After the introduction of the "long-term resident" visa, the mass-migration of Nikkeis (Japanese Brazilians) has led to roughly 190,000 Brazilian nationals living in Japan. While the ancestry-based visa confers Nikkeis' right to settlement virtually as a right of blood, their ethnic ambiguity and working-class profile often prevent them from feeling at home in their supposed ethnic homeland. In response, many have converted to Pentecostalism, reflecting the explosive trend across Latin America since the 1970s. Jesus Loves Japan offers a rare window into lives at the crossroads of return migration and global Pentecostalism. Suma Ikeuchi argues that charismatic Christianity appeals to Nikkei migrants as a "third culture"--one that transcends ethno-national boundaries and offers a way out of a reality marked by stagnant national indifference. Jesus Loves Japan insightfully describes the political process of homecoming through the lens of religion, and the ubiquitous figure of the migrant as the pilgrim of a transnational future.

After the introduction of the "long-term resident" visa, the mass-migration of Nikkeis (Japanese Brazilians) has led to roughly 190,000 Brazilian nationals living in Japan. While the ancestry-based visa confers Nikkeis' right to settlement virtually as a right of blood, their ethnic ambiguity and working-class profile often prevent them from feeling at home in their supposed ethnic homeland. In response, many have converted to Pentecostalism, reflecting the explosive trend across Latin America since the 1970s. Jesus Loves Japan offers a rare window into lives at the crossroads of return migration and global Pentecostalism. Suma Ikeuchi argues that charismatic Christianity appeals to Nikkei migrants as a "third culture"--one that transcends ethno-national boundaries and offers a way out of a reality marked by stagnant national indifference. Jesus Loves Japan insightfully describes the political process of homecoming through the lens of religion, and the ubiquitous figure of the migrant as the pilgrim of a transnational future.

A study of ethnic Japanese, Brazilian, Pentecostal Christians living in Japan. After the introduction of the “long-term resident” visa, the mass-migration of Nikkeis (Japanese Brazilians) has led to roughly 190,000 Brazilian nationals living in Japan. While the ancestry-based visa confers Nikkeis’ right to settlement virtually as a right of blood, their ethnic ambiguity and working-class profile often prevent them from feeling at home in their supposed ethnic homeland. In response, many have converted to Pentecostalism, reflecting the explosive trend across Latin America since the 1970s. Jesus Loves Japan offers a rare window into lives at the crossroads of return migration and global Pentecostalism. Suma Ikeuchi argues that charismatic Christianity appeals to Nikkei migrants as a “third culture”—one that transcends ethno-national boundaries and offers a way out of a reality marked by stagnant national indifference. Jesus Loves Japan insightfully describes the political process of homecoming through the lens of religion, and the ubiquitous figure of the migrant as the pilgrim of a transnational future. Praise for Jesus Loves Japan “Transnational migrants find spiritual sustenance in Suma Ikeuchi’s careful, sensitive ethnography. In showing how Pentecostalism grants meaning to a bleak existence, Ikeuchi opens new vistas in our understanding of Japanese Brazilians residing in Japan. She offers fresh insights to all interested in identity puzzles, self-making, religious conversion, and global movement.” —Daniel T. Linger, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz “Suma Ikeuchi’s nuanced fieldwork among Japanese Brazilians (Nikkei) employed in Japan exposes the flawed hemato-logic of government and corporate officials who believed that ancestry (“blood”) alone would make Nikkei more assimilable than other foreign guest workers. This book demonstrates the primacy of culture over “blood” as a cipher for ethnicity.” —Jennifer Robertson, author of Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation (2018) “This is a remarkable book about a remarkable situation. Through wonderfully vivid ethnography, Ikeuchi documents the lives of Brazilian Pentecostal converts in Japan as they negotiate identities as migrants, homecomers, pilgrims, and believers. In the process, the book becomes an anthropological meditation on time, belonging, sincerity, and the multiple meanings of making connections through blood.” —Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of Toronto

'I can stick anything for two years, ' she said and ended up staying forty-two. So said former OMF worker Miriam Davis, whose book 'Utterly Amazed: Following the call of God in Japan' tells the story of how those two years became forty-two, as well as the surprising challenges of retiring to the UK in 2017. In that time, as OMF Japan Field Directors Chris Pain and Kesia Pain say in their foreword, 'Miriam has experienced the joys, challenges and pitfalls of missionary life. She tells the story of those years with honesty and a keen eye for how God was at work sustaining her, changing her and using her for his purposes . . . The way in which she has shared her feelings, weaknesses and struggles gives testimony to God's work in her life, and ultimately gives God the glory.' Join Miriam on her journey of following the Good Shepherd through all the twists and turns of sharing the good news of Jesus cross-culturally. Discover his faithfulness through culture shock, heartbreak, burnout and the joy of this journey. And find comfort, challenge and spiritual food for your own life!

Translated By Richard A. Schuchert; My book called A Life of Jesus may cause surprise for American readers when they discover an interpretation of Jesus somewhat at odds with the image they now possess.

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians is a remarkable story of suppression, secrecy and survival in the face of human cruelty and God’s apparent silence. Part history, part travelogue, it explores and seeks to explain a clash of civilizations—of East and West—that resonates to this day. For seven generations, Japan’s ‘Hidden Christians’ preserved a faith that was forbidden on pain of death. Just as remarkably, descendants of the Hidden Christians continue to practise their beliefs today, refusing to rejoin the Catholic Church. Why? And what is it about Japanese culture that makes it so resistant to Western Christianity?

This is an ethnographic study, based on fieldwork and extensive personal interviews, of Brazilians of Japanese descent who have migrated to Japan in response to the government's call for ethnically acceptable unskilled workers. These people of Toyota City are among 200,000 Brazilians of Japanese descent who live in Japan today, forming Japan's third-largest minority group.

Christian growth in Japan has been slow. This book fills a cultural gap. It is a collection of insights from Japanese literature, the arts, and religion that will help solve the problem of making our ministry less foreign to the Japanese heart and mind. No other work to date has attempted to include this much information in one book, focusing on and using Japanese opinions, research and theology.Not only those working in Japan, struggling with language, culture and frustrating questions will benefit from the insights presented here, but also missiologists, theologians and students of cross-cultural evangelism. They will find this ground-breaking book to be organized in such a way that they can easily utilise the principles and guidelines it offers in their own spheres of work and study.12 chapters of cultural bridges Christianity will surprise and absorb the reader.

An epic tale of Christ and his world! Before there was Scripture,there were memories... 70 AD. After years of fierce struggle, the Roman army has recaptured the Holy Land from radical Judean insurgents. Only Jerusalem with its mighty temple is the last bastion of resistance against the Empire. The young priest Yosef has sided with Rome and is now desperately trying to negotiate an end to the bloodshed. But one night, a stranger appears: Shimon, an old man from Galilee. He claims to be a disciple of "Lord Yeshua"--the crucified magician whom some believe to be the Messiah.Yosef is captivated by what Shimon reveals. How, many years ago, he met the legendary preacher Yochanan the Baptist at the Jordan. How they stood up against prince Herod and the powerful temple elites. And how his life changed through that mysterious man from Nazareth, Yeshua... Does this story hold the key to saving the Jewish nation from doom? And will it save old Shimon from death on the cross? Friendship, zeal and sacrifice...This is how Christianity began Take a deep dive into history and rediscover the true spirit of the Gospel. From the war-torn streets of Jerusalem to the wilderness of the Jordan river... The Reign of God takes you to a dangerous ancient land where priests, prophets, and kings struggle for divine authority. A land soaked in revolution, poetry and people's hunger for justice. This stunning vision of the Bible comes to life with detailed ink drawings and their expressive shadow and light. Loaded with a dense atmosphere, passionate characters and careful historical research, this graphic novel digs into faith questions that other "Bible comics" won't touch today. Japanese-German artist Issey Fujishima delivers an emotional drama--not with superheroes, but with a broken boy's search for family and healing. Until the last page, The Reign of God will inspire and challenge believers and non-believers alike. - 190 pages (black and white) - 6 pages of notes and historical background about ancient Judaism and the early church - Recommended from age 14 - The first part of a new series based on the New Testament Find out more under: www.thereignofgod.com