In Japan, New Years is the most celebrated time of year. Hope you enjoy this weekend’s glance at Japan. Japan’s population is some 127 million. It is estimated that over 100 million people in Japan visited Shinto shrines the first three days of this New Year. It is a tradition in Japanese homes to visit […]

I had the chance to minister in the Aishin Junior College chapel service on December 6. What a thrill it was for me ⎯ and for the students who gathered for the last chapel service just before final exams. I do the English chapel service twice a month (bilingually). The message for that day was given to […]

See the little orange guys hanging on strings from a bamboo pole behind Mr. Koso Okada and the clothes pole in his yard? Those are persimmons drying in the fall sunlight. Mr. Okada is holding some that are called hoshi gaki (dried persimmons). Hoshi gaki are made from shibu gaki (astringent, that is having a harsh, biting quality). When […]

Had a call this morning from a brother in the church whose father had died very early this morning at 3:06 AM, in the middle of the night, but in fact, the darkest hour of the day. Today has been a day of busyness getting ready to make a two-hour trip to the wake tonight. The wake […]

This weekend the rice harvest will be about complete here in Japan. About two weeks ago I was driving by this field full of ripe rice when I noticed these scarecrows. Just like a little kid, I pointed out the window of the car and said to Andrea, “Look, look . . . scarecrows!” I stopped […]

Meet Junichi & Shigeko Hanada, faithful members and deacons in our church. The Hanadas are building a new house. It will be completed around the first of the New Year. During the building of the house, each day there will be something new added to its structure. God is building His church around the world and something […]

Ever found yourself at the end of the line, end of a rope or the end of a day, dreading tomorrow and never knowing what to do, or how things are going to turn out?   Meet Isaac Cain, son of Bruce & Shirley Cain of Cordova, AK. In this picture Isaac finds himself at the […]

Medama-yaki（目玉焼き）: fried egg (literal translation: fried eye ball) Which came first? The egg, or the chicken? This age-old question has puzzled the minds of countless children, and even adults. I’ve been thinking about this all week. At first I thought of sending you a picture of an egg frying on the asphalt here in Japan’s extraordinarily hot summer […]

How thick is your forest? How cloudy are the skies hanging over your head? This cross is seen rising up out of nowhere in the forest that surrounds the Roman Catholic Munakata Mokusou No Ie (House of Prayer).  When I took this picture, I thought of how we can become so bogged down that we […]

Meet Shizukiyo & Naoko Ishikawa. In front from left to right are their triplet-sons, Daichi, Ōzora, and Taiyō. The boys’ names mean BIG Earth, Sky and Sun. The Ishikawas used to attend our church, where Naoko-san played the piano during worship services.  Mr. Ishikawa was a medical doctor in the Munakata area until about four years […]