Paul Frederick Rusch (1897 – 1979) was a lay missionary of 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 repr ...

. Rusch is remembered in Japan for his role as an educator and for pioneering activities in development of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, rural agriculture and post Second World War reconciliation.

Background and early life

Born November 25, 1897 in Fairmount, Indiana, US, Rusch was raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He served with the US Army in France during the First World War. In Kentucky, Rusch was an active member of the congregation of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville.

Work in Japan

Rusch first arrived in Japan in 1925, initially to help the YMCA with reconstruction efforts after 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" *Artel Great (born ...

, and stayed to dedicate his life and energies towards youth education, post-war reconciliation and rural development in that country. Through his association with the

he taught both Economics at Rikkyo University and was instrumental in helping Dr. Rudolf Teusler raise funds for the expansion of St. Luke's International Hospital in central Tokyo. Encouraged by Bishop Charles S. Reifsnider, Rusch was renowned as an unconventional, but highly effective lay evangelist for the Anglican Church in Japan, establishing a chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew at Rikkyo University in 1927. In 1934 Rusch also established and was elected first chairman of the Intercollegiate Football League, the first college level American Football association in Japan. The Paul Rusch Cup is awarded each year to the MVP of the

Rice Bowl The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; and C ...

, Japan's own American Football national championship game. Rusch was arrested in December 1941 immediately after the Japanese

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

. He was detained at a temporary prison camp on the campus of Sumire Girls' School on the outskirts of Tokyo and eventually deported from Japan as a part of a wartime prisoner exchange in June 1942. Repatriated back to the United States, Rusch worked at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at

Camp Savage Camp Savage is the former site of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service language school operating during World War II. The school itself was established in San Francisco, but was moved in 1942 to Savage, Minnesota. The purpose of the school was ...

, Minnesota, returning to Japan at the end of hostilities as a member of General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

's General Staff.

Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP)

Rusch is most widely known for his work in founding the rural at Kiyosato, on the slopes of Mt. Yatsugatake,

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. The camp and farm, first opened in July 1938, served as an

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 the ...

youth mission center prior to the Second World War and was rededicated in 1946 as the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP). After the war, as surrounding fields were cleared, a new

church dedicated to St. Andrew was constructed using local stone. A vocational school, an experimental farm, a nursery and library facilities soon followed. In June 1948 the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Seisen Ryo rural clinic were attended by Prince Takamatsu. Other features of the mountainside site include a Yamanashi Prefecture Nature Center, the Japan American Football Hall of Fame, and an outdoor chapel and altar constructed in 1962 by students from

Lenox School for Boys Lenox School was a private preparatory school for boys in grades nine through twelve in Lenox, Massachusetts. The school was affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States). School history The school opened in 1926 under the leadership of R ...

. The KEEP farm and mission center is an operationally independent year-round residential retreat and conference center, but retains its links with Anglican and other Christian church educational establishments throughout Japan. The original farm property and Paul Rusch Memorial Museum are the focus of the popular Yatsugatake County Fair and Paul Rusch Festival held each October.

Recognition and awards

Among numerous awards and decorations, Rusch received honorary doctorates from

Hobart and William Smith College Hobart and William Smith Colleges are private liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 majors and 68 minors with degrees in Bachelor of Arts, Bachelo ...

in 1950, Lincoln University in 1955 and Rikkyo University in 1965. Rusch was awarded the Third Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese Government in 1956. The Paul Rusch Athletics Center on the main campus of Rikkyo University in

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...

is named in his honour. A commemorative plaque in the University Chapel records his role as Godfather of over 500 Rikkyo Students.

Paul Rusch Cup

The Paul Rusch Cup is an annual award, beginning in 1984, given to the top American football player in Japan.

References

External links

Official site of KEEP
* Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci
Review of McDonald, Andrew T.; McDonald, Verlaine Stoner, ''Paul Rusch in Postwar Japan: Evangelism, Rural Development, and the Battle against Communism''
H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews (June 2019). {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusch, Paul American Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in Japan 1897 births 1979 deaths Rikkyo University faculty American football in Japan People from Grant County, Indiana People from Louisville, Kentucky American expatriates in Japan