The Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture was founded in 2001 to promote the study of Christianity, the spiritual legacy of Kanto Gakuin's foundation. This institute succeeds the former Institute for the Study of Protestant History which was a part of the Department of Theology. The ISCC has made constant achievements in research and practice since celebrating its opening in the first year of the 21st century.

The ISCC is characterized as a kind of forum where, unlike "institutes of Christian culture" of many other Christian schools, Christians and non-Christians come together to conduct interdisciplinary studies through communication across the spectrum of different academic fields and disciplines. The concept of openness is evident in that scholars from different faculties can work together on the same topic at the ISCC.

The minutes of the first membership meeting in the foundation year show that the founding members drew up such projects as "Considerations of Life," "Problems and their Solutions of Volunteer Activities" and "Christianity and Mental Climate of Japan," all of which are deeply concerned with the founding objectives of Kanto Gakuin.

The current ISCC staff, researchers and visiting researchers plan in the coming year to work on the following research projects, carrying on in the direction of what the founding members began:

  1. Education and Study in Community Service and Volunteer Activities
  2. International Understanding and Volunteer Activities
  3. Study of Dr. Tasuku Sakata's Life and Works
  4. Study of Baptist History in Japan
  5. Study of Dependence and Environmental Theology
  6. Study of Considerations of Life
  7. Study of Christianity and Mental Climate of Japan

The ISCC, along with the other institutes of Kanto Gakuin University, is expected and required to pursue research and make the most of the research findings in the education of the university and institution.

Thank you for your understanding, cooperation and support in the coming year.

Hiroshi Watanabe
Director, Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture
June, 2013

Aims of the Project:

  We are a study group aimed at researching "life" not only in the biological sense of the term, but more broadly, in its total sense.
  Last year, we employed the term generally, reflecting on the philosophical, moral and spiritual meanings of life.

Research Theme:

  We are explored the new field of bioethics, taking up questions about the ways people make value and moral judgments about "life".
  These considerations are fundamental to academic debate within integrative fields such as the ethics of human reproduction, the ethics of organ transplantation, the proper care of terminal patients, the ethics of euthanasia and the ethics of "informed consent".

Research Staff:

Staff leader:
  Kazunori Matsuda
Researchers:
  Tsukutomo Omameuda, Dwight Davidson
Visiting Researchers:
  Yuko Fukinuki, Eiko Nagai, Michiko Ishitani, Chie Kodaka, Noboru Adachi, Ichiro Miura, Eiko Nagai

Activities in 2007

  Last year, we carried out our activities as a six-member group, but this year, Dwight Davidson and Chie Kodaka have joined us. Up through last year, we've had the privilege of presenting special sessions at Mr. Omameuda's classes encouraging students to think about the importance of life.
  This year, in addition to presenting these sessions, we will be calling upon a guest lecturer to hold an open seminar on a topic related to "Life" in conjunction with Mr. Matsuda's "Christian Studies (Ethics)" class at the College of Engineering. From January, we'll be carrying out research.

Aims of the Project:

  The school motto, "Be a man, serve the world", evidences the Christian character of Kanto Gakuin. This phrase accurately expresses the true meaning of Christian faith - namely, that a true encounter with the absolute happens when a person turns toward another person in service.
  Kanto Gakuin has long pursued an encounter with the true God in an educational environment, and because of this, volunteer activity, conceived as an integral part of Christian education, is not particularly a new thing for our school.
  In fact, it could be said that we've wrestled with this issue throughout our long history, and that this is an important aspect of Kanto Gakuin's rich tradition.
  But the research arms of our school have not directly wrestled with the need for study regarding the theory of how to cultivate a spirit of world unity and theories of education grounded in hands-on experiences in a different kind of world.
  For this reason, our study project aims put to the school motto, "Be a Man, Serve the World" to work practically in an educational setting - the Kanto Gakuin Service Learning Center.
  At this center, the project constructs experimental and practical educational programs, and by means of those programs, aims to establish a service-learning methodology at our school. And of course, we hope that the activities of this research project bring the founding spirit of Kanto Gakuin to life in substantial, tangible ways.

Research Theme:

  The research theme of the International Understanding and Volunteerism Project is to cultivate a spirit of unity based on Kanto Gakuin's founding vision: "Be a Man, Serve the World".
  Concretely speaking, we have a three year agreement to participate in a self-determined economic development project among the ethnic minority groups living in the mountains of northern Thailand.
  We will provide different sorts of assistance as well as study the effects of development work in the area.
  In order to accomplish this, we are inviting not only Kanto Gakuin staff, but researchers affiliated with other research institutions to participate, offering and testing their observations.

Research Staff:

Lead staff:
  Makito Morishima (Chancellor / Professor at the College of Humanities)
Researchers:
  Teruo Kobayashi (Special Professor at the College of Humanities)
  Dwight Davidson (Special Instructor at the College of Humanities)
Visiting Researchers:
  Yoshiharu Kanda (Part-time Instructor at the College of Humanities)
  Masatoshi Shimada (Principal, Kanto Gakuin Mutsuura Elementary School)
  Naomi Yamamoto (Part-time Instructor at Senshu University)
  Kazunori Sasaki (Field Staff of the NGO, Rwanda Reach)
  Toshihiro Kato (Part-time Instructor at Chuo University)
  Masaya Kikuchi (Assistant Professor at Tokyo Agricultural College)
  Yutaka Morishima (Pastor, Nagasaki Peace Church)
  Narumi Yoshikawa (Nagata Agricultural Research Facility)
  Jun Onishi (Professor, International Exchange Center of Hirosaki College)

Activities in 2007

  Thanks to the support of researchers both inside and outside of Kanto Gakuin, the International Understanding and Volunteerism Research Project was able to complete its work last year. In 2006, we began working with the Akha people of northern Thailand in a project called, "Considerations Regarding the Agricultural Economic Support Model Contributing to the Self-Determinative Economic Development of the Ethnic Minorities of Mountainous Northern Thailand, Using the Akha village, Hoikomu, as a Case Study". In the course of this study, we commissioned project researchers to go to the village and to carry out preliminary local studies using questionnaires and other methods. The detailed results of these studies were published in the Research Center's periodical, Christianity and Culture (no. 5, pp. 69-79). We urge you to review this material.
  Differences between cultures is the basic problem we grapple with in this research project. Of course, this is a problem broadly influencing international society. But one of the characteristics of our projects is that we're attempting to advance the spirit of unity in modern international society by using "education for service" as a way to advance the methodological research on international service learning, all the while wrestling with the problem of creating real activities aimed at fostering mutual understanding and exchange between different kinds of people. Because this project engages people in practical education, the results are not merely academic. By means of the international and domestic contributions of the students and teachers of Kanto Gakuin who participate in this project, we aim to bring the founding spirit of the school to life: "Be a man, Serve the World." In this way, one might say we are attempting to move to another level in Maslow's hierarchy, building upon the achievements of those who have created the culture, society and economy we all enjoy.
  Currently, not only Kanto Gakuin, but many other foreign organizations who have been asked to carry out relief activities in the remote villages of Thailand are also wrestling with these issues. It is not difficult to import new skills and technology, but encouraging an environment in which those technologies can become effective is quite difficult, and this is the problem we're currently engaging in our research.
  In addition to that, there were a number of items in last year's enquiry which we were unable to complete. For example, determining the optimal shape of the development level of our assistance model, conducting inquiries regarding the assumed market (Chang Rai), determining the concrete steps required to introduce the assistance model, getting estimates regarding necessary loans, etc. These will be the primary object of our activities in 2007 and beyond.

1. Specifying the shape of the development level in our assistance model.
  It will be necessary to gain a broad range of opinions and to gain a breadth of knowledge regarding this issue. For this reason, we members of the project will, of course, take up this debate in depth. But we will also call upon people with specialized academic knowledge in this field and upon people who are working in northern Thailand to provide a number of seminars for us.

2. Getting a grasp of the market conditions in our assumed target market, Chang Rai.
  We plan to compose, and ask research partners in the Chang Rai area to carry out a survey of tourists, asking the reason they've come as tourists, their nationality, their sex, and what they know of the ethnic minorities living in the mountainous regions. We are exploring the possibilities of use the results of this research to compose a follow up survey, or to carry out more detailed inquiries into the actual conditions of the market.

Aims of the Project:

  This research group has been engaged in studying the foundational principles and theories of community-service and volunteerism education, with emphasis on how those are practically applied in schools.

Research Theme:

  Japan's government is now planning to introduce volunteer service in the school curriculum, imposing it on students by making it compulsory.
  So far, we've examined the textbooks of elementary and junior high schools. We were concerned about how volunteer service activities were being taught in these textbooks. Subsequently, using questionnaires, we conducted a survey about service activities among private school teachers.
 In Japan, private schools have consciously been established with the purpose of making some kind of social contribution through their education. In this way they want to attest to the significance of their schools. So we've found that they are keenly interested in service education and in practical volunteerism within their communities.
  Secondly, using questionnaires, we've conducted a survey among students of colleges and senior high schools. We've examined the ways they've been engaged in volunteer activities and their levels of willingness to participate in community service. We've found that they have a rather healthy interest in practical work among needy people and that they expect their schools to provide opportunities for volunteer service.
  We know schools are not first and foremost social service institutions, but schools do have an imperative to train students to be interested in their neighborhoods and in the outside world, as well as to study the causes and solutions of social problems.

Research Staff:

Activities in 2007

1)Celebration of Publication 23 March/2007
    The Celebration hall is ellechante 2 F , ANNZU NO HANA
      PM 5:30 - 7:00
      Chinese Restaurant Tel . +81-45-865-1858
      http://www.gurume-party.e-yokosuka.jp/index.htm
     

THE PROJECT OF BAPTIST STUDY
  Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture , KGU .
 E-mail : kgujesus@kanto-gakuin.ac.jp
 HP : http://kgujesus.kanto-gakuin.ac.jp/
 Fax : + 81 - 45 - 786 - 7806
 TEL : + 81 - 45 - 786 - 7873
 1-50-1 , Mutsuura-Higashi , Kanazawa-ku , Yokohama-shi , Kanagawa , Japan 236-8501

Baptist World Alliance
http://www.bwanet.org/

Regent's Park College Library
http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/libraries/guides/REG.html

The American Baptist Historical Society
http://www.baptisthistory.us/

The American Baptist Churches USA
http://www.abc-usa.org/

National Christian Council in Japan
http://ncc-j.org/english/members.htm

Andover Newton Theological School
http://www.ants.edu/

Central Baptist Theological Seminary
http://www.cbts.edu/

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
http://www.sbts.edu/Home.aspx

Spurgeon’s Baptist Collge
http://www.spurgeons.ac.uk/Home/TheCourses/SpurgeonsOnline/tabid/118/Default.aspx

Copyright ( C ) 2007-2008. All rights reserved.

Aims of the Project:

  One of the greatest challenges facing modern Japan is that we see final-stage symptoms of "The Dependent Society" within our culture. A large number of disorders and problems emerge as a result of "dependency," and this threatens to bring our entire society to the edge of a very dangerous precipice. When we speak about "Dependency," (also referred to as "addiction"), we use language that was first used in the field of counseling. Most people understand "alcohol dependency." It's an illness which feeds on the anesthetic and dependency-creating chemical properties of alcohol in beverages. When large amounts of alcohol are habitually consumed over time, the result is often emotional and physical collapse.
  Because of the need for the chemical substance, alcohol, it becomes impossible to stop drinking. And because the brain is thereby thrown into a state of paralysis, physical and verbal abuse of both spouse and children follows, and the result is a "dysfunctional family."
  When we think of "addicts,"we need to recognize that although they are victims of a chronic disease, there are no subjective symptoms, which is to say that often, addicts don't realize that they're addicts. Some don't want to recognize themselves as addicts. We can understand the "Dependent or Addictive Society" as a society built on co-dependent human relationships. These relationships are created by addicted people. Modern Japanese society has surely become an example of "The Dependent Society."
  The principle objective of this research project is to analyze the structure and characteristics of "dependency" and of "The Dependent Society" from the point of view of Christianity, and to search for the means to overcome these problems. Among others, Mr. Yasoi and Mr. Mii and Mr. Taisei have been developing a practical, 12-step self-help group based on Christian principles to aid people recovering from addiction. They've also been using scholarly tools to test the method's effectiveness, with a view to distributing the program more widely in the future.
  This project was established in 2007. The impetus for the founding of this new project was the publication of three academic articles on the theme of dependency and Christianity (one each by Mr. Yasoi, Mr. Mii and Mr. Taisei) in the Kanto Gakuin University Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture's publication, Christianity and Culture (No. 5, March, 2007).

Research Theme:

  Our research project has adopted a three-year plan (2007-2009), and our principal research topics will be as follows:

1. General research and study on the topic of the Dependent Society focusing on the relationships between sociological research and Christianity.
2. General research and study on the topic of the Dependent Society focusing on the intersections of the social systems approach with Christianity.
3. Basic study on the relationship of Christianity to dependency and the Dependent Society.
4. Experimental study of an addiction recovery 12-step self-help group.
5. Research on recent student problems relating to dependency issues, such as students unable to attend school and social withdrawal.

Research Plan:

Plan for Year One (2007):
  To decide upon and establish a framework for study and research; to research topics of fundamental importance; to hold regular meetings; to put in place the 12-step self help group.
Plan for Year Two (2008):
  To hold a mid-point symposium; to hold regular meetings; to continue with the practice and evaluation of the 12-step self help group.
Plan for Year Three (2009):
  To hold a final symposium; to hold regular meetings; to continue developing the 12- step self help group; to make preparations for a publication plan

Aims of the Project:

  This project came about due to the generous bequest of Tasuku Sakata's extensive diary from the Sakata family.
  Tasuku Sakata founded the Kanto Gakuin Middle School in Miharudai and focused his long career on developing Kanto Gakuin's educational system. For uncovering the history of Kanto Gakuin, Dr. Sakata's diaries are of utmost value.
  Along with researching the diaries, our research project also attempts to understand and pursue Dr. Sakata's educational ideals.

Research Theme:

  At present our major themes are, "A Study of the Diaries of Tasuku Sakata" and "Following in the Footsteps of Tasuku Sakata."

Research Staff:

Staff Researchers:
  Takeshi Hogari and Yasoi Yasuda
Researchers:
  Michifumi Yajima
Guest Researchers:
  Hajime Sakata, Mitsuo Hanajima, Keiji Ogawa, Akira Sasaki, and Toshio Sasaki

Activities in 2007

  In accordance with last year's plan, this year, we traveled to a number of sites in Ashio (in Tochigi prefecture) to do some study called, "In the Footsteps of Tasuku Sakata." Twelve people attended and we felt it was a profitable trip.
  We will announce our findings in a separate report. We'll continue the Sakata diary project, reading and interpreting the diaries and preserving them in digital format. In addition, from last year we began transferring Dr. Sakata's Tokyo Taidai graduation thesis entitled, "The Prophet Jeremiah," to digital format. We will have all the data entered in the near future and hope to use this year to prepare it for publication.
  On Saturday, June 23rd, from 1 PM, we will invite the writer, Mr. Yoshiko Araida, to the Kannai Media Center to present a lecture. Last year, Mr. Araida published a novel centering on Dr. Sakata's grandfather, Naiki Hinata and his father, Tomizo Nakamura. Mr. Araida has long held a research interest in Dr. Sakata.
  At the Miharudai campus on Saturday, July 21st, we're also planning to hold a study meeting on Chuichi Ariyoshi, governor of Kanagawa prefecture when Kanto Gakuin Middle School was established, and supposed intimate of Dr. Sakata.

Sorry, this article is under construnction.

About us:

  The Resource and Reference Committee has served as an archive of Baptist historical material since 2001, as part of the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture at Kanto Gakuin University.
  Kanto Gakuin University itself was originally established in Yokohama in 1884 by an American Baptist mission as a Baptist seminary. Therefore, the Resource and Reference Committee holds the largest and most diverse collection of Baptist historical material in Japan.

What we do:

  We also document the life and history of the American Baptist missionary who came to serve their mission in Japan. We look for historical materials that can teach us about their lives, such as:

   1) original correspondence of overseas missionaries
   2) official denominational minutes and publications
   3) personal papers of Baptist leaders
   4) photographs

As Japan's biggest archive of Baptist historical materials, some of our holdings are of irreplaceable value. Our most prized item is the original Japanese-language bible translated by Dr Nathan Brown based on what were then the oldest known Greek manuscripts, from our special collection of documents from the Meiji period (1860s).

Members:

  The Resource and Reference Committee is run by six members.
Its chairman is Professor Makoto Muratsubaki.

Recent Activities (2007-08):

  Currently we are investigating the original Japanese-language bible translated by Dr Nathan Brown and studying the different edited versions that exist within our collection.

Photograph 1: A recently discovered Brown version Bible

How you can help:

  If you hold any information on any historical materials which may be helpful to us, please do not hesitate to contact us: The Resource and Reference Committee, Kanto Gakuin University, 1-50-1 Mutsuura-Higashi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-8501, Japan .

  We hope that your visit to our site proves informative and that you find the information useful as we continue our work in bringing our legacy to light.

Contact Us:

  The Resource and Reference Committee
  Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture , KGU .

   E-mail : kgujesus@kanto-gakuin.ac.jp
   HP : http://kgujesus.kanto-gakuin.ac.jp/

   Fax : +81 - 45 - 786 - 7806
   TEL : +81 - 45 - 786 - 7873