letter from Japan
Alert – ‘A large earthquake is coming...’
Charley Ballinger
‘You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed … There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains’ (Matt. 24:6-8).
With the war in Ukraine well into its second year, severe droughts in Ethiopia and extreme weather, this verse is a prescient exhortation. This verse came to mind whilst my mother was visiting us in Japan from the UK.
letter from Japan
The great Japanese egg scramble
Charley Ballinger
If you look on Google there are over 22 million hits for Japanese queueing etiquette.
‘Japanese people are well-mannered, and they respect the rules, that is known throughout the world.’
letter from Japan
‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down’
Charley Ballinger
‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down’ is a well-known Japanese proverb. The meaning behind this proverb comes from a strong cultural emphasis on conformity.
Japanese culture is heavily influenced by both Confucianism and Buddhism; within both of these ideologies there is a focus on group harmony over individual well-being.
