Snapshots from Chiba

I just came back from a roughly week-long trip to Chiba. Before this, the most I’ve done to engage with what this prefecture has to offer is to land in Narita and go to Disneyland. But in fact, Chiba has so much more to offer!

This trip was made to visit Tokyo Christian University, which is located in Chiba and not Tokyo (unlike what the name suggests).

It’s a small, lovely campus with plenty of spots for quiet contemplation.

We had a good time of learning, both about the history of the university and of the history of Christianity in Japan and I think the whole group ended up more convinced than ever of the university’s importance, especially when it comes to avoiding cultural imperialism in the way we do missions in Japan (I also bought a book by one of the professors there! The only book I bought on this trip, which is a surprise).

After a busy few days (including day trips to Tokyo to visit various churches), we had two days to breathe before returning to Singapore. One day was spent just travelling to the last hotel & shopping for snacks at Aeon (I’m not sure how I ended up with more things at Narita’s duty free after this??) and the other day was spent at Sawara.

I’m planning to elaborate more on a proper blogpost but Sawara was a very lovely place where I picked up a second hand kimono for about 1500 yen! What a steal - it’s a summer kimono, and though it has a few small stains, I think it would be perfect for learning to wear kimono in Singapore.

This trip felt both long and short; I’m acutely aware of how much work I’ve NOT done in the past few days, but I’m also feeling a bit more rested after a very hectic two weeks before I boarded the plane to Narita.

On the way back, I watched Rental Family, a movie choice inspired by Makoto Fujimura ’s recent essay titled “Rental Selves”. The movie & essay together made me think about how much we can learn from Japanese society and the Japanese Chuch, and really the need for mission/shalom work in Japan to come from a place of humility and partnership with the local Chuch, rather than thinking that we will come with resources and new ways of doing that are ‘better’. In that spirit, I started reading 社会に開かれた教会, which roughly translates to “the Church that is opened to Society” and I’m sure there is much to be learnt from this book!