Having spent many years working in a Japanese corporation, I am used to seeing odd juxtapositions of western images with Asian messages, but this one took me by surprise. Over at
Faith and Family Live, Rebecca Teti has linked to a site featuring vintage
Tokyo subway posters. Two of these posters feature Christian religious symbolism. The first is this poster of the Madonna and Child entitled "Mary is Tired." The point is to encourage people to give up their seats to women with young children.
The other poster features Jesus at the Last Supper being overwhelmed by umbrellas. The message is a play on Japanese words that fit the religious imagery and also invoke the concept of having too many of something. The point of this poster is to remind people not to forget their umbrellas.
The Japanese appropriate many western secular and religious images without assigning too much sentiment or value to them other than their sense of being exotic. Perhaps one day I will do a blog post about my experiences of Catholic worship in Japan. For now, let's just say that missionaries from St. Francis Xavier onward have not been very successful in that country. It's a bit of a puzzle since other Asian cultures such as Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. have accepted the Gospel message in much larger numbers. Perhaps one day...
7 Comments:
From what I understand of Japanese culture (please correct me if I'm wrong) the reason they are difficult to evangelize is because they are very secularized and are indifferent to religion.
The idea of seeing Mary and Jesus in every mother with young children strikes me as very Catholic indeed.
As for the difficulty in evangelizing Japan, I wonder if it has something to do with the Japanese habit of "adapting" other cultures for their own uses. They have certainly done that with Western culture since the Meiji Restoration, and they did it with Chinese culture before that. OK, everyone borrows, but there's something unique about the way the Japanese change the essence while retaining the appearance -- a sort of cultural transubstantiation, in a way.
One thing really becomes obvious to anyone who spends a little time in Japan: the Japanese are not very religious at all, but they are EXTREMELY superstitious.
Howard, Your explanation strikes me as having a lot of merit. In addition, there has been a strong streak of xenophobia in Japan that extends back over the centuries. While there is a fascination with other cultures, there simultaneously exists a very strong fear of the influence of outsiders.
Two experiences I want to share, one that of a priest friend, the other, mine. My priest friend was in Tokyo for a conference, and he and another priest decided to go and visit a Catholic church after a day's session. They hailed a taxicab but the driver did not speak nor read English. Determined not to be put out, they made the gesture of the sign of the cross. The driver smiled, bowed, and drove them to a Catholic church.
The other one is about a Japanese guest staying with us for a year. One day, I asked him what religion he professed, and he said that he was a Buddhist. Out of curiosity, I asked him how he would pray if he were in a situation where his life would be in danger. So he said, "Please God help me." And I kept quiet.
Do they really not know anything about other people's religion?
Anonymous,
I don't think it's that they don't know anything about anyone else's religion, but rather that they don't want it for themselves. The Japanese culture is just very resistant to evangelization. They aren't overtly outright hostile to those who practice the faith these days as they had been in the past when missionaries and converts were crucified. Almost every Japanese will tell you that their religion is Buddhist. My former boss told me that he had to put something on his passport application and that was the only religion that applied. Even though he really had no understanding of Buddhism at all.
Ave Maria!
If these images had something to do with the Muslims, I think a revolt have had happened already against the makers of these things! I don't know if something has been done to removed these images as they portrayed a kind of mockery to Christian religion.
There is a beautiful article written by the Japanese ambassador to the Holy See on: "Why Christianity if 'foreign' to Japan". You can read the article in this link: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1344428?eng=y
I think it's very informative. God bless you all! Ave Maria!
Thank you, anonymous for that interesting link you provided on Why Christianity is 'Foreign' to Japan. It is indeed worth reading.
I am with you about your observation regarding reactions of Muslims if their images were desecrated. It is asserted earlier that the Japanese have knowledge of other people's religion, and if they do, would it not carry then that they also know the sacredness of those religious symbols that represent them? And why are Christians always targeted for religious mockery? Why not Buddha and his followers?
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