Sotome

Haven’t written about my second Ikitsuki trip and some other doings in Nagasaki, but I’d like to blog about my excursion to Sotome while the memory’s still fresh. One of the two Kirishitan 帳方 from Sotome drove all the way down to Nagasaki to take me around Sotome yesterday. First off, cannot be thankful enough for how nice the guy was – treated me to lunch, tea, AND dinner, bought me “Doro somen”, a type of noodle that the Catholic priest Marco de Rotz made for a living - on impulse when I asked about it at the café, literally spent over 10 hours with me on his Saturday, the list goes on and on.

Our drive through Sotome once again made me impressed with how Japanese drivers maneuver through those impossible one-lane curves and hills. Sotome is north of Nagasaki bordering the sea, surrounded by a pretty scenic view with Goto in the very far distance. It’s also the site of the Kakure Kirshitan in Endo Shusaku’s Silence, one of my favorite novels to this day and the reason why I became interested in Kirishitan in the first place. Apparently, Endo came up to Sotome himself to ask the Kirishitan 帳方 at the time (the grandfather of the current 帳方) if he could visit certain places to contextualize the setting for Silence. Ahh *impending geek alert*

Again, bummed that I don't have a proper camera and I'm just uploading all these mediocre ones from my phone. But Sotome is beautiful! View from Endo Shusaku Museum - almost can't tell the sky from the ocean. 

Honestly, I felt like I was going on a Kirishitan “tour” as I was driven every which way. First, we climbed up a hill to look at some unknown Kirishitan graves, marked by a large, flat stones stacked on top of each other as a gravestones, with teacups set on top by someone. 

Graves of unknown Kirishitan

Afterwards, we climbed up another hill to Karematsu Jinja, famous for being a shrine without a torii gate because the Kirishitan used it as a shrine for a saint they called San Juan-sama. Interestingly, there’s an ecumenical festival held every year here by the local Buddhist priests, the Catholic authorities, and the Sotome Kirishitan. We went inside the shrine for him to offer a prayer to San Juan-sama. He took showed me the stones placed in a bowl inside and said people kept them to protect themselves, giving me one to "write my thesis and graduate" (lol). 

Karematsu Jinja

Then to the house of a former company president who collected items as a hobby, some of which were Kirishitan artifacts. There was an iron pot with a cross faintly inscribed inside and a crucifix in pretty good condition. Finally, we made a detour to Ohno church, part of the pitch for Nagasaki's churches to be instated into the World Heritage List, and the former residence of another martyr, Bastian, who is credited with passing on the calendar of Kirishitan observances that San Juan-sama himself taught him.

The cross in the pot!

Finally, we stopped at his house where he showed me some very, very old manuscripts of the Bastian calendar and orashio. Unlike the Goto Kirishitan, the Sotome Kirishitan don’t have any Maria-sama figurines and the like – probably destroyed in a fire, he said. My interview was definitely one of the most interesting so far, if only because he had strong opinions and wasn’t afraid to voice them. Echoing the Goto 帳方, he took pride in the fact that the Kirishitan religion didn’t require money. He insisted that the Kirishitan religion, although it incorporates elements from different religions, is something separate from Buddhism and Catholicism. Moreoever, the Kirishitan religion that was preserved for hundreds of years didn’t “change” from its original Catholic beginnings; rather, it was the Catholic Church who had changed by the time the two groups were able to interact with each other again in the Meiji era. Interesting idea I definitely want to explore further.

A manuscript of The Beginning of Heaven and Earth, the sacred book of the Kirishitan

He drove me back to Nagasaki and took me up to Mount Inaseyama to see the shrine of Kuwahime, the daughter of a Christian daimyo who was exiled to the mountains. Her shrine is marked by two stones inscribed with X’s that are said to be diagonal crosses. 

The alleged crosses on Kuwahime's shrine

Finally, we went back to the station where he treated me to some delicious チャンポン. Once again, can’t get over how nice this guy was, and I wish I had something more to give him than my customary Yale postcard.

Even though, I’m interviewing these people, I’m also learning a lot from these older leaders, something that's sometimes hard to get out of a four-year college experience where you’re limited to people your own age. I think they also sense my age and just want to share their values with me while I’m asking them questions.

Lesson of the day – You need to understand the history of something as you research it. Going around to these landmark Kirishitan sites isn’t direct fieldwork for the thesis I want to explore, but it’s been so helpful contextualizing these people and how they value their Kirishitan ancestors and background. Also need to transcribe all these interviews while I still have time over here! (I know I’m just going to push off everything once I'm back at school…) 

The 帳方 in his garden

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The Meaning of People

Today,  I went to Goto to visit the current Kirishitan leader of the only remaining group on the islands. I tried to go to Goto last Friday, but the ferries were canceled because of the typhoon, so this time I made sure to call before I walked down to the Nagasaki terminal.

To go to Goto by sea, there are two options - a ferry and a faster but more expensive option called a "jetfoil". I opted for the ferry, which would take over 5 hours to the Narao port. When you walk onto the ferry, there aren't any seats but designated sitting floor areas (and like a lot of shared spaces in Japan, you take your shoes off). There are also blankets and those block pillows for people who want to sleep. I was actually pretty comfortable the whole ride (granted I only slept four hours before so I fell asleep pretty fast), although I could see why someone could get seasick from the ferry rocking back and forth. The ferry stopped at Fukue first, which is a hotspot for tourists and as I learned, also the site of the Goto International Triathlon, which had just taken place a day before. Thus, I was soon surrounded by super-fit Japanese triathletes, all bringing on board bikes and huge duffel bags with their gear. Inspiring!

Naptime for these triathletes...

Got to Narao an hour later and was blown away by the color of the water - not the turquoise of pristine Okinawan beaches, but a still amazingly clear marble hue. The leader came to pick me up in his car, wearing a Hawaiian-ish pink shirt, white shorts, and croc-like sandals. Well, what can I expect - Kakure Kirishitan are just regular people after all. On the ride to his house, he stressed how important the history of the Kirishitan was, as part of a 700-year-old tradition that moved to Goto 300 years ago.

Only 57 years old, the current 帳方 (the name given the Kirishitan leader in the Goto tradition) has plenty more years to lead his community of 15 households, until his 38-year-old son will undergo training to inherit the leadership position later. The Kirishitan households are all in the same vicinity, and they gather at his house for holidays and meals. He inherited the position by marrying his wife, whose family was part of the 帳方 tradition. He hesitated at first when asked to become 帳方, intimidated by carrying the weight of a centuries-old religion and the fact that he had lung cancer and might pass away soon, but accepted it and was miraculously cured of his cancer immediately afterwards. In the interview, he also mentioned other instances of miraculous healings and how Kirishitan prayers had healing abilities.

He showed me the マリア様 (Mary) rosary and the イエス様 (Jesus) figurine he closely guards in his house, handed down for centuries among the Goto Kirishitan. Apparently, the Sotome Kirishitan do not have such old relics because they were influenced by European priests for a longer time. The sacred objects cannot physically leave the house of the 帳方 lest they cause misfortune on the entire community. There is also another マリア様 figurine that cannot be shown to anyone except the 帳方 for the same reason. 

His orashio book with The Lord's Prayer on the left

Two points I think wanted to take away from the interview - he viewed 神様 (God), マリア様, and イエス様 as one and the same, and that all religions worshipped the same God. Similar to what the Kirishitan lady at the Ikiitsuki museum was saying, which isn't surprising, since Japan has a culture of syncretism.

The 帳方 wearing the special kimono he wears for prayers, and his wife

Next, we went around his neighborhood and saw Yamakami Jinja, the shrine his Kirishitan community is associated with and still takes care of to this day. No one knows what's actually inside the shrine, again a privilege only granted to the 帳方, but even the current leader himself hasn't seen what's inside. He also showed me the ruins of apparently the oldest church in Goto, as well as Kiri Church, which has a breathtaking view of the marble water. (And I saw a Kuroneko takkyubin truck making its rounds - swear this company covers every inch of Japan!)

The color of the water! 

On the way back to the terminal, he emphasized the Kirishitan preserved their tradition because it was their religion. I think he meant religion versus a custom or a culture, as some other groups might view their tradition. Although he's never been abroad, he knows that Kirishitan are quite known in the academic world - a Korean television crew even came to his house once to do a segment - but wants more people to know that people still actively practice the Kirishitan faith, at least in Goto. He sat with me at the terminal waiting area for a bit, asking about America and my parents and giving me his last wise tidbits on God and family.

One last look at that water - yeah, I'm a little obsessed...

This time, I went back by jetfoil, which is only a little over an hour back to Nagasaki and fashioned somewhat after the inside of an airplane. I thought about the day's events (however regrettably short my stay at Goto was) and realized how people like the Nanzan professor could devote so many years of research on the Kirishitan - you definitely feel more invested after meeting the people and hearing their stories and wishes. In that sense, I don't think I'm as much of a library researcher (although I know I always need to read more ugh) as I'm starting to really like fieldwork for the opportunities to talk with people. I've always complained about how pointless it must be for researchers to write books on topics that no one else cares about, but there certainly is meaning when it comes to people, no matter how small the group might be. 

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Ikitsuki

During the week, I went up to Sasebo to visit a friend before heading out to Ikitsuki the next day, traveling on Kyushu's highway bus system, which is pretty extensive and also reasonably priced. (I used the SUNQ pass last winter to bus-hop around Kyushu - would definitely recommend for anyone who wants to travel through here!) I had been recommended by multiple professors to see the Ikitsuki museum director, who published a lot on the Kirishitan himself and had connections to multiple Kirishitan communities. He said he would see me twice, first to get a handle on what I wanted to research (and to test my Japanese...) and the second time, he would introduce me to a Kirishitan who might be good to interview based on my research topic

To get to Ikitsuki, I had to take an additional two buses, one to Hirado and then transfer to another one that would take me across the Ikitsuki bridge to the island. Looking out the window, there were tons of terraced fields filled with standing rainwater - amazing considering this is a pretty rocky island with a scarcity of flat land. I missed my bus stop though and had to walk back a ways to get to the museum, glimpsing the Ikituski Daikannon statue along the way.

Bridge connecting Hirado and Ikitsuki

When I got to the museum, the director wasn't there yet, so I walked around the exhibits, which included the history of Ikitsuki's whaling industry and of course, a Kakure Kirishitan exhibit with rosarios, orashios, hanging paintings, among other things. The coolest thing was an imitation of a Kirishitan house with a shrine of a 納戸神 ("closet god"), which the Kirishitan worshipped in secret in the underground period. In the dim light with a recording of the orashio being chanted in the background, it was a very surreal, even haunting, atmosphere.

The 納戸神 (room in the back)

マリア観音 (Maria Kannon)

I came back down and was soon launched into a very thorough PowerPoint presentation by the museum director. Surprisingly, I could follow along most of it, even though I haven't read half of the Japanese research on Kirishitan as I should have. He caught me off guard a couple times, asking me what I thought about certain academic interpretations of the Kirishitan, but I somehow came up with a reply (whether he was satisfied or not, I don't know). Then he asked me if I wanted to interview a Kirishitan right then and there. Once again, I wasn't 100% prepared, but I was able to have a 40ish-minute interview with a 39-year-old daughter of a Kirishitan family, who no longer had a community to practice with but certainly valued her own Kirishitan faith. (This time, I got a tape recording whoot!) The professor at Nanzan told me I should have direction in my questions and make a special effort to ask follow-up questions if I really wanted the information I wanted. Overall, I think I did okay with probing around, although I hesitated on some questions because they could have been offensive (mostly to do with the current Catholic church...). Hearing her personal experience was pretty moving - when she was talking about the rituals not being practiced anymore, her eyes turned red and watery, and I thought she was about to cry. Respect for ancestors is certainly key to explaining why people continue the Kirishitan faith, but to me, this faith provides them with something spiritual as well, even today.

I guess that interview was a test because afterwards, the director met with me to discuss who I would want to interview and said he would also ask my most recent interviewee about the content of my questions. In my interactions with the director, I think he expected me to be more assertive/descriptive about my research, but again, he was a pretty nice guy.

Farm country

Afterwards, I did a little sightseeing around Ikitsuki, and made my way up the neighborhood roads to Yamada Church, apparently the last church to be associated with an organized group of Kirishitan. But it was closed when I got there, darn. Well, anyway, I saw a lot of terraced farms along the way. Then I went back to the Daikannon and took pictures - this was my first time seeing a sitting Kannon statue. Then headed back to a bus stop, only to find the next bus wasn't for another hour. Well, that's island buses for you. I'm surprised they even have buses at all, but then again, the extent of Japan's transportation has definitely impressed me on more than one occasion, even in the countryside. But I have to admit, wandering around islands alone always scares me a little because I have a paranoia of missing the last bus and being stranded on the island. Bus came on time though and I was soon on my way back to Sasebo. Shame I didn't have more time in Hirado, especially since it's also full of Kirishitan sites, but I promised myself I'd look around more next week on my second trip to Ikitsuki.

生月大魚籃観音 (Ikitsuki Kannon0

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Nagasaki at last! (And research is for truth...)

So after five cities in a week, it felt really really good to finally step into my apartment in Nagasaki. And I was shocked at how big it was - by Japanese standards anyway. As something I found last-minute after finals week, I think I probably could have found cheaper if I searched around more, but this place was already well below my fellowship budget and easy to seal online. I could have also opted for a hotel, but then I wouldn't have had a kitchen for cooking cheap meals, and the cleaning lady might come knocking every now and then. The apartment is also centrally located - walkable to Nagasaki Station, the city library, as well as the main shopping arcade (although Nagasaki is a pretty walkable city all around!). The apartment building itself is surrounded by buildings on each side, so it doesn't really heat up at midday. And I live on the fourth floor, so no bugs!

My apartment!

This isn't my first time living in a Japanese apartment, but first time living alone I guess. I thought it might be lonely, but I've been pretty occupied with research, thinking about things for next year, household chores, and studying for the GRE (I somehow managed to lug 5+ pounds of test prep books with me to Japan, and I swore I would study them all to make this hauling around worth it.). Also rented a guitar in Japan since I wasn't sure about Air Canada's carry-on rules and didn't want to risk getting it chucked into the checkin baggage. I was also worried about bothering the neighbors with the noise, but actually, I don't think too many people live in my building; anyways, no complaints yet.

This also isn't my first time to Nagasaki, but the last time was just for a day trip in winter 2011. In terms of living, Nagasaki has been pretty much everything I wanted so far - a city that's convenient enough for everything you need but also quiet enough to do some thinking/studying. Plus I love port cities - the Dejima wharf area is beautiful and there's also a park nearby that I might take more pictures of once I get the chance. There's also a lovely river running through the city crossed with stone bridges and walkways. It was recently decked out with a colorful arrangement of flowers - I took some pictures the day before they took it down. I really want to get to know Nagasaki as a city; it's my goal to search every corner of this place that I can in a month.

Pretty much my backyard - also the three ladies eating ice cream = adorbs

眼鏡橋 "Spectacles Bridge" - can you see it?

I've been going on night runs along the river to avoid the crowds/heat, and it's been pretty good so far - although one night, I ventured down Nagasaki's 寺町 (Teramachi, or "city of temples"), this road lined with a bunch of temples/cemeteries bordering a hillside. I've gone down this road before in the daytime, but I must say, it's pretty creepy at night. Felt like I was running for my life at the end of it lols.

My only real low has been that the camera I rented from the Yale media center now only shows a purplish screen when I try to focus. I looked up what was wrong, and it seems like the CCD needs to be replaced in the model that I'm using. Canon will repair it for free - but ironically, only the American branch. The Japanese one seems to charge upwards of $100 for repairs and the nearest branch is in Fukuoka, so I don't think I'm gonna stop by anytime soon. I still have my camera phone but it definitely doesn't measure up to the quality/zoom of an actual camera. Might just buy one while I'm here...

I checked out a local church yesterday, and I think I'll stick with it. But the reason I'm mentioning this is because there was a doctor there who said something to me that I really want to remember for the summer. Having worked in a lab, he talked about the senior researchers he really respected - not the ones who were trying to have their name published on a report, but the ones who aimed for perfect results - in other words, the truth. I know a lot of Ph.D. students as well as associate professors deal with a lot of pressure to get printed in publications. Butut if I were to go to grad school, I want to always remember his words. Research is not just to find the most creative interpretation, but a search for the truth.

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Always one post behind...

In my experience, blogging is always better as soon as you can get ahold of a computer, if only because the human mind can only hold so much in memory. But here goes my excursion to Nagoya:

I was exhausted the morning I got into Nagoya because I kept bumping into the girl next to me on the bus when I was falling asleep (or she was bumping into me). But I had plans to meet a professor at Nanzan University in the afternoon, so it was right to work. Little did I know that we would talk for over FOUR HOURS about Kakure Kirishitan (not straight, thank goodness, but still). He was also really nice, but I felt the pressure when he said, "Welcome to the circle. We need more people to do research on the Kakure Kirshitan!" Oh god, I didn't sign up for a Ph.D. yet... But again, you could tell he was really really devoted to his research - translating this and that, writing a biography, going to conferences here and there, etc. And he gave me a lot more information on the current state of Kirishitan - apparently, there are more groups in Kurosaki in addition to the communities I already knew about on Ikitsuki and Goto. And some recent "incidents" between the local Catholic church and the Kurosaki Kirishitan, of which I will elaborate more on once I get some more research/interviews.

This was all very interesting and important to my research, but I was just plain tired - when he left his office to go teach a class for an hour, he gave me a bunch of materials to look over in his office, but after a couple pages, I passed out on his couch. Luckily, I woke up with plenty of time before he came back, studiously reading a Nagasaki newsletter. He offered to copy whatever I wanted from the materials, and we went down to the copy machine - but of course, the copy machine had a couple malfunctions, and it turned out I wasn't allowed alone there as a student, so he had to come back and copy everything for me. Again, a very nice guy.

Going through research - before I passed out...

We continued our talk about Kakure Kirishitan over dinner, and he offered several dozen angles I could take - almost to the point that my head was about to explode from the possibilities. Individual vs. community faith? How can the local Catholic church seek to understand the Kirishitan religion? And since I was female, what researching about gender issues? He gave me more articles to read at night, but I had to postpone them until the morning after a good night's sleep.

The day afterwards, he showed me around the Nanzan Institute of Religion and Culture, which publishes the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, or the "bible of religion in Japan". (Although one of the people on the publishing staff joked, "Yeah, the Bible, like no one reads it.") It also has a pretty good library of everything religion-related in Japan and abroad. The professor introduced me to other researchers at the institute, including a Korean theologian who was researching pentecostalism and shamanism in Korea. Actually, I'm very interested in that topic, but it was off to research on Kirishitan again before I could ask him more on it. Other introductions were interesting as they would ask me what university I was from, and of course I had to say the Y-word. But I think they understood I was just an undergrad, although the professor mentioned I could apply for research grants from Japanese foundations and spend a couple years at the institute. Things to mull on...

The rest of my time was spent on typing up and backing up my notes because I knew I wouldn't be able to read this chicken scratch after a couple days...

Lesson of the day - one month is NOT ENOUGH for research. It's kind of intimidating trying to reach people on all these remote areas around Nagasaki. But I'm gonna try my best!
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Dashing around Japan

Whew, again, a lot has happened within the past few days. Because I found those articles on contemporary Kirishitan in Tokyo, I decided to change my route to Nagasaki and stop by Nagoya along the way. Which had me scurrying around for a few days, canceling my bus to Nagasaki and booking a flight from Nagoya to Fukuoka instead (super cheap Air Asia flight for 2280 yen!) and a bus from Fukuoka to Nagasaki, postponing my takkyubin pickup, and figuring out how to pick up my apartment key later at the Nagasaki post office. (In the end, I realized I wouldn’t be able to pick up my key the night that I arrived in Nagasaki, so I’ll be crashing for the night in Fukuoka instead before heading out to Nagasaki in the morning.) One thing learned – prepare to be FLEXIBLE when it comes to research. But enough about logistics…

I had a little more free time the last few days in Tokyo, so I caught up with a lot of friends amongst the hectic rearranging of travel plans. I saw friends from school, church, as well as the dance group I sort of randomly found myself in when I took the gap year. Doesn’t seem like time has changed at all, really, because after all, it’s only been a year since I left Japan. I went to my old Japanese language school at IUC for this year’s graduation party in Yokohama and walked around some familiar places. Yokohama is honestly a gorgeous city. Tokyo is fun and everything is there, but I do have a special place in my heart for this city. The graduation party was also interesting, if only because I met IUC alums who were doing everything from managing their own startup in Japan for a couple years to a professor emeritus at Sophia University who had lived in Japan for who knows how long. Makes me wonder if I can live in another country for that long – up to 10 years maybe, but something tells me I belong in America in the end.

My favorite spot in Yokohama~

Then it was off to Kyoto where I didn’t do much sightseeing at all because I was in Osaka and Nara for the two days I stayed in Kansai. Osaka for – hehehe, what else? – a TVXQ concert (!@#$ still good-looking as ever) and Nara to visit Tenri University.

久しぶりに大阪！ And you can't forget the deer in Nara...

I had been to Nara 3 summers ago, but it was my first time going to the Tenri area. I somehow skipped Tenri station and not notice until 10 stations later when I saw that I was deep in 田舎– but good thing I was super early, so I could hop back on the opposite direction. On my way to the university, I saw a huge temple complex, which turned out to be the headquarters of Tenrikyou, and checked it out later. Interestingly enough, all of the people praying at the temple (and there were a lot in that ginormous temple!) seemed to be students (maybe from the high school nearby?) and there was even a guy wearing an official “Tenrikyo overseas youth mission movement” or something like that. I looked it up on Wikipedia later, and there are currently 2 million followers of Tenrikyou in Japan. I wonder if “followers” meant nominally, like a lot of Buddhist/Shinto followers in Japan, or regular practitioners. Either way, I was impressed by the youthfulness of the group I saw. 

It’s kind of far away, but you can see Tenrikyou written on the the black robes.

At Tenri University, I talked with a professor who I had read for one of my papers back at Yale. It was a short discussion, but what I took away from it was that my questions should focus on the Religious Studies perspective, rather than veer too much toward the anthropological. Because I like working with primary texts and analyzing literature, I usually write my papers more from the theological angle, but I guess the prospect of fieldwork with the Kakure Kirishitan has made me incorporate a lot more anthropology as well. Which is still important, but I was reminded what motivates me is more of the theology behind their rituals.

He also gave me a quick tour around the Tenri University library and was kind enough to show me the centuries-old Kirishitan documents he had painstakingly gone through while writing his dissertation. When he touched the books again, I could tell – he really, really valued these materials and what it meant to his research. Like he knew where every book was in that collection and also probably what page number certain prayers were written down in. (Which makes me wonder again - will I be this devoted to a topic if I went into academia? Agghhh decisions).

Also, visiting all these places for the second or third time has made me appreciate each city more in Japan somehow. I didn't do much sightseeing, but even walking around reminded me each city has its own atmosphere. I remember I thought I couldn't see myself living in Kyoto long-term because of all the tourists, but somehow it seemed more liveable this time around, maybe because I was staying with a friend. And I could see why people compared Osaka to Seoul, having been to Seoul now. 

Will post about Nagoya soon - pretty overwhelming as well… 

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Why, hello there.

Well, here I am again. In Japan. If you’re one to believe in fate like me, there must be a good reason why I keep coming back to this place. Still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life (or at the very least, what to do in the next year after leaving the safe haven of college). So much has happened in the last few days that my head’s exploding with what-ifs.

In less abstract personal ponderings, I’m back in Japan this summer to do research for my senior thesis on Kakure Kirishitan aka hidden Christians of Japan. (I am lazy so I'm just linking to Wikipedia for more info.)

Currently in Tokyo prepping for my fieldwork in Nagasaki. What has happened in the last four days:

-       Friday: Caught up with old IUC friends at an izakaya. Got the bill, scratched our heads in confusion until we realized they charged us over $4 each for the mandatory edamame. Same ol’. NOTHING in life is free. Nothing. But it felt good to be back in Japan. Don't know if it's just me but whenever I come back, I always sense this ... smell. A nice homey smell. 

-       Saturday: Went to International Christianity University for some serious quality time with the library. I had gone to the ICU library once before when I was studying in Yokohama, but I got lost again in that overgrown forest of a college. (Beautiful campus though – I would love it if Yale had actual forested areas.) Resisted the urge to photocopy everything (since I tend to not read what I photocopy…) to parse through some research about recent Kakure Kirishitan conversion to Shinto in the Goto islands. Realized I was reading Japanese at a pace of about 2 pages an hour (granted, they were larger than letter size) and started frantically photocopying. I now solemnly swear I will at least take a look at them later.

-       Sunday: Took a break from research because heck, it’s the Sabbath. 

-       Monday: Interviewed the researcher whose work I read (or attempted to read) at ICU. Went better than expected, what with my rusty Japanese and broken keigo, but she was nice and treated me at a classy café. But as I pressed the stop button to finish the audiotape, I noticed it started recording. Which meant I hadn’t recorded anything in that hour-long interview FML (this is why you should NOT rely on the tape recorder!) But I cheered myself up by saying that experience gave me just a wee bit more confidence with interviews in Japanese and the technical knowhow to press the ‘record’ button next time.

Afterwards, I checked out the Kirishitan Bunko at Sophia University, probably one of the best collections, if not the best, of Christian research material in Japan. My letter of introduction from Yale, which I had gotten as an afterthought only days before, suddenly became the magic pass to getting into libraries everywhere. Found some interesting articles on contemporary Kakure Kirishitan survival and conversion by a researcher from the Congo.

Took the train back at afternoon rush hour and made a vow I would never live along on the Odakyu line as long as they run it the way they do now. 

Haven’t been able to fall asleep tonight – my head has decided to brainstorm about my thesis as well as contemplate the future instead. So the researcher I interviewed today suggested I also look into interviewing people who had left the Kakure Kirishitan faith in the 1980s-90s. Which is kind of the opposite angle from where I was coming from. But at the same time, completely relevant. Ah, can I cram survivorship and conversion/abandonment into one paper? That would require a lot more travel, and it’s already inconvenient enough as it is with the sort of remote communities I’m trying to get to. I could try to tackle both themes and see what comes up. But I do remember - my project advisor from Yale warned me not to get too carried away with getting data – you always end up with more than what you need…

On other matters, someone asked me a couple weeks ago what I would have majored in if I hadn’t gotten into Yale. When I was looking up majors at state schools, I was thinking communications or advertising, mostly from working with my high school newspaper. It might seem that I did a complete 180 by choosing Religious Studies, but I’m starting to realize research is a lot like journalism. You stumble across an interesting topic and curiosity gets the better of you. You do your background research. You gather contacts (mostly testing if email addresses are still valid on that ten-year-old website). Whatever you’ve come up, you piece together an angle you want to write from.

Do I like this stuff enough to consider grad school? As I said before, I believe in fate. And needless to say, everything in my resume is geared toward grad school (or rather, *cough cough* I just don’t have any work experience). And when I look back at what’s happened to me in the last four years, I can see all the random steps I took to get to me in Japan doing senior thesis research right now. Still trying to figure out if long but flexible hours of research/writing > long, straight hours at the workplace but not taking my work back home with me. And if I can be crazy enough about a topic to devote my entire life to it. Despite the library masochism, I like research for what little I’ve done so far. But I fear burnout if I keep doing the same thing…

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