The Cross and the Rising Sun: The Canadian Protestant Missionary Movement in the Japanese Empire, 1872-1931

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Based on Ion’s Ph.D. thesis, this monograph traces the impact of
Protestant missions in the Japanese empire from their beginnings until
the “Manchurian crisis” of 1931. During that time the Japanese
empire included both Korea and Taiwan, and one of the reasons this book
is of note is that it offers an example of missionaries working in
colonial circumstances . . . where the colonial government was not
European.”

Protestant missions actually had only marginal significance in the
course of events in Japan. For interested readers, however, Ion’s book
will provide a detailed explanation of their successes and failures. Of
course, it will also interest those who seek some understanding of the
backgrounds of a number of missionary families (such as the Woodsworths
and Normans) who later left their marks in Canadian history.

That said, it would be unfair to suggest that the audience for this
book will be great. Not only is the subject matter esoteric, but its
style reflects its origins—the catchiest part of the book is its
title.