Religion in Japan: Shintoism, Buddhism and Christianity (Illustrated Edition)

It may well be questioned whether, in the course of a like period oftime, any country has ever undergone greater transitions, or mademore rapid strides along the path of civilization than has Japanduring the last quarter of a century. A group of numerous islands,situated on the high-road and thoroughfare of maritime traffic acrossthe Pacific, between the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and inarea considerably exceeding Great Britain and Ireland,—Japan, untilthirty years ago, was a terra incognita to the rest of the world;exceeding even China in its conservatism and exclusiveness. Andnow, within a space of some five-and-twenty years, such changeshave come about as to have given birth to the expression,—“thetransformation of Japan.”