Kanzō Uchimura

Uchimura Kanzō
Uchimura Kanzō in 1918
Born	(1861-03-26)March 26, 1861 Tokyo, Japan
Died	March 28, 1930(1930-03-28) (aged 69) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japan
Occupation	Writer, Christian evangelist

Uchimura Kanzō (内村 鑑三, March 26, 1861 – March 28, 1930) was a Japanese author, Christian evangelist, and the founder of the Nonchurch Movement (Mukyōkai) of Christianity in the Meiji and Taishō period Japan. He is often considered to be the most well-known Japanese pre-World War II pacifist.

Uchimura was born in Edo, and exhibited a talent for languages from a very early age; he started to study the English language at the age of 11. In 1877, he gained admission to the Sapporo Agricultural College (present-day Hokkaido University), where English was the main language of instruction.

Prior to Uchimura's arrival, William S. Clark, a graduate of Amherst College, had spent the year assisting the Japanese government in establishing the college. While his primary role was to teach agricultural technology, Clark was a committed lay Christian missionary who introduced his students to the Christian faith through Bible classes. All of his students converted and signed the "Covenant of Believers in Jesus", committing themselves to continue studying the Bible and to do their best to live moral lives. Clark returned to the United States after one year, but Uchimura felt his influence through the small Covenant group that was left behind. Under considerable pressure from his senpai (先輩, a term for strongly-influential senior peers), Uchimura signed the Covenant during his first year at the College at the age of 16 and went on to receive baptism from a Methodist missionary in 1878.