I think maybe the desire to learn English will lead them to the bible, but if the Bible is translated into Japanese that would help..if its more widely distributed. Also Japanese love karaoke so..learning songs about Jesus can be a witnessing tool.
If the Japanese are hungry for Jesus then definitely think about how best to witness, I think with the whole zen buddhist thing they might be surprised to learn Jesus suffered the most on the cross and didn't need to be reincarnated, instead He gave us the gift of eternal life. And he definitely taught righteousness that out-buddhas buddha.
How could it confuse a person?I don't have any issues with others doing visiting to view the buildings, as long as they are strong in their faith. However, I don't recommend it, either. It could confuse a new Christian. For me personally, I was saved out of the New Age, which co-opted much of those sorts of religions, so I wouldn't be comfortable or enjoy it.
With shrines they keep dead remains in there. So its really someones grave you are visiting, that would creep me out a bit. Evil spirits can hang around the dead.If you are fine with it, you can go ahead. I would avoid grabbing any books or materials from these temples. If you want to sent time reading on spiritual things, spent time reading the bible instead. =)
I know a Christian who was perfectly fine going into Buddhist temples. But then there was this one particular Buddhist temple where she felt very uncomfortable once she entered. She felt this overwhelming pressure on her chest, as if some evil spirit was pressing on her. Finally when she walked over to see a relic of Saria from some monk, she can't take it anymore and had to run out of the temple.
Pretty scary stuff! Note once again she never had these kind of feelings in other Buddhist temples. Something evil was in that particular one.
I have been to Japan twice and am going back again in a month.
Japan is well known for its beautiful temples and shrines, and I have visited quite a few of them, including the huge Buddha in Nara.
My question is, what do others think about visiting places of non-Christian religious significance for purely aesthetic purposes?
Would it have been possible, though? South Korea has a lot of Christians in it today, and they flourished even under Japanese occupation. U.S. involvement in regards to evangelism was less than you'd think. They were more concerned with making sure the South Korean government wasn't communist (although it wasn't Democratic for a long time, either).I feel that MacArthur's biggest mistake was he did not make the Japanese convert to Christianity.
I wonder if the Korean church would have better luck reaching them through a missionary endeavor.Also many of them simply dont believe in any exceptionalism of christianity after we (who claimed to be christian) exterminated the japanese christians in Nagasaki. Nagasaki was the largest christian city in all of Japan so we decided to drop the A-Bomb on the Urakami Cathedral, over 75% of the city's christian population perished. This is not an omen that the Japanese will forget.
ok not to make you paranoid, but..there is this
https://withchristianeyes.net/2014/09/07/hello-kitty-is-popular-but-is-she-evil/
If hello kitty is a girl not a cat, or a girl/cat, well...I dunno. Romans says people worshiped creation more than the creator and turned his likeness into animals etc. I mean you just don't see real cats walking round on two legs wearing clothes all the time right?
and apparently she does make $7 BILLION a year.
Hello Kitty is just a cartoon character. It's everywhere because it's considered "cute", and the Japanese (and Chinese) love "cute" things. Anime is also everywhere. Anything remotely considered popular is plastered everywhere for one reason. Money. Popularity sells. Some people do go overboard, but to say the Japanese people as a whole worship Hello Kitty isn't factual. Japan isn't the only country obsessed with Hello Kitty. There's a maternity ward in a hospital in Taiwan that is completely decorated in Hello Kitty style. It's silly, but there's nothing wrong with it.They worship Hello Kitty there. I mean seriously. Hello Kitty may not be a doll or teddy bear, but she is an idol. If you going to Japan I think aesthetically be prepared for an onslaught of Hello Kitties.
How could it confuse a person?
the Japanese seem interested in Christian symbolism but not really Christianity
like they have the "gothic Lolita" style and a lot of animes have Christian symbolism in them
but a very low percentage of Japanese are Christians