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Japan -
(Asia)
(Print)
Information about Japan
Capital |
Tokyo |
Area |
377819 square kilometres |
Population |
126091000 |
Religions |
Shintoism and Buddhism 84%, others 15%, including Christians 1.577% (Prot 600,350, RCath 463,300, others 879,000) |
Christian (%) |
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Protestant (%) |
0.47 |
Reformed (%) |
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Christianity first came to Japan in 1543. The first missionary efforts were suppressed by violent persecution and only survived in small communities. In the 19th century, with the beginning of the era of modernization, Prot missions from America and Europe entered the country (1859), among them several agencies belonging to the Ref tradition.
The first Prot congr was established in 1872. Congr of various Prot backgrounds followed. In 1923 the Christian Alliance of Japan was founded, which brought together Prot of different persuasions. Protestantism began to face the challenge of unity.
In 1941, shortly before the outbreak of the war with the United States, the United Church of Christ in Japan (Kyodan) was formed under the pressure of the government. It included 34 different denominations and had over 240,000 members. After the War, in 1945, several of these churches left the Kyodan and reconstituted themselves. The majority, however, stayed within the Kyodan. In the decades since the War, several new Ref denominations have come into existence.
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