Abstract
This paper focuses on two examples of territorial division by missionary societies in Japan and the Middle East. We examine issues of territoriality as they affect church and state as well as in the context of colonialism. Our research focuses on the role of Protestant missions in Japan and the Middle East in the nineteenth century and sheds light on the way in which culturally close missionary societies, such as English and Americans, divided the regions between themselves to avoid competition. We examine the maps produced by the missions in the Middle East and Japan. By bringing to light archival documents and maps of the division of land and people by missionary societies, we show that cooperation between missionary societies took place between culturally and religiously proximate societies. In addition, we expand the scholarly interest on the role of mapping and theory of boundary delimitation and help to formulate further discussion on the role of missionaries as agents of empire.
