March Sycamore Tree

Anpan-man is arguably the most famous cartoon character in Japan. After spending only a few moments with my co-worker’s 2-year-old daughter, Nonoka-chan, I learned the song and hand gestures for not only Anpan-man but also his fellow super-heroes Currypan-man, Shokupan-man, and the evil Baikin-man (a villain from the ‘germ world’). There are images of Anpan-man virtually everywhere in Japan, painted on the sides of trains and school buses and there is an entire museum dedicated to Anpan-man in Yokohama.

I didn’t know what Anpan-man’s super-power was until a joint youth event that was held at the Sendai Student/Youth Center last weekend. ‘Anpan’ is a baked pastry filled with red-bean jam and Anpan-man’s face is made out of this pastry. In the original children’s book by Takashi Yanase, Anpan-man finds people who are hungry and lets them eat parts of his face. When his entire face has been eaten a kind baker, Jam Ojisan, bakes a new face which is bigger and filled with more jam so Anpan-man can continue his work. Takashi Yanase was an author of children’s books and he was inspired by his time in the military when he was often hungry. As a Christian, he imagined that feeding others from one’s own body was the ultimate embodiment of love and community service.

This year was the 2^nd joint youth event for all the churches in the Sendai-area. Christians make up a very small minority in Japan and since churches are very small there are very few young people. Last year some of the college-age and recent graduates decided to start an annual youth event so that these young people could meet and share their faith with one another. The theme this year was "What does it mean to work?" and was centered on the Anpan-man picture book. In total, there were 23 people including high school and college students as well as pastors and recent college graduates. After we read the Anpan-man story we broke into smaller groups with 2 students and 2 people who were working.

In my group, our discussion boiled down to the question of who it is that you’re working for, whether it be for your company, your family, or yourself. Often students have dreams of finding a job where they can help the most people by becoming doctors, politicians, or teachers. Just as many people use tissues as go to a doctor but society values the job of the doctor more. After the event, the students had very positive comments and felt that they had a better perspective on finding meaning in work or community service.

February Sycamore Tree

Aisatsu / Being Present

One of the conversations I had this winter regarding my experience living in Japan was about the importance of aisatsu (挨拶 = あいさつ) in Japanese culture. Basically, aisatsu is a greeting when you meet someone or a short speech made at an event. If you look up aisatsu in a Japanese-English dictionary it will give you various greetings you might use when you pay aisatsu to someone (i.e. Good Morning! / おはようございます/ Ohayo Gozaimasu!). But, the literal meaning is closer to the act of being present or making an appearance in social situations. I feel like the importance of aisatsu has taken an especially long time to register with me since this ethos is not as strong in the U.S.

Aisatsu is about showing respect and humbling yourself before others. When you first arrive as a guest, for example, it’s extremely important to say a few words to your host. There are standard words of greeting and thanks but what you say isn’t nearly as important as the fact that you have shown respect to someone who has helped you. When I first arrived in Japan because students and pastors in Sendai would come up to me and introduce themselves, present me with their business card (名刺 / meishi), and ask me very formally to help them and the student center during my time here. I was surprised by the formality of this exchange and sometimes frustrated because my relationship with the people that I met never seemed to go beyond this one conversation.

I think that one of the strengths in American culture is the space for informal expression of ideas and opinions once that initial introduction is over. As a student, public speaking made me extremely nervous and I would avoid it whenever possible. Even introducing myself in front of a class or club meeting would make me tense and so I would rush through it as quickly as possible. Because my self-introduction was done so quickly, the others in the room wouldn’t hear me and so it made it a lot harder participate in the discussion later. Once I learned how to get over my fears and to get to know the people around me it was much easier to express my ideas. Companies like Google and Pixar have been extremely successful because their employees are given a lot of creative freedom in their work.

Recently, the staff members at the student center have been discussing how to create a more informal environment where students feel comfortable expressing themselves openly because we feel that our relationship often ends once they’ve introduced themselves. I suppose that’s something to learn from both cultures, how to make that initial introduction to get things started and how to continue that relationship in order to share ideas.

SKLT
Assistant Director of the Sendai Student/Youth Center
Global Missions Intern
http://www.globalministries.org/eap/countries/japan

January SHARE

Last weekend, I attended a women’s missionary retreat in Shizuoka Prefecture. The conference was started in 1957 as a Christian-themed gathering of the wives of missionaries living in Japan. Now, it’s grown to include any woman living in Japan who would like to attend. I enjoyed meeting other woman living in Japan and hearing all their stories about how they came to live here.

The speaker at this year’s retreat was Megan McKenna, a woman who’s taught at various universities around the world and specializes in story telling and traditional folk stories. One of the stories she told was a Chinese folktale in which a young girl is granted the gift of a magic brush. Anything she draws with this brush will become real. The girl is poor, living on the street with barely enough food to eat. However, she uses this power to help others who are suffering around her. One day, a very rich and powerful governor discovers her and orders her to draw him riches. At first, she refuses but eventually finds a way to trick and humble him using her magic brush. When we were asked to discuss this story amongst ourselves the general response was to think about all the things we would love to do if we had a magic brush of our own.

In the U.S., our newly sworn in President Obama called a national day of service on the federal holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. First Lady, Michelle Obama, spent the day handing out care packages to U.S. soldiers. President Obama and Vice-President Biden also joined in these activities with their families. This call-to-service came at a time when the economy is in poor condition and many families in the U.S. have lost their homes. President Obama reminded Americans that even though we may be going through difficulties ourselves, we always have something valuable to contribute to others through our time and compassion for the difficulties of others. In this sense, volunteerism is not about giving away or serving others but finding a common struggle to fight together.
- SKLT



今月、伊豆で開かれた女性のためのレトリートに参加しました。基調講演をしてくれたメガン・マケナさんは語り部でした。話してくれたお話しの一つに中国のおとぎ話がありました。一人の少女が魔法の筆をもらい、その筆で書いた物が現実のものとなるのです。少女は大変貧しく、路上で生活しながら食べるにやっとの生活を送っています。しかし、彼女は自分の周りで困っている人のためにその筆を使うのです。ある日、大金持ちの政治家が少女のことを知り、自分のために財宝を沢山書かせます。最初、少女は政治家の要求を断りますが、最後は機転を利かして政治家のもくろみを防ぎ、不正を思い知らせます。レトリートに参加をした私たちはその後、もし魔法の筆をもらったら何を書くかについてそれぞれに話し合いました。
　今年、アメリカに新しい大統領が誕生しました。オバマ氏はキング牧師の誕生日（1/19）を「奉仕の日」と制定し、ボランティア活動を呼びかけました。ミッシェル大統領夫人は海外で働く米兵たちを支えるケアー・パッケージ（援助物資）を詰めたり、オバマ大統領もバイデン副大統領も家族そろってボランティア活動に参加しました。アメリカは深刻な不況の中にあり多くの人が家を失っています。この「奉仕の日」への呼びかけを通してオバマ氏は国民に呼びかけてました。自分たち自身が大変な状況にあったとしても、人のために時間やエネルギーを使うことには大きな意味があります。このように、ボランティアイズムは人に物を配ったり、自分の時間を捧げたりすることばかりではなく、困っている人同士が共通の課題を見つけて共闘することにあるのです。

Emmaus Worship Introduction

Part of the vision for the Tohoku Church District Emmaus Center was that it could be a shared space for all of the churches in the Tohoku Church District. So, we hold a worship service every 2nd Sunday in the evening which is open to the public but mainly attended by pastors and church members who attend worship services or preach at their own churches in the mornings.

It's an ecumenical service open to all sorts of varieties of Christian. We've had guests from the First Presbytarian Church of Hollywood among others from outside Japan. There have also been Baptist and Catholic pastors that have come from churches outside of our denomination within Japan. However, this worship service is usually rotated between the pastors of the Tohoku District of the United Church of Christ-Japan (Nihon Kirisuto Kyodon / 日本キリスト教団). Twice there have been guests from the Asian Rural Institute that talked about their work at ARI (http://www.ari-edu.org/).


As a staff member at the Emmaus Center, I knew that I would be asked to present a message at some point during my time in Sendai. I decided to break the message into 2 parts in order to make it easier to read.

The passage I chose to read was the story of the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus after they discover the empty tomb and the message was entitled, '誰と共に歩んでいる?' or 'Who is walking beside you?'

Luke 24:13-16
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jeruselem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

Emmaus Worship Part I

I am fully aware that I don't look like the typical stereotypical missionary. When students in Sendai first heard that there was a missionary coming to work at the student center for a year they immediately pictured an older, white male. Since I am neither old nor white and I am 22-years-old I like to think I was an unexpected surprise.

As I've been here now for over a year students have started to feel comfortable enough to ask the question that's been burning in their minds since I arrived, "Why did you want to become a missionary in Japan?"

To be honest, when Pastor Sharon came up to me after service and asked me if I would be interested in such an opportunity I didn't say yes right away. I had and still have serious reservations about evengelical work in international settings because if done forcefully it can close the hearts of many people unless the missionary has a good understanding of the culture in which they minister. It meant a lot that Pastor Sharon had asked me personally. Also, I realized that this would be a great way to be useful to Sycamore Church as the first missionary to go to Japan after we've received so many ministers and Pre-School teachers from Japan in our 100-year history. But, I had absolutely no concept of how I could be useful without theological training and only basic conversational Japanese.

I needed more information before I could make that decision. So, I spoke to pastors from Japan and to people in the national church body of the U.S. about the kinds of work that United Church of Christ missionaries do. But, what convinced me was an e-mail from Jeffrey (director of the Sendai Student Center). It described Sendai and the student center activities but in the first paragraph it said, "I too believe that it is our role as Christians to walk alongside people who are in need...Evangelism is not about converting, but about enabling people to discover a source within themselves which gives them true life. True Life is what I call God. And I believe that our center has enabled many young people to be enlivened as they pass through on life's journey."

We are now standing in the Emmaus Center. I imagine that the people who were a part of creating this building were inspired by the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. In the process of sharing life and conversation with one another we can learn to see the presence of God in our midst even if we already have faith and belief in that presence.

As a young person, I realized that I could contribute to this community simply by being present, sharing meals and walking alongside those in need of comfort in their lives. All of my life I feel as if I've been searching for a way to be useful, a way to serve. This chance to work among you here in Sendai provided me that chance and I am extremely grateful that you've accepted me and walked alongside me for this past year.

Emmaus Worship Part II

I wanted to share with you a story from the meeting of the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries (PAAM -- http://www.paamncnc.com/) conference that I attended in Hawaii this August. I participated in the youth program of this conference which included youth from various churches around the U.S. One of the workshops focused on Identity among Asian American or minority youths. Since Asian Americans are such a small ethnic group in the U.S. and there are many even smaller groups within that main group, young people often begin to question their identity when they have trouble relating to both their ethnic heritage and mainstream culture.

This workshop focused on who Jesus was as a historical figure and how he would have been perceived by his contemporaries. We were asked to think about the human Jesus who was born into a Jewish family and grew up in Galilee. Since we recently celebrated Christmas, maybe you remember that Joseph and Mary were returning to their hometown for a census when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We may also remember that after Jesus was born they fled into Egypt in order to escape Herod's orders to kill all the first born sons.

We were then asked to think about what language Jesus might have spoken in his time. Since his parents were Jewish we might guess that Jesus spoke Aramaic or Hebrew when he spoke to them or other Jews. But, in Galilee the dominate language in business and daily life would have been Greek since the Roman empire was so powerful. Also, the first formative years of the boy Jesus's life were spent in Egypt away from both Mary and Joseph's hometowns and this also probably had a profound effect on the way that Jesus saw himself and the people around him.

As the workshop went on we were asked to think about what color his hair might have been and what his voice might have sounded like. As we thought about the reality of this life as an ethnic minority, students participating in the workshop explored their own lives and the way that they perceive themselves and the way they may be perceived by their non-Asian American peers.

At this point one of the students in the workshop wondered aloud, "I wonder if Jesus spoke with an accent like me?" and yet another student wondered if Jesus was ever teased by other kids in school for looking or speaking differently.

The disciples on their way to Emmaus has spent a considerable amount of time learning from and sharing meals with Jesus while He was living among them and yet even they failed to recognize Him when He appeared to them on their journey. What about His contemporaries in Galilee? Even they may have found it difficult to believe that this strange looking foreigner with an accent was in fact the Savior prophets had predicted for many generations. Yet, they came to accept Him in their lives as they shared life and bread with this Son of Man.

December Sycamore Tree

Every year around the Advent season I am always overwhelmed by the concept of peace because it seems to me as something so large that there is nothing I can do as an individual to help achieve it. Since this year was also an election year and I’ve been living abroad, the idea of world peace has been on my mind a lot because the result of our election impacts the entire world. As one of the most historic presidential races the U.S. has ever seen, it was especially captivating to watch from afar.
On Election Day, I had been asked to share some of my experiences from the Student Center’s spring Study Tour to Okinawa with Tohoku Committee on Okinawa Relations. Okinawa was one of the main battlegrounds during WWII and later annexed by the U.S. before it was returned to Japan. Today, 75% of the U.S. military bases in Japan are located in Okinawa even though these islands make up less than 1% of the total land area entire country. Because of Okinawa’s strategic location in Asia and the fact that Japanese government has continued to support these U.S. military bases financially since WWII, Okinawa provides the ideal base for soldiers before their deployment to Iraq and the Middle East.
Among the countless other environmental and economic effects of the US military presence, the most prominent news from Okinawa is the rape of a 16-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in February of this year. But this was one reported event from the thousands of such cases on record since Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972. As a result of strong opposition to U.S. military presence in Okinawa by the its residents, a plan was formulated to redistribute some of the military facilities to other parts of Japan like Sendai and other Pacific islands like Guam, both of which already have a strong U.S. military presence.
From the Okinawa study tour this spring I realized that few Japanese and even fewer Americans have seen the impacts of the war in Iraq on countries like Japan that have no direct military interest in the Middle East. If we all were a little more educated on how war affects not just our enemies but our allies as well we might see the urgency in finding a more peaceful solution. So, as Advent is approaching and we try to envision a world full of hope, peace, joy, and love, I’m starting to feel less overwhelmed and a little more hopeful because there are other people in this world who are thinking about how achieve peace too.

SKLT
Global Missions Intern (GMI) and
Assistant to the Director
Sendai Student/Youth Center in Sendai, Japan