Snowfall in Karuizawa

[view 360 degree pano on Pixeet]

Was John Lennon a Closet Christian?

Here is an interesting find thanks to fellow missionary Joel Kaufman who'll be moving to Karuizawa in March. Recent evidence suggests that John Lennon did more than just vacation in our town in the summer.
[watch on FoxNews]

Children sing Psalm 1 in Japanese

This performance of Shu no oshie wo yorokobi toshi (Psalm 1) was recorded at Megumi Chalet during Horizon Chapel Tokyo's winter celebration. [watch on YouTube]

Japanese Students Baptized in Karuizawa River

Joseph, Emmanuel, and Jim, Japanese students at SYME, are baptized upon their confession of Jesus as their Savior in the Karuizawa river.
[watch the video on YouTube]

Why So Blue?

On our way to Tokyo this morning, we determined our hometown of Karuizawa was host to a Miata club gathering. The parking lot where we normally shop for groceries had at least eight blue Mazda Miatas parked in front while their owners were huddled together to avoid the cold rain caused by a typhoon that's slowly making its way across Japan. Between that grocery store and the entrance to the tollroad, our kids counted 100 Miatas braving the stormy weather for this annual event. Maybe next year the weather will be more conducive.

全地よほめよ All of Creation Praises Him

Garry joined his ukulele teacher during a live performance at Apple's Live Theater on Church Street in Karuizawa. They sang Zen chi yo home yo, a worship song that Garry has been practicing in order to lead worship. It was a wonderful chance to remind people that our purpose in life is to praise God. The lyrics originated from Psalm 148:2-3
[watch video on YouTube]

Here are the English lyrics from this Hillsong classic:

Praise Him you heavens and all that’s above
Praise Him you angels and heavenly hosts
Let the whole earth praise Him

Praise Him the sun moon and bright shining stars
Praise Him you heavens and waters and skies
Let the whole earth praise Him

Chorus:
Great in power, great in glory
Great in mercy, King of heaven
Great in battle, great in wonder
Great in Zion, King over all the earth

Japanese lyrics:

てんにあるものすべて
ばんぐん の主のみつかいよ
ぜーんちーよーほめよ

つき よほしよたいよう
そらようみようちゅうよ
ぜーんちーよーほめよ

Chorus:
いーだーいーなー ちーかーらーとー
えーいーこーうー 王ーなるイエースに
しょーうーりーとー きーせーきーはー
シーオーンーのー 王ーイエスにーあり

Migiwa Live Concert in Karuizawa

Karuizawa Union Church hosted popular Christian singer/songwriter Migiwa for a free concert August 8, 2010. This was a great chance for the Christians in Central Japan to reconnect. Migiwa's lyrics and guitar style are reaching the secular Japanese community to tell of God's love and power. By God's grace, Migiwa was able to overcome her hikikomori (shut-in) anxieties as a young adult and find her place in the Kingdom of God. She says, "I may be a very small person, but I want to keep singing to spread the true love to the Japanese people." Please visit her website http://migiwa.in to learn more and pray that salvation continues to reach the island nation of Japan.

[watch seven videos on YouTube]

Katsumi-san's Baptism

Many missionaries' prayers were answered as a result of Katsumi-san being baptized in the river in front of our language school in Karuizawa, Japan. This bilingual video is her testimony of a transformed life because of Christ's grace. Thanks to the several dozen families, friends, missionaries, and neighbors who came out to support her public step of obedience. Thanks also to the many people around the world who have been praying for her!
[YouTube video] [Photo gallery]

Where The Wild Things Are

This is what we had the pleasure of trying to go to sleep with the sound of these creatures just outside the bedroom window. These are inoshishi (aka wild boar) and they take great pleasure in ripping up the yard in search of morsels. You can't see them all here, but there are 2 giant adults about the size of a German Shepherd and 10 baby piglets foraging around midnight. This photo was taken in complete darkness and they made a giant throaty squeal when the flash went off. And we had just finished watching the Where The Wild Things Are movie!

LCMJ Rededication

Today we celebrated the rededication of the LCMJ language school where we are learning Japanese. Here is a music video I hope you enjoy.



link to video on animoto

Trying Out Judo

During the Easter luncheon we met several new children and found out that they study Judo lessons at the city gym. Aaron and Garry decided to join them for their first class and had a lot of fun. Aaron's official opinion is, "it was awesome!" So they signed up and ordered new uniforms. Classes meet twice a week and are 2 hours each. This didn't seem like a problem at the time, but as one grows older, we begin to discover new things our bodies are no longer able to do such as duck walks, somersaults, and kneeling properly. All in all, it was great to learn a new sport and increase language listening and speaking skills. Too bad Garry's body may be in recovery mode for the next month.

Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

Eight churches in the Karuizawa area came together for Easter sunrise service at Karuizawa Kuristo Kyokai. It's been about four months since we attended here, but it was refreshing to be able to understand many of the phrases from the Scripture reading, songs, and message.



救いの主は　ハレルヤ！

よみがえり給う　ハレルヤ！

勝ち鬨あげて　ハレルヤ！

御名を称(たた)えよ　ハレルヤ！



十字架をしのび　ハレルヤ！

死にて死に勝ち　ハレルヤ！

生きて命を　ハレルヤ！

人にぞ賜う　ハレルヤ！



主の死によりて　ハレルヤ！

救いは成りぬ　ハレルヤ！

天つ使いと　ハレルヤ！

ともにぞ歌わん　ハレルヤ！


(Japanese, Roman character)


Sukui no nushi wa, Hallelujah!

Yomigaeri-tamo, Hallelujah!

Kachi-doki agete, Hallelujah!

Mina wo tataeyo, Hallelujah!

Jujika wo shinobi, Hallelujah!

Shinite shi ni kachi, Hallelujah!

Ikite inochi wo, Hallelujah!

Hito ni zo tamo, Hallelujah!



Shu no shi ni yorite, Hallelujah!

Sukui wa narinu, Hallelujah!

Amatsu tsukai to, Hallelujah!

Tomoni zo utawan, Hallelujah!

Lyrics courtesy of John Kohji Suguiyama

Christmas Concert by Karuizawa Junior Chorus

We had the pleasure of getting to see Erika Sekiguchi and Noel Tokutake perform with the Karuizawa Junior Chorus at Ohga Hall during their Christmas concert. They are daughters of our language helpers and avid singers offstage as well. Please enjoy this collection of 6 videos including favorites such as Gloria and Jingle Bells.
[link to YouTube playlist]

Christmas in Karuizawa Singing for Joy

Our good friend Keiko invited us to join her and her friend from Tokyo, Kaoru, as they sang in the living Christmas tree on display at Karuizawa's famous Megumi Chalet Christian retreat center. Our language helper Midori had given us a copy of the Japanese songs ahead of time which include Gloria, Joy To The World, and Silent Night. It's one thing to practice recitals in front of a small classroom. It's an entirely different thing when you're standing in front of a hundred people who've come to be entertained by your singing in their native language. In spite of the fact that the size of the words was small and I had to skip most of the unfamiliar kanji characters, Weiling and I managed to make it through to the end (though one of my pages was out of order, so you may notice me looking at my neighbor's hymnal to find out what song we're on). I would definitely do it again now that we can practice to the recording. As a special bonus, see if you can find Aaron in the Christmas tree. He doesn't sing, but like a whack-a-mole game, his head can be seen popping up from time to time. Oh, and to be fair, I was asked to read aloud the English words to Silent Night as the choir was practicing singing it in English. So we all got to share in the "pleasure" of singing in different tongues. Watch these videos fullscreen in HD to get the full flavor.
[YouTube playlist link]

Since We've No Place To Go...

This is what the road from our house to the LCMJ language school looks like when it snows. The kids were happy to have a half day off of school to play and Julina joined us for Japanese class. I had forgot how much snow can be around Christmas.

Prince Shopping

Our language teacher Miho Tokutake invited us to join her and her daughter to the Prince Shopping plaza a few miles from our place in Karuizawa. We met at the Starbucks for lunch and then wandered around the upscale shops. It was great weather and there were lots of families playing in the park.



This is Noel, Miho sensei's daughter who is Ellissa's age. Her drawing is being showcased at the shopping plaza and depicts her with her friends singing at church. Click the photo to enlarge.

Clear Day for Asama Yama

Here is our local volcano, Asama Yama, with the Karuizawa fire station in front. It's always fun to see it on a clear day. As of this writing, it had most recently erupted in Feb of 2009 sending ash and rock up to 1km away. It is not the lava kind of volcano, so we don't have to worry about our house catching fire, but all the local school children where safety helmets to and from school to protect themselves from flying rocks! Perhaps one day we might climb it, although I'm not that excited about it.