experiencing declines in member­ end of the decade. Growth in the 1990s has ship, the Watch Tower Society continues to been seven to eight percent. This compares expand. In comparison with other Christian with a recent growth rate of barely one per­ groups in Japan, Jehovah's Witnesses will in cent in a combined tabulation of Protestant 1996 exceed in membership the largest and Catholic membership (Burton-Lewis Protestant group in Japan and, thereafter, be 1992). Even more noteworthy is the level of second only to the Roman Catholic Church.3 involvement among Jehovah's Witnesses in With the Christian population in Japan Japan. Membership in most Japanese new being only one and a half percent of the religious movements is relatively easy to

30 NELSON: Jehovah's Japanese Witnesses

acquire and to maintain; aside from annual THE POSTWAR DEVELOPMENT OF THE membership fees, few demands are made WATCH TOWER SOCIETY IN JAPAN on most members (Inoue 1990, 190-91). The Watch Tower Society has had two Many Catholic and Protestant groups in beginnings in Japan. The early efforts, Japan report only one-third to one-half of before the war, were all but destroyed in a their membership attends church services on a given Sunday (Burton-Lewis 1992, 124). In ruthless campaign to silence religious dissent. contrast, among Jehovah's Witnesses it is Known at the time as Todaisha (The only those who turn in monthly reports on Lighthouse), the movement was led by their proselytizing efforts that are counted in Akashi Junzo, a mostly self-taught Japanese published statistical reports. Around thir­ man who lived in the United States from ty-three percent of these serve as "regular pio­ age eighteen to thirty-six. Returning to neers," devoting ninety hours a month, Japan as a missionary for the movement in unpaid, to canvassing work and conducting 1926, he focused on translating, embellish­ studies with prospective members, while ing and distributing the writings of Joseph another fourteen percent puts in sixty hours Rutherford, the second president of the doing the same activities as "auxiliary pio­ Watch Tower Society. Though he recruited a following to help in disseminating litera­ neers. "4 Attendance at meetings (generally five hours a week) is taken for granted and ture, little effort was made to institutional­ is in addition to this. If one were to consid­ ize regular meetings and total committed er peak attendance as a significant indicator, membership never exceeded more than a a figure that includes those who are nominal few hundred people. It was a period of high members and interested non-members, the tension with the surrounding society, espe­ annual ~·memorial service" (the Watch cially during the 1930s, as Rutherford was a Tower Society's version of a communion vociferous critic of apostate religion, big service, but also an occasion when special government, capitalist exploitation and effort is made to invite non-members) drew natim:ialism. Akashi boldly aimed these cri­ 375,131 people in 1994 in Japan (Watch­ tiques at the growing militarism in Japan in tower 1/1/95, 13). a time when most religious groups· were It is in looking at Jehovah's Witnesses as cowering and conforming to government a relatively successful Christian group and demands for support for the war. Arrests, as a group that has succeeded in mobilizing lengthy interrogations and the imprison­ a high level of commitment among mem­ ment of many members during the war all but bers that this essay seeks to investigate the destroyed these early efforts. The final turn achievements of the Watch Tower Society in of events came after the war when Akashi lev­ Japan. What follows is an examination of eled criticism at the Watch Tower Society's the postwar development of the Society in leadership in New York, whom he accused Japan, an analysis of strategies that have of compromising biblical truth in a quest been used and a look at current programs for higher membership goals. A severance of sponsored by the group. Consideration will ties with the parent body followed and then be given to opposition that the Witness Todaisha disbanded when American mis­ community has faced from other religious sionaries came to Japan in 1949 to restart the groups and from the society at large. In con­ movement (Inagaki 1972; WTBTS 1972, clusion, an assessment will be made of the 214-22; Nelson, 1995). nature of the success of this group in carv­ Akashi's excommunication was not . ing out a niche in Japanese society and its uncharacteristic of Watch Tower Society future prospects. responses to dissent within the movement.

31 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996

Since then he has been portrayed by the Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Kagoshima Watch Tower Society as an apostate who and Sasebo. The strategy was similar to became deluded during his interrogation what Jehovah's Witnesses have employed and claimed to be the Christ and as one who throughout the world. The new missionar­ lacked the humility needed to conform to the ies began calling on homes soon after settling "true" pattern of theocratic leadership. But in, using what little Japanese they had there may well have been other reasons for already learned to tell the message of his dismissal. The Society may have moved Jehovah's kingdom, distributing pieces of quickly to prevent a more acrimonious literature that had been translated into schism later. They also may have shrewdly Japanese and meeting regularly with peo­ seen the potential for greater growth in the ple interested in learning more about the improved climate of religious freedom in group's doctrines. The reception they gen­ postwar Japan if they began anew with less erally received in the early years was for the independent-minded leadership (Nelson, missionaries surprisingly positive. There 1995). As it is, only a handful of Todaisha seemed to be little animosity left over from members continued with the reorganized the war, even in places like Tokyo and movement. Hiroshima. People were eager to become The new founding of the Japan mission acquainted with foreigners and to learn thus began in January 1949 when Don English. Initially people gathered in mis­ Haslett, formerly the Society's branch coor­ sionary residences or in front yards when the dinator for Hawaii, arrived in Tokyo and crowds grew. Later on people readily invit­ began searching for a location to launch the ed Witnesses into their homes; it was easy movement again. He purchased a building in to get Bible studies started. Growth was not the Minato-ku area of Tokyo, very near Kei6 dramatic, but steady. By 1952 there were University. This location would remain the four native Japanese doing pioneering headquarters and publishing center of the alongside the missionaries and around movement until 1972 (and still serves as a three hundred "publishers" (i.e., active home for elderly missionaries). By the end members). Missionaries generally only of 1949, Haslett had been joined by his wife worked in about ten locations at a time and and eleven other adult missionaries, many remained in most areas for only three to five of them Japanese Hawaiians who had trained years, long enough to get a congregation at the Society's missionary training school in started and indigenous leadership trained South Lansing, New York. They were soon on the job before moving on to new locations. joined by others from Australia and New By 1965 there were 3,639 publishers. After Zealand; by 1952 there were a total of fifty­ this growth became more dramatic, perhaps one missionaries. Thereafter the number of in part due to increased anticipation missionaries would climb to as many as focused on 1975 as a probable year for the eighty, until1972, when missionary invol­ apocalypse. The year 1969 saw a twenty­ vement began tapering off.5 five percent increase and the 10,000-mem­ Early missionary efforts concentrated on bers-mark was reached in 1970. (Watch urban centers with populations of over a Tower Society congregations are started in million. By 1952 centers of mission activity different areas but also, as is the universal had been established in Tokyo, Kobe, practice, are generally divided when they Nagoya, Osaka and Yokohama, as well as in reach around one hundred and fifty mem­ Kyoto and Sendai. The year 1957 marked bers. Multiple congregations, as many as another big expansion of efforts with mis­ four, then use the same simple, functional sionary activity beginning in Hiroshima, Kingdom Hall facilities.) By 1972 there

32 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses were around eight congregations in most of cess, believing that the end of the age would Japan's population centers of over a million be upon them much sooner. The Japan people; Tokyo had thirty-three congrega­ Branch leadership was turned over to a tions. Growth rates grew to thirty-eight per­ Japanese "brother" in 1975. Since then a cent in 1974. By 1975, when Armageddon "branch committee" has been formed to had been expected, there were 33,000 mem­ oversee the work in Japan. Presently, six of bers. There were isolated incidents of mem­ the seven committee members are Japanese. bers selling all their assets to devote them­ Most "district overseers" and most "circuit selves full time to pioneering work; others overseers" are also Japanese. (There are had foregone medical treatment, expecting presently eleven districts in Japan with ten the end of the present world system. to twelve circuits in each, and most circuits Defections increased for awhile after 1975, have twenty or more congregations. In 1994 and growth rates dropped to nineteen percent there was a total of 3,365 congregations.) the following year and eleven percent the District and circuit overseers are supported year after that. by the Society. They generally do not main­ Preparations, however, had already been tain a home of their own and are expected made for a longer stay in Japan and greater to remain childless, spending their lives, expansion-but not as great as what was to together with their wives, staying in the occur. A new headquarters and printing homes of members as they travel around plant was opened seventy-five miles south­ and visit a different congregation each west of Tokyo at Numazu in 1972. By the end week. At the congregational level, elders of the decade this new center had been out­ (up to three or more) are lay members who grown. A new location was then selected in supervise the teaching and proselytizing Ebina, just west of Tokyo, and opened in work. Distinctions between clergy and laity May 1982. (This center was expanded con­ are repudiated, at least ostensibly, and local siderably in 1989, and plans are presently congregations are not saddled with the sup­ being made for more expansion.) The port of a professional leadership. 100,000-membership-mark was reached in 1985; growth rates had declined some but Strategies and Motivations still remained robust. Large urban centers have been the most fruitful areas for re­ The strategy used has been the same as that cruitment, particularly in Kobe, Osaka and used worldwide. Those who express inter­ Yokohama. Rural areas have always been est in learning about Watch Tower Society more resistant to recruitment by canvassing teachings are encouraged to have a Witness efforts, with greater social pressure directed meet with them once a week in their homes against those who begin Bible studies with for "Bible studies" that focus mostly on the Witnesses. The island of Hokkaido, made Society's literature. As the person's interest up largely of a population that has moved grows, he or she will be invited to attend from elsewhere in Japan during this centu­ Sunday meetings at a Kingdom Hall. This ini­ ry, has been a high growth area as well. tial indoctrination period will generally Since 1992, every neighborhood in Japan is continue for a year or more. Full membership being canvassed on a regular basis by comes when a person is baptized, and then Jehovah's Witnesses; many neighborhoods in only after having demonstrated a willing­ urban areas are visited every two months; ness to serve Jehovah, to conform to the most rural areas are visited every four to six group's moral standards, and after having months (WTBTS 1992, 48-49). Early mis­ successfully answered to the satisfaction of sionaries had never envisioned such sue- the congregation's elders a lengthy list of

33 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 7996

questions regarding the group's doctrine. role playing to sharpen members' apolo­ Faithfulness to the task will, thereafter, be getic responses. maintained through weekly involvement at All this training is very much directed meetings, canvassing work and a steady toward the cultivation of lives that are diet of the Society's literature. meant to exemplify Jehovah's Witnesses, Meetings are less times of worship than including active involvement in "service indoctrination and training sessions. work." Door-to-door canvassing work or People used to a rich tradition of worship distribution of literature on the streets is not experience might feel that worship gets an option for members and everyone must eclipsed by teaching in these meetings. put in at least an hour a month to remain in Singing is kept to a minimum and there are good standing. Many put in much more. no special musical performances or liturgy. Members are encouraged to become pio­ Charismatic leadership is not encouraged. neers, either regular or auxiliary; signi­ Hour-long sermons on Sundays given by a ficantly, forty-seven percent of Witnesses in congregational elders, or an assistant (min­ Japan do. Housewives figure prominently istry servant), follow outlines that are pre­ among these pioneers, as do young people, pared in the Brooklyn, New York, head­ who are generally encouraged to forego a quarters of the movement. This is followed college education and postpone marriage to by an hour-long study of a Watchtower arti­ devote themselves to proselytizing. Many cle that follows a question and response members work part time or at jobs that allow flexibility in working hours so that method. The questions are given in the foot­ they can do pioneering. notes of the article so that members can pre­ Ostensibly, the motivation for all this pare responses in advance that reflect what activity is one of carrying out the biblical has been written in the article. Generally, command to evangelize the world, with members of all ages eagerly speak up to door-to -door preaching work believed to be demonstrate their understanding, encour­ the divinely-appointed method (Watch­ aging a shared experience. The method is tower 7/15/79, 20-21; Franz 1991, ch. 7). obviously pedagogically effective in engag­ An urgency is added to the task because of ing people in the learning process. the imminence of the apocalyptic destruction Nonetheless, sessions are very much con­ of the present world-system. The Watch trolled by an elder and questions and Tower Society has interpreted the high answers are limited by what is given in the level of commitment of members in Japan as text. Other meetings held during the week being derived from a deep-seated cultural fac­ include, first of all, a book study, generally tor that was very evident in the widespread held at a member's home, that focuses on worship of the emperors in former times reading and discussing current texts pub­ and in the willingness on the part of sol­ lished by the Watch Tower Society. On diers to die for the emperor. Such deep another weekday night, a Theocratic Minis­ devotion resulted in disillusionment after try School meeting concentrates on culti­ the war but now has a new object in vating communication skills to be used in Jehovah (Watchtower 1/1/92). Faithfulness ministry. Again, there is no segregation by age in the task is considered essential to devel­ as all participate in honing their skills op the spiritual fortitude needed to with­ before the group by giving short presentations stand the persecution that will occur during on assigned topics. This is followed by a the apocalypse. Continued failure to per­ Service meeting that trains members for form service work can lead to being "disfel­ door-to-door witnessing and often involves lowshipped" (i.e., excommunicated). One's

34 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses

service work is meant to be central to one's ibility of the message being propagated. A life. An emphasis on ascetic living and the record of one's spiritual performance is transience of the present world system rein­ carefully quantified in such terms as hours forces this, as do continuous reminders spent canvassing and the number of Bible received through articles in the Watchtower studies conducted, with a degree of com­ and Awake! featuring Witnesses who suf­ petitiveness often present among Witnesses fered in Nazi concentration camps and oth­ in this regard. This record can be a weighty ers who have been persecuted for their matter for young men who hope to advance beliefs, thus accentuating the difference to leadership positions in the organization between Jehovah's Witnesses and other (along with the record of their spouses, if they people. are married). Statistical reports of growth Other motivating factors are obviously at are published monthly as visible evidence of work as well. Long-time missionary and for­ the fruitfulness of people's efforts. Large, mer branch overseer Lloyd Barry (now a biennial circuit assemblies and even larger member of the Governing Body) is reported annual district assemblies bring together to have commented once that in Japan "pio­ vast gatherings of Witnesses and can con­ neering is the thing to do" for young people tribute profoundly to people's experience who have just completed their schooling; of the significance of the endeavor they are and missionaries have acknowledged that involved in. peer pressure to do pioneering among Japanese Witnesses is intense (Franz 1991, Problematic Aspects of Witness Growth 205). It is also acknowledged that most Japanese who join the Watch Tower Society Despite the record of involvement of mem­ tend to be very obedient; they do what they bers and the impressive growth rates of are told to do by congregational leaders and Jehovah's Witnesses in Japan, the effective­ comply with the social mores of the group ness of canvassing effort warrants examina­ and the demands to control individualistic tion. If the total number of hours spent in impulses. The authority structure in the proselytizing work is divided by the number movement is a system that finds an ideal of new members, a rough e~timate of the complement among Japanese people who fruitfulness ofthis activity can be arrived at. have been through school systems that rein­ This comes to 7,998 hours for each new force a high level of discipline and confor­ active member (i.e., publisher) in 1994. Put mity. Some of the effective pedagogical differently, this would amount to nearly methods used are also similar to what two hundred forty-hour work-weeks for Japanese students are used to. On top of each new publisher. Less than five percent this, a pervasive corporate spirit encourages of this time is spent in Bible studies. each and every one to join in and do their part However, these calculations need to be as an expression of loyalty to the organiza­ qualified. First, many new recruits are ini­ tion, something that most people find cul­ tially contacted in families or other social turally continuous with much of the gatherings rather than as a result of house Japanese social world. All this is encour­ calls (as much as forty percent. or more).6 aged as being consistent with sincere belief Effective recruitment occurs among women in doctrines that emphasize the rewards of who meet at child-care facilities or PTA the future over the present and the need to meetings, and some increase results from prepare oneself for times of testing by prov­ members having children. Secondly, there ing one's faithfulness. The intense commit­ are defections, even if the rate is relatively ment required of members adds to the cred- low. Using one method of estimating the

35 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 7996 rate of defections and averaging it over a nized efforts are being made to contact by recent five-year period results in a defection telephone people who do not answer their rate of around two percent per year.? Some doorbell. of these have been excommunicated for There are some other signs of weakness­ moral offenses; others have merely dropped es in the mobilization of members and in out or become inactive. Those who leave as proselytizing efforts, even as the percentage a matter of conscience and make their of members committing themselves to pio­ views public are far fewer. 8 The result is neering service increases. The growing pro­ that more are actually recruited than are portion of memorial service attenders to shown in membership increases, but with so active members may be a sign of an increase many drawn into the movement by alterna­ in interest on the part of non-members, or it tive means, the time spent canvassing per could indicate an increase in less active each new recruit enlisted by that means is members as well. Even clearer from statistics still greater than the above figure (Penton the Society publishes is that there is a 1985, 243).9 significant gap in the mobilization of active There also seems to have been a members. While forty-seven percent of significant decline in the effectiveness of Witnesses in Japan are devoting sixty or these recruitment methods (with the above ninety hours a month to service work, the qualifications applicable). Ten years ago average number of hours devoted to prose­ less than half as much time was expended lytizing activities each month by the fifty­ for each new recruit, and twenty years ago three percent who are not pioneers is less seventy percent less time was needed. The than six hours. Defections, nonetheless, as most significant declines in annual growth noted above, seem to be relatively low. rates occurred in the two years following Further, though studies have shown that the failed 1975 prediction mentioned above religious "belief is firmest among those and in the years following a prolonged whose social network and whose religious media attack on Witnesses in the wake of a affiliation are coextensive" (Stark and particularly poignant blood transfusion Bainbridge 1985, 320), a condition that is cer­ case in 1985 (see below), when growth tainly evident among Witnesses, this dropped to seven percent from thirteen per­ inhibits defections but it can also limit cent the year before. Witnesses acknowl­ growth. Witnesses are discouraged from too edge that people are much less welcoming much or too close association with non­ at their doors than in former years, often members. Yet, a "group's effectiveness in objecting to the Society's position of blood gaining recruits depends greatly on the transfusions, and it is much more difficult to extent to which its members have, or can get people to agree to meet for Bible studies. enter, social networks outside the group" The official response to the decline in (Stark and Bainbridge 1985, 323). If the recruitment effectiveness is that the gather­ effectiveness of canvassing efforts are ing of the "sheep" is nearing completion in declining, as evidence suggests, and if the Japan. There remains, nonetheless, an teachings of the community, not to mention urgency to recruit those that remain. Door­ the intense involvement of members, to-door service work is viewed as not just a results in social isolation, it could be that recruitment tactic but also a separating task, growth is now increasingly coming from offering people a chance to respond and intra-family contacts and members having thus separating the sheep from the goats. No children. major changes have been introduced in Critics have been quick to point out what recruitment methods, though some orga- may seem like a lot of wasted hours of can-

36 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses vassing effort that could be more construc­ nizable truth is lacking. With the world as it tively devoted to social programs or even is soon to be destroyed and replaced by a par­ ministering more to members of the congre­ adise on earth, such efforts are considered to gations. There have long been tensions in the be a waste of resources (e.g., WTBTS 1993, Watch Tower Society over this issue, with the 201, 525). Failure to build schools and hos­ Society refusing to compromise the prima­ pitals and engage in other social welfare cy of proselytizing. Here critics have programs has at times been taken as a pre­ accused the Society of a single-minded text for banning the Watch Tower Society devotion to numerical growth at the from conducting missionary work in some expense of a more holistic development of countries. The Society has, however, been members. For the Society, proselytizing is the defended for making a significant social raison d'etre for members and the experience contribution wherever it works by the cul­ that separates the truly committed from tivation of moral character in people nominal believers (e.g., Penton 1985, 206, (Wilson 1973). Members are frequently 218).1o It is an experience that constantly praised for their honesty and hard-working reminds Witnesses of their relation to the natures. And the Society's literature, par­ world as that of a separated remnant. ticularly the bimonthly magazine Awake!, Continuous training for this task and par­ (sometimes called the Reader's Digest of the ticipation in it serve to maintain a high movement) has increasingly featured arti­ level of commitment in members. Also, the cles that commendably address social literature distribution that this service work issues, such as ecology, alcoholism and achieves ends up being the major source of child abuse. Some of this is intended to por­ income for the Society. Though literature is tray the decadence and corruption of the distributed free of charge (to avoid charges age but much of it is also a response to a of profit making), members are encouraged growing demand from readers for help in to voluntarily contribute an above cost coping with these problems (Watchtower price for the literature they distribute or 1/1/94). read themselves. The difference represents a significant source of financing for the Publishing and Mission Outreach organization. Any curtailment of service work as it is now understood would, there­ Publishing and distribution of literature has fore, result in the need for alternative means always been a central feature of the Watch of financial support. Tower Society. The Ebina headquarters of the Social programs have never been a prior­ movement in Japan, modeled after the ity among Jehovah's Witnesses and, except Bethel headquarters of the movement in for occasional literacy classes in some Brooklyn, New York, has grown into a large countries in Africa and increasingly well­ publishing operation. Almost all literature is organized relief programs that respond to prepared in Brooklyn but is now published the needs of Jehovah's Witnesses in dis­ in up to twenty languages and braille at the tress, there are no institutionalized social Ebina center and shipped to fifty countries programs sponsored by the Society. throughout Asia and as far as Eastern Criticism, sometimes bordering on ridicule, Europe. However, the center is much more is often directed by the Watch Tower than just a publishing plant and the head­ Society at other religious groups that make quarters of the movement in Japan. It has social programs the focus of much of their become something like a pilgrimage center work, suggesting that such programs serve for Witnesses from throughout Japan who merely as enticements where clearly recog- come to attend assemblies or to participate

37 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 7996 in guided tours. A community of five hun­ from rural areas, with a lack of neighbor­ dred and twenty-some volunteers lives at hood interaction; religious involvement the center and works to keep the operation fills a spiritual and social need. Recruit­ going. Most of these workers are young ment of families often begins with the men, second-generation Witnesses, who women in the family, then the children, have been recommended by their congrega­ sometimes followed by the husband. In a tions and approved by their circuit over­ survey of Jehovah's Witnesses in Tokyo seers for the privilege of working at the cen­ taken nearly twenty years ago, Bryan ter. They are provided with an apartment and Wilson (1977, 113) found the socioeconom­ they take their meals in a large communal ic standing of members was heavily weight­ dining room. In addition, they receive a ed toward people in clerical work and sales. small stipend to cover personal expenses. Among the many housewives, there were They must complete a nine-month training some, however, whose husbands were cor­ period first, then they can stay as long as they poration salary men. Since then there seems want, provided they faithfully do their to have been a rise in the socioeconomic assigned tasks and participate in the meet­ standing of the average Witness and an ings and service work expected of them. increase in the proportion of professionals in They can be assigned to a variety of tasks, the group (partly a reflection of changes in such as maintaining the presses and keeping the population in general). Sectarian reli­ them rolling, automotive maintenance, car­ gion demanding discipline and active pentry, editing and translating. Thus for involvement frequently does lead to an most it is an opportunity to learn one or enhancement of economic well-being more trades while they serve. among members. This in turn can lead to a The Japan branch has grown from a for­ gradual liberalization of a group's doctrine eign mission field for the Watch Tower and practices as increasingly affluent mem­ Society to a missionary-sending arm of the bers, particularly second-generation mem­ Society. A Ministerial Training School is bers, seek greater respectability in the now located at Ebina for preparing mis­ broader society (cf. Stark and Bainbridge sionaries (single males) for work in foreign 1985, ch. 7). The Watch Tower Society has countries. Currently, fifty-some missionaries definitely tried to counter such develop­ from Japan have been sent to six countries, ments by not relaxing the stringent expec­ including Taiwan, the Solomon Islands, tations placed on members and by discour­ Papua New Guinea and Brazil. Work among aging any single-minded pursuit of upward foreigners living in Japan is also rapidly mobility. A college education is not prohib­ growing. Presently there are English (14), ited by the Society but young people are Portuguese (11), Spanish (5) and Chinese told to weigh the advantages of higher edu­ (2) congregations. cation for their ministry and not to focus on social or material advantages. Generally Demographic Characteristics young people are encouraged to choose jobs in the vocational sector, technical jobs, con­ There are a number of noteworthy demo­ structions skills, or computer work, for graphic characteristics of the movement in example, rather than the professions or the Japan. As in most Japanese new religious corporate world. Few, if any, second-gener­ movements, women make up a substantial ation Witnesses join corporations. At the portion of active adult membership, over same time, the movement does not like seventy percent by most estimates. In urban dealing with unemployment in its ranks areas women experience most the dislocation and thus encourages versatility of employ-

38 NELSON: }ehovah~s japanese Witnesses ment among members. The membership decline in the influence of established reli­ also serves as a valuable network in assist­ gious traditions, particularly Shintoism, ing people in finding jobs. has given such opportunity for the emer­ gence of these marginal religious groups JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND OTHER that the vitality of much religious life in RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN JAPAN Japan has shifted to new religious move­ ments. Winston Davis (1980, 296) suggests Bryan Wilson, in his research on the Watch that these groups "seem to represent the Tower Society in Japan, noted that cultural mainstream of the country .... Japanese traditional religion, with its Japan's Great Tradition virtually is her emphasis on Buddhist rituals, venera­ Little Tradition." It is these movements that tion of ancestors, household shrines and pose the greatest competition for any reli­ shamanistic performances, is scarcely a gious group vying for converts in Japan. The seed-bed for radical Christian lay asceti­ Watch Tower Society has obviously cism of a highly rationalistic type. The life­ benefited from this new religious climate, style and austere religious practice of the even though it has not been able to compete Witnesses is quite remote from the per­ as well as movements that are more cultur­ vasive symbolism, liturgical richness, ally continuous with conventional faiths. music, dance, and gesture of traditional Japanese religion (Wilson 1977, 98). jehovah's Witnesses and japanese New Further, the Watch Tower Society, unlike Religious Movements many Christian missions these days, makes no pretense of encouraging the develop­ On first observation, popular new religions ment of an inculturated version of the faith. in Japan present a marked contrast to The pattern universally promoted involves Witness beliefs and practices. These groups an ethos that resembles much that origi­ generally draw heavily on folk religious tra­ nates in Middle America, with an added ditions that remain viable to many Japanese emphasis on a kingdom-oriented life. Still, people, are often eclectic and inclusive in more and more Japanese people are finding their beliefs and practices, frequently provide it an attractive religious option .. This can social benefits for members (e.g., day care partly be explained by the change in the cent~rs, schools, activities for seniors) and are religious climate in Japan. Statistics reveal commonly verythis-worldly in their orien­ a widespread irreligiosity of Japanese people, tation, attracting followers in search of heal­ with two-thirds responding in opinion ing and material success. A premium is polls that they are not religious. By being placed on restoring harmony with oneself, nonreligious, mo~t seem to mean that they with nature, with the spirits of one's ances­ are not actively religious as involved mem­ tors and in social relations (McFarland bers (generally meaning not involved in a 1967; Hardacre 1986, ch. 1). Among the so new religious group) though many remain called "neo-new religions" that have flour­ open to the possibility of the existence of the ished more recently, there is recurrently supernatural and divine assistance and will extensive preoccupation with occult phe­ make appeals to divine powers in times of nomenon and esoteric rituals, accompanied crisis (Swyngedouw 1986). This, together by a decline of confidence in science and with widespread social-cultural changes, technology (e.g., Davis 1980; Reader 1988; has made for a fertile climate for the growth Mullins 1992). While these neo-new reli­ of new religious movements. A significant gions have introduced some innovation,

39 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996

their popularity and relative success in be followed by a new age of bliss for those contemporary Japan is clearly due in who conform to the teachings of the group part to their effectiveness in relating to the and devote themselves to accomplishing "old" concerns for ancestors, spirits, and the momentous tasks that remain to be done magical healing which have dominated before the end can come (Blacker 1971, 584, folk religion for centuries .... [And they do 599; Ooms 1993; Reader 1988, 252-3; this while offering] exciting religious Young 1993, 245). Questioning distinctions experience without the excessive pres­ made in established religions between reli­ sures of conformity demanded by the gious professionals and the laity is another larger social system and without the frequently shared concern. There is typical­ requirement of adherence to a rigorously ly much more opportunity for and encour­ defined belief system (Mullins 1992, agement of lay involvement in many of 240, 244). these movements. Active proselytizing is The Witnesses, on the other hand, are gen­ also common, together with massive assem­ erally much more ascetic, other-worldly, blies, sometimes held in stadiums, that gen­ very exclusive and rigidly doctrinaire. erate visible displays of the growth and Witnesses are forbidden to participate in social strength of the individual move­ indigenous religious festivals or to perform ments. Many of these groups, like the any worshipful acts at Buddhist funerals Watch Tower Society, are tightly adminis­ they may attend. Though Witnesses tered and have highly centralized authority acknowledge the reality of occult phenom­ structures (McFarland 1967). Finally, and enon, they strictly forbid any participation here the Watch Tower Society succeeds in such rituals,11 and, as noted above, there best, many new religious groups promote is little that goes on at Kingdom Halls in the themselves as being international move­ way of worship and practices that could be ments with a universally relevant message. considered esoteric. Nonetheless, there are common features jehovah's Witnesses and //Christendom" in between the Watch Tower Society and japan many new religious movements that can account partially for why the Society has The Watch Tower Society's relationship shared some of the same success in Japan. with other Christian groups in Japan has Many of these groups, together with the involved more tension even though they are Witnesses, are stridently critical of the tra­ more closely related. Whereas there has ditional religious establishment. There is a been little hindrance from Japanese new widespread view that the traditional reli­ religious groups,13 there is growing opposi­ gious establishment has lost touch with the tion from some Christian quarters. A long his­ genuine sources of spiritual truth, corrupt­ tory of derogatory, often generalized and ed doctrine and become preoccupied with unfair, criticism has been hurled in both commercial gain. Witnesses have typically directions between the Society and other aimed such criticism at "Christendom," Christian groups in many countries. particularly the Roman Catholic Church, Distinctive Watch Tower Society doctrines but have found much to target in Japanese set it apart from most Christian churches; religions as well (e.g., WTBTS 1972, 246; belief that the doctrines of the Trinity and the 1990).12 divinity of Christ are corruptions of the true An emphasis on eschatology is another faith; a denial of the immortality of the common feature. A frequent theme is the souls of people (i.e., people do not survive imminent apocalyptic destruction that will death, but they can still be resurrected);

40 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses denial of the prospect of eternal punish­ on this reputation in their proselytizing ment in hell for nonbelievers; a strict pro­ efforts without contributing to the social hibition on the consumption of blood, programs that have built it. And, given that including blood transfusions; a belief in a most Japanese people do not know enough "double destiny" among believers, with an about Christianity to make distinctions elect group, the 144,000 "anointed class," between the doctrines of the different going to heaven and the "great crowd" groups, it is felt that Witnesses can sully the either being resurrected to or surviving the image of Christianity when their refusal of apocalypse to enter a paradise on earth. blood transfusions draws media attention.1s Any ecumenical collaboration with Since 1979, with the continuing growth of "Christendom" is avoided by Jehovah's Jehovah's Witnesses and other nonconven­ Witnesses. The Witnesses do not speak of tional Christian groups (particularly the themselves as a church but as the theocrat­ Mormons and the Unification Church), the ic organization. Tight control is exerted interdenominational Christian Yearbook over what gets taught to Witnesses by the has not listed membership statistics on leadership that extends from Brooklyn. these groups (Swyngedouw 1991, 178-80). Biblical interpretation remains very literal Ostensibly, this is because these groups do and conservative, right down to a biblical not conform to the "orthodoxy" recognized chronology that places the creation of by conventional Christian churches. Not Adam a little over 6,000 years ago. This wanting to call attention to the fact that conservative view is probably even more their membership increases have greatly evident in Japan where less is known in the exceeded that of conventional organiza­ general population about modern develop­ tions over the past decade is probably a fac­ ments in critical studies of the Bible and tor as well. where there are fewer people in the popu­ More aggressive opposition to the Watch lation with competing interpretations of the Tower Society is growing in Japan, coming Bible. In this regard, they share with most from defectors, some of whom have joined other Christian groups a high regard for bib­ more conventional Christian groups or lical authority, and their belief in the immi­ formed their own Christian organizations. nence of the apocalypse (minus the pro­ Two former congregational elders who clivity to make definite predictions of the defected have each published several book­ timetable) has long been a feature of many length critiques of the Watch Tower evangelical groups.14 Society, focusing mainly on failed apoca­ To many Christian groups in Japan that lyptic predictions along with doctrinal and have struggled to secure a foothold and organizational changes that have occurred in grow, the successes of the Watch Tower the historical development of the move­ Society, considered to be a "heterodox" ment.w A group in Kobe that calls itself the group at best, have been daunting. The Remedy for Jehovah's Witnesses Institute combined memberships of conventional sponsors such seminars and has published Christian groups makes up only one per­ and distributed books aimed at discrediting cent ofthe population inJap:m, but they are the Watch Tower Society. This group has proud of the reputation they have earned engaged in deprogramming tactics as well, through contributions they have made to with limited successY It is also becoming Japanese society in the form of universities, increasingly common for conventional hospitals, schools and other social pro­ Christian groups to sponsor seminars aimed grams. Concern has been expressed in these at educating their members about the nature quarters that Jehovah's Witnesses capitalize of the Watch Tower Society.

41 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996

The aggressive proselytizing tactics used ular"; deviant doctrine alone generally does by the Watch Tower Society, along with the not result in problemization, but attempts to effective pedagogy and strict discipline, can change strongly held secular values do. account for much of its success relative to The prewar, T6daisha, period of the other Christian groups. Witnesses are very Watch Tower Society in Japan can certain­ strict in requiring members to maintain ly be described as a time of high problem­ high moral standards and severe in their ization. This problemization, however, can ostracism of defectors and excommuni­ be said to have resulted not only from the cants. Many Christian groups have been group challenging the line between the reluctant to engage in such tactics and sacred and the secular (e.g., disputing the debate between those who advocate pro­ divinity of the emperor; contesting the moting a social witness versus those who state's right to wage war) but also from the emphasize the need for an evangelical wit­ state redefining this line (particularly in ness has been very intense in some circles, reshaping Shintoism into a civil religion further deterring growth (Reid 1991, ch. 4). and in extending the state's authority over But also, other Christian groups have suffered religious organizations), resulting in clash­ from a widespread perception that they are es not only with T6daisha but also with "clergy-centered institutions whose atmos­ other religious groups that refused to com­ phere is characterized by intellectualism promise (Hardacre 1989, 26, 126-7; Abe and predictability" (Mullins 1989, 85). 1970, 241-3). Much of the postwar period can be char­ JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND JAPANESE acterized as a time of moderate accommo­ SOCIETY dation for the Watch Tower Society in Japan. New constitutionally guaranteed A recently advanced theoretical model religious freedoms have enhanced the climate (Harper and LeBeau 1993) for understanding for marginal religious groups. And the relations between a society and marginal Watch Tower Society, under new leader­ religious movements suggests a continuum ship, has moderated its stance toward the that stretches from a position of "high world and adopted less militant tactics. It has accommodation" on one end to "high prob­ moved from its prewar confrontational and lemization" on the other end. A "highly provocative stance to a position of "political accommodated" group faces no opposition neutrality" and has cultivated tactfulness and has no negative public definition. An among its members. Doctrinally, disconti­ "accommodated" group faces opposition nuity with the world is still emphasized from other religious groups but none from but "impression-management" has been secular actors; its doctrinal differences with increasingly employed in relations with more conventional religious groups are gen­ that world. Criticism of the state has been erally the only complaint against it. A very limited. Unlike some other religious "problemized" group faces opposition from groups in postwar Japan that have strongly powerful secular interest groups, which in protested perceived violations by the gov­ turn mobilizes popular opposition. Finally, ernment of the constitutionally guaranteed a "highly problemized" group will face both separation of religion and state, the Watch popular antagonism and opposition from Tower Society has not entered the fray. In the the state. The theory further suggests that wake of the late emperor's death, the problemization of a group is most likely to Society's criticism of his role in history was result from the group's attempts to redefine guarded, carefully couched in quotes taken the line between the "sacred" and the "sec- from leading newspapers (Awake! 12/22/

42 NELSON: Jehovah's Japanese Witnesses

89, 1-12). A lengthy critique of Japanese what happened in those crucial moments values and social habits in Awake! (5/8/85, has remained a matter of debate. Shortly 3-11) merely reflected what one frequently thereafter, the child became completely encounters in the Japanese media and in unconscious and was hooked up to an American analyses. Still, accommodation is artificial breathing apparatus. The police only partial. Like other Christian groups, were notified and they came to the hospital the Watch Tower Society is still widely and screamed threats at the parents, telling viewed as a foreign religion. In addition, them that they would be arrested if they did people often find the repeated canvassing not consent to a blood transfusion for their efforts of Witnesses to be annoying; they son. The parents remained calm yet associate any active proselytizing with new adamant in their refusal.lB religions, which are frequently spoken rof A reporter for the Asahi Shinbun picked disparagingly. This, together with the con­ up on a lead at the local police station and nection many people make betWPRU the arrived at the hospital shortly after the child Watch Tower Society and the re,usal of died, five hours after the accident. His members to accept blood transfusions, has report, said to have been confirmed by the prolonged the stigmatizing of Witnesses as father and based on interviews with doctors a "cult." and others on the scene, suggested that the son had expressed to his father a desire to live The Blood Transfusion Issue when the father was taken in to the operat­ ing room [Asahi Shinbun, June 7, 1985). It The blood transfusion issue is one area in is this element that the media sensationalized which the Watch Tower Society in Japan in days and weeks that followed. A theme has been threatened with becoming prob­ that dominated much of the reporting por­ lematized. The worst crisis the Society has trayed the parents as fanatical members of the faced in the postwar period began on June 6, Jehovah's Witnesses who were willing to 1985, in Kawasaki, when a ten-year-old disregard the desire of their child to live Witness boy, riding his bicycle, was caught and sacrifice his life for the sake of their between the rear wheels of a turning dump religious belief. Television talk shows fea­ truck and a guard rail. With tourniquets tured an angry public expressing incompre­ applied to his crushed legs, he was rushed hension. Medical experts lamented the to St. Marianna Hospital. The child's parents intrusion on the freedom of doctors to do were active Witnesses, though not yet bap­ what was best for a patient and legal experts tized members. When summoned to the cited the guarantees of freedom of religion hospital and asked to sign consent forms for that would make it difficult to prosecute the emergency surgical procedures, they agreed parents (Oizumi 1992, 23). One tabloid, tar­ on condition that olood transfusions not be geted toward women, emblazoned a two­ given. Doctors persisted in attempts to con­ page spread with the title, "I don't want to vince them that the transfusion of blood die; I want to live." The story featured a would be essential to save their son's life. At medical commentator who was quoted as one point, the father was taken to the emer­ saying that doctors should have the courage gency operating room to see the condition of to take action in such cases. He contended his son. Efforts were made to communicate that the parents probably really wanted the with the, by then, nearly unconscious child doctors to act, as it would have relieved and to have the son request the father to them (the parents) of responsibility for vio­ allow the doctors to do what they thought lating a religious injunction (Shukan fosei, was necessary. Exactly what was said and June 7, 1985; quoted in Oizumi 1992, 52-3).

43 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996

A freelance researcher, Oizumi Mitsu­ staff. The Watch Tower Society continues to nari, who had been involved as a child in maintain that their teachings on blood Kingdom Hall meetings under his grand­ transfusions are nonnegotiable.z1 Articles mother's guidance, became intrigued with on the topic frequently appear in the this story and has attempted to give a more Society's publications. However, changes accurate portrayal of events.19 In investigat­ are occurring regarding this issue. The ing this case, he interviewed doctors at St. AIDS epidemic, Witnesses will acknowl­ Marianna Hospital and the reporter who edge, has greatly benefited them by accen­ had been present at the scene. Of particular tuating the dangers that can be associated interest to him was finding out the truth with blood transfusions. The danger ofHIV about the deceased boy's words in the oper­ contamination, together with a growing ating room. These words had so frequently willingness on the part of many doctors in been used to malign the parents and the some countries to work with Jehovah's beliefs they stood on, suggesting that the Witnesses in developing alternative treat­ parents had overridden the child's desire to ment methods, has led to new forms of live because of their religious convictions. A cooperation where earlier there had been rather ambiguous picture emerged from his much confrontation. This has been capital­ findings. The doctors reported that they had ized on by the Watch Tower Society not heard anything intelligible from the through the formation of "liaison commit­ child, though they had eagerly listened. The tees," beginning in the United States in Asahi Shinbun reporter had received his 1979 and in Japan in 1990, to further the version from the child's father who, though cooperativeness (Awake! 11/22/90, 21-2; he subsequently repeated what he original­ 11/22/93, 24-7). Committee members en­ ly reported, may have, Oizumi reasons, pro­ deavor to inform hospitals of their views jected his own desperate feelings. It might be and of alternative treatments that have been best to conclude, Oizumi submits, that the successfully used elsewhere. Articles from dying child did not say anything intelligible leading medical journals documenting (Oizumi 1992, 112,214).Subsequentautop­ alternative procedures are made available sy reports revealed that a blood transfusion in Japanese translations on request for probably would not have saved the child's mediating between Witness patients and life (Oizumi 1992, 368-9; Asahi Shinbun doctors. Names of cooperating hospitals 3/31/86).zo Nonetheless, it is the sensation­ and doctors are circulated among Wit­ alized media version of these events that nesses. The results of these efforts in Japan remains associated with Jehovah's Wit­ are beginning to pay off for Witnesses, with nesses in the minds of many Japanese. a growing number of hospitals expressing a It is clear that on this issue Jehovah's willingness to cooperate with members of the Witnesses have come up against religious and Watch Tower Society in offering the best secular values in Japan and have been available alternatives to blood transfu­ threatened with problemization as a result. sions.22 Both the perceived restriction on the value The Watch Tower Society has begun to of human life and the challenging of medical place more emphasis on establishing legal authorities does not fit in with convention­ protection in Japan for their beliefs and al behavior in Japan. In the wake of the practices.z J A legal team has been assembled above case, some hospitals made public to pursue cases more persistently. Several announcements that patients in dire need of cases dealing with blood transfusion issues blood transfusions would be treated in have arisen. In 1986 a case in the Oita accordance with the decisions of the medical District Court resulted in a favorable ruling

44 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses for Witnesses. The parents of a thirty-four­ safer alternatives to blood transfusions year-old male Witness had sued to overrule while remaining firm in its beliefs. his objections to having a blood transfusion administered. The parents contended that Freedom of Religion in the Schools their son's family obligations to care for them in their old age took precedence over Another issue that has been pursued in the his religious beliefs (Watchtower 6/15/86, courts by the Watch Tower Society is the right of Witness students to refrain from 14). More recently, a suit has been heard in participation in martial arts classes at the Tokyo District Court regarding a sixty­ school. Kendo, in particular, is considered three-year-old female Witness who was by Witnesses to be more than a form of self­ repeatedly assured by doctors at Tokyo defense; it is associated with military train­ University Hospital that surgery on her for ing. Most prefectural Education Ministries a liver ailment would be performed without have been understanding and have accom­ a blood transfusion. When complications modated this protest by a religious group arose during surgery, however, a blood against what it considers militaristic activi­ transfusion was given and medical records ty. An exception has occurred at the Kobe were allegedly falsified to hide the fact. Municipal Technical College (offering (This may well be a frequent occurrence in grades 10-14). Fourteen Witness students Japan.) After the cover-up was discovered by were not promoted to the next higher grade a journalist, one of the attending physicians because of their unwillingness to partici­ acknowledged that a transfusion had pate in the kendo portion of their physical indeed been given. The patient, with support education classes. Four of the students filed of the Watch Tower Society, filed suit suit in the Kobe District Court. The ruling against the state, as the hospital is a state facil­ handed down on February 22, 1993, was ity, and the doctors who performed the not favorable for them, stating that the surgery.z4 A decision is pending in this requirement of the school constituted a neg­ case. ligible infringement on their religious Despite the immense amount of negative beliefs. The case has been appealed to the publicity the Watch Tower Society receives Osaka High Court (Awake! 4/8/9 3, 27; because of its stand on blood transfusions, 2/8/94; Japan Times 2/24/93). Nonetheless, a position that is unique among religious unlike the blood transfusion issue, it seems groups, it clearly intends to remain firm on less likely that this matter will result in any this issue. Rather than making compromis­ significant problemization of the Watch es (as it has in the past in reversing its pro­ Tower Society in Japan, even if the higher hibitions on vaccinations containing blood court upholds the ruling of the Kobe products and on o::gan transplants) and risk District Court. There have been newspaper shaking the faith of a constituency that has editorials expressing support for the long been galvanized by this issue, the Witnesses in this case, reflecting the anti­ Society seems to hope to be vindicated for militarism that remains popular in the its stand. Witnesses are proud of the legal country. And given that most school dis­ precedents they have established in many tricts have chosen to accommodate Witness countries of protecting and extending reli­ students, there does not seem to be wide­ gious liberties for marginal religious groups spread backing for taking the kind of mea­ through struggles in the courts. It seems that sures against them that the school in Kobe now the Society hopes to some day be seen has. In addition, recent efforts to mandate the as having contributed to the development of participation of school children in flag

45 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 7996 salute ceremonies, something Witness chil­ leadership positions in the organization dren would be obliged to refuse to do, have and can occupy teaching roles in group not succeeded in getting approval in the meetings only ifthere is no qualified male in Diet (Japan Times 10/15/94, 2). the congregation. The authority of the scrip­ tural text and the religious organization is Gender Issues stronger to them than traditional Japanese cultural patterns in defining gender rela­ The most severe ongoing conflict faced by tions. This is particularly evident in the Jehovah's Witnesses in Japan occurs on the lack of any emphasis on the extended fam­ domestic level. With around seventy per­ ily unit, the ie, that includes the ancestors. cent of adult Witnesses being women, there As an intluential traditional ideology of the are many families divided over the issue of family, this model places severe limitations the female spouse's dedicated involvement on women (Hardacre 1994). Thus women in the Watch Tower Society. Testimonies of find in the Society an avenue for gaining "persecution" in the home are common greater independence for themselves vis-a­ among Witnesses, frequently involving ver­ vis their husbands and extended families bal and physical abuse. Problems seems to but, at the same time, accept a limitation occur more where the extended family is placed on their own self-assertion. Some­ still functioning as a unit than in strictly nuclear families. Cases where a female thing akin to a traditional Japanese ethos spouse is a "foreigner," and thus has less regarding gender relations still prevails. legal protection and less likely to win cus­ Women are not likely to soon begin tody of her children if she files for divorce, demanding leadership roles in the Watch can result in prolonged, hostile marriages Tower Society but many seem to feel that with considerable abuse.zs Unbelieving their status as women is elevated. They are husbands complain of spouses not being proud of their service to Jehovah at the front home with meals prepared at the end of the of the proselytizing efforts that have made the work day and ofthe rest ofthe family being Watch Tower Society what it is. And their more involved in proselytizing and meet­ behind-the-scenes contributions to the on­ ings on weekends than in family life. Some going functioning of local congregations are complain of their wives being somewhat very evident. With the roles of women in deceptive in attempting to hide the extent of Japan in transition, and with the Watch their involvement after it becomes an issue Tower Society generally remaining very in the home.zB conservative in its definition of gender rela­ This involvement on the part of women tions, the likelihood of this matter con­ against the wishes of their husbands is an tributing to any significant problemization of interesting reflection of changing roles of the Watch Tower Society seems remote. women in Japanese society. Women seem to Domestic conflicts will no doubt continue, find in the Watch Tower Society's ideology but the challenge to secular values on this a legitimization of their self-assertion in the matter remains very much within the face of male domination. Opposition from broader changes that are occurring in their husbands generally deepens their Japanese society. 27 Even the views on wom­ commitment to their new faith. At the same en's roles promoted among new religious time they accept the Watch Tower Society's movements founded by Japanese women teachings that interpret the Bible as relegat­ are generally very conservative despite the ing women to positions of subjection to phenomenal participation of women in men. Women are not permitted to hold these movements (Hardacre 1994).

46 NELSON: Jehovah's japanese Witnesses

In summary, the relation between the beneficial by decreasing the likelihood of Watch Tower Society and Japanese society deaths and diminishing the potential of will probably move more and more toward public exposure on the issue. The political a position of accommodation, without ever neutrality of Jehovah's Witnesses and the achieving a high accommodation. It will, stand taken by Witness students regarding along with other Christian groups, remain a kend6 training is unlikely to lead to prob­ foreign religion amidst the traditional reli­ lemization, given the lack of political gious heritages of Japan. The aggressive empowerment many Japanese experience proselytizing efforts of the Witnesses will and the widespread antimilitarism that keep it stigmatized as a new religious move­ remains. And conflicts over the roles of ment. Growing opposition from other women that Witnesses frequently face both Christian groups and from defectors, along reflect broader changes that are occurring in with frequent media attacks on new reli­ Japanese society and contribute to those gions in general, will probably intensify changes. With more and more Japanese this stigma. The Watch Tower Society is women working outside the home, these definitely making efforts to counter this kinds of conflicts are not seen as being impression by attempting to project an unique to Jehovah's Witnesses. image of the Society as a immense interna­ tional movement that attracts people of all THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF JEHOVAH'S walks of life and employs state-of-the-art JAPANESE WITNESSES equipment in carrying out its mission. Being labeled a cult or a sect is something In summarizing what has been presented Witnesses resent and have attempted to and in assessing the achievement of the counter [Watchtower 2/15/94). (It certainly Watch Tower Society in Japan, ideas sug­ impedes their proselytizing efforts when, as gested by Rodney Stark in an article entitled often happens, people are apprehensive "How New Religions Succeed" (1987) can about even letting them explain their serve as a useful profile. Stark has outlined views.) Promoting Jehovah's Witnesses as eight conditions that he claims a new religion responsible and morally upright people, must realize and sustain, or find present in whose struggles have won legal rights for the surrounding social context, to achieve oppressed religious minorities and whose lasting success. It is evident that Jehovah's beliefs and practices have challenged racial Witnesses in Japan have either achieved or and class distinctions in the places they found themselves in an environment that have worked, is also part of this impression meets five of these conditions of success. management.2B The likelihood of more With the three other criteria, the signs of intense negative publicity regarding the success are more ambiguous. Witnesses' position on blood transfusions Where the group has succeeded, first of all, remains, particularly if cases involving is in maintaining a medium tension with children arise. This is still the greatest the surrounding society. In the terminology source of possible problemization. Further used in the previous section of this essay, legal definition of this issue could either they have not reached a high level of allay or intensify this threat. The Society's accommodation or a high problemization or increased effort to establish legitimacy for the even too much moderate problemization. beliefs and practices of the group are well Being a Christian group in a overwhelming­ warranted in light of this. The formation of ly non-Christian environment guarantees liaison committees promoting alternative that a high accommodation will not be treatments may prove to be even more achieved, a factor further accentuated by

47 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996 the nonecumenical stance taken by the socialization programs in operation among Watch Tower Society. As has been shown, religious groups in Japan. in the postwar period, media focus on the There remain, however, three conditions blood transfusion position taken by for lasting success that have only been par­ Witnesses has been the one issue that has tially achieved by the Watch Tower Society most threatened them with damaging prob­ in Japan. The first of these, continuity with lemization. Steps being taken by the move­ the dominant culture, particularly the reli­ ment on this issue are clearly intended to gious traditions of the dominant culture, minimize critical exposure on this point goes against the teachings of the Watch and to move the group to a low level of Tower Society, which views the world's accommodation. The Watch Tower Society systems as controlled by demonic forces has benefited as well from a favorable ecol­ bent on destruction. Obviously, Witnesses ogy for the development of marginal reli­ have not enjoyed the kind of success realized gious groups in postwar Japan, another by some of the indigenous new religious essential criteria suggested by Stark. The movements because of their discontinuity. new guarantees of freedom of religion have Nonetheless, continuity with a cultural tra­ given rise to hundreds of new religious dition becomes a much more complex issue movements. As a result the Watch Tower when one is dealing with a culture that has Society has been able to develop with little undergone as much transformation as interference from government regulations. Japanese culture has over the last one hun­ Three other conditions of success that dred years. The Watch Tower Society can be Witnesses have achieved are effective mobi­ said to be succeeding as well as it is partly lization of members, resistance to secular­ because it is continuous, not with a so­ ization and effective socialization ofyoung called "traditional" culture and weakening people in the group. As has already been conventional faiths but with the more mod­ shown, the success the Watch Tower ern, rapidly evolving culture. Wilson noted Society has had in mobilizing membership that it is the Western quality of the movement in Japan has been rather phenomenal. that appeals to many people, as well as the Resistance to secularization can be attrib­ promotion of a greater egalitarian spirit, the uted to a number of factors. There remains seemingly rational approach (lacking mys­ tight control from the center in Brooklyn of ticism and magic), the pragmatic orienta­ what gets taught to congregations in tion and the easily understood teachings Kingdom Halls and there has been little (Wilson 1977, 101, 104). It is also, as noted recent liberalization of Witness theology. above, "with it" just as other new religious The practice of dissuading Witness youth movements are popular because there is from pursuing college educations certainly plenty of opportunity for the participation of is an ingredient here as well. And, as Stark the laity; there is also a strident criticism of points out, a high proportion of first-gener­ the failures of the religious establishment ation members in a movement generally to provide spiritual guidance to the people. contributes to a resistance to secularization, Even the apocalypticism that has been so a factor that is still at work among prominent in the Watch Tower Society is a Witnesses in Japan. On top of this, there is feature of many of the faster growing new reli­ an effective socialization of Witness youth by gions. means of the pedagogical methods used and As for the last two conditions of success, their involvement in proselytizing that is achieving a normal age and sex ratio in the required from a young age. Altogether, it is movement to assure intra-group growth and probably one of the most intense religious maintaining close network ties within and

48 NELSON: Jehovah's japanese Witnesses without the group, the achievement of these the past, it is likely that the organization remain limited but not out of reach. Though will find novel interpretations of biblical there is a disproportionate number of prophecy to justify extending their efforts fur­ women in the movement (as is typical of ther. In the meantime, in Japan, the move­ many of the more successful new religious ment's discontinuity with conventional groups in Japan) there does seem to be a religious traditions will probably prevent it healthy ratio of young people and children from enjoying widespread popularity. of both sexes. The more limited number of Success, nonetheless, is a relative notion. male role models in Witness congregations In terms of numerical growth, the Watch together with the number of young males Tower Society has achieved a respectable whose fathers are not involved probably measure of success in Japan. They are results in a greater defection rate among unlikely to become a dominant religious young men. But with congregational lead­ force and the effectiveness of their prosely­ ership limited to men in the movement, tizing efforts will probably continue to opportunities for leadership do attract decline. Increased opposition from defec­ young men to stay. And with a growing tors and other Christian groups may be a number of second- and third-generation growing factor here. More significant is members, intra-group growth is certainly probably a general trend toward the popu­ increasing. As for the maintenance of close larity of religious groups that offer more network ties within and without the group, esoteric experiences and make fewer too great an emphasis on internal ties-to the demands. Still, a continuing growth rate of point of discouraging close association with seven to eight percent would be welcomed people outside the movement-can limit by most religious groups. In terms of effectiveness in achieving growth. It is the achieving a permanence in Japanese society, ability of a group to access new social net­ it is probably safe to say that this group's con­ works, families for example, not just indi­ tinued existence and increasing influence viduals, that broadens recruitment poten­ seems guaranteed. As for changes made by tial. Canvassing efforts combined with the Jehovah's Witnesses on the wider society, cultivation of new relationships in Bible these remain negligible, though they have studies has worked well for the Witnesses in certainly made themselves widely known. the past. With the decline in the effectiveness The success that has been achieved has of these tactics, Witnesses may find them­ come as a result of effective strategy and selves increasingly isolated from the kind of much hard work on the part of members, as close associations with outsiders that leads well as far-reaching changes in Japanese to conversions and membership increase. society that have led to the accommodation New strategies will have to be developed to of marginal religious groups and have maintain current growth rates. opened up a market niche for the kinds of Long-term success goals in the present beliefs and activities offered by the Watch world system are inconsistent with Witness Tower Society. ideology that continues to stress the immi­ nence of the apocalypse. But given the NOTES emphasis on proselytizing efforts and sta­ tistical progress, as well as the development 1 A number of people are deserving of recognition of modern printing facilities in places like for their assistance on this research project. Assistance with the translation and summarizing Japan, it is obvious that they are not inat­ of texts was provided by Nakai Satsuki and tentive to organizational success. Having Nakajima Takashi of Temple University, Japan. weathered failed apocalyptic predictions in Special thanks goes to Oizumi Mitsunari for sharing

49 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 7996 his research insights with me. Feedback on earlier known during the thirteen years of his involvement drafts came from Mark Mullins and Joanna Nelson. in the Watch Tower Society. Financial support was provided by the Center for East "Penton (1985, 243) estimated that only twenty Asian Studies, Temple University. percent of new recruits in Canada join as a result of 2 This figure is taken from the Watclltower door-to-door canvassing efforts; he cites Beckford's (1/1/1995, 13). General reliability of Watch Tower findings of forty-six percent in Britain. Society statistics has been supported by Bryan 10 Iwamura Yoshio of Kobe, a former presiding Wilson (1978, 163) and James Penton (1965). elder, said he was most disturbed by the training :'The Spirit of Jesus Church has claimed mem­ given to congregational elders on how to "keep bership in excess of 400,000. More recently the sheep in line," i.e., active in proselytizing, by scold­ active membership has been put at 23,283 (Mullins ing them and conditioning their participation at 1990, 357). Membership in the Roman Catholic meeting on activeness in canvassing. This is what Church is around 433,000 members. The Kyodan (the most disillusioned him about the movement before United Church of Christ in Japan), the largest his defection in 1988 (Interview 4/1/94). Protestant group in Japan, has a membership of 11 Occult phenomenon are defined by the Watch about 207,000 (Kelleher 1994, 153). The membership Tower Society as being demonic in origin, and con­ of the more than 160 Protestant groups is around tact with deceased ancestors is said to be impossi­ 600,000. ble in terms of Witnesses' disbelief in the immortality 4 These figures are extrapolated from monthly of the soul. Questions on these issues are frequent­ statistical reports given in "Our Kingdom ly encountered by Japanese Witnesses in their work Ministry." There is generally a significant increase because of many people's exposure to religious in pioneers during the months of April and May groups or other sources that promote such explana­ when vacationing school children are encouraged to tions. devote extra hours to service work. "Awake! (4/22/82, 18-20; 8/22/85, 12-13) has featured articles on the limitations of Japanese reli­ 5 Descriptions of these early efforts are based on gions. A concerted effort was made by Jehovah's the Watch Tower version of events (WTBTS 1972, Witnesses in May 1989, the month when many 222-52; 1993, 490-1) and on an interview (2/26/94) vacationing school children joined the pioneering with Mrs. Adrian Thompson, a missionary in Japan effort, to distribute Watchtower magazines (4/1/89, since 1950. 4/15/89) featuring articles on the imminent de­ ,; Wilson (1977, 107), in a limited survey of struction of the "world empire of false religion." Witness congregations in the Tokyo area, found n Up to about ten years ago there were what that nearly sixty percent of Witnesses were initial­ seemed like organized efforts on the part of Soka ly introduced to the movement through a house Gakkai to dissuade Witnesses from continuing with call, nearly thirty percent via parents or relatives and the Watch Tower Society. Witnesses were invited only fifteen percent through friends and acquain­ into homes, expecting to conduct studies with indi­ tances. House calls, however, are recognized by viduals, only to find themselves "ambushed" by a Witnesses to be much less effective in rural areas. group of ten or more people who would employ 7 The Watch Tower Society does not regularly verbal abuse and interrogation methods to try to publish figures on defections. The method used dissuade them. here is one suggested by former Watch Tower 14 The Watch Tower Society acknowledges that Society President Nathan Knorr (1973, 254), com­ misjudgments have been made in such predictions paring growth in publishers over a period of years but denies that these were prophetic pronounce­ with the number of baptisms in those years (minus ments made by the organizational leadership. The one percent for deaths and minus twenty percent of Society contends that the only real failure on the part the membership increase for those who remain of Witnesses has been in being too eager in antici­ unbaptized). The results in Japan show that in pating the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. It is recent years an average of about 3,000 a year have interesting that the Society has recently warned either become inactive, dissociated themselves, or against prophetic utterance that predicts exact been excommunicated. dates for the apocalypse (Awake! 3/22/93, 2; also 11 Iwamura Yoshio, who defected in 1988, told me WTBTS 1993,36- 37; cf. Zygmunt 1977). that he knew of only five people who had defected " More pointed criticism has come from for reasons of conscience and made their views William Wood, an American missionary who has

50 NELSON: jehovah's japanese Witnesses spearheaded opposition to the Watch Tower to diffuse a growing misunderstanding of Jehovah's Society by evangelical groups. He accuses the Witnesses, whose membership includes many of Society of spreading a "false, distorted view of his own relatives, in Japanese society. Christianity," enticing members away from con­ 211 Oizumi's reporting on this case was the basis ventional Christian groups (he estimates thirty per­ for a television docu-drama entitled Settoku cent of Witnesses have converted from other (Persuasion), starring Beat Takeshi, a well-known Christian groups), destroying family units (by Japanese actor, as the boy's father. The movie ver­ dividing husbands and wives when only one con­ sion is embellished and sensationalized, but it ends verts) and contributing to the unnecessary deaths by on an open-minded note, not expressing an opinion teaching people to refuse blood transfusions (tele­ regarding the decision made by the parents. phone interview 1/26/94; also Wood 1990). Nakazawa Keisuke, a Baptist pastor in Sagamihara 21 The Watch Tower Society's position on blood has also been active in organizing "Jehovah's transfusions has been detailed in a number of pub­ Witnesses to Christ" seminars. lications: Jehovah's Witnesses and the Question of Blood (1977) and How Can Blood Save Your Life? lb Kanozawa Tsukasa, from near Sapporo, (1990). The most thorough critique of the Watch Hokkaid6, defected in 1985 and took sixty congre­ Tower Society's position on blood transfusions, to gational members with him. He has published three my mind, is that ofJerry Bergman (1990). books critical of the Watch Tower Society. Iwamura Yoshio, from Kobe, who as a rising star in the orga­ 22 This includes St. Marianna Hospital in nization in the mid -1980s was featured in the Kawasaki, which in wake of the incident in 1986 Watchtower (2/1/87) for his active pioneering, made known that it would administer blood to defected in 1988, followed by thirty members of the patients in life-threatening conditions that required congregation he then belonged to. He has published it. (Interview with Mrs. Adrian Thompson, 2/26/ 94). two books critical of the Society. However, the ethics committee of Nagoya University School of Medicine has issued a manual regarding 17 Charging up to a million yen to parents and/or Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions stating relatives, this group has used methods involving that the wishes of adults should be respected but holding a person against his/her will for extended minors should be treated in life-threatening situations lengths of time (nearly two months in one case). (Mainichi Shinbun 12/28/ 93). Only two out of eight attempts have resulted in defections (as of April 1994). (Interview with ":'In the United States, Jehovah's Witnesses have Iwamura Yoshio 4/24/94. Iwamura disclaimed succeeded in winning widespread legal protection association with this group and criticized its tactics.) for their position on blood transfusions when the A group in Kobe called Kusai Taisaku Kyogikai pro­ lives of adults are at stake, and hospitals have gen­ viding deprogramming services suspended opera­ erally come to respect these rights and to cooperate tions in the fall of 1994 after a woman attempted to with patients. In the case of minors, court orders can jump out of a fourth-floor windows to escae a still be obtained to over-rule the wishes of parents. deprogramming ordeal. However, with liaison committees appealing to judges to consider new developments in alternative 1" The above, and what follows, is taken from summaries of news articles in Oizumi Mitsunari's treatment methods, it is becoming increasing com­ study (1992, 5-9, 27-28). Initial news stories were mon for judges to place conditions on court orders, featured in the Asahi Shin bun (6/7 /85) and Shukan demanding that alternatives be exhausted before Bunshu (1/20/85), among others. See also Awake! blood transfusions can be administered. 1/8/86, 22-3; Watchtower 11/1/89; 25. 24 This information is taken from a copy of the official complaint submitted to the Tokyo District 1" Oizumi's concern grew out of questioning what he might have wanted done if he had been Court by the prosecution. injured as a boy of ten when he was involved with 25 There does not yet seem to be any clear legal the Society. This interest in the case has grown into precedent established in Japan on deciding child cus­ an effort to resolve unsettled questions that tody issues when one parent is a Jehovah's Witness. remained after the media had its heyday and to pro­ Most cases are settled out of court in negotiations vide people with a better understanding of a religious between family members. Younger children gener­ movement that remains too little understood by the ally remain with the mother, while older children general public. He views his ongoing research, as well can sometimes influence the decision regarding as the book he has published, the hotline he main­ their custody (Interviews with Oizumi, 1/12/94, tains and the newsletter he distributes as an effort and Richard Lauch, 1/31/94).

51 JAPAN CHRISTIAN REVIEW 62 1996

2h Anecdotal evidence for these points comes _____. Kurozumikyo and the New from telephone calls received by Oizumi on his hat­ Religions of Japan. Princeton: Princeton line. Oizumi told me that he frequently recom­ University Press, 1986. mends to men who call that they attend Kingdom Hall meetings to get a better informed impression of --. Shinto and the State 1868-1988. what it is their spouses are involved in (Interview Princeton University Press, 1989. 1/17/94). Harper, Charles L. and LeBeau, Bryan F. "The 27 The insights of Oizumi Mitsunari on this issue social adaptation of marginal religious are reflected in this paragraph (Interview 1/12/94). movements in America," Sociology of 2u The Society's recent publication, Jehovah's Religion 52/2 (1993):171-192. Witnesses: Proclaimers of the Kingdom (1993), Inagaki, Masami. Heieki wo kyohi shita along with a number of videos, felwvah's Wit­ Nihonjin: Todaisha no senjika teiko (The nesses: The Organization Behind the Name and Japanese who refused to serve in the mili­ The Purple Triangle, are examples of efforts to tary: The wartime resistance of the counter the stigma. Lighthouse). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1972. Inoue, Nobutaka et al., eds. Shinshiikyo Jiten REFERENCES (Dictionary of New Religions). Tokyo: Abe, Yoshiya. "Religious freedom under the K6bund6, 1990. Meiji Constitution," Contemporary Reli­ Kelleher, Brendan. "Japan denominational gions in Japan 11/3-4 (1970):223-96. statistics 1994: 1993 statistics for the largest Bergman, Jerry. "Blood transfusions: A histo­ Japanese denominations," Japan Christian ry and evaluation of the medical argu­ Review 60 (1994):155 -157. ments," in Melton, J. Gordon, ed. Cults and McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the New Religions, val. 2. Hamden, CT: Gods. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. Garland Publishers, 1990. Morikawa, S. "Refusal of blood transfusions and Blacker, Carmen. "Millenarian aspects of the the Jehovah's Witnesses," Japanese Journal New Religions in Japan," in Donald of Anesthesiology 23111 (1974). Shively, ed. Tradition and Modernization in Mullins, Mark. "Japanese Pentecostalism and Japanese Culture. Princeton: Princeton the world of the dead: A study of cultural University Press, 1971. adaptation in Iesu no Mitama Kyodai," Boyle, Timothy D. "Jehovah's Witnesses, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 14/4 Mormons, and Moonies: A critical look at (1990):353. Christian heterodoxy in Japan," Japan ---. "Japan's New Age and Neo-New Christian Quarterly 57 (1991):29-35. Religions: Sociological interpretations," in Burton-Lewis, Harry. "Japan denominational James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, eds. statistics, 1991," Japan Christian Review Perspectives on the New Age. SUNY, 1992. 58, 1992. ---. "The situation of Christianity in con­ Davis, Winston Bradley. Dojo: Exorcism and temporary Japanese society," Japanese Miracles in Modern Japan. Stanford, CA: Christian Quarterly 55/2 (1989):78-90. Stanford University Press, 1980. Nelson, Jack E. "Todaisha and the Watch Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience. Tower Society in Japan: Prophetic protest, Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983. suppression, and schism," Japanese ---. In Search of Christian Freedom. Religions 2012 (1995):143-66. Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1991. Oizumi Mitsunari. Settoku: Ehoba no shonin Hardacre, Helen. "Japan's New Religions: to yuketsu kyohi jiken (Persuasion: Profiles in gender," in John S. Hawley, ed. Jehovah's Witnesses and the blood transfu­ Fundamentalism and Gender. Oxford sion rejection incident). Tokyo: Kodansha, University Press, 1994 1992.

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Ooms, Emily Groszos. Women and Millen­ 1992 Yearbook of Jehovah's arian Protest in Meiji Japan: Deguchi Nao Witnesses. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower and Omotokyo. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Bible and Tract Society, 1991. University East Asia Program, 1993. 1993 Yearbook of Jehovah's Penton, James M. Apocalypse Delayed: The Witnesses. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: Bible and Tract Society, 1992. University of Toronto Press, 1985. --. How Can Blood Save Your Life? Reader, Ian. "The rise of a Japanese 'New New Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower Bible and Religion'-Themes in the development of Tract Society, 1990 Agonshu," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 15/3 (1988):235-61. --.Jehovah's Witnesses and the Question of Blood. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower Bible Reid, David. New Wine: The Cultural Shaping of Japanese Christianity. Berkeley: Asian and Tract Society, 1977. Humanities Press, 1991. --. Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of Shimazono, Susumu. "New religious move­ God's Kingdom. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watch­ ments," in Mullins, Mark, et al eds. tower Bible and Tract Society, 1993. Religion and Society in Modern Japan. --. Mankind's Search for God. Brooklyn, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1993. N.Y.: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Stark, Rodney. "How New Religions succeed: 1990. A theoretical model," in D. Bromley and P. Wilson, Bryan. "Aspects of kinship and the Hammond, eds. The Future of New rise of Jehovah's Witnesses in Japan," Social Religious Movements. Macon, GA: Mercer Compass 24/1 (1977):97-120. University Press, 1987. --."Jehovah's Witnesses in Africa," New Stark, Rodney and William Bainbridge. The Society 25 (July 12, 1973):73-5. Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, --. "When prophecy failed," New Society and Cult Formation. Berkeley: University 43 (January 26, 1978):183-4. of California Press, 1985. Wood, William. Ehoba no shonin mindo kon­ Swyngedouw, Jan. "The Christian churches and heretical movements," in Kumazawa tororu jitai. San'ichi ShabO Publishers, Yoshinobu and David Swain, eds. 1993. Christianity in Japan 1971-90. Tokyo: Kyo --. "The current cult problem in Japan Bun Kwan, 1991. and what we can do about it," Japan WTBTS. 1973 Yearbook ofJehovah's Witnesses. Harvest 40/1 (1990):17-18. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower Bible and Young, Richard Fox. "Magic and morality in Tract Society, 1972. modern Japanese exorcistic technologies: A 1974 Yearbook of Jehovah's study of Mahikari," in Mark Mullins et al, Witnesses. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Watchtower eds. Religion and Society in Modern Japan. Bible and Tract Society, 1973. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1993.

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