Day 7 - Bethel in Ebina, Japan

We boarded buses at 8:00 a.m. to leave for Ebina Bethel, an hours' ride from the Yokohama Sheraton. More opportunity to visit with the other friends from the states.  We met friends from New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, and Nevada.

Upon arriving at Bethel and exiting the bus, we were again met with lines of brothers welcoming us and escorting us in. The first photo below of the sisters in kimonos is inside the lobby at Bethel.  Both sides of the lobby had the same view as this.  It was very beautiful.  Inside the lobby, there was a line of brothers that we followed all the way to the auditorium. Entertainment was the first thing planned.  Everyone greeted us as we went.  As we entered the auditorium, which was half full of Japanese brothers, there was continued applause until everyone came in and sat down. Very moving and emotional. 

A show was planned of singing and a traditional fan dance.  The most interesting to us was a father and son who professionally play a three-stringed guitar called the Shimasen.  Would you like to hear what it sounds like?  Watch this short Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrD8MUDrfUE

Following this we walked outside past the Bethel garages and into the dining hall.  We were scheduled for an early lunch as the brothers would then have to feed all the Bethelites afterwards.  We sat at a table with two couples from Golden Valley, Arizona, an area that is two hours from the Grand Canyon.  We enjoyed our association very much.  Lunch was an omelet served over rice (eggs are used a lot in Japan, and sometimes raw).

After lunch we were given a tour.  We were in the lobby for a while waiting our turn and so had the opportunity to visit the museum there which displayed the history of this branch.  On the tour, we got to stop and greet a few brothers who are in the sign language department and see one of their videos and learn a few Japanese signs.  Many departments made displays to welcome us such as the Mt. Fuji made out of Watchtower pages - see below.

Later that afternoon, we board the buses again to head back to Yokohama. We knew this was our last arranged event with the brothers, and it was hard to go.  Some of the young people leaned out of windows to wave us off and some were in the parking lot waving us off.  They were so warm and loving.

Our bus guides, Shu (Shuichi Otomoroi) and Masa (Masaki Fuse) were very lively and fun hosts.  On the way back to Yokohama, they both made a really heartfelt comment to our bus group.  Masa mentioned that he was very grateful for the brothers in the U.S. because, if it weren't for the U.S. sending missionaries to Japan, they would have never learned about Jehovah.  Shu said that he feels they learned something from us because, while the Japanese brothers are reserved and don't show a lot of emotion, we all hug. 

Bethel lobby

Friends applauding as we walk from the lobby to the auditorium.

Friends applauding as we enter the auditorium.

Music and singing.

The father and son who played the Shimasen

An early lunch.

A young couple from Seoul, Korea.

Mockup of Bethel complex.

Our tour guide at Bethel.

Origami with towels!

Sign language: Thank you and I love you!

Mt. Fuji!!!

The send-off......

Lynne's Thoughts

Well it's hard, and really impossible, to sum up such an amazing experience and help you feel the emotion we felt.  But seeing another aspect of our international brotherhood was truly breathtaking.  I didn't expect so much attention, warmth, and love.  There were groups and lines of brothers and sisters welcoming us everywhere we went for 5 days.  And they didn't just casually say 'welcome' and 'thank you for coming'; it was a very heartfelt greeting.  We were greeted at the airport, at the hotel, on the bus in the morning, at the convention, and then lines of friends applauding at Bethel.  The emotion is hard to convey.  But having an immediate connection and love for friends you just met who also speak another language is truly amazing.  The Japanese brothers were beyond hospitable and many sacrificed a lot of time, planning, and hosting of all 1500 foreign visitors.  I certainly can't say thank you enough to them for their hard work and planning which made this an experience of a lifetime.

Japan has a beautiful culture in general.  They are known for being hospitable and for the feelings of others to be of prime importance over their own opinion. So they give their opinion very mildly so as not to offend.  Even the worldly people we met in touring were very helpful and mannerly.  The cities were clean as everyone has enough respect to clean up after themselves.  The respect and cleanliness were very impressive.  We knew we were in another world.

Something else impressive with the friends was that they were in their seat during the convention when the music started.  No walking around, standing, and talking.  They were quiet and ready for the beginning of the sessions.  That is not what we experience here.  No young people were walking the hallways during the sessions talking to their friends or on their cell phones.  We can learn from their respect.

Jehovah is very generous and, as a mother, I appreciate the affect it had on my family and what it did to educate my youngest son who has the goal of pioneering and learning another language.  When they can do something like this, it gives them the inspiration and courage to do more and Jehovah becomes more real to them. The governing body knows what they are doing in scheduling these international conventions.  A couple of friends on tour asked us if we are going next year and commented that this is like an 'addiction'.  It really is because the enthusiasm is unmatched!!!

Day 13 - Our Last Day: Kobe

Our last day.  We decided to take the train to Kobe.  The distance between Kyoto and Kobe is 1 hour and 9 minutes - but 25 minutes by bullet train!  We took a trolley up Mt. Rocco, which is behind Kobe, so that we could see the view and some of the countryside. It was pretty stunning.  There was a lookout platform at the top along with a gift shop.  We waited for a bus which took us to Rokkosan Pasture, a farm on the mountain.  It was a nice walk where the sheep were loose and the hills were rolling.  We ate grilled sausage and tasted cheese ice cream (as they made their own cheese at this farm).
               It was very humorous to see Japanese men in Swiss Alp costumes playing the Swiss long horn and also a singing group with yodeling.  We thought we were in the wrong country.

We finished the evening by stopping in Osaka and having an amazing steak dinner in a modern mall.

Osaka mall

Sheep farm behind Kobe

Did we mention that the bullet train is very cool????

Day 12 - Golden Temple and bamboo forest

Our 12th day, Saturday, August 10th, we toured again locally.  We took a bus to the golden shrine.  If you would like to see a beautiful picture and learn just a little bit about it, take this link:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3908.html

After that, we went to a bamboo grove.  For a few really cool photos and a couple of interesting facts,
go here: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/04/sagano-bamboo-forest-at-arashiyama.html

Day 11 evening - Miyajima island

Well, it's evening now and James pushed for taking a train to a bus to a ferry to go to Miyajima island.  This was the hottest day, and we weren't sure if we would make it.  But this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so who needs sleep.  We didn't realize but came to learn that a lot of things even in the big towns close down around 6:00 p.m. - probably because it is dark at 7:00 p.m. 
                 Well, that is about when we got there -  7:00 p.m.  Everything was shutting down.  So we got to walk a bit and observe the scenery and the famous 'floating shrine'.  When the water is up, the red shrine appears to float.  The people-friendly deer were a lot of fun.  The views of the mountains were spectacular. We wish we could have been on this island earlier and made it to the beach.  We did get good-quality local food.  Lynne was safe as usual and got beef curry (hopefully it was beef and not horse), and everyone else got noodles and oysters............
                 We then took the ferry to a bus to a train and made it back to our Kyoto hotel at midnight.

Day 11 - Hiroshima

Today we left early to take the 2-hour trip to Hiroshima (pronounced Hear - ohhh' - shee - muh). Us Americans have a couple of different ways we like to say it.  This was pretty profound.  The first picture below I don't remember seeing in any history class, but it is the only building where something survived the blast.  It was at the epicenter - the bomb exploded over it and pushed down.  So some of the core withstood the blast.  It was a government building.  It is a very eerie site. We also toured the museum, which was very crowded as it was August 9th - the anniversary of the bombing in Nagasaki.  A few days before on the 6th was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  History is always fascinating.  It was a horrible thing that affected people for years!  But when you read about the history, Japan was abusing it's power on other nations.  So again seeing the futility of war and man's need to dominate one another, and the need for God to step in.

Alec's story:
While dad and I were walking from the dome building to the museum, an old man (probably about 85 years old) came up and introduced himself to us.  He basically comes every year for the anniversary, and he tells people his story.  Apparently, when he was about 16 (I think) is when the bomb hit.  He was staying with a friend who lived just outside the blast zone at the time.  His mother was at their home near where the bomb exploded, his father and little brother were out and about.  All of them died in the blast.  A day after the horrific tragedy, he returned to the city to search for his family.  He stumbled over dead bodies; everything around him was ruins.  He searched and searched, but his family was gone.  I am not sure how he survived the radiation, he must not have stayed long enough for it to affect him that badly.  His point to the story was, it is never right to drop a bomb on an entire city.  How true that is . . .

 

Monument to the children.  There is a little girl on top with an origami swan.

Flowers from the memorial celebration they had on August 6th and 9th.

This man is 85 years old and survived the Hiroshima bombing. 

He was telling Alec his story.  How cool is that?