Hiatus Post   2020.04.08   Wednesday   休けい時間　きゅうけい　じかん　

令和2年4月8日  　水曜日

This is a big week for religious celebrations in three of the world’s great religions.

宗教　　しゅうきょう　　“religion”  “teaching/doctrine”

For most Christians, Good Friday, the Crucifixion, will be, of course, this Friday; and Easter, the Resurrection will be this coming Sunday. (For Eastern Orthodox believers, Holy Week will be one week later.)　There are quite a few churches in Japan, of various denominations, but the number of Christians is small, less than 2%, from what I’ve read. In Yokohama, a short bus ride from where my daughter and I lived, there were three very active churches:  Christ Church on the Bluff (Anglican), St. Mary’s (Roman Catholic), and Yokohama Union Church (Dutch Reformed).  They cooperated happily on the major holidays, like Easter. Members included both foreigners and Japanese nationals.

復活祭　　ふっかつさい　　Easter 

                                           “restore, return-to”  “living”  “ritual”

イースター                                     Easter

For Jewish people, tonight will be the first night of Passover, celebrated by the Seder dinner, with special foods and a service in commemoration of the Jews’ liberation from enslavement in Egypt. There was a big Sephardic synagogue in downtown Tokyo when my daughter and I lived in Japan, run by Israelis and protected by strict security.  Even then there were occasional attacks against it and against the Israeli Embassy.  Now there are a few orthodox or Hasidic communities, too, I hear.  In general, Japan has been more tolerant of Jews than other countries.  During World War 2, for example, there was a Jewish newspaper published and distributed freely in Kobe, where a fairly large number of Jewish refugees lived quietly, despite Japan’s formal alliance with Nazi Germany.

過ぎ越し　すぎこし　　Passover  “go-beyond”  “cross-over”

                             (Apparently some people in Japan use this word for

                               Easter, as well.  I never heard that while I lived in

                               Yokohama, though)

過越のセダー   すぎこし　の　セダー    Passover Seder

And Japan celebrates the Buddha’s birthday today, April 8^th.  In some places, on this date and others, Japanese believers may pour a special liquid over small Buddhist statues, washing them reverently．Midwest Buddhist Temple in Chicago, a temple of the “New Pure Land” sect of Buddhism that has many Japanese-American members, celebrates on this date.

潅仏会　かんぶつえ　　　“pour”  “Buddha” “meeting/party”  

花祭り　はな　まつり          “flower” “festival”

My impression is that many Japanese people think of themselves as fairly distant from formal or organized religion (though the Emperor publicly celebrates Shinto holidays).  Still, many of them go to the Shinto shrines on New Years’ Day or arrange for Buddhist priests to preside over their loved ones’ funerals.  This is similar to America’ society-wide celebration of the Christmas holiday here.  Most Americans join in, regardless of their religious affiliation.  I know Muslims and atheists who celebrate secular Christmas with Christmas trees and presents for the children.

イスラム教　いすらむきょう　“Islam”  “teachings/doctrine”

不可知論　　ふかちろん　　Agnosticism 

                                                      “negative”  “possible”  “know”  “discourse”

無神論　　　むしんろん　　Atheism   

                                                     “negative/nothing” “god” “discourse”

Japanese 3-4                                          Japanese 5-6

The assignment for today (but not homework), is to think about your own relation to religion and religious holidays.  What does your family celebrate?  How do you feel about it?

My wish for you this week, and always, is good health, safety, and happiness.

Please complete 火曜日の宿題 Tuesday’s homework and send it to me by　来週の月曜日 next Monday.