UCHIMURA KANZŌ (1861–1930), Japanese essayist, scholar of the Bible, and Christian leader. Uchimura's unique place in modern Japanese thought results from his insistence on human independence before the biblical Christian God. Four prophetic acts by Uchimura dramatize and represent themes in his writing. In two of these acts Uchimura questioned the growing authoritarianism of the government. His scrupulous hesitation in 1891 to bow before the signature of the emperor and his outspoken avowal of pacifism in 1903, immediately before the onset of the Russo-Japanese War, raised the issue of Christian loyalty to the state. He also proclaimed the imminent return of Christ in 1918 and appeared to renounce in a posthumously published document the Christian movement associated with his name.

These acts resulted from a heightened sense of individual worth and responsibility apparent in Uchimura's personal history. His father, a capable samurai civil servant, lost his...