Japan 103 Schedule

Week 1 (September 22-28, 2014)

Conference Call: The time for the call will be arranged so that the participants will all be able to get acquainted.
Reading:

Japanese Ancestral Practices

The Book
Summary (pg iv, v), Historical Background (pg 22-35)

The Unseen Face of Japan

• Introduction and Preface
o Preface
• The Anthropologist
• Spiritual dimensions
• A Note on names and Japanese terms
• Methodology
• Chapter 1. Safety First
o Attitudes to grave visit
o Key themes in Japanese religion
• Interact: Note the four themes of many of Japanese rituals. Give examples of each.
• Interact: What parallels and contrasts do you see here with Christian teaching?
o The segaki rite .
• Interact: Read the Wikipedia article:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segaki
o Annual pilgrimage to a Fudo temple
o Monthly grave rite
o Shinto rites
o The theme of ‘Safety’
o Mamori charms
o Christian implications
o Interact: Interact with Dr. Lewis’ “Christian Implications” section.

Writing: Weekly Paper: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”
There is no minimum or maximum amount for this assignment. Use this as an opportunity to reflect and apply what you have read. This is to be written in the discussion board section of Japan 201.
Read the other students’ writings and comment on them.
Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on a variety of topics, Handicapped Ministries, Aging Japan, Medical Ministries, Shikoku region and Tokushima Prefecture. Read the material and pray for these.

Week 2 (September 29-October 5, 2014)

Reading:

The Unseen face of Japan

• Chapter 2. Industrial Religion
o The ‘Great Purification’ ceremony
o ‘Sacrifice’ in Japanese folk religion
o The variety of religious rites
o The influence of Yoshioka San
o ‘Belief’ in the efficacy of Religious rites
o Compulsion and duty in religious rites
o Industrial Mission in Japan?
o
• Interview working people and list the variety of religious ceremonies they participate in.
o Interact:
• What do you think of Dr. Lewis’ suggestions for reaching people in the business world?
• Chapter 3. Shrine and Temple
o The duties of Shinto and Buddhist priests
o Kami and Hotoke
o Tamashii and Hi no Tama
o Dimensions of Shinto
o New Year shrine visits (Hatsumode)
o Setsubun
o Shinto matsuri (festivals)
o Christian parallels?
o Additional Reading: Shinbutsu-shugo
o Interact:
• What are the similarities and difference between Shintoism and Buddhism?
• Interview someone who regularly visits the shrine or temple during New Year season. Details about the activity itself and the purpose and/or results will be interesting.
• Chapter 4. Unless the Lord builds the house
o The kimon
o Jichinsai and mune age shiki rituals
o Interact:
• Read this blog for pictures and further explanation
o Interact:
• Discuss with a Japanese the various practices described in this chapter.
o Moving into a new home
o New Year decorations and chimaki charms
o Christian implications
o Interact:
• Discuss Dr. Lewis’ points concerning this section, and if possible, try to explain them to a Japanese non-Christian.
Pray:

Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on Tokushima and Kagawa Prefectures. Be sure to follow some of the links to learn more.

Writing: Weekly Paper and Interaction: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”

Week 3 (October 6-12, 2014)

Reading:

The Unseen Face of Japan

• Chapter 5. Purity and Pollution
o Food and eating utensils
o House arrangements
o Health and hygiene
o ‘Red’ pollution: birth and menstruation
o ‘Black’ pollution: death and funerary rites
o ‘Lucky’ and ;unlucky’ days
o Divisions and compartments; the bamboo tree
o Interact:
• Read and view the video ciips on this website.
o Christian implications
o Interact:
• In light of the various practices noted in this chapter, how might we as Christians modify our practices and teaching?
• Chapter 6. A Time to be Born
o Protective charms during pregnancy
o Hatsu-miyamairi
o Comments on Christian parallels
o Shichi-go-san: the 7-5-3 ceremony
o Christian Implications
o Seijin no hi: the Adults’ Day Ceremony
o Yakudoshi: Years of Calamity
o Common attitudes towards yakudoshi years
o ‘Belief’ in yakudoshi years
o Shrine visits during yakudoshi years
o Yakudoshi charms
o Social pressure to conform to yakudoshi observances
o The importance of ‘age’ in Japanese society
o Further Christian implications
o Interact:
• Ask Japanese concerning their involvement in the various age-related practices explained in this chapter
• Chapter 7. Fortune-telling
o Mikuji drawing
o Palmistry
o ‘Western’ Astrology
o ‘Chinese’ astrology
o Blood group divination
o Name divination (seimei handan)
o How often do the Japanese consult name-divination?
o Kokkuri-san
o Consultation of mediums
o Other kinds of divination
o The increasing interest in divination
o Christian implications
o Interact:
• As you have opportunity, discuss experiences of Japanese related to fortune-telling.
• How do you think a Christian can use the various fortune-telling practices to talk about Jesus?

Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on Kagawa and Ehime Prefectures.

Writing:
Weekly Paper and Interaction: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”

Week 4 Week 4 (October 13-19, 2014)

Reading:

Japanese Ancestral Practices

• Chapter 2 Contemporary Beliefs and Practices

Unseen Face of Japan

• Chapter 8. The cult of the dead
o Inheriting responsibility for the rites
o Grave rites
o Kamidana rites
o ‘Substitute butsudans’
o Yakudoshis and memorial rites: structural parallels
o Christian perspectives (a) Filial piety
o Christian perspectives (b) The theology of heirship
• Chapter 9. Memorialism
o Motivations for ancestral rites
o Memorialism
o Christian implications
o Japanese Funerals
o The Communion of Saints
o Interact: Note this blog for pictures and explanations concerning funerals in Japan.
o Interact: If available, please discuss with a Japanese pastor or church leader concerning what is appropriate for a Christian to do at a non-Christian funeral or wake. Discuss also the form and function of Christian funerals and practices related to the deceased.

Writing: Weekly Paper: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”

Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on Ehime and Kochi Prefectures. If you have time, do an internet search concerning these areas.

Week 5 (October 20-26, 2014)

Reading:

Unseen Face of Japan

• Chapter 10. A sin and shame society
o Japan as a ‘shame society’
o Contemporary feelings of shame and guilt
o How valid is such data?
o Cultural influences on replies
o Other moral attitudes
o Guilt and Shame in a Christian perspective
o Concepts of a Supreme Being
o Interact: Listen to “The Gospel in a Shame-Based Culture” by Bruce Young. (The volume is low, but the content is good)

Japanese Ancestral Practices

• Chapter 3 Emergent Themes and Key Questions

Writing: Weekly Paper: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”

Read as many of the other students’ writings as you have time and comment on them.

Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on the Kochi, Training for the Ministry, and Kyushu region, so if you have time, do an internet search concerning these needs, and learn more. Using Google Maps or Google Earth to actually see the prefectures sometimes helps you pray more fervently.

Week 6 (October 27-November 2, 2014)

Reading:

The Unseen Face of Japan

• Chapter 11. Aspects of Church Growth
o Early encounters
o Japanese Christianity between 1859 and 1939
o Patterns of Church Growth
o When tragedy strikes
o Post-war growth
o Church growth at the local level

Japanese Ancestral Practices

• Chapter 4 Christian Beliefs and Practices

Writing: Weekly Paper: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”

Read as many of the other students’ writings as you have time and comment on at least two of them.

Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on Fukuoka and Saga Prefectures, so if you have time, do an internet search concerning that prefecture, and learn more.

Week 7 (November 3-9, 2014)

Reading:

The Unseen Face of Japan

• Chapter 12. Contemporary Christianity
o Religious practices
o Education and social class
o Sexual composition of the churches
o The ‘sense syndrome’
o Denominationalism
o Moral issues
o Christianity and the ‘new religions’
o Spiritual warfare

• Chapter 13. Communicating the Christian gospel
o A Japanese name of God
o The appeal of Nature
o The use of poetry and literature
o The God of the Kamikaze
o The Discovery of Genesis
o Spiritual Warfare
o Experiential Evangelism
o Keys to personal evangelism

Writing: Weekly Paper: “Impressions and Points from Your Reading”
Read as many of the other students’ writings as you have time and comment on at least two of them.

Pray:
Pray daily for Japan and Japanese, using Operation Japan. The prayer notes center on Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures.

Week 8 (November 10-16, 2014) Review

Conference Call: Participate in a final conference call.

Japanese Ancestral Practices

• Chapter 5 Contextualization, Hibachi Metaphor

The Unseen Face of Japan

• Chrysanthemum Heart by Ruth Lewis

Writing:
Try to use this last assignment to summarize your course experience and share your goals and desires for further study and applications.
Read as many of the other students’ writings as you have time and comment on them.

CONGRATULATIONS! We hope that the Lord has taught you much through this course!