JesusLovesJapan.com

Tokyo New Years Experience

2012-01-30T06:36:54-08:00

あけましておめでとう！ Happy New Years! I know that I’m a month late with this but still wanted to write about my New Years experience.

The traditional thing to do leading up to New Years is spend time with family and close friends eating good food with alcoholic drinks weather beer, wine, or Japanese sake. The past half century or so its become tradition also to watch Kōhaku, the most watch television program of the year in Japan in which the most popular songs from the past year are performed in a of guys verses gals competition leading up to New Year’s count down. Lady GaGa even did a special performance via satellite and I think that helped the girls team to win the competition. The show usually last for about four hours!

After midnight it is customary for many to participate in hatsumōde, the first shrine and or temple visit of the year. I’ve heard a lot about this from friends over the years and wanted to see and experience for myself what goes on.

In Asakusa near the big Kaminarimon gate the street was completely cornered off. Past the gate entrance it was completely packed with people.

Past the second gates at the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple everyone made their prayers by clapping their hands twice and throwing pocket change towards the center. Nearly all of my friends that I have asked about this tell me that this is just Japanese culture, they pray for things like health, romance, a new job, money, etc. In this way it functions practically more like a wishing well than it does of having any kind of personal relationship with God. Just outside of leaving the temple many people were hanging out with beer, fried soba noodles, and fish on a stick could be bought. In Japan, Buddhism together with shintoism is more just a Japanese cultural thing than it is a deeply held conviction about the nature of God. But this cultural influence and its history still shapes the foundation of Japanese society.

The trains in Tokyo, which normally stop running after between 12am to 1pm, run all night New Year’s Eve into New Years day… except for the train line I currently use to take home. So I stayed at a capsule hotel.

The one I stayed at was on the cheaper side and was not as glamourous as I’ve heard them to be, but it provided a comfortable place for me to sleep for the night and despite how small it looks I actually had plenty of space. For ¥2400 a night it was a nice alternative to sleeping in a internet cafe, those normally go for about ¥1500 and are inexpensive safe haven for those who miss the last train. Both capsule hotels and internet cafes come with a shower, but the extra ¥1000 is worth the price for a bed.

The next morning many people were still going to the temple for hatsumōde when I came across this group holding up signs with bible verses and loud speakers.

In the past I have met people in Tokyo who do this kind of evangelism, some of them were really nice while others had horrible attitudes. From what I understand of the signs and what is spoken on the loudspeakers I completely agree with the words. This method of communicating God’s word appears to be more disturbing and scary to people though than it does giving a good impression of Christianity in Japan. But if success stories are out there I would love to hear them. Below is a video from New Year’s Eve 2008 a guy shot of this in Shibuya.

Spirituality and the Need for Spiritual Discernment

2011-08-26T08:48:50-07:00

July and August (primarily August) are the most significant months of the year second only to New Years. This is the time when many Japanese return to their ancestral hometowns for family reunion, summer festivals, and the ceremony of Obon. During this ceremony it is believed that the spirits of their ancestors return from the spirit world, many Japanese families offer food to them at household alters and cemeteries. Through out most of Japan many participate in traditional dances call Bon Odori. Originally this custom was done as a way to welcome the return of ancestor spirits but this meaning has change over time and is understood as just a Japanese summer dance. The following is a video of this year’s Bon Odori at Roppongi hills.

Tōrō nagashi is another ceremony related to Obon in which paper lanterns are placed in rivers to guide there ancestors back to the spirit world. I took the following pictures of this custom in Asakusa at the Sumida river.

This practice is deeply rooted in Buddhism though for many it is just a cultural Japanese thing. Apart from the deeply rooted spiritual significance of Obon week you could say that it is kind of like Thanksgiving in America, a time when many businesses close and people take extra days off from work to be with family.

While many Japanese may not believe in God, they can be highly spiritual and superstitious. I am thankful to the creator of the following video for these interview on the topic of ghost.

I too have had conversations with Japanese friends who shared with me their experience with ghost. I don’t doubt that they have experience something spiritual, I am concerned however that those who have such experiences without proper spiritual discernment are being deceived by evil spirits and led away from the truth of God’s love.

Ghosts and spirits are closely related spiritual words that describe spiritual beings, the bible uses the word angel to describe them and tells us that God created them to be good together with everything else that he made. There are good angels who have serve God faithfully and bad angels who rebelled against God. These bad angels, also called demons, work to destroy and corrupt everything good that God has made. Every spiritual experience can not be trusted. Just as you need discernment with whom to leave your kids with, so you need spiritual discernment to judge if your spiritual experience are from good angels or bad angels.

All good and healthy spiritual discernment begins with the bible and a knowledge of Jesus Christ. He died and resurrected from the dead, you will not find Jesus’ body in a cemetary today because he is alive! Jesus Christ is God, he loves his creation and is very kind. His Spirit is called the Holy Spirit and is near to all who desire to know him. If you ask he will give you discernment to know which spirits are good and which are harmful.

I wish there were more resources available in Japanese on this topic. If you would like to learn more I have posted a four part video lecture given by pastor Mark Driscoll at Mars hill Church in Seattle Washington below.

Makoto Fujimura; Reconciling Biblical Faith and Modern Art

2011-08-12T04:20:34-07:00

Makoto Fujimura is recognized internationally as an artist, writer, and speaker who has made great steps to reconcile faith and art in modern culture. Below is Fujimura’s interview with Crossway about this project called “The Four Holy Gospels,” which was published last January.

To Celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible Crossway Publishing approach Fujimura in 2009 with the great task of illuminating the bible, this would be the first time in almost 500 years that a single artist was commissioned in this way. Illumination is when images are created to reveal text, but then the text too reveals the created images. Using a contemporary bible translation, the English Standard Version, his work to illuminate the first four books of the New Testament was life transforming.

In the interview Fujimura shares a bit of his spiritual journey living in Tokyo studying Nihonga, traditional Japanese style painting that inspired the artwork of The Four Holy Gospels. Through the beautiful and articulate preaching of a New Zealand pastor, friendships with missionaries, and his personal study of the 19th century artist William Blake, the gospel profoundly impacted him. While Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism is syncretic, meaning that it keeps morphing and changing, Christianity remained consistent, that Jesus gave his life so that the world could know the love of God. As an artist Fujimura was very aware of a brokenness that he didn’t have a solution for… being someone who was to create beautiful works but feeling alienated from that beauty, which he called transcendence. Placing his faith in Jesus bridged the gap between transcendent beauty and his since of alienation from it.

Continuing his work in New York Fujimura experience another alienation with in the art community and the protestant church. Artist made negative assumptions about Christianity as confining and anti-development of free expression while the church typically was suspicious and in general had no understanding of the art world. Living in this tension as a Christian and an artist was difficult but from this the International Arts Movement was born to help artist wrestle through how art relates to faith, humanity, beauty, and truth.

Fujimura shares about the The Four Holy Gospels at his website, above is more about this masterpiece and the struggles in culture to reconcile modern art and faith.

To Tohoku and back… and back again?

2011-07-14T06:31:57-07:00

Soon after I returned to Japan, a month after the earthquake and tsunami disasters happen, I began working with CRASHJapan in an administrative capacity compiling and summarizing reports from disaster relief bases. This along with other responsibilities kept me located in the Tokyo area and I didn’t have time to join volunteer teams.

About 6 weeks ago however, I had the opportunity to join a team with a camera crew from CBN for a weekend trip to Tohoku (northern Japan). It was an amazing experience to see first hand how CRASHJapan is partnering with local churches to reach out with aid and support in their communities. Below is the television broadcast for that trip and you can read more of CBN’s report here.

Our first stop was at the CRASHJapan warehouse opening ceremony in Nasu. I helped with simple stuff like directing attendees to the warehouse location and breaking down chairs and tables when finished. The keynote speaker was Akira Sato, the pastor of Fukushima First Baptist Church near the nuclear power plants that were damaged. He shared about the ways the triple (earthquake, tsunami, and radiation) crises affected him personally and how through it grew in confidence that God still works all things for good, even through disaster and hardship… thats the rough summery at least. His message it below, sorry that at the moment there are no English subtitles.

The next day began with a visit to Koriyama Christ Church. This church was in a unique position with strong relationships in the local community to directly assist evacuees from the nuclear radiation evacuation zone with life starter kits. But due to the needs of so many evacuees the church quickly ran out of funding. The purpose of my teams visit was to learn more of how CRASHJapan could direct funds and resources to help them continue assisting those in need, I was very encouraged to learn how God was using this church. Below is my amateur attempt at recording and editing what was shared during our meeting.

From Koriyama we headed to Sendai to meet with the pastor of the relocated Seaside Bible Chapel. The original location of this church was completely swept away by tsunami along with the entire surrounding neighborhood. Visiting that area we saw nothing but devastation and it was hard to imagine that a community of people once lived there. But the area near the old Seaside Bible Chapel location had a cross lifted up high infront of a pulpit and a sitting area made of crates, broken cinder blocks, and planks of wood. Even after the tsunami devastated everything I could tell that a worship service took place there and a message was preached. Wood planks were also setup near the cross with writing that read:

We believe in the revival of this land!
There is a special hope here!
We love this land!

In my previous blog post I included a video that towards the end shows the worship service that took place at the old Seaside Bible Chapel location. The entire video was very encouraging.

A coffee shop that shut down after the tsunami was reopened as the new location for Seaside Bible Chapel and became a disaster relief base for CRASHJapan in the Sendai area. As reported in the CBN broadcast, this new location opened greater opportunities to share the gospel and to be a blessing to the city. The testimony of this church and those serving there is a great encouragement that God is very much at work in Japan.

There is still much work to be done, rebuilding and recovery will take many years. For now I continue helping CRASHJapan administratively compiling situation summaries and serving where opportunities and time permit. At some point I do hope to return to Tohoku again. Its my prayer that all of those already serving there would remember with me the we are not saved by our good works, but by God’s grace… and by his grace we are saved to good works that he has already prepared for us (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Video; “Jesus Christ”(2months after the Earthquake in Japan)

2011-07-02T09:36:14-07:00

This video is a tremendous encouragement to me and is a must see. I am thankful to those of you whom put this together, it was released about a month ago along with Korean and Japanese versions. Thank you Jesus that you use all things for the good of those who are called to be your children.

In the wake of so much that Japan has experienced through earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear melt downs, and so much loss of life… Lord I pray that you continue to bring emotional and physical healing that open doors of faith to an everlasting spiritual healing through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord that even through the sting of death there is still a certain hope for complete restoration of all that was lost… would you please continue to extend this grace to everyone in Japan and may it be a witness to the rest of the world of how great you are.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4

Black Gospel Music; Preaching to the Choir in Japan

2011-06-30T04:19:54-07:00

A couple weeks ago the Hallelujah Gospel Family again had their annual gospel charity concert. I first learned about this movement in Japan last year and am still amazed at how God is drawing people to Himself through black gospel music.

The past couple months leading up to the day of concert we hosted black gospel music workshops and song rehearsals in various churches across Japan, worship leaders from California came to lead those times. They taught proper English pronunciation and explained the meaning of the gospel message in the song lyrics. The following video was a workshop led by Gregory and Ruth Hooper from Sunrise Church.

I sang and participated at some of the workshops, but my primary responsibilities centered on backstage details and assisting the production manager of the concert. This however gave me greater opportunities to see all that went into preparation for the concert day. My favorite experience was attending the gospel choir and wadaiko drummers collaboration rehearsal.

After the rehearsal I had lunch with some members from the choir most of whom were not Christian. One lady, who has been part of the Hallelujah Gospel Family for several years, told me that she really feels God when she sings but can not be Christian because she has a kamidana in her house. In light of the many cultural barriers to becoming Christian in Japan God very much at work drawing His children near to Him.

The day of the concert, about 400 choir members came together from different parts of Japan… about 80% were not yet Christians but took great joy in singing praise and worship songs. The leaders of the Hallelujah Gospel Family and workshop leaders truly are preaching to the choir.

A part from stage construction, setup preparation, and last minute details the primary focus of most of the day was centered on one final celebration rehearsal before doors open to the general public. Songs were sung and prayers were prayed all done in the name of Jesus Christ with the hope that all would truly come to know the love of the One they sang about.

The gospel charity concert was more than just a fundraiser or church event to attract people in from the outside to hear the gospel. The primary ministry was with those in the choir, the concert itself was just an overflow of celebration with and for everyone involved.

Above was the performance the gospel choir and wadaiko drummers rehearsed for. “Kimi Wa Aisareru Tame Umareta” is the name of the song, it means “you were born to be Loved.” Below Ruth shared a bit about faith in God before her duet with Bola Taylor.

I have a few more videos of the concert here if interested.

This entire event from the workshop leaders, the stage and lighting personel, and those who managed various other details was volunteer based. On top of the 400 choirs members there were 800 more in attendance, about 90% of them where not Christian. Altogether they donated about 540,000円 ($6,700) to the disaster relief efforts of CRASHJapan.

Your prayers that God would continue to bless this community are appreciated. For the leaders of the Hallelujah Gospel Family network who work hard to make sure the choirs remain church based and not choir director dependent; for church members to build relationships with the choir members; for the choir members who sing God’s praise to experience Him change their lives; and for all those who are directly and indirectly effected by this growing movement and community in Japan.

From Daughter of Buddhist Priest to Child of God

2011-06-15T06:43:51-07:00

Just happened to come across this video of Eriko Suzuki sharing about her experience growing up as the daughter of a Buddhist priest, how she became a Christian, and her prayer for God to restore broken families in Japan.

Thanks to Nathan Mikoski for the original video post. You can learn more about his work at TellJapan.com

How To Check Radiation Levels In Japan Online

2011-03-24T12:57:08-07:00

Radiation level data for all of Japan’s 47 prefectures can be accessed online at the website of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

The charts use a radiation unit of measurement called microsievert per hour (μSv/h). Current radiation levels in Tokyo are about 0.13 μSv/h, multiply that by the number of hours in a day and then the number of days in a year and you have the microsievert per year (μSv/y), about 1,110 μSv/y. Compare this number with the diagram below and you see that for the time being Tokyo is well within safety levels and there isn’t a huge need for panic… though a healthy measure of concern is warranted especially for children.

(click for larger picture)

Lets continue to pray the remaining issues at the Fukushima nuclear power plants would be resolved soon, for the surrounding areas that have been directly effected, and that other areas of Japan hit hard by earthquake and tsunamis would receive the disaster relief needed for rescue and recovery.

A Week After; Sendai and Tokyo

2011-03-17T18:51:55-07:00

I have always found HirokoChannel and TokyoCooney on YouTube helpful sources to learn about Japan and Japanese culture, recently they both posted videos about the current situation there.

Hiroko’s video below comes from and area near Sendai which is one area harder hit by the 9.0 earthquake and tsunamis a week ago. Sendai and other areas in Northern Japan have the greatest needs for urgent disaster relief and resources.

Cooney’s video is from Tokyo where things for the most part are not desperate though still very affected. He also shares criticism about how media sources outside of Japan are reporting the situation in Japan.

Let’s keep praying that the relief efforts would continue to move forward, and that ultimately they would open hearts to the even greater relief needs of the gospel in Japan.

Prayer For Asia; From A Love For Japan

2011-03-15T14:36:10-07:00

The following musical composition, Prayer For Asia, was recorded live by the TAD Wind Symphony at Kumin Hall in Tokyo on June 11, 2009. As the song title suggest, Prayer For Asia has its inspiration from a prayer for Asia that began in Japan.

Anthony (Tony) Labounty is the composer of Prayer For Asia, he is the one who takes a bow at the end of the video. Tony is in his 23rd year as a professor at my alumni UNLV (University of Las Vegas Nevada). Tony has a big heart to pray for the students and faculty there and he is seeing the Lord working in the lives of many… It was also during my time there as a student that I first understood the gospel and began to see it transform my life.

The Lord has also given Tony a heart for Japan, a few months ago he shared with me about his experience.

My first visit to Japan was in 1993. I was a non-Christian at the time. I noticed then how unique the Japanese people were; their traditions were very strong. Some of the traditions were/are quite good (i.e. how older citizens are treated with respect) whereas other traditions are actually restrictive and are certainly not of the Lord. I visited Japan again in 2001 observing many of the same types of societal traits. In the summer of 2009 I was privileged to bring my wife and 9-year-old daughter to Tokyo for the international premier of my composition Prayer For Asia. The performance was conducted by Professor Takayoshi Suzuki with the TAD Wind Symphony at Kumin Hall. Since Prayer For Asia was, I believe, a direct inspiration from the Lord, we knew then (and still today) that the Lord was going to use Prayer For Asia to draw all of His Asian children to Himself. To this day, I still pray that the Holy Spirit use Prayer For Asia to soften hearts and minds to the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Prayer for Asia is dedicated to Tony’s Colleague and friend Takayoshi (Tad) Suzuki. Soon copies of the conductor’s score will be sold worldwide through music retailers online. It is my prayer too that the Lord would us Prayer For Asia to open hearts and minds to the gospel in Asia… and especially in Japan.

To learn more about Prayer For Asia please visit Jesus Loves Japan on Vimeo.