Japan – Page 2 – Candle in a Cave

26 May 202526 May 2025

Travel: Japan – Tokyo (Day 3)

I’ve grown accustomed to having my breakfast downstairs at the restaurant here in the hotel. (I think I forgot to mention that I am staying at the Tosei Hotel Cocone. As this is my only experience with a hotel in Japan, I would have to give this one five stars. Very comfortable, very clean, and the people are very kind.) The breakfast is buffet style, and I generally make two trips. Round one is typically breakfast food with a few unusual items, including Ramen noodles with grilled mackerel and onion. Round two… Now that’s something very different.

What we have here is a bowl of rice with three types of sushi: salmon, salmon roll, and fatty tuna. It just makes me happy. Never what I have thought of having sushi for breakfast, but they offer it and I eat it. I get plenty of protein, so I have plenty of energy to see me through the day.

It was only a five-minute walk to the first stop of the day, the Tsukiji Hongan-ji Buddhist Temple.

Tsukiji Hongwanji is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha denomination, also known as Shin Buddhism, which was founded by the monk Shinran (1173-1263) and whose head temple is Hongwanji (Nishi Hongwanji) in Kyoto.

The temple has been destroyed by fire or earthquake several times, and the current structure was built in 1934.

The interior is rather magnificent and ornate. The photographs are not great as you are not allowed to get very close.

I’m sure some will mark this up as my Christian bias, but I just didn’t “feel” all that much while I was there. I got a sense of the peace and the calm (with the exception of all the construction that was going on) yet it did leave my spirit wanting. Am I really so narrow-minded? No. As I am certain they believe Buddha leads to the path of enlightenment; I believe that Jesus leads to the path of life. That’s an argument for another day, so I shall end this discussion with a nice glass of iced, VERY green tea.

It was really good, but I did get the impression that someone had gone out and mowed the grass and made tea from it.

It was time for my longer excursion, which took me about an hour. It was only one train ride, but it included 15 minutes of walking on both ends. All this took me to St. Mary’s Cathedral—the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Tokyo. This is the church I mentioned in yesterday‘s post. I saw pictures of it both on the outside and the inside and wanted to visit.

When I arrived, a service was taking place, so there was time before I could enter. Fortunately, on the church grounds, there is a recreation of the grotto at Lourdes. I made good use of my time and prayed my rosary.

I really like this one…

I don’t know what kind of flower this is, but it was beautiful.

Following the service, I was allowed to enter the church and spend some time. This is where I will make confession and tell you that I am a bad person. There was a sign that said no pictures inside the cathedral, and of course, everyone there was taking pictures… very discreetly.

The building was designed by the famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange (1913-2005). From an article…

For his Tokyo Cathedral of Saint Mary, he visited several medieval Gothic examples. “After experiencing their heaven-aspiring grandeur and ineffably mystical spaces,” he says, “I began to imagine new spaces, and wanted to create them by means of modern technology.”

I still do not know the architecture type, but I would classify it as brutalist/modern. It provides a very clear message that declares, in no uncertain terms, “The Lord is my rock!”

That is the altar at the top of the red stairs. Maybe that gives you an idea of how large the sanctuary is. If I were given the opportunity to build a church, oh yeah…

The Mary Chapel to the left of the high altar.

Following my time at the cathedral, I headed back to the hotel. Today is my last full day in Tokyo, and I must check out my 10 AM tomorrow. What this means is that today is laundry day. For those of you who remember Portugal, this will not be me doing laundry in the sink and drying it with a hair dryer. There’s a good and proper washing machine/dryer downstairs available to hotel guests. It did take me a while to figure out how to use it, but once I put my glasses on, the instructions made a bit more sense. After that’s all sorted out, I may have to go and find myself a bit more sushi. I may turn into a fish before this is over with, but it’s so darn good!

Tomorrow, we ride the bullet. The bullet train, that is! I hear it goes a little over 200 mph. That oughta be fun! I’ll keep you posted.

This is your man in Tokyo signing off.

25 May 202525 May 2025

Travel: Japan – Tokyo (Day 2)

How do we begin to describe this day? Well, given that it is the Lord‘s day we went to church. Saint Albans Episcopal Anglican Church in Tokyo. It was about a 30 minute train ride and I made all my connections. Arrived early and was able to pray my rosary before the service began. A very small church in size but it seemed to be a vibrant congregation. I would say that half the members were African.

The service was straight out of the Book of Common Prayer. Very few deviations. I like that in a service. The sermon was good however following the sermon (the priest was a graduate of Nashotah House) the former priest to the church (also a graduate of Nashotah House) gave a small presentation on a gift that he had received and that he was now giving to the diocese. The gift was a FUMIE.

A fumi-e (踏み絵, fumi “stepping-on” + e “picture”) was a likeness of Jesus or Mary to which the religious authorities of Japan required suspected Christians to step, in order to demonstrate that they were not members of the outlawed Christian religion. If they refused, they were put to death and a most horrible way.

The priest who gifted the fumie to the diocese provided us with a detailed description of how they were put to death. I’m not going to go into that here. They were the Martyrs of Japan. It’s worth reading up on.

During the announcements, they invited the visitors to tell who they were and where they were from. Yours truly spoke up and gave a loud shout out for Enid, Oklahoma! Funny thing, that was not my only connection with Oklahoma for the day.

Following the service, the day turned into a bit of a tourist outing. As I turned the corner on the street that leads up to the church I saw the Tokyo Tower.

I said to myself, “Self, you’ve got to get up there!” Both self and I were of the opinion that we would not be climbing the stairs, but we took the elevator. What a ride. It goes up and up and up.

Standing 1,092 feet high in central Tokyo, Tokyo Tower (東京タワー) is the world’s tallest, self-supported steel tower and 10 feet taller than its model, the Eiffel Tower. A symbol of Japan’s post-war rebirth as a major economic power, Tokyo Tower was the country’s tallest structure from its completion in 1958 until 2012 when it was surpassed by the Tokyo Skytree. In addition to being a popular tourist spot, Tokyo Tower serves as a broadcast antenna.

820 feet up is the top observation deck. Yours truly wrote the elevator all the way there. I can honestly say I felt a bit woozy at times, but what a view.

What goes up must come down…

To get my feedback on the ground, I traveled to the Imperial Gardens. Most everything has bloomed except for the azaleas. The variations of green were fantastic though.

At this point, I had been on the go for about eight hours and I had not eaten since breakfast. I was hungry. I took two trains to get back to the general area of my hotel, and then found a sushi bar. I ate my weight in sushi. I also had four very tasty beers. I had the salmon, shrimp, eel, salmon roe, tuna, mackerel, shrimp… and when all that was done, I looked at the guy and said, “I’ve never had sea urchin before. I think I need to try that.” I did. Salty and earthy. I would eat it again, but it’s not on the top of the list. I topped all that off with a salmon skin roll garnished with salmon roe. Dang! Good eats for sure!

Now, when I ordered the sea urchin, I noticed the two girls at the end of this bar about three seats away from me. They were very friendly and we chatted a bit. But they watched me eat that sea urchin, and then we discussed it. Come to find out, they were from Stillwater, Oklahoma. They both work at OSU. We had a really good laugh about that. They have one more day here and then they’re on their way home. How strange is that? There are over 14 million people living in Tokyo and I happen to run into two people from Oklahoma. A very good day.

Tomorrow, I have absolutely no idea what’s on the agenda, but I do believe that I’m going to go and visit some more of the churches that are here. I don’t know what the architectural style is but I have not seen it before. More on that tomorrow.

I pray you all are well. My cat sitter extraordinaire sent a picture of The Queen. She seems to be doing well.

Silly photos…

Of course, Godzilla had to make an appearance!

Too cloudy to see it, but it’s in that general vicinity.

24 May 202524 May 2025

Travel: Japan – Tokyo (Day 1)

I left Oklahoma City sometime yesterday with a layover in Dallas and then a 13 1/2-hour flight to Tokyo. I’m not gonna complain about that flight because I got to come to Japan, but I will say… Dang! It’s a long flight. I flew American Airlines and they did pretty good. I fly Japan Airlines on the way home.

I arrived at my hotel intending to get out and explore the neighborhood. That didn’t happen. I got to the hotel about 5:30 PM and I was out like a light by 7:30 PM. I don’t sleep real well on airplanes, but I slept good last night. I woke up at about 5:30 AM Tokyo time and started the day at 6:30 AM with a nice cup of coffee. Breakfast at seven… Now that was fun. I have no idea what I ate to be perfectly honest with you. I know there were some eggs involved and possibly some toast but after that, I really don’t know. There was some kind of fish there were noodles and some very tasty morsels that I said to myself, you’re here, you might as well try them.

I was traveling by 7:30 AM and exploring the city. It’s crazy here! There are people everywhere. My first destination and the one place on the list that I wanted to see was the Gotokuji Temple, also known as the cat temple, but it is temporarily closed because of a certain festival that is going on. I don’t think I’m going to get to see it as it will be closed for three days. I’ll keep watching the schedule to see if it opens up. When that didn’t work out, I jumped on another train… Speaking of trains.

The trains go everywhere. They are color-coded. For the most part, the trains are all underground. You spend a lot of time underground in this city. I’m slowly figuring it out, but I will say that I have gotten on the wrong train more than once and gone in the wrong direction several times. It starts to make sense after a while and all I can say is thank goodness for Google Maps. It keeps you going in more or less the right direction.

My next stop was the Shibuya Scramble Crossing which is pictured above. It’s a place where everything comes together. It was fun to see, and I did cross it several times (a couple of those times were because I was going in the wrong direction.) Everyone gathers at the crosswalk waiting for the green go-ahead, and then you just start walking in the direction you want to go. It’s marked off but basically, folks go wherever they wanna go. It is highly recommended that you not go when you’re not supposed to go. It’s a good way to get run over. After such madness, I decided I needed a little bit of calm and made my way to the Meiji Jingu Shrine, which is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken.

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan, deeply rooted in its culture and history. It’s a polytheistic religion with no founder, sacred text, or dogma, emphasizing a sense of harmony with nature and veneration of the “kami,” spirits or deities believed to reside in all things. Shinto practices include visiting shrines, offering prayers, and observing festivals, often intertwined with everyday life and traditions.

**OTORITHE GRAND SHRINE -GATE)** this is the biggest wooden “Torii” of the Myõjin style in Japan, rebuilt and dedicated via pious benefactor on December 23, 1915 and model both inform and size exactly after the original built in 1920. The material wood is “Hinoki” (Japan Cypress). 1500 years old from Mount Tandai-san Taiwan.

During the Meiji Era, Emperor Meiji, whose divine soul is enshrined here at Meiji Jingu, led the industrial growth and modernization of Japan by encouraging various industries and supporting technological development.

Due to their grace and virtue, Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken, the beloved mother of our nation whose soul is also enshrined here, are held in the highest esteem by the Japanese people.

These sake barrels are offered every year to the enshrined deities by members of the Meiji Jingu Zenkoku Shuzo Keishinkai (Meiji Jingu Nationwide Sake Brewers Association) including the Kotokai, which has made offerings of sake for generations, as well as other sake brewers around Japan wishing to show their deep respect forthe souls of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

In addition to stating our humble gratitude to all of the brewers who have so graciously donated their sake, we also pray for the continuous prosperity of the sake brewing industry and all the other industries maintaining Japan’s traditional culture.

Just on the other side of the street are barrels of wine!

The barrels of wine to be consecrated at Meiji Jing have been offered by the celebrated wineries of Bourgogne in France on the initiative of Mr. Yashiko Sata, Representative, House of Burgundy in Tokyo, Honorary Citizen of Bourgogne and owner of the Chateau de Chailly Hotel-Golf. Profound gratitude is due to the winemakers who have so generously contributed to this precious gift to be consecrated here to the spirit of world peace and amity, with the earnest prayer that France and Japan will enjoy many more fruitful years of friendship.

Once you arrive inside the shrine, they ask you to not take pictures. However, just outside of the shrine was a wedding party. The bride was all smiles.

I then made my way across town (after getting lost on the train a little bit) to the big 3-D cat billboard. It’s just one of those things you got to see! Everybody was standing around with their phones pointed up towards it.

This was followed by a stroll around the city. I came to a wildly popular place that was jammed up with people.

This is where I learned an important lesson: Japan is a very clean city. You will very rarely see any garbage on the ground or in the gutters. IF you begin to see garbage on the ground and the place gets a bit smelly, you are in the wrong part of town! You need to turn around and go back. You will be offered all sorts of things as you pass through this area. I don’t feel like it was unsafe, but it was definitely not somewhere you want to linger.

From there, I found a nice little restaurant and enjoyed a bit of lunch. I also reached the point where I was hot and tired after going for about eight hours. I took a couple of trains and actually made the right connection on the first try and arrived back at my hotel, which reminds me… Not nearly as confusing as the train, but still requiring a certain amount of study is the toilet.

If all goes as planned, I’ll be at church tomorrow at Saint Albans Episcopal – Anglican Church. See you then.

21 May 2025

Travel: Japan (T-minus one day)

The big trip of 2025 begins tomorrow morning at approximately 8 AM. I will be catching a flight from Oklahoma City to Dallas Fort Worth. There will be a three hour layover and then I bought a 13 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo. It would seem that a person would complain about a 13 1/2 hour flight but I cannot do it. I am so very excited to be able to take this trip. I will be visiting Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, and Osaka. There are many different things. I’m excited to see, from that busy crosswalk in Tokyo to the temples out in the country. I’m also looking forward to the food… Let’s be honest… It’s gonna be good! While in Tokyo, I do plan on getting up around 3 AM and following Anthony Bourdain‘s recommendation and visiting the fish market. I know it sounds like a crazy idea but it looks like something I need to do. Apparently, they have fish on sale there that you have never seen before. In addition, you get to eat some of them. That’ll be my favorite part.

I will try to post something tomorrow, but I don’t know that I will have any luck from the airplane. I arrive in Tokyo at around 3:30 PM on Friday. We will see what happens. I don’t even know how to set my watch right now. It’s 16 hours ahead in Japan, so if you happen to call me, there’s a really good chance I’m not going to answer. I’ll be sleeping with the do not disturb on.

Someone asked me, “Why are you going to Japan?” There are a lot of reasons and a lot of answers to that question but I’m looking forward to experiencing a new culture. Even when I was traveling in Norway, it still felt like I was in the west. I want something different. I want to understand a little bit about how the rest of the world thinks and operates. I’m certain that it will help me gain perspective.

Not only all that, it is a vacation! V.A.C.A.tion! I’m truly looking forward to the opportunity to simply be and be at peace. I’ll be sharing my experiences in my pictures along the way. I hope you’ll follow along. If you know of something that I absolutely must see and must do while here, please leave a comment and I’ll give it a shot. No promises because the agenda is kind of full already, but you never know. I preached on Sunday about how we should be prepared to be interrupted by God. I suppose that could happen while on vacation as well. Let’s see what He wants to show me. Thanks for coming along.

5 February 2025

Sermon: Martyrs of Japan

St. Francis Xavier first arrived in Japan in 1549 with other Jesuit missionaries and proclaimed the Kingdom of God. They achieved success with an estimated 300,000 converts, but the large number of adherents to a new religion alarmed the Shoguns—How do we deal with them?—leading to a ban on Christianity and the beginning of persecutions. The first martyrs we remember today were six Franciscan Friars and twenty of their converts. They were all crucified. The ban on Christianity lasted 250 years, but it was not until after WWII that true religious freedom arrived in Japan.

The persecution and ban could have easily ended the faith in Japan, but instead, they drove it underground. So today, as we remember those first martyrs, I thought we might look at their legacy, one that remains even today: they are known as the Kakure Kirishitan, or “Hidden Christians.”

Following the ban and the persecutions, those who wished to maintain their Christian faith began to worship in Buddhist and Shinto temples to ‘hide’ among the crowds (Shinto involves the worship of ancestors and nature spirits). Since there were no Christian priests to continue teaching the faith, a rather interesting synergy of Christianity, Buddhism, and Shintoism emerged. Not only did it combine these different practices, but the texts used for worship are a blend of Portuguese, Latin, and Japanese. Today, although they might recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and other Christian prayers, it is believed they lack a true understanding of their meaning. I do not think this implies unfaithfulness on their part. If anything, I would argue it demonstrates an even greater faith, for even though their understanding may be limited, they have not failed to deny themselves and take up their cross. In no way did they… do they—for a small number still exist today—in no way were they ashamed of the Gospel; they simply carried it on as they understood it.

Fewer than one percent of Japanese people are Christian and the Hidden Christians are gradually disappearing altogether. Patrick Downes, editor of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, reviewed a short film titled Otaiya: Japan’s Hidden Christians by Christal Whelan in 2000. Downes reports that Whelan “captured a unique Kakure Kirishitan funeral practice in which a small piece is cut from a centuries-old kimono which had belonged to a particularly holy Hidden Christian martyr. The two square inches of cloth is wrapped in paper and placed in the hands of the dead.

Today all that remains of the kimono belonging to one of the priests is a small piece of cloth kept folded in a box.

That kimono is a fitting metaphor for the Kakure Kirishitan a religion born of persecution, enfolded in the heavy mantle of Japanese culture, concealed over the ages in a dark lacquer box of secrecy, destined to disappear bit by bit by careful bit as each member passes into eternity.” (Source) https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/kakure-kirishitan.html

It would be very easy to dismiss these Hidden Christians, descendants of early Christians and martyrs from Japan. We might say that they are not truly “Christian,” but this kind of judgment should be left to God, because these individuals—more so than many who identify as Christian—are genuinely seeking Him. And in the end, isn’t that what we are all trying to do?

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