New Photo Gallery

Finally uploaded a new photo gallery featuring stuff from Late ‘08. Check ‘em out.

Recent Photos

I thought I’d introduce you to some of the people I’ve been sharing life and ministry with. These pics were all shot in the past month or so in various places.

In early March, I went strawberry picking with the young adults from the Immanuel Nagoya Church. Following are some pics from that day; the first is a shot of our pastor Pastor Uchiyama and me, and the rest are of the rest of the gang. And me again. As you can see, they get some big berries here.

Next up, something from school. We’re into a new term now, so I’m in with a new group. But this is a photo of the the class I studied Japanese with the past six months. The other students came from Brazil, China, Italy, Russia and Spain. With us is one of our teachers (front row, far left). She’s Japanese, of course.

And… Just last week I spent a few days in Yokohama, where the Japanese church (Immanuel General Mission) had its annual conference (Nenkai). The next few pics are from that trip.

First, the speaker, Rev. Harriman, director of World Gospel Mission (WGM), one of our partner organizations, along with his tranlator:

Next, here’s me again, along with Pastor Oda, who is another one of the pastors I’ve been working with. He leads a church in nearby Gifu city.

And lastly, here are some fellow-missionaries, all members of WGM: Dennis and Pricilla Probst; and Zach Motts with his bride-to-be, Esther.

Down By the Bay

I really do intend to post some photo galleries lately, so you can see what’s been going on the past few months. Until then, whenever “then” is, here’s a photo of myself and the gang, down by the bay. This was on the same day we went strawberry picking (see previous post), about two weeks ago now.

This coming week I’m off to Yokohama for the church’s annual conference (nenkai). If you think of it, please pray for these important meetings and times of worship, as well as for the leaders and pastors who will be making transitions this year. Thanks.

New Photos on Flickr

I just got a Flickr account. This is so simple; why didn’t I do this sooner? This is where my new photo albums are going. No more messing with setting up web galleries. To get us started, today I added a new batch of images called Summer Turns to Fall. I’ve also got a non-Japan gallery there as well if you’re interested. Enjoy.

Life is Fast

I’ve been back in Japan for almost a year now. Crazy. I wish I could say I’ve made more progress in my Japanese than I have. But the biggest thing I’ve learned is how to learn. Actually I’m still learning. Hopefully the next year I can apply what I’ve already learned — both the “how to learn” and the actual language skills — and really see some measurable progress.

It’s Sunday afternoon, a rainy day, and with this cold I’ve caught, a great day to say inside. It’s a pretty good time to get sick, though. At school they’re having our annual health checks this week. Yes, my language school gives us health checks; I think it’s a law here. And actually kind of nice that they take responsibility for their students’ well-being like that.

I really don’t have much to say today. I just wanted an excuse to post a couple of photos. I’m thinking I’ll completely can the photoblog and instead just post more photos here. Maybe a re-design would help, though, something that lets me post them at a larger size and really let ‘em shine. What do you think?

The above photo, by the way, was taken at a Nagoya Station subway platform. Below, something a little more peaceful and traditional — yet another shot from the Nakamura Festival. These are dancers from the same group as the girl in my most recent Photo of the Week.

Prayer Letter and Pics

The following is a copy of my October Prayer Letter, as I just sent to my supporters via email. As an added bonus, I’m posting some photos with it here. If you’d like to be on the email list, you can sign up via my Support Info page. Thanks.

The guys.

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you for your prayers during my recent end-of-term studies and testings. The good news is I passed the course and can go on to the next level, which starts next Monday.

Last night, I had a group of guys over to my place for a meal. A few guys from the church came, as well as my English student, who is not a Christian. It was a lot of fun, and a good chance for me to connect a non-Christian friend with some of his fellow-Japanese who are Christians. Please keep praying for my friend and for our English/Bible studies.

I’ve been enjoying a little bit of downtime since the first semester of full-time language studies ended. But as I said, next week I’m back to class. In addition, I’ve got a few additions to my schedule that will make for a busy month. Please pray for my studies and for each of these events. Pray that I’ll keep up with the studies and that God will bless and use the events I get to be a part of. Here are some dates…

Oct. 4 (this weekend) — I’ll be in Osaka visiting some friends, and I’ve been asked to provide some music for a charity dinner, where they’re raising funds to help build schools in Africa.

Oct. 12-13 — I’m planning on being a part of a team from my church going to Hamamatsu, where we’ll be doing some music, drama, etc, to help a partner church there do some outreach.

Oct. 19 — I’m scheduled to preach at the Immanuel Church in nearby Gifu. Pastor Oda will be interpreting again.

Thanks again for your prayers, support and encouragement! As always, you can check my blog for more information, news and thoughts on my life and ministry here in Japan.

God bless,

- robin

ロビンホワイト

We also played Jenga. Remember Jenga???

New in the Photo Gallery : August Adventures in Japan

Finally — a photo album — August Adventures has just been added to the Photo Gallery. These feature shots from the ministry events I took part in as well as some fun vacation times. Check ‘em out.

Masaru Goto – Overcoming Hidden Discrimination

For a look at some great photography, as well as a rarely-talked about side of Japanese society, check out this exhibit at GlobalCompassion.com. Here’s a brief intro, quoted from the site:

The Burakumin are a nearly invisible yet identifiable group of Japanese people. They are the remnant of a caste system that formally passed away long ago. Their ancestors were the untouchables. Despite being racially and ethnically Japanese through and through, the Burakumin still face discrimination and struggle together under the weight of their shared history.

What I love about this “online exhibit” is that instead of focusing on the problem of discrimination, or making us pity Burakumin, the photographer chose rather to tell stories about real people — reminding us that whatever label we have, we’re not so different after all.

Read their stories and see their faces by following the link.

Zach Motts Invades Nagoya!

This past weekend, as I mentioned before, Zach came to Nagoya. I had the task of being his tour guide, which was kind of nice, because it gave me someone to do some site-seeing with (the locals, just like back home, take local landmarks for granted).

We met up Saturday morning around 10 at Nagoya Station. After a brief discussion we decided on three things to do: visit Midland Square (tallest building in Nagoya) and check out the view of the city; go to Nagoya Castle, where they were having a samurai parade and battle re-enactment (which was not nearly as cool as it sounds); and travel to Gifu (the neighboring prefecture) for the Fire Festival, which just happened to be going on Saturday night.

The Fire Festival was just as crazy as the name implies. Basically, a bunch of “bare-chested, sake-fueled men” (as the article read) carried around portable shrine things making lots of noise — typical Japanese festival stuff, but with the addition of fireworks being shot into the air, lighting up lanterns and sending ashes and sparks down on the aforementioned bare-chested men. There were also lots of booths set up selling various food and souvenir items. Zach got a bbq squid on a stick and I bought a huge bbq sausage on a stick; there were lots of things on sticks, now that I think of it. There were also lots of people.

Anyway, here are some photos and videos from Midland Square, Nagoya Castle and even Gifu (where it was too dark and far from the action to get good video on a cell phone but if you look carefully you may see some of those bare-chested men dancing beneath the flames).

Nagoya Castle and the surrounding cityscape,
as seen from Midland Square:

Fierce-looking samurai warriors:

Me! At the Castle:

Me again! On top of a replica of one of the
“Golden Dolphins” that adorn the top of the outside of the Castle:

More fierce samurai. Myself included:

Zach and his squid-stick:

The craziness just getting started in Gifu:

Lanterns on FIRE!

Going up the elevator at Midland Squre:

Taiko drummers at the Castle:

Craziness at the Fire Festival:

The Obligatory Cherry Blossom Pictures

Sakura season has come and gone in this part of Japan. About a week and a half ago they were in full bloom, but as every year they didn’t last long. They are a rare, brief, fleeting beauty — which is actually why they are considered such a big deal to the Japanese. They’re symbolic of a lot of things in life.

But thanks to the magic of digital photography, you can enjoy them from afar even after they’re gone. Check out my cherry blossom album HERE, or go to the Photo Gallery HERE.

New Photo Album

Check out the latest (March 2008) crop of pics in the JapanLog Photo Gallery. More to come really soon. My camera has been busy.

But so have I.

Free Hugs

One recent weekend I was wandering around taking pictures and enjoying the nice weather (It’s spring here, you know, and that actually means something, unlike back in Canada). In front of Nagoya Station, probably the busiest part of the city, I saw the above-pictured group of people offering free hugs to passers-by. I watched for a while, while literally hundreds of people passed by and barely anyone stopped for a hug. If someone did stop, it was some really extroverted person. I saw others try unsuccessfully to persuade their friends to go get a hug, too. But still, hardly anyone stopped, though many looked and smiled or laughed or looked away like they were embarrassed.

It was an interesting sociological experiment to watch, as I’m sure it would have had different results in another culture. You don’t see a lot of public displays of affection in Japan, especially between people who have just met. Interestingly enough, Zach had a similar experience a while back, all the way up in Tokyo.

I’m not sure who this particular group was (This was one of the many times I’ve wished my Japanese was more developed) but they were nice enough to let me take their picture. I also got hugs from all five of them — which is five more hugs than I’d gotten since coming to Japan 3 months ago. Made my day.