Sports Day Festivities and Yokohama

Sports Day is a national holiday in October.  I happened to be in the right place at the right time on Sports Day to catch this parade of women and girls in traditional Japanese clothes (kimono).

Aren't the little girls darling?

Musicians playing Japanese drums (Taiko).

Yokohama, near the train station.

Yokohama at night.

One Month Anniversary

Recently I celebrated the one month anniversary of my arrival in Japan.  At times it still feels like I’m dreaming because during my last 3 ½ years in the U.S. I had so many dreams about being in Japan.  I decided that I’m probably not dreaming though since I usually don’t dream about boring things like spending massive amounts of time on trains. 

In total, I’ve lived in Japan for 2 years and 7 months now.  At times I still recognize the similarities and differences between Japan and the U.S.   Other times everything just seems like routine and normal since Japan has been my home for so long.  So, this is where I need your help.  If you want more blog posts, then I need ideas on what you’d like to know about Japan and Japanese culture.  What would you like to see in pictures?  What kind of things would be interesting to you?  Any ideas?

What's the matter with kids today?

One of the Tokyo missionary jobs is working at the Hongo Student Center.  The staff teach English to adults and once a week even to children.  Their clients come from a wide variety of occupations, backgrounds, and age groups.  Recently I started attending their Friday night Bible studies and coffee hours.  Surprisingly, coffee hour doesn’t actually include coffee; instead it’s a time for conversations, snacks, and tea. 

Last night’s coffee hour involved 18 adults in an intriguing discussion about what’s the matter with kids today.  Yes, I instantly got the song from the musical Bye, Bye Birdie stuck in my head where the main characters inquire, “Kids, what’s the matter with kids today? . . . . Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way?  What’s the matter with kids today?!”  The song says it all because regardless of how old the adult, they inevitably think that things were so much better when they were growing up.  I’ve heard this question come up numerous times in teachers’ lounges, on talk shows, and even in musicals.  I was curious to see how people in another culture would answer that question though.  What surprised me was that although the Japanese and the American cultures are quite different, many of the opinions about the problem with youth remained the same. 

What’s the matter with kids (18 or younger), according to our surveyed group:

--Not playing outside any more these days

--Talking too much in school

--Technology making things too easy and students not learning to think for themselves

--Kids not knowing how to communicate face to face

--Having parents who don’t respect authority so they don’t teach their kids how to respect authority (I definitely agree with this one)

--Using cell phones too much

--Lacking in involvement with/the influence of grandparents and the extended family

--Constant distractions caused by the internet world

--Parents over-indulging their children

--Parents and children needing better communication

--Needing more discipline to become better behaved

--Being easily influence by extreme ideas

--Not knowing how to communicate with peers

--Being too busy

--Taking many things for granted (such as having a good education)

What I especially enjoyed about this discussion was the follow-up question: what’s something you’ve learned from a young person?  Yes, there may be problems with how young people are raised and influenced by society, but even in the midst of that, there is so much that young people can teach us.  I am a teacher, but I am the first to admit that my students regularly are the ones teaching me new things.  So, I pose this question to all you people out there reading—What’s something that you’ve learned from a young person?

Prayer Requests

Recently several people have asked me what they can be praying about on my behalf.  That’s such a great question because I can always use prayer!  Here are some ideas, in case you are interested.

Please pray for me

**To form meaningful relationships with the people around me

**To be able to share God’s love with others through my words and actions

**To have success with studying Japanese and to boldly speak it even though it’s still in the beginning stages of development

**To learn how to cook more Japanese foods

**To get more restful sleep.  I’m still not used to living on a busy street with a bus stop in front of my building and having the building shake whenever a large truck passes by

**To figure out how to minister to friends in the U.S. who experience difficult situations and who I want to be there for, even though I can’t physically be there

**To find joy in the little things all around me

**To see the world, myself, and others the way that God does

Settling In

Beautiful fountain along our daily subway route.

The street where I live in Hatogaya City.



The new J3s: Ally Streed, me, and Allyson Bedford



The cross at the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Seminary.  There is less than 1% Christian in Japan, so please pray for the 13 current Lutheran seminary students.

From Independent to Extremely Dependent

Konnichiwa and greetings from Hatogaya City, Japan!

This week was devoted to getting settled in and taking care of the necessities like registering with the city hall as a foreign resident, setting up a bank account, and getting a cell phone.  It’s amazing how all of these simple tasks become much more difficult when tackling them in a foreign language and trying to figure out the customs and rules of another culture.  Thankfully the new missionaries are appointed a guide to help with these tasks and any other similar circumstances that will arise while we’re here. Cindy works for the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church and will be our guide, translator, and go-to person for the next 6 months.  She is already turning into a life saver!

Only a week ago, if I wanted to take care of any business I’d hop in my car and accomplish my goal in no time.  Now I am mostly illiterate, have limited means of communicating with others, and need guidance with the simplest of tasks.  I even needed help figuring out how to work my super-high-tech toilet!  This morning’s small victory is figuring out the washing machine, mostly using a guess-and-check method with pushing buttons.  More often than not, I have to ask for help with just about everything.  Where does this leave an independent woman who likes doing things for herself?

My current situation reminds me of God’s desire for us to rely on him rather than to rely on our own strength and abilities.  Yes, we can try to do things all by ourselves, but we will find ourselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and weary.  Instead, God offers his help and strength to us.  He tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2^nd Corinthians 12:9).  When we are at our most vulnerable moments, God is there to surround us with his strength.  Sometimes God offers his help through a hug from a friend, passionate prayers offered on our behalf, or someone like Cindy to explain seemingly easy tasks.  I know that I’ll need the support and prayers from friends and family during the next 2 ½ years as well as God’s strength, but with these I will be able to accomplish great things.