Danjo, Ebina

(1856–1937)

   Theologian.

   A member of the Samurai caste of Japan, Danjo was converted from Confucian philosophy to Christianity. He was taught by the missionary Captain L.C. James who gathered together a small group of Christian young men who became known as the Kumamoto Band. Later he became a preacher at Annaka. He taught that all humanity share to some degree the nature of God and through discovering their Godlike nature, human beings share in the experience of Jesus Christ. Danjo is generally considered to be the first original Christian Japanese theologian.

   F. Notehelfer, ‘Ebina Danjo: A Christian Samurai of the Meiji period’, Papers on Japan (1963);

   I. Scheiner, Christian Converts and Social Protest in Meiji Japan (1970).