Introduction of Renan’s works in Japan A secularized figure of Christ, its shimmering in consciences in crisis at the dawn of modernity

In Japan, Renan was above all a biographer of Jesus. The secularised figure of Christ helped the Japanese, at the dawn of modernity, to understand and assimilate a Western religion that was radically different from their traditional beliefs. This was the case for the first translator of the Vie de Jésus, a young religious thinker Tsunashima. Today, Renan is the author of Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? and known in intellectual circles for his comments on race.