Fukuoka- Land of Blessed Hills

Fukuoka 福岡- Land of Blessed Hills

The mountain range surrounding the city of Fukuoka- image taken from Fullthangka

We are now living in Fukuoka City, literally meaning "Blessed Hills" in Japanese.  Here we have a place to call home and though it still feels foreign in many ways we are becoming acquainted with it daily.  Fukuoka city was shown to me as I sought the Lord in prayer last year. God's Divine Wind- Call to Fukuoka

We have fought our way to get here and through many trials and sufferings that seemed to hold us back we have come. I cannot fully detail all of them in a single post, so I will leave it for a later time.  What is important is that we have arrived and we are grateful to God and the many who helped us along the way.

Fukuoka City is one of the oldest cities in Japan. It has a rich history and has been ranked as one of the most livable in the World according to Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka

However, I have yet to come such a conclusion seeing I have been here less than two months.  There are certainly a lot of things to explore.  With time I hope I am able to see and understand the reason we are here.

Reasons and purpose give us hope.  If we only exist in space and time merely for the purpose of existence hope begins to slip away.  Hope is an enduring virtue that the apostle Paul writes about saying,

"Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love."

I Corinthians 13:13

Hope keeps us going in the midst of our sufferings and difficulties, being bonded with faith and love.  It is a bond not easily broken, nor a bond that will fade away.

Looking into the future,

There are many challenges ahead of us and we are challenged daily as we settle in this land.
We look forward to the blessings to come as we labor and work for the Kingdom of God.

Two women wearing kimono stroll down a street in Daimyo, downtown Fukuoka City.

It is clear to see that in Fukuoka there is great attention and resources spent of fashion and aesthetic pleasure but something is missing.  In the midst of all the glamour and decor there seems to be a loneliness, a hollow vanity.  So many people dressed up in their best but the look of searching is still on their faces.  There is a wanting that is hard to describe.  I admire the many wonderful and interesting things I see in Fukuoka, but I hope that these searching souls may find rest and peace in the Gospel of Christ.

Of course like any metropolitan city there are urban characteristics that leave the heart longing for the beauty of nature, which is only a half hour drive away.  It is a city that seems to have sprung up in middle of the wild.  Surrounded by mountains and accompanied by a beautiful bay area it makes for quite a unique place in Japan.

Fukuoka City night skyline-image taken from wikipedia

This is the place of the Divine Call and we marvel that we are here today. I cannot pretend that I knew it would work out this way, I merely believed in the One who can make such things possible.


Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”


Matthew 19:26

When I am tired and confused, lost and hurt He reaches down in the way only He can to revive me and put me back on the path He has made for me.


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11


It is an amazing experience when you actual experience the Word of God through living by faith and seeing events come to pass that mirror the experience of those in the Bible rather than study them as academia or as a root study.

Be blessed as you live your life, May you see the and experience God in great ways.

Only in Japan: Radiation checked food at your local store

A bunch of Maitake Mushrooms go on sale in Chiba, Japan.

The label claims that these mushrooms have been inspected for radiation and deemed safe.  You can use the QR code to check the website with your cell phone, if you really want to. Mushrooms are rich in minerals making them that more toxic when radiated with isotopes.

Nearly two years after the ill fated March 11th meltdown in Fukushima many are still normally living in the aftermath.  Most people have forgotten, few are really concerned over the amount of radiation in the food, water, or air they intake.

And to be honest, there is some reason to be.  In some areas the radiation clearly has gone down.  Even independent sources show radiation levels almost half of what they were last year.( I apologize, usually I would have a source link but please take my word for it.  I don`t have the internet resources I need available to me for various reasons).



Needless to say some of indepent radiation monitoring shows other areas doubling in radiation from what they were last year.  This is clear evidence that hotspots are getting hotter with radiation while other areas are experiencing the breakdown or half life of their radioactive elements.

Strawberries from the Ibaraki Prefecture known to have radiation hotspots from Fukushima fallout. It was almost impossible to find a regular shaped strawberry in any of these baskets.  Are mututations this common in strawberries?

So what does this really mean? It is a tale-tell sign that the fallout radiation from Fukushima is real and not imagined.  Such dramatic changes in radiation levels for better or for worse should make people think about the long term effects of radiation exposure could be on their communities.  This should cause people to be even more vigilant in checking radiation levels are ensuring a safe environment for sake of public health, espeically children.



It is not time to panic, but to have resolve and determination to come up with methods and ways to combat this potentially harmful situation.

Only in Japan: Noodles of Longevity

Photo taken from popartichoke

In Japan it's a tradition to have soba noodles on New Year's Eve.  In Japanese it is called Toshi Koshi Soba, 年越しそば. (End of the Year Soba) While many in the West are gearing up for party time, the Japanese have a more quiet tradition that dates back hundreds of years to the Edo period.
Most of these seasonal traditions in Japan are rooted in superstition.  The long noodles symbolize a long life, so as the New Year starts you have in a sense the promise or blessing of a long life with you as you partake of the food. It certainly isn't something Japanese take too seriously, but it is something to ponder. 

As it is with many Japanese customs, behind the superstition there is a pearl of wisdom to be found that people long ago discovered and passed on. Using the form of superstition or tradition the Japanese preserve the wisdom and memory of their ancestors. In Japan the fall harvest time is a festive time of feasting and eating while the food from the harvest is still good.  As the year comes to an end in December, there are still gatherings in the form of feasts and merryment in order to forget all the troubles of the year gone bye called Bo Nen Kai 忘年会. After all the gorging and drinking, it most have seemed the healthy way for the Japanese to embrace the New Year in sober and simple fashion with a bowl of buckwheat noodles (soba).

So as I sat and took in the warm bowl of noodles and soup, I did feel a comfort at the simplicity of the meal. There's something special about taking your time and practicing a custom with proper reflection. So will I live a long life? Well, on a cold New Year's night a bowl of warm noodles sure couldn't hurt.