Festivals, Festivals.

Festival 1
It seems that about this time of year is festival time in our area of Osaka, and perhaps also in other parts of the country. I remember this time last year, not long after we moved to Japan, that there was a lot going on. This year the preparations seem to be even more noticeable. The streets are lined with paper lanterns and there is sporadic beating of drums coming from somewhere nearby. But what has struck us the most is that everyone is talking about it, from the neighbours to the newspapers. The 300 hundred year old "Futontaiko" festival, as it is called, jointly celebrates the harvest and the full moon, and is basically a day out for most people. There is traditional music, ancient ritual, not-so-ancient stalls selling sweets to kids and a parade where a huge drum, seated on a heavy wooden base, with at least four futons (Japanese style mattresses) on top of it all, is held aloft by about 70 men from the local area. Also, about 10 children and 2 or 3 men sit on the base or on the mattresses and its combined weight is around 3 tonnes (not sure of that’s American "Ton" or UK "Tonne" and to be honest I don’t know the difference, if anyone does please enlighten me!).... needless to say that it’s heavy.

So most people are looking forward to the event held next Saturday and Sunday with the exception of one particular group in society with which Maiko and I are closely involved. As the festival is held in the local Shinto shrine, Christians tend to avoid it en masse. Indeed, the ancient rituals I mentioned are none less than Shinto priests worshipping the gods who provide the food, and perhaps also worshipping the gods of the moon. In Shintoism, everything has a god and most festivals reflect this... hence the absence of Christians. Joining the party however are the local Buddhists, including the monks, which is entirely normal in a country where it is often very hard to separate what is Buddhist and what is Shinto (and also what is just tradition).

So while our area will be hiving next weekend (the shrine is literally just round the corner from our house), it will be a quiet one for Maiko and I. While there may be an argument for us going in and being a good witness and engaging in the community, the Church here (including our church) tends to view separation from all things shrine based as the best way to approach evangelising this nation. With Shintoism’s all embracing attitudes towards gods it is thought that keeping the Church (and therefore Christ) separate and therefore different from all other forms of religion here is the best way to offer people the new life that Jesus offers them, and despite missing out on the sweets, I for one tend to agree.

Saying that though, in typical Japanese pragmatism, the Church (or I should say most churches) have no problem if a member wants to go along to appease other family members who are not Christian, and therefore avoid a family feud. Indeed, in such instances simple advice such as "don’t worship the idols" suffices and all are happy. Indeed, such was the advice that Maiko gave to some of the junior leaders of our kids club when they told us their families would bring them along. They happily agreed not to do any worshipping of wooden things and the issue was settled, although I suspect the sweets, rather than their parents, are the main reason why they feel they "have" to attend!

Festival 2
Well, as the title mentions more than one festival I'll tell you about another that’s in the pipeline. This time however, we are more involved. In fact Maiko's mum, Maiko and I are planning a number of Children’s' Christmas parties for the coming festive season (yes it is that time again, get ready for the supermarkets to start playing the Christmas songs ad nauseam!). Given that Japanese Christians skip the previously mentioned festival, they tend to approach this one with gusto. Children's parties, often well attended by non-Christian children and parents, abound at this time and it seems that most churches host one. However, given that many areas don't have a church it leaves a rather (alarmingly) large niche for small organisations such as ours to plug the gaps.

Therefore we have decided to host three, one each on the three Saturdays before Christmas with the biggest one being on Christmas Eve Eve (23rd). For this one we have hired a local hall and have begun preparations, but there is a long way to go yet. We hope to get as many kids in as possible from two local primary schools although the hall will probably hold 200 at a stretch. We would really appreciate prayers about this and I'll update as we progress. We will also be helping out with our church's party and perhaps that of another church too.

We are really looking forward to these parties and the Christmas period and it will certainly create a good opportunity to spread the Gospel to those who have never heard much of it. Christians here seem pleased that this year I, as a foreigner, will be involved as they believe it will attract more children and parents (note: not because I’m any good or anything, simply because I have a white face a blue eyes!). It gets me wondering though if that will reinforce the idea that Christmas is a foreign festival celebrating a foreign God. I certainly hope that’s not the case and I'll let you know how we get on.

So that’s what we will be planning in the coming months and may I be the first to wish you a merry Christmas! Hehehe, apologies to those who don’t want to hear that just now and who annually complain about shops doing exactly that as early as October! (While I write this is still currently September..... again, really sorry.....hehe......). Bye!