Breathing in a new Mentality

So my first blog from the land of the rising sun, it's a little earlier than I was anticipating due to the fact that I am going to be pretty busy for the rest of the week helping out at two camps. Well first impressions - I left Osaka airport and bought myself a bus ticket for Kyoto station, thankfully the ticket machine had an English option so that I understood what I was buying. The journey from the airport to Kyoto station took roughly 70 minutes, the bus travelled along some highway that cut straight through the middle of Osaka and into Kyoto. On one side were harbours, fishing vessels and warehouses and on the other houses and offices at the foot of tree covered hills (they looked mountainous to me but then I am from Essex!). The geography of the cities was a little confusing to me, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason, just a random assortment of houses, office blocks, factories, warehouses and sky scrapers. The houses were small and the streets very narrow, some looked old and others looked new all in the same vicinity. I was later informed that it is traditional for generations of families to build on the same plot of land thus having the old and new living next door to each other.

I was picked up by Peter Wilson and another missionary, a Chinese man also called Peter. We drove out of Kyoto and into Shiga where they live. By this point I had spent well over a day travelling by some means or another and was looking forward to seeing where they lived. Eventually after running some errands we finally got back to the Wilson's house, where I met the rest of his family. Japanese towns are quite different to British ones. Firstly Japanese towns don't use road names, only numbers which just seems to make all roads look the same. This was particularly disorienting to me as any of you who know me well, know that spatial awareness is not my strong suit. I spent the rest of the day feeling very disoriented. That evening we went to a firework display by the shore of the lake. The firework display was very impressive, although I was told it wasn't the biggest one they put on in the Summer. Nevertheless it was a nice way to say welcome to the country! The fireworks reminded me of the Soul Survivor song 'Light the Sky' and I couldn't help but reflect on the lyrics as I watched combinations of different coloured fireworks illuminate the night. My prayer that evening was that Japan would know the light of the world.

While I was very happy to finally be in Japan my first day was a little overwhelming. I guess that's what they mean by culture shock and I knew that I was bound to experience it, even if only minimally. Some of the shops look quite garish by British standards with their flamboyant, bright colours and cartoon mascots. Kanji too is impossible to decypher without studying it first. That was probably the most powerful feeling of culture shock, not being able to interpret or understand anything. Peter and Edi have three children all of whom are learning Kanji as well as English and I realised that I didn't even have a child's level of knowledge or understanding about the culture - it was truly infantile! However yesterday I felt much better as I adjusted to my new surroundings.

I went along to the Wilson's church yesterday, an outdoor service held by the shore of the lake. It was a beautiful backdrop of cloud covered hilltops and reminded me very much of the lake district. At least that is the closest comparison I can make with England. We sat under a home made canopy and Edi kindly translated the words of the songs from Kanji into Romanji so at least I could pronounce the words even if I didn't understand them; she then translated Peter's sermon for me. Afterwards we had a BBQ which was a mixture of Asian and Western food. Needless to say I enjoyed it. So far I am only able to use a handful of phrases such as good morning 'ohio gozaimas', thank you 'arigato' and I am English 'Watashi wa igirisujin des'. As learning fluent Japanese in three weeks is nigh on impossible the best I can expect is to learn some polite phrases to get me by, unfortunately this limits conversation and dialogue is very difficult unless I want to have the most one sided conversations in the world where I just regurgitate every single bit of Japanese I've picked up LOL! This was no better illustrated then after the the BBQ when I had to wait behind as there was not enough room in the car for all of us; the couple whose garden we were using by the lake invited me into their house to wait, but they spoke practically no English. There was a lot of awkwardness and confusion (in a humorous way) as they spoke to me in Japanese desparately wanting me to understand only to be met by a blank expression on my face and a reluctant shrug of the shoulders as I conceded I didn't have a clue what they were saying. Thankfully Peter turned up after not too long and he was able to translate my apology to them for not knowing enough Japanese and my gratitude for their hospitality.

Japanese homes are very different to British ones and mostly for very practical reasons. Traditional Japanese homes do not have a lot of furniture but this is a good thing if ever the event of an earthquake. It makes sense. Traditional homes also have a low table where they sit and relax as well as eat. It suddenly put my sitting kata in Aiki JuJutsu into perspective as I realised just how practical the self defence tecniques from our knees would have been historically in Japan. The Japanese also have a very strict etiquette in their homes - shoes are not to be worn indoors as the space is considered 'clean'. Toilets also include 'toilet slippers' to be worn as the space is 'unclean'. They are very particular about these codes of polity. But as the old saying goes manners cost nothing and it's no skin off my nose to be polite.

My initial impression of Japan is mixed - on the one hand I am delighted to be in this distant country, full of beautiful scenary, slowly learning their language and customs and embracing their culture; but on the other hand I am experiencing all of this with a tinge of sadness that the people of the country are so closed to the Gospel. Having spoken to Peter about his experiences in his twenty plus years as a missionary here I was sad to learn there has been no dramatic rise in numbers of converts in the Japanese churches. The Japanese are growing increasingly secular and individualistic and there is a lot of indifference to religion in general of which Christianity seems to be suffering inadvertently the most. This is compounded by the fact that Christianity is still viewed with suspicion as a 'Western religion'. This seems particularly sad when China and Korea have experienced tremendous revivals. As I've been reflecting on these things I have been seeking guidance through scripture as well as wisdom from the Holy Spirit, whom the Bible calls the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Please pray for the following things:

1. That I would overcome any further culture shock
2. That I would be kept safe when we go up to Tohoku next week to help with the earthquake relief work
3. That I would keep on keeping on - for ways to recharge my spiritual batteries and to stay close to God and sensitive to His Holy Spirit
4. Lastly that more Chinese and Korean missionaries would feel the call to Japan - I really think this is important to break the stereotype that Christianity is distinctly and uniquely Western.

I will try to post another blog Sunday afternoon before we go up to Tohoku next Monday, I am thinking about you all and keep you in my prayers.