Christianity in Japan
Norimitsu Onishi offers another insightful article on Japan in the New York Times today. It deals with Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, specifically in Shinkamigoto, an island on the western extremity of the country, about a 50 km (30 mile) ferry ride from Nagasaki.
Today, one quarter of the roughly 25,000 inhabitants of the district, a collection of seven inhabited islands and 60 uninhabited ones, are Roman Catholic, an extraordinary percentage in a country where Christianity failed to take root. It is by far the highest level in Japan, where Catholics account for about one-third of 1 percent of the overall population and where the total number of Christians amounts to less than 1 percent.
Most Japanese follow a combination of Buddhism and Shintoism, though Christmas and weddings in chapels, stripped of their religious meaning, have taken root in Japanese society.
I have to say that religion in Japan confounds me and offers a very interesting comparison to western countries such as the United States. I wonder what percentage of people in general, and young people in particular, in both countries are believers in a religion and where the trends are going.
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
Shes definitely at the top of my hot list.
perfeckt 10:10
As the matter of fact, roll of religion in Japanese society is quite limited and becoming old fashioned. Definitely more than 90% of Japanese are actually Atheists or at least no believers in a religion. (There is a church near my house and some neighbors are true Christians.) There are ceremonies like Buddhist funeral, new year’s worship at Shinto shrine or Christmas and weddings in chapels. But those ceremonial occasions today have mostly nothing to do with religious faith anymore.
By the way, in Nagasaki of Kushu there are many Christians. Kyushu is the place where Francis Xavier started to preach in 1549. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier
Historically there was a famous rebellion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion
April 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pmI wonder if these are the remnants of the followers of Amakusa Shiro?
April 6th, 2008 at 11:54 pmI also wonder if you are equating religion with attending some church or temple every week. I don’t think that’s a good measure.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:56 pmMost Japanese will check the boxes marked Shinto and Buddhism on a survey, but what they mean is that they’ll go to the Shrine or Temple on the traditional days. Temples and Shrines are now family business, passed down from father to son (and occasionally daughter). Most Japanese do religious things only on the traditional days and only because it’s custom. Even then, it’s more a sense of custom, or perhaps superstition, that it is of religion for most. Heck, even the only matsuri with religious significance is dying or becoming simply another time to party. Customs, not religion.
It’s like calling Westerners that go to a church on Christmas, Easter, baptism, wedding and death, but never think of it other times, Christians. I’m not saying you have to attend church regularly to be a Christian, but there is a spiritual commitment that the Christmas Christians lack, and I’d argue most Japanese similarly don’t feel for Buddhism or Shintoism.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:23 amIn Buddhism there is I believe something known as the Three Jewels or Three Refuges – one of which is the Sangha..
自皈依僧，當願眾生，統理大眾，一切無礙
。
“I take refuge in the Sangha, wishing all sentient beings to lead the congregation in harmony, entirely without obstruction.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha
I interpret this in Western Christian terms as something akin to Fellowship or the Congregation.
Now a few months back, I went thru a nasty little exchange with vittel (a hard-boiled atheist)…I don’t wish to repeat the experience.
I think that these Japanese Christians are simply doing what is referred to in the link above as sharing a “common goal, vision or purpose.”
Thanks
remora
April 7th, 2008 at 5:00 amI feel glad to live in an Atheists country. Dawkins would be envious.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:08 amBrian – thank you for your interesting post.
While I was searching around looking for information about “Church Pews Japan” (of which there is a noticeable lack of in the photo) I ran across a site which has published some perplexing statistics regarding religious belief in my own country England.
http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html
Believe me,I was quite surprised to learn that there are more Jedi Knight Believers than Synagogue Attendees (who noo?)…and as for the Buddhists, well they are not even in the running
But back to the issue of Pews in Churches (Japan)
A decent Pew in a Church is an absolute necessity..in fact, it is fundamental to the whole business of Church Attendance.
In a way, it’s like going to the Movies – would you care to standup or squat on the floor for two hours? – of course not!.
Me, I like nothing better than sitting up the back in a country church on a Sunday morning, listening to the soothing drone of the local Vicar, as he plods his way thru yet another enlightening sermon..maybe having a short catnap, then a bit of a hymnal singsong, then out the door, a quick chat, and off down the lane to my favourite Alehouse for a pint and a game of Darts.
It makes you wonder what Atheists do on a Sunday Morning doesn’t it? but then that’s another issue altogether.
I will try to dig up more information about Japanese Church Pews and also the number of Jedi Knight Believers in Japan…afterall, Japan is just as statistic’s barmy as the best of ‘em..probably even more so.
Thanks
remora
April 8th, 2008 at 5:54 amMay the Force be with Pew remora..(well, what a morning!)..this Jedi Church is a remarkable phenomenon.
After going from site to site endeavouring to track down the Japanese Order of the Jedi Knight Religion it is still eluding me – but I’ll push on..I’m sure it’s out there somewhere..afterall, Japan leads the world in weird cults, they just seem to spring out of the ground like mythological Dragon Teeth…maybe that’s what the Catholic Church needs to do, in order to boost its flock in Japan, sort of rebrand/re-image itself as the the Ultimate Last Word in Hip Cults – and organise The Pope to jet in for a few days with some new flash duds designed by Gaultier or Lagerfeld…by the way who is the Archbishop of Japan? (not Orthodox).
*back later*
rem.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:11 amremora, to answer your question there is no archbishop of Japan (catholic)
but I’ve found the archbishop of Tokyo his name is Peter Takeo Okada
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dtoky.html
hope all’s well
robin (still bowing, very very low)
April 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pmthank you robben
I’m not really au fait with Catholic heirachy, but I’m assuming that a Cardinal is higher than an Archbishop so this fellow Cardinal Shirayanagi Seiichi (Peter)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Shirayanagi
http://www.catholic-pages.com/images/cardinals/shirayanagi2.jpg
..appears to be the chap who calls the shots for Japanese Catholics.
*once again Brian, thanks for an informative post, and a chance to investigate an area of Japanese Life, that I for one, normally wouldn’t given much thought to.*
Cheers
remora
April 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pmwell,I did manage to locate some reasonably comfy looking Pews for those weary footsore Ladies of Shinkamigoto…and they come with a pretty good recommendation as well!…The Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Queensland,Australia)..
http://www.paragonfurniture.com.au/export.html
now, if only someone can get a message to Cardinal Shirayanagi to see if he can do something to help.
Of course, I’ll say a few prayers for them before bedtime tonight, but I don’t really think thats going to help very much…cos I’m sort of the wrong denomination – but then you never know do you?
Goodnight
rem.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:00 pmIn the early church, almost the whole of the sabbath day was spent in church and this while standing! Pews are a relatively recent addition to the Christian experience.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:07 amgranted jukk0u it most likely was an all-day affair, but then again, it was most certainly more entertaining..why they had bear baiting,witch burning,public floggings,cock fighting…why pick any painting you like by Brueghel and you’ll see that the Sabbath was day a to look forward to – my! my! sitting down?…whatever next? – off to the stocks with you! hope you like tomatoes.
(yours in fun)
remora
April 9th, 2008 at 12:15 pm..so I was still interested in Churches and Pews and whatnot in Japan, and by accident I ran across this little chuckler about an Orthodox Church in Hakodate which dates from the 1860’s
“The residents of Hakodate affectionately call after the church Gangan-dera (Ding-dong Temple) because of the church bell’s distinctive sound.”
what a gem! – Ding-dong Temple
(just imagine a Sunday morning)
Me: Bye Arden!..back soon just off to Ding-Dong Temple..
rem
April 10th, 2008 at 7:03 amoh, and just to balance things out a bit, and in the process of informing myself, this person, as far as I can determine is the Big Cheese of the Anglicans in Japan..
http://www.aco.org/communion/primates/biog/details.cfm?ID=3400
a fairly youngish chap..American too..I wonder what his views on Gay Marriage are?..because it does help to know things – just in case.
rem.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:20 amduh! I think I might have got that wrong – he spent quite a bit of time in America.
I haven’t got a photo yet so I can’t tell – but most likely he is Japanese
help anyone?
rem.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:26 amthis person seems to be unusually camera shy,after a year in the job, nobody seems to have taken a picture of him, which for a place like camera-crazy Japan is most unusual!.
I’ve just spent an hour trawling around Anglican Communion sites,the St.Albans Tokyo site,Rice Patrol sites,read about 20-30 prayers by him..but still no mugshot
But! I did find this little item..
“IN NEWS OUT OF ASIA, a reader told VOL that he had a chat with the ultra-liberal Primate of Japan, Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, who told him that there would be no official welcome mat or invitation for V. Gene Robinson if the homosexual American bishop shows up in that country. However, he says he will meet privately with Robinson, but nothing public. Has the Japanese Primate become a swing vote and moved to neutral territory because he sees which way the wind is blowing? Don’t hold your breath, but it is interesting that liberals are not nearly as united as one is often led to believe. One can never be sure who is pushing whose buttons as we go down to the finishing line.”
..ah! maybe thats why “he will meet privately with (Bishop) Robinson but nothing PUBLIC”.
o.k he is ultra liberal but very shy…maybe like Michael Jackson and also I read a quote by him that blames Japan for the division of Korea…so he is bit on the political side as well.
I’ve got his email address so at last resort I could always get onto him an ask for a snap or two.
Afterall, I am one of his flock even if I am a fish.
remora
April 10th, 2008 at 12:24 pmand in relation to the question at the end of your post Brian, I uncovered this.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49337
so the trend appears to be upwards.
small note: I discovered that Osamu Tezuku produced a Manga called MW which featured a Gay Catholic Priest!! ? and was in discussion’s with the Vatican towards the of his life for a Manga Series.
*Boy I’m pooped after all of that!*
rem.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:56 pmThe latest surveys also show apparent decline of interests in natural science among teenagers in Japan.
Does this have some connection with the attitudes towards morality and spirituality (and religion) ?
April 10th, 2008 at 8:07 pmThanks Remora! That is an interesting article. I had been wondering if all of the Christian institutions were having any effect or not (YMCA, and many Christian schools for example); apparently they are. I love seeing all of the posts in response to the article(s).
April 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pmI dunno TU, i’m what you would call High Church Anglican, so a lot of that stuff that I piled into those comments is pretty alien to me, and as a matter of fact I was just checking out the Manga Bible site – my boss the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a rave review for it last year…but then he does a lot of weird things if you ask me.
I’ll say something now and I hope I don’t restart that awful scrum that occurred a few months ago.
*Sometimes, when you come to Japan, you have a terrible feeling that you should just leave your religous beliefs and habits of a lifetime at the door, and don’t look back…*
Brian, I really wish you well with your future posts and I’m grateful that you gave me an opportunity to dig into some things that interest me as they relate to Japan.
(Bedtime for me now)
rem.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:19 pmwell this post still seems open for comment (while all the rest of the crew are being burgerized)…where to from here captain?…easy.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:42 pmI would like to say “thank you” to the moderator and payer-of-bills of this site.
At last, I have 3 quiet corners here.. Engrish/Poetry Kanto/Christians in Japan.. where I can just drop in and participate without getting into some tedious point scoring…
Again
thank you
remora
April 11th, 2008 at 4:57 pmChristians of Japan…have faith.
“Walk away in emptiness, walk away in sorrow,
Walk away from yesterday, walk away tomorrow,
While the hand of angels,
(Sting)
*we walk in grace*
remora
April 17th, 2008 at 7:22 pm