Lives of Learning and Service: American Protestant Missionaries in Japan, from the 1850s to the 1940s (2010)

Undergraduate: Samantha Estevez

Faculty Advisor: Miles Fletcher
Department: History

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While the American Protestant missionaries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries failed at transforming Japan into a Christian nation, they were able to still fulfill their desire to serve others by connecting and impacting Japanese society by other means. By expanding the role of missionary beyond that of the evangelical, missionaries were able to create lasting cultural exchanges between the West and Japan they grew as individuals through their efforts. By profiling the lives of four different missionaries working in various locations and fields, I hope to provide a diverse array of examples of the impact of missionaries on Japan. James C. Hepburn’s life and work as one of the first missionaries in Japan became essential to the cultural exchange between Japan and the United States that exists to this day through his work with the Japanese language and translation of Christian texts. As an early missionary assigned the task of creating a Christian women’s school, Nannie Gaines went above and beyond her calling as an educator and left an impact on Japanese education still felt today by assisting in the introduction of kindergartens to Japan and continually challenging the standard of women’s education. By aiding in creating women’s mission schools with strong and progressive curricula, Elizabeth Russell and Mary Florence Denton directly influenced the advancement of early Japanese feminism.