Posted January 10, 2010

Tomohisa had reached a coveted status in Japan’s vertically-ordered society: medical doctor. Along with the status came wealth, which he used to buy the affection of women…and lots of booze. His selfishness blinded... [Read More]

Posted December 2, 2011

When the warning sirens went off, residents in a south Sendai neighborhood fled to the local school. Together with panicked children still in class they climbed to the rooftop. Some 600 altogether... [Read More]

Japanese Get "Bach" Hope

Posted September 21, 2011

Who would have thought Bach would be involved in 21st century mission work in Japan? I have frequently read with interest of the strong connection between classical music (particularly J.S. Bach) and Japanese interest... [Read More]

Tsunami Ground Zero

Posted April 7, 2011

I still haven't returned from tsunami ground zero. That is to say, although I've been back several days already, the reality of the scene is still with me. The incredible amounts of mud in once beautiful homes... [Read More]

"Nice Try, Kevin" File

Posted February 9, 2011

This one goes into the "Nice try, Kevin" file. I just thought it was a nice-looking bunch of flowers in the storefront and, on the spur of the moment, decided Kaori deserved to enjoy them. Chrysanthemums, however, are... [Read More]

The Gulliver Complex

Posted November 9, 2007

I'm a giant again. Well, not really. But it sure feels like it again since returning from the States. The first sign was bumping my head in the shuttle bus from the airport. By habit, I normally duck my head through any... [Read More]

Foreigners Don't Get the Point

Posted January 31, 2010

I'm standing in line at a drugstore with other shoppers. The woman in front of me has just pulled out a business card file. Hurriedly she flips through at least a hundred or more cards searching for the right one. It's a... [Read More]

More Powerful than Bombs

Posted July 5, 2008

Fuchida grew up loving his native Japan and hating the United States, which treated Asian immigrants harshly in the first half of the twentieth century. Fuchida attended a military academy, joined Japan's... [Read More]

Ready?

Posted September 14, 2010

I'd been putting it off. Although I knew it was important, taking inventory of our earthquake and disaster gear just wasn't getting done. Japan rests along the "ring of fire" in the Pacific ocean, a stretch of area that is... [Read More]

150 Years Later

Posted March 17, 2009

This spring marks the 150th anniversary of Protestant Christianity in Japan. The first protestant missionaries set foot in the port of Yokohama back in 1859. Now they were real church planters -- overcoming all... [Read More]

Rambling Notes from Japan

Here are some blog posts that we hope will make you feel a part of things, and help you understand how to pray better for us and Japan. Please see our external blog in Blogger, if this page does not display correctly.

No Higher Calling?

May 9, 2012 11:20 | Sky Tree | Permalink

Back in my Moody Bible Institute days, the text for the freshman Introduction to Missions class was entitled "No Higher Calling." Some students thought this smacked of missionary "snobbery" and that any life calling should be considered a high calling. I, too, was one of those disgruntled students that resented the mission textbook title's premise. So God called me into missions. That settled that.

In one sense, though, there is NO "HIGHER" CALLING than one in Tokyo this May 2012. The man placing the last girder at the top of the open-air Sky Tree...now THAT is a HIGH CALLING! I really have to look up to (everyone HAS to look up to) the workers finishing the tower. At 2080ft. tall, it is the tallest tower in the world. Between the Sky Tree and the new Shinjuku tunnel, I have a great respect for the HEIGHTS and DEPTHS of Japanese engineering. It's not just about tiny electronics anymore. Japanese are really good with massive structures.

Justen's school is in the shadow of the Sky Tree, so he paid a visit there after class one day and took a bunch of pictures. Move over Tokyo Tower, you have a much taller brother! Take a look at the details of the newly-finished tower on Wikipedia here.
We're looking forward to a visit to the Sky Tree as a family sometime. Unfortunately, it may be a while. At least a million other Tokyo visitors have booked ahead of us. There are no special exemptions for big-nosed foreigners, either. I checked. Whether or not the missionary calling is a high one, we are low ones for now.

Life in Tokyo has its Ups and Downs

June 17, 2010 03:52 | Culture, Earthquake, Sky Tree | Permalink

I have a new appreciation for Japanese engineering. Engineering that uses vertical space UP and DOWN in such dramatic ways:

On a recent trip through Tokyo I went deeper underground than I've probably ever been before. The newly completed shortcut through the heart of the city involves driving your vehicle down an extended corkscrew tunnel that winds you a dozen or so stories underground before straightening out. Only at that level could the engineers circumvent the cobweb of subway lines and underground structures that crisscross Tokyo. Entering the tunnel is like entering a future spaceport. And the ride down not unlike Space Mountain at Disneyland. I think my ears popped a few times on this "journey to the center of the earth." Wow, here is another place I want to avoid being during an earthquake. Not a good idea to run out of gas down there either.

The flipside to this dramatic DOWN is the up, Up, UP of the Sky Tree. This will be a radio tower and observatory some 2080feet tall upon completion sometime in 2012. We recently saw a scale model. Even at 1/25th of the actual size, it soared above us. For comparison's sake, you can see it next to the Empire State Building in the photo above. My list of places not to be in an earthquake keeps growing.

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