Robinson Crusoe and Japanese
At the end of the samurai era of Japan, namely in the early 1860s, some young samurais tried to secretly get out of Japan and see the world. However, the samurai regime still forbade Japanese to freely travel the world, though they abandoned a policy to close the nation, which had been observed since early 1600s, in 1854 as the US, sending Commodore Perry and his fleet to Edo (Tokyo) Bay, strongly requested the shogun government to establish a diplomatic tie between Japan and the US.
One of such adventurous samurais was Joh Niijima or Joseph Hardy Neesima (1843 – 1890).
At the age of 21, he entreated Captain William T. Savory, of Salem, Massachusetts, commander of the brig Berlin, for safe passage to the United States, in order to further study Western science and Christianity. Captain Savory agreed to help him, so long as Neesima came on board at night, without assistance from the ship's crew. Knowing Neesima could be executed if apprehended, Savory hid Neesima from customs officials in his stateroom. He then secured Neesima's passage from China to the United States on the Wild Rover, commanded by Captain Horace Taylor of Chatham, Massachusetts. The Wild Rover was owned by Alpheus Hardy.
When he arrived in Andover, Massachusetts, he was sponsored by Alpheus and Susan Hardy, members of Old South Church, who also saw to his education. He attended Phillips Academy from 1865 to 1867 and then Amherst College from 1867 to 1870. Upon graduating from Amherst, Neesima became the first Japanese person to receive a bachelor's degree.
He was baptized in 1866 and went on to study at Andover Theological Seminary from 1870 to 1874. In 1874, he became the first Japanese to be ordained as a Protestant minister.
When the Iwakura Mission visited the United States on its around-the-world expedition, he assisted as an interpreter.
Neesima attended the 65th annual meeting of the Congregational church in Rutland, Vermont in 1874, and made an appeal for funds to start a Christian school in Japan. With the support and funding received, he returned to Japan, and in 1875 founded a school in Kyoto, which grew rapidly and became Doshisha University. He was assisted by his wife Niijima Yae and brother-in-law Yamamoto Kakuma, who were also active with the local Christian community in Kyoto.While samurai boy Iijima was still in Edo (presently Tokyo) or in his home town An-naka (Gunma Prefecture), he read various Western books translated into Japanese, such as Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and the Bible. These books inspired young Iijima so much as to make Iijima dream of going abroad despite the official travel ban.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hardy_Neesima
After arriving at the US before the Hardys extended aid to him, Iijima was alone in a harbor of Boston. He could not find a supporter for his study in America. American sailors around him said that there could not be such a kind man that would help a Japanese in Boston. But Iijima read repeatedly Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe to conquer fear and anxieties. And then, finally, Alpheus and Susan Hardy came to Iijima to offer help.
So, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1660 - 1731) is a great book. It has Christian contents in its second part, though the first part depicts mainly adventure of Robinson Crusoe.
And interestingly, Robinson Crusoe seems to have some connection with Japanese.
TOKYO (Sept. 15, 2005) -- On a remote, wooded island 470 miles off the coast of Chile, Japanese explorer Daisuke Takahashi believes he has found the location of the hut where Scottish privateer Alexander Selkirk, who likely inspired the Daniel Defoe classic "Robinson Crusoe," lived during the four years and four months he was marooned on the island 300 years ago.
Intrigued by the question of how a lone man could adapt to survive in such an unfamiliar environment, Takahashi wanted to find where and how Selkirk lived while stranded on the South Pacific island now known as Robinson Crusoe from 1704 to 1709. Aided by an islander's recollection of a dwelling high up on an abandoned trail, Takahashi and his international team, funded by the National Geographic Society's Expeditions Council, began excavations. The most telling evidence that Takahashi found to link Selkirk to the site was a small blue tip from copper navigational dividers, a tool commonly used by sailors of the period and almost certainly belonging to Selkirk.
The story of Takahashi's discovery is chronicled in the October 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine, which is published in 27 local-language editions, including Spanish and Japanese.
Takahashi, 38, graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from Tokyo's Meiji University in 1990 and worked in advertising for over a decade while also pursuing his love for exploration. A professional author and explorer since 2003, he has taken part in numerous expeditions around the world, including to the Sahara Desert, Amazon rain forest, Galápagos Islands, Antarctica, Yemen, Oman, Israel, Russia's Sakhalin Island, Australia, Micronesia and Tahiti.
Takahashi is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and The Explorers Club in New York. He is the author of the book "In Search of Robinson Crusoe."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050920075542.htm
Japanese Translation Version of Robinson Crusoe*** *** *** ***
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.