I had perched myself in a small cafe overlooking one of Tokyo’s streets, and for a brief moment I experienced hope.
Shibuya crossing in Tokyo Japan might be the busiest intersection in the world. Every few minutes all the traffic lights turn red allowing for thousands of people to cross the intersection in every direction. It is a chaotic scene in which people weave through one another to reach the other side. The crosswalk itself has become a tourist destination.
Shibuya crossing encapsulates my experience in Tokyo. A city of over 8 million people, it’s like Times Square on steroids. Flashing lights, restaurants, businesses, and countless stores line block after block and even mile after mile. Personally, while I can appreciate its beauty, I am one who is more drawn to the mountains. It is chaos, but in the midst of the noise, at least for a brief moment, I found peace.
My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Japan. We primarily traveled to run the Tokyo Marathon. Without realizing it, the dates of our vacation occurred over the 80th anniversary of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, which occurred on February 23, 1945. I wonder how many of the Japanese business men and women knew that as they weaved their way to the other side of that crossing? Probably not many.
As a Marine, I remember that date. On this trip it took on a new significance. It wasn’t just the ferocious battle of Iwo Jima or the other bloody battles of the Pacific that made me pause, but Japan as a whole moved me to reflect on the history of our two countries.
Places like Nagasaki and Hiroshima suddenly become all the more real to me as I looked Japanese people in the eye, as I took my shoes off before entering one of their sacred shrines, and as I was treated so graciously by a young Japanese man who took pride in the traditional Japanese breakfast he had just prepared for us.
The idea that we had dropped two atomic bombs indiscriminately on these people was more present to me than I would have anticipated. I wasn’t born when those bombs were dropped. I have read how the Pacific Ocean waters ran red with the blood of Marines. Still, looking at the faces of people whose not too distant ancestors experienced the horror of war left me with a sense of sadness and shame.
But it also left me with hope. What a difference 80 years can make. The grand children of those who attacked Pearl Harbor, who gunned down infantrymen by the thousands, who set off on kamikaze missions knowing they would never return but would kill as many as they could while they died, now shared a busy intersection with the grandchildren of those who used flamethrowers to burn their enemies alive, who annihilated an estimated 210,000 people in just a few minutes with many more to die due to radiation in the years to come, and who rounded up its own citizens of Japanese descent and placed them in camps.
In just 80 years brands like Toyota, Mizuno, Yamaha, and Pokemon are household names in the USA while Apple, North Face, and McDonalds can be found throughout Japan. Who would have thought that 80 years ago, these two warring nations would become such close allies?
Our trip to Japan was not all roses, or maybe it’s cherry blossoms. We experienced a tension being from the US that we have not faced in a long time. Many asked what was going on with our country, obviously not happy with the recent changes in foreign policy. Others flat out told us they were watching the implosion of the United States.
I couldn’t disagree.
There seems to be so much reason for despair. The church in North America continues its infighting even as it seems we are circling the drain together. The United States is as polarized as ever. Things are so bad even Canada is angry with us. We are seeing ecclesial and civil partnerships that have taken decades to build be undone in a matter of days.
I am not suggesting we sit idle and simply “Let go and Let God.” We are not to be still while the church and the country burn.
But Japan has taught that if we can humble ourselves to seek forgiveness, if we can do the difficult work of rebuilding broken relationships, if we are willing to reach out and embrace those with whom we have interacted with closed fists, a brighter future awaits. But the work of reconciliation cannot and will not be done by the hopeless.
I’ll be honest, I’m tired. But I will continue to press on with hope.
Header photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash
Shibuya at night photoby Emran Yousof on Unsplash
6 Responses
Thank you for this. I remember my Godfather refusing to buy any items that were made in Japan because of his service on Guam Island during the war.
Thanks for offering these important thoughts and experiences. My parents and I arrived in Japan in 1953, 8 years after Japan’s surrender. Japan was a very poor country. We were treated with respect and the deference shown by vanquished to victor. I was able to witness Japan rising from the ashes of war to being a global economic power. Your comments about some Japanese opinions of the USA are most thought provoking.
Your posting brought back many memories. I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, 50 km south of Tokyo, for 7 years. I’ve sat in that 2nd floor coffeeshop (Starbucks, right?) and watched the people crossing like ants. I also had the privilege of flying to Iwo Jima on a military plane and seeing the sight where the flag was raised. Your conclusions are fascinating. My experience was much different. For the Japanese, who are Buddhist, confession of wrongdoing is shameful and shames their ancestors. They have difficulty acknowledge their wrongdoing in the case of Korean “Comfort Women,” forcing Korean women into prostitution to serve occupying soldiers in WWII. The Germans, on the other hand, who as a society are influenced by Christianity, have confessed the wrongdoing of the Holocaust. “Never Again” is their cry of repentance. The Japanese continue to be hated throughout Asia, while the Germans have been welcomed back into the fellowship of Europeans. This is a relevant question for our current situation. Will the USA (and the CRC) confess the wrongdoing currently going on in our treatment of Canada (and Mexico . . and Denmark . . . and Panama. . .)? Will we eventually repent, confess, receive forgiveness, and be welcomed back into the community of democratic nations? Only time will tell.
Thanks Doug. I certainly would defer to your experiences as well as Steve’s. The question of repentance, or lack thereof, is crucial. I appreciate your response to my post. You have given me some things to think about.
As a hospice chaplain, I have had several elderly Chinese and Japanese patients talk to me about their experiences of learning to confess, forgive, and see the other as not just human but as friends. Their stories fill me with hope, that such great suffering and wrong can end, through gods Grace, in peace. Without confession, repentance, and forgiveness, we can only destroy ourselves and others.
According to AI (with some support from the NYT), Japan has apologized several times for WW2. In 1993, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yōhei Kōno issued a formal apology for the wartime use of “comfort women.” Other apologies have been given by various officials (often at an anniversary of WW2). It may not satisfy everyone and some officials have down played their role and still visit the Yasukuni Shrine. When will the USA apologize for slavery by making reparations? We all have a lot to repent of, right?