Niijima Jo, Jerome Davis, and Women’s Education at Doshisha
Nicholas J. TEELE（前本学学長・本学名誉教授）
Good morning. Today, I want to talk a little bit about a man who was very deeply involved with Niijima Jo and Doshisha.
Do you remember visiting the grave of Niijima Jo, on the hill behind Kumano Nyakuoji shrine? After a nice walk up the hill, you come to the Doshisha cemetery. As you enter the cemetery, there are three graves that stand out. The one in the middle is the grave of Niijima Jo. To the left is the grave of his wife, Yae. The grave next to Niijima Jo＇s on the right is that of Jerome Dean Davis, who was born in 1838 and who died in 1910. He is the man that I would like to talk to you about today.
My talk has three parts. First, his life before he came to Japan, second his life in Japan before Niijima Jo returned, and third, his work with Niijima Jo at Doshisha.
Part One.
Jerome Davis was born in 1838, in the United States, in New York. His mother died when he was a boy. A few years after that his father took his children to Illinois. His father had a farm, and Jerome helped his father in many ways. For example, he learned to be a carpenter and he also learned to cook. He began teaching at the local school, and started studying at the local college. After a year, he transferred to Beloit College. While a student there, he decided to become a minister. He also became interested in missionary work.
When the Civil War started in 1861 he was just 23 years old. He enlisted in the US army and was a hero in the attle of Shiloh.While waiting to go back to the war after recovering from a serious injury, he attended a lecture on inawa and Japan, by a man named Bernard Bettelheim, who had been a missionary in Okinawa. Davis did a fine job in the army and eventually was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( 陸軍中佐 ). He had learned to be an excellent manager.
Davis got of the army in 1865 and returned to college. He graduated after one year and then went on to the Chicago Theological Seminary, and studied to become a minister.While there, he did volunteer work as a male nurse during a cholera epidemic in Chicago.He also became engaged to Sophia Strong, a young woman who was teaching at a girl＇s school.
In 1869, he became a minister in the town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. There he worked to bring different Protestant groups together,and then built a church, and a home to live in.Most of the actual building was done by Davis and his wife, although the townspeople also helped some.
After about a year, he asked to be sent to Japan as a missionary. His request was accepted.Before leaving for Japan, he met Niijima Jo at the 1871 meeting of the American Board of Missions, in Massachusetts. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. At that time, Niijima was studying to become a minister.
In general, there were two main goals of missionary work; the first was to teach the Christian religion and Christian ideals and ways of thinking. The second was to train men and women who were citizens of the country they were in. This was because the missionaries believed that work of spreading Christianity and Christian ideals and ways of thinking could best be done by citizens of that country.
There were three main branches of missionary activity; the first was preaching, the second was education, and the third was medicine. Davis had experience in the first two areas, and was to become active in both of them.
Part Two.
In December 1871, Jerome and Sophia Davis arrived in Kobe. There were already several missionaries there. The situation was very difficult because of the opposition to Christianity, but several Japanese helped them. One strong supporter was Kuki Takayoshi. He had been daimyo of the Sanda han and was very interested in Western ideas, and in women＇s education. He and Davis became friends, as did their wives.
In 1872, when the government＇s law against Christianity was changed, it became easier for missionaries to teach in many places in Japan. Kobe was one such place, thanks to the influence of people like Kuki Takayoshi, his family, and people who worked for him.
As Davis worked teaching about Christianity and talking with Japanese people about the Christian religion, he realized the importance of having female missionaries in Japan. He wrote letters to the American Board strongly requesting that a girl＇s schools be started, first in Kobe, and then in Kyoto. Davis strongly felt that ＂The work for women in Japan must be done by women.＂
In 1873, Davis helped to open first a men＇s school and then a school for ladies in Kobe. The girl＇s school was founded by two American women missionaries, Eliza Talcott and Julia Dudley. This was the beginning of Kobe College. Later, Davis ser ved on the Board of Directors of Kobe College.
Part Three.
In 1874, Niijima Jo came back to Japan as a Corresponding Member of the Japan Mission of the American Board. He and Jerome Davis began to work closely together. At that time, Niijima was 31 years old, and Davis was 36. In 1875 they went to Kyoto to talk with Yamamoto Kakuma about starting a boy＇s school in Kyoto.The situation was very difficult, but finally they were able to open a boy＇s school in the fall of that year. Niijima Jo was the head of the school, and Davis was there as both a teacher, and as an adviser for the management of the school. Of course, Yamamoto Kakuma was also deeply involved. Gradually, Davis learned to understand, appreciate and agree with Niijima Jo＇s thought, and his approach to bringing Christianity to Japan,
Also in 1875, Davis and his family were given permission to live in Kyoto. The Davis＇s moved into a large old house near the imperial palace, the Yanagisawa yashiki. Early in 1876, when Niijima Jo and Yae got married in Kyoto, Jerome Davis was the minister who performed the marriage ceremony.
In the fall of 1876, Niijima Jo and Jerome Davis were able to open a girl＇s school in the Davis home. Alice Starkweather and Niijima Yae were the teachers there.
Because of language and cultural differences, there were a number of problems for Doshisha, both involving students and involving teachers. In addition, there was local opposition. But both Niijima Jo and Jerome Davis worked hard in the background to make the schools a success.
In 1877, the government ordered that many of the houses around the Imperial Place in Kyoto be torn down in order to make room for a large park. The Davis＇s looked and looked for another house to rent, but could not find anyone who would rent to them. Finally, they decided to build their own house.
Davis used his own money, including his savings from the United States, to help pay for the house. He found a carpenter who would buy the land for him, and helped the carpenter build the house on it. Because Davis had already built one house in the United States, he had both knowledge and experience and could teach the Japanese carpenter what to do in order to build a western-style house.
Rooms in the new house were used as classrooms for the girl＇s school until a school house could be built. Several years later, Davis encouraged Doshisha to open both a hospital and a nursing school, and in 1887, when the nursing school was started, it was located in the Davis home.
Davis effectively used all his earlier experiences to help Niijima Jo, Doshisha, and women＇s education in Japan. Davis and Niijima Jo were close friends, and after Niijima Jo died, Davis wrote a fine biography of him in English.
When Jerome Davis finally left Japan in 1906, over five hundred former leaders and students of Doshisha, gave him a letter, which said, in part,
＂... When the late Mr. Neesima returned home with the brilliant idea of founding the Doshisha, it was you and the late Mr. Kakuma Yamamoto who understood his idea best and helped his work with the most enthusiasm and sincerity.＂
＂When by the loss of both Mr. Neesima and Mr. Yamamoto the career of Doshisha became difficult, it was you who felt the greatest pain and realized the hardest blow. We cannot estimate how many nights you were sleepless over the cares of the school and spent the whole night in prayer to God.＂ (Davis, pp. 339-340)
This year, on the 140th anniversary of Doshisha Women＇s College, let us remember the work of Jerome Davis, and the many others like him, who devoted their lives in order that the ideals of Christianity, internationalism, and Liberal Arts would continue to be important parts of education at Doshisha
References :
Davis, J. Merle, Soldier Missionary (Boston:Pilgrim Press, 1916)
ディヴィス，J. マール（翻訳：北垣宗治） 『宣教の勇者』（同志社，2006）