I have had several chances to chat with Masuda Sensei since I've been here. A week ago from last Thursday he gave me a quick tour of the Ochanomizu Bible Institute (established in 1990). It is located in downtown Tokyo and he is the president of the institute.
Each time I've talked with Masuda Sensei, he has been very eager to share with me about the Japanese mentality, in general and in regards to religion. He has had a lot of experience working with people of other cultures; he studied and lived in Pennsylvania for several years and has worked with international organizations. It seems obvious to me that he is very interested in the sociological and psychological tendencies of his own culture (which, of course, is important as he discerns the most effective ways to reach his own people with the gospel). I told him that he talks about the Japanese as though he isn't one and he got a good laugh at that. Then he responded by saying that by living in a different culture you learn a lot about your own. Understandable. In fact, he even mentioned this week that he acts somewhat as a bridge between the American/western culture and the Japanese/eastern culture. It is a privilege for him to do this for God's glory.
So I thought I'd just share some things that I took note of from my times with Masuda Sensei, and also Sudo Sensei, the Aritas, and Abe Sensei as well:
-Japanese tend to be very reserved. They tend to avoid and ignore eye contact if they aren't acquainted with a person, for example walking on the street or in the subway. Compared to other cultures they seem very serious. Even simply compared to other Asian cultures. Chinese and Korean tend to be much more open and friendly. Historically, the Japanese have been closed to the world. They only opened their harbors and trade to other countries 150 years ago. That's when they discovered they were far behind in technology. (They are also extremely polite and respectful, which makes any kind of service in Japan smooth and easy.)
-While the country itself is very wealthy, there are a lot of people who have mental/psychological disorders (such as depression). Materialism is huge. You could say they are rich materially and extremely poor in their hearts and minds. Bullying in schools, alcohol and drug use, and pornography are big social problems.
-Masuda mentioned that as far as he knows there are estimates of 100 million Christians in China which is just a fraction of their total population of 1.3 billion. Compare that to the population of Japan (127 million) and it seems a shame that the Christian population is so small.
-If you know anything about psychology you might have heard of what's called the inferiority and superiority complexes. It could be said that Japanese society is suffering from both.
-Because of the war in Iraq and perhaps other situations, there is a subtle blame on Christianity for the violence.
-English conversation classes have been helpful in spreading the gospel, but this has decreased in recent years. Japanese people aren't quite as eager or interested in learning English as they used to be. Many of the church members became Christians through English classes, including Sudo Sensei.
-There has been a recent resurge of Shinto/Buddhist festivities and return to those patterns of belief. The Japanese are searching for some spiritual fulfillment. But also with this comes certain wrong ethical and moral practices.
-Japanese young people don't seem to take to discipline, in particular those who grew up in Christian homes. Much of the younger generation wander from the things they were taught about Christ and following him.
-The Japanese people, especially men, are tired. They work so hard to be successful and to gain material things and wear themselves down in the process.
-The suicide rate in Japan is one of the highest in the world (30,000 a year). Many suicides are done by jumping off the platform in front of an oncoming train. I was told that sometimes they plan extra time in travel to get somewhere if they have an important appointment to keep. This is in case there are delays from accidents in the subway system. You never know who might commit suicide or where. Every day someone commits suicide in the subways of Tokyo.
I apologize for ending this blog with such a dismal piece of information. But here are the facts. There are so many in the country trying so hard to achieve something and enjoy life, but they are killing themselves doing it. And so many don't even really know about Christianity even though it is a civilized country very connected to the world. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Pastor Masuda sends his warm greeting to Boyertown E.C. Church.
Each time I've talked with Masuda Sensei, he has been very eager to share with me about the Japanese mentality, in general and in regards to religion. He has had a lot of experience working with people of other cultures; he studied and lived in Pennsylvania for several years and has worked with international organizations. It seems obvious to me that he is very interested in the sociological and psychological tendencies of his own culture (which, of course, is important as he discerns the most effective ways to reach his own people with the gospel). I told him that he talks about the Japanese as though he isn't one and he got a good laugh at that. Then he responded by saying that by living in a different culture you learn a lot about your own. Understandable. In fact, he even mentioned this week that he acts somewhat as a bridge between the American/western culture and the Japanese/eastern culture. It is a privilege for him to do this for God's glory.
So I thought I'd just share some things that I took note of from my times with Masuda Sensei, and also Sudo Sensei, the Aritas, and Abe Sensei as well:
-Japanese tend to be very reserved. They tend to avoid and ignore eye contact if they aren't acquainted with a person, for example walking on the street or in the subway. Compared to other cultures they seem very serious. Even simply compared to other Asian cultures. Chinese and Korean tend to be much more open and friendly. Historically, the Japanese have been closed to the world. They only opened their harbors and trade to other countries 150 years ago. That's when they discovered they were far behind in technology. (They are also extremely polite and respectful, which makes any kind of service in Japan smooth and easy.)
-While the country itself is very wealthy, there are a lot of people who have mental/psychological disorders (such as depression). Materialism is huge. You could say they are rich materially and extremely poor in their hearts and minds. Bullying in schools, alcohol and drug use, and pornography are big social problems.
-Masuda mentioned that as far as he knows there are estimates of 100 million Christians in China which is just a fraction of their total population of 1.3 billion. Compare that to the population of Japan (127 million) and it seems a shame that the Christian population is so small.
-If you know anything about psychology you might have heard of what's called the inferiority and superiority complexes. It could be said that Japanese society is suffering from both.
-Because of the war in Iraq and perhaps other situations, there is a subtle blame on Christianity for the violence.
-English conversation classes have been helpful in spreading the gospel, but this has decreased in recent years. Japanese people aren't quite as eager or interested in learning English as they used to be. Many of the church members became Christians through English classes, including Sudo Sensei.
-There has been a recent resurge of Shinto/Buddhist festivities and return to those patterns of belief. The Japanese are searching for some spiritual fulfillment. But also with this comes certain wrong ethical and moral practices.
-Japanese young people don't seem to take to discipline, in particular those who grew up in Christian homes. Much of the younger generation wander from the things they were taught about Christ and following him.
-The Japanese people, especially men, are tired. They work so hard to be successful and to gain material things and wear themselves down in the process.
-The suicide rate in Japan is one of the highest in the world (30,000 a year). Many suicides are done by jumping off the platform in front of an oncoming train. I was told that sometimes they plan extra time in travel to get somewhere if they have an important appointment to keep. This is in case there are delays from accidents in the subway system. You never know who might commit suicide or where. Every day someone commits suicide in the subways of Tokyo.
I apologize for ending this blog with such a dismal piece of information. But here are the facts. There are so many in the country trying so hard to achieve something and enjoy life, but they are killing themselves doing it. And so many don't even really know about Christianity even though it is a civilized country very connected to the world. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Pastor Masuda sends his warm greeting to Boyertown E.C. Church.
A saying from Japan: "There are four things Japanese people fear: earthquake, thunder, fire,
and father."
and father."
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