The Faith in Different Languages: Atlanta’s Unseen Japanese Christians
When I first saw Keiko Sakamoto in Story Church Atlanta, she was greeting people at the door. She wore a Story Church t-shirt and jeans and carried a sling bag behind her back. Her black, straight hair looked smooth under the indoor light. She had a warm smile, which was warm enough to make me believe that I was her old friend. Even though our ages were different, we looked alike — we were the only Asian members in the church. I assumed she was Chinese, like me, until we had our first conversation after I attended church a couple of months later.
“Hello, my name is Ching,” I spoke in English.
“Hello, I am Keiko,”
“Are you Chinese?”
“No, I am from Japanese,” Keiko said, also in English.
“Oh, really?” I raised my voice and spoke with a higher pitch.
Sakamoto’s nationality surprised me. I’ve been a Christian for over 15 years, but I’ve only met a few Japanese Christians. In Japan, only 1.5 % of people are Christians, with most Japanese participating in one or both of their traditional religions: 69% identify as Shinto and 66.7% as Buddhist. If people rarely find Christians in Japan, how did I find a Japanese Christian in Atlanta?
When Sakamoto first came to Atlanta in 1993, she was an English as a Second Language (ESL) student at the Georgie Institute of Technology. The program was only a few months, but enough to experience a short-term American life. It was an unexpected turn for her to go on to stay in Atlanta until now.
“This year is my 30th year anniversary,” Sakamoto said calmly.
“Oh, what anniversary?” I asked.
“My 30th year anniversary of staying here in America!”
“Wow, such a long time!”
Like many immigrants, Sakamoto was here to study and get a job. After staying in America for one to six years, you might get an employment-based green card. But it also depends on the U.S. government and other unknown conditions. The earlier history of Japanese immigrants could be forwarded to 1885; many Japanese came to Hawaii as contract laborers to serve the sugar plantations. Nowadays, Japanese immigrants are more common. In 2022, there were 419,000 Japanese immigrants, and the majority of them are staying in California as permanent U.S. residents.
Unlike the majority, Sakamoto stayed in Atlanta and found her belief in this city. She mentioned that many Christians preached the gospel to her, but she couldn’t clearly say how many people preached the gospel to her. At first, she struggled to become a Christian as she wasn’t ready to commit to this new belief and lifestyle. she ended up becoming a Christian in 2009 and started to attend Buckhead church for around nine years. And her belief became one of the reasons why she stayed in America.
“So, have you ever attended any Japanese church in Japan?” I asked.
“No,” Sakamoto said.
“Okay. Have you ever heard about a Japanese church called JCCA in Atlanta?”
“Yeah, I was taking a course about being a ministry for Japanese, and a few people are related to JCCA.”
“So, have you ever joined their event?”
“Ah, no,”
In Atlanta, the community of Japanese Christianity is very small, and only a few Japanese churches can be found there. Japanese Christian Community Atlanta (JCCA) is one of the main Japanese churches, with approximately 30 to 50 members attending monthly events. Even though JCCA’s mission is to preach the gospel to Japanese-speaking communities in Atlanta, they welcome not only Japanese but also people from all cultures. Sakamoto didn’t say why she didn’t join JCCA, but she mentioned she has never attended any Japanese church. She couldn’t fit into her own culture, and she feels easier to be a Christian in American culture.
“It is good to be different in America but not Japan,” Sakamoto claimed.
Japan religious systems in Japan are very complex, and the Japanese are very hard to break their cultural background. According to Japanese Religions at Home And Abroad, three religious categories in Japan form a solid religious system. They are ujiko organizations, danka organizations, and voluntary membership organizations. Those categories formed a solid religious system in Japan that is different from the Western church system. Japanese don’t have a concept of how to participle in Western religions. Sakamoto claimed being a Christian in Japan is uneasy because people might not understand your belief. Whenever she returns to her family, she could face different struggles as her family and friends couldn’t understand how she participated in Christianity.
“My mother always told me to say ‘hello’ to the sculptures when I entered our house,” Sakamoto said,” Sakamoto said.
“You mean the sculptures of Buddles? I asked.
“Yeah. I felt so weird, but they couldn’t understand why I couldn’t worship another God when I am a Christian,” Sakamoto said frustratedly.
In Japan, it is very common to see Shintoism and Buddhism sculptures placed in houses. Especially on the first and 15th of every month, Shinto has a religious practice that most Japanese people join in their communities. Sakamoto doesn’t want to participle in Japanese traditional religions, as Christianity advocates believing in one God. She tried to explain the concept of Christianity to her family and friend, but they still couldn’t understand why she couldn’t worship the Japanese Goddess. Her family respected her belief, but she didn’t sense the freedom of being a Christian in Japan.
“When I tell my family I can’t work on Sunday because I need to rest and go to church, they couldn’t understand why,” Sakamoto said.
Most churches in Atlanta will have Sunday services every Sunday. In Story Church Atlanta, Sakamoto will either welcome people or sing songs to her God; she is still the only Japanese you can find in the church. Even though JCCA is an active church, they only hold monthly events. For Christians who speak Japanese, JCCA could be the most suitable place for them. However, Christians like Sakamoto, who want to attend church every Sunday, might attend English churches.
Even though Christianity isn’t a popular religion in Japan, the small Japanese Christian communities prove the need for Japanese Christians in Atlanta. Even though the needs are small, they are still one part of Atlanta.
