After three long travel days that included being in Colombia, the United States, the Philippines, and finally Japan, we arrived in Osaka to be greeted by our awesome ministry contact, Jef. He is from New Zeeland and has exactly the kind of accent you would imagine. Our time in Japan began with a brief orientation at a retreat center tucked neatly away in a forest overlooking the city. At the conclusion of the two day retreat that consisted of the squad learning about all of the different rules that Japanese culture maintains, we were dropped off at our host families. The majority of the squad is living in pairs in homestays. I am living with Tina, Courtney and Whitney are together, Jessica and Linda, and finally Lizzie from our team and Lauren from team Kairos are together. It has been a treat to live in homes with families and have amazing meals cooked for us.
Tina and I live near a marina with the Yoshida family. The father works in Tokyo as a director for a tutoring company. In Japan, the school system is extremely competitive even going into middle school. They keep their tutoring schools a secret because they want to have a competitive edge over other children. Suffice it to say, our host dad chose a great profession because it is in high demand. We have two host sisters, Saki who is 5 and Yuki who is 4. They are adorable. Also, forgot to mention that our host mom knows almost no English and we know about 10 Japanese words. It’s been an interesting blend of charades, pointing, and using a translator app on her phone. Ha.
Something that we have learned in our time here is that Ashiya, the city we are living in, is known to be the Beverly Hills of Japan. Yes, you read that right. The families are quite wealthy which is helpful because Japan can be expensive. Logically, this leads to the question of why are we here? This is not a third world country that needs our help building shelter or breaking up dirt, in fact, their society runs more like a machine than America does. I’ve learned that it is a different kind of poverty. America shares the same desperate need for a reason to be dependent on God. We are so comfortable in our cushy lifestyles that our poverty is a lack of a reason to be dependent. Our host home has a massage chair and large TV for crying out loud. If left to our own devices, we could reasonably get by thinking we could survive on our own strength. To me, that is a much more difficult sort of poverty to break. When we find ourselves at rock bottom, we turn to God because there is nowhere else to look but when we are surrounded by comfort we reach those desperate places much less frequently. The people of Japan need Jesus just as badly, if not more so, than the poorest of the poor. It’s been scary to see. While this appears to be an anomaly for the World Race, it is but the need is just as great.
This leads me to what our ministry for the month looks like. First of all, our homestays are a ministry themselves. We are doing life with this group of people and have been told that it is a big deal for the Japanese to open the homes to us. Typically, they never allow anyone but family into their homes. In a way, this makes sense because it is the only place where they can let their guard down. It is the only space in their lives where they do not need to hide their imperfections. Their homes are generally fairly messy because when they are in the well-kept, very refined public eye, they need to be extremely put together. We are in their homes to shed the light of Jesus and help them gain freedom from these expectations.
Another ministry is working at the family center. We have been helping in the pre-school (which is modeled after a Montessori school), with English Café, with crafts, cooking, a Bible study, and a host of other things. All of us between Team Kairos and Team Boxcar have felt that the most fulfilling part of our ministry aside from our homestays is the Bible study. We have been able to offer a lot of encouragement to the moms who attend. For example, I shared about my decision to go against societal expectations of going to graduate school by attending the World Race. Two moms related to my story. One even explained that she had wanted to be a Japanese teacher originally but went with the pressure and became a pharmacist. It’s been amazing because I feel like my story and struggles align with what this group of people deals with as well. A mom even came to Christ during the Bible study this past week. Wow.
I plan to write more about our experience in Japan but before I conclude this post, I wanted to share with you some of the observations I’ve made about the culture here…I’ll call them Japanesisms and they appear in no particular order:
1) They believe in heated toilet seats, even in convenience stores.
2) The vending machines are designed so that there are cold and hot drinks. Blue signifies cold and red signifies warm so if you would rather have a hot coffee drink you can gi for that. I’m not kidding, the cans come out and are almost too hot to hold with bare hands.
3) The transportation is like clockwork. If a bus says it will arrive at 8:24 it will arrive no earlier and no later. So efficient.
4) This is an extremely timely culture. They like to know the schedule and what time you will be home. It is very disrespectful to cancel a family obligation because they are planned so far in advance.
5) Cleanliness is a top priority so showering daily and personal hygiene are taken very seriously. Curiously, that is not the case with teeth. Orthodontia is not common.
6) Inviting non-family guests into their homes is like giving outsiders a glimpse of their imperfections which is why house parties and visits with friends at home do not happen.
7) When an individual is sick, they wear a mask, like any healthcare professional would wear at work, in public for the common good to not spread whatever is ailing them.
8) Color in clothing, building materials, cars, you name it, is rare. Everything is mostly muted tones. It can get a bit depressing but the fall leaves defy that characteristic.
9) Smiles are rare here. Everyone is extremely serious and I’ve had probably less than a 50% success rate in receiving a smile back from a stranger when passing them on my bike will riding on the sidewalk.
10) There is a curious juxtaposition between valuing family above almost everything and the family unit. What I mean is that family comes first but many of the men work in cities away from their family for the majority of the week. We have only seen our host dad on Sundays.
11) Like America, most people spend time with their heads down look at the screens of iPhones, TVs, or other hand-held devices. It’s been fascinating to watch while on public transportation and simultaneously sad.
12) Tea time happens on a daily basis before going to bed at night. I love green tea.
13) Speaking of green tea, it is everywhere. I had a green tea kit-kat. It was phenomenal, thanks for asking.
14) The Japanese are not a straightforward group of people when it comes to communication. Should they ask you a question about an upcoming activity such as “Would you like to go fishing?” what they are really saying is I would very much like you to be there. Questions are strong requests in disguise.
15) Before beginning a meal, they place their palms together and say “itadakimasu” which means bon appetite. In a hilarious misunderstanding, Tina and I thought our host mom was asking us to pray so I launched into a blessing of the meal. The following day she very firmly and clearly said “itadakimasu” before starting to eat. Ha, lesson learned.
16) Onsen, which means hot spring, is a popular bathing method in Japan. Our entire squad got the opportunity to experience this phenomenon while at the retreat center. Essentially what it entails is going into a room that contains a piping hot bath (picture a hot tub) and a line of shower heads. Everyone washes themselves and does all of the shampooing/conditioning they desire and then takes their turn in the hot bath. Nothing like stripping down with all of the women of the squad to help encourage more bonding. As crazy as it sounds, it was a fun experience.
17) In addition to onsens for the entire body, there are also onsens meant exclusively for feet. There is one located off the sidewalk near where Tina and I live. During the open hours, it is not uncommon to see 15 to 20 people soaking their feet in the scorching water after a long day of work.
18) Perfectionism is high in Japan. They try to make everything as efficient as possible which creates the feeling of being part of a machine. It can be an issue.
19) Their garbage is extremely organized. Each home has at least two different receptacles for plastics and paper. Within that, they do not believe in having public trash cans. It is very difficult to find one if you have something to discard while walking around. Our homestay does not even have them in the bathrooms. In spite of this, everything is so clean.
20) Slippers are prevalent in Japan. What I mean by that is shoes are not allowed inside houses. An instruction we were given is if we encounter a platform, that signifies our shoes need to be removed and we need to wear slippers. There are slippers for wandering around the house and separate slippers for the bathrooms.
21) We have had salad for breakfast almost every day. We’ve also had soup and primarily used chop-sticks. Breakfast food is a loose term because much of what we have eaten in the morning would be considered more appropriate for lunch in the States.
22) Since Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Japan, obviously, they have already set up their Christmas lights. We even had the chance to help decorate our family’s tree which filled my Christmas love tank a little bit.
23) Their doors and drawers are designed to not slam so when they get close to shutting there is a mechanism that slows the motion down to make the closing quieter.
24) Driving on the left side of the road in the right side of the car is alive and well in Japan.
25) They are extremely efficient in parking their cars. Each one is backed into a spot to make the quickest exit. Parking lots are a funny site to behold.
26) This should not come as a surprise but r’s and l’s get switched when the people of Japan try to speak in English. There was a sign in a church that one of squad members went to that said Garatians rather than Galatians. Tehe.
27) As I mentioned, tutor agencies are a big deal in Japan because they are the ticket to getting into the best schools. Academics are taken very seriously at what seems to be an absurdly early age. Can you imagine having to apply to get into an elementary or middle school?
28) Japan knows how to do sushi. Our family took us to a restaurant that had sushi go by on a conveyor belt. The object is to pick up the plates that look good to you. Additionally, if you want something that hasn’t circled around recently, you can order it from a screen. Way to be Japan, way to be.
29) All packaging is designed to be opened with as little exertion as possible. Sandwiches, rice balls, and other food products are so easy to access with packaging that requires one pull to open. Amazing.
That about wraps it up for now. I’ll keep you posted if I see any other crazy things. My goal has been to have green tea every day and I’ve been quite successful thus far. Yay.
Lastly, I want to share with you my words for this month: Influence, Rest, and Be Still. My main focus will be influence. I had a conversation with one of our coaches who made an awesome observation: men were given power while women were given influence. Did anyone else think of the scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when the mom says something along the lines that the man may be the head of the family but the woman is the neck who can turn the head any way she wants? Funny. Deon also encouraged me to think about what my influence looks like. Is it being a safe place, joy, hospitality? What is it? I’m excited to get a better sense of my answer. Also, with all of the crazy logistical things I have felt the Lord prompting me to Rest and Be Still in Him.
