Billy Graham's Crusades in Japan: Analyzing Non-Religious Newspaper Coverage and its Implications for U.S.-Japan Relations

The evangelistic efforts of American evangelist Billy Graham in Japan were met with enthusiasm by Japanese Christians. Despite the small Christian population in Japan, Graham's crusades may have been viewed as a proxy for the U.S. in the context of the Cold War. In 1956, Graham visited Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, who was also a Christian. The significance of this meeting is particularly noteworthy within the context of the postwar U.S.-Japan alliance. This paper aims to analyze how Japan responded to Graham's crusade by examining articles about his visit to Japan from non-religious newspapers. Through this analysis, the study seeks to determine how Japanese non-religious newspapers, and by extension, Japanese society, viewed Graham and his message. This research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between U.S. diplomacy and politics in Asia, as well as the role of American evangelism during the Cold War.