Dr. King's Legacy For Asia

From the Japan Times

With Chinese tourists making some 83 million international trips in 2012 — up from 10 million in 2000, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization — and now often displacing Japanese as the biggest spenders from Asia, wouldn’t it be nice if they and others took home from their next trip to Washington something more than a suitcase full of souvenirs and designer goods?

For both American and Asian travelers to the U.S. capital this month, the name Martin Luther King Jr. is likely to be of particular interest as will the statue and surrounding plaza built to honor him in this city of monuments.

King is of course the iconic African-American civil rights leader who fell to an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968. The late Nobel Peace Prize laureate is back in the news this August as the United States commemorates the 50th anniversary of his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

That speech — delivered to more than 250,000 people on Aug. 28 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the landmark 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” — was a defining moment of the American civil rights movement and for King. His is a name that Asian students of world history, whether in Tokyo or Beijing, should also know.

But how about the name Lei Yixin?

Lei is the sculptor from Hunan province in China who was chosen, though not without controversy, to create the 10-meter- tall stone statue of the late civil rights leader that stands at the center of a $120 million Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, opening two years ago.

He too is back in the news as repairs, under Lei’s watchful eyes, have been made to remove one of two inscriptions from King that had been carved into the stone memorial. The now-removed inscription had appeared on the north face of the three-story statue and had been paired with a quote on the south face that reads, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

The offending inscription, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” was removed in early August, with work following to smooth out the stone where the quote once appeared. The inscription was a paraphrase of a quote from a sermon that King had delivered two months before he was assassinated in 1968, and its awkward shortening of what King had actually said was criticized for distorting the tone and meaning and making the civil right’s leader sound arrogant.

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice,” said King, at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. The complete quote continues, “Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

Imagine if a visit to the work of this once- obscure Chinese sculptor at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial were added to the itineraries of the throngs of Asian tourists — particularly from mainland China — now increasingly replacing the European and Japanese tourists of yesterday.

I found the Chinese characters for the sculptor’s name at the base of the statue of King during my own visit to the memorial.

From Thailand’s temples and shopping malls to Italy’s boutiques and ancient monuments, nations around the world are witnessing Asia’s, and particularly China’s economic rise, also in the form of tens of thousands of new visitors. Large numbers of Chinese who had once dreamed of traveling abroad now have the opportunity and money to do so, much as earlier decades saw Japanese and Korean tourists join the ranks of global travelers.

How fitting it would be if Lei’s sculpture were to help bring the late civil rights leaders’ messages of equality, social justice and empowerment to Asia and particularly to the growing number of China’s increasingly globe-trotting tourists, their fellow citizens and leaders, all in pursuit of the “Chinese dream.”

“I have a dream,” King preached from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington before a massive seated statue of President Abraham Lincoln, “that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ …

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Whether Atlanta or Beijing, or Bangkok or Yangon, King’s messages still have relevance today to everyday citizens still struggling for greater economic freedom and opportunity.

Beyond the all too many T-shirts, key chains and other items seemingly sourced from China for America’s gift shops or expensive luxury items from name-brand designer boutiques, let’s hope that King’s message of peace and empowerment is one added souvenir that is brought back by visitors to the U.S. to their own home countries everywhere.

Why Japan Has So Few Christians

The quality of missionaries or the methodologies used is not the problem when it comes evangelizing. But it is the Japanese mentality itself that is hindering more people from coming to Christ, said a mission leader last week at a global conference in Tokyo.

Japanese people value human relationships more than truth and principle, said Dr. Minoru Okuyama, director of the Missionary Training Center in Japan, during his presentation at the Tokyo 2010 Global Missions Consultations.

“Because they are afraid of disturbing human relationships of their families or neighborhood even though they know that Christianity is the best,” said Okuyama, who previously was Buddhist and a member of Soka Gakkai. “Thus, Japanese make much of human relationships more than the truth. Consequently we can say that as for Japanese, one of the most important things is harmony; in Japanese ‘Wa.’”

He added, “Those who harm the harmony are bad, whether they are right or not has been beside the question.”

Less than one percent of Japan’s population is Christian even though the religion was brought to the country over 150 years ago.

Okuyama noted that Christianity is thriving in neighboring China and Korea because the mentality of the people is to “make more of truth or principle than human relationships.”

In China, the Christian population outnumbers more than even the Communist Party. The Communist Party has about 50 million people, whereas the number of Christians is estimated to be more than double that figure.

Regarding South Korea, the Japanese mission leader called the country a “Christian” nation. South Korea is home to the world’s largest church – Yoido Full Gospel Church, which has more than 800,000 members.

“When the Chinese have been challenged to choose the truth or the human relationship, they choose the truth, sacrificing the human relationship. But Japanese would choose the human relationship, sacrificing the truth,” Okuyama said. “Utterly same as the Chinese, Koreans also choose the truth.”

He noted anthropologists have described Japan as a “human relationship oriented society,” but China and South Korea as “principle-oriented” societies.

Despite the difficulties in reaching the Japanese people, Okuyama said missionaries must not give up but continue to plant the seed. He noted the history of several people groups where, for hundreds of years, it seemed like evangelism efforts were in vain. But suddenly countless people came to Christ.

“The seed of the Gospel never falls to the ground in vain,” stated Okuyama. “Let us do our jobs!”

Two Governors Seek Christian Sites Added to UNESCO List

From Christianity Today

Two local governors are asking the Japanese central government to submit a list of Christian locations to UNESCO for World Heritage status–the first time Japan will honor Nagasaki's Christian past in this way.

And following a meeting between the Nagasaki and Kumamoto governors and culture minister Hakubun Shimomura last week, the government said it "will give due consideration to the proposal and welcomes more World Heritage sites in Japan."

The sites recommended for consideration all are located in the Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures on the western island of Kyushu. According to the Japan Times, 12 of the sites are in Nagasaki, including "the Oura Cathedral, a national treasure, in the city of Nagasaki, and the former site of Hara Castle in Minamishimabara. The site was a battlefield during the Shimabara Rebellion about 370 years ago."

Christianity entered Japan through Nagasaki, though "early Christians were eventually forced to go underground for about 250 years after the Tokugawa shogunate imposed a ban on Christian missions to Japan."

Nagoya Diocese Files Protest Against Police

The Nagoya diocese has filed a protest against the arrest of a Brazilian man on the grounds of a Catholic church in a letter that calls the action “an infringement of the basic human right to freedom of religion.”
According to the complaint, during Mass on August 11, six or seven officers from the Tsurumae Police Station of the Aichi prefectural police entered the grounds of the a Catholic Church in Nagoya without notice or warrant and arrested the layman for not carrying identification.
The police wanted to investigate the man on suspicion of illegally overstaying in Japan. The pastor of the church wishing not to be named, protested that since they did not have a warrant to conduct an investigation on the church property or an arrest warrant for the individual, they had no right to enter the parish grounds.
Witnesses to the event included many Brazilians, Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese who reported that the investigators were overbearing in their speech and actions.  Police threw the man to the floor and one placed his foot on his back as others held him down and cuffed him.  The man complied with all instructions and witnesses say the police had no need to treat the man in such a manner.
On August 15, Fr. Shigo Kawakami, Chancellor of the Nagoya Diocese and a lawyer visited the Tsurumae Police station to deliver a letter from Bishop Junichi Nomura expressing his concern over the event.
The letter makes two points, that conducting an investigation and making an arrest on church grounds infringes the fundamental human right to freedom of religion, and that doing so without a warrant violates proper legal procedures and thereby poses a threat to society.
The diocesan complaint demanded an apology for the event as well as a guarantee that police will not enter Church sites illegally to conduct investigations. The bishop also asked that police refrain from directing investigative activities involving immigration toward those visiting churches or near church grounds.
Fr. Kawakami said he expected a written response to the letter, but the police responded that after considering the matter they would decide whether to give a written or verbal response.
The priest said that he got the impression that the police do not think entering Church sites without warrants is illegal.
At a August 17 meeting of the bishops’ conference standing committee, Bishop Nomura reported the incident and said that he is waiting for a response from the police.
Since the Church in Japan has many foreign members, the incident will be on the agenda of the Japan bishops’ plenary assembly that starts on September 9.

Bishops Oppose Article 9 Revision

The Catholic bishops of Japan have stated their opposition to proposals to alter Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which renounces warfare and forbids the development of a war-fighting military force.

Archbishop Peter Takeo Okada of Tokyo said that the Japanese constitution, drafted after World War II, is “a world treasure of which Japan is proud.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has proposed amending the document, beginning with the article that controls the amendment process itself.

Japan's Future In Question

Taro Aso, Japan’s finance minister (and a former Prime Minister), has only been on the job for about a year but he’s already stirred up enough controversy to last a lifetime.

In January, he made headlines around the world when he told a panel on social security reforms that the elderly should be permitted to "hurry up and die."  That is the kind of comment that both causes great offense and hits too close to home.

It hits too close to home because much of Japan’s ever-more-dire fiscal problems can be traced to the country’s demographics. But the problem lies at the beginning of life, not the end.

To put Aso’s comments in context, there are several things you need to know about Japanese demographics and its economic impact. First of all, nearly a quarter of Japan’s population is over 65. That percentage is projected to rise to nearly 40 percent by 2050.

Also, 40 percent of Japanese households today receive cash payments, virtually all of which go to those over the age of 65. And “households” increasingly consist of single elderly persons living and, increasingly, dying alone: nearly 10 percent of Japanese households today – 4.6 million in total – fit this description.

The cost of caring for its elderly is a large part of why Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio is an astounding 229 percent, nearly 2½ times that of the United States.

As the economist Hebert Stein famously said, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop,” and Japan’s borrowing money to care for a rapidly aging population cannot go on forever.

The question is: How will it stop? Calling elderly patients unable to feed themselves “tube people” and saying that “the problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die” is not only offensive and cruel, it misses an important point: Japan is getting older because the Japanese have stopped having children.

The “worker-to-retiree ratio” measures how many people are in the workforce, stimulating the economy and paying taxes for every retired person. For the United States, a relatively young country with lots of immigrants, the ratio is about 4.5 to 1. Japan’s is 2.6 to 1 and it’s projected to be 1.2 to 1 by 2050.

There are two ways you can increase the ratio: Have more kids and/or admit more immigrants. Japan, which values homogeneity, won’t do the latter and are not doing the former: The average Japanese woman gives birth to one child at around 30, and stops.

Japan’s fiscal-demographic trap is not the result of some law of nature — it’s the product of culture. For a host of reasons, the Japanese placed having and rearing children near the bottom of their “to do” list.

Japan is only leading the way in this regard. Nineteen countries, including Germany and South Korea, have lower fertility rates than Japan. Singapore’s rate is 40 percent lower than Japan’s.

Here in the USA, our worker-to-retiree ratio is projected to be the same in 2050 as Japan’s is today.

The economic consequences of declining fertility rates are no secret. Yet, telling people they should have more children these days is only slightly less popular than urging the elderly to “hurry up and die.”

New Generation Grows Japan's Chruches

Whether they're in church or standing on a street corner, the members of Grace Tokyo Church loudly sing their songs of praise.

The congregation's young people are part of a new youth movement that many Japanese Christians hope will revive Japan's churches.

Philippines native Glen Nabarrete, who serves as the head pastor at Grace Tokyo, was born and raised in Hawaii. He and his family answered God's call to Japan in 1992.
          
A Dying Church?          
The church in Japan is getting smaller every day. The average Japanese church has 30 people and many have less than 10 members.
           
Church historian Masakazu Suzuki says traditional churches are dying out.

"After the war, a lot of American GI's who came to Japan are Christians and later came back to Japan as missionaries. So, after the war, the Japanese churches grew a lot," Suzuki told CBN News. 

"Now after 50, 60 years, a lot of pastors are getting older, facing retirement," he said.  "Also many members are getting older too."

Like most Christians, Suzuki believes God is using the recent disasters to open the hearts of the Japanese people.

"In Christian evacuation centers, some of the aged people, five or six died. Six to seven old people died. But through their love and unity, some family members who visit them become Christian. More than 15 of them got baptized last month," Suzuki said.

Spiritual Awakening
                                
There have been more than 1,200 aftershocks since the March 11 earthquake and there could be more, but Christians here are praying for another kind of aftershock and that is the spiritual awakening of the Japanese people.

Businessman Yuto Matsumoto saw how the power of God restored his marriage after a divorce.
         
"I worked too hard, not too much attention for my family," Matsumoto said.
          
His Christian daughter visited him in New York where he moved, and took him to watch the film "Passion of the Christ" on Easter.

Later, back in Japan, she brought him to the church their family has been attending since converting to Christianity.

"During the preaching, I couldn't stop crying. I don't know why," Matsumoto recalled. "Right after the service, I went to Pastor Scott and asked him how I can become a Christian. That was April 2004. I accepted Jesus as Lord. It was the beginning of my new life."

Two years ago, Matsumoto re-married Takako, his ex-wife. Today, they have a harmonious relationship with Christ at the center of their marriage.

He also shares his faith with his colleagues at work.

"It's very tough especially for the businessman because Japanese businessmen were taught to believe in his power, or on himself," he said.

Nevertheless, Matsumoto invites his co-worker to visit grace Tokyo church where he serves as an interpreter.

The Joy of God

Pastor Nabarrete and his family answered God's call to Japan in 1992.

"I believe in this church," Nabarrete said about Grace Tokyo.

"One of the things we have that a lot of Japanese churches don't have is a lot of joy and a lot of laughter," he told CBN News. "I think that's one quality that God wants to bring to this nation.  There is the reality of joy in serving God."

"And we also cater to young people," he added. "We let the young people step up, do preaching. Young people love it they want to participate for the growth of the church."

The youth go out of their way to spread God's love, singing gospel songs on the street, even when reprimanded by the police.

"The idea is just praise and worship on the street and let God move and touch people's lives. Someone stands near; we talk to them and invite them to church," Grace Tokyo youth leader Gerwin Echegoyen said.

"When I first moved in 1992, church growth was very small," Nabarrete said. "Our church at Yokohama Grace Bible Church was about 30 people in 10 years. So for us Tokyo Bible, two years with 60 people is phenomenal. God has been gracious to us here."

The young Christians hope that through their involvement, Japan's older churches can be made young again -- and other dying churches can be reborn.