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Mary Parke and her husband David Thompson served as missionaries to Japan for over five decades. In this installment from her diary, Mary writes about civil court actions against Okuno, Ogawa, and Kitahara, three Japanese converts who worked closely with the Thompsons and were leaders in the native church.

In August and October 1874, David Thompson presided over the burials of two Japanese Christians “after the Christian manner.” Christian burial is this context probably meant burial of the body without cremation. Such burials were not unknown in Japan, but...

Mary Parke and her husband David Thompson served as missionaries to Japan for over five decades. In this installment from her diary, Mary writes about the reaction to a “slanderous article” against missionaries and the strength of Japanese Christians in the face of government threats against them.[1]

Nov. 1[1874, Tokyo]: …Mizuno was baptized today….The church again over crowded. Before David finished twenty or thirty were standing in the aisles.

Nov. 2: …Miss Gamble...