Pray that Japan as a nation will return to their Creator.
Many Japanese people have a strong sense of belonging towards their country and their ethnic group. They are proud of their Land of the Rising Sun and are glad to be Japanese. This is why Shintoism—the traditional faith of the Japanese—also has a strong national component. For Japanese people, Shinto (the way of the gods) is an integral part of being Japanese, and even for Japanese who would describe themselves as not very religious, Japan is the land of the Shinto gods. These gods, known as kami, are spirit beings of varying power who inhabit rivers, trees, mountains, and even the land as a whole, and who have various areas of responsibility.
As a Japanese person, you one feels a sense of obligation toward the kami and strives to live in harmony with them. When you have a wish or need a blessing—for example, for an important exam—you would go to a Shinto shrine and offer your prayer. When things are going well, you express gratitude to the kami. When you build a new house, you must appease the kami who dwell on the property with a lengthy ceremony. And every year, festivals are held for the kami responsible for fertility and growth, so that there will be another good harvest.
Yet, in all their veneration of the kami, the Japanese do not understand that there is only one true God and Creator who made Japan and all its inhabitants, and that all their blessings come from this Creator God alone. Japan does not belong to the kami; rather, it is the land of God. And there is nothing more in keeping with the Japanese way of life than to live in gratitude and harmony with their Creator God.
Therefore, pray that the Japanese people as a nation will return to their God and Creator, walk in the true “Way of God,” and direct their innate gratitude and reverence to where it belongs. Pray that they will understand that God is not merely about getting along with one another, but about genuine love and acceptance.
Pray that the Japanese people will understand that they do not have to choose between the Christian God and their identity as Japanese, but that God himself has given them this identity, and that he values them and wants to bless them as a people.
Pray for healing of the soul of Japan. Pray that everything that has been broken and distorted by the worship of the creature instead of the Creator will be restored, and that Japanese culture will be freed from everything that deviates from the culture of the Kingdom of God.
The following song by the Christian musician Takafumi Nagasawa has moved us deeply in recent times. It is titled “Land of the Rising Sun” and sums up the above prayers well. It shows how important it is that Japanese Christians do not isolate themselves from their country, but humbly bow before their Creator and ask for healing as forerunners and representatives of their fellow countrymen.
English translation:
We long to see your face. / We humble ourselves and return to you. / Except in your name / there is no salvation for this land.
We will not let the light of prayer go out / and wait for the glory of the Lord.
Over this land so wounded / the sun of righteousness is rising. / It is the love and healing of the cross. / Arise and recover, land of the rising sun.
Your tears are wiped away. / In the light of a new dawn / let us bless the other nations / for the glory of the Lord.
Sing, land of the rising sun.
