| Abstrakt: |
The article discusses efforts to promote Christianity during the Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. The support of the Allied commander of postwar Japan, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, for Christianization as a way to counteract the influence of both Shinto (the national religion of Japan) and communism is discussed, as is the role of religion in Japanese education. The contradictions between U.S. support for Christian education and the U.S. policy of separation of church and state are also discussed, and seen as explaining why the Christianization effort was largely unsuccessful. |
