A very brief look...
The following notes were taken during the 2009 Church Planting Conference at Hakone. The speakers name was A. Miyoshi.
After you die what happens?
Japanese believe that the body and soul are separated. A person can be divided into two main components. One is the body and when it dies it goes to the grave. Many times the body goes to the crematorium and then is inserted into the grave. The second part of the person is the soul. The dead soul leaves the body and goes to the border world. This is the space between this world (the one we are alive in) and the other world (maybe seen as the spiritual realm).
What happens to the soul?
Living people have to do rituals and ceremonies and give daily food offerings to the family altar to save the soul. There is no hell. Rituals of the living saves the soul of the dead.
The dead body is separated from the body because it is unclean. The dead spirit is cleaned by the living people doing things to save the dead spirit. If someone doesn't do anything, then the dead spirit comes back to haunt, has a grudge, is vengeful.
おばけ are unsaved spirits, those on the border and unable to get to the other world. They are invisible.
Eventually everyone goes to heaven because of the "rituals" that save them. That ritual is the funeral.
Japanese view is that there is no hell, no punishment. Community is sacred ( This was said numerous times). This is the current world. Since community is sacred, Japanese try to protect it. The souls outside this world also help protect the community. Reincarnation happens when the soul is released into the other world then it returns to the community again.
How do you evangelize people that have no view of hell and see that they all go to heaven?
The speaker changed his family grave stone. He had to keep the shape of the stone style of that particular cemetery, but he had the words 神は愛なりengraved in the stone and instead of the family stamp he had the cross engraved in that spot. Cost him more than $5000 to do this.
Basically the flow is that a person lives, then they die. Their spirit goes onto the border. Through rituals they become a god, then in time they become an ancestor. The soul moves from the other world and in time the soul then reincarnates back to the community.
The speaker included a few diagrams which I am not sure I can reproduce to this post. The diagrams try to give a visual representation of how Japanese think and how they compartmentalize the areas of their lives.
"Culture is unconscious." Don't think about it, you just do it and it just is.
"Japanese have lost their narrative." Narrative being a way of living life.
Take a baby to the shrine to ave it dedicated to the shrine (neighborhood god) to be nice to the gods.
Relationship with the community is based on fears. Don't want to be unprotected. If I do something, then I might be forced out of the community. Sometimes people lose a community then need to find a new community. If they find the church, then they might be Christian even if they do not believe in God.
Another ritual is a 祭 or festival. A festival creates chaos. Community creates chaos and bring the portable shrines to the temple which creates peace again. It symbolizes purification.
Other rituals include: magic, festivals, rite of passage, ancestor veneration. Rite of passage isn't salvation, yet some things we do in the Bible that are rites of passage.
Community salvation taken in an almost private life sort of sense. Need to emphasize the personal salvation and relationship with God.
The speaker told a story about a lady who came for counseling. She was struggling with the issue of her mother's suicide and how she didn't want to be a Christian because she wouldn't see her mother. The speaker acknowledged her feelings. He agreed with her. Then he said he was sorry but that he could not change the Bible. He shared in her experience but acknowledge that he cannot change what the Bible says in the matter of dying without acknowledging God.
Questions came up as to whether or not funeral ministry is something to get into here in Japan. He knows of one who preaches hell at funerals. That minister tells everyone they will end up like the deceased and go to hell unless they repent right there. Remember the funeral is for the ones who remain not the one who died.
Told another story about a man who was dying. He went and told asked him if he wanted to go to heaven and asked if he wanted to accept Jesus. He moved in a thrashing sort of way, and the speaker said to the daughter who was there something like...see he said yes, he wants to go to heaven. The speaker baptized the main and shortly later the man died. He admitted that he had no idea how deep that faith was, but he feels like God would accept that confession, but the bottom line for him was that later on that daughter became a Christian too. Probably motivated to go to heaven to be with her father.
The speaker said a great deal more than what I have typed, but that is the extent of my written notes. The speaker's handout covered a great deal as well and were very informative. (Will try to see if I can get handouts up here.)
(Nicki)
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