I just saw the following video, “God’s Fingerprints in Japan 1,” for the first time a couple weeks ago. It has some amazing and unique insights into Japanese history, culture, and how the creator God of the bible is reflected in it. In 2005 it won the Telly Award. The video begins by asking these three questions:
- Is there historical evidence of the creator God in Japanese culture?
- Did God leave his fingerprint within the history and culture in Japan?
- Have western Christian culture and traditional missionary values overlook the beauty and grace of traditional Japanese culture?
The following twenty five minutes or so then examines Japans oldest religion of Shinto, the tradition of tea ceremony, and the history of Christianity in Japan all of which bear witness to the God of the bible. Although generally viewed as the God of western society in Japan, “God’s Fingerprints in Japan” show that the creator God has always been the God of Japanese people.
Below I have included both the Japanese and English translations of the video.
(Japanese version)
(English version)
and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way towards him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us (Act 17:27)
If you are interested in buy this video you can find it at Aloha Ke Akua Ministries’ website. I bought it from there with no problems and it only cost $4. It is made clear that this video is not sold for profit. The only thing you are charged for is what it cost to make the DVD and have it shipped. The website shows a part one and part two of “God’s Fingerprints in Japan,” but if you just by one of them you will get both in a DVD box set, it is a great deal! I didn’t know about the box set when I bought it and now I have two copies; first one to ask gets my extra copy for free!
I will bring you part two of “God’s Fingerprints in Japan” soon.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Oooh, ooh, pick me! I like free stuff!
Sold! for free that is. Please email me here, kermit [at] jesuslovesjapan [dot] com, with the address that I can ship the DVD to you. Thanks for your interest.
Also, I checked out your website, very cool, thanks for the shout out you game me along with other interesting links.
I just found your website.
For the love of god (excuse the pun), leave Japan alone.
You found god. Excellent. Your choice.
You love Japan. Awesome.
But your “mission” is to stuff Japan’s throat with religion they didn’t ask for. Stop!
They have their Buddhism and other customs. And yes, Japan isn’t perfect.
But stop your CRUSADE to turn Japan into another Christian country.
I actually love Japan for not being such a religious country, where people don’t go door-to-door trying to sell bibles and the word of god. QUIT IT. I never asked for that, and neither did Japan!!
If people are interested and want to know, they’ll go search and find it.
Don’t stuff it into their throats and stop trying to change Japan YOUR religion way. (Did you know? There are more religions than one? Holy crap!)
As I said, Japan isn’t perfect. Yes they have issues with suicide and long working days. Yes, they’re not not sharing enough emotions/love as they should. But that has nothing to do with religion. Look at the US where most people are Christians. That place must be heaven on earth. Oh wait.. it’s not.
You’re like a Christian discovering a newly found tribe who worship the sun.
“Oh my, they haven’t heard of god? This is my mission!”
What’s wrong with the way the are!?!
Stop. Really, stop.
Wow, it sounds like you have had a lot of pretty bad encounters with “Christians,” I’m really sorry about that. I admit it Christians can be the most a pain in the a$$ sometime. Not everyone who says there are a Christian have truly experience God change their lives… and even those who have are not perfect.
But what I am not trying to do is spread religion… religious people killed Jesus and could not recognize the love of love of God when it was standing right in front of them. I’m not trying to introduce Japanese to religion but to Jesus Christ. He is alive you know, the whole rising from death and the tomb being empty.
I’m not a Mormon or Jehovah’s witness. I just love Jesus, and when you experience what I have, the Love of God is something that you can’t keep to yourself. Watch the video and you’ll actually see that Jesus has always been the God of Japan too.
Alright man catch you later. Maybe I’ll see you around and we can get a beer or something
I’m sorry for my harsh comment. But yes, I did have some issues with Christians.
(In a Jesus way or not)
Spread the love
And I’m sure we can have a beer!
Its all good, no worries.
If there is a bunch of stuff you’ve been meaning to get off you chest with Christians I am open to you sharing how you feel as long as it can be done with respect and understanding. Beers on me.
Hi Kermit
Just a (strong) word of caution from a concerned brother in Christ. I haven’t seen this video myself, but from what I know about the folks behind it, including Daniel Kikawa, as well as other info I’ve come across regarding this video promotes a view of God in Japanese culture that is not at all supported by the Bible. I won’t go into too much detail here, but let the bible remind us that not a single Japanese person will be saved without them turning away from their current religious beliefs/practices and placing total faith in Jesus alone for their salvation.
We’ve always got to remind ourselves and our hearers that Christianity was not originally a “western” religion, but a Jewish one, with original texts written in Hebrew and Greek. By God’s grace many in the “west” have embraced Jesus as their Lord, but this doesn’t mean that those in the “east” can get away by saying “you’ve got your western God – Jesus, I’ve got my ancestors and they’re both ultimately the same”. Jesus is the only name under heaven by which man may be saved.
Thank you for your work for the Lord in Japan!
For the Gospel,
ConcernedBrother
@ ConcernedBrotherInJapan, I know both DVDs pretty well because I’m working on the newest version! I encourage you to watch the DVD. Indeed it would be false to tell people that they can all find the true God in whatever way they want, and they don’t have to change anything… however I think the message strongly conveyed by these DVDs is that God is the God of the entire earth, not just Westerners, and that, if that is true, there must be some evidence of knowledge of God in Japanese (and every ancient) culture. I hope you check it out!
Please let us know when the next version is available, I’m looking forward to it
I teach a missions class and today we are hosting a group of 35 Japanese students from Irabaki Christian School. Their host let me view “Gods Fingerprints in Japan.” It is very appropriate for a Missions Class that I teach here at Capital Christian. We are presently learning about redemptive analogies and how to relate culturally to differenct people groups. After viewing the video I am going to show it to my class. Due to the fact that I am borrowing it from the group leader I will not be able to show it in the future. I went online and tried to order it from your website but our filter does not allow me to enter the site. I could do it from home but thought I would try it this way first. Hope you can help me obtain a copy of the dvd.
In His service,
Rick Graham, Vice-principal & “Missions Class” teacher.
Captial Christian High School
Hey Rick! Nick to meet you, your class on cultural redemptive analogies sounds exciting! I hope you don’t mind but I removed your personal information from your comment for the sake of you privacy.
When it comes to getting a copy of the DVD I currently don’t have any extras with me. It can be purchased at Aloha Ke Akua Ministries’ website here, http://akaministries.tripod.com/aloha/id2.html. The DVD is free, all you pay for is the cost of shipping and handling as well as the cost for making the DVD, $4 total. God’s Fingerprints in Japan parts 1 and 2 in both English and Japanese are included in one DVD box set, so you don’t have to buy them separately as I did and ended up with two copies of each.
I have also made the videos available for download free at Vimeo. If you click on this link, http://vimeo.com/album/179855, and then click on which God’s Fingerprints In Japan video you want, directly under the video to the right hand side there is an option to download it. The only catch is that you have to have a Vimeo account to download it, but you can sign up for free.
I hope that this is helpful for you, please let me know if there is any other way I can help and or you have any other questions.
Blessings!
May I Please Have A Copy! I Dont Have Any Money. But I Have A Huge PASSION FOR JAPAN And JESUS! God Gave Me A Promise 7 years Ago that I Will Come And Seve In Japan
I dont have any more copies to give away but I do have them posted on Vimeo where you can download them for free! Here is the link, http://vimeo.com/album/179855.
Blessings to you and enjoy!
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