Life In Japan: Christmas Season . . . Osaka

I read the other day that to serve some twisted notion of “inclusivity” and political correctness, a country in Europe has officially discouraged calling the Christmas holidays ‘Christmas holidays’, instead recommending ‘Winter celebration’ or some variation on that.

How odd! I won’t even get into the absurdity of this example of the culture war mentality or the arbitrary havoc wrought by cancel culture. It’s odd to compare this mentality with what is commonplace here in the East.

Christmas display in Beijing.

As I’ve written about before, my experience living and traveling Asia, has been that Christmas is celebrated with sheer enthusiasm and unabashed fervor in places like Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, China, even Cambodia.

Santa arrives in Cambodia!

None of these are close to being Christian countries. They are basically Buddhist. And China, Vietnam, and Cambodia are COMMUNIST COUNTRIES. Yet, their godless populations openly embrace the Christmas festivities, seeing nothing contradictory or offensive.

Christmas in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Granted, these celebrations are basically secular, sans mawkish religiosity. Hey! What’s new? Christmas is in America and much of the West just an orgy of spending on gifts, excessive amounts of food and libations, and piling on glittery decorations. Santa is not a religious icon, and I don’t remember seeing Mary and Joseph, votive candles, and frankincence at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, which officially kicks off the Christmas season. Visa and Mastercard each had a float.

Japan does Christmas in style. This year we went to Osaka and two floors of the huge Hankyu Department Store were Christmas themed. There was every holiday gift item from all over the world there. 

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Life In Japan: Christmas Season . . . Osaka, Japan | John Rachel

Life In Japan: Time Machine

I’ve lived in Japan, coming and going, for sixteen years, and I’ve discovered that every major city in this country has a unique personality. This really should come as no surprise. Would anyone in the U.S. think that Miami and Detroit aren’t dramatically different? Cleveland and San Francisco? Seattle and Washington DC?

But we carry preconceptions, prejudices when we go to foreign lands. We are at first probably overwhelmed by the dramatic shift in scenery and gravitate toward cultural commonalities, seeing all the things that cities and communities and the culture in general have in common, meaning in this instance, identifying and focusing on what we expect to see wherever we go in Japan: those cultural, social, religious, architectural features which make Japan . . . Japan.

Eventually, hopefully sooner than later, the scales fall from our eyes and the perceptual filters are replaced with more sensitivity and perceptiveness, a clear and objective view.

It took a while for me. I’m no different than anyone else who grew up in the West, saddled by prejudices and misconceptions, stereotypes we are relentlessly bombarded with in the bubble of U.S. “exceptionalism”. We get these from every direction: the media, movies, television. For example, I imagined Japan pretty much all looked like downtown Tokyo. The amazing truth is, 70% of this country is covered with forests. This is a land of stunning natural beauty, not cement, glass and glaring lights.

Eventually, I began to objectively “process” what I was seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting — this last one being very important in such a food-centric society.

As anyone who follows me here knows, I live in Hyogo Prefecture with my Japanese wife, Masumi — we just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! We live close to three major cities: Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka. Talk about distinct personalities! Kobe is our favorite, though Kyoto is the one best-known by international travelers for its geishas, and exotic temples and shrines. Osaka is exciting and fun, to say the least. But Kobe is originally the home of Masumi’s family, though they’re now scattered about.

Over the course of our courtship and marriage, we’ve been all over Japan, from Hokkaido in the north — a stone’s throw from Russia — all the way down to Hateruma, the southernmost island in Okinawa — a stone’s throw from Taiwan.

Even so, there was one place 13 hours west of us by car, we yet had to visit.

NAGASAKI!

It’s easily the most Westernized city in Japan. See for yourself.

Maybe I should have called this article ‘Life In Japan: Culture Machine’. As you can see, we weren’t just transported in time, but were given a taste of a completely different culture, that of Europe in the 19th Century.

While I thought Masumi looked spectacular, I can’t tell you how ridiculous I felt in that outfit. At the same time, I’m generally feeling pretty ridiculous these days. Should I embrace a whole new persona on Facebook? To heck with peace. Fire the cannons!

By the way — and I’ll make this short and sweet — the reason for the “Westernization” is very straightforward. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan finally opened itself up to trade with the West. The influx of traders was led by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, who carted everything they needed to feel at home in the Land of the Rising Sun: clothing, diet, churches, religion, architecture, etc.

This is not to suggest the Japanese welcomed the cultural “pollution”. In fact, at first visitors were confined to an artificial island in the harbor of Nagasaki, so they couldn’t mix with the local population. This area is called Dejima. It has been reconstructed near the original wharf, which is where we took a few photos. When ships arrived, the sailors and businessmen had a military escort take them to directly Dejima. Obviously, there was some interaction within the confines of the island, as the traders made deals with the local Japanese. Also, since there were no women accompanying the travelers, Japanese consorts were allowed in to service the needs of the all-male population. But for a long time mobility was extremely limited.

As we all know from the McDonald’s restaurants in Paris and Beijing, cultural creep can be insistent. Eventually, more and more of the West infiltrated Nagasaki. Houses and churches — though for many years Christianity was aggressively oppressed by the Japanese — eventually were built outside of Dejima on the mainland, and it is these remaining structures which give Nagasaki its truly distinctive Western character.

[ This originated at the author's personal webpage . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Life In Japan: Time Machine | John Rachel

Life In Japan: Kogenji Temple

I’ve commented several times before about the temples and shrines here in Japan. Some context would be helpful.

For six years, as a young boy, I went to Catholic school. Every day we filed into the church for Mass. Then, of course, as required to be good Catholics and in good standing with the Lord, we went to Mass on Sundays. Six days a week I sat through the most uninspiring, boring, frankly meaningless ritual imaginable. Back then, the Mass was in Latin. So I didn’t have a clue what was being said, and certainly didn’t care. Ugh!

It’s easy to understand that because of this forced “spiritual” exercise — which was about as spiritual as doing calisthenics — I eventually completely soured on religion, at least as it was practiced in much of the West. When the summer I turned 15 came around, I couldn’t handle priests, nuns, Sunday Missals, rosaries, confession, communion, churches, hymns, Masses, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory . . . NONE OF IT. I left the Catholic Church and never looked back.

I pretty much avoided churches from that point on. Of course, there was the occasional church wedding and out of respect for the new bride and groom, yes, I inserted myself reluctantly into the house of the Lord. Likewise, out of respect for history and aesthetics, I experienced the unparalleled scale and majesty of a host of cathedrals in Europe, even a couple in U.S., not there to pray but to fill my senses with the glory and awe of inspired architects, artists, and sculptors.

Then in 2006, I started to seriously see the world, much of my travels taking me to Asia. The spiritual vibrations were totally different. Buddhism and Hinduism pretty much set the tone for these countries. I discovered and experienced not just completely different theologies, but a totally unique — to my Western-nurtured sensibilities — psychological space. It was more personal, more introspective, more comfortable, more satisfying.

Going to a shrine or temple for me now is one of life’s simple pleasures. So last weekend, we went to Kogenji Temple in nearby Tamba. It’s not a particularly fancy or spectacular temple but it’s very popular this time of year for it’s maple trees.

It’s difficult and probably intellectually sloppy to make generalizations about religions and religious practices. I just know that spiritual sensibilities are extremely different here — about 180º opposite to my “American” religious experience.

Rather than go into a comparative theological exegesis, which would be long, most likely tedious, and risk after an exhaustive trudge being unwieldy or misleading, let me make a point with some very personal observations and stories.

When I was in Los Angeles working as a recording engineer and music producer, I became obsessed with watching televangelists. I don’t have to say more. You know what that scamming is all about. “Just put your hands on the TV screen and feel the power of the Lord. Then write me a check. God will make sure it comes back to you tenfold. So the more you give me, the more you get back from the bounteous blessings of the Savior!” There was on guy in particular I loved to watch. Peter Popoff was fantastic! He got busted but I guess he’s still at it. He’s a millionaire many times over. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven.” Hmm. Who said that? David Copperfield?

Going way back . . .

I can’t say what things are like now. But when I was a boy, I remember that the Sunday services ALWAYS included collecting donations. At a point about 2/3rds of the way through the Mass, ushers would shove these collection baskets aisle-by-aisle in front of every congregant, unmistakably signaling it was time to pony up. Of course, the requisite sermons at each service also always included appeals for money.

“You think holy water grows on trees? Come on, you cheap bastard!”

I have to say, the final straw for me was my father’s funeral. My mother had died 2 1/2 months earlier. I was still in shock. 14 years old. Both parents dead. As if I didn’t already have a lot of grief to bear, I sat and listened to the priest give the eulogy. You’ve seen this in the movies. Coffin at the front. Holy man in robes trying to give comfort and meaning to the tragedy. Well, the priest at my dad’s funeral decided to use the opportunity — since he had a nice captive audience, trembling, crying, with their defenses down — to talk about the renovations they had planned for the church. And guess what? They needed money! Yes, a great way to pay tribute to the corpse sealed up and ready to bury — we’d go from there to the cemetery in a procession of cars with little funeral flags on their antennas — was to spring for a nice donation to the current Building Fund Drive. I can’t describe how much I hated the man.

Okay, enough of all that “context”. Now we set our time machine to ‘The Present’ . . .

While there are donation boxes in the Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan, making it easy to give financial support to their care and upkeep, NEVER does a monk solicit money. There are fees attached to, for example, them coming to your house to perform some ritual. But the rituals themselves don’t reference such material matters. Even Jesus preached (I’m paraphrasing) rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Spirit is spiritual. Money is material. If Christians knew about His teaching, then somewhere along the line, it was forgotten. Or buried. Maybe it’s in my father’s coffin.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Life In Japan: Kogenji Temple | John Rachel

What Goes Down Must Come Up!

The world may be chaotic but we individually can remain whole and focused.

Our leaders may be amoral and manipulative but we individually can be respectful and sensitive to one another.

The daily stream of news reports can be filled with vileness, anger, confusion, and loss of hope but we individually can be fountains of joy, vision, clarity, fellowship, and positive change.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

What Goes Down Must Come Up! | John Rachel

Life In Japan: Shrines and Temples

Living in a completely foreign culture is sometimes the best way to get insights into your own culture, to be able to see things that are so obvious they're hiding in plain sight, thus require your looking at them from "the outside" to make them apparent.

On a lighter note, let me append to that how utterly amazed I am by my talent for coming up with genuinely stupid questions about Japan, its customs, its culture, its people.

The particular one I'm about to reveal isn't really that bad . . . maybe only 4 or 5 on the cluelessness scale.  Here it is . . .

A few years back I asked my wife Masumi -- who displays monumental patience with me, probably because she knows I'm truly curious about Japan, not inclined to make nugatory small talk -- about the architectural manifestations of "spiritual life" here.  The question:  "Why are there so many shrines and temples here in Japan, darling?"  (Okay . . . I didn't say 'darling' or 'sweetheart' or 'lamb chop' or 'tofu burger' to her.  It's just not my style.)

I don't recall her exact words.  But it went something like: "Have you ever looked around in America? There are churches everywhere you go."

My God!  She's right!

From small and modest . . .



To majestic and sometimes garish . . .



There are churches everywhere!

To make things truly convoluted, while all these churches essentially promote Christian beliefs, there are so many denominations of Christianity, it's impossible to keep track of them all.  Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Church of Christ, 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Presbyterian, Methodist, Christian Science, on and on.

Then to make things even more disorienting to anyone hailing from the East, in addition to the Christian churches, there are Jewish temples -- also with an assortment of subtle shadings, e.g. Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Humanistic, Hasidic, Haredi, Chabad -- and then in recent times mosques which serve as the spiritual centers for the flocks who adhere to Islam.

What a menagerie!

It makes Japan look like it's just at the early stages of ramping up its institutionalization of theology, though in point of fact, the two dominant religions here -- Buddhism and Shinto -- actually go back respectively about fifteen and thirty centuries.  Maybe Japan can't hold a candle -- or stick of incense -- in sheer numbers to America, or a country like Thailand, which has over 40,000 Buddhist temples alone, but I can speak from experience: There are still plenty of holy sites, temples and shrines here.  Even some Christian churches.

Anyone who's traveled the globe will tell you that this is the case just about everywhere there are people living in some organized fashion. 

The obvious conclusion is that humans like to build places of worship, and to varying degrees visit these places of worship to do whatever it is they do in places of worship.

Yes, there's worship.  But while some people are kowtowing to some statue, idol, entity, ghost, relic, concept, abstraction, surrogate or whatever, others are doing something else. Wishing.  Meditating.  Fantasizing.  Maybe scoping out what others are doing or wearing. What car they drove, what camel they rode in on, who they're with.  These days peaking at their smart phones.  Checking their email.  Their text messages.  Tweeting or looking at their Facebook news feed.  Discreetly taking selfies.

Though it's been quite a while since I attended Catholic services, when I was a boy I had to go to Mass six days a week, thus had more than ample time to observe the devout in their Sunday best or Saturday khakis.  And frankly, even back then I don't remember much real worshipping going on.  Yes, a small faction followed along in their prayer books, mouthing the incantations of the priest.  But the vast majority were marking time, minds elsewhere, checking their watches.  God didn't seem to mind, or notice.  No bolts of lightning ripped thought the ceiling and struck down the inattentive.  God is infinitely patient, I'm told by my Bible-toting friends.  (Tell that to the victims of Sodom and Gomorrah!)

I occasionally attend services here.  Usually at our local shrine which I can walk to in about five minutes.  A celebration typically associated with a holiday.  It's mostly a social thing.

People do pray.  We each make appeals to invisible higher powers, for the things most of us on the planet desire:  Happiness, health, wealth, good fortune, love, maybe marriage, harmonious relationships.  There's that universality again: concerns and values we all seem to share as human beings, regardless of where we have settled down to make a life.  Concerns and values expressed in places which we designate for whatever you want to call that "quiet time" we all seem to embrace for addressing something inside us that is outside of us ... greater than us ... or maybe representing the us we wish we could be.  Whether we worship this other or just like to sidle up to it now and then, it's convenient to have some special designated place -- a temple, a mount, a church, mosque, cathedral -- to set the mood and provide the proper environment.

Here are just a few shrines and temples within easy bike-riding distance of my house.

Yes, houses of worship are everywhere here in Japan too, but at a much more modest level  of 'everywhere' than in the U.S., and most certainly not in the over-abundance I now can see is a defining characteristic of my homeland.

It makes me wonder . . .

What exactly are they trying to prove over there?  Are they maybe trying a little too hard?  To be blunt, it appears all that praying and worshipping isn't really working very well.

Why would I think that?

Americans like to say:  "God is on our side."

Really?  If God truly is, then He must have a very strange sense of humor.

Or a serious mean streak.




[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]



Life In Japan: Shrines and Temples

A Simple Straight-Forward Message for a Complex Convoluted Time

I think there should be eleven Commandments.

The existing ten should all slide down a notch to make room for a new, necessary First Commandment.

1st Commandment:  When it comes to others who embrace beliefs different than yours, thou shalt shut up and mind your own business.

I was raised strict Catholic from the late 1940s until July 1961.  I attended Catholic school for six years.  The indoctrination was mind-boggling -- literally!  I'm not sure where things stand now.  Allegedly the Catholic Church has made some giant leaps forward.  I find the word 'leap' a little hard to swallow.  After all, it took them over 300 years to pardon that wildly insane heretic Galileo for declaring that the sun was at the center of the solar system.  It's too late for his family to sue.

What I was taught, with no room for interpretation or even the slightest bending of the rules, was that Catholics were true believers, everyone else was a pagan and would burn mercilessly in Hell for it.  This obviously included jungle-dwelling savages with the bones through their noses, anyone with slanted eyes, hairy-chested men on horses who raped and pillaged without pause, witches, witch-doctors, probably acupuncturists.  But it also referred to -- brace yourselves -- all Jews and Protestants! 

Talk about being exclusive.  The Catholic Church didn't mess around!

I left that all behind.  I remember the moment well.  Both of my parents were dead.  I was attending a Catholic mass, summer of 1961.  I tried to listen to what the priest was saying.  I looked around.  People were staring at the altar.  The priest droned on, something about the Holy Spirit.  I was 15 and scared to death by a fear of eternal damnation -- something which was pounded into my head day-after-day, year-after-year by both priests and nuns -- afraid as only a thoroughly brainwashed young man can be, to do anything at odds with the Church or God or the Commandments.  But then suddenly, like that perennial bolt of lightning, it hit me:  None of this made any sense to me anymore.  I walked out and never looked back.  To this day, I've never again attended a Catholic mass or Catholic service of any kind, for over 56 years now.

I can look at religion now the way someone might look at photos in their high school year book.  
Hmm . . . French Club . . . Junior Varsity Football Team . . . Mr. Hunter, chemistry.

When three years ago I wrote the song posted at the head of this rambling monograph, I tried to include Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on.  But it's just a song.  There's only so much room without turning the whole thing into a random game of Scrabble.  So . . .

I settled on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and then gave a nod to atheism in one line.

I hear we're now in the throes of a new "Clash of Civilizations".  This refers to a war for hearts, minds, and oil fields, mainly between the Christian West and the Muslim Middle East.  The Jews are in there, since they are allegedly under siege by the Muslims, and they now have a marriage of convenience with the Christians -- which is about as convenient as a marriage between a crocodile and a chicken, and makes about as much sense.

First of all, there's nothing "new" about this epic show down.  Haven't any of these idiotic champions of chaos and carnage shilling for this conflict ever heard of the Crusades?

Second, while I can buy "clash", which seems to be the operating word in just about every interaction between the Western powers and everyone else on the planet, "civilizations" somehow makes me think about "civil" and "civilized".  Neither apply to those participants who have by choice, with full knowledge, by design, with clear intention, have brought the human species and every other living thing on the planet to the brink of extinction.

One has to ask:  Is this the best we as a product of twisted fibers of DNA and RNA can do?  Are we doomed by some kamikaze gene?  Do we periodically have to self-destruct, tear it all down?  Why do we bother with claiming it's about ideologies or religions or politics?

Because it's not.  It's about hatred.  It's about selfishness.  It's about evil, either inherent or manufactured evil.

It's about either the evil we are, the evil we've become, or the evil that we allow to exist in our hearts and our minds.

What's my song about?  It's so simple, so naive, so straightforward, so easy to understand.  Maybe that's what makes it so difficult to take into our hearts, try to weave it in with those strands of DNA and RNA, let it become an antidote to the madness that drives us to reject and demonize others, that allows us to dehumanize those who are different, that feeds our inflated sense of importance, our "exceptionalism", our grandiosity and rabid delusions of superiority, our ultimately self-destructive rejection of our shared humanity.

Happy New Year!  Yes, we're starting a new cycle.  365 days to do what?

Maybe the whole idea is just silly.

Peace be with us . . .

Then again, you decide for yourself.  That's actually the idea.

Assuming you've gotten this far, here are the lyrics to my song, performed in the video by my extremely talented wife and myself, a simple straightforward message for a complex convoluted time.

It’s a very special time of year
For family and friends holiday cheer
For those no longer with us
We shed a tear
A time to share
A time of feast
A time to care
And pray for peace
A time to give to those
Who have the least

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year!

This is the time to start anew
Atheist Christian Muslim Jew
To reach within
And find the love inside of you
Discard the old seek out the new
Reject the false embrace the true
To look ahead decide
To bring out the best in you

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year!

(Chorus – Japanese)
Akemashite
Omedetoo
Peace be with you
Happy New Year!

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with you
Happy New Year!


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



A Simple Straight-Forward Message for a Complex Convoluted Time

It’s a very special time of year!

As is now becoming a tradition, here is my holiday greeting card to all.  It comes from my heart, prompted by hope that we can find harmony and peace in our troubled world.

"Happy New Year!"

 

It’s a very special time of year

For family and friends holiday cheer
For those no longer with us
We shed a tear
A time to share
A time of feast
A time to care
And pray for peace
A time to give to those
Who have the least

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

This is the time to start anew
Atheist Christian Muslim Jew
To reach within
And find the love inside of you
Discard the old seek out the new
Reject the false embrace the true
To look ahead decide
To bring out the best in you

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

(Chorus – Japanese)
Akemashite
Omedetoo
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

May the new year finally bring peace to the world.  May we discover and embrace the understanding needed to live together in genuine and lasting harmony.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



It’s a very special time of year!

Happy New Year!

It’s a very special time of year
For family and friends holiday cheer
For those no longer with us
We shed a tear
A time to share
A time of feast
A time to care
And pray for peace
A time to give to those
Who have the least

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

This is the time to start anew
Atheist Christian Muslim Jew
To reach within
And find the love inside of you
Discard the old seek out the new
Reject the false embrace the true
To look ahead decide
To bring out the best in you

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

(Chorus - Japanese)
Akemashite
Omedetoo
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

(Chorus)
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

Let this new year finally bring peace to the world.  May we discover and embrace the understanding needed to live together in genuine and lasting harmony.

"Happy New Year" © Copyright 2014 - Words and music by John Rachel
     Dancing Needles Music (Publisher) - ASCAP (All rights reserved.)

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]


Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

1st Verse:
It’s a very special time of year
Family and friends holiday cheer
For those no longer with us
We shed a tear
A time to share
A time of feast
A time to care
And pray for peace
A time to give to those
Who have the least

Chorus:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

2nd Verse:
This is the time to start anew
Atheist Christian Muslim Jew
To reach within
And find the love inside of you
Discard the old seek out the new
Reject the false embrace the true
To look ahead decide
To bring out the best in you

Choruses:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

Akemashite
Omedetoo
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

© Copyright 2014 - Words and music by John Rachel
Dancing Needles Music - ASCAP (All rights reserved.)


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]