The movie Last Samurai takes place in super old school village life of Japan when the way of the Samurai is about to be wiped out. To a certain degree, I feel like much of rural Japan (or rural life in general) is soon to be wiped out by Wi-Fi and cell phones and Facebook and global warming. Experiencing life without the luxuries of modern day technology is almost extinct.
In the movie, Katsumoto tells Tom Cruise, “We are deep in the mountains, and the winter is coming. You cannot escape,” and “In the spring the snows will melt and the passes will open. Until that time, you are here.” I have a feeling that when it’s about 10 degrees outside that quote will accurately reflect the town’s attitude.
I’m imagining my new life in Japan also to be something like the movie Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro). If you’ve never seen it, you should probably go watch it. It is probably the most famous movie in Japan by the most famous Japanese producer, Hiyao Miyazaki (also produced Spirited Away and Ponyo).
For one, I’ll be in rural Japan. And from Google Earth, it looks pretty green.
Secondly, I can only imagine my students to be like Satsuki and that little punk boy.
Lastly, I can only hope to find a giant grey bunny-like creature to summon his catbus to take me around Hokkaido to share Jesus with people by scratching the Gospel message onto an ear of corn and leaving it on peoples’ windowsills.
If you think I’m crazy, go watch the movie. I promise it will all make more sense.
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