and that makes me happy!

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/01/02/mormon-church-open-new/

When I was there in 89-91, there were 10 missions:

Sapporo
Sendai
Nagoya
Tokyo North
Tokyo South
Kobe
Osaka
Okayama
Fukuoka
Okinawa

(at least that is off the top of my head)

Now, what do they have?

Sapporo
Nagoya
Tokyo North
Tokyo South
Kobe
Fukuoka

and the mission that I was assigned to, Okayama, was dissolved and turned into the Hiroshima mission until it was dissolved and absorbed into neighboring missions.

Good. Hopefully, they'll be down to 5 before long.

Last one out, turn off the lights.

Looking forward to the day when there is one mission for all of Scandinavia, one for Eastern Europe, and one for Western Europe. That would be real progress!

And the mishies aren't even baptizing in 3rd world countries. They are betting now in African countries. In Latin america things are getting worse and worse.

I was in Okayama from 92-94. I liked Utagawa more than Onda. Japanese people are just too busy with what their society expects of them to have time for TSCC (or anything else).

Utagawa and I butted heads. The Mugi rule was what lost me.

He didn't like it when I flat out told him I wouldn't be following his Mugi rule and that I thought it was stupid.

Japan Nagoya mission 1976-78.

One morning when I was in Shizuoka about a month before I went home, I had the task of cooking up the morning mugi. The 20 lb bag of the stuff was kept under the kitchen sink. It seemed to be almost empty, but I was able to get a few cups out and pour it into the boiling water. In minutes we were sitting around the table enjoying our favorite breakfast. Afterwards, I went to clean up, and thought that I’d check to see just how much was left in the bag. So I opened it up and stuck my head in to find that about half of what I had thought was delicious brown cracked wheat was actually brown sugar ants.

I threw it out, but didn’t tell anyone.

Higher protein content.

That sounds absolutely grotesque.

But then considering what else goes for cuisine in Japan, maybe not so much.

Did you eat raw chicken while there? Or horse meat?

Ganbatte! :)

I don't have much knowledge of Japanese geography/demographics, or of Mormon presence there, so I don't feel much like I have a dog in that fight. That said, seeing Japan reduced to a single mission, or less (i.e. a regional mission) would make my day.

I do have some friends living in Europe, and the struggles of LDS Inc in Europe are pretty well known, so I watch those developments with interest and satisfaction. I was a mish in Brazil, and follow that pretty closely. I find it a bit disconcerting how well LDS Inc has done in Brazil. Seems to be finally slowing, but nothing like Europe.

It will of course be a spectacular irony if the bulk of LDS converts in the future are African. We're not there yet, but it looks like a possibility.

Japan is mostly a secular country, with a very small Christian presence. Its primary religion is Shintu. Which is not surprising why Mormonism is of very little import among the population there.

Very few Japanese are Shinto.

In decades past surveys of Japanese religious sentiment found that 80% or so considered themselves Buddhists, 15 or 20% considered themselves Shinto, 10% said they were Christian, and a third or so said "all of the above." In other words, they saw nothing exclusive about different religions.

But the vast majority always registered their primary affiliation as "Buddhist." Shintoism survived in some specific rituals and practices that were more cultural than anything else; and people often didn't realize that the origins were Shinto as opposed to Buddhist.

I haven't looked at the data for a long time, but I'd bet a survey of religious preferences today would read something like:

1) 30% report Buddhist,
2) 5% report Shinto,
3) 5% report Christian, and
4) 80% failed to return the survey.

Just a search of google results found this: s

"Religion in Japan
Folk Shinto, or no religion (51.8%)
Buddhism (34.9%)
Shinto organizations and others (4%)
Christianity (2.3%)
No answer (7%)
Religion in Japan - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan";

"Religion in Japan. Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions. Shinto is as old as the Japanese culture, while Buddhism was imported from the mainland in the 6th century. Since then, the two religions have been co-existing relatively harmoniously and have even complemented each other to a certain degree.
Religion in Japan - Japan Guide
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e629.html";

"Shinto ("the way of the gods") is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism.Apr 16, 2018
Shinto - Japan Guide
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html";



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2019 01:20PM by Amyjo.

Amyjo, I'm not sure where you got that. The second sentence of the article you cite, Religion in Japan, states that:

"According to surveys carried out in 2006[1] and 2008,[2] less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organized religion: around 35% are Buddhists, 3% to 4% are members of Shinto sects and derived religions, and from fewer than 1%[3][4][5] to 2.3% are Christians."

That seems to support my contention that the biggest religious group in Japan is "no affiliation"--roughly 2/3 of the population--and that the largest actual religion is Buddhism, with Shintoism a distant second with roughly a tenth of Buddhism's followers.

As I said, some Shinto practices have become so integral to Japanese culture that people don't even know that they come from Shintoism. Thus your article, sentence four, states that Shinto terms "have little meaning for the majority of the Japanese."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Japan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2019 02:13PM by Lot's Wife.

From Amyjo's post:

Folk Shinto, or no religion (51.8%)
Shinto organizations and others (4%)

Note that "Folk Shinto" is separated from Shinto organizations.
I would guess that folk Shinto refers to those Japanese who engage in some Shinto practices as cultural traditions and not as truly religious activities.

Shinto traditions are followed in Japan on an almost habitual basis. I’d say that very few who identify as Shinto regularly practice it on any level of intensity and devotion that is similar to an Abrahamic faith. To me, it functions more of cultural tradition from my observations living here.

Yes.

At Japanese weddings, the bride presents herself in several different outfits, including Western dress and a traditional kimono. That kimono is Shinto, although most Japanese would never realize it

There is also the coming of age ceremony when people turn 20, when women and some men don traditional garb and go to temples. Most of them would know the practice is Shinto, but they wouldn't care.

Those people participate in Shinto rituals but they are no more Shinto believers than Americans who hide Easter eggs or celebrate Halloween are pagans. At some point dead religions become cultural traditions and are no longer motivating forces in people's lives.

Even the traditions you mention are fading with the younger generations.

Now, only about 20% (or less) of weddings are even Shinto. It’s been falling out of practice since the 90s. Coming of Age Day is also falling out of favor and they now go to City Hall for the ceremony. The only time you really, actively seen Shinto in practice by large chunks of population are over the New Years Holiday where Shrine visits are pretty frequent. My neighborhood shrine was jumping New Years Day.

Everyone is still taught meanings of stuff, but it definitely doesn’t have the reverence attached.

Life here is basically a mish-mash of Shinto and Buddhist tradition with Western copycats for weddings and holidays.

Yes. New Years is still big. Also, the native festivals--like Obon Matsuri--are Shinto.

Well, they are really agricultural festivals that existed before the Koreans moved to Japan with what would become Shintoism. You find related festivals throughout East and Southeast Asia.

But nobody knows that. Those festivals became part of the Shinto "package" as far as non-specialists are concerned and, as you know, many Japanese now consider them Buddhist. So the harvest festival of pre-Korean Japan became part of Shintoism and then became part of Japanese Buddhism and are now just Japanese culture.

Disentangling the various traditions is fun but ultimately nearly meaningless in such a splendidly secular society.

I trust you are loving life there.

Was in Sapporo around 1980 and as I recall, the most common phrase uttered while having doors slammed shut was, "Bukyo da!"

As in, get lost, I am Buddhist.

I served in Brazil myself. But I disagree that the cult did "well" there at one point.

OK, there are quite a few LDS stakes in big Brazilian cities. But their presence in the Brazilian landscape as a whole is n-o-t-h-i-n-g compared to evangelical Christians, for example, who have grown MUCH more. Even Jehovah's Witnesses and Adventists have a much stronger presence.(And several Brazilian denominations, such as the Universal Church founded in the 1970's, are already MUCH bigger than the LDS cult.)

The cult claims over 1 million members in Brazil (in a population of over 200 million). But official government statistics never show more than 200.000 self-identified Mormons. And I think that that is pretty accurate, if we think in terms of ACTIVE Mormons.

So 200.000 practicing Mormons in a population of 200 MILLION people is not much. (After almost 100 years of conversion efforts...) Most Brazilians outside major cities have never even heard of the cult.

Mormon leaders love to boast, and use Brazil as a success story. But like everything else in the cult, it is just an illusion.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God was founded in 1980, in Brazil, and now has probably 17 million (mostly in Brazil but all over Latin America). The LDS Church was founded in 1830, and has about 16 million (if you count everybody, active, inactive, babies, all baptized except those who have reached age 110). I'm not sure how the UCKOG "counts" its members. Probably all baptized, but I don't know.

In any case, I still remember President Hinckley and Elder Faust (council of 12 in the 1980s) boasting that "the amazing growth of the Church" was a "sign" that it was true. Wow! What ignorance. Many churches/religions have grown much faster than the LDS Church, for example:

1) Assemblies of God (now over 80 million, founded in 1910)

2) Seventh-day Adventists (now over 20 million)

3) Jehovah's Witnesses (over 20 million "attend" weekly but they only officially count "Publishers" i.e. active members who complete at least 8 hours of door knocking each month consistently).

4) Universal Church (at least 17 million, they have a HUGE temple in Sao Paulo fashioned after the Temple of Solomon)

5) Islam

6) Soka Gakkai (Japanese Buddhist sect)

7) list goes on....

The LDS Church is now "growing" at a rate of 0.9% and that is counting baptizing children and convert growth. HORRIBLE growth rate considering 60,000 plus full-time missionaries. Dismal. Hinckley and Faust must be rolling in their graves.


Sue von und zu Liechtenstein Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I served in Brazil myself. But I disagree that the
> cult did "well" there at one point.
>
> OK, there are quite a few LDS stakes in big
> Brazilian cities. But their presence in the
> Brazilian landscape as a whole is n-o-t-h-i-n-g
> compared to evangelical Christians, for example,
> who have grown MUCH more. Even Jehovah's Witnesses
> and Adventists have a much stronger presence.(And
> several Brazilian denominations, such as the
> Universal Church founded in the 1970's, are
> already MUCH bigger than the LDS cult.)
>
> The cult claims over 1 million members in Brazil
> (in a population of over 200 million). But
> official government statistics never show more
> than 200.000 self-identified Mormons. And I think
> that that is pretty accurate, if we think in terms
> of ACTIVE Mormons.
>
> So 200.000 practicing Mormons in a population of
> 200 MILLION people is not much. (After almost 100
> years of conversion efforts...) Most Brazilians
> outside major cities have never even heard of the
> cult.
>
> Mormon leaders love to boast, and use Brazil as a
> success story. But like everything else in the
> cult, it is just an illusion.

Oh, I agree, LDS Inc is no great shakes in Brazil compared to other churches. Mormonism is a success story in Brazil compared to Mormon success in other countries.

When I went to Japan in the 90's I made a trip to the temple. It was nearly empty. Can't imagine what they are using it for now.

I have a young friend out in Sado right now. Mostly old folks but she is apparently *somehow* having some success out there.

Things have sure gone downhill, or uphill, depending upon your perspective.

There was one month in 1989 in the Sendai mission where there were 99 baptisms, and they weren't "baseball baptisms". The Hachinohe branch grew so much it was split into two branches in 1988. One of the mission goals at the time was a second Japan temple in Morioka, and that didn't seem unreasonable at the time based upon how things were going.


I like how they don't close missions. The just "realign the boundaries".

Three more in California closing (Irvine, Long Beach & Rancho Cucamonga) on top of the two from last year (Modesto & San Fernando).

Keep on harvesting those white fields, boys.

I’d say it’s pretty safe to say the missionaries aren’t terribly busy in these parts. Their most ripe grounds for missionary work are probably just the US military members scattered around the country.

Ain’t nobody got time for all-consuming religions here. :)

Christmas isn't even a national holiday in Japan. Instead, the Emperor's birthday is around the same time.

Wouldn't serving a mission in Japan have the opposite effect on its missionaries as in de-converting them from Mormonism, rather than making converts to Mormonism?

After spending significant time in a country like Japan, it would get pretty inconvenient after awhile keeping up appearances of being a Mormon, and I should think something's gonna give..

Much of Shinto practice has been incorporated into various Japanese Buddhist sects, just as paying a Buddhist priest to offer good/gifts to an aborted fetus so the angry fetus doesn't torment the woman at night. Shinto was simply Ancestor Worship, and using shamans to appease angry spirits. Today, most Buddhist priests fulfill the role of Shaman.