One of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Japan was to see why the Japanese branch of the Unification Movement is so effective. Japan seemed to me as one of the most ‘successful’ country for it, despite also being one receiving tremendous persecution. The criteria for success in this case being: the most membership, the most witnessing and the most missionaries sent abroad. From thisI thought that there must be many things we could learn from them.
I had 3 other companions from Europe: Marina, Godfried and Jun. Our trip consisted of 3 weeks living in the CARP centres in Tokyo, for me this consisted of a week at Sossei Centre and 2 weeks at Shibuya Centre. After this we had a week of sightseeing in Hiroshima and Kyoto, followed by a 10 day trip in Miyakojima, a small tropical island south of Okinawa.
Upon reflection, here are the three qualities of Japanese members I observed which I believe contributes greatly in making their side of the movement so strong and ever growing.
1. Heart of attendance
Everywhere we went, from the CARP centres to Miyakojima Island, we were met with utmost love, care and hospitality – ‘omotenashi’ they called it. We had the most heartfelt welcome and goodbye parties, celebrating together with delicious food, cheerful songs and good company. To take an example, on our 2 days in Hiroshima Centre, on the first day we were greeted with the traditional ‘Nagashisomen’; on the second day we were sent off with homemade cheesecake for breakfast, group photos, lovely cards and lots of happy smiles.
Our time in Miyakojima was like going to heaven while still alive. It was truly beautiful. Everyday our hosts, the Miyake family and the family members of the Island, attended to us with so much love that it made me feel guilty to be receiving so much of it. They prepared for us the most amazing food: fresh sashimi, sata-andagi and seafood curry to mention only some. They also took us to the finest white-sand beaches with the bluest waters and clearest skies. They took us fishing, sightseeing, snorkelling… from beginning to end we were treated like princes and princesses. Abonim always talked about ‘attendance’ but I never understood this enough until this trip.
Adopting a heart of attendance is important as the starting point to adopt a ‘witnessing mindset’.
2. Witnessing mind-set
This don’t necessarily mean going out to invite people to come to lectures 2 hours a day, such as we did in our time at Shibuya Centre. To have this mindset means to live life in such a way that whatever you do, you do it to help others realise their true value and help people get closer to God, whether they are new guests or old members. This is what I learnt from observing the CARP members.
Another important aspect is everyone’s unity in supporting each other’s guests (and each other). Each guest was attended by EVERYONE with care and enthusiasm, one way or another, and was never left feeling alone, ignored or out of place. In this way it became easier for them to feel belonging, and therefore, come back. The more and the deeper the relationships members formed with new guests, the more inclined they were to attend events and the harder it became to depart. It should be common sense but in the UK at least, I find that it is our collective lack of sensitivity in this area that may be hindering us from gaining new members and keeping them. Some people may be adopting this already, or maybe in the past, but without support from the community it can be easy to feel alone and discouraged. On the other hand, when more and more people embrace this outlook once again and together work in unity, perhaps we would be able to create a momentum of positive energy which can sustain itself overtime.
3. Hardwork and Investment
Life in CARP Centres is not the easiest. Having recently graduated university, I know how pressurised students can get at the demands of their courses. It takes time to to do Hoon Dok Hae, to learn how to lecture and to take care of people, nonetheless, the members always did their best to put their guests and their fellow brothers and sisters first. For us European members, it was admirable to see. It must require a lot of passion and dedication to commit oneself to a programme like CARP. It’s all well and good to set witnessing goals but it’s something else to take the time and effort to do it.
Upon reflection though, what if JCARP didn’t exist? One can wonder, will the Japanese movement still be as successful? Would they still have such strong leaders (since many of them were trained through CARP)? Would they still have the 40,000 or so members that they have?
The 20,000 or so second generations?
The culture in the UK and Japan are very different, and to no surprise the culture of the movement, its structure, finance, strengths and capabilities are also different. Thus it is fine to question whether CARP centres can work in the UK if it was launched now. There has been a proposal to restart CARP centres in the past and this has been met with mixed reviews. Some people were very positive saying that: the movement was in its height when they used to exist but it was when the members were dispersed after starting their families that the growth rate began to plummet. Others were more negative saying that it is an old way of life and instead of going back to it we should move on.
Both are valid points; whatever one feels, I think it is worth opening the discussion again since potentially we are missing out on an effective tool which could affect our performance towards
Vision 2020.
I would like to thank Mieko Davies (and her assistant, Hitomi Miyake) for organising the trip this year, and for 5 years before that with her strong focus, positive energy and vision. I also wish to express sincere gratitude to the Japanese CARP members, UM leaders and blessed family members for having us, for showing us the meaning of ‘omotenashi’ and for making our experience as marvellous as it was. This journey has been a true learning experience of us European participants.
I had 3 other companions from Europe: Marina, Godfried and Jun. Our trip consisted of 3 weeks living in the CARP centres in Tokyo, for me this consisted of a week at Sossei Centre and 2 weeks at Shibuya Centre. After this we had a week of sightseeing in Hiroshima and Kyoto, followed by a 10 day trip in Miyakojima, a small tropical island south of Okinawa.
Upon reflection, here are the three qualities of Japanese members I observed which I believe contributes greatly in making their side of the movement so strong and ever growing.
1. Heart of attendance
Everywhere we went, from the CARP centres to Miyakojima Island, we were met with utmost love, care and hospitality – ‘omotenashi’ they called it. We had the most heartfelt welcome and goodbye parties, celebrating together with delicious food, cheerful songs and good company. To take an example, on our 2 days in Hiroshima Centre, on the first day we were greeted with the traditional ‘Nagashisomen’; on the second day we were sent off with homemade cheesecake for breakfast, group photos, lovely cards and lots of happy smiles.
Our time in Miyakojima was like going to heaven while still alive. It was truly beautiful. Everyday our hosts, the Miyake family and the family members of the Island, attended to us with so much love that it made me feel guilty to be receiving so much of it. They prepared for us the most amazing food: fresh sashimi, sata-andagi and seafood curry to mention only some. They also took us to the finest white-sand beaches with the bluest waters and clearest skies. They took us fishing, sightseeing, snorkelling… from beginning to end we were treated like princes and princesses. Abonim always talked about ‘attendance’ but I never understood this enough until this trip.
Adopting a heart of attendance is important as the starting point to adopt a ‘witnessing mindset’.
2. Witnessing mind-set
This don’t necessarily mean going out to invite people to come to lectures 2 hours a day, such as we did in our time at Shibuya Centre. To have this mindset means to live life in such a way that whatever you do, you do it to help others realise their true value and help people get closer to God, whether they are new guests or old members. This is what I learnt from observing the CARP members.
Another important aspect is everyone’s unity in supporting each other’s guests (and each other). Each guest was attended by EVERYONE with care and enthusiasm, one way or another, and was never left feeling alone, ignored or out of place. In this way it became easier for them to feel belonging, and therefore, come back. The more and the deeper the relationships members formed with new guests, the more inclined they were to attend events and the harder it became to depart. It should be common sense but in the UK at least, I find that it is our collective lack of sensitivity in this area that may be hindering us from gaining new members and keeping them. Some people may be adopting this already, or maybe in the past, but without support from the community it can be easy to feel alone and discouraged. On the other hand, when more and more people embrace this outlook once again and together work in unity, perhaps we would be able to create a momentum of positive energy which can sustain itself overtime.
3. Hardwork and Investment
Life in CARP Centres is not the easiest. Having recently graduated university, I know how pressurised students can get at the demands of their courses. It takes time to to do Hoon Dok Hae, to learn how to lecture and to take care of people, nonetheless, the members always did their best to put their guests and their fellow brothers and sisters first. For us European members, it was admirable to see. It must require a lot of passion and dedication to commit oneself to a programme like CARP. It’s all well and good to set witnessing goals but it’s something else to take the time and effort to do it.
Upon reflection though, what if JCARP didn’t exist? One can wonder, will the Japanese movement still be as successful? Would they still have such strong leaders (since many of them were trained through CARP)? Would they still have the 40,000 or so members that they have?
The 20,000 or so second generations?
The culture in the UK and Japan are very different, and to no surprise the culture of the movement, its structure, finance, strengths and capabilities are also different. Thus it is fine to question whether CARP centres can work in the UK if it was launched now. There has been a proposal to restart CARP centres in the past and this has been met with mixed reviews. Some people were very positive saying that: the movement was in its height when they used to exist but it was when the members were dispersed after starting their families that the growth rate began to plummet. Others were more negative saying that it is an old way of life and instead of going back to it we should move on.
Both are valid points; whatever one feels, I think it is worth opening the discussion again since potentially we are missing out on an effective tool which could affect our performance towards
Vision 2020.
I would like to thank Mieko Davies (and her assistant, Hitomi Miyake) for organising the trip this year, and for 5 years before that with her strong focus, positive energy and vision. I also wish to express sincere gratitude to the Japanese CARP members, UM leaders and blessed family members for having us, for showing us the meaning of ‘omotenashi’ and for making our experience as marvellous as it was. This journey has been a true learning experience of us European participants.