Christ Has Risen! He Has Risen Indeed!  Happy Easter or イースターおめでとうございます!

Today I was able to go with two language school friends and venture to the new Costco in Kyoto. For us Costco is a 2.5 hour+ drive with very expensive tolls, around $100 round trip. (My friends and I also did some sightseeing, which I will post in a separate posting.)

Costco is really “little America” and it is such a blessing to find cheese, turkey, and other items we just can’t buy elsewhere.  The prices are around 50% off regular grocery stores so worth the quarterly trip!

The surprising observation is how little the Japanese buy.  The store was PACKED yet the Japanese would leave with maybe 5-6 items at max.  When eating pizza it was easy to spot my cart in the sea of carts.  The checkout ladies who were loading my cart kept apologizing because they struggled to make it all fit.  I just smiled and enjoyed feeling very American!

Ultra Windy Day

Unlimited Soda...unheard of in Japan!!!

When Leaving the Receipt Checker told me I was a "Good Customer!"

Real Pizza!!!

This week we finished our 4th quarter in language school!! At the end of every quarter the class goes out to eat together. This time our classes went to Okinomiyaki. There really is no food in America to compare it too. The mixture is made up of meat and veggies within a pancake like batter. There is a grill at the center of the table where you cook the mixture and after 3 minutes flip the ingredients like a pancake. The video below shows me trying to flip my okinomiyaki. I wasn’t too successful.

We now have two weeks of Spring Break ahead of us. This week we are going to Nagoya twice to visit with our team and the seminary team. We are exploring different areas where we might church plant next year. Cathalain also has had the opportunity to arrange a couple get togethers with ladies from our church. We are grateful for a change up in schedule and excited to hang out with some new friends. Pray this will be a relaxing two weeks and pray as we independently review areas where we are still weak in our language ability!

In response to the triple disaster last year Lucy Walker created an award winning short film entitled The Tsunami and the the Cherry Blossom. The official site of the film is: thetsunamiandthecherryblossom.com. This is an interesting depiction of the disaster related to the famous Japanese cherry blossom.

Some images from the tsunami are quite overwhelming so we recommend parents watch the following trailer first before allowing their children to view the video.

On occasion we have mentioned the difficulty of how currency fluctuates. The dollar as been at record lows against the yen this year which has put pressure on many missionaries in Japan. We thought since this first quarter of 2012 there has been a significant change we would update everyone on the yen to dollar rate.

To put the fluctuation in perspective on January 1, 2012 $1 was worth 77.1 yen. At some points in the past three months the exchange rate was as low at $1 being only worth 75 yen. The good news is we are now between $1 equally 82-84 yen! Although many long time missionaries laugh at our excitement seeing the dollar gaining strength is exciting!

Taken from Bruce’s March Prayer Letter:

On March 11 it will be exactly one year since the catastrophic 9.0 earthquake hit northern Japan, causing massive destruction. Looking over these past 12 months we see the terrible effects it has had in four areas—physical damage, emotional damage, nuclear damage and economic damage:

• one, the tsunami which was at some places 90 feet high, killed over 15,000 lives! And there are 3,320 still missing; it will take 245 billion dollars for reconstruction;
• two, emotional damage that resulted in increased suicides, depression and emotional stress (throughout 2011 earthquakes continue to shake Japan—there were over 19,000 earthquakes in the 3.0 category and 2200 5.0-5.9 magnitude quakes!)
• three, exposure to nuclear radiation and the shut down of the power plant which resulted in the loss of 20% of Tokyo’s electricity and the scare of contamination of food, water and the air.
• four, it was a blow to the all ready hurting Japanese economy by the loss of production and increased debt from having to pour money into repairing the infrastructure and care for the affected people.

Could there possibly be anything positive come out of such a tragedy? Yes, and let me tell you of four ways God is using this:

• the evangelical church has become unified in their efforts to work together to reach the affected areas.
• our Presbyterian denomination has committed to starting a presbytery of several churches in one of the least churched area of Japan.
• perhaps most notably, the reputation of Christians in Japan has taken a turn for the good. Many Japanese are impressed at the unconditional help and concern shown by Christians to those suffering from the tsunami.
• local churches have become visible in their community. Neighbors have entered churches for the first time to bring contributions to be sent north for relief work!

Pray that God will use the one year anniversary of the terrible tsunami in the ways listed above—that the testimony of the church would be a means for many to hear the gospel and turn from fear, apathy, loneliness, discontent to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Taken 2 Weeks after the Triple Disaster

You might be asking what in the world is White Day. Well, ladies start getting excited!

In Japan Valentine’s Day is really a day for women to buy men chocolates. Whether the men are friends, coworkers, or family women are expected to buy chocolates and give them to various men on Valentine’s Day. (Certain chocolates are actually call obligation chocolates because women are expected to give them.)

To westerners the idea of women needing to give chocolates on Valentine’s Day sounds a little strange. The men don’t have to give anything, you might ask. Of course not! For woman the best part comes a month after Valentine’s Day. Men who receive chocolate are expected to give THREE times the amount they received back to the woman (who gave the chocolate) on White Day. White Day is celebrated on March 14, a month after Valentine’s Day, and men can either give chocolates or some other sort of sweet. Some men actually keep spreadsheets to make sure they give the appropriate amount. A small investment from a women can reap amazing rewards in such a short period!

The chocolate company who derived this idea is brilliant. In the newspaper we read the bulk of the chocolate industries business takes place from Jan-March.

Now you know, you too can start celebrating White Day!

In Japan AKB48 is one of the leading pop groups. There are 100+ members in the group and the groups are comprised of everyday ordinary Japanese girls. These videos are an interview, done by CNN, with the creator of the group.

On the mission field it is important to celebrate the smallest of victories. Sometimes these victories can be practical daily living matters like ordering at the drive thru for the first time. In our case this month we both passed our driver’s license test.

This might sound like a silly thing to be excited about, but in all reality in Japan this is a huge triumph. The process is quite bureaucratic and the last part, an actual behind the wheel driving test, normally stumps foreigners. Some of our friends have taken the test 13 times! The average seems to be foreigners at least having to take the test 3 times.

Taking some advice from friends we tried a new location known to be a little less strict, paid for (2) 50 minute behind the wheel practice sessions, and read up on tips of how to pass on the first time. Truly we believe God was gracious and miraculously we both passed on the first attempt. Barely, but a pass is a pass! This is very helpful for us since our international licenses were about to expire and we would no longer been able to drive.

After we passed we celebrated by dinner out and bought the magnet we have to keep on our car warning people we are a first year driver. A great magnet for us!

We were really blessed by a trip from Michael this past week.  Michael and Michael, they share a first name, were roommates in Chiba as MTW interns.  Michael S. married a Japanese gal and the family tries to visit Japan once a year.  He was able to sneak down to Okazaki for a night this week.  It was a great time of catching up and fellowship.  Below you’ll see a present day picture and one from 6 years ago.