Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:6-7
We have completed our first month in Japan. Thank you to everyone who has inspired, encouraged, and supported us through this on-going transition! We are happy to report that our first few weeks in Japan have gone well. It is evident that God has been preparing the path before us, and your prayers are an important part of that.
Most of the month of August has been one giant hodgepodge of setting up services, making trips to various stores, researching and making initial purchases, and taking care of all of those items for starting life in a new country. No two days have been exactly the same, and routine has been hard to find. We are thankful for Sundays and the consistency that the morning Worship brings to our week. Keeping with the nature of these past few weeks, our report this month will primarily be a collection of short snippets and a handful of representative photos.
We arrived safely at Haneda Airport, and so did our luggage! Immigration and customs was surprisingly smooth and in no time we were dropping off paperwork with the movers (for our stuff from the States) and purchasing bus tickets for the ride out to Tachikawa.
As we were descending into Tokyo, Emily managed to get this picture of Fuji-san saying “Welcome to Japan!” There were other mountain ranges poking up through the clouds as well, but it is always neat to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji.
After a long day of travel (by car, then plane, then plane, then bus, then car), the Fukushima’s gave us the best kind of welcome by taking us to one of our favorite restaurants – Hama Sushi. Yum! It was a treat to enjoy good food and even better conversation. We are so grateful to be starting this journey alongside some of the very best mentors one could hope for.
One blessing that I am very grateful for is the opportunity to use part of a room in the church building as an office. I spent the better part of a day rearranging existing furniture, moving boxes and other items, and giving this space a good deep cleaning. Emily and Noriko helped as well with scrubbing floors and vacuuming carpets. I ordered some bookshelves from Ikea and got the space prepped for when the rest of my stuff (i.e. books) arrives from the States.
A top priority for this month has been to find a place to live. A Tachikawa member recommended a foreigner-friendly realtor’s office, so the Fukushima’s accompanied us for an initial meeting. Fukunaga-san was extremely diligent and understanding throughout the process, and we are happy to have secured a place that is very close to the church building and quite convenient to other locations (multiple grocery stores, a monorail station, and an all-important 7-Eleven!). It is within our budget and on a quiet street. We pick up the keys this coming Friday, and we are looking forward to meeting our new neighbors!
Of course, a big part of securing a place to live is also signing up for all of the various utilities as well. Water, natural gas, electricity, and internet are all separate companies. A huge shout-out to Nao-san for helping us with Japanese-only phone calls and arranging matters with these providers. He also accompanied us to Tachikawa City Hall and helped us register our Residence Cards, apply for MyNumber cards (a government ID number similar to social security numbers in the states), sign on with the national healthcare service, and initiate participation in the national pension system. I can’t begin to imagine what a mess it would be if we had to do all that strictly on our own!
August included a fifth Sunday, and we were treated to a visit from the Taylor family. Leslie preached during worship and then he and Sara (and kids) joined us for a long lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was so good to reconnect with Leslie and Sara, and the conversation we enjoyed was meaningful and encouraging. They are doing great work in nearby Matsudo, and we have much that we can learn from them. By the way, the Matsudo church is currently raising funds to replace their aging (and crumbling) church building. If you are interested in knowing more, please click here.
Emily has been helping prepare communion on Sunday mornings before worship. It is often a thankless job, but one that Noriko does with tender care and faithfulness. Rather than purchase pre-packaged communion sets, she hand-folds a small origami pouch for each piece of cracker and makes film covers for each paper cup of juice. It is definitely a labor of love.
Emily has also been attending a Wednesday evening ladies Bible class hosted by Jeanne Ray, missionary in Tomobe. The class meets virtually through LINE and includes both English and Bible study. Most of the class members are Japanese ladies who are not yet believers. It is a meaningful time of sharing, and Emily is appreciating getting to learn from another missionary through participation in the group.
And of course, we are reminded now and then that Mt. Fuji is never too far away, even if we don’t see it much of the time because of clouds or other weather. I think there is a spiritual application there, for those willing to consider it.
As some of you know, Emily and I are fans of Japanese Grand Sumo. It is Japan’s national sport, and we have really enjoyed learning how each wrestler develops their own style of wrestling. Sumo tournaments last 15 days and they happen six times per year (during the odd-numbered months). In the summertime between tournaments, many of the wrestlers go on a “summer tour” to promote the sport and interact with fans in different parts of the country. During our short-term mission trips in the summers of 2024 and 2025, Emily and I lamented that the tour comes through Tachikawa at the end of August and we were only staying in Japan through mid-July.
To our great joy, Noriko received a message looking for volunteers to help get ready for this summer’s tour and she asked if we would be interested in participating. We jumped at the opportunity! The tour event itself was scheduled for a Sunday and we didn’t want to miss worship, but the prep day fell on Saturday and offered a unique look into what goes into a sumo event. Yes, please! Although we knew there wouldn’t be any wrestlers present, it was still quite an interesting day.
Clay was able to join the group of 16 guys tasked with building the dohyo (the dirt sumo ring), and the rest of the volunteers helped setup everything else. The main version built for a real tournament is made entirely of clay, but the temporary version used in the summer tour consists of a frame structure, some foam risers, and then a top layer of dirt just about 8 inches thick. We assembled the frame, loaded the middle with rigid foam blocks, covered them with multiple layers of flat board, then used wheelbarrows to bring in the clay. Once it was all in place, it was hammered many times over until it was a flat, smooth surface. Then, a trench was dug in a circle of just the right size, and the rice bales were installed in the trench and then packed into place with more clay. Eventually, after several more rounds of hammering the surface, it was all ready to go.
In the meantime, Emily was working with the floor crew to mark off the seating area. They went over the whole floor using a measuring tape and sharpie markers to layout the grid precisely, then went back over it all with red tape to establish where each seat cushion should be placed. Then they went back over it all again and placed numbered stickers (and more clear tape over top) to identify each square for the next day’s ticket holders. Eventually, a souvenir cushion was placed in each spot. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! All of the volunteers were really enjoying getting to be a part of a sumo event and several said they were planning to come back the next day and watch the wrestlers. People seemed genuinely intrigued that two Americans would sign up for such a work day, but everyone was glad for us to participate and we enjoyed chatting with several of them through the day.
We even managed to make it into a local news report! A camera crew was there for part of the afternoon documenting the preparations, and they asked if we might give them an interview! If you’re interested, you can view the clip here.
And wouldn’t you know… God had plans for this day as well. All through the day, Emily was chatting off and on with one couple in particular. The husband had pretty good English ability and he was happy to explain some things about sumo. Near the end of the day, though, Emily was chatting with the wife when she finally realized that she recognized Emily from their childhood! This woman remembered the Albright family from when they worked with the Uenohara church years ago. She was quite emotional once she put two-and-two together. What a great moment of connection through the years!
The last week of August finally brought the return of some sort of routine. We turned our weekday morning alarms back on because it was the start of our Fall semester of language school. It will be both challenging and rewarding, but after this first week we can probably also add overwhelming. We really enjoy the teachers and fellow students, and we love the fact that it is a language school specifically geared toward teaching the Japanese language with missions in mind. I know that the language will eventually come with patience and consistency, but starting out has us scratching our heads a number of times already. We trust our teachers (and our Lord!), so we are giving it our best. May God grant us understanding and persistence.
And finally, this month’s report wraps up with a shot of Clay enjoying a live stream of the Harding Bison’s first football game of the season while in the train on our morning commute. It was a Thursday night game for them, but Friday morning game for us. Emily has also made good use of our commuting time by joining her Wednesday evening ladies Bible class during our Thursday morning commute. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a different part of the train car and couldn’t discreetly get a good picture of her enjoying the Zoom call on her phone. Isn’t technology great?!
~ Clay
