"Yamamuro's concern for the spiritual welfare of the lower classes in industrialized Meiji Japan steadily grew and caused him to clash with Christian leaders of the day who seemed to dwell more on theological and intellectual doctrines that appealed to a privileged elite. Upon reading the Salvation Army manual "Orders and Regulations for Soldiers," written by William Booth, Yamamuro's life-long search for a practical Christianity reached an end. Gunpei was convinced he had been providentially led to the Army so that his "life's ambition and consecration - the preaching of the salvation of God to the common people" - might be realized (35). The following three chapters highlight the religious career of Gunpei Yamamuro and the simultaneous development of the Salvation Army in Japan. It is the premise of this book that Gunpei's personal influence on the Army - his moral, intellectual and literary contributions, enabled it to flourish and attract supporters from all strata of Japanese society, from the emperor to the homeless squatter living on the street. Yamamuro's fame spread in 1987 when he was appointed editor of the Army publication War Cry (Toki no koe). Yamamuro immediately began using colloquial Japanese to reach poor people, discontinuing the use of classical Japanese. Within five years, circulation exceeded ten thousand copies biweekly.
