Neesima was born
in 1843 as a Samurai. Even as a boy he wore his sword wherever he went. His
allegiance was to the daimio (the lord of a large area of land in Japan) that
ruled the part of Japan where Neesima lived. But, he was not content to only be
a Samurai. He longed to learn truth and knowledge. Once, while sneaking away
from his duties to visit a teacher whom he often talked with, the daimio caught
him. After flogging him, the daimio asked, “Why you run out from here?”
“That I wish to learn foreign knowledge, because foreigners have
got best knowledge, and I hope to understand very quickly,” Neesima replied.
“With what reason will you like foreign knowledge?” the daimio
questioned. “Perhaps it will mistake yourself.”
“Why will it mistake myself? I guess every one must take some
knowledge. If a man has not any knowledge, I will worth him as a dog or a pig.”
The daimio thought that was unimportant, and also that Neesima was
acting more like a peasant than a Samurai. “You are a stable boy,” he laughed.
But nonetheless, he still tried to learn as much as he could. What
happened one day is well put in Neesima’s own words: “A day my comrade sent me
an Atlas of United States, which was written in Chinese letter by some American
minister. [He had learned to read Chinese as well as Japanese and later English.]
I read it many times, and I was wondered so much as my brain would melted out
of my head, because I liked it very much – picking one President… and so forth,
and I thought that a government of every country must be as President of United
States. And I murmured myself that, O governour of Japan! Why you keep down us
as a dog or a pig? We are people of Japan; if you govern us, you must love us
as your children.”
But not only was he concerned with knowledge, he was also
concerned with religion. When he was about fifteen, he refused to keep worshiping
the family gods. He realized that they were “only whittled things.” Soon after
that, he obtained a portion of the Bible in Chinese. After reading only the
first verse, he began praying to the only true God.
Even with all that he had already learned, he thought that it was
yet not enough. He wished to go to America or England to learn more, but the
daimio denied his request to leave. Even so, he would not despair. As he put
it, “My stableness did not destroy by their expostulations.” After a few years,
though, the daimio changed his mind and gave Neesima permission to leave Japan.
But, that was only one daimio that allowed him to leave. There were many others
in Japan. Whenever any Japanese person was caught leaving the country, he was
nearly immediately executed. So, this would be a dangerous journey.
He was allowed to use one of the daimio’s junks to sail to
Hakodate, a port on the coast. A friend, Mr. Munokite, had made arrangements
with a captain of an American ship. Unfortunately, even though Neesima was in
the right port, it would still be quite hard to slip by the Japanese officials
and into the boat. Mr. Munokite had a plan: Neesima would dress as a servant
while following a friend dressed like a Samurai. When they reached the dock,
Neesima would then pretend to be a bundle of cargo by laying down, allowing
himself to be wrapped in a tarp, and hoisted and put into a rowboat to be taken
to the ship. The plan worked! He made it on board the Berlin safely. But, the danger was not yet over. The officials
always checked all boats leaving the harbor. Captain Savory had been prepared
for this. He put Neesima in a part of the ship where the officials did not even
think about checking. Of course, the officials did not see him, and the voyage
was started. The Berlin took him to
Shanghai, where he got on a trading vessel, the Wild Rover.
While stopping at Hong Kong to load up provisions for the journey,
trade with the people, and such, Neesima stopped in at a shop and saw a
complete Chinese Bible. He very much wanted to purchase it, but he did not have
even a penny. All he brought with him on his journey was his Samurai sword. He
thought about it. He desired to buy the Bible, but could he really give up his
sword? It was the emblem of a Samurai. And it would be a sorry Samurai to be
without a sword. He hesitated for a moment while contemplating it, then went
back to the ship, picked up his sword and sold it in exchange for the Bible. He
made a very good trade. A thin Samurai sword for the greatest, most powerful,
sharpest sword of all: the Bible. After getting back on board the boat, they
set off. Thus through God’s Providence, the help of some friends, and the careful
planning of Captain Savory, he safely reached England.
When he arrived, he had nowhere to go. He stayed nearby the ship,
hoping to find somewhere to live. The captain of the Wild Rover told the owner of the trading company about Neesima. Mr.
Hardy, the owner, was interested and decided to hire him as his servant. But
when he met Neesima, he found out that he was not a normal runaway. He had big
plans about helping his country. Instead, Mr. Hardy adopted him because he was
interested in Neesima and wanted to help him in his mission. Neesima was 21
years old at this time. Mr. Hardy named him Joseph Hardy Neesima, since he was
called “Joe” by the sailors on the ship, and Hardy was after his own name.
Neesima was also able to go with an embassy of Japan to America to
learn about how America’s political system worked. When he finished his work
for the embassy, Japan was open to learning European ideas. He saw his
opportunity. He would go back to Japan to not only teach his people knowledge,
but he would give them the greatest knowledge: the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Of course, he had a minor problem. He had planned to start a
Christian College in Japan to teach others about Christ, but he still had
nearly nothing except his Bible. There would be no way to start a Christian
College for the Japanese. He would need money. Since he was still in America,
he decided to try to raise money for the college. He had been offered a time to
give a speech in front of an American board of missions, so he planned to use
this opportunity. He carefully crafted his message to make it as convincing as
possible. The day finally arrived for him to give his speech. When he went up
to the platform in front of all those people, he completely forgot his message.
Instead of trying to remember, he spoke from his heart about Japan’s need for
Christ. When his speech ended, he received $5,000 dollars in donations. Now he
had at least enough to get started.
When he arrived in Japan, he decided not to go where it would be
easy, but where it would be most difficult: Kyoto, the very heart of Japan.
Kyoto was the city with the most Buddhist and Shinto temples numbering around
six thousand. He was rather outnumbered: 5,000 dollars to 6,000 temples. But he
would not be deterred. He made more speeches, obtained more money, and started
the college. Through the years it taught five thousand people, eighty of which
became ministers. Who would have guessed that with originally starting with
only $5,000 he would teach 5,000 people about Christ! The Samurai Neesima had
defeated the pagan city with his new sword, the greatest sword of all, the
Bible. Neesima shows us that even when we do not seem to have enough to accomplish
something, we should never give up. God can accomplish anything even when it
appears that it is impossible.
“Attempt great things for God; expect
great things from God.” ~William Carey
