What if Japan Had Converted To Christianity? 

What if japan won the imjin war

Happy Fourth of July 🇺🇸

Happy 4th, we’re talking about Japan

Well the Founding Fathers excluded Women, Black people, and oppressed gay people so who cares about their lukewarm accomplishments. Rebel Canadians had better policies. No joke.

Im Italian, what's the 4th of July?

Justo isn't a traditionally Japanese name, was his name Spanish or Portugese influenced as well? That's really interesting if so

Interesting!

I just looked it up, yes it was, his first name is written in Katakana, something I didn't realize they were doing in the 1500s and very early 1600s! Cool!

The Holyman of Japan

@@MediumDSpeaks Yes, "justo" literally means "just" or "fair". In the Spanish speaking world it's considered a very old-fashioned name so you won't find much people younger than 60 bearing it

Loved the video man!

@Kurtis boo

That is a great video you made

666 likes

Ukraine is gay. I did a video proving that the NATO logo has a swastika in it.

Not quite. There were a few Christians left when missionaries returned, having passed the faith from parent to child orally for 250 years.

@@andrewpatton5114Exactly thousands practiced in secret same in other countries where Christianity is persecuted

@@braxtonjones6163 funny how christians went from being persecuted to being the largest persecutors of all time

If only all nations could be so lucky

​@@nodnarbleahcim5097wdym by that? Why do u hate Christianity?

No video about Japan is complete without at least one mentioning of Oda Nobunaga

And he was assassinated. He he not been assassinated, Japan would be a very different place.

I'd say the issue with that is while yes, he was open to Christians, he also wasn't open to potential dissenters. Look at what he did to the Ikko Ikki and you might get an idea of what would happen if Christians continued growing

I don't know his openness to Western stuff is greatly exaggerated you just got to look depictions of him wearing Western style armor even though there is no actual evidence for that whatsoever.

Which he only did for practical reasons, not out of sympathy for their cause. Like Tokugawa, did he find them to undermine his authority, the result would have been the same and westerners and Christians would have been purged from Japan

Lmao

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I doubt anime, as we know it, would even exist in an alternate Christian converted Japan.

@@andrewtodaro2874 Is this because of the differences in global conflict during the first half of the 20th century in this alternate timeline?

*screaming intensifies*

And funny

They shall retake Nanking in the Name of God and Anime

I mean, wasn't there a samurai that went to Spanish Mexico and visited a descendant of the Aztecs?

japan was closer to becoming muslim than christian

In visualisation yes, they would be still weaker than Templars or Teutons, the armor and swords were not practical

Psalm 144 "Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me." A Christian Samurai would be quite terrifying indeed.

Samurai: this jesus guy really knows whats up

Death before Dishonour - How about a life after death?

They’d basically be Joshua Graham from Fallout New Vegas *We can’t expect for God to do all the work*

@pyropulse Chill dude! I wasn't engaged in a debate in order to accuse me of misquoting scripture. It was just fun way of thinking what verses a Christian Samurai would use, that also align with his profession.

I think that'd be unlikely. When the Roman Catholics conducted their missions they tended to homogenize their churches. It wasn't until more recently with Vatican II that the Catholics have become more open to liturgical and cultural differences. The Eastern Rite churches really only exist because they rejoined the Catholic communion as already formed churches, not new ones.

Pope would eventually have to decide if Japanese Christianity should be tolerated or not

I think it could became a different Branch of Christianity. Like Ethiopian Orthodox

@@Frazier16 theoretically, but that is different than pure aesthetic/cultural differences. That would likely mean the Japanese church would have to have an irreconcilable split in theology with the rest of the Catholic church

Be even more confusing when the Orthodox got to Japan. Japan has a rather sizable population of them and they're...certainly unique.

One correction. Less than 3% of Japan follows any Abrahamic religion (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), with about 1% following Christianity. This is based on the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs 2022 report on religions in the country.

It seems to be common for people conditioned to conceptualize religion in a purely Abrahamic framework not to fully grasp how other traditions deal with things like faith and adherence. The video cites data that over 60% of respondants in Japan had no religious affiliation or were irreligious, but this only reflects affiliation with organized religion. This same survey also reports that only 3% of respondants identify with Shinto, and these are overwhelmingly members of the clergy. Other surveys indicate that 70% of respondants adhere to Shinto in some form, while 70% also adhere to Buddhism in some form. This obviously adds up to over 100%. It isn’t that the religions are “unorganized” (various Buddhist traditions in Japan have a long history of theological disputes, and Shinto was at one point co-opted and codified by the Imperial government to solidify their authority), but Eastern religions tend to be much more fluid in terms of adherence and identity than the Abrahamic faiths. What can be most confusing to a Western observer is that none of these survey results are mutually exclusive in the Japanese worldview. In Japan, it is extremely common for people who practice both Shinto and Buddhist rites on a regular basis and may also have had a Christian wedding to identify with none of them and even consider themselves completely irreligious. Often these practices are considered an extension of being Japanese without any explicitly religious connotations, which is why the Empire of Japan was officially a secular state, yet also declared the descent of the Emperor from the sun goddess Amaterasu as historical fact as official state policy, and also mandated certain state-sanctioned Shinto practices regardless of one’s stated religious affiliation.

So, maybe the Taiping rebellion would be started by Japanese Catholic missionaries in this time-line?

this is why christianity is a cancer

That's not impossible, but Japan kinda has a history of syncretism. "Born Shinto, marry Christian, die Buddhist," as they say.

@@timothymclean To be fair so did the Romans, theoretically Japan would've just needed their own Theodosius to go full send into Christianity.

sounds like piracy to the surrounding countries

Maybe it would be similar to Eastern Orthodoxy artwork? Prioritizing symbolism over realism.

"Japanese christian artwork is some of my favority kinds" - I've watched Evangelion so I can support this! (Even though Anno does not follow Christianity and mostly just thought Angel imagery looked cool and never expected the show to be seen by Westerners)

@@jakespacepiratee3740 He took themes from the book of Revelation to write his plot; definitely directly inspired by Christianity, especially the ending.

@@bustavonnutz He also said that if he knew Evangelion was going to be viewed by Westerners he probably would not have included Western religious imagery. Presumably because he didnt want to offende anyone?

either japanese architecture or a mix of japanese and gothic

Religious mumbo jumbo is always beautiful to the Ignorant

I can't read "Sect" without thinking of Murim. 😂

La Conquistadora de Almas Ora Pro Nobis ☦️

You mean atheists love ignorance*@@rishavkumar1250

​@@rishavkumar1250 Neckbeard

Unfortunately they did that same thing as in Kingdom of Heaven, where they put modern mindset and perspectives in characters from centuries ago.

it was an amazing movie i watched it

​@@ErickeTR No not really. Kingdom of Heaven is a historical hot mess that includes butchering and mixing up historical figures and mindsets. Silence really showed some deep zealotry levels the modern world really doesn't grasp. The way The Japanese shogunate targeted the believers instead of the missionaries was in fact true. And its well documented. As is how the average Japanese farmer's interpretation of Christianity. They took it fairly literal, and the Shogun did see it as a threat to their control over the population, and what the Europeans did to other places around the world, hence the near immediate cut off from the outside world.

@@ErickeTR Interesting, I saw Silence as well. Could you give examples of the modern mindset/perspectives in that film ?

It was a pretty good movie

we do actually have a few christian japanese filipinos in the philippines...

I'm guessing an alphabet of something like Aa /a/ Bb /ᵐb/ > /b/ Cc /k/ Ch ch /t͡ɕ/ Çç /s/ Dd /ⁿd/ > /d/ Dj dj /d͡ʑ/ > /ʑ/ (upon merger, is dropped in favour of ) Ee /e/ Ff /ɸ/ > /h/ (remaining /ɸ/ in loanwords is spelled either or ) Gg /ɰ/ (Portuguese /g/ lenites to something like [ɰ])' Gu gu /ᵑgw/ (gu is used over gü because Late Middle Japanese didn't have /gw/ before front vowels.) Ii /i/, /j/ Jj /ʑ/ (also sometimes used for /ç/ under influence from Spanish) Ll ll /rː/ Mm /m/ Nn /n/ Nh nh /ɲ/ (Introduced later) NG ng /ᵑɡ/ > /g/ ( is used for /Nɰ/ nrr [ɴ] (only at the end of words) Oo /o/ ÓÓ óó /ɔː/ ÔÔ ôô /oː/ Pp /p/ Qu qu /kw/ (likely to become more common because of loanwords) R r /r/ (possibly replaced with at one point) Rr rr /h/ (Introduced later) S s /ⁿz/ > /z/ (replaced with word initially after they merge) T t /t/ TÇ tç /t͡s/ Uu /u/ Xx /ɕ/ Zz /dz/ > /z/ Note: geminate /r/ is spelled sample words: Nifonrr (japan) > Nirronrr Porutongaru (Portugual) キリシタン Cirixitanrr (Christian) > Cilixitianrr ガラナ Guarana (Guarana) プリンシペ purinhxipe サウダージ saudaji トタン totanrr トタン panrr

What is it with the Iberian Peninsula and having random people live in there from different places, Portugal has the Successor of the Templars, the Religion of the Assassins and a Japanese Minority that came from an expedition by a Japanese Lord.

Or look to East Timor

Not really sure that it was actually the case as the biggest reason why Latin-Viet was used as a writing system is because it's easier to educate a large swathe of people on how to write than Nom-Viet so the left-wing government in Vietnam after the liberation wars just choose it. Catholic in Vietnam was constantly being overshadowed by folk-Buddhism and it's role on building the Vietnam national identity (which was built as a response towards the repressions by China during their 1000 years rule). So even if they got a better leg to stand on (a less repressive government for example), they would still have to contesting a literal national religion.

How would you react if faith in christianity suddently rises within your country?

@@ALEX-fq7hh they’d probably find it strange

there's an alternate history novel for everything, huh?

@@orbrat212 this one is not alternate history, it focuses on the shimabara rebellion in extreme detail. From build up, myths that showed up during the rebellion and international intervention in the conflict.

@@liquidmarble2545 ah i see

@don't be surprised no?

Adding to this, for the Chinese experience of christian rebellion, read God' Chinese Son. The Taiping rebellion was nuts.

Added to my list, thanks for the mention

@@MegaLucky0013 silence a movie by Scorsese is much better

Yes

lorenzo ruiz died in japan also while on a mission

Annnnd all of those did happen

@@xechyugon2887 we have a saint who got killed in Japan, a blessed(a non-canonized saint) Samurai Daimyo who was exiled to Manila died here, and various shenanigans like Murata Rifles showing up in the Philippines during our Revolution

Tbh, I would Never wish what happened to my country(the PH) on Japan or any of our neighbors even if it made ties stronger. The world would be far less beautiful or interesting if Folk religions like that of Shintoism, Animism, Shamanism, Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism & other religions, Histories & Cultures were wiped out by European & North American Christian Churches like what happened in the Philippines. Even if people all converted to the same religion & had more similarities, that has NEVER stopped conflicts or wars from breaking out between groups. I mean, the Europeans have mostly been Christians for at least a 1000 years & they Still fought each other endlessly. The reason they even came to the Americas, Asia & Africa was so they could compete over who had the most global colonies & dominance. The issue with Spanish Christianization was their constant drive to wipe out or twist other Populations' past "Idols" to wipe the slate clean & indoctrinate their own religion & heirarchy. A few priests saved the pre-Colonial information but the majority didn't. The Americans are just the British Empire reloaded & they Still fought with other super Christian nations.

Indeed. Considering how big a role Christianity played with the Korean independence movement, it would probably have taken on elements of the Protestant-Catholic divide in Europe, depending on if Japan was Traditional Roman Catholic or if it was declared heretical for incorporating Shinto elements and hence Protestant.

If Japan followed the exact steps. Christianity wouldn't be in Korea anymore. Most Christians would've been banished to Japan or US.

Christianity in Korea would be more Catholic than Protestant

@@davidford3115 I doubt they would be considered heretics, one of the main reasons why early Christianity was so successful is that they still to an extent allowed the traditions of different people to coexist with Christianity

@@warcriminalgaming2359 Depends. St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of Klingons was famous for punching out heretics at the council of Nicene. Now I agree that the Coptic Christian Chruch very much resembles the early church by incorporating elements of the ancient Egyptian faith and mysteries, such as the cult of Mother Isis, goddess of childbirth being adopted into practices honoring the Virgin Mary. Something to consider is that for the longest time, the Vatican held Chinese ancestor rites as pagan rituals incompatible with Christian doctrine. For centuries the Holy See has considered it "ancestor worship". It is only a recent development that those practices are view through the lens of "honor thy mother and father", the 5th of the 10 commandments.

yeah it would be awesome

Boo hoo

You said it yourself, it died out quickly, therefore not really worth mentioning.

I need a video of the history of the Nestorians those guys went to the end of the world preaching Jesus

Yh true The mongols had a sizeable population of nestorian Christian's Of course that ended later when most mongols ended up converting to islam

There were also a lot of hidden Christians in Nagasaki but that kinda ended when you know, the nuke hit

Yeah, like the occasional practices of syncretism done by the Kakure/Hidden Christians. I believe there is even a small Shinto shrine in their honor, but I can't remember the name of it.

I think Christianity would just be a bit more prevalent in Japan, particularly in the southern islands and cities like Nagasaki

Problem with that is that Christianity has historically been very intolerant of other religions. It’s either all Christian, or the Christians will strive to make it all Christian.

I wonder how that society would view the Kami. As angels? Demons? Are Yokai Demons. Very interesting.

The thing is - syncretism and Christianity don't go well together. I cannot imagine a universe where a sizeable practicing Christian population exists in Japan and it isn't actively trying to destroy the other faiths present. Buddhism accepts gods or other supernatural beings so Kami are no problem. Shinto accepts Buddha as just another Kami to worship. And Confucianism is more of a philosophy, even the more religion-like Neoconfucianism is more focused on hot takes about the basic structure of the world than to pay attention to dieties. However for Christianity, there is only one God, one holy plan and one worldly structure, so all of the faiths listed above are a no-go.

There is an assassins creed game in development right now that takes place in japan

@@undeadzebra6016 Actually no. The Assassin's Creed Mirage was set to be taking place in the 9th century Baghdad. Yep, we going back to the Islamic Golden Age.

@@TheStarcoMarco Assassins Creed Red is gonna be set in Japan though.

For me an AC game should take place during the bakumatsu period.

You have an interesting idea. 😂

Japan wasn't Fascist??

@@CausticSpace what were they then?

@@kulabster8916 Constitutional Monarchy, they even had a house of representatives and parliament. The IRAA wasn't even fascist and had no elements of fascism. Simply because they were with the Axis doesn't mean they were fascist.

@@kulabster8916 Fascism is a system where the people is divided according to their sectors under State maintenance. Japan wasn't anything like this.

@@kulabster8916 fascism was more of a Europe thing. Japan was just playing the West's game in colonialism and adopted some fascist beliefs. They myth making part of fascism made more sense as Japan was older than Italy or Germany.

Hah! I was about to make a comment to this effect, i do believe if Nobunaga did not die, Japan would be Christian. He was a big reverse weeb and firmly anti-traditionalistic.

Nobunaga was a straight up Westaboo. He wore western style armor, drank red wine and converted to Christianity. If the Honnouji Incident didn’t happen he could totally have spread Christianity

@@00Rennah yeah same. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to think of Nobunaga

@@SeanHiruki oda was a Christian?

@@mr.anderson2241 He wasn't a Christian himself, but Nobunaga was a huge weeb for the Portuguese. Everything they did, he wanted to appropriate in some way, turning a lot of western military traditions and technologies that the Portuguese brought with them into an early hybrid Euro-Japanese war machine. I agree that had he not died when he did, and the Oda clan became shogun, he and his successors might be a lot less hostile to the Christians than the Tokugawa were - leading to Christianity taking over the country not through force, but through the slow state-sponsored benign neglect of traditions

Jesus Christ would've done the same thing as the Japanese. I bet you would still crucify him today if he condemns this stupid expansionist shit.

Well, World War 2 was largely the German empire anyway. They might 've kept their distance though

@peter who asked

That would be such a loss. I'm convinced the spread of Christianity has made the world a much more boring place.

@@krunkle5136 Having a boring world is only a problem for people well off enough and safe enough to amuse themselves with the problems of other countries. Everyone else especially the most worst off are quite happy to live in a boring world where they don't have to worry about getting decapitated for looking directly at their ruler's face and at least getting treated with a base level of respect for being a fellow human.

@@krunkle5136 The Japanese themselves complained how hard Kanji is and the Edo Period is pretty much the root cause of many of Japan's issues today(the Yakuza for example)

@@genghiskhan5701 could you explain the latter part? I still see the idea of removing kanji as a bastardizing of the language. It's hard, but with that it necessitated a robust school system to educate kids successfully. I don't see what's bad with 'hard'. It's a space efficient and beautiful script when learned. Maybe something easy to look over in an era when anything can be replaced with an app, everything expedient.

@@krunkle5136 A language being hard no matter how pretty it looks just isn't preferable for efficiency. People in this era actually appreciate the aesthetic of things far more than in the past. Practicality was always extremely appealing hence why they were tempted to change their writing system. Ex: There is no way Japan would easily replace its writing system today due to cultural significance but back then it was a real possibility.

was he using a musket? - I was for sure he was using a rifle in that.

@@abhijeetshrestha1502 could have been a rifled musket. Issak's musket was specially hand crafted my his master.

USA would coup them until they werent

KING BOLSONAROO

It would be a first world country by now.

superpower

Considering what the old republic (lasted untill the start of the 20 century) did, it may have become far more advanced

Knowledge.

Sheesh.

lol Christian mEtal

@@thefutureisnowoldman7653 I mean 9f you think about it Christianity is very metal, specially Catholicism and Orthodoxy, eating the meat and drinking the blood of its own God and placing the thing that killed its God everywhere, sometimes with the symbol of the dead God still in the torture object that killed the God. Very Metal.

@@jackyex Many Western Christians hated Metal and considered Satanic with no real evidence.

@@jakespacepiratee3740 and many protestants tought that Catholics were Satanic demon polytheistic worshipers, so yeah.

@@thefutureisnowoldman7653 I mean, Tony Iommi is a Catholic, and he invented Heavy Metal as we know it.

Where

@@houseplant1016 0:39

@@EbonySaints Ah that, thanks! Legend!

Perhaps a new sub sect. But there is historic precedent of the Pope (or the Khalifs) tolerating fringe traditions in far away recently converted regions.

@@Hortifox_the_gardener It’s possible the Japanese Catholics could have become another branch of eastern Catholics like the Indian Catholic Church or byzantines

Similar to the Taiping rebellion in China

I’m not so sure about this, since clearly most Japanese converts were very zealous in their views and would probably be ardently Catholic, along with the fact the few remaining Christian’s after the suppression kept pretty close to basic Christian doctrines and when the Meiji period came about allowing religious freedom the majority of them returned back to mainstream Catholicism

I'd imagine they'd look a lot like the Celtic Christians of the early Middle Ages or Mexicans today: officially in communion with the Roman Catholics today, but keeping many native traditions

But Christianity is neither Shintoism nor Buddhism. Christianity has a doctrine system which is far more stricter than Shintoism for example. In order to be regarded as a Christian you must agree with it's teachings. It's not enough to just dress like a Christian, but to also believe its theology.

Also Christmas has a very different significa in Japan, beign considered a romantic Holiday, (the same thing happened with South Korea), it's because of the import of the very consumerism driven Christmas of the US.

They CURRENTLY use religion for mostly ceremonial reasons, which is in response to the nationalization of Shinto in the 20th century. It's unlikely this would be true in an alternate Japan that adopted Christianity 300 years before

@@xunqianbaidu6917 The rituals are created by the theology, not the other way around. Christians drink the blood of their God because that's what their theology teaches.

@@xunqianbaidu6917 But they do it because it's in the Bible, they wouldn't do it otherwise.

I have always wondered that too. How would the world be different if Eastern faiths such as Buddhism and Shintoism had made it to Europe in antiquity. Would the Jewish Carpenter from Nazareth have praised Confucius as one of the prophets or judges?

Yeah I could certainly see where that could of had an influence which as a more Eastern styled Christianity under say shintoism could have taken god in every rock or animal a bit more literal. At least from by basic understanding of it or perhaps a more pro state Christianity fused with Confuciusism.

Time to make a streak

Cool

That’s a lot of oxygen

Tnx

Thank you

The Spanish had sword and cross, the Japanese would have God and anime.

I find this the most plausible scenario as well, as Catholicism's association with the Spanish Empire and fears of it being used to colonize the islands were what helped to spark the persecutions. Whereas Orthodoxy likely would have created the Japanese Orthodox Church had conversions been successful.

orthodox christianity had pretty much no presence in japan at the time. At this point it would justbe fan fiction

OMG, and I'd imagine the Ainu would convert before the Sisam.

@@wilsonriley1856 I find it by far the most implausible. The only orthodox missionaries that will have enough presence to go to Japan will be Russians in the late 1700s, at which point Japan had a closer relationship with the Dutch (or if we go by this scenario, the Portuguese). Orthodox Christianity would offer no real alliance nor would her missionaries be able to out-influence other factions. The first Orthodox Church was made in Japan in 1891 when Tzaravich Nikolai II was visiting, that's far too little of a presence to be able to realistically change the country's entire demographic.

Japan would've become protestant way more likely than becoming orthodox lmaoo

EH the modernist aspects being added was kinda of a turn off(priests doing apostasy is super unlikely historically speaking)like how they added modernist aspects to Troy which end up butchering the Illiad's story

@Bosnia sucks There was also Eastern Orthodoxy coming from the Russian side.

The Phillipines is very close, I don't think it would diverge much.

The Spanish Philippines is just a boat away

I would say trade would keep the influence going. The Philippines and Mexico had the Pacific between them but ended up with similar flavors of Catholicism.

@@nunyabiznes33 Both had direct control from Spain. You cannot convince me that Quetzalcoatl wouldn't be turned into an Angel if the Aztec Empire had converted and kept its independence. I mean, they turned Brigid into a Saint, so, yeah.

@peter lmaoooooo

not sure why they would, the Philippines proved colonies and other foreign holdings don't work so well for America.

Hey, this is a really dumb idea. 1. Italy switched sides due to civil war, it couldn't have been annexed. 2. Germany was agreed to be split at the Yalta conference. 3. Japan is the only one that could have been annexed, and it technically was. It was a military government So the only one possible did actually happen. If you don't know this, you are very historically inept.

That would have been hard to do, considering they weren’t strobes in manpower compared to the soviets and even then they were kinda stretched out

@@that1worldcitizen152 it's also impossible because this person doesn't know history enough to realize this scenario doesn't make any sense.

It would be like Americas. Complete copy paste of Europe.

Agreed. After all European powers were always at war even when they shared the Same denomination of religion.

@@doncarlin9081such is the game of empire

Well, Japan wouldn't have remained neutral, they literally wanted to conquer Asia. In the minimal scenario they go ahead with the original idea and strike at Soviets along with Poland somewhere in early 30s, perhaps quenching their imperialism for a while, Japanese had no common interests with the allies whatsoever, they had colonies that Japan wanted, the Axis didn't. Allies were careful with Soviets Japan was trying to either ensure permanent peace with them or dismantle the Soviet Union

@@DehydratedDarkness I don't know why people have the need to say "it wouldn't happen". The vast majority of videos in this channel wouldn't happen. It's called Alternate History for a reason.

@@Shonendo Okay, you win. They gain nothing and lose nothing, they probably don't get involved too much The end

For this too happen japans empire would have to be recognised by the western powers after ww1 or earlier, as this would have greatly improved relations

@@DehydratedDarknesswhy do people like you have to ruin everything

OK sure, said the Emperor who moved the capital to the East, and implemented a government and military that was pretty western.

Modern Christianity is quite unique in Japan, because they often still believe in the Shinto deities, as well as kami and yokai. To them, God is at the top, then Shinto gods, angels/kami, and so on. Rather interesting.

@@robertgronewold3326 I’m not surprised considering there’s something similar in indigenous and African communities in Latin America. Part of me wonders if has to do with how Catholicism has the saints which could interpreted as minor gods in other societies. I also remember during Japan’s isolation period there was an underground Christian community although when missionaries encounter them in the 1800s they found their grasp on Christian theology was somewhat shaky given it was passed down orally.

@@SEAZNDragon You should check out some angel lore. A lot of angels were indeed pagan gods from ancient societies that sort of got absorbed first into Judaism and then into Christianity.

There is nothing in the Bible that denies the existence of other supernatural beings. But God is seen as the Supreme Entity which governs over all. Japanese can still believe in the existence of kami and be Christians, as long as they understand that they are to serve the only Supreme God.

Also samurai champloo had a few good episodes on that

I really liked Silence. Only issue is that Scorsese couldn't help himself in adding modern themes. The Japanese Christians were quite angry over this since of course there is European priest apostacy which just didn't happen in this historical event. He even gives the priest an uncatholic theology toward the end where he adopts an extremely modern form of private practice.

@@darken2417 So it's kinda like The Last Temptation of Christ, then.

@@theobuniel9643 Not really since that was just completely egregious, malicious and purposefully so. Its more like Scorsese wanted to make an artistic point toward the end but one that undermines the setting he was representing. I still think he gave a good amount of respect to the historical event. And to be fair the only people who would catch this stuff in Silence are historians, theologians, or Japanese Christians. I'm sure most people can watch it and never realize that something is a bit off.

The author of the book I believe was Catholic

@LocalShadow No, Japan still probably would have fought Russia. But in this timeline they would just not join the Axis. They'd probably not even end up in conflict with the Americans if they had settled their issues during the Spanish-American War and if the Philippines remains Spanish.

@@darken2417 I doubt the Philippines will remain Spanish since a strong independence movement was already occuring at that time which the Japanese might support if they still took the mantle of "Beacon of Asian Independence"

@@genghiskhan5701 The Philippines having had a strong independence movement is actually a myth. Before the Spanish-American war Aguinaldo (Revolutionary) was very unpopular even after independence. The Filipinos fought very loyally for Spain against the Americans, partially due to zealotry against American protestantism. The independence movement only really gained steam after American occupation but even then they didn't exactly fight fiercely for independence, it was all done through American law. Let me put this into perspective. Spanish-American war ended in 1902. Mostly religious insurgency was carried out till like 1913. And independence through a peaceful process only happened in 1934. So under occupation by the Americans who imposed a foreign language onto them and were protestant there was a bit of religious backlash which lasted for a decade before things cooled down then they just waited for two more decades until their proposal for independence was accepted. Now imagine the Philippines remaining under Spain; same language(Spanish used to be majority language), same culture (essentially), and the Philippines as the "Pearl of the Orient" had been receiving enormous investment by Spain for prestige and state of the art infrastructure projects. Look the Philippines just wouldn't have broken away without outside intervention. They couldn't even push out the Americans or the Japanese and wouldn't even be as motivated as they were against them.

@@genghiskhan5701 The Philippines would probably still end up in American hands since nothing in this timeline is gonna prevent the Spanish-American War. It would be probably be an issue between America and Japan. You see your only other Catholic neighbor get invaded by these Protestants, are you gonna be friendly with those invaders? They'd probably not join the Axis later but they'd also likely not going to ally with America.

How about what if East Asia colonized the world while Europe remained Isolated basically the reversal of what happened

difficult WI but definitely interesting scenarios

@@Zeerich-yx9po Exploration, just like Europeans did.

I think the key problem is neither country would have even attempted that without *also* dramatically changing the situation at home for both countries. A China that colonizes the Americas for instance, would not have started in the Americas.

What prevented Christianity from taking hold in the same way that other foreign religions like Buddhism did was how exclusivist and uncompromising it is by nature. Buddhism was initially viewed with similar suspicion, but it eventually found its niche by blending with existing Shinto traditions and adapting to the Japanese worldview. In some interpretations, buddhas and bodhisattvas were seen as foreign kami to be venerated just as the native ones, while others interpreted kami as beings that required guidance toward enlightenment just as any other, and Buddhist priests were known to travel to Shinto shrines to perform their services on behalf of kami. Interestingly a similar syncretism was reported to have taken place during the initial period of Jesuit missionary activity in Japan before it was discouraged as heresy. Francis Xavier initially used the name Dainichi to communicate the Catholic Church’s concept of the Christian God, since it was the closest word to describing a supremely powerful and wise being. However, Dainichi was already the name used for both Vairocana, the dharmakaya (essentially the “true form”) of the Gautama Buddha as well as the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu. Because the name was already used syncretically to refer to multiple figures, early converts as well as Shinto and Buddhist clergy had assumed Francis Xavier was teaching a new version of Buddhism or similar religion, and that the Christian God he was attempting to preach about was yet another aspect of this existing concept. Once learning of the true nature of the word, however, Francis Xavier quickly dropped it in favor of Deus.

Well i mean in a wired twisted way the u.s. kinda does control Japan in a way, sooo Japan did become a western vassal

Not many likes to this comment. 😅 Too much truth can be uncomfortable.

Thank god that Japan never falls prey to Christianity. While I love and doesn't dislike this religion. The way it was expanded in the past by force is not something I feel comfortable about it at all. God is not at fault here. It's the people spreading this and using it for their own benefits.

Very nearly happened. It was part of the reason that America bombed Japan with nuclear weapons. The Russians were planning on invading from the north, so you likely would have wound up with a communist north as a result if it had all been down to land combat. In a way, that was at least one benefit of the atomic atrocity, because it meant that Japan capitulated rapidly, and remained intact.

that would have been great

@@robertgronewold3326 and if Japan was given the 'Korean Treatment' its possible that General Mcarthur's request to use Nukes during the actual Korean War might have happened!

@@jakespacepiratee3740 I don’t think so-if we assume Truman refused to use the atomic bombs in 1945 in this scenario, I can’t see how he’s more likely to do so in 1951/2

@@warlordofbritannia Well, because they havent used them yet and they might be in a rush to finish the War hot off of WW2's shoes? General Mcarthur requested use of a Nuke during the latter-half of the Korean war.

No on both accounts Chopsticks would have no reason to be adopted by the West, as they already had tools that worked much better for their own specific diets. Ramen is also a Chinese invention, and only came to the island in the 1800's with Chinese immigrants.

Ramen was brought to Japan from China in the 19th century, I don’t know how that would make ramen be invented earlier.

@@plaguedoktor3563 Okay, this is totally just caught me off guard. Ramen was Chinese invention?! I thought ramen was invented in the aftermath of World War II along with foods such as okonomiyaki!

@@lerneanlion if it’s instant ramen you’re referring to, then yes it was invented in Japan due to a food shortage after WWII. However, actual ramen was brought over by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century

@@plaguedoktor3563 that's why it's written ラメン here in Japan rather than having its own kanji

I've a more interesting idea. The Romans way back when they discovered Scandinavia thought it was an island instead of a peninsula. So, what if Scandinavia, or Fennoscandia was an island? That would make it like a giant, northern version of Britain.

@@RavenReach That’s also a good idea

“Win” how? Like, Charles XII is able to destroy Russia? Or a more limited resolution?

I feel that too, above all after British and Dutch (aka Protestants) became more prominent on sea trade and the Russians (Orthdox) came around too. I feel like they would toyed around with all three versions and breaking on their own Version at the end.

I agree, I'd imagine they would instead treating formerly Shinto deities as patron saints rather than gods as a form of syncretism, with malevolent spirits like the Jorogumo and kitsune being reframed as demons sent by the Devil.

Yh same way the hui muslims managed to integrate into chinese society

Christianity can be pretty malleable. As long as you don't mess with the core doctrines of the faith, Christianity can flourish while influencing and being influenced by the native culture. I also think Christianity has more values in common with collective oriented communities as opposed with individual oriented communities. Maybe Christianity would have been very popular in China and Japan if it wasn't banned.

I think the difference here is that in Japan there would a very high presence of the Jesuits before the reformation, so I do think there would be some sincretic practices but it wouldn't be different from Mexican Christianity for example.

We would get to see a crossover involving Naruto's Shadow Clones and Jango Fett's clone army.

Not really much a change since unlike the Japanese emperor that is a living god, the Chinese emperor simply have the Mandate of Heaven.

Which one?

@David Chung You forgot about Eiji Tsubraya, the creator of Ultraman, who is a Catholic convert.

@@Zeerich-yx9po Nope, a very specific Catholic Society took an early role in anime and the media as a whole. Just be happy it never happened in the U.S. to such success.

@@Zeerich-yx9po Be happy you didn't grow up with Bibleman the universe instead of Paw Patrol which is basically has the same exact issues just wrapped nicer.

That is interesting

I tend to agree that it would blend Shinto traditions with Catholicism and be something similar to the Coptics who blend the Ancient Egyptian elements with Christian faith.

But that never really happened. Timor-Leste for example converted but never became its own denomination. What would be more likely is that they'd think they are regular Catholics. Say they are regular Catholics. And follow most of the basic doctorine. But like the Catholics of rural Africa and far out places like Timor, they'd mix local traditions and remnants of former religions into Catholicism unknowingly

@@luizmatthew1019 That's because Timor Leste was colonized by the Portuguese, so their religion was much more strictly maintain as Catholic as opposed to Japan, which would convert independently of colonial expansion.

I find the implication of there being much distance from the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox churches from the origins of Christianity very strange. It only seems distant to Westerners but in reality those are some of the oldest Christian churches there are in lands where Christianity was adopted much earlier and was far more prominent in than in so many of the European nations at that time that we call the "West" today.

@@asurrealistworld4412 The reason for that is the Vatican. Look at the nominal "first divide" between the Eastern and Western Church. The leaders in Rome through the aged liked to think they have a certain absolutism with regards to what is the "correct" faith.

Ah, the wonderful job of trying to displace a foreign culture with your own!

Good. May God be with you. Reminds me of what my sister’s husband / my brother in law did. But he was a missionary to the Philippines not Japan.

@@masonpyle5929 an odd choice considering Philippines is the largest and most devout Christian country in Asia

don't put on your vestments

@@thomasrdiehl Sources where Christianity requires to homogenize culture?

Would there even be a China? I wonder if the hypothetical modern "Chinese" would look to the Zhou dynasty like Europeans do to Rome.. Would the feudal system continue in China? How would these continuing warring states react to outside powers? I really hope someone would make a What If video about it..

Which one

@@notengocreatividadparaunno1419 The one after Spring and Autumn Period

There wouldn't be a China.

@@perry6660 I mean, it would be at most a region of Asia.

Portugese will be their master, japanise culture will replace with christian culture and japan will become portugesee colony and enslave them. When christian rebelion come they burn many shinto shrine and hindu temple coz opposite christian culture its make angry japanise ruler at that time.

Why do the Philippines keep getting conquered. 😢

@@WallNutBreaker524because there is no filipino people, the filipino identity is literally formed from being conquered and subjucated

It would be the world sole superpower ofc

@Tecno blade. 🤓

@@abhiprakash74999 it already is the world super power 😎😎👍