To Build a New Japan : Canadian Missionaries in Occupied Japan 1946-1948

The end of the Pacific War saw Canadian missionaries return to Japan.The religious situation in Japan during the Occupation that confronted the returned missionaries was exceedingly complex as emperor centred tennosei (天皇制, emperor system) was disestablished, wartime religious control mechanisms unravelled, and Japanese religions, including Christianity, struggled to rebuild and restore both their physical and spiritual presence amidst the shattered ruins of their defeated country.(1) This essay is about the attitudes and ideas of Canadian Protestant missionaries belonging to the United Church of Canada about Japan, its needs and its future during the early part of Occupation period.It focuses on George Ernest Bott (1892-1952) (2) and Alf Stone (1902-1954), (3) two United Church of Canada missionaries whose small town background was typical of many of the Canadian missionaries who came back to Japan during the Occupation.Bott also belonged to that generation of Anglophone Ontarians who had either served themselves, or had family members who had, in the Great War (1914-1918).The horrors of that war profoundly influenced Bott and his generation.論 文 154 For Jimmy, as Bott was familiarly called, this translated itself into a deep compassion and sympathy for those less fortunate which was fulfilled through a life of Christian service in the foreign field.Bott had worked in Japan since the 1920s, spoke fluent Japanese and had been in charge of the extensive social work of the United Church of Canada in the east Tokyo slums centred on its two social welfare settlements near Ueno at Negishi and Nippori which are on the Yamanote railway line that circles central Tokyo.Returning to Japan in April 1946, (4) Bott served as the director of the Church World Service (CWS) in Japan.(5) The CWS, based in New York, was the largest contributor to the Licensed Agencies for the Relief in Asia (known as LARA in English or "RARA" in Japanese).(6) LARA was the only non-governmental agency through which Supreme Commander Allied Powers (SCAP) allowed relief supplies on a large scale to be sent to Japan.(7) The LARA Central Committee in Japan was chaired by Horiuchi Kensuke (堀内健介, 1886-1979) (8) , a career diplomat and former Japanese Ambassador to the United States, with Bott as the Central Committee's Vice-Chairman.Together these two guided Committee members in their decisions as to which social welfare institutions should receive LARA goods.Relief supplies were distributed from the Japanese Ministry of Welfare without cost to the recipients through prefectural offices to organizations and individuals all over Japan.It is estimated that 14 million Japanese or some 15% of the population benefited from the relief supplies.(9) While it is in vogue to question the achievements of the Occupation and to highlight the seamy side of it, (10) the unstinting efforts of Bott and LARA serve to remind

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