"Suido ga otoshite kudasai." (Literal translation: Please drop your water pipes.)
I'm guessing that this is "Hokkaido-ben" that is, a phrase from the Hokkaido dialect of Japanese. I don't think I've ever heard somebody from any other part of Japan say such a thing. Can anybody out there verify this?
Apparently, to "drop your water pipes" means to drain the water out of the water pipes. Why? Because if you don't, they can freeze inside the water pipes, causing a huge nuisance, and potentially lots of damage. If the weather forecaster predicts a very cold night (colder than -10 celcius) in a particular area, the news issues a warning to make sure to "drop your water pipes" before going to bed.
Do Americans have to do this? I would have no idea having lived all my life in Northern California. I mean, San Francisco with its mid 40's winters are considered cold. Lemme correct that last sentence. San Francisco with its mid 40's winters WERE considered cold. I convert mid 40's to celcius and it's like 7 degrees celcius. You don't need gloves in 7 celcius weather. You can wear a ball cap without worrying about your ears freezing off in 7 celcius weather. Scarves are more of a fashion statement than an important and useful article of clothing in 7 celcius weather.
Well, it's getting late. It's time to drop my water pipes.

This article from the Barna Research website's been up for a few weeks now, but in case you haven't read it, it's a good read. For people who have no idea what I'm talking about, George Barna is a Christian pollster (basically a Christian version of those Gallup polls), meaning that he conducts surveys in America in regards to issues of faith. I like how the information put out is just straight and no non-sense.
Anyway, the article's in regards to what his organization points out as being 7 paradoxes of the Christian faith in America. That is, 7 common contradictions amongst American Christians.
Some of those contradictions, namely "Deceptions regarding truth" and "The contradictions regarding religious beliefs" were particularly scary to me, but the one that surprised me the most was the first one, "The success paradox." Seems to me that Barna makes a very good point in saying, "The Christian faith commends sacrifice, servanthood and sharing as the means to significance. How is it possible to have more than 120 million adults attending Christian churches on a regular basis, but only 15 million who grasp the message that success is not about personal accomplishment or material possessions?" It's time for the American church to wake up from it's sleepwalking, and take God seriously.

I'm growing increasingly perplexed by the Japanese church. Nearly all Japanese Christians I've met are in complete awe of huge churches. The 1000+ member churches in Korea, the few some hundred member churches scattered in Japan, etc.. Anytime any of these churches are mentioned, it's automatic... glazed eyes, mouth gaping... it's incredible. "It'd be so nice if we were like that." "Aren't they so incredible?" "It'd be so cool to be a part of something like that." The quotes are seemingly endless.
But it doesn't stop there. It seems like because Japanese churches for the most part are small, their dreams, their visions are small. I'll suggest a new ministry idea or concept, and about half the time, it almost immediately gets shut down because "we don't have the strength to do something like that... if we had more people...". It's kind of a inferiority complex.
Actually, come to think about it... maybe this isn't exclusive to the Japanese church but to all small churches in general. Regardless, since when did the church feel like its power came from the number of people in attendance? Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, didn't he tell his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit so that they'd receive power? "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth." -- Acts 1:8
Our power doesn't depend on how many people are with us. Our strength doesn't depend on the skills or "giftings" of our members (or ourselves for that matter). Our power depends on God being with us through the Holy Spirit! Our strength depends on our members having the Holy Spirit! Can I get a witness up in here?! Can I get an Amen?! Surely the disciples knew this because Jesus told em straight up... wait for the Holy Spirit because HE'LL GIVE YOU ALL POWER.
Aww man... look at what I've done to myself. I'm all jumpy and excited now.

This past New Year's, just like the previous one was spent at my grandparents' house in Yokosuka. It seems like they always have something unwittingly funny to say. That is, they're funny without meaning to be funny. When they try to be funny, well, they're not that funny. Some examples:
The first thing my grandma says to me is "Kyonen yori, motto smaato ni mieru." Meaning "Compared to last year, you look more 'smaato'". The Japanese katakana word "smaato" sounds a lot like "smart" and so, for a few seconds I was all like "Yeah, that's right. I'm looking more and more intelligent by the minute," until I remembered that "smaato" doesn't mean smart at all, but slim (I mentioned this in an earlier blog). Humility immediately set in.
Seems like a lot of other Asian Americans have the same experience, but last year when I visited, my grandma said that I looked fat, and then proceeded to feed me and feed me and feed me. And while I was eating, she egged me on saying "You're so fat. You're so fat." And it wasn't just three times a day... or the college signature two times a day. Last year she must have told me to eat at least 7 to 10 times a day. There was always a plate on the table where I would sit.
After one of my cousins, Taka, came and left, my grandparents started to grumble about the news that Taka was thinking about going to school for an additional 4 years... he's been going to college for 3 years now. At the end of the grumbling though, my grandpa commented saying that it's ok because he's making friends at college. To which I asked, "Does he have a girlfriend?" My grandpa's response surprised me. He laughed and then said, "He can't have a girlfriend now. Besides he's probably not even thinking about it." How do you respond to something like that? I mean, Taka's 20, but he'll probably forever be 12 in my grandparents' minds.
Before, I said that my grandparents are unwittingly funny. Actually, maybe I should change that to just "strange." Sometimes I wonder what's going on in their heads. In the meantime, I often enjoy hearing the strange words that come out of their mouths.

Not too long ago, I got back from a week long vacation to see my grandparents in Yokosuka, Japan... and later to go snowboarding with most of the LIFE Ministries Associates in Yamagata. Here are some of the highlights of my trip in descending order.
1. Seeing my cousin Futoshi for the first time in about 10 years (he's since married and become a father).
2. Finally meeting Joshua Clayton and Stefanie Weiland (two LIFE Ministries associates).
3. Eating crab and sashimi for New Year's dinner.
4. Boarding on lots and lots of powder.
5. Baths, spas, baths, and more spas.

I love going to the supermarket here in Japan. No, it's not because I'm happy to get food to fill my fridge. It's because of the people I see there. Specifically, the grown men who loiter around the aisles without a shopping basket or cart. It's given that anytime you go to the supermarket, you'll find at least 10 men walking around with the most expressionless face, starring into the distance, not even looking at the products the supermarket is trying to sell. They never have a shopping basket, and just by watching them for a few seconds, it's pretty clear that they have no intention of shopping for food. What's incredible is that they all have the same posture. Staring out beyond the distant walls like they're trying to figure out if someone's watching them from the other side, slightly hunched over, and almost always with their hands folded behind them. No doubt they came with their wives. The ones who look like they're all by themselves were probably dragged over by their wives. But the ones who are with their wives... they're the interesting ones because it kinda looks like they're inspecting what their wives are choosing to by... like they're giving their stamp of approval. But in a way that doesn't go against the "rules" I just described. Glancingly, without much effort, they'll see what was chosen, and if they approve, they say nothing... continuing to look beyond the walls. If they don't approve, some put the product back onto the shelf, some will say a few words to their wives, but the purists make a quick "look" to show their opinion, all while not saying a word. I think it's all absolutely incredible.

Is this what Christmas feels like for people in ministry? Our church finished all of our Christmas celebratory events on the 23rd. We've had 2 weeks of special events. And of course, for at least a month before those events started there was preparatory work. Basically, since mid-November, our church has been in Christmas mode. And now that it's all over, there's a general feeling like Christmas has already passed... when it's really tomorrow. Well, actually today considering the time. Merry Christmas! Midnight's come and gone and no special present from Santa.
Throughout the day today, I asked people in the church if they felt the same way... if it felt like we're way passed Christmas already. Everybody agreed. It's the weirdest feeling. Knowing in my head that Christmas is tomorrow, while feeling like we're well into January.
I guess it doesn't help that I'm not gonna be doing the usual Christmas things for a second year in a row. In the Satake home, we've had a way of celebrating Christmas. Christmas Eve is the opening of presents. But before we could open our presents, the kids all had to put on a mini-talent show. For me, this usually meant that I would play the piano. A Christmas song and then the song I was, at the time, working on. As for Christmas Day itself, the main event was the making of mochi (rice cakes). My grandpa would get the fire started to cook the mochi rice. That's right... no rice cooker. In the Satake household, using a rice cooker for the mochi making is cheating. Some people celebrate their ethnicity by digging down and remembering their roots... on Christmas morning we dig down way deep into the Earth's core and play in the magma. Once a batch of rice was cooked, my grandpa would bring it out to our driveway to dump the rice into the old style stone bowl where a group of people are anxiously waiting to pound the rice with wooden mallets. The batch of rice is then pounded and pounded until it's one homogenous mass. For all you Chinese readers out there... this is the reason why Japanese sticky rice is better (although I'll admit, Japanese fried rice is absolutely horrible)! This huge glob of rice goo is then broken up into personal portions to make the final product. This goes on from morning to sundown which is then usually followed up with dinner featuring self-serve hand roll sushi (temakizushi).

Prompted by a few people asking about what Christmas is like in Japan... I found this article from The Japan Times' website. It's a pretty good assessment and report of the Christmas phenomenon here in Japan.
Add in a bunch of special events in the church and freezing weather, and that's pretty much the Christmas season that I've been celebrating.
Japan is indeed a very unique country

Just thought this was an excellent article from the Christianity Today website. Some good thoughts on Christian worship and well, Christian living in general. Funny thing is that in reading it, it seems so incredibly basic.

Katakana words in Japanese always mess me up. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Japanese language, there are three different systems to write. Japanese is a phonetic language meaning that each character represents a distinct phonetic syllable. In contrast, English like most (or all?) European language, a single letter doesn't represent a phonetic syllable but a sound. Example: phone has five letters but doesn't have five syllables... instead it has one. Two of the three writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana use this phonetic concept. The third writing system, Kanji uses Chinese characters... often simplified. Kanji doesn't use the phonetic syllable concept but instead goes according to meaning. That is, a single Kanji character holds a certain meaning, and thus can hold many syllables within it.
Anyway, going back to the Hiragana and Katakana... Hiragana characters are used for words with Japanese origins while Katakana words often have foreign origins. For example... "conpyuta" means computer. It doesn't look very similar... but when you say it, you can hear the similarities. But some katakana words just get me scratching my head. Here's a list of some of the ones that really mess me up (the pronunciation --> the probable origin --> the meaning in English):
stobu --> stove --> heater
conro --> ??? (sounds like cornrows as in the hair style) --> stove
smato --> smart --> skinny
manshion --> mansion --> condominium