Christ Church, Yokohama (横浜山手聖公会 Yokohama Yamate Seikokai), is a historic
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church located in
Yamate
is the name of a historic neighbourhood in Naka-ku, Yokohama often referred to in English as ''The Bluff.'' The neighbourhood is famous as having been a foreigners' residential area in the Bakumatsu, Meiji and Taishō periods. While still domi ...
,
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Providing a center of worship for both Japanese and English-language congregations the church traces its foundation to shortly after the formal opening of the
treaty port
Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire.
...
of Yokohama in 1859.
The church building has been rebuilt and refurbished on several occasions as a result of fires, earthquakes and the incendiary bombing experienced during the later stages of the Second World War. Christ Church has been located on its current site in Yamate since 1901 and is part of the Yokohama Diocese of the
Nippon Sei Ko Kai
The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church repr ...
, the
Anglican Church in Japan
The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church rep ...
.
History
Early beginnings as the garrison church (1859–1901)
After the opening of the treaty port in 1859, Anglicans in the foreign community initially gathered for worship services in the British consul's residence and later in the courtroom of the British consulate. Christ Church, with its prominent position overlooking the location of the former
Kannai is a district in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, bounded by the Ōoka River, JR Negishi Line, Nakamura River, and Yokohama waterfront. "Kannai" is not an official name of the area, but the common term of reference has been in use for over a century ...
foreign settlement, was the replacement for the original Yokohama garrison church. The garrison church, also called Christ Church, was a wooden structure built on lot 105 in Yamashita-cho, close to the Nakamura River. Funding was provided by the local foreign community with a matching grant for funds raised from the British government. Construction of the church building and an adjacent rectory commenced in early 1862 with the first consular chaplain, the Rev.
Michael Buckworth Bailey
Rev. Michael Buckworth Bailey M.A. (10 April 1827 - 6 December 1899) was a minister of the Church of England.
As Consular Chaplain to the British Legation in Yokohama, Bailey was one of the first Anglican priests to serve in Japan.
Background a ...
arriving in Yokohama in August of the same year.
![Japon-1886-37](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Japon-1886-37.jpg)
The first church services were held at Christ Church's new building on 18 October 1863. The church was frequented by members of the
British military garrison, the British legation as well as American Episcopalians. The church survived the great fire that destroyed much of the foreign settlement on 26 November 1866 and provided a sanctuary for the homeless in aftermath of the disaster.
Bailey retired on 1 April 1873 and was replaced by Acting Consular Chaplain Revd. Edward W. Syle (17 February 1817 – 5 October 1890). Syle was born in
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, England, but after emigration to the United States as a young man graduated from
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...
, Ohio, and the
Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...
. The departure of Bailey and the British military garrison marked a change in the finances of Christ Church: the British government withdrawing its annual consular stipend of 400 pounds per annum at the end of 1875.
In 1880, the Rev. Edward Champneys Irwine, a graduate of
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, was appointed rector, a role in which he continued to serve for 21 years before being forced to resign amid untried allegations of criminal offenses against children.
Second church building (1901–1923)
![Christ_Church,_Yamate,_Yokohama_1901](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Christ_Church%2C_Yamate%2C_Yokohama_1901.jpg)
A second, much larger building, constructed in red Glasgow brick, at the current church’s location overlooking the foreign settlement, was designed by the influential British architect
Josiah Conder and dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 2 June 1901. In 1922 the church was visited by
Edward, Prince of Wales, on the occasion of the dedication of memorials to the First World War at the adjacent
Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery.
This imposing, second church structure, and much of the city, was however completely destroyed by the
Great Kantō earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
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on the morning of 1 September 1923. The Rev. Eustace Mordaunt Strong, Chaplain of Christ Church from 1917 to 1925, escaped unharmed from the collapse of the YMCA Seaman’s Club and was instrumental both in coordinating rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and in fundraising for new, reinforced church buildings on the same site. For his efforts in helping to rescue of some three hundred foreigners and Japanese from an advancing fire on the Yamate ridge, the Rev. Strong was awarded an
OBE.
Between 1923 and 1930, a wooden church shipped from the United States, served as temporary sanctuary for the church congregation.
Third church building (1931–present)
The current church building was designed by American architect
Jay Hill Morgan and dates from 1931. Constructed on a steel reinforced concrete frame, the exterior facade mixes both traditional Anglo-Saxon and Norman church design elements. Extensively damaged by incendiary bombing on 29 May 1945, and again by a fire in January 2005, the interior has been refurbished on several occasions. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War rebuilding of the church was led by American service personnel with worship services conducted in the open air until a reconsecration of the repaired church nave and choir in December 1947. The exterior
Ōya Stone Oya is a divinity found in Yoruba religion, Santeria and other belief systems.
Oya or OYA may also refer to:
Places
* Øya, a neighborhood in Trondheim, Norway
* Oya, Sarawak, a town in Malaysia
* Oya River, a river in Malaysia
* Ōya Station ...
cladding and tower are true to the original 1930s design.
Mission to Seafarers
The
Mission to Seafarers
The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global Mission 'family' network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, em ...
has maintained an active presence in Yokohama since the 1880s. From 1952 the chaplain to the English language congregation at Christ Church has also concurrently served as chaplain to the mission.
See also
*
Anglican Church in Japan
The ''Nippon Sei Ko Kai'' ( ja, 日本聖公会, translit=Nippon Seikōkai, lit=Japanese Holy Catholic Church), abbreviated as NSKK, sometimes referred to in English as the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, is the national Christian church rep ...
*
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
References
External links
* Yokohama Christ Church Website
Yokohama Christ ChurchDiocese of Yokohama, NSKK
{{Authority control
Anglican church buildings in Japan
Anglican Church in Japan
Buildings and structures in Yokohama
Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II
Naka-ku, Yokohama
Religious buildings and structures in Kanagawa Prefecture
1863 establishments in Japan
Churches completed in 1931
20th-century Anglican church buildings
20th-century churches in Japan