MEDIA ADVISORY,March 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- In Rediscovering Japan, Reintroducing Christendom Japan's unvoiced Christian history and cultural roots are examined from an alternative perspective. It is commonly believed that Christianity was introduced to Japan by the Spanish and Portuguese missionaries during the 1500s; however, Samuel Lee draws on various forms of cultural, religious and linguistic evidence to argue that Christianity was introduced to Japan through the Lost Tribes of Israel, who were converted to Christianity through the missionary efforts of the Assyrian Church of the East around A.D. 500.
Much of the evidence he discusses has become submerged into many Japanese folkloric songs, festivals and is to be found in temples. There are, for example, approximately 300 words in Japanese and Hebrew/Aramaic that are similar.
Further, Dr. Lee outlines the history of Catholicism in Japan during the 1500s, the systematic persecution of Christians from 1600s to the 1800s, and the rise of the Protestant Church in Japan. The historical portion of the book ends with an analysis and discussion of 21st century Japanese society.
Lastly, in Rediscovering Japan, Reintroducing Christendom, Samuel Lee questions the missiological methods of Western Christianity and advocates an approach based in dialogue between Christianity and other cultures.
Dr. Samuel Lee has Masters Degree in Development Sociology and Cultural Anthropology (University of Leiden), PhD in Sociology and Habilitation in Cultural Sociology of Religion specialized in Japan (University of Herisau). He is the founder & president of Foundation University the Netherlands. He is member of various Christian and Scientific associations such as: Association of Christian Sociologist, Japan Sociological Society (University of Tokyo), Japan Evangelical Mission Association (JEMA) and many other institutions.
Samuel Lee is married with Sarah Lee and they have three children.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Samuel Lee is a sociologist specializing in Japanese society and culture. He is president of Foundation University in the Netherlands and a member of the Christian Sociological Society and Japan Sociological Society of the University of Tokyo.
4.Japanese government's latest steps to promote "Cool Japan" @barryintokyo) http://bit.ly/a9NWg8
5.Akihabara Maid Cafes with TokyoCooney (2/3) (Video) (@markmatsusaka) http://bit.ly/8K1t1Y
6.First "continued to the Twitter" TV Ad in Japan. Watch the ad, which then suddenly ends and says "hear the rest on the internet" (@btraxinc) http://ow.ly/1AvIP
7.Warming to Ryukyu culture--Togyu bullfighting (@moooobar) http://bit.ly/cFTOzw
8.Travel: Okhotsk Limited Express Train Hokkaido: The train runs between Sapporo and Abashiri (@JapanVisitor) http://bit.ly/cx4DUd
10.McDonald' s Japan Trains Staff With Nintendo DS (video) (@GaijinPot @japansoc) http://bit.ly/ciQlmO RS
WORLD BOVINE NEWS
Cattle-based fuel runs Oklahoma trains (@moooobar) http://ow.ly/1B0tW
BEHIND THE SCENES
Golden Week, a week of continuous one-day holidays, is starting tomorrow, so people in Japan are preparing travel itineraries and how to spend their holidays. We expect to be quite busy on the island with lots of people scheduled to come out for the Moooo! Bar opening.
There are also two festivals on in the area, the Hashirimikoshi festival on neighboring Manabe Island and the Kobo Daishi Spring Festival on Shiraishi. You can find out more about these festivals here:
I was told that there will be a great party to be held in my home state of Illinois. Everyone knows I have some regrets in my life. I believe the biggest one is that I never had an opportunity to attend CAJ while I was growing up, and never attended a CAJ reunion. However, I have always supported CAJ and its mission. Matter of fact, I was trying to raise some money for CAJ by selling Obama’s senate seat a while back, but you know, the government put a stop to that.
So, don’t be like me. You now have the opportunity to attend one of the best events in your life. Make that commitment and come to my beautiful city of Chicago. I promise you won’t regret it.
Do you know who is Janet James Sasaki? She is our own Julia Fleenor Shozen's (CAJ class of 1970) pen name. After working long and hard for many years, Julia (or Janet) published her first book named Expatriate Heart, yes, it’s about Japan. The book was recently reviewed by ForeWord Clarion Review and received 4 out of a possible 5 stars rating (see below).
Review
Four Stars (out of Five)
Compassionate, meditative, and often achingly beautiful, Expatriate Heart is the thoughtful exploration of an American woman's coming-of-age in Japan. Janet James Sasaki considers every aspect of her main character's surroundings, from the traditional way of folding paper to the pattern in the stone wall by the family's house. The result is a heady atmosphere, in which each detail is accounted for. The reader becomes totally immersed in post-war Japanese culture, learning the day-to-day rituals of Tokyo as it revives into a booming metropolis.
Expatriate Heart follows Alice from her early childhood into maturity. The elder daughter of Christian missionaries, she is between two worlds, and acts as a witness to the many changes in her family, her neighborhood, and Japan. Interestingly, her Christianity is discussed as little as Tokyo's destruction. Instead, it is a backdrop for the main action of the story and is never directly addressed. The roundabout way in which the story is told--the landscape beautifully described, but the dialogue and action withheld--makes Alice seem opaque. Throughout the story, she seems to be a passive observer, rather than the hero in her own life.
Sasaki's writing is strongest when she spins out the fine details in a scene. When Alice is invited to a neighbor lady's house, she is aware of the luxury of the stranger's house. "The daughter brought in a tray with three tall, cool glasses of the newly popular Japanese summer drink called Calpis, a syrup concentrate made from fermented milk and fruit extracts sold in attractively polka-dotted, paper wrapped bottles." Each piece of the landscape receives equal attention, and Sasaki gently evokes a world that has faded into the past. The equanimity of this writing style sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish the story's focus--is it really about Alice? Or is Japan the true main character? Sasaki tends to show Alice's surroundings in great detail, while "telling" what happens between the characters. Even very important events, like an argument between Alice and her mother, seems flat--the dialogue does not have the clarity of the bottles that line the window sash. But overall, Expatriate Heart is a delight to read, if only for the scenery.
Like a glimpse into the past, Expatriate Heart is a tender recollection of an American life in Japan. It shares the post-war years with a freshness that is exciting to read, and a precision not often found in contemporary literature. In Expatriate Heart, landscape is everything--and it is a pleasure to wander there, learning the names of the flowers, the traditions of the people, and the blossoming maturity of a young woman in a foreign country.
Claire Rudy Foster --Foreward Clarion Review
Product Description
A novel with a unique multicultural human voice. The theme of Expatriate Heart resonates with the hearts of people around the world. The struggle of the individual seeking authenticity while living in human society. Expatriate Heart begins as a child is born abroad in Tokyo after the war and begins her identity as an Expatriate American. The moving and surprising story beautifully unfolds while taking the reader between the geographical and social contexts of Japan and America. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.
Japan's population has entered full-scale decline and shrank by a record 183,000 people over the past year, government data showed Friday.
As of Oct. 1, the population stood at an estimated 127,510,000 after shrinking by a record 0.14 percent, contracting for the second year in a row.
The year-on-year drop is the third to strike Japan since 1950, when comparable data first became available, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in the report. The other two shrinkages occurred in 2005, when it fell by 19,000, or 0.01 percent, and in 2008, when it contracted by 79,000, or 0.06 percent.
The ministry said its estimate was based on the results of the 2005 national census, annual data on births and deaths, and immigration data on entries and departures.
The female population stood at 65,380,000, down 61,000, or 0.09 percent, as deaths outnumbered births by 5,000, marking the first natural decline.
The male population stood at 62,130,000, down 121,000, or 0.20 percent, for the fifth consecutive annual decline as deaths exceeded births by 54,000.
Japan's population has entered a stage of full-scale decline as both men and women recorded natural decreases, ministry officials said.
The figures in the latest report included foreigners who stayed in Japan for 91 days or more and foreign students. The number of Japanese came to 125,820,000, revealing a decline of 127,000, or 0.10 percent.
The number of people who entered Japan totaled 3,114,000, up 250,000 from the previous year, while those who left the country stood at 3,237,000, up 329,000, meaning that social factors caused the total population to shrink by 124,000.
Of the 124,000, foreigners accounted for 47,000, marking the first decline in 15 years linked to social factors.
The officials attributed the decline in the foreign population to the recession triggered by the collapse of trading house Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008.
Many foreigners lost their jobs and returned to their home countries as the financial crisis unfolded, the officials said.
The number of people aged 65 and older came to 29,005,000, up by 789,000 and accounting for 22.7 percent of the population.
In contrast, those aged 14 or younger fell by 165,000 to 17,011,000. The productive segment of the population, or those between the ages of 15 and 64, came to an estimated total of 81,493,000, shrinking by 806,000.
Beginning with the Spring Issue, the CAJ Alumni News will be delivered digitally. Go to the CAJ website and click on the Alumni tab to update your contact information.
On March 27, YouTube enthusiasts and video bloggers living in Tokyo and beyond gathered in Yoyogi Park for a cherry-blossom viewing. Although taking in the pink blossoms and indulging alcohol and snacks is an age-old tradition, digital cameras, laptops and live streaming were also an important part of this annual YouTubers' hanami. With many attendees having already met at previous offline get-togethers, it was obviously a tightly knit community, and one that spans many nationalities.
The Japan Times dropped by Yoyogi Park to chat with some of the vloggers we'd seen online and luckily celebs from the scene, such as such as tokyocooney, hikosaemon, and tolokyo, were there and happy to talk to us.
Here's a quick intro to a few of the local vloggers. Watch this space for more in-depth profiles.
To submit items for posting, to comment or to add a link please email: nirusenk@gmail.com
WEATHER IN KURUME
One Way Out
Higashi Kurume Station..the way to Ikebukuro and the cheap movies and Haneda airport
Ed “Mr Lucky” Martin
GALATIANS 2: 20, 21
VISIT SAN DIEGO
SPECIAL BOOK~ORDER NOW!
Norman Grubb gave this series of addresses in 1954 at the Evangelical Missionary Association of Japan and Deeper Life Conference in Karuizawa, Japan. In these eight days of love and fellowship he pours out his own 'missionary heart' to them as only one who has "walked their walk" can do!
and Communications Ministry said in the report. The other two shrinkages occurred in 2005, when it fell by 19,000, or 0.01 percent, and in 2008, when it contracted by 79,000, or 0.06 percent.
