| Missionary | |
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:John_Batchelor_b.jpg) John Batchelor (1928) | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 March 1855 |
| Died | 2 April 1944 (aged 89) Hertford, Hertfordshire, England |
Archdeacon John Batchelor, D.D., OBE (20 March 1855 – 2 April 1944) was an Anglican English missionary to the Ainu people of Japan until 1941. First sent under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society of the Church of England, Batchelor lived from 1877 to 1941 among the indigenous Ainu communities in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. He was a charismatic and iconoclastic missionary for the Anglican Church in Japan and published highly regarded work on the language and culture of the Ainu people. Batchelor only reluctantly left Japan at the outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific in 1941.[1][2]
- ^ Frédéric, Louis (2005). "Ainu". Japan Encyclopedia. Translated by Roth, Käthe (illustrated, reprint ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-674-01753-6.
- ^ Ivar Lissner (1957). The Living Past (4 ed.). Putnam's. p. 204. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
In 1877 a young and industrious theologian went to visit the Ainu. His name was John Batchelor, and he was a scientist and missionary. He got to know the Ainu well, studied their language and customs, won their affection, and remained their staunch friend until the end of his days.
[Original from the University of California Digitized 27 January 2009 Length 444 pages]