After another memorable trip to Japan (and to Korea this time), I am back to Vancouver. Taking a distance from both nations helps me to think more clearly on a couple of issues, especially on such a memorable day like today: 66th anniversary of the end of the World War II. Germany has been a country that I have been watching with much interest since 1989 when the Berlin Wall finally came down. Korea was divided between north and south on the very same day when Germany was divided between east and west at the end of WW II. I still wonder sometimes why they divided Korea, not Japan (but instead bombed Japan), when they divided Germany.... As a Korean I have seen the historical moment of the Wall falling and subsequent changes in Germany with a degree of envy. This year, it was Germany again that caught my attention after the tsunami and nuclear disaster happened in Fukushima because of people's changed attitude towards the nuclear energy issue in and outside Germany.
Fukushima is now further left behind with no clear direction for recovery after the nuclear disaster while the other two Prefectures, Miyagi and Iwate, which were hit by the earthquake and tsunami much worse, are now recovering faster. Because of the nuclear crisis, the challenge of recovery is much greater in Fukushima and most Japanese understand that this Fukushima crisis is not only for Fukushima, but for the whole nation. (I think it affects the whole world.)
Rebuilding the Nation after a Crisis.
That is one thing Japan is known to be an expert at for they have demonstrated their economic growth after the WW II. The spirit of nation-building in Japan is something to understand carefully as I am discovering this multi-layered complex political and spiritual matter in Japan. Many intellectuals and media from all corners of Japan are now asking one same question: How shall Japan recover the humanity and rebuild the post-disaster Japan? Should the nation go back to traditional values to overcome the cultural failure of greedy capitalism and materialism?
Koza Community Church in Yamato began by some young intellectuals in 1946 with hopes to rebuild the nation with a Christian vision. In their view, the Bible had a secret power for nation-building as they saw how the USA defeated their nation of ‘the rising sun’ at the end of WW II. (see my blog piece on April 17). That ideology of “(re)building a powerful nation by economic and military power through science and technology” has been a strong drive for modern Japanese, so adding a foreign god of ‘the American secret power to that national drive might have seemed like a magical solution. As the nation grew more prosperous with no apparent growth of Christian population, having faith in Christianity became more obsolete and less meaningful for the life “here and now.” Japan is the only country in Asia that does not fit in the argument of “Christianity = Modernization = Prosperity,” so-called Prosperity Gospel. I will write about this ‘prosperity and gospel’ issue another day.
I felt the need to go back to a turning point in Japanese modern history to understand that desire for recovery and zeal for ‘back to the tradition.’ So I went to Yasukuni Shrine, the controversial face of Japanese modern spirituality for the past 150 years. I accidentally learned about Yasukuni in my first trip to Fukushima and had never even heard before (that should tell you how ignorant I was, the post-war generation in Korea). Yasukuni Shrine became a national shrine after the WW II. Before the WW II, there was a more important shrine dedicated to the emperor; a shrine that had been designated to worship a living king, not deceased military personnel. The political significance of Yasukuni Shrine needs careful reinterpretation through the lens of spirituality as I heard from Rev. Sumiyoshi in Nakoso.
Yasukuni Shrine is located in the central part of Tokyo and it faces a well known university in Japan: Tokyo University of Science and Technology. Is it a coincidence?Understanding the Japanese modern culture from the existence of a national shrine to the pursuit of nuclear power and economic advancement does not fit in a linear framework of mind. Largely because the oriental culture is fundamentally a pluralist one: To put it simply, we are comfortable with realities of life and feel no conflict with compartmentalized life: Confucius values fit perfectly with the socio-political agenda. Buddhism on one end(there is no god who saves you and life is full of suffering. You can never overcome all the pain in life, so you need to get out of the wheel of fortune) and Shintoism on the other end (there are 8 million gods who fight and create troubles in human life if they are not appeased properly. All you can do is to fear them and avoid anything to make them angry) of the spiritual realm allow multiple choices of religious practices. In this kind of traditional context, secularism was a source of hope as it sanitizes all spiritual junks and creates a space for humanity to strive for ‘our’ own autonomy and control. In this cultural soil, the gospel was planted in Yamato through the work of Koza community church. This local church has been offering education to children in community for the future of the nation as they beleive the local church should not be “a waiting room for heaven” (listen to the interview by Rev. Matsumoto below).
Fukushima opened up a challenge for this church as well as an opportunity to serve with practical means (financially and sending people over to help). That is how to be a church that gives meaning for living to persons and to communities both for present and for future wherever it is located. This local church in Yamato, again, seeks to understand the connection between serving a local community and building nation and how the times of disasters like this could turn to be a God-given opportunity for mutual growth both by those who receive help and offer help. Rev. Matsumoto, the fourth Pastor of the sixty-five year old church understands this call to nation-(re)building well as he pointed to one important destiny of a local church: It must continue to be a learning community while serving others and seeking the Shalom for those around them including those who persecute them. I met with Rev. Matsumoto in Yamato before going to Fukushima to learn about the church's efforts in partnering with churches in Fukushima.
Church as Servant for the Community
(After the disaster,) we thought what we could do as church. First thing we needed to do was to pray together specially [for the situation]. Second thing was to establish a task force team under the leadership of an elder. This team’s main task would include searching how best the church could utilize donation from the church members. Yanagisawa-san, a staff member of FVI (Friends with the Voiceless International) introduced a few churches which were affected by the disaster in Fukushima. Then a couple weeks later Shibata-san, a staff member of our church, and I decided to visit a church and its disaster-stricken neighborhood in Iwaki City, so we could understand the real situation [to take an appropriate action].
Church as a Learning Community
We learned a few of things through this opportunity. We thought that we as church were first called to serve this Yamato city area. Tohoku region is quite far from us. Koza church is quite a big church among Japanese churches and we have focused on evangelizing in this area. However, we have learned this time that having more members at church is not its ultimate goal. I often use a statement, “A church is not a waiting room for heaven.” God has given a church a mission. Through the disaster this time, we have been challenged by God-led encounters that the mission from God for us is not just for Yamato city and its surrounding areas, but it can be expanded to far broader areas.
Every Sunday we share our worship facilities with two congregations: Portuguese-speaking and Spanish-speaking Japanese immigrants. They have dedicated for volunteer visits so diligently since the disaster happened. Initially I explained to our church members that our congregation needs to operate systematically, even our activities during weekdays [instead of starting ad-hoc volunteer work]. Later I have realized that it was my excuse that everybody had busy schedule [and adding one more activity to their busy schedule would not be a good idea]. The issue boiled down to this: What priority do we give in organizing our schedule for meeting others’ needs? From the immigrant congregations, we have learned the true meaning of serving others. Our church had already made in our annual plan that we would invite FVI to come and give us a seminar on building a habit of loving our neighbors. It was scheduled for this year [even before knowing the disasters]. Through this seminar, we were reminded of the simple truth that loving others is like sowing mustard seeds that will not go in vain.
Daily Choice as a Path to Transformation
This is one story I heard about a person who was chosen to be a model for Leonardo Da Vinci. This man was first chosen to be a model as Jesus because of his good appearance. Then two years later this same person was chosen by Da Vinci again as he was looking for a model as Judas Iscariot, an embodiment of evil in human appearance. [In two years, this model had changed form the best human appearance to the worst human appearance.]
This teaches us that we are changed by the choice we make each day. This story is also related to Jesus’ transfiguration celebrated on Aug. 6 in the Church calendar, and this date coincides with the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. History reveals all events which happened according to our choices [in each moment]. Therefore, we need to seek God’s will for our daily choice on how to use time or money; all are given by God. I strongly sense that this choice [making] is deeply connected with how we might rebuild our society that is so struck by this disaster and with peace-building in the world.
The source of Hope for (re)Buildnig a Nation.
The hope of nation building is not about bricks and mortar. It comes from a common story people choose to remember together. Japanese understand this very well because Yasukuni Shrine is one such story and has power to hold people together. Today, I think of Germany again for a different reason. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (aka the Holocaust Memorial), which began as a dream of a German Journalist in 1989, the year when the Berlin Wall came down, was inaugurated sixty years after the end of the World War II. Remembering a story as offenders is a whole new story. There are many similarities between Japan and Germany, but one difference is this: Japan has Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, and Germany has the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. This also makes me think of my own nation, Korea, the divided one.
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