kinders run full marathon

It was near the end of the regular evening news on Asahi TV channel. Tonight's feature was on a kindergarten (星子幼稚園) in Osaka.

The principal of the kindergarten is a 76 year-old man. But that is not the most special thing about the kindergarten.

The first thing that would strike a visitor entering the kindergarten for the first time is that the children, boys and girls, are running around shirtless.

With only a pair of little white pants on, they run around the compound doing everything from more physical activities like wiping the floor, cleaning, climbing frames to more sedentary ones like reading and drawing.

Every morning, the 76-year-old principal will lead the children in a 5 km run - this also done shirtless.

Despite it being already deep into autumn, the active children don't feel cold at all. And, none of them is forced to participate in any of the activities - yet all take part with zest.

That Mr Principal loves the children is plain to all, but he is also strict with them. Punishment is meted out to (1) trouble makers, (2) bullies and (3) those who don't greet properly.

And it is not just the children who get educated, Mr Principal educates the parents too, running seminars on parenting for parents of the children under his care. "An adult who can't greet properly cannot bring up his children well," he commented.

And once a year in autumn, Mr Principal leads his upper year children in a marathon - the full 42.195 km!!

Young Tetsuya (not his real name) was one of the 13 children in the upper year. He was determined to finish his run.

Being able to run at all is no mean feat for Tetsuya who was born with disabilities in his legs. He was 3 years old when he finally took his first very wobbly step.

Tetsuya knew that kids in this kindergarten all take part in a marathon, yet he wanted to join the school. The daily 5 km run in the morning was very difficult for him, yet slowly he built up his strength, and before the year was out, his parents were amazed to see him running 5 km everyday effortlessly.

"I will finish all 42.195 km!" Young Testuya declared.

The big day came. All the parents were down at the river to help and support. A water station is set up after every kilometre.

As the children stop for the water, Mr Principal will decide if any of the children should retire from the race.

As Testuya became more and more tired, the time came when Mr Principal asked him to retire, "From here on you are a supporter. Cheer your friends on to the finishing line."

Tetsuya was disppointed, but obeyed. Meanwhile, the rest of the children ran on with Mr Principal.

Near the finishing line, at the last kilometre mark, the focus shifts to another boy, Kohei, who is falling behind.

Kohei has always been the fastest at sprinting but now he was learning about the reality of a marathon.

Angry and disappointed with himself for falling behind everyone, he nonetheless pushed on, crying.

Finally, as the sun set, Kohei made it to the finishing line. There cheering louder than anyone else for him was Tetsuya, and waiting for young Kohei with open arms was his 76-year-old Principal.

"It is not about finishing," Mr Principal said. "Even those who don't finish learn valuable lessons in life."

Saved! Out of darkness

On the night of the 24th October, typhoon no. 20 that started off from the Philippines headed towards Japan and arrived earlier than was expected. At the time,the fishing vessel Daiichi Koufukumaru (第１幸福丸) had finished the day's catch and was on its way back to port. Apart from the captain Makiyama Shingo (牧山新吾), the other 7 crew members onboard were sleeping in the little cabin at the bottom of the ship.

At 8.14pm, crew member Nyuubara(33 years old) woke up from the commotion. The captain was heard shouting something from the deck and Nyuubara saw 2 other crew members escaping from the cabin.

However, Nyuubara and 2 other crew members, Hayakawa (age 38) and Utsunomiya (age 57) were trapped by a fallen refrigerator. Two other crew members were missing from the room and must have escaped. The ship had overturned in the strong typhoon and water was coming into the cabin.

"We were too slow! If only we had realised just a bit earlier!" The 3 fishermen felt the death sentence declared on them.

As the water rose to waist level, they knew that they would loose body heat staying in the water and climbed overhead onto what was the floor planks of the cabin.

In that narrow space, they could only lie faceup side by side, occasionally asking one another if each is still alive.

There was no food and the only bottle of water that floated by turned out to have a foul smell and was abandoned.

Fortunately for them, the ship, though overturned, did not sink. However, in the strong wind and waves, the rocking ship caused severe bruises to the men trying to stay on the plank.

In the pitch dark, the fishermen wondered, "How will I take my last breath? Is it really possible to be rescued? When will the oxygen run out?"

Nyuubara, the youngest of the 3 thought, " If only we can get out of this darkness we will be saved!"

However, his 2 more experienced partners told him not to attempt anything foolish in the bad weather.

"If we ever get out of this, let's go drinking together!" They said to one another, trying to keep their spirits up.

4 days after Daiichi Koufukumaru overturned, the sea finally became still and the ship stable. "The typhoon must have passed! Today, surely, rescue will come!"

True enough, they heard knocking sound overhead, "Is anybody still in there?!"

Finally, after a record 90 hours from the overturn of the vessel, the 3 men were rescued. The first light of hope they saw was the torch light of the divers who came to their rescue, but the greatest moment was when they surfaced from the water and looked at the sun and the blue sky above them.

The captain, unfortunately was found dead while the other 4 crew members are still missing.

The miracle of the fishermen's survival was due to a number of factors in their favour.

According to specialist Professor Takeda, the ship overturning very quickly meant that more oxygen remained in the cabin. The overturned ship remained stable and did not sink, despite a crack in the body. Instead the crack let in air from the sea. The rough waves crashing again the walls also released oxygen from the water into the air. On top of this, the men remained still and so did not exhaust the oxygen.

Finally, as the rescued fishermen also testified, "If there were not 3 of us together, it wouldn't have been possible to survive!" Their mutual encouragement kept them from despair.

If you are interested, here is also the YouTube link to the news report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kqwksnIkfM

Homeless Boxer

Recently we saw a very moving true story of a 16-year-old boxer on TV.

Young Takashima Tatsuhiro (surname first) started shoot boxing (similar to kick boxing) when he was in 4th grade elementary school.

His father had died 2 years before, and as the 3rd of 5 children, he helped out at home with housework and the care of his 2 younger siblings. Attracted by the sound and activity of the boxing gym across his home, he started boxing.

However, in his 1st year in junior high school, exhausted with housework, childcare and training, he started to miss school. Eventually he left home one day in his school uniform.

Penniless and starving, he wandered to a river side where he saw a 50-something homeless man picking up empty tin cans. Takashima asked to stay with the older man.

Though surprised, the man, whom Takashima came to call "O-chan" (an affectionate way of saying "uncle"), took the boy back to his tent, set up from a simple blue sheet.

O-chan fed young Takashima his own share of leftover food collected from rubbish bins and covered the boy with his own blanket.

Takashima's homeless lifestyle continued for half a year until one cold day in February.

"Go home! I've no more money." O-chan said.

Young Takashima realised that O-chan was concerned for his future and, moved by the older man's love, he decided to go home. Before leaving, he promised O-chan to work hard at shoot boxing and to become a champion.

True to his promise, Takashima trained hard and fought his way to the top. Today, he is a professional shoot boxer with a promising future.

Having fulfilled his promise, Takashima tried looking for "O-chan" but the latter has re-located. Takashima does not know O-chan's real name nor has he a photograph of the older man. With only a drawn picture in hand, he spends his time between training and school looking for O-chan.

But like an angel who came mysteriously and disappeared to one-knows-not-where, O-chan cannot be found.

"I fight every match hoping that O-chan is in the crowd or watching the match on TV somewhere."

We don't need wealth, title or talents to give to others. All we need is the sincere love of God.

earthquakes

Our friend, Hamaji, was having dinner with us when our apartment started to sway.
It was the strongest earthquake we had experienced so far.

Fortunately nothing fell or suffered any damage and we continued with our dinner, TV and conversation.

Since that evening, we experienced 2 more quakes with other parts of Japan suffering greater damage.

I was reminded once again of the movie "The Sinking of Japan", screened in Singapore as well as in Japan in 2006. http://www.tbs.co.jp/movie/english/soj/

The reviews in Singapore, both in the Straits Times and of friends, were negative.
"Boring", "poor attempt at disaster movie", "draggy"...

However, every Japanese I knew who saw the film was profoundly touched.

I was intrigued by the difference in response.

This year, we had the opportunity to see the film on TV and understood why.

To a foreigner, the disasters in the movie were unreal, the buildings that collapsed held no significance and the different towns and cities looked the same.

To a Japanese, the reality of earthquakes is ever present, the buildings (Shibuya 109, Tokyo Tower etc) are familiar landmarks that evoke memories and maybe signify dreams, the towns and cities are their homes. That each place looked exactly the same in the movie - dilapidated with volcanic soot raining constantly on them - marked the scale of the nightmare. Japan was sinking, and as we followed the family trying to escape to diffenrent parts of Japan, we know the awful truth that they dared only half suspect: there was no escape.

We cried watching the movie.

Although we are not Japanese, we have come to love this people and their home. The make-belief suffering on screen reflects too powerfully the actual pain and fear of the people.

Whether or not one is moved by the movie, in the end, boils down to whether we watch it as an unconcerned outsider or as "one of them".

I reflected too, the spiritual reality that was reflected in the film. How much pain it must inflict on God to daily watch the people he created running in circles, trying in vain to escape from lostness and death.

How we ache to shout at them, "Here is the exit! Come!"

How much more their God, who daily stretches out his hands.

For some clips from the film, see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNQNFsE_iJc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJ6Cftc-E8

The blossoms in the night sky

In the summer months of July and August, Japanese towns across the country have their local fireworks parties (花火大会).

The Sumida River Fireworks is one of the most impressive and renown. Dating back to the Edo period, when samurai walked the street, the Sumida River Fireworks first started in 1733 and was revived in 1978. This year it let off as many as 21,500 fireworks, lighting up the night sky with huge firery blossoms, attracting 948,000 people.

One moment, a purple flower, another an incandescent of many clours bloomed against the breezy summer night. Then there was a sudden attack, as though the war of the stars had begun, energetically shooting their colours in every direction. And just as the thousands of lights fell off the sky, there was a surprsing blssoming of spring-like sakura. At other times, tadpoles of many colours swam in the dark pool of the night, playful and carefree.

It is amazing how richly expressive fireworks can be, and how the same explosives for making destructive and cruel bombs can move us with so much delight and joy, how we can be lifted to a glimpse of the endless praise of the Most High.

After the party, we strolled home, our clogs making old fashion hollow sound against the street. How good to have been a part of the city's community events, to have enjoyed ourselves without fear of being mugged or shouted at, without drunkards threatening us and, despite the crowd of nearly a million, to be able to move unhassled down the road and all the way home.

Welcome Home!

After 2 months of "Home Assignment" in Singapore, we got back to home in Tokyo.

The thing about living in a foreign country is that, after a few years, you don't quite know which is HOME.

It is when our Japanese family and friends say to us, "Welcome Home!", that we know they have truly accepted us and considered us part of this place they all call home.

Last night (3rd night we since coming home), in the middle of our favourite TV show, our friend, Hamaji, phoned.

Before we contacted him to announce that we are back, he has remembered and was so excited that he risked interrupting our TV show rather than wait to phone us at a later time.

Home is where the heart is, and where somebody thinks you should belong.

Lessons from Baseball

Once again, Japan has won the World Baseball Classics championship!

After playing terribly at the Beijing Olympics, trying to retain the WBC trophy from 2006 seemed an impossibility.

Despite a very shaky start, however, the team (aptly named "Samurai Japan") beat one strong team after another to win the title a second time.

Watching the exuberant welcome back given to the Samurai Japan team, I glimpsed anew what words like "honour, glory, praise" mean.

Bathing in genuine delight, evident pride and overflowing love is honour and glory; the giving of these is praise and worship. And whichever side one is on - giving or receiving the glory - it's exhilarating; it's euphoric.

And so I grow in anticipation for the day when we will, more than a million times, multiple this euphoria in the praise and worship of our Lord Jesus.

There are other lessons I learned from the WBC.

"We want to show the world what Japanese baseball is", "We want to show our children the joy of baseball", "Many children will be inspired to play baseball," are some often heard comments on Japanese TV.

And it struck me: this is exactly what we are trying to do in evangelism and mission!

Not because we pity people, not to swell our churches and add to our success, but simply because the joy of loving God is so great, and because we are so proud of our heavenly father and so fond of him, that we want the world to see and be inspired to taste the goodness of it.

Finally,
One of the reasons for Samurai Japan's success was its superior team spirit and unity.

"They really became one," was on the lips of many a commentator.

Japanese really understand and relish the joy of being one.
For instance, the theme of Tokyo marathon is "The Day Tokyo Unites".

May we, who are called to be one in Christ, truly live out what it means to be one, not striving for personal success or glory but loving one another and working together towards a common love. Then will not our Japanese friends, when they see the Oneness in Christ, be hooked on that beauty?

Going the 5th mile

How we ended up looking for a parking space to rent is a slightly long story...
But anyway, we ended up looking for a parking space to rent.

The area was Kita-senju. A bustling centre in an older part of Metropolitan Tokyo.
Cost of parking would double what we pay for in our sleepy Chiba suburban town...That was what we were prepared for.

But the actual search turned out that it wasn't double. It was quadruple or more.

On Wednesday, we received a letter from Mr Kimura, the staff of "PH Estate Agency", which we were using.

He had copied a map of the area and marked out 8 to 9 car park lots. Each lot had a post-it note stuck next to it, giving the rental cost. Finally, on the right hand side of the map, Mr Kimura wrote, "And the nearest lot with the most reasonable price is......Lot #1 !"

We were deeply impressed by the high standard of Japanese service which goes the extra mile to help us make a good decision.

We had already felt an affinity towards Mr Kimura before this.

He had helped us well in our search for a new flat and shown us around the area.
As we looked around empty apartments and walked around the vicinity, he had, in between pointing out the pros and cons of the area, told us much about himself and his past.

"You would want to take into consideration the elementary school nearby," he would say.

"Oh, what's wrong with that?" we asked.

"Well, the school bell chimes every hour, so it might annoy you if you need to rest in the day. I find it very annoying myself."

"Ah, I see."

"This room faces the road and in this area, bikers may disturb you at night. I should know since I am a biker..."

"Aha!"

After about 3 of such excursions, we had heard about his surfing hobby, his student days, previous job and lifestyle, his cars and bikes, his wife and her sleeping habits, his going-to-be-born-anytime baby, his current flat, his blood type, etc.

The seemingly shy and diffident looking young man we first set eye on in the PH Estate Agency office had turned out to be friendly, personable and extremely helpful.

As we considered the different parking options he sourced out for us, we wanted to take a walk to see how long it would take to walk to the various parking lots before fixing on one.

"We will decide after looking at the place," we told Mr Kimura over the phone.
And as Mr Kimura insisted on accompanying us there and showing us the place, we met at the office and he showed us more maps of where the parking lots were. He had marked out all possible parking lots in the area.

When he was taking us around the marked out lots, we found out that he had spent the day before, his only day off in the week, going around in his private car to personally test out the convenience of each lot.

"This car park's disadvantage is that there is only one entrance/exit. So when the traffic is held up by the traffic light, you can get stuck for quite a while.... And for this other one,your car should have no problem going in. If my huge car can get in, yours should be fine too," he had even taken into consideration the size of our car.

That was a cold, dark rainy Thursday evening. The next day, on Friday, at about 9 pm, just as we had finished house church, the phone rang.

It was Mr Kimura.
"I have bargained down the price of the lots in location B," he said, "Can I send you the plan of the car park by email?"

The final price Mr Kimura had bargained down to was just double (not quadruple, not even triple) our current car park lot -- what we had originally naively thought we could pay and much lower than what we had subsequently resigned ourselves to paying.

"Thank you so very much, Mr Kimura. But, please, don't overwork for our sake. Please get some rest!"

We feel touched and, indeed, loved by this service personnel who has gone far beyond his duty to serve us and who has, in some measure, begun to share a little of himself with us.

We feel deep in our hearts that in this Japanese young man, who has yet to know the deep love of God, we have met someone who has demonstrated what Jesus means by going the extra mile beyond what is asked. In fact, we feel that Mr Kimura has gone about 5 miles on our behalf.

We pray that our encounter will not stop here, and that one day he and his family will come to know the friendship of the One who loves him and who has gone all the way for him.