These book reviews are from students studying language and culture at OMFs Japanese Language Centre.

Index of titles

Genji Monogatari
When the Bamboo Bends
The Japanese Mafia - Yakuza, Law and the State
The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart
Shiokari Pass
Japan Unmasked. The character & culture of the Japanese
Kata
Japanese “Characters”
The Japanese Mind
In Japan the Crickets Cry
蜘蛛の糸 (The Spider’s Thread)

Click on a title to see a specifc review.

Genji Monogatari

Murasaki Shikibu
(Translated by Arthur Waley)

It’s over 1000 pages long and over 1000 years old, so why read it?

Genji, a tale of a promiscuous Japanese prince, is a great read with fascinating characters, beautiful imagery and unexpected twists. It is a classic that most of your Japanese friends will know of, but more than that it gives a deep insight into Japanese history and culture.

Today’s Japan is deeply rooted in history, and the trends we see today are already apparent 1000 years ago. Genji also sheds light on the unique Japanese way of communicating. However the most striking thing is the spiritual emptiness, fear of death and completely ineffective religion that runs through the heart of the book. Japan’s need of Jesus Christ has not changed either. Genji is also full of good sermon illustrations!

When the Bamboo Bends

Masao Takenaka

Masao Takenaka, one of the best known ecumenical theologians in Asia, wanted to study bamboo, since it is so commonly found throughout Asia and so strongly rooted in Asian culture.

The purpose of this book is to reflect the spiritual meaning bamboo has for our earthly life in the light of the Christian faith.

Masao Takenaka writes about four spiritual symbols he thinks the Bamboo shows us: 1. Clean Wind (which reminds us of the work of the Holy Spirit in us), 2. Bending Stem (which explains loyalty and hope), 3. Strong Roots (the importance of standing firm), 4. Empty Centre (Christ emptying himself, taking the form of servant, which the author considers as the most important aspect).

The Japanese Mafia - Yakuza, Law and the State

Peter Hill

Often identified by tattoos or missing fingers (cut off as a punishment or sign of loyalty), the Yakuza grew rapidly after the war – with many unemployed men who were skilled in violence still around! In those days, they had a disciplined Robin Hood type moral code (ninkyou), effectively kept the streets safe and cooperated with the weak police force. New laws (1991) and the burst economic bubble led to a decrease in their numbers, presence, and an increase in general crime. Scarily, they’re still everywhere, including links with politicians and big business. Yakuza treat each other like family and are drawn by a sense of belonging (cf. Prov 1:10-14).

The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart

Motohisa Yamakage

Shintoism contains many beliefs that seem to be a key to the Japanese mindset and which are rarely explained. In that light, I suggest this book. It is an easy to read view point written by the head of Yamakage Shinto.

He admits that Shino is very different from one person to another so that in a lot of ways he can only describe Shintoism as he knows it.

Still, this book covers a lot of common elements in Shinto: the concept of Kami as well the forms for cleansing mentally and spiritually among other things. Still, it contains several contradictions and assumptions that hampered my appreciation of the book.

Shiokari Pass

Ayako Miura

The main themes of this book are: sin; all men being equal, no one righteous; Christianity seen as a foreign religion; character being more important than body (e.g. not getting angry, not complaining); death and the purpose of life; self-sacrifice. Three things I was struck by were that modesty in Christians is seen as a reason to investigate Christianity (P128); that there were many Bible references, although I don’t think any were from the Old Testament; and I was really struck by the theme of ‘it doesn’t matter how good you are, you’re still a sinner like everyone else’, as opposed to ‘it doesn’t matter how bad you are...’.

Japan Unmasked. The character & culture of the Japanese

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

The essence of Lafayette's book on the Japanese character and culture is that it's all about the way of doing things (kata). If you know the form of doing something, you can do it properly and therefore be in harmony with your fellow man and nature, which enables us as Westerners to relate appropriately to the Japanese. In brief chapters with lots of examples, the kata are described and the consequences for doing business highlighted. Although Lafayette's book is primarily aimed at professionals doing business in Japan, it is enlightening and helpful for Christian work as well. It urges us to really immerse ourselves into the culture in order to reach Japanese.

Kata

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Kata! Like most small words it has extensive meaning! « Kata » or « the way of doing », admirably presented and explained by American Japanologist Boyé Lafayette de Mente, opens up the mystery of Japanese behaviour. For example, I now understand that beautiful packaging, sometimes prettier than the item purchased, is not taught by Daimaru or Mitzukoshi just to look nice. It is a kata-ised formal requirement. Broken down into short chapters and sub categories, I found the book easy to read and highly interesting, as a way of learning why the Japanese do what they do and what makes them so different. But I also found it somewhat disturbing, wondering if I will ever truly understand this unique people. Next time you bow to your teacher or to your friend, think not about why you do it, but how you do it!

Japanese “Characters”

Teramura Teruo
Translated by ER Skrzypczak

Mr. Teramura Teruo was born in Tokyo in 1928 and went to Waseda University. He has written many children’s stories recommended by the Japanese Library Association. This bilingual book for students of Japanese at all levels, is a reader - not a textbook of grammar – and is a little book designed to lead people into the enchanting word of Japanese children’s literature and stories. I read at the elementary level and it was good to add vocabulary, learn new kanji the painless way, learn new words and expressions in context, where it is easier to remember them and increase my knowledge of the Japanese people and their culture.

The Japanese Mind

Roger J. Davies & Osamu Ikeno
(Editors)

This book is a collection of short essays on a wide variety of topics in Japanese culture, written by Japanese research students. It gives a broad introduction to lots of different topics from a Japanese view point. Topics covered include; communication, history, politics and business, inter-personal relationships, religion and religious rituals, beauty, values etc. It was engaging and very informative. The book is very easy to read and does not need to be read cover to cover. It is a good starting point for lots of different topics with useful examples.

In Japan the Crickets Cry

Ronald Clements
& Steve Metcalf

This is the story of Steve Metcalf, a British OMF missionary, born in China in 1927. During the Second World he was detained in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, came to faith and began to pray for the Japanese. After his release the Lord called him to Japan. It's an inspiring story of God using an ordinary man in amazing ways.

The book includes historical details about Japan's involvement in, and insights into Japanese attitudes towards the war. It also describes the history of OMF's work in Japan, providing helpful background to the way OMF works today.

蜘蛛の糸 (The Spider’s Thread)

Akutagawa Ryunosuke
(First published in children’s literary magazine, 赤い鳥 (Red Bird), 1918)

One of my language teachers suggested I read this short story – well-known amongst Japanese people - to learn more about the Japanese view of God/gods (神観). I read it in Japanese, but with furigana and reference notes, which was a great help as the kanji and style were difficult at times.

The story is a fable set in the Buddhist paradise and hell. In it, the Buddha Shaka gives a dreadful sinner named Kandata the chance to escape from hell. The key religious concept which emerges from the story is that of salvation by works. Whether or not the story is entirely faithful to Japanese Buddhist thought, the story might serve as a good, culturally-relevant illustration point when explaining grace to our Japanese friends.