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日本語

喜びを分かち合う
The Relationship Between Shinto and Mormonism
By Takeo Fujiwara
The Improvement Era
September 1933
　
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The chief reason for my coming to America, especially to the Brigham Young University, was one of religion. I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan in 1924. Then, in 1926, I met President Harris of the B.Y.U., our Church school, on his famous trip around the world. He explained to me conditions here and encouraged me to come here to learn more about things in general and theology or Mormonism in particular.

私がアメリカに、特にブリガムヤング大学に来た主な理由の１つは、宗教でした。私は、1924年に日本で末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会に改宗しました。それから、1926年に、私はB. Y. U.（我々の教会学校）のハリス学長と彼の有名な世界一周旅行でお会いしました。彼はここ、日本の状況を私に説明してくださり、私がより一般情勢と神学または特にモルモン教について学ぶためにＢＹＵに来るよう、勧めてくださいました。

At the present time the Japanese mission of our Church is closed, and the Japanese Branch has been left alone by the general authorities of the Church. It was opened by President Heber J. Grant, as an apostle, Elder Ensign, Elder Kelch, and Elder Taylor in 1901, and it was closed in 1924. At the time it was closed, there were five churches and about one hundred and fifty members in Japan.

現在、我々の教会の日本伝道部は閉鎖されています、そして、日本支部は教会の中央幹部から遠ざけられていました。1901年に、Ensign長老、Kelch長老と、Taylor長老、そしてヒーバー・J・グラント大管長によって開けられましたが、1924年に閉じられてしまいました。日本伝道部が閉鎖された時、5つの教会とおよそ150人の教会員が日本にいました。

This closing was probably due to the fact that the missionaries could not make themselves understood to the Japanese people, and also to the fact that the Japanese people did not care for religion; but they studied all the sciences with all their might - this desire of study of the sciences has raised Japan from an uncivilized country to one of the Great Powers of the world in half a century. You will be able to imagine how they studied and adopted the European and American civilizations in order to bring about Japan's present position.

この閉鎖は、おそらく、宣教師が日本人に福音を理解させる事ができず、さらに、日本人が宗教に無関心だったという事実によったのでしょう。しかし、彼らは全力で科学を研究しました−科学の研究というこの野望は、半世紀で日本を野蛮な国から世界の列強の1つにまで押し上げました。あなたは、彼らが日本の現在の地位を得るためにどのように欧米の文明を観察し、取り入れたかについて想像することができると思います。

Another fact is that the Japanese language is very hard for Americans to learn and understand and that the Japanese customs are entirely different from what you have in this country. Another reason why Mormonism was refused by the Japanese people was the fact that the American people, who belonged to the same nation, to the same country and to the same race as the Mormon missionaries, talked against our Church: I mean the other American missionaries of the other churches told the Japanese people that Mormonism was Polygamy. This was the great objection to Mormonism in Japan: and the Japanese people only believed, and still believe, what the American people told them.

もう一つの事実として、日本語がアメリカ人にとって、習得するのが非常に難しいということです、そして、日本の習慣がこの国の持つものとまったく異なるということです。もう１つの理由として、宣教師たちと同じ国、同じ国家に属する人種も変わらぬアメリカ人が私たちの教会に批判的だったことも日本人がモルモン教を拒んだ理由でした。つまり、他の教会のアメリカ人宣教師は、モルモン教が一夫多妻制であると日本人に話しました。これは、日本のモルモン教に対する大きな反対となりました：そして、日本人は彼らの言葉を信じましたし、また、いまだに信じています。

The Japanese people never read or studied our Church doctrines, the Book of Mormon, and other worthy books of our Church. I think, therefore, they will never understand our religion. At the same time, not only our missionaries but also most of the American people do not know much about the Japanese customs, language, and spirit. It was my surprise to know that some Americans, even if they are highly-educated or perhaps they are professors of universities, do not know which is the front of the Japanese book.

日本人は、我々の教会の教義、モルモン書や他の価値ある書物を決して読まず、勉強しませんでした。したがって、私は、彼らは我々の宗教を決して理解しないと思います。同時に、我々の教会の宣教師だけでなく、大部分のアメリカ人は、日本の習慣、言語、精神についての多くを知りません。彼らが高い学歴を持っていても、あるいは、たとえ彼らが大学の教授であっても、日本の本(歴史？) のあらすじについて、知らないということは、私にとって驚きでした。

It was also my surprise that many American people do not know much about the Japanese situation in Manchuria. Most of the college students in this country, I have heard, come to a college to have much fun, while in Japan the people come to study hard at a college, passing severe entrance examinations. Therefore, I might say that for this reason the missionaries' education was not higher than the Japanese people who came to the church in Japan; the missionaries with unskillful Japanese language could not make themselves understood to the Japanese people.

多くのアメリカ人が満州における日本の状況についての多くを知らないことは、また、私の思いがけないことでした。この国の大半の大学生たちは、私が聞いたところによると、楽しむために大学に来ますが、その一方で日本では厳しい入学試験を突破し、一生懸命勉強するために大学に通います。したがって、このような理由により、宣教師たちの教育は教会に来る日本人よりも高くなかったと私は思います。;未熟な日本語でしか話せない宣教師たちは、日本人に自分の意志を上手く伝えることができませんでした。

Without studying the other religions, some American people think that Christianity is the best religion in the world and other religions are not good at all, and that, at their worst, they make people pessimistic and worldly. But it is never good in this life to look at anything or anybody through the eyes of enemies. We grow greater and better only through sympathy and understanding; for if we hate, we cannot understand; if we understand, we no longer hate. "To understand all is to forgive all," will be necessary for all the people in the world.

他の宗教をよく学ぶことなく、一部のアメリカ人は、キリスト教は世界中で最も良い宗教であり、他の宗教は全く良くないと考えており、最悪の場合、他宗教を信じている人々を悲観的で世俗的だと決め付けています。しかし、何かや誰かを敵として見る事は、この人生において決して良い事ではありません。我々は、同情と理解を通してのみ、より偉大で、より良くなります；もし、我々が憎めば、我々は理解できません；もし我々が理解するなら、我々はもはや彼らを憎みません。；「全てを理解することは、全てを許すことです」、これは世界中の全ての人々に必要です。

Therefore, it is worthwhile to study the Japanese religions, for it will help in preaching the Gospel of Christ to the Japanese people. There are two great religions in Japan, besides Christianity. They are called Shintoism or simply Shinto, and Buddhism. It is my intention to bring the closer relationship between Shinto and Christianity, especially Mormonism. Shinto is, I may translate, the Way of Gods; and now it is the national religion, supported by the government. In Shinto, "Shin" is another sound for "Kami" which means God, or gods. It is hard for the Japanese people to understand what the Christian God is, who is the Living Personal God, the Father in the heaven, as we Latter-day Saints believe. Shinto is the original, primitive faith of the Japanese people, before Buddhism came to the country in 552 A.D. (the Japanese time in 1212 from the beginning of the Empire). Shinto, to American people, seems strangely simple, and yet, at the same time, strangely difficult to understand, not only for what it says, but also for what it does not say, just as it is very hard to understand the Japanese situation in Manchuria.

したがって、日本の宗教をよく見ることは価値があります、なぜならば、それは日本人にキリストの福音を説く際に助けになるからです。キリスト教の他に、2つの大きな宗教が、日本にあります。それは神道、そして仏教です。私は、神道とキリスト教（特にモルモン教）はより緊密な関係をもたらす事ができると考えています。神道とは、英訳すると、神の道という意味です。；ところで、それは政府に支持されている国家的宗教です。神道という言葉は、「Shin」は神または神を意味する「Kami」のためのもう一つの音です。日本人がキリスト教の神が何であるか理解することが、難しいです。つまり私たちモルモンが信じているように、神が生きておられ、天のお父様であるという事です。仏教が西暦552年に日本に来る前に、神道は日本人の最初の、原始の信仰です。（帝国が開始されてから日本の時間で1212年）。神道が何を教えて何を教えないのか、アメリカ人にとって、奇妙なくらい単純であると同時に、理解するのに奇妙なくらい困難なようです。それはまるで彼らが満州での日本の状況を理解できないのと同じくらい困難なのです。

Shinto does not teach; it has no heaven; beyond teaching that the soul lives after death, and it does not say what becomes of the soul. It is simply a religion of the heart. Shinto believes that no moral teacher is as infallible as one's own heart. Therefore, its one moral commandment is "Follow the impulses of your own heart," which seems to some no commandment at all. But I think there is the spirit of Liberty and Freedom behind that meaning. There is no special scheme to learn or practice, no such meeting on Sunday, as the Sunday schools which Christians have. The gods whom it worships are eight million is number. Just as you will see in Greek mythology, these gods are mostly nature gods or goddesses, such as gods or goddesses of winds, of the storm, of rain, of fire, of fountain, of water, of mountain, etc. But there are also other gods. These are the souls of departed great persons, who return to help or hurt their descendants. It is a religion of the dead to whose spirits offerings are made, offerings of food and drink, not because they need them, but to prove that they are not forgotten, just as you put flowers on a grave; so Shinto is commonly called "Ancestor Worship."

神道は天国を持ちません。死後、生き続けることを教えると、それ以上、何が魂に起こるかについて教えません。それは、精神的宗教なのです。神道では、自身の心以上に間違いのある事はないと信じています。したがって、道徳的な戒律の１つに「あなた自身の心の赴くままにしなさい」とありますが、それはまったく戒律のようには思われません。しかし、私は自由と権利の精神がその意味の後にあると思います。クリスチャンの日曜の集会のような学び、実践する事はありません。神道において信仰されている神の数は800万です。ギリシア神話を見てわかるように、それらの神の大部分は、風、嵐、雨、火、泉、水、山といった自然の神または女神です。しかし、他にも神がいます。これらは亡くなった偉大な人の魂であり、その人は彼らの子孫を助けるか、傷つけるために帰ってきます。亡くなった霊に供え物をして死者を奉るので神道は先祖崇拝と呼ばれている。死者にとって食べ物や飲み物が必要だからではなく、彼らが忘れられていないことを証明するためにささげ物をする。（米国人が）墓に花を添える行為と同じである。

But it is not quite fair to give it this name. The people of any nation in the world would worship, respect, or praise the great ancestors of their country. Why do the American people celebrate the birthdays of Washington and of Lincoln? Why do Christians worship Christ and honor the prophets? Why do Mormons study genealogies and work for the dead?

しかし、彼らを神と呼ぶのは必ずしも公正ではありません。世界のどんな国でも、人々は彼らの国の偉大な祖先を崇拝したり、尊重したり、称賛します。なぜ、アメリカ人はワシントンやリンカーンの誕生日を祝いますか？なぜ、キリスト教徒はキリストを崇拝して、予言者に敬意を表しますか？なぜ、モルモンは系図を調べ、死者のために働きますか？

The Shinto shrines are simple and beautiful and usually consist of two small houses. One, standing in front, is the prayer hall; the other is the Sanctuary. The inside of these shrines is also perfectly simple and very clean; for simplicity and purity are at the very center of the faith. The structure of the shrine is very similar to the structure of the temples in Persia. We understand that the tabernacle of the ancient time had two parts, one for the sanctuary: another for the worship place.

神道の神社は単純で美しく、そして通常は2つの小さな家から構成されます。１つは、前方に建つ祈りのホールです。そしてもう一方は、聖所です。これらの神社の内部は、完全に単純で、非常にきれいです。単純と清浄はこの信仰の中心だからです。神社の構造は、ペルシャにおける寺院の構造と、非常に類似しています。我々は、古代の幕屋が2つの部位を持っていた事を知っています。すなわち、聖所と礼拝所です。

In the shrines there are no graven images, and no statue of gods or men in the innermost sanctum, but there is a box which holds some souvenir, or a symbol, such as a sword, a mirror, or a jewel. Some of those things, I understand from the Book of Mormon, were brought by Lehi and his people from Jerusalem to America. These three things were especially given, so tradition tells us; by Amaterasu Omi Kami, "the Heaven-Shining One," the fair, mild, bright, victorious Sun Goddess, who sent her offspring from celestial realms to the land of Japan, there to establish order and dominion: "The land of sun-rising, the Middle Kingdom, the rich rice field is the land where my offspring shall rule. * * The kingdom shall prosper forever; and there shall be no end as far as heaven and earth exist," was her word and command; which, it seems to me, expresses the idea of St. Luke, found in his first chapter, thirty-third verse. It reads: “And he (Jesus from the house of the throne of David) shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

神社には、お墓のイメージはなく、神々や男性の偶像が一番奥の聖所にありません、しかし、若干の記念品またはシンボル（例えば剣、鏡または宝石）の入った箱があります。
それらのものの一部は、エルサレムからアメリカまでリーハイと彼の家族によって持ってこられたからであると、私がモルモン書によって理解しています。これら３つの物は「天で最も輝く者」公正、温和、光輝、勝利の太陽の女神と呼ばれ、日本の地に秩序と支配を確立させるために天の王国より彼女の子どもを送ったとされる天照大神によって、特に与えられたと伝承が我らに教えています。：「日の出づる国、中間の王国、肥沃な田は、私の子供たちが支配する土地です。王国は永遠に栄える。；そして、天と地が存在する限り、終わることがありません」とは彼女のことばと命令でした；これはルカによる福音書（彼の最初の章で見つかる）の33節にあるような事だと私には思われます。それは：「彼はとこしえにヤコブの家を支配し、その支配は限りなく続くでしょう」

Jimmu Tenno, her great grandson, received these three things, when he became the first Emperor of Japan in 660 B.C. - this time, seems to me, has relationship with the time (500 B. C.) that Lehi left Jerusalem with his people, as we read in the Book of Mormon. Now these three things have been handed down from Emperor to Emperor. So, Shinto reverences the Emperor as a human descendant of the sun, the great lifegiving force of nature. You see, in the Japanese national flag there is a red circle in the white, which represents the sun, which seems to be the first creation of God, as we read in the first chapter of Genesis. Therefore, Japan would not be Japan without this curious religion of Shinto. The Emperor, Shinto, and Japan, will be one unity that shall never be separated, as if Latter-day Saints believe the Trinity; that is, God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Shintoism is patriotism, and it is faith in the past, the present, and the future of Japan.

神武天皇（彼女の偉大な孫）は彼が紀元前660年、日本初の天皇になった時、これらの3つのものを授かりました。−これは私たちがモルモン書を読んで分かるように、紀元前500年頃にリーハイがその家族とエルサレムを離れた時と関係があるように私には思えます。今は、これらの3つのものは、天皇から天皇へ受け継がれました。それで、神道は太陽（活力を与える自然界の偉大な力）の人間の直系として、天皇を敬います。見れば分かるとおり、日本の国旗は白地に赤い円です。それは我々が創世記の最初の章を読んで分かるように、それは太陽（神の最初の創造物）を意味します。それゆえ神道という興味深い宗教なしでは日本は日本となりえないのです。神道と天皇と日本は、私たちモルモンが三位一体を信じているように、決して切り離されることのない1つのものです；つまり、父なる神と御子イエスキリスト、そして聖霊です。神道は愛国心です。そしてそれは日本の過去、現在と将来に対する信仰です。

The Japanese people believe and insist that Japan is the Kingdom of God. Christianity teaches the Kingdom of God, of which we read many times in the Bible. The Japanese Imperial Crest of the Chrysanthemum, the Persian King's crest of the Chrysanthemum, and the Cross and the Crest of the Chrysanthemum on the statue (probably image or portrait) of Christ-Child in some temples in Rome, Italy show the symbols of the same idea. There is an old map of "Naniwa Jo-kozu" in the Japanese Imperial Library, which I have heard, is not the Japanese map, but perhaps the old map of the Tigris and Euphrates River in Persia, and this map will explain some difficult passages in the Bible. It is interesting to know that the Persian costumes of old and present time are similar to those of the Japanese ancient people. An old "No"-song, "Kekari", expresses the same idea that tells in the verses from nineteen to twenty-eight in the fourteenth chapter in the book of Exodus. This "No"-song tells that a priest of Shinto went into the sea; the sea water separated and there made a road so that he could pass without getting wet: after he passed, the waves came together again and became the sea as before. It is just as Moses passed the Red Sea.

日本人は、日本が神の王国であると信じており、また、主張します。キリスト教は神の王国を教えており、それについては我々は何度も聖書で読みました。日本の皇室の家紋である菊の御紋、ペルシャ王家の菊の紋章、そしてイタリアのローマのいくつかの寺院にある幼いキリストの彫像の上にある十字と菊の飾りは同じ起源からきていると思います。「Naniwa Joukouzu」という古い地図が、日本の帝国図書館にありますが、私が聞いたところによると、それは日本の地図ではなく、おそらくペルシャを流れるチグリス川・ユーフラテ川の古い地図であり、この古い地図は聖書のいくつかの難しい一節を説明してくれると思います。ペルシャ人の古代・そして現在の民族衣装は日本人の古代のそれと似ていることは興味深い事です。「能」のある古い曲の１つ「けかり」は出エジプト記14章19から28節までと同じ内容を表現しています。この曲は神道の神官が海に入って行き、海が２つに分かれ、彼が濡れずにそこを通れるよう道を作り、彼が通った後、波がきて海が元通りになったと語っています。それはまさしくモーセが紅海を渡ったのと同じです。

There are in Japan "Shinto Gobusho," or the five books of Shin-to; (1) "Amatetasu Ise Ninsho Kotai Jingu Chinza Sbindaiki." (2) "Go-Chinza Den-Ki." (3)"Go Chinza Hon-ki." (4) "Hooki Honki" and (5) "Yamato Hime-Ki," which are similar to the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In the Japanese books there are not written the same things as those in the books of Moses, but there is the story of the creation of the world. The meaning of the Japanese author's name is similar to the meaning of Moses. It shall be proved by studying Greek. The author's name is "Aharaka-no-Mikoto" in the old Japanese language, which is even strange to the Japanese. I found some similarity between Greek and Old Japanese language. In Greek, as in Latin, the subject of a sentence is often omitted. This is so in the Japanese language. Isn't Japanese Ise similar to Isaiah?

日本に「神道五部書」という神道の5冊の本があります。(1)「天照坐伊勢二所皇太神宮御鎮座次第記」(2)「伊勢二所皇太神宮御鎮座伝記」(3)「豊受皇太神御鎮座本紀」(4)「造伊勢二所太神宮宝基本記」と(5)「倭姫命生記」、これらは、モーセの書と呼ばれる、創世記、出エジプト記、レビ記、そして民数記と申命記の5冊の本と類似しています。モーセの書と同じ記述は日本の書物には書かれていませんが、天地創造の物語がでてきます。日本の著者名の意味は、モーセの意味と類似しています。それは、ギリシア語を学ぶことによって証明されます。著者の名前は古い日本語で「アハラカノミコト」と言い、それは日本人にとっても奇妙です。私は、ギリシア語と古代日本語とにいくつかの類似点を見つけました。ギリシア語ではラテン語の場合のように、文の主語は、しばしば省略されます。これは、日本語でもそうです。日本の伊勢は、イザヤと類似していませんか？

“The Toshitoi-no-Matsuri" from "Norito (meaning prayer)" of Shinto is similar to the passage of the Scripture in the verses 3-5, chapter fortieth in the book of Isaiah. The last volume of the twelfth book of the "Manyo-Shu (the collection of old poems)" contains some idea of the verses 10-19, twenty-eighth chapter in book of Genesis. We shall find that the story of "Omono-Nushi-no-Mikoto," or simply "O-Kuni-Nushi-no-Mikoto," one of the gods in the Japanese mythology, is very similar to that of Joseph in Egypt.

神道の「祝詞（祈りを意味する言葉）」にある「トシトイノマツリ」は、イザヤ書40章3から5節と似ています。「万葉集（古い詩集）」の最後の12巻は、創世記28章10から19節の考えを含んでいます。我々は、「オモノヌシノミコト」または単に「オクニヌシノミコト」（日本の神話に登場する神のうちの1人）の物語がエジプトにおけるヨセフのそれと非常に類似しているとわかります。

In the Bible many descriptions show that the younger brothers were superior to the elder brothers and succeeded their fathers instead of the elder brothers. For example, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and Isaac succeeded Abraham. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob, and Jacob succeeded. And we read in the Book of Mormon that Nephi succeeded instead of Laman and of other elder brothers. And the youngest one was always superior and better than the elder brothers, as in the story of Joseph in Egypt and other descriptions. In the Japanese mythology and the history of olden time, there are many examples of that kind. For example "O-Kuni-Nushi-no-Miko-to” whom I have just mentioned above, was the youngest brother, but he was the finest one among the brothers, and at last he ruled over the elder brothers, as in the story of Joseph in Egypt. The first Emperor, Jimmu Tenno, was also the youngest brother.

聖書では、多くの場合で、弟が兄より優れていて、兄の代わりに彼らの父の受け継ぎを受けた事を示します。たとえば、アブラハムには2人の息子、イシマエルとイサクがいました、そして、イサクはアブラハムに受け継ぎを受けました。イサクには、エサウとヤコブという2人の息子がいましたがヤコブが受け継ぎを受けました。そして、我々はニーファイがレーマンや他の兄たちの代わりに、受け継ぎを得た事をモルモン書によって知っています。そして、ヨセフの話や他の記述でも最も若い人は、常に兄たちより優れていました。日本の神話や古代の歴史で、そういった例が多くあります。私がちょうど今、上で言及した例「オクニノミコト」は、一番下の弟でした、しかし、彼は兄弟の間で最もすばらしいものでした、そして、エジプトのジョセフの物語と同様に、彼は兄たちを支配しました。最初の天皇、神武天皇もまた、一番若い弟でした。

The seven gods in the story of the creation in the Japanese book, it seems to me, represent seven days of God's creation of the world in the Bible. The way of the creation in the Japanese book is more reasonable than the seven days' order of the creation in the Bible, and of course, the ways of both creations are not exactly the same. The Japanese Twelve Zodiacal (horory) signs point out twelve months and the Twelve Apostles.

日本の本に書かれた創造の物語に登場する7人の神は、聖書に出てくる天地創造の7日間を表現しているように私には思われます。日本の本に書かれている創造の方法は聖書で描写される創造の７日間の命令より理解しやすいです、そして、もちろん、２つの創造の方法は完全には同じではありません。日本の十二支（horory）は、12ヵ月と十二使徒を指し示します。

A Shinto priest's secret prayer is similar to that of Moses alone in the holy place, and to that of Jesus alone in the mountain before he was crucified, and also to that of Joseph Smith. By secret prayer the Shinto priests receive some message from God, as Moses, Christ and Joseph Smith have done. In Shinto, women and girls can have no authority or priesthood, but can assist men who have proper authority, as the Latter-day Saints believe in the Priesthood in which the women have no authority but they can assist. In the order of the Priesthood in Shinto there is similar order to that which we have in the Priesthood of our Church.

神道聖職者の秘密の祈りは、聖地でモーセが１人で祈った事、イエスが十字架に架けられる前に祈った事、そして、ジョセフスミスが１人で祈った事に似ています。モーセ、キリストそしてジョセフスミスがそうだったように、秘密の祈りによって、神道聖職者は神からメッセージを受け取ります。神道では、女性と少女には権能や神権がありませんが、適切な権能を持った男性を助けることができます、そしてそれは、女性には権能が与えられないが扶助する事ができるという事を末日聖徒が信じているのと同じなのです。神道には権能の系譜があり、それは我々が我々の教会にある神権の系譜に似ています。

In Japan the people believe that spirits of the dead people come back once a year to this world from the other world, and it shows just as we believe our souls live after death. The Japanese people believe that the great ancestors become gods, as the Latter-day Saints believe we shall progress until we become gods, which we will read in the Doctrine and Covenants. Before a Shinto priest goes to prayer at a shrine, he must clean his body. He may take a shower from head to foot, or take a bath, but he must clean himself from head to foot with clean water or hot water. He does this for the reason that if he goes without cleaning his body, God will not answer his prayer. Therefore, he must clean his body. This is just what we do in our Church. We cannot enter the Kingdom of God without baptism.

日本では、人々は死んだ人々の霊魂が他の世界から年に一度この世界に戻ると信じています、そしてそれは、我々の霊魂が死後、生きていることを信じているのとまさしく同じです。日本人は偉大な祖先が神になると信じていますが、教義と聖約を読んで分かるようﾉ、末日聖徒は、我々が神になるまで進歩することを信じています。神道聖職者が神社で祈りに行く前に、彼は身体を清めなければなりません。彼は頭の先からつま先までシャワーを浴びるか、風呂に入ります、とにかく、彼はきれいな水またはお湯で頭の先から爪の先まで彼自身をきれいにしなければなりません。聖職者は、彼が彼の体をきれいにすることなく行くならば、神が彼の祈りに答えないという理由のために、そうします。したがって、彼は彼の体をきれいにしなければなりません。これは、我々がちょうど我々の教会でするものです。我々は、バプテスマなしで神の王国に入ることができません。

I hope, therefore, that the Japanese mission will be reopened at some day in the near future, and when it is, I hope to be able to better explain the Gospel of Christ among my people, that is better than you American people do in the unskillful Japanese language. The Japanese people are very reasonable and quick to learn if the Gospel can be explained to them, because it is so similar to the Japanese religions. So I hope also to establish or to be instrumental in having a church school in Japan, like the Brigham Young University at Provo, where it is possible for my people to attend. This, I am sure, would help very much in spreading the knowledge of the true religion.

したがって、私は日本伝道部が近い将来再開されることを望みます、そしてその時、私は私の人々の間でよりよくキリストの福音を説明することができるよう望んでいます。アメリカ人が拙い日本語で伝道するよりも良いからです。日本の宗教と類似しているので、もし彼らに福音を説明したら、理解するのも早いでしょう。私はプロボにあるブリガムヤング大学のような教会の学校を日本人が通学できるよう日本に設立するか、その助けをしたいと望んでいます。これは、真の宗教についての知識を広げる際に、大きな助けになると、私は確信しています。

I know now that our Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was given in these latter days to the Prophet Joseph Smith by the hand of God, Himself, and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is true and the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants are also the words of God. The reason I came here is that I might learn the Gospel, and after I finish school at the Brigham Young University, I shall go back to Japan and explain the Gospel to my people. I remember and you will also remember that Jesus taught us to preach the Gospel to all the people of the world.

末日聖徒イエスキリスト教会が神の御手として遣わされた預言者ジョセフ・スミスと神ご自身とその御子イエスキリストによってこの末の日にもたらされたことを知っています。私は、モルモン書が真実であること、そして高価な真珠と、教義と誓約もまた、神の言葉であるということを知っています。私がここに来た理由は私が福音を学ぶためでした、そして、私がブリガムヤング大学を卒業したあと、私は日本に戻って、この福音を私の人々に述べ伝えます。イエスが世界の全ての人々に福音を述べ伝えると我々に教えたことを私もあなたも覚えてください。

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Mr. Takeo Fujiwara was born on May 10, 1907 (sic), at a little town of 4,000 people, a famous place for the lily-of-the-valley, a symbol of gracefulness and purity, near Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Island, which is north of the Japanese main island.

フジワラタケオ氏は1907年5月10日、人口4000人ほどの小さな町に生まれました。日本の本土の北にある北海道の首都、札幌に近く、優雅さと純潔の象徴、スズランで有名です。

Mr. Fujiwara joined the L.D.S. Church at Sapporo, Japan, on May 10, 1924. He was baptized by Brother Vinal Mauss of Murray, Utah, and was confirmed as a Latter-day Saint by Brother W. Lamont Glover of Brigham City, Utah. In 1925 he was graduated from the Sapporo First Middle School (a high school grade in this country) and was engaged at the Prosecutors' Office of the Sapporo Provincial Court of Justice for ten months; then, in 1926, he was unusually appointed to a governmental post as a court clerk and reporter, at the Kushiro Provincial and District Courts of Justice. He was engaged there for a year and a half, and during which time he was promoted to three higher degrees in the Han'nin Rank, the Japanese lowest, governmental rank. This is an unusual promotion, because it usually takes at least three years to attain that promotion.

フジワラ氏は1924年5月10日、日本の札幌でLDSに改宗しました。彼はユタ州Murray出身のVinal Mouss兄弟によってバプテスマを受け、ユタ州ブリガム市出身のW. Lamont Glover兄弟に按手礼を受けました。1925年に、彼は札幌第一中学校（この国の高等学校課程）を卒業して、10ヵ月の間、札幌地方裁判所の検事の事務所に雇われました;それから、1926年に、釧路地方裁判所で、彼は政府のポスト、法廷職員と記録係に異例の任命を受けました。彼は一年半の間そこで働きました、そして、彼がどの時Han'nin Rank（日本の最も低い、政府のランク）で3つのより高い程度に昇進したかそこで約束がありました。通常、そのような昇進をするまでは少なくとも3年かかるので、これは異例の昇進でした。

In 1926, when President F. S. Harris of the B.Y.U. visited Japan, Mr. Fujiwara met him in Sapporo. Through his encouragement, in November 1927 Mr. Fujiwara came to America to study at the Brigham Young University. He was the first Japanese graduate from the B.Y.U. High School in 1929, and the first Japanese graduate from Brigham Young University in 1933, with a degree of Bachelor of Arts. He will continue his studies at the University for a Masters degree.

1926年に、B.Y.U.のF. S.ハリス学長が日本を訪れたとき、フジワラ氏は札幌で彼と会いました。彼の励ましにより、1927年11月に、フジワラ氏は、ブリガムヤング大学で勉強するためアメリカに来ました。彼は1929年にB. Y. U.高校を卒業し、1933年6月、彼は文学士の学位を初めて取得した日本人として卒業しました。彼は、修士課程のために大学で勉強を続ける予定です。

Mr. Fujiwara is well known around Utah and Idaho as a Japanese lecturer and entertainer, and has given many lectures and entertainments at high schools and various places in both states. He is the first and most prominent Japanese Latter-day Saint who has gone through the Salt Lake Temple. He has been teaching Judo or Jujitsu, a Japanese art of weaponless defense at the "Y," and is expected to continue to teach it next year.

フジワラ氏は日本の講師として、エンターテイナーとしてユタとアイダホの周辺では有名で、両方の州で高校やいろいろな場所で多くの講義を行い、楽しみをもたらしました。彼は、ソルトレイク神殿を通り抜けた日本人の末日聖徒として最も有名です。彼は柔道または柔術（武器を持たない護身術）を大学で教えていて、来年もそれを教え続けることが期待されています。

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Background: Takeo Fujiwara, BYH Class of 1929
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Members without a Church:
Japanese Mormons in Japan from 1924 to 1948
Thanks to J. Christopher Conkling
BYU Studies
1975

What happens to two dozen faithful church members who are almost totally isolated from their church for over twenty years?

One of the best case studies of this phenomenon in recent years is the withdrawal of the missionaries, and essentially the Church, from Japan in 1924.

From 1901 to 1924, the early missionaries in Japan experienced struggles, challenges, and some tremendous accomplishments.

However, the Church's decision to withdraw all missionaries from Japan left the members in Japan almost entirely on their own from 1924 until 1945.

The Nara Era: 1924 to 1933

Into this vacuum came Brother Fujiya Nara of Tokyo to give some organization to the Saints. As a young teenager in Sapporo, he had been baptized when he was seventeen. He had been ordained an elder at age twenty-four, in January of 1923. He had been mission secretary under presidents Stimpson and Ivie.

Near the end of 1933, Elder Nara was transferred to Manchuria with his railroad job. Later records tell us that little if anything was going on in the Church by 1933. What happened to the Church and Elder Nara from 1929 to 1933 is one of the mysteries of the history of the Church in Japan.

The Fujiwara Era: 1934 to 1936

Elder Nara was replaced by Japan’s second Presiding Elder, Takeo Fujiwara, the student who in 1927 had gone to BYH and then BYU.

If the last years of Nara were the most vague, the first years of Fujiwara were the most clear — we have almost a daily account of his activities.

If Nara had run the Church on his own, and received his appointment almost as a surprise or afterthought, and was sustained and set apart by mail (if that’s possible), with a load of somewhat foreign instructions thrust upon him, Fujiwara received the actual “laying on of hands” by the First Presidency, had lived and been trained in the heart of the Church, and had received explicit instructions which he fully understood.

Perhaps this different background accounts for the different manner of and results achieved by the two men.

Takeo Fujiwara was born in Hokkaido in 1905 (sic) and was baptized on May 10, 1924, just before the mission closed.

He lived in America from 1927 until he received his master’s degree from BYU in 1934. (He supported himself by explaining Japanese culture through song, dance, dress, and martial arts to appreciative paying audiences.)

Because he spoke fluent English and was an unwavering Church member, he must have seemed to the brethren to be a logical replacement for Nara.

On July 7, 1934, President Heber J. Grant released Elder Nara and set Brother Fujiwara apart as Presiding Elder and a special missionary -- an added responsibility Nara had not had.

The Church made arrangements to send him $35 a month so that he could afford to travel and communicate with the other Saints.

On September 27, 1934, he reached Yokohama. He had spent a few weeks in Hawaii, and wrote to Alma O. Taylor (one of the original missionaries to Japan) about the total lack of missionary work among the Japanese in Hawaii.

Fujiwara did everything humanly possible to restore the faith and activity of the members remaining in Japan. He experienced both failure and success. Some ex-members hid from him and avoided his vigorous restoration activity campaign. On the other hand, he began to publish a new mission magazine, Hattatsu, and performed the first priesthood ordinances in Japan in the decade after the closing.

During this time, Elder Yoshijiro Watanabe (formerly of the Osaka MIA Presidency, but now moved to Tokyo) and his daughter Tazuko were Elder Fujiwara’s constant companions and greatest supporters.

In March of 1935, Elder Takeo Fujiwara was confined to his bed for two weeks, seriously ill, until he was nursed back to health by Sister Watanabe’s constant care.

In the summer he became ill again and finally returned to his home in Hakkaido, hoping for a complete rest and recovery in August. For this reason the September issue of Hattatsu was never published.

From his home in September, and then from a hospital in November, he dictated letters to Alma O. Taylor, apologizing for not doing more work.

In February 1936, Taylor received a letter from Elder Fujiwara’s father stating:

"With words of regret upon his lips that he had done so little for the church, uttering words of deep gratitude to all who had helped him . . . he went to what he calls heaven. Not knowing much about his religion, it is all very strange to me."

Fujiwara died of pleurisy, and possibly tuberculosis, on January 27, 1936, at about the age of 30.

He was a dedicated and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the end of his life.

Source

日本の末日聖徒イエス・キリスト教会歴史
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Tragedy or Destiny?
Takeo Fujiwara -- Japan's first native full-time missionary
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Why I believe Takeo Fujiwara was called home

by Wade W. Fillmore
Meridian Japan
August 21, 2007

When I first came to know the story of Takeo Fujiwara, the first native Japanese missionary called to serve as a full-time missionary, I thought it tragic that he died less than a year after he arrived back in Japan. As I pondered this matter longer, however, another thought pressed itself upon me.

When Dr. Franklin S. Harris, president of BYU, attended an agronomy conference in Sapporo, Japan in 1926, he looked up members of the Church while he was there. The first mission to Japan had been closed for two years, but he was able to meet with some of the members including young Takeo Fujiwara who had been baptized in May of 1924, just before the mission was closed in July of that year. Dr. Harris offered a BYU scholarship to Brother Fujiwara who accepted.

Arriving in Provo to start the 1927 school year, Brother Fujiwara did well. Eventually he obtained his Master’s Degree. He also learned much about the Church and its operations and about the Gospel. He was ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood and received his endowment. He even published an article about Mormonism and Shintoism in the September 1933 Improvement Era (which is also published on this website).

In 1934, before Brother Fujiwara returned home to Japan, President Heber J. Grant called him as the Presiding Elder in Japan and set him apart for this calling and also as a special missionary. On the way home, Elder Fujiwara stopped in Hawaii to spend a few weeks with the dynamic Sister Tsune Nachie, the 8th member of the Church to be baptized in Japan. Full of a boldness borne of love, Sister Nachie had been sharing the gospel effectively among the Japanese immigrants living in Hawaii.

Arriving in Japan in 1935, Elder Fujiwara traveled to prior branch locations to find members of the Church. It was a difficult task. He wrote and published one issue of a Church magazine, Hattsu (Improvement), in both English and Japanese. After having some success contacting older members, at the beginning of the year 1936, he became ill and died of pleurisy on January 29, 1936.

He was the only Japanese male member of the Church in the world who was endowed and who was knowledgeable of Church organization and procedures and who knew the gospel well. Why did the Lord take him home when he was just getting started in his work? I believe the answer lies partially with temple work previously accomplished by Sister Tsune Nachie during the mid-1920’s. After moving to Hawaii, Sister Nachie had returned to Japan, looked for members of the Church and gathered their genealogical information which she took back to Hawaii where the necessary ordinances were performed.

The Lord knew what the next ten years (1936-46) would be like in Japan. Had he remained alive in Japan, it is likely that Takeo Fujiwara would have been drafted into the military services of Japan and perhaps killed [in World War II]. Under the strict anti-Christian government of Japan at the time, living in Japan, there would be little he could do to advance the cause of the Church.

But in the Spirit World, as an endowed holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, knowledgeable of the Gospel and the Church, he could be called as the Mission President among the Japanese people. He could look up those who had temples ordinances performed in their behalf through Sister Nachie’s efforts. Of these who accepted the work, he could organize a missionary force to teach others. Those who were taught and believed would be given permission to influence their earthly relatives and descendants to help prepare them for the time when the work in Japan would be reopened. The Spirit World is where Elder Fujiwara could do the most good at that time. So he was called to serve there.

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