John Batchelor (missionary)

John Batchelor 1928

John Batchelor DD, OBE ( Japanese バチェラージョン ; born March 20, 1855 in Uckfield , Sussex , England ; † April 2, 1944 in Hertford , England) was an English Anglican missionary and archdeacon in Japan . He was the first to thoroughly research the language and culture of the Ainu .

Life

John Batchelor was born in Uckfield , East Sussex . His father, William Batchelor, was a tailor and parish clerk. Batchelor attended Uckfield Grammar School and was allowed to study at Church Missionary Society College, Islington with financial support from Rev. ET Cardale .

On September 22, 1875, Batchelor traveled with a group of missionaries from the CMS to Hong Kong , where he first learned Chinese. From 1877 to 1941 he lived among the Ainu on the island of Hokkaido , in northern Japan. He was a charismatic and iconoclastic missionary for the Anglican Church in Japan and authored extensive writings on the language and culture of the Ainu and also wrote himself in the Ainu language. When the Second World War broke out in 1941, he was reluctant to leave Japan.

Criticism of the policy of the Japanese towards the Ainu

The Japanese drove the Ainu from their land and banned their traditions and culture. The Ainu were not allowed to hunt, speak their language or receive instruction and were forcibly ghettoized in certain villages . However, when the Japanese discovered that the Ainu could be exploited, they changed their policy. Batchelor writes: “The Japanese are treating the Ainu better today, simply because they realize that the Ainu are a valuable curiosity that could be preserved. There was no kindness or compassion in that. They just stopped wiping out these scattered relics of a Caucasian race when visitors came and paid money to see and study them. If the Ainu are protected wards of the government today, and if the government pays me any credit, it is not because they have changed their hearts, but only because the Ainu are of value. ”During the samurai era , Ainus immediately had to go to the To crawl the earth and smear their faces with dirt as soon as they encounter a Japanese soldier so as not to be beheaded immediately. In addition, the Ainu were forbidden to carry weapons.

Batchelor heavily criticized the Japanese for their cruel treatment of the Ainu. He writes: "I'm over eighty and maybe that's why, but I was recently told that I was the only foreigner who can tell the Japanese straight out what he thinks of them and get away with it."

Works

An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary: (including A grammar of the Ainu language). Methodist publishing house; London, K. Paul, Trench, Trübner, co. 1905. (2nd Ed., Reprint, Tokyo, Methodist Publishing House, Ginza, Tokyo London Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, Co.) - University of Michigan, digitized December 8, 2006 ( books.google.com )
Ainu grammar. Issue 1 of Memoirs of the Literature College, Imperial University of Japan, 1887. Basil Hall Chamberlain, John Batchelor, Imperial University, "Japan Mail" Office, Yokohama. March 1, 2012. (The Imperial University, Tokyo) Harvard University Digitized November 30, 2007 ( books.google.com ).
聖書・新約: アイヌ. 1897. Printed for the Bible society's committee for Japan by the Yokohama bunsha. Harvard University, digitized October 8, 2008 ( books.google.com ) Viewed March 1, 2012.
聖書・新約: アイヌ. 1896. Printed for the Bible society's committee for Japan by the Yokohama bunsha. Harvard University, digitized October 8, 2008 ( books.google.com ) Viewed March 1, 2012.
Ainu Karisia Eiwange Gusu to Inonno-itak Grandma Kambi. (The Book of Common Prayer in Ainu) 1896. SPCK, London. ( justus.anglican.org ) Viewed 5 March 2012.
Sea-girt Yezo: glimpses of missionary work in North Japan. Church Missionary Society, Gilbert & Rivington, LTD., St. John's House, Clerkenwell, EC 1902. Harvard University, digitized September 11, 2007 ( books.google.com ) Viewed 23 April 2012.
Ainu economic plants. In: Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. Vol. 21, 1898. With Kingo Miyabe. Seen: April 23, 2012. (Harvard University, digitized Jan 30, 2008) [Yokohama: R. Meicklejohn & CO., NO 49.] ( books.google.com ).
An itinerary of Hokkaido, Japan. Volume 1. Tokyo Tsukiji Type Foundry, Japan 1893. Japanese Central Association, Hakodate Chamber of Commerce. Harvard University, digitized January 20, 2006 ( books.google.com ) Accessed April 23, 2012.
The Koropok-Guru or pit-dwellers of north Japan, and, A critical examination of the nomenclature of Yezo. Volume 19, 1904. Japan Mail, Yokohama. Harvard University, digitized January 20, 2006 ( books.google.com ) Accessed March 1, 2012.
The Ainu of Japan: The Religion, Superstitions, and General History of the Hairy Aborigines of Japan. Religious Tract Society, Spottiswoode & CO., London 1892. University of California, digitized November 21, 2007 ( books.google.com ) Viewed March 1, 2012.
The Ainu and their folk-lore. Religious Tract Society, London 1901. Harvard University, digitized January 24, 2006 ( books.google.com ) Viewed: March 1, 2012.

Web links

Commons : John Batchelor - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Author: John Batchelor - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

↑ John Patric: Why Japan was Strong . 4th edition. Doubleday, Doran, Incorporated, 1943, pp. 72 (English, books.google.com - digitized version of the original - University of California October 16, 2007): “John Batchelor set about to learn the Ainu language, which the Japanese had not troubled ever to learn. He laboriously compiled an Ainu dictionary. He singlehandedly turned this hitherto but spoken tongue into a written language, and himself wrote books in it which ”
↑ Louis Frédéric (translated by Käthe Roth): Japan encyclopedia . Harvard University Press 2005. Chap. Ainu ISBN 0-674-01753-6 ( books.google.com ).
^ Ivar Lissner: The Living Past . 4th edition. Putnam's, 1957, p. 204 (English, books.google.com - digitized version of the original - University of California January 27, 2009): “In 1877 a young and industrious theologian went to visit the Ainu. His name was John Batchelor, and he was a scientist and missionary. He got to know the Ainu well, studied their language and customs, won their affection, and remained their staunch friend until the end of his days. It is to Batchelor that we owe our deepest insight into the ”
↑ John Patric: Why Japan Was Strong. A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com - reprint): “… miserable remnants of this once proud and powerful race from whom the Japanese took Japan were herded into little inland villages, forbidden to hunt or fish — though hunting and fishing had been their livelihood just as with our own Indians. They were forbidden to speak the Japanese language; there were no schools for them, and their own language was unwritten. It seemed that the Japanese were determined to starve them out to the last pitiful survivor. ”
↑ John Patric: Why Japan Was Strong. A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com ): 'The Japanese treat them better now,' Batchelor said, as we ate the hearty five-o'clock breakfast of beefsteak to which this hale octogenarian had invited me, 'simply because they came to realize that the Ainu were a valuable curiosity worth preserving. There was no kindness or sentiment in it — none whatever. They quit trying to exterminate this shattered relic of a dying Caucasian race when visitors with money to spend began coming from all over the world just to see and study them. If today the Ainu are protected wards of the Government, and if the Government has paid me any honor, it is not because of a change of heart on the part of the Japanese; it is only because the Ainu became worth something to Japan. '
↑ John Patric: Why Japan was strong . 4th edition. Doubleday, Doran & company, inc., 1943, pp. 170 (English, books.google.com ): “when one considers how they, in turn, were treated by their Japanese conquerors. Batchelor said that in olden times — in the golden days of the knightly samurai — an Ainu, seeing a Japanese soldier approach, was oblidged to get down on all fours and literally grovel. He had to wipe his face in the dirty as a sign he was part dog. The luckless aborigine who failed to show respect to his conquerors might have his head lopped off at once and without ceremony. "
↑ Why Japan Was Strong: A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 170 (English, books.google.com ): “conquerors might have his head lopped off at once and without ceremony. For of course the Ainu had no recourse to civil law-nor did his widow. In those days the Ainu were denied weapons of any kind, just as the Koreans are today. "
↑ Why Japan Was Strong: A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com ): “The old man was bitter as he recalled Japanese cruelties to his beloved people during his early years among them. 'I'm past eighty,' he said, 'and probably that accounts for it. But I've been told I'm the only foreigner in Japan who can tell the Japanese exactly what I think of them and get away with it. '”

personal data
SURNAME	Batchelor, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bachera, Chyon; Bachirā, Jon; バチェラージョン (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Missionary to the Ainu in Japan
DATE OF BIRTH	March 20, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH	Uckfield , Sussex , England
DATE OF DEATH	April 2, 1944
Place of death	Hertford , England

[1] John Patric: Why Japan was Strong . 4th edition. Doubleday, Doran, Incorporated, 1943, pp. 72 (English, books.google.com - digitized version of the original - University of California October 16, 2007): “John Batchelor set about to learn the Ainu language, which the Japanese had not troubled ever to learn. He laboriously compiled an Ainu dictionary. He singlehandedly turned this hitherto but spoken tongue into a written language, and himself wrote books in it which ”

[2] Louis Frédéric (translated by Käthe Roth): Japan encyclopedia . Harvard University Press 2005. Chap. Ainu ISBN 0-674-01753-6 ( books.google.com ).

[3] Ivar Lissner: The Living Past . 4th edition. Putnam's, 1957, p. 204 (English, books.google.com - digitized version of the original - University of California January 27, 2009): “In 1877 a young and industrious theologian went to visit the Ainu. His name was John Batchelor, and he was a scientist and missionary. He got to know the Ainu well, studied their language and customs, won their affection, and remained their staunch friend until the end of his days. It is to Batchelor that we owe our deepest insight into the ”

[4] John Patric: Why Japan Was Strong. A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com - reprint): “… miserable remnants of this once proud and powerful race from whom the Japanese took Japan were herded into little inland villages, forbidden to hunt or fish — though hunting and fishing had been their livelihood just as with our own Indians. They were forbidden to speak the Japanese language; there were no schools for them, and their own language was unwritten. It seemed that the Japanese were determined to starve them out to the last pitiful survivor. ”

[5] John Patric: Why Japan Was Strong. A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com ): 'The Japanese treat them better now,' Batchelor said, as we ate the hearty five-o'clock breakfast of beefsteak to which this hale octogenarian had invited me, 'simply because they came to realize that the Ainu were a valuable curiosity worth preserving. There was no kindness or sentiment in it — none whatever. They quit trying to exterminate this shattered relic of a dying Caucasian race when visitors with money to spend began coming from all over the world just to see and study them. If today the Ainu are protected wards of the Government, and if the Government has paid me any honor, it is not because of a change of heart on the part of the Japanese; it is only because the Ainu became worth something to Japan. '

[6] John Patric: Why Japan was strong . 4th edition. Doubleday, Doran & company, inc., 1943, pp. 170 (English, books.google.com ): “when one considers how they, in turn, were treated by their Japanese conquerors. Batchelor said that in olden times — in the golden days of the knightly samurai — an Ainu, seeing a Japanese soldier approach, was oblidged to get down on all fours and literally grovel. He had to wipe his face in the dirty as a sign he was part dog. The luckless aborigine who failed to show respect to his conquerors might have his head lopped off at once and without ceremony. "

[7] Why Japan Was Strong: A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 170 (English, books.google.com ): “conquerors might have his head lopped off at once and without ceremony. For of course the Ainu had no recourse to civil law-nor did his widow. In those days the Ainu were denied weapons of any kind, just as the Koreans are today. "

[8] Why Japan Was Strong: A Journey of Adventure . Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-4191-6878-9 , pp. 72 (English, books.google.com ): “The old man was bitter as he recalled Japanese cruelties to his beloved people during his early years among them. 'I'm past eighty,' he said, 'and probably that accounts for it. But I've been told I'm the only foreigner in Japan who can tell the Japanese exactly what I think of them and get away with it. '”