Michitomo Kanamori

Kanamori Michitomo was a Japanese Christian minister. He also went under the English name Paul Kanamori and published as Kanamori Tsurin.

Former prime minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba is Kanamori's great-grandson.

Early life and education Kanamori was born in Higo province, Japan, in what is now Tamana, Kumamoto prefecture on October 2, 1857. He was born into a samurai family. He attended the , where he was a member of the Kumamoto Band. He converted to Christianity in 1875. He continued his education at Doshisha University and graduated in 1879.

He had several children, including and .

Career After graduation Kanamori became a missionary in Okayama prefecture. His work was sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He then moved to Tokyo and served as a pastor for a large congregation there. He was later invited to teach theology at Doshisha University by Joseph Hardy Neeshima.

Kanamori renounced his Christian faith in the 1890s because he and other pastors interpreted Christian doctrine differently. and in business. He returned to the church after the death of his wife in 1914. and for evangelizing. He later joined the Holiness Movement in 1927, but left in 1933.

Kanamori died in Kōriyama, Japan on March 4, 1945. He is buried at Tama Cemetery in Tokyo.