Finding God in Anpanman in Snow Covered Expressway in Japan – Finding God in Everything!

 

Eastern part of Japan had massive snow on the Valentine’s Day weekend, paralyzing transportation system in the vast area, including Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures.  

Because of this inclement weather condition, the Chuo Expressway had to be closed as the driving condition became too dangerous. In the meantime, about 400 vehicles became stranded between Tokyo and Yamanashi, while snow continued falling on.

Drivers and passengers were completely stranded in accumulating snow.  They wondered when the snow would stop and they could move to respective destinations.  As they remained confined to tiny spaces of their vehicles for hours and hours, huger grew with anxiety.

Though the Japanese are known to hardly voice their complaints, their hunger was reaching to point difficult to bear.  There is a limit to human patience.  And, Mother Nature did not seem to care how hungry the stranded drivers and passengers were.

But, someone cared and put his care into action!  And, it was a delivery truck driver of Yamazaki Bakery!

In response to the news on this Yamazaki Bakery delivery driver’s act of kindness, some commented on this as a “divine act” (kamiwaza /神業in Japanese). And, I paused for a moment, wondering why a “divine act”, not simply an act of kindness. As more and more people are leaving organized religions in Japan in recent years…and to begin with, Japan has a very little Judeo-Christian religious influence, I just wondered what made these commentators call the act of the Yamazaki bread man’s act as a “dive act”.

Then, I realized how strikingly similar to the Old Testament narrative of Exodus 16, the story about the starving Israelites’ complaints to Moses and God’s response with manna from heaven.  Well, the snow-stranded motorists and passengers did not seem to complain like the Israelites in the biblical story.  But, as the Israelites were starving in the Desert of Sin on their way from Egypt to the land of milk and honey,  many on the snow-blocked expressway from Tokyo to Yamanashi stranded and starving, as they were stranded in snow and had no access to food there. 

As the starving Israelites were in somewhere in the huge desert – the Desert of Sin, between Egypt and Canaan, these motorists and their companies were starving somewhere on the deep snow between Tokyo and Yamanashi, enduring hunger.  According to Exodus, the starving Israelites complained, the Japanese motorists and their companions in vehicles in snow did not seem to complain but simply patiently practiced the Japanese virtue of “shinbou/辛抱” or“gaman”/我慢,  namely, “nintai忍耐”.

Both “shinbou” and “gaman” are often used as if these words have the same meaning in today’s Japanese-language conversations, psychologically these words are not the same.


 Though both “shinbou” and “gaman” are about “nintai”, which means perseverance and endurance, on the surface level, beneath the seemingly the same acts of endurance or perseverance, “shinbou” comes without intrapsychic frustration, while “gaman” is often with intrapsychic conflict due to suppression of desire.  “Shinbou” is better, because it is a form of endurance or perseverance  enabled by sublimating desires, rather than suppressing.  But, there is no way of knowing how many of these starving snow-stranded motorists and passengers were practicing the “shinbou” type of “nintai” or how many of them were practicing the “gaman” type of “ninntai”.  But, those whose style of “nintai” was “gaman” would complain as they could only put up with frustration due to suppressed desires so long.  It could be just a matter of time for them to complain as the Israelites in Exodus 16 did.

 　

Except for obvious complaining about hunger, the situation of the snow-stranded Japanese motorists and passengers is very similar to the experience of the Israelites in Exodus 16. Also, another difference is that the Israelites were brought from Egypt to the huge Desert of Sin by God’s providence, these Japanese motorists and passengers got stuck in snow due to Mother Nature, interrupting their willful acts of driving from Tokyo.  In addition, the bread for the Israeliltes in the desert fell from the heaven, while the bread for the snow-stranded people were found right in the snow-covered area. But, whether they complained and now matter where the bread came from, both of these people were starving and were in the middle of nowhere without food.

When the starving Israelites complained to Moses, who was the God-appointed leader of them, God must have heard their grumbling complaints. So, in response, God rained down bread from heaven.  While hungry snow-trapped hungry motorists and passengers kept up with their “shinbou” or “gaman” form of “nintai”, it was the Yamazaki Bakery delivery truck driver, deciding on sight to give away all the bread products in his truck, as he was one of the stranded people in the snow.  So, he opened the container on the truck and gave away his company baking products to satisfy the hunger of the stranded motorists and passengers.  And, some commented that this act of the Yamazaki Bakery delivery truck driver was a divine act.

 

It makes sense, in light of Exodus 16, to say the driver’s act of kindness to hungry snow-stranded motorists and passengers.  And, the Yamazaki Bakery truck driver can be understood as an instrument of merciful God, as his act of kindness to fellow stranded people and to their hunger parallels what God did to starving Israelites in the Desert of Sin.

In the Ignatian Spirituality, which the Jesuits embrace and practice, one important motto is, “Finding God in all things”.  From this perspective, we can find God in the Yamazaki Bakery delivery truck driver’s spontaneous act of kindness.  

This also tells that God is not contained in religious institutions, such as churches. And, God is not exclusive only to Christians.  And, regardless of religions, God is not just for those who are religious, either.

I do not know if the Yamazaki Bakery truck driver was Christian.  I do not know if the kind driver was religious. And, I wonder how many of those who were benefited by the kind act of the Yamazaki Bakery driver were Christian or religious. In fact,  more and more Japanese have been leaving organized religions, including the most popular religions of Japan, Buddhism, as it has been a kind of fads to say, “Spiritual but not religious” also in recent Japan.  But, no matter how people in Japan may seem, God is sure found in Japan! And, it is found in a simple act of kindness of an ordinary person.

I am sure the Yamazaki Bakery truck driver did not cite any biblical sentences in giving away bread products. I am sure the driver did not ask the recipients of his company’s bread products from his truck to pray.  He simply responded the needs of people on the spot.  But, to me, that’s a very fresh discovery of God – God of mercy – God of love.

It proves that God cannot be contained in religions. God is beyond churches and other religious institutions. But, God is found wherever compassion and kindness of human hearts, regardless of their religiosity.  And, this also demonstrates that we, the humans, are essentially spiritual being, with active soul, regardless of religiosity.

For those who are religious and practice religions, including myself, this Yamazaki Bakery delivery truck driver’s story is a fresh reminder not to compartmentalize God into religious dogma and theology.

Anpanman in action!

                                                

Given the similarity of the nature of the Yamazaki Bakery driver’s compassionate act to the nature of Anpanman, a popular Japanese anime character , who come to help those who are in need, some commented that the driver was Anpanman!  Anpan is sweetened bread with sweet red bean paste (annko) inside.  And, the popular anime character, Anpanman, has an  anpan-like face.  Anpanman appears wherever there is someone in need of help.  

So, while some people called the act of the Yamazaki Bakery driver’s act of kindness a divine act, others juxtaposed the kind driver to Anpanman, for his helping act to those in need. 

In this sense, maybe God is also found in the fictional anime character, Anpanman.  

Anpan

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Let us not limit our scope in finding God!  Let us keep our hearts free from fundamentalism and exclusive dogmas so that our open hearts are more conducive for God to be found and to carry out God’s love as God’s instrument, just like the Yamazaki Bakery truck driver in reality and like Anpanman in fiction.