snow and ice

Although the amount of snow we get in a winter seems to be gradually getting less, we still have enough to cover everything for a good few months. The road outside our house disappeared under a thick layer of compacted snow a couple of months ago. The snow above the manholes melts though, forming deep potholes which should be avoided if you want to save your car's suspension. Occasionally we have some milder days when some of this snow and ice melts and then refreezes, making driving around something akin to rally driving. The roads gradually narrow too as snow piles up at the sides. Add to this the fact that many pavements disappear too, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road, and driving becomes something only for the hardy or foolish. We've had a couple of milder days recently, leaving the road outside our house (or the half of it that is left) full of deep frozen ruts. Then Lorna woke up to find that someone had obviously not managed to stay in those ruts and instead had taken a route straight into the trees that separate our small 'garden' from the road. One tree is knocked down and a couple of others are minus quite a number of branches. A phone call to report this to the Local City Office brought someone out immediately, followed by the arrival of a digger to clear that part of the road. Great efficiency. But there's still another month to go before we can safely say winter is over.

An encouraging day

Today was a day for David to visit a different church while away in Tokyo - and it was great! It took four trains to get there, but everything runs like clockwork here so I could be sure that by catching the first train at 8.40, I would be get off the fourth train at my destination at exactly 9.59. The church even provides a shuttle car to take people up the road to the church. I could easily have walked but the church is located at the top of a maze of roads so figured the car was the safer option. The welcome was very warm. People at the welcome desk had been told I was coming. It is our co-worker Kaori's home church and she and How Chuang are very well known and many have prayed for them for years, and more recently for the new church start in Hiragishi. I was asked to share a little at the end of the service. Many people chatted afterwards. The church folks then split into smaller groups for fellowship and sharing about the message (which was also excellent). And then there was lunch - a guest doesn't need to pay on their first visit! I was quite happy to walk back down to the station but it was all arranged and an older couple drove me the few minutes down the hill. The number of Christians in Japan may be small but it is a joy to meet folks from other churches and appreciate afresh the oneness we have in Jesus and how with simple things we can encourage and serve one another. Travelling back on the crowded trains though was a reminder that so many in this land have still to taste what it means to be a follower of Jesus. An ongoing challenge.

Mixing with the Buddhist Priests

It's not everyday that you get to hang out with Buddhist priests. This afternoon David took himself to a large Buddhist temple in the centre of Sapporo. He was there with two other OMF missionaries, one German and one Korean, to join in a discussion with a group of priests who wanted to hear the opinion of foreigners on the topics they were considering. It was one of these occasions where someone knew someone else who then arranged for the three of us to be there. As we arrived at the temple complex, we were greeted by one of the priests, resplendent in his black robes and ushered into the smart office building beside the temple grounds. The temple also has its own kindergarten and the Buddhist group of which it is part runs a university in Sapporo. Around 10 priests were there, many of them quite young. They meet now and again to talk about issues relating to worship of the spirits of those killed serving their country in wars gone by and who are laid to rest at Yasukini Shrine in Tokyo. There are many complex and emotive issues surrounding this and our discussion (all very amicable, but frank at the same time) ranged over topics related to war, the Emperor, politics and even the British Royal Family popped up at one point. It was a fascinating time of interaction and learning and we may be invited back again. David spoke to the main priest and asked whether he had ever been in a church. He had - for a funeral, a wedding and even at Christmas. He was a little disappointed at the funeral though as he thought a choir would appear to sing! It will be interesting to see if there is a next time. Who knows where it might lead?

Can't buy me love

Today is Valentine's Day. In Japan, go into any supermarket at this time of year and you will find a large section filled with all sorts of chocolate gifts. But Valentine's Day here is different. It's a day for the ladies to give to the men. This may include gifts to work colleagues which get the name 'giri choco', a chocolate you give out of obligation rather than love. But the men get their turn too. They give back to the ladies a month later on 14th March which is called White Day, a traditon started in Japan in 1978. It's an important part of Japanese culture to give back when you have received from someone else. The White Day tradition spread to Korea too (actually they also have Black Day and Yellow Day but that's another story). All this chocolate buying and giving must be great for the chocolate makers. However, recently there has been another twist to the tale of chocolate-giving with the advent of the 'tomo choco'. The word 'tomo' means friend and a 'tomo choco' is chocolate that the ladies give to ladies rather than spending money on 'giri choco' for the men. It's just chocolate but maybe it's a significant statement that people want to emphasise friendship rather than just get caught in the vicious circle of obligation and giving back. In an age when many in this land are lonely and even cut themselves off from others, how good it would be if many could find their way to Jesus who calls his followers his friends.

Go Sumikawa!

The last three Saturdays have seen us at different primary schools in Sapporo as Calum's football team, Sumikawa JFC, advanced through the stages of the All Sapporo Under 10 Futsal Tournament. Today they had reached the semi-finals and an impressive 3-0 victory saw them line up in the final against Consadole, one of the boys' teams attached to the pro club from Sapporo. They could not cope with the speed and skill of their opponents but it was certainly a worthy achievement just to reach the final. Parents cheered the team on from the sidelines - the mothers get particularly excited, one or two even get quite hysterical! It's quite interesting watching some of the dynamics. The refereeing is very strict - the rules are applied absolutely to the book! Sometimes it's hard to follow what rule is actually being applied. The team which lost the other semi-final after a very long penalty shoot-out was quite distraught. Their goalkeeper even ended up in tears in the middle of the penalties after he missed one and he of course had to keep going in his teary-eyed state. There is often a deep sense of personal responsibility for letting down the team. As for Sumikawa, well they were happy just to get their silver medals. We're all looking forward to the next tournament in March.

One thing leads to another...

We have one boy at the local primary school. He has a girl in his class called H chan. Alistair goes to one of the local kindergartens and H chan's sister K chan is in his class. What are the chances our two and their two being in the same class in a kindergarten of 350 and a school of 250? Not long after we moved to Hiragishi Lorna met the two sisters in a park. We then met the mother on several occasions at school. The family happened also to be sitting near us at the school sports day last May. At Christmas time K chan came round to Alistair's Christmas party. This year in conversation with Lorna, the girls' mother mentioned wanting to send her girls to English classes. Lorna said she was thinking of starting classes but needed a place to hold them. A couple of days later the girls' mother said she knew of a possible place. Her husband works in a facility which helps disabled people and they have another building on the main road in our area which might be available for use. Lorna went to see it and it was the husband who showed her round. They have agreed in principle for Lorna to use the place but we're waiting for final confirmation. Are all of these conversations and meetings just co-incidences? Of course not. God is at work. And maybe this is a family in whose lives he is already beginning to work.

Where to draw the line?

Japan is a place of many traditions and often these are marked with special rituals. Two days ago saw us arrive at what is called 'setsubun', the day before the beginning of spring (not that we are anywhere near spring in Hokkaido!) The special ritual associated with this festival is called 'mamemaki', when dried soya beans are thrown accompanied with a chant of 'Demons out! Luck in!' in an attempt to drive out evil spirits. Some people don a mask to look like a demon and others throw the beans at them. Afterwards, the beans are eaten to bring in luck. Often this 'bean throwing' is done at school and kindergarten. So at Alistair's kindergarten on Wednesday, some of the adults put on their demon masks and the children threw beans and monkey nuts at them. So what to do? Join in or ask to be kept out of that time? We have felt that we would not want our children participating in this kind of festival so have always asked the teacher if our boys can do something different at that time. It's always a delicate decision where to draw the line between what is acceptable to be involved in and what, as Christians, we should say no to. Alistair was quite happy not to be part of the 'bean throwing' at the demons and it was a good opportunity to say why to his teacher.