One by one, the sacred relics — a medal of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and other revered objects — are taken from a cupboard and placed on an altar for a Christmas Eve rite passed down through centuries from Japan’s earliest Christians.
Then, kneeling in the simple hall built where martyrs are said to have been burned on this tiny, remote island 400 years ago, five elders murmur chants as they bow and make the sign of the cross.
The kimono-clad deacons are descendants of “Kakure Kirishitan,” or Hidden Christians, who kept their religion alive on Ikitsuki and in other isolated pockets of Japan during 250 years of suppression, adapting their rites to the demands of secrecy and blending them with local beliefs.
These days, the religion faces a modern threat of extinction as young people, like those elsewhere in rural Japan, leave their homes in search of jobs, drifting away from their gods and the rituals that honor them.
This particular branch of Christians may be dying out, but I don’t think the Christian church in total is. My reasons for this are:
1. Recently we have had a number of Japanese tourists who are clearly Christians come to our service while on holiday. A year or two ago this was unheard of.
2. The Korean Presbyterian church has had a target of sending 1,000,000 missionaries to Japan in this decade — mostly short stay missionaries rather than permanent ones. My understanding is that they are on target to reach their goal. And yes, you did read the number right. Given the impact of the Korean church in the rest of Asia, I would expect the intensive effort in Japan will have some results — though perhaps not dramatic ones.
Read the whole article and you will see that what is dying out is no longer Christianity but syncretism with ancestor worship. If the Gospel is preached to the young people who are leaving the syncretist churches, those who will hear and believe will be saved. “For My word will not return to Me void, without accomplishing that for which I sent it out,…”
One angle to this “Japanese Christian” story which the MSM constantly overlooks is an angle regularly talked about in Catholic internet circles. That is: why was Nagasaki picked as the site to drop one of the atomic bombs at the end of WWII?
You see, Nagasaki had absolutely no military significance. In fact, the only thing notable about the city in intelligence reports and elsewhere is that Nagasaki was the home to more Catholics than any other city in Japan. Indeed, it was on the verge of becoming a “catholic ” city and the conversion center for a hoped for rapidly Catholicising Japan —until its almost total destruction.
Consequently, many history buff Catholics have always sought more information as to why Nagasaki was chosen as a site for atomic attack.
It’s an interesting piece of history but I am very glad to see it dying out.