2. The Beginning of Doshisha English Academy and Friction with Neighbors “Doshisha English Academy” started with a prayer meeting in the house that Neesima was renting at 8 am on November 29th, 1875. The name Doshisha literally means an association of people with the same purpose, and began with just eight students and two teachers, J.D. Davis and Jo Neesima himself, who were together on the first day. Davis later wrote, “I will never forget the gentle, tearful, solemn prayer that Neesima said at his home, on the first day for our school.” The following year, in 1876, two school buildings and one cafeteria were built where there had been a Satsuma domain, (the current Imadegawa Campus). Jo had obtained the land from Kakuma Yamamoto, who was in an advisory position for Kyoto prefecture and agreed with Jo’s ambition. It wasn’t long after the ban on Christianity had been lifted, but there were still fierce protests from Buddhist and Shinto priests. To the north of the school, there was a Buddhist temple called Shokokuji, and to the south there was the Emperor’s Palace. Doshisha Academy was geologically, as well as politically, placed between Buddhism and Shintoism, so their start was very challenging, with people heckling and throwing rocks at them. 3. “Classroom No.30” and Kumamoto Band As one of the conditions for opening a new school, Neesima had been forced to promise that he would not teach the Bible inside the campus, so he held the Bible lessons at his home. Later, he bought a tofu shop across the street from the campus, and it became a place to teach the Bible. Students called the abandoned building “England” or “Classroom No.30,” since it was located on street number 30. Kumamoto prefecture invited Mr. L.L. Janes from America and opened a Western style school in Kumamoto. However, people in Kumamoto were shocked when 35 students who followed Christianity gathered on the summit of Hanaokayama in Kumamoto and signed a pledge to work for society with the spirit of Christianity. This incident eventually led to strong protests and the school was shut down in September, 1876. Through Mr. Janes, Doshisha Academy welcomed about 40 students from the Kumamoto school who had lost their place to study. Doshisha made a preparatory course on theology for them
元のページ ../index.html#10