環(huán)球英語 — 725：Toyohiko Kagawa: Working for the Poor

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Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ryan Geertsma.

Voice 2

And I'm Robin Basselin. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

Today's Spotlight looks at the life of Toyohiko Kagawa. Kagawa was a man of faith. But he thought that religious faith was more than just a list of rules. He believed it was about loving and serving other people. In another programme we will look at the work he did to encourage peace in Japan. But first, this programme looks at how Kagawa helped to improve the lives of Japan's poorest people.

Voice 2

2009 is a special year in Kobe, Japan. And the authorities there are celebrating. It is one hundred [100] years since Toyohiko Kagawa went to live in the poorest area of the city - the slums. December the twenty-fourth [24th] 2009 will be the exact anniversary of this event.

Voice 1

Toyohiko Kagawa was born in 1888, in Japan. His family was very rich. But both of his parents died when he was young. So he lived with other members of his family. When he was older, they sent him away to school. There he met some Christians who talked to him about their faith. Kagawa was very interested and so he also became a Christian.

Voice 2

But his family was not happy about Kagawa's new-found faith. They refused to let Kagawa be part of the family because he was a Christian. So he did not return home to his family. He went to live in the slums - the poorest area of the city.

Voice 1

The houses in the slums were very poorly built. The streets were dirty and disease was common. But Toyohiko Kagawa wanted to serve the people who lived there.

Voice 2

Life was not easy for Toyohiko Kagawa. Criminals and other people attacked him at his home. And he had little money to support himself. Sick and dying people came to him for help. Then he also became very sick. Toyohiko Kagawa describes how close he came to death:

Voice 3

‘My condition seemed completely hopeless. I could not breathe without a lot of effort. For a week I lay on my bed. I just prayed and waited. I thought that the time had come for me to die. The doctor told me to tell my friends so. For four hours I prayed. I waited for my last breath. Then I had a strange and mysterious experience. It was a joyful knowledge of God being with me - A feeling that God was in me and all around me. I felt great joy. I could breathe again. The fever went away. I forgot to die. The doctor came back later that night. He was not happy. He had already written a document for my death. Now he feared that people would call him a terrible doctor.'

Voice 1

Kagawa continued his work in the slums. He decided to set up a group to help poor people to join together to buy the things they needed. That way they could get lower prices. He also helped many workers in low-paid jobs. He set up a school that workers could go to at night. And, he helped to organise them into a group, a trade union. This meant they could work together to defend their rights.

Voice 2

In 1921, the workers decided to go on strike - they stopped working. They did this so that the authorities would listen to their problems. The workers wanted more rights at work. Kagawa led the workers' protest. It was a difficult job to keep the protest peaceful. But then the police arrested Kagawa. Kagawa said,

Voice 3

‘This was the first of my many trips to the police station. They put me in prison for thirteen [13] days. But I had a good time there in prison. It was better than the slums where I had been living. It was clean and organised. I started writing my third book. I could study and pray without other people troubling me.'

Voice 1

Kagawa wrote many books. He wrote books of poems and stories. He wrote about Christianity and politics. He also wrote about the slums and how to improve them. But after working in the slums for a while, Kagawa saw that other people also needed help. Farmers living in the country were also very poor. This was partly because the farmers had to rent the land from rich landowners.

Voice 2

Kagawa created a group to help the farmers have a voice in politics. The group wanted new laws to protect the farmers. Kagawa also showed them better ways to use their land. This included growing more trees on unwanted areas of land. This let the farmers grow new crops. It was also good for the soil.

Voice 1

For many years Kagawa argued that every person should be able to vote. At that time poor people could not vote. So, the government put little effort into helping them. But, in 1925 the government changed the law. Poor men were given the chance to vote. Kagawa explains how this changed the government's attitude.

Voice 3

‘Suddenly everybody became concerned about the poor people in the slums. They discovered what I had said back in 1923 - that the government should re-build the slums. The government then used my suggestions. They gave enough money to rebuild the slum area in Japan's six largest cities - Tokyo, Osaka, Yokahama, Kobe, Kyoto and Nagoya. So the slums in these cities disappeared. Town authorities built large buildings containing many individual homes. The streets were rebuilt. My many years of concern in the slums - the endless nights of writing about horrible slum conditions - had been a success.'

Voice 2

The authorities in Kobe have not forgotten Kagawa's work. Toshizou Ido one of the people involved in the 2009 celebrations for Kagawa. Toshizou Ido is the governor of Hyogo, the area of Japan that includes Kobe. He says,

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‘Money means everything today. The more people possess, the more people value them as a success. But Kagawa's actions were based on the opposite. They were based on people's feelings, on understanding and on working together. So, I believe that it is possible to get many valuable lessons by studying Kagawa's achievements.'

Voice 1

In another Spotlight program we will look at what Toyohiko Kagawa did next. He always believed that violence and war was wrong. So, what happened when his country entered World War Two?