Anime, Jesus, and the Gospel are things I didn’t think would mix well, but here we are. It’s no secret that Japan is steeped in religious and traditional Japanese culture. The reality is that most people just practice in case some god or spirit happens to be real in order to avoid harm or gain the benefits. The normal person doesn’t talk about rleigious or deep things though in daily life. Japan is a country that is very creative yet people are bound by the idea of the whole. It is best to conform and hold tight to the chest what your own views or questions may be. While generalizations are hardly 100% accurate it’s a pretty safe bet when talking about Japan. In Japan manga (Japanese comic books), anime (Japanese cartoons for kids and adults), and other forms of media i.e. movies games etc… are how they communicate big ideas, frustrations with society, religious ideas, and so on and so forth. One of my favorite movies the boy and the beast is a fantastic movie and an example of some of these things . I highly recommended it as a way to study Japanese culture and religious ideas (It is pg-13 for people who may have kids, meaning there is language). Every time I watch it I’m nearly brought to tears with how wonderfully it’s made. The soundtrack, character development, themes, and art style are all top notch. Taking on big ideas like what constitutes a father, or family, where’s your identity, sin, redemption, self sacrifice and more. Albeit from a Buddhist and Shinto perspective …wait what? That’s because about 1% of the entire country is Christian so it’s no surprise that they tackle the heavy spiritual ideas via their native religions. While watching it I got this idea of how can I connect the gospel here. Many people aren’t churched and the words used in church settings often aren’t even known by a lot of people. The reason why “church language” is so different from everyday language is 2 fold. 1. People just don’t talk about these things & 2. The words already in Japanese are heavily associated with other false religions so the Christians in Japan had to either caveat words like God with Father God instead, to distinguish between everything else. However when they couldn’t stipulate the meaning they had to just make a new word or borrow from another language. Anyway my next language evaluation is coming up and I want to use this movie to communicate big spiritual truths. Many people have seen the movie so it’s a common ground I can work with and take the themes in the movie and say “just like…happened this is how God has made a better way” or something like this. Learning to communicate the gospel through anime organically in everyday Japanese is quite challenging but man is it worth just one person hearing about Jesus. So what are some take aways?
Gospel tracts and memorized presentations are great resources we’ve been blessed with.
Every situation is a Holy Spirit led moment when sharing. Not every person is the same nor is every person able to receive the truth the same way. So get creative with how you share (just don’t compromise integrity or the message) you never know how or with what God will lead you to share with someone who needs Jesus.
Look forward to another blog in the next few days.
Thanks for reading!
Jacob
I am so thankful for this post and blog Son! The truth, and reality is that most people are very visual creatures. Most of the time explanations are sought through some type of portrayal, or demonstration of said topic. The countries may vary, but the same aspect of gaining insight, knowledge, or advice goes for every person on the face of this earth. God has blessed you with a wonderful ministry, opportunity, with language, school, coffee, shop, ministry, game night, and team lead affiliations, as well as using something like anime to reach a broader demographic. For the young and the old, this is something that has a wide spectrum and audience in Japan. Thank you, Jesus, that he implements…