A representative Japanese poet, Yagi Jūkichi, succeeded in overcoming the vision of a paternal god that caused so many of his peers in the literary world to renounce the faith, and to create for himself a poetic world that represents the embodiment of a faith rooted in a maternal vision of God. Elements of his faith are reflected in his poems, through which the characteristics of this unique form of Christianity took root, and blossomed, in the hearts of the Japanese.

Introduction

The vast majority of Japanese literary figures since the Meiji period (1868–1912) who came under the influence of Christianity as youths ended up renouncing their Christian affiliation and devoting themselves to literature before they were in a position to give full expression to their faith. As an exception to this generalization, however, one can cite the figure of Yagi Jūkichi (1898–1927), whose poetry was born of his desire to give full expression to his faith. In his Preface to a collection of Yagi's poetry, the renowned sculptor and poet, Takamura Kōtarō, wrote as follows:

And just as Takamura had predicted, even today, more than ninety years after Yagi's death, his poetry is still loved by many and continues to bring relief to the parched souls of so many in contemporary society.

It was the poet, Kusano Shinpei, who noted the presence of this power in Yagi's poetry when he remarked: