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| wenming |
 Posted: Feb 23, 2008 10:46 am |
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さくらんぼ
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 33
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Is ai a christian?
i saw her wearing the cross in some of her performances so i though she's a christian. am i right?  |
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| Rodri |
| Posted: Feb 23, 2008 12:08 pm |
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ネコに風船
Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 528
Location: Quito, Ecuador
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| wenming |
| Posted: Feb 24, 2008 12:25 am |
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さくらんぼ
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 33
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oh oh sorry i didn't notice that. someone lock this topic.  |
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| Yohana |
| Posted: Mar 04, 2008 5:10 am |
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甘えんぼ
Joined: 04 Mar 2008
Posts: 80
Location: Indonesia
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| maybe yes, maybe no i once looked her with christian necklace |
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| HilaryDuffFanboy |
| Posted: Mar 04, 2008 5:24 pm |
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CHU-LIP
Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Posts: 1748
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| Wearing the crucifix around your neck or anywhere else means crap all nowadays. |
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| lyx3 |
| Posted: Mar 04, 2008 10:01 pm |
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大好きだよ。
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 212
Location: Singapore
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HilaryDuffFanboy wrote: Wearing the crucifix around your neck or anywhere else means crap all nowadays.
Yea. Some people wear it just for fashion sake. |
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| Stormchild |
| Posted: Mar 05, 2008 7:59 pm |
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大好きだよ。
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 269
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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Wearing crosses is a current fashion trend in Japan. I've seen them on many pop stars and models, and it's my guess that they are simply worn for appearance and usually have nothing to do with Christianity. Most actual Christians wear (if anything) a simple cross that is kept under the shirt and rarely seen, whereas the ones you see on Japanese celebrities are flashy and quite obviously on display as part of their overall look.
Only about 2% of Japanese people are actually Christians, but the Japanese have always been fascinated by Western culture, and since the various parts of the Western world were established (and/or conquered) by Christians, a great deal of our culture is rooted in Christianity.
While I was living in Japan, I saw several "churches" that are only used for "Western-style weddings", and have no connection with Christianity. I also saw a couple of actual churches, and in a similar vein, the real churches are quite plain, while the wedding chapels are big and fancy.
The Japanese have also adopted the Christmas holiday, but it bears little more than a superficial resemblance to Christmas in the Western world. It is not actually a holiday (everyone works on Christmas Eve and Day), and there are no religious services (except perhaps for the small percentage of Japanese who are actually Christians).
One could argue that Christmas in the Western world has similarly little to do with religion -- and that's true -- but in Japan, Christmas is not really like our version of it either. They like the decorations such as wreaths and trees, but there's no Santa Claus or presents. On Christmas Eve, the father of the family brings home KFC and cake, and that's pretty much it. There's no midnight mass, and I don't think most of them even realize it's supposed to be the birthday of Jesus (whereas in the Western world, we know this, but nobody cares; our version of the holiday has nothing to do with Christianity either).
Don't get me wrong. I love when Japan tries to imitate some element of Western culture and gets it "wrong" in their own special way. My point here is just that they like to adopt elements of Western culture, without necessarily understanding them. Of course, we do the same thing with theirs; witness the explosion in popularity of getting Kanji tattoos, and the rapidly growing market for both original and imported anime and manga.
To answer the original question: There's no way you could tell if someone is Christian or not based on whether they wear a cross (in Japan or anywhere else). But if you see a stylish cross displayed prominently, it is probably just for looks. |
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| +Fumi |
| Posted: Mar 30, 2008 9:42 am |
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上塩タン焼680円
Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 339
Location: southern California
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| Stormchild posting is very insightful, so many ways! Thanks! My guess = she is not Christian, this is very unusual to be Christian in Japan, usually we are Buddhist. And Shinto too, both, they do not conflict, they are synergistic. |
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| Stormchild |
| Posted: May 03, 2008 1:56 pm |
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大好きだよ。
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 269
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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+Fumi wrote: My guess = she is not Christian, this is very unusual to be Christian in Japan, usually we are Buddhist. And Shinto too, both, they do not conflict, they are synergistic.
Indeed; they actually fit together very well. In fact, there are often "Jinja" (神社 - Shinto shrines) in Buddhist temples, including Shinto practises such as o-mikuji (お神籤 -- "written oracle" -- a small piece of paper that gives you hints about your future in various aspects of your life), prayers and wishes accompanied by ringing a large bell or throwing coins into a box, and charms for luck, safety, and prosperity.
Just to clarify, in the English-speaking parts of the world, it is common to think of a "temple" as a single building, but in this case it actually means the entire compound; a temple could consist of just one or two buildings, or dozens of them. |
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| bumble.bee |
| Posted: May 05, 2008 11:20 am |
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金魚花火
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 159
Location: Vienna
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| but just to wear a cross hasn't to mean that someone is christian. mainly in harajuku crsses are a very big fashion trend and i think that not just harajuku lovers wear them just because they like how they look like !! |
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| Stormchild |
| Posted: May 16, 2008 1:58 am |
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大好きだよ。
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 269
Location: Vancouver, Canada
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bumble.bee wrote: mainly in harajuku crsses are a very big fashion trend and i think that not just harajuku lovers wear them just because they like how they look like !!
Yes, it's definitely for show.
And I don't mind at all, cause I *love* Harajuku!
Takeshita-doori (street) is an amazing display of wacky, wild, cool and crazy fashion. I didn't get very good photos, but I'll see what I can find...
(time passes)
...yeah, as I thought, I was too busy being entertained by everything that was going on around me to take any good pictures in Harajuku. But I did catch this:
And all I have from Takeshita-doori is this silly store:
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| yukarichan |
| Posted: May 19, 2008 7:58 pm |
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ユメクイ
Joined: 26 Jun 2006
Posts: 1056
Location: USA
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i dont think she is christian...
a lot of japanese people are shinto or buddhists
i dont know many japanese people who are christians
i am not christian, but i wear crosses just for fashion  |
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| bumble.bee |
| Posted: May 21, 2008 7:20 am |
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金魚花火
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 159
Location: Vienna
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@ Stormchild
yes, i love it too!! and i think these are great pics  |
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