UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT ISLAM & JAPAN

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT ISLAM &JAPAN

            I received this unusual article from Greece about Japan’s stand on Islam recently. I have never heard anything about this before and I do not believe much of the world knows about it. It clearly tells us why Japan does not allow Islam to get a foothold in its society.  It also shows why Japan is such a progressive and productive country.  I now share this translation with you so that you can understand what an enlightened stance that Japan has taken toward this very troublesome ideology.                   +Fr. C. J. Simones

            “Do you know these things about Japan?  You can tell from these facts why Japan is such a progressive and developed country?  Have you ever read in a newspaper of a political leader from an Islamic country ever visiting Japan?  Have you ever read, for example, the prime minister of Iran or the king of Saudi Arabia ever visiting Japan?  Japan has established strict restrictions in reference to Islam and for all Muslims and this is why they do not dare to visit the country. 

            The reasons why Muslims do not visit Japan are as follows:

1) Japan is the only country in the world that will not offer citizenship to Muslims.

2) A status of permanent residence is not granted to any Muslim.

3) There is a strict law in Japan against the teaching of Islam in Japan.

4) The universities of Japan do not teach Arabic or any Islamic language.

5) The Koran and the Arabic language are forbidden from being imported into the country.

6)  In reference to a report that has been published by the Japanese government, temporary permission has been given to only two Muslims to live in the country.  They are required to live by the laws of Japan.  The Muslims must speak Japanese.  They are required to practice their religion only in their homes.

7) Japan is the only country in the world that has a very insignificant number of low level representatives of Muslim countries.

8) The Japanese are not influenced at all by Islam.

9) The only Muslims who live in Japan are employed by foreign companies.

10) Even to this day, visas are not issued to Muslim doctors, engineers or representatives that are sent there by foreign companies.

11) With the majority of the companies, their regulations stipulate that only non-Muslims can register to work in the country.

12) It is the opinion of the Japanese government that Muslims are fundamentalists.  This is its position even in the age of world government and it is not prepared to change its regulations about Muslims.

13) Muslims would not even dare to think about renting a house in Japan.

14) If a new person arrives in a neighborhood and they find out that person is a Muslim, the whole neighborhood gets up in arms.

15) No Muslim can establish a Muslim organization like a Madrasa in Japan.

16) In the case where a Japanese man marries a Muslim woman, he is considered a pariah by the society.

17) According to the opinion of Mr. Komico Yagi (The University of Tokyo) there is an opinion in Japan that Islam is a very narrow mined religion and Japan must distance itself from it.”   

Translated from the Greek by:

+Fr. Constantine (Charles) Simones, February 18, 2013, USA

A note from the translator:  The history of Japan tells us that the Japanese people historically lived in a very xenophobic society.  Some hundreds of years ago there were strict rules protecting the society against all foreign influence.  It is very interesting to note that this opinion changed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the industrialized world started to come into contact with the Japanese. Once the Christians came into contact with the Japanese society, Christianity was slowly accepted and not considered a threat to the Japanese way of life.  As an Orthodox Christian, I know that Holy Orthodoxy had an impact upon Japan through the life and works of St. Nicholas of Tokyo.    

Saint Nicholas of Japan was born Ivan Kasatkin in Berezovky village, Volsk district, in the province of Smolensk.  There his father, Dmitiri, served as a deacon.  His mother died when he was five.  The deacon’s family was big and very poor. Despite that, young Ivan was sent to the Belsk Theological School and later to the Smolensk Theological Seminary.  Ivan was the best student in that school and he was sent to study in the St. Petersburg Theological Academy where he demonstrated remarkable talents.  When Ivan was about to finish his studies, his future mission to preach the Orthodox Faith in Japan was revealed by Divine Providence.  The Russian consul in Japan asked the Church of Russia for a pastor who would be useful both as a spiritual director and a scholar, and whose private life would give a good idea of our clergy not only to the Japanese, but also to foreigners.  Saint Nicholas was ordained a priest monk on July 29, 1860.    He arrived in Japan on July 2, 1861 in spite of the fact that the Japanese at that time regarded foreigners as beasts, and considered Christianity to be a vicious Church, to which only notorious evildoers and magicians could belong.  It took him eight years to familiarize himself with the country, its people and language, and the customs and traditions of those to whom he had come to preach.

In 1911, after fifty-five years’ of missionary work, the Orthodox Church of Japan numbered 266 communities, including 33,017 Orthodox laymen, one Archbishop, one Bishop, 35 priests, six deacons, 14 teachers of music and 116 catechists. He said once: “I consider it inappropriate for a missionary to retire unless he is totally unable to serve.  I have never tried on a robe de chamber, not even in my dreams.  I would rather die in the field where God’s Providence destined me to plough and sow”

On February 3, 1912, Archbishop Nicholas, the enlightener of Japan, peacefully reposed in the Lord at the age of 75.  On April 10, 1970, the Church of Russia decided to glorify Archbishop Nicholas naming him Equal-to-the-Apostles.  Among the Orthodox Christians of Japan, St. Nicholas is now venerated as a man of great sanctity and a special intercessor with the Lord.