IMPACT OF US PROTESTANT MISSIONERS ON STATE AND SOCIETY IN JAPAN IN THE 19TH CENTURY
( Pp. 18-24)

The purpose of the study. The article examines the problem of the role of Protestant missionaries from the United States in the history of Japan. The author demonstrates that missionaries acted not only as disseminators of the Christian faith, but also as informal agents of influence of their country and «Western civilization» as a whole. Thus, the purpose of the study is to establish and identify the ways of influence of Protestant missionaries from the United States on the state and society in Japan of the specified period, which, of course, was by no means limited to the number of converts. This is necessary to overcome stereotypes and superficial assessments of the Protestant missionaries from the United States and their role in Japanese history. Results. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that it was precisely as informal agents of the United States that missionaries used their main advantage - the opportunity to share knowledge of Western civilization and popularize it in Japan. At the same time, the author notes that the success in the dissemination of «Western» achievements and ideas was not associated with Christianization. Christianity in this case, rather, was a deterrent to their spread. This seems to have been due to a deeply rooted bias against Christians on the part of the overwhelming majority of Japanese people, which arose as a result of anti-Christian policies that had been pursued for about 250 years. In addition, the circumstances, thanks to which they were able to preach their faith among the Japanese flock in the 19th century, did not contribute to the improvement of the image of the Protestant missionaries from the United States.

Nelyubin P.G., (2021), IMPACT OF US PROTESTANT MISSIONERS ON STATE AND SOCIETY IN JAPAN IN THE 19TH CENTURY. History and Modern Perspectives, 2 => 18-24.

Ballagh M. T. K. Glimpses of Old Japan 1861-1866. Tokyo, 1908. 136 p.
Case J. R. An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920. Oxford, 2012. 328 p.
Clark E. W. Life and Adventures in Japan. New York, 1878. 247 p.
Fairbank J. K. Assignment for the 1970s . The American Historical Review. 1969. No. 74/3. P. 861-878.
Gordon M. L. An American Missionary in Japan. Boston, 1895. 276 p.
Grimshaw P., May A. Missionaries, Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Exchange. Brighton, 2010. p. 207.
Hall J. W. Japan from Prehistory to Modern Times. Tokyo, 1979. 395 p.
Hamish I. American Missionaries, Christian Oyatoi, and Japan, 1859-73. Vancouver, 2010. 450 p.
Hutchinson W. R. Errand to the World: American Protestant Thought and Foreign Missions. Chicago, 1987. 227 p.
Lai J. T. P. Negotiating Religious Gaps: The Enterprise of Translating Christian Tracts by Protestant Missionaries in Nineteenth-Century China. Sankt Augustin, 2012. 400 p.
Laman G. D. Pioneers to Partners: The Reformed Church in America and Christian Mission with the Japanese. Grand Rapids, 2012. p. 345.
Loomis H. Conversion of a Nobleman. The Sailor s Magazine and Seaman s Friend. 1884. No. 56. P. 144-148.
Nish I. The Iwakura Mission in America and Europe: A New Assessment. Richmond, 1998. 228 p.
Pritchard J. Methodists and their Missionary Societies 1760-1900. Surrey, 2013. 318 p.
Randal I. M. Called to One Hope. 150 Years of the Evangelical Alliance. London, 1996. 416 p.
Reischauer E. O. The United States and Japan. Cambridge, 1965. 396 p.
Ritter H. A History of Protestant Missions in Japan. Tokyo, 1898. 446 p.
Scott D. Diplomats and Poets: Power and Perceptions in American Encounters with Japan, 1860 . Journal of World History. 2006. No. 17/3. P. 297-337.
Studies in Christian Mission Elektronnyy resurs . URL: http://www.brill.com/publications/studies-christian-mission (data obrashcheniya: 1.01.2021)
Verbeck G. F. History of Protestant Missions in Japan in Proceedings of the General Conference of Protestant Missionaries in Japan in Osaka. Yokohama, 1883. 749 p.
Wataru S. Uemura Masahisa to sono jidai. Tokyo, 1967. 262 p.
Winburn T. T. Protestant Beginnings in Japan, the First Three Decades, 1859-1889. Tokyo, 1959. 258 p.
Winter R. D., Hawthorne S. C. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader. Pasadena, 1999. 782 p.
Yamamoto M. Image-makers of Japan: A Case Study in the Impact of the American Protestant Foreign Missionary Movement, 1859-1905. Columbus, 1967, p. 392.

Christianity in Japan, Protestant missionaries of the USA, Protestantism in Japan, relations between Japan and the USA.