Endo Shusaku: The writer of inculturation

Abstract

Endo Shusaku's oeuvre is a fascinating literary attempt at reconciliation of (Western) Christianity and Japanese culture. As a Christian and a Japanese, Endo was a living embodiment of this religious and cultural struggle, but he was also a writer and thus in a fitting position to express the agonies of identity crisis that he and his Christian compatriots had to endure for centuries. Endo was, in other words, interested in the mission process known as inculturation, which signifies specific ways in which Christianity becomes a natural part of any given culture. The success of this process depends on the identification of the most important causes of conflict between Christianity and culture, while the solutions usually tend to produce something new. In most cases of successful inculturation, new images of Christ were produced in accordance with the religious mentality of the baptized community. Throughout his writings, Endo has managed to offer several such images. His Christ is a Suffering Servant of God, similar to the one described by Isaiah, a companion figure (dohansha), and a merciful God full of motherly love. While based on the Bible, these images are, at the same time, inspired by Japanese religious traditions, specifically Buddhist notions of merciful buddhas and bodhisattvas. Several controversial details in Endo's novels have aroused suspicions among Catholic clergymen, such as the presumed justification of apostasy in Silence and the pluralist tone of Deep River, but Endo was not trying to justify Asian religious mentality to Westerners. On the contrary, he was trying to present Christianity to the Japanese audience using the religious motifs they were familiar with. Thus, one might interpret Endo's images of Christ as an "experimental" inculturation - theologically imperfect but nevertheless valuable for pointing out the most significant issues in the evangelization of Japan.