Japan - A Nation In Heart Crisis

Japan – A Nation in Heart Crisis

Japan, the land of the rising sun, known as the world’s second-wealthiest country, has charmed many nations with her cultural icons like sushi, kimono or hello kitty. However, twenty years on from the collapse of their ‘bubble’ economy in 1989, they are still suffering the aftermath of it and struggling to recover.

The nation now has the highest suicide rate and the lowest birthrate among all industrialized countries. They also have rising incidents of untreated cases of depression. As of July this year, 30,000 had committed suicide, an average of 90 a day. There is also a growing phenomenon of group suicide committed by complete strangers who meet on the internet. Alcoholism and depression are also rampant, while fatigue and burnt-out from overworking continue to claim thousands of causalities each year. Statistics reflect that Japan now has the highest number of hospitalized mental patients in the world and the average hospital stay for such cases is also the longest at 406 days.

More troubling than all the above is the discovery that there are over one million young men who literally shut themselves in their rooms, sealing their windows and refusing to leave the room for months or even years -- withdrawing from society and becoming modern-day hermits. These people are not depressive or psychotic, neither are they classics agoraphobics (those who fear public spaces but welcome friends into their own homes), their conditions are also not diagnosed as being schizophrenic or having mental defects. What happened to them is that they simply shutdown emotionally. In Japan, this syndrome is known as Hikikomori (social withdrawal syndrome). Experts estimate that at least 60% of the Japanese populations are suffering from some symptoms of hikikomori. It seems that it is a national pandemic.

Some therapists diagnosed the key cause of hikikomori to be the absence of enduring affection and evidence of emotional neglect from parent to child, that is, there is an incomplete attachment between a child and his parents. Many homes in Japan are dysfunctional, they are cold and silent, and parents seldom talk to each other or to their children. Most Japanese parents consciously or subconsciously neglect or ignore the emotional well-being of their children. Many might express love and attention to their children when they are in the public with others, but at home, they may go hours or even days without speaking to the child. And for some, besides absence of communication between parents, there is hatred – hatred from the wife to the husband. Some mothers are known to turn their children into hikikomori to punish their husbands for the inequities inflicted into the family life. Many fathers especially, are wordless or emotionless towards their family members. And a child’s self-expression is very commonly forbidden in traditional Japanese families. The children are conditioned not to complain or express their true feelings to their parents. This, in addition to the parents’ inconsistent show of affection to the child in public and at home, caused the child to develop dual personality- the distrustful, confused inner self and the compulsively pleasing, co-dependent outer self.

However, some traced Hikikomori’s origin to intergeneration tension, to the adults who, in their younger days, were traumatically jarred by World War II in 1945. Many soldiers returned from the war -- defeated, traumatized, unable to reconcile with the atrocities that they have committed; some buried their guilt in silence, not daring to express their horror and shame over what they have done, whether in the massacre of civilians in Nanjing, China, or with the forced induction of “comfort women” as sex slaves.

Yet, there are some who attribute the fear and distrust to the cultural oppression of the Tokugawa era, where severe measures were taken to suppress Christianity. Such control resulted in a fearful and distrustful national temperament, where self expression almost always resulted in punishment. Distrust is so rampant that spouses cannot be transparent with their spouses, nor parents with children. Physical intimacy is so infrequent that some of Japan’s leading homebuilders report that more than one in three custom homes is built with separate bedrooms for husband and wife. True intimacy is also very difficult in such superficial relationships. And even in group gatherings, where people appear to be laughing away and having a good time, in reality they may be exhausted as they have to work so hard at keeping up with appearances. In gatherings like this, a smile can even be a sign of anger or hatred.

Most Japanese also do not have a strong conviction of absolute truth or ethical principles. They can visit a Shinto shrine to pray for health and prosperity; conduct their wedding ceremony in a Christian Church because of the status it conveys and at death, be cremated in a Buddhist temple. Unfortunately, after becoming a Christian, these character traits linger on and many live lives that compromise the truth.

A vast body of research in cultural psychology also shows that Japanese tend to be self-critical and focus on ways on how they can ‘improve themselves’ to meet the expectations of others. They always believe in adjusting rather then influencing, thus, they tend to modify their behavior to suit a situation. “Self-esteem” does not seem to exist in their culture, as one Japanese said, “we have only group esteem, not self-esteem”.

School bullying is also rampant and a quarter of middle school students reportedly suffered from depression. This further triggers the phenomena of hikikomori. There is also a growing number of “parasite singles”, the name given to single women who continue to depend on their parents and refuse to leave home, get married, or bear children. The society is denying the well-being of individuals, and if this continues, the nation is heading for a melt down. The nation truly is in desperation and they are in serious crisis, a crisis of the heart. If there is no intervention, the sun over the nation will soon eclipse.

However, we believe there is hope for the Japanese nation. For we know that God “desire all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim.2:4). We serve a God that specializes in the impossible and He is able to turn any ashes to beauty. He is great in mercy and compassion, surely, in His good time, the light of the gospel will shine through into the nation. But now, God is looking for people who are willing to stand in the gap for the nation, to intercede for those who are perishing. In the book of Malachi, God promise that in the last days, “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Mal.4:2). Salvation is God’s rescue of the entire person and healing is His complete repair of that person. God’s plan through our Lord Jesus is to bring healing to the soul that has sinned and restore the broken hearted (Ps.41:4; 147:3). In this passage, the Messiah is compared to a rising sun, which has visible, radiant beams of sunlight streaming outward in all directions. From each of these beams of glorious light, healing flows. He will also “send Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord…to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Mal.4:5-6).

1n the year 2005, God has impressed upon our hearts with this Scripture as a strategy and burden for the nation of Japan. “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you…Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you…” (Gen.13: 15-17)

Since then, we felt the Spirit of God leading and compelling us to embark on a mission of prayer walk covering the entire nation, reaching to the four corners of the country – north, south, east and west – making intercession and claiming it by faith for His kingdom just as Abraham claimed Canaan for his descendants, by walking the land in obedience to the Lord’s command.

In 2005, we started our prayer journey obediently and took two prayer trips, one in September where we covered the land from Hokkaido (the most northern part of Japan) to Okinawa (the most southern part of Japan) and another in November, being directed by the Holy Spirit to cover just the island of Hokkaido.

In 2006, our prayer trips covered northern and central Honshu, the largest main island in Japan. This island consists of many major and strategic cities for the gospel to spread throughout the nation. They include cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe and the most northern city Aomori, which link the main island to Hokkaido.

In 2007, we continued our journey to cover the southern island of Honshu, with major cities like Hiroshima and also the island Kyushu, with cities like Fukuoka and Nagasaki, and finally, the most remote island Shikoku.

We will continue to stand in the gap for the nation of Japan in whatever manner as the Lord's lead. We earnestly seek your co-laboring in prayers and in financial support for this mission. If the Lord has given you the burden and love to support our family in this mission, kindly make your cheque contributions payable to “Sower’s Wheat”, with Japan prayer trip written at the back of your cheque and more importantly, please remember us and the work of this mission in your prayers.

We sincerely thank God for your co-laboring and love. It is our constant prayer that the Lord will bless your lives richly and reward you abundantly with a hundredfold return for your faith and sacrifice.

Thank You!