Note: As I continue to learn the Japanese language and culture, these Spotlight posts seek to highlight things I find curious, interesting, and meaningful. The relationship between language and culture runs deep. In fact, there are many points where it gets hard to tell one from the other. “Language is not merely an indifferent mechanism for cataloguing men’s experience but the language itself affects the cataloguing process…. The language system of each culture is a fluid factor in culture; it varies with each generation and serves as clue to its thinking as well as actually coloring and molding this thinking.” In other words, if I am going to learn how to reach Japanese people, I need to understand how Japanese people think. The process of how they think is intimately intwined with the language they use. Unfortunately for us, it goes far beyond simply using “Google Translate” to come up with the right vocabulary. Language embeds the foundational concepts of culture into everyday interaction. So, deeper we go into this wonderful world of language exploration! Much of this information comes from Charles Corwin’s Biblical Encounter with Japanese Culture (Tokyo, 1967).
Here in the U.S., many characteristics and practices of the Christian faith are so well-known that they become part of our culture and you can simply refer to them by name. Most people have a pretty decent grasp of what you are referring to – even if they aren’t Christians. It is part of what makes the fabric of our culture, and so you hear it frequently in our daily lives coming from a great variety of places. The concept of prayer is no different. For most Americans, the idea of prayer naturally just comes with the related (but distinct) idea that there is someone you are praying to. In Japan, however, things are a bit more obscure.
As a land dominated by the dual influences of Buddhism and Shintoism, Japan has a very different experience with prayer. In the first place, Buddhism (in its purest form) has no God which might hear prayers. Buddhists rely on sacred texts which serve to help them refine their own thinking, but the version of prayer that Buddhist adherents perform are not petitions as we know them. Instead, they are simply expressions of their conviction to attaining buddhahood. In other words, rather than sending prayers out to some deity, they are turning their prayers back inward to influence their own thinking.
Shinto, on the other hand, believes that a whole pantheon of kami exists in the world, particularly in nature. They might be guardian spirits, deceased ancestors, or other undefined spiritual forces which exert influence over daily life. Consequently, practitioners perform specific actions such as clapping and ringing bells, particularly at public facilities where these kami are enshrined. They hope that the actions will serve to announce their presence to the kami and attract its attention so that their petition for some kind of material blessing might be heard.
Christian prayer, on the other hand, has a relational dimension that gives it a completely different foundation. As we seek to deepen our personal relationship with a loving and responsive Father God, our prayers take on a much fuller role. Jesus’s teaching on prayer and especially his example of a life rooted in prayer is very illustrative. One scholar put it this way: “The prayer of Jesus is so much an attitude that the individual acts are secondary; yet the Christ who is in such constant touch with God can also turn to the Father in petition and intercession and intercede for His own.” Prayer, for a Christian, includes a certainty of being heard. There is no need for getting God’s attention, because prayer is rooted in an existing relationship with God.
The difference in concept between Japanese culture and Christian thought can be large. In Japan, man initiates and calls forth a spiritual power to assist him with a specific need or goal. For the Christian, prayer is instead a response to the loving providence already provided by God and any petitions which might be made are done so in confidence that God will ultimately provide the very best for His people. Prayer is a natural extension of an already established personal relationship initiated by God.
~ Clay
Fowlers in Japan 