Tokyo 2020: Japan’s Moment in History
by Ian Nagata
It was one of the biggest celebrations of my first year in Japan. I might have even jumped and screamed.
My roommate and I woke up to the news: Tokyo had won the bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
What timing to move to the world’s largest metropolis! I began to imagine.
Imagine how the city will transform.
Imagine the ministry opportunities as Japan prepares to embrace the world.
Imagine the influx of Evergreeners!
Two years after the 3.11 Triple Disaster, the announcement of “Tokyo 2020” became a spring of hope. Not just for the nation, but for this struggling first-year missionary. I made it a goal to persevere seven years to be a part of it: Japan’s next moment in history.
Seven years have passed. Eight, actually.
And though the Olympics are finally here, most of Japan isn’t celebrating. The state of anticipation? It’s now a State of Emergency (Japan’s fourth since the pandemic began). With most of the country still without access to a vaccine, polls showed over 80% of the public wanting to postpone or cancel the games. Japan’s top e-commerce CEO even went as far as to say hosting the games would be a “suicide mission.”
On the opposite side, former prime minister Abe labeled newspapers and political parties wanting to cancel the Olympics this year as “anti-Japan.” Who would’ve predicted these games, a symbol of unity, could spark such division?
Beyond politics, few are debating how deep Japan’s losses will be. Some estimate over 23 billion dollars of debt. That includes the 1.25-billion-dollar Olympic Stadium you’ll see on Friday’s Opening Ceremony – with over 50,000 empty seats.
Yet the real tragedy isn’t financial. It’s stories of actual people, like Yasushi Moriya, Senior Japan Olympic Committee Head of Accounting, who jumped in front of a subway train last month, taking his life.
Japan’s moment to show its strength to the world is instead revealing its brokenness.
Personally, I’m also lamenting. (And not just because my tickets to the US Women’s Soccer game versus Sweden got cancelled!) As a missionary, I’m lamenting the lost ministry opportunities. Colleagues devoted years of full-time labor to organizing teams coming in, conferences, outreaches, sports clinics, and viewing parties. All of them have been cancelled.
But several mornings ago, I woke up to hopeful news. Olympic news that captured my imagination for the first time since 2013. News about the one ministry that hasn’t been hindered by the pandemic.
Prayer.
Even with borders closed, believers across Japan haven’t given up on Tokyo 2020. Their hope? As the world focuses on Japan these next 17 days, what if this became Japan’s most prayed for moment in history?
That’s the vision of the many ministries collaborating at Japan1million.com. They’re asking Christians around the world for a gift of 1 million hours of prayer. You can sign up for daily prayer points, download prayer resources, and even join live zoom prayer gatherings on their site.
It’s a bold request – one that will require a move of the Spirit and the global church to fulfill. But whether you visit the website or not, if the Lord moves your heart as you watch these unprecedented pandemic Olympics, would You ask the Lord for an unprecedented spiritual awakening in Japan?
By God’s grace, may this indeed be Japan’s moment in history.