New Years Shrine Visits Hit Record High

The number of people who made New Year’s visits to major shrines or temples in Japan this year has reached a record high, statistics by the National Police Agency (NPA) have shown.

The NPA says that more people are likely to have prayed for an economic recovery because of the continuing recession.

article here

Hmm I wonder if church attendance in other recession hit countries is up too?

This story also reminded me of something slightly off topic but still dealing with money and religion.  As you know most Christian churches have some kind of collection where the money taken up each Sunday and is used for church expenses and charitable causes.  Of course if you attend mass no one forces you to give and you are free to pray all you want, at any time you want without having to pay.  At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrine here though most Japanese people who go there can not imagine saying their prayers without first throwing a five yen coin in.  Why five yen?  This wikipedia article should help click here.

So how do temples and shrines survive  money wise if people are infrequently throwing in mainly five yen coins?  They charge a lot for all religious services offered including and especially funerals.   I posted an article sometime ago about the cost of Buddhist funerals and it stated that roughly $5,000 is paid to the priest.  click here for that article.    That is one example but other ceremonies, such as a kind of Shinto baptism called miyamairi, I am unaware of the exact costs right now.    Every religion requires money to operate its just a question of when you pay and the thinking behind it.

St Ignatius January Bulletin

From its reflections on Mary, to the explanation of the gifts of the magi and reflections on Epiphany, to the key to spiritual life I highly recommend this month`s bulletin from St Ignatius in Tokyo.  You certainly don’t have to be a parishioner there to appreciate what is written.

click here to read it.

Church removes ’scary crucifix’

A large sculpture of Christ on the cross has been removed from outside a church in West Sussex after its vicar said it was “scaring young children”.

The Reverend Ewen Souter said the 10ft crucifix was “a horrifying depiction of pain and suffering” which was also “putting people off”.

The sculpture, located at the side of St John’s Church in Broadbridge Heath, has now been given to Horsham Museum.

It will be replaced with a new stainless steel cross.

article here

Of course crucifixion is a form of torture and a horrible way to die so I can see how people would find that depiction “scary”  but is that what was really bothering them?  My guess is that people possibly didn’t like the particular style of sculpture used as Jesus looks very skeletal and more alien than human.  Maybe a crucifix done in different style wold have appealed to people more?    Then again I am a fan of  crucifixes where Jesus looks very real, very human, and very bloody.

The Vows Bar

The what now?  Well it involves a Buddhist priest as bartender so to know the who what and why read on.

“As night falls, Namu Amida Butsu (Homage to Amida Buddha).”

The scene is not a temple, it’s a bar–the Nakano Vows Bar, on the second floor of a multi-storied building in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward, five minutes on foot from JR Nakano Station. The Japanese pronunciation of “Vows” sounds a bit like “bozu,” meaning Buddhist priest. Sure enough, that’s what the man mixing cocktails behind the counter is.

Full article here

and what seems to be the bar`s website here

In case you are wondering how on earth the Japanese pronunciation of vows gets to to be like bozu it is the v which commonly comes out b.  For example this summer I was watching what I thought was Olympic volleyball but the commentator said it was bolleyball, and I like the song Ave Maria but here everyone likes Abe Maria.

Aso Sticks his Foot in his Mouth Again.

Taro Aso the supposedly Catholic Prime Minister of Japan should really just shut up.

World religions can learn from Japan: PM

TOKYO (AFP) — Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday some of the world’s major religions could learn from Japan’s work ethic.

The conservative leader, who is known for his controversial remarks, told a parliamentary committee that Japan’s belief in hard work contrasted with that of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

“Our values in Japan regard hard work as important,” Aso said during a discussion on the global economic crisis.

“To work is good. It’s completely different thinking from the Old Testament,” Aso said.

Aso, who is a Catholic, was apparently referring to the Bible’s description of work as God’s punishment of Adam for disobeying his commands in the Garden of Eden.

He made a similar argument in a speech on December 7 in southern Japan, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

“In the Old Testament, God gave Adam punishment: labour. The Old Testament, Christianity, Islam — if you add them up, what percent of the world is that? About 70 percent of religions hold a philosophy that work is a punishment.”

full article

Someone hit him over the head with a Bible please maybe it will sink in better because whatever he has being doing to understand it so far has failed.   Why does it seem that that some of the loudest condemnations of Catholicism are said by so called Catholics themselves?  Someone hit him over the head with a Catholic history book detailing all the work Catholics have done in terms of art, architecture and science for example, and all the work Catholics continue to do today in their daily lives as regular people, or in saintly lives like that of Blessed Mother Teresa.

Furthermore Japan should learn from Catholicism how to rest, and that drinking in moderation is ok but getting drunk every night after work with colleagues, even forced company outings are not “work” and should not be put ahead of more important things like going home to spend time with the family.  The older generations here have the idea that work and the company come first and family second.

I could go on and on but I wont because Im lazy and I dont like to type too much it is awefully hard work.

Pray that Aso receives the spirit of wisdom.

What is a Nativity Set?

In reply to a comment I said that many Japanese people don’t even know what a nativity set is and I would like to explain that a bit further.  This Christmas season I had my nativity set set up no baby Jesus til the 25th and the Magi out but further away on the shelf.   I had Japanese friends over to visit, people who know I’m Catholic but who themselves are minimally Buddhist or Shinto, and they had no idea what the nativity set was.   I explained the set to them and showed them the Mr Bean video which they liked and I guess they learned something new that day.  It made me think though once again about the claim some people make that Catholicism failed here.  Now how can a religion have failed in the sense of being known then rejected by everyone when so many people don`t even know that that`s baby Jesus in that barn?!

Catholic Wallpaper

Phatmass website here has a bunch of Catholic style wallpapers for your computer and probably the best in terms of style and selection I have come across so far.   I have the Pope Benedict coat of arms.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone is, and will continue to have, a very blessed year filled with the joy of Christ.

So how did I spend my New Year`s Eve?  At midnight mass of all places.  In my home country it is more common to have an evening mass, and a morning mass the next day because everyone likes to celebrate loudly at midnight but in Japan this is not the case.  New Year`s Eve, if you have never experienced one here is actually pretty quiet.  People are in their hometowns visiting their parents and sitting around watching tv and eating soba.  Others may go to a temple or shrine because at the Buddhist temples they ring the bell 108 times.  The Shinto shrines are packed with people the first two or three days of the year, even at night, as people make their first visit of the year.

Many Catholic churches here have New Years Eve midnight mass, and since I was lazy and didn’t feel like spending the night out on the town I went to  mass instead.   I was a bit worried no one would be there but it turned out the church was actually three quarters full.  There was no countdown  just a regular mass that started right at midnight.