When facing the persistent conundrum of evangelical missions in Japan, one pervasive, though largely hidden, factor emerges in the resistance of the Japanese to the gospel: the web-like interconnection of worldview assumptions collectively known as Nihonkyo (“Japanism“), as distinct from Japanese culture per se. Developing sociologically in the Edo Period and ideologically in the Meiji Period, the fabrication of Nihonkyo changed attitudes toward cultural elements such that a nation once very open to the gospel has become very closed. Principles of the problem and its discernment are widely applicable.