The 26th Japan Religion Coordinating Project for Disaster Relief (JRPD)
May 1st, 2016. Tokyo University Hongo Campus.

“Christianity and Volunteer-Dō (=The Principle Way of volunteer)~From the Horizontal <Movements> to the Vertical <Activities>~
Kobe International Christ Church Pastor Yoshio Iwamura
Theme scripture: “For Titus not only welcomedōr appeal, but he is coming to you with muchenthusiasm and on his own initiative.” (2 Corinthians 8:17)<Introduction>
First, I do like to ask you for your understanding. Yoshio Iwamura from Kobe International
Supporting Organization (hereafter “organization”) is not a researcher, but he is a necessitous
person. In other words, when the great earthquake shook the ground, I was beside as a person, not
the researcher, to the people who were more dead than alive. Well, let’s imagine that you have been
built up, endured and trained yourself toward to your dream. Finally, you came close to make yourdream come true. However, there is a person dying in front of you on the street. You cannot leave
the person alone. On the other hand, you have to give up your last step to your dream that you lived
all of your life for it. You will be forced to choose either abandon the person or give away a goal oflife, a purpose of life, a prayer of loved one and all of your efforts that you had been done until now.
You may have a thought that there is a possibility that someone else will help the person instead ofyourself. If you do your action without a manual, you are not sure to be succeeded. You have to giveup simply the greatest opportunity of your life, which you finally can have it, and the purpose ofyour life as well as an honor. I think that it is the truth of volunteer to become “Ta-Ko” in suchcircumstances. Paul said “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave toeveryone.” (1 Corinthians 9:19) As far as I say myself “slave”, I never suit to center, Tokyo andmanagement. Compared to the attendees, I do not have anything to teach you in terms of logic
system, activities on the field and personality. I am more like a social Gokiburi (cockroach). Last
year, when I visited the 2nd Nepal Volunteer with students, I had no other way but danced“Gokiburi dance”, as a return of our appreciation to local people, to let them have a good time.
Today, I took a request from Susumu Shimazono with my own risk that I would receive criticizes asa self-righteousness person. Shimazono made a recommendation in a dialogue “Shyukyoto
Gendaiga Wakaru Hon”, next year of 3.11. He said “Don’t you think that disaster support have suchclues that find something new which has been missing? Like a young monk as well, even people ofreligious groups go to the affected area, they are not efficient at all for local people with doing, suchas providing a mental care. I rather than learn from people. I come to know about something thatwas missing through those experiences, even though I thought that I acquired a religious tradition.” 1

1

Shimazono, S (Joint author). 2012. Shyukyo To Gendaiga Wakaru Hon. Heibonsha. p.139.

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Please try to think for a while with using your imagination, either volunteer is “Ta-Ko” or“Gokiburi”. And please walk with me the road of “even a worm will turn”.
<Note> All scriptures are quoted from New International Version.
(1) Volunteers

3a. Volunteer

3b. What is a volunteer?

4① Independence

4②Communality

6③ Gratuitous

9" Dou (=the way)"

11

George Müller

12

For those who were made to be smaller

12(2) Genealogy of horizontal “movement”

13

a. Deprivation of Rescue Movement in Japan13

Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

13

b. Rut of Christianity

15

My threskeia

15

Priest Robert Vallade

16

Shin Ikutagawa Kyoseikai

17

Higashi Yuenchi (Next to the Kobe City Hall)

17

c. Paradox of Volunteer Movement

18

Rescue Movement by Toyohiko Kagawa

18

Meeting with Suetsugu Ichiro

21

Religious Pilgrimage

24(3) Inactivity of Volunteer Movement – Inactive Youth Movement25

a. Insensitivity to neighbors

25

Kenichi Kusaki

25

Youth Movement

25

Hanshin Flood Disaster27

b. Act of Religious People

29

Ahmadiyya

29

The Labor Movement

29

The Leap Forward of Women30

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Awakening of Tako

31

Realization of the God’s Kingdom by A Commensality

33

c. Only Gokiburi is able to “restore the field, mountain and bay”

33

Gokiburi in the Disaster Area

33

Neighbors are pagans

34

Co-existence, Share sufferings, Ku-en (connection born from sharing sufferings)

35(1) Volunteer-dō
a. Volunteer
Theme scripture in Latin is “quoniam exhortationem quidem suscepit sed cum sollicitior esset sua
voluntate profectus est ad vos”2. The word “voluntate” appears. The etymologies of the adverbial
form “voluntate (from one's own motive) is the verb “volo (desire, want, and wish). “Voluntas” isthe noun form of “volo”, and it has meanings such as “intention”, “free will”, “will”, goodintentions” and “willing preparedness and enthusiasm”3. From Latin “voluntas”, English word
“volunteer” is born. The origin of “volunteer” is from the Bible. The most of publications that
introduce what is the “volunteer” are not written about that is originally from the Bible. And theChristian church also don't realize about it. “Volo” is the etymology of English word “will”. “Will”
and “intention” are different. “Intention” is only a thought in mind. On the other hand, “will”
indicate positivism to make actions of what you are imagining in your mind4. Volunteer is not ahorizontal “movements”, but it is a vertical “activities”. So that, the volunteer activities are different
from “citizen’s movements”, “social movements” and “politic”. From “voluntary”, which is theadjective form of “volo”, the difference between “volunteer” and “service” becomes clear5.
“Voluntary” is defined as “it is free from any compulsion that can be detained a person’s decision”.
“Houshi (=to serve)” is originally from “Tukae Tatematruran (=to obey as commanded)”. “Tukae
Tatematruran” appears in “Chronicles of Japan” and “The Anthology of Myriad Leaves”. It is also
used in examples such as serve to emperor. In “Daijirin”, it explains about “houshi” as “to servestate, society and superiors without thinking about any interests”. In the sense, “to serve” suggests a
hierarchical relationship between “a servant” and “a recipient”6. The word “奉 (Hou)”, such as “奉公 (apprenticeship”, “奉納 (dedication) and “奉職 (service)”, means to receive orders respectfully
from the superior person. When “亻(person)” is attached to “奉”, it is used such as “俸給 (salary)”
and that means something given by the superior. Contribution activities to other people and society
under social contracts, norms and restrictions would detract the equality between the servant and therecipient. For example, it cannot be said as the volunteer act if you do such as cleanup activities at
1994. Biblia Sacra Vulgata. Deutsche Bibegesellschaft Stuttgart.
Tanaka, H.1964. Ran-Wa Jiten. Kenkyusha.
4 Ōno, S., Hamanishi, M. 1985. Ruiji Kokugo Jiten. Kadokawa.
5 Synonyms explanation of “voluntary” from Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. 1993. MerriamWebster.
Nakata, S. 1975. Seinen-to Houshi. Vol.94. Japan Youth Volunteers Association. The June Issue.
6 Nakata, S. 1975. Seinen-to Houshi. Vol.94. Japan Youth Volunteers Association. The June Issue.
23

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the affected areas with the enforcement of a part of school program or “conscientious people7(conscientious objector)” do activities as a community service. In 1993, the Central Social Welfare
Council issued “Opinions for Volunteer Activities for the 21st Century”, and they endorsed the paid
volunteers. Thereupon, as “volunteer activities” is different from “service activities”, confusion is
occurring for what the original meaning “volunteer” is.

b. What is a volunteer?
The characteristics demand to volunteers are subjectivity, solidarity, and gratuitous, and it has been
said that the principle of volunteers is expressed in these three8.
However, although I agree with self-motivation and gratuitous, but I think “communality” is more
timely than “solidarity”. Moreover, there are various perspectives such as, self-motivation, altruism,
welfare, sociality, solidarity, continuity, development, and pioneering9.
i. Independence“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must,
but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager toserve.” (1 Peter 5:2)
“pascite qui est in vobis gregem Dei providentes non coacto sed spontanee secundum Deum neque turpis lucrigratia sed voluntarie.”
Steps should be taken by “non coacto (not being forced)”, “sed spontanee (voluntary, willing to do)
and “spontaneesecundum Deum (according to God's will)”, and it should be the manifestation offeelings. It is requested as the adverbial form “voluntarie (voluntary)”10.
Even from “voluntas (free will)” in Latin, it is not a thing to be forced by others. It is also different
from activities that have done based on a contract like a profession. Therefore, it is not something
you will be asked that get grants from the administration as seen today.
Theme scripture in Greek is “o[ti th.n me.n para,klhsin evde,xato( spoudaio,teroj de.
u`pa,rcwn auvqai,retoj evxh/lqen pro.j u`ma/jÅ”.
The Greek word “from one's own motive” is the adverb “auvqai,retoj” (authairetos <auvto,j autos= myself + ai`rou/mai hairumai choose>). English word “volunteer” was born from “voluntas” inthe Latin translation Bible. Originally, it has a sense of urgent pressure to choose as “choosing by
oneself”. “autos” is the English “auto” and it became the etymology of automation, motorbike andAuthor. Christianity and Pacifism.
Abe, S. 1997. Fukushi-no Tetsugaku. Shakai Fukushi Senmonsyoku Library. p.90.
9 Kawamura, M. 2006. Volunteer Theory. Minervashobo. p.2.
10 In Greek “e`kousi,wj” hekousios adverbial form of ＜e`kw,n ekon (voluntarily, of one's own free will, willingly,
deliberately, purposely, inordinately). In English, “willfully, willingly, voluntarily, of one’s accord”. “But I did notwant to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would bevoluntary.” (Philemon 1:14) “consilio autem tuo nihil volui facere uti ne velut ex ssitate bonum tuum esset sed
voluntarium.”78

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automatic11. “authairetos” is a meaning of “voluntary” to choose by oneself < voluntarily“adverbial nominative”>. And it is not driven out for external institutions, strategies and policies
from organizations, administrations and a state12. For example, it is used not only for solitary
behavior to go to areas with suffering of hardships and troubles as a loner, but also for actions as agroup. In “for I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.
Entirely on their own” (2 Corinthians 8:3), plural form of “authairetos” is used. By the way, in theJapanese publications that introduce volunteer, the Latin “voluntarious” is the origin of“volunteers”. However, “voluntarious” is an adjective form. It means “voluntary”, by oneself and“on one's own judgment”. The verb form “volo” means “seek sincerely”. It is a phenomenon thatvolunteers are not rooted in Japan. Because people who do not understand the basic grammar of
Latin, such as voluntarious” and “volo”, are writing about it with adaptations from it.
When consider about “independence”, modernization of Japan since the Meiji Restoration used
Europe and the United States as model, and it had been promoted completely under the“government” initiative, by the central control. Because it is under the government control,“people” tends to depend and obey to the “government”13.
Volunteer activities gradually weakened its nature characteristics such as independence,development and criticism, and transformed into passive volunteer under great support from theadministrations and social welfare councils14.
Lecturer Yayoi Tanaka at the University of Tokyo has pointedōt the seven characteristics of NPO
that lost its independence and became a subcontractor15. She has a sense of crisis that there is no
future for the subcontractor culture under the administrations.
① Securing employment and purpose of sustainable organization are higher than social missions.
② Put more time and personnel resources to a commissioned project than voluntary project.
③ It will not develop a new business besides the commissioned project. Discovery of new needs
will be reduced.
④
⑤
⑥
⑦

11

It will be stop soliciting for donations.
Request the funding source excessively to the commissioned proprietor.
Volunteers are gradually excluded or quitting.
Governance is weak. Many of the time of the directors are used for negotiations with theadministrations.

Oda, A. 2010. The 4th ed. The New Testament Small Dictionary in Greek. Japan Computer Bible Research.

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for
God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) “unusquisque prout destinavit corde suo non ex tristitia aut ex
necessitate hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus.”“For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you
with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.” (2 Corinthians 8:17) “For I testify that they gave as much as
they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,”(2 Corinthians 8:3) “They urgently pleadedwith us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.” (2 Corinthians 8:4)
13 Nagai, Y (Coauthor). 2003. Maarui Chikyushimin-no Volunteer Keyword 145. Volunteer Study Dictionary. Nihon
Volunteer Shyakai Kenkyujo Nihon Volunteer Study Dictionary Editing Committee. p.22.
14 Nakajima, M. 2002. Volunteer Theory. Chuohoki Publishing. p.15.
15 Tanaka, Y. 2006. NPO-ga Jiritsusuru Hi – Gyosei-no Shitaukeka-ni Mirai-wa Nai. Nippon Hyoron. p.74.
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Regarding voluntary activities, Eiichi Okamoto who is a director of the Osaka Voluntary Action
Center said that it is “an independent private position” from the state and the administrations, andalso it refers about “positions and relationships that stands independently but coexists” with thestate and the administrations16.
Put the Article 89 of the Constitution “You must not spend or use it for charity, education orphilanthropically project without public control” on the top, the legal system form was progressed
to forbid interfere of the state to the society. A self-sufficiency of society against the state. Nihei
Norihiro [1975-] (Associate Professor at Hosei University) pointed that this is the requirement of
democratization and prevention in the state and society17.
If “independence” cannot be secured, self-sufficiency, self-responsibility, the spirit of self-help anda journey of self-discovery will become uncertain.

ii. Communality

Communality is the activities that aim to develop a society and make spiritually affluent life.
“Public” is “koinos [means adjective ‘common’]” in Greek. In the Bible, there are synonyms“dhmo,sioj [means ‘public’]”. “koinos” comes out in the case of “a religious community based onlove” that appears in “property sharing”, which was a primitive community. “The believers were
together and had everything in common.” (Acts 2:44). “All the believers were one in heart andmind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything theyhad.” (Acts 4:32). It is a spontaneous expression based on the providential of love that is created by
Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is neither a communist economy that was carefully buildup, nor a legal
sense of the constitutional social system of property. It indicates that the unique idiomatic phrase by
Luke called “share all”18, which is derived from Hellenism that is not appeared in the Old Testament
and the Gospel, was disclosed not only to Israel but also to the entire world19. The reason to define,
integrate and confirm the Biblical terminology by Greek “lexicon” is that because misdirectedOkamoto, E (Coauthor). 2011. Volunteerism Research. No.1. Osaka Voluntary Action Center.
ibid., 15. Mr. Nihei made clear about his opinion with criticizing as “Do-in (mobilization)” about when“government twist volunteer or civil activities into particular form and made it to obey by rules.”18 1977. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT)Ⅲ. Gerhard Kittel Eerdmans Publishing Company.
p.796. “Abandonment of ownership” means not only abandonment of material property but also everything
including family, hometown, and occupation. In that sense, abandonment of ownership indicates more aboutchange of way of life. On the other hand, concrete material property, which is surplus wealth, has become aproblem of “charity”. And according to Luke, such surplus wealth must be distributed to the poor.
(Minegishi, K. 2004. Shingaku Kenkyu – Luka Bunsho niokeru Shyoyuhoki to Hodokoshi. The Society of
Theological Studies School of Theology Kwansei Gaguin University. p.30)
19 “lao,j” (It represent《God》’s people in Israel), a synonym for “dh/moj”, is use as follow. “As he says in Hosea:“Iwill call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”(Romans 9:25). It is used for “my people”, Israelites.
English word “democracy” came from “dh/moj”. “dhmo,sioj” appears in Bible as “They arrested the apostles andput them in the public jail.” (Act 5:18). It is used as “public (public, a state)”. (1994. Shinyaku Seisho Shyakugi
Jiten. Vol.1. Kyobunkan.p.343). “dhmo,sioj”, it doesn’t appear in the Old Testament “Septuaginta” version, isderived from “people (“dh/moj”, public acting people). Therefore, from the biblical terminology, “common”
indicated that “public” nuance from vertically transcendent existence. On the other hand, “dhmo,sioj” is also usedin the context of “public” by the state, government and related authorities.
(1977. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) Ⅱ. Gerhard Kittel Eerdmans Publishing Company.
p.63)
16
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arguments about definition of “volunteer” is rampant in Japan20. I cannot help but thinking that
confusion with the concept of “common”, “publicness” and “public” through discontinuous inhistory had been started by using the interpretation of Jürgen Habermas [1929-].
There is a book that says in beginning that Habemas dare to mention about “people’s publicsphere”.
It is “the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere”. Put simply, “people’s public sphere” is amovement that people made action to solve problems by themselves. Habemas, the philosopher
representing the 20th century, says decisively that he does not take “people’s public sphere” into
consideration. He is overlooking about the “citizen movement”, “Chartism” and “labor movement”
that had been practiced activities because people could not count on their government oradministrations21. The philosophy of “civil public sphere” that Habemas says is that “A public
opinion is formed through intelligent discussion by educated citizens, and it surveil the politics”.
And he point out 2 functions that (1) formation of the public opinion and (2) surveillance function
by the public opinion against the government22. In the textbook made by “the Japanese Society for
History Textbook Reform”, it emphasizes that the state is the “public”, so it should fulfill own dutyas the “public”. It assumed that individuals or “citizens” are supposed to run to egoism. The conceptof “public” has the idea that is only can pursuit by a direction of erasing “myself”, like “eliminationof myself”, with controlling the desire of personal egoism23. Be apt to, it get the urge to establish a“movement” body against the public by moving citizen’s wave to counter to racial problem, gender
discrimination, and pressure on poor and suffering people. “When fighting against elite, authorities
and rivals, a politics of fighting will happen. All of social movements, protests and revolutions are
the collective act of fighting. The collective act of fighting is the fundamental of social
movements.24”
However, an ambiguity is necessary rather than choosing between “individual” activities and“movement” by groups. Paul Tillich [1886-1965] states about his interpretations when he talks
about “eternal life”, “A morality has the polarity of individualization and participation, but it
becomes an unambiguous self-integration. And there is a God’s divine centeredness but there is no
more morality. Religion, even though it has a polarity of freedom and destiny, it becomes
unambiguous self- transcendence in eternal life, and God’s freedom dominates it. At there, there is
no religion exist, just like there is no temple in heavenly Jerusalem25.”
There is no other way but each of us must examine it based on non-dualism way of thinking.

2001. Kobe and Bible. Editing committee of “Kobe and Bible”. Kobe Shinbun Shyupan Center. p.62.
The Prison Act of modern Japan was enacted that based on the “Prison report” of Harima, Osaka, Hyogo andKyoto, which was submitted by Berry in 1979. Before Kousuke Tomeoka became a cleric in 1891, Taneaki Hara
[1853-1942] was inspired by Berry’s life and he became the first Japanese Christian cleric in 1888. The activity ofprison cleric was permitted to monk of Shinshū Ōtani-ha, Ukaikei Tan in Nagoya, 1872.
21 Habermas, J. 1973. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois
Society. Translated by Hosoda, S. Miraisha. p.2.
22 ibid., p.326-329. Irie, S (Coauthor). 2000. Volunteer Gaku Kenkyu. Vol.1 – Volunteer and Kokyosei. The
International Society of Volunteer Studies in Japan. p.47-48.
23 Koguma, E (Coauthor). 2003. Iyashino Nationalism – Kusanone Undo-no Jitsusho Kenkyu. Keio University
Press. p.44-46.
24 Tarrow, S. 2006. Power in Movement. Translated by Ohata, H. SairyuSha. p.20, 22.
25 Shige, H. 2005. Tillich Shingaku-niokeru Sonzai-to Sei-no Rikai. Shinkyo Publishing. p.239.
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“Activity” meaning by Hannah Arendt [1906-1975] is not building barricades or exercising
violence like shooting soldiers. She discussed about it like as follow. “Get out of private life and go
into the light of public events. Take initiatives and start joint projects. And experience a raise of
freedom.”“ It is not only that we will be an only thing to be died and to have a destiny to die, but we can
express something new and unique for everyone in the world and we can be active to do by the waythat people cannot think about it within a role of regulation, which something people cannot
imagine.26”
I do like to talk about the must-read book, which is for the people involved in volunteer-dō,“Volunteer-no Tanjyo-to Shyuen – Zouyo-no Paradox-no Chishiki Shakaigaku.”(Nihei Norihiro.
The University of Nagoya Press. 2011. Hereinafter referred to as “Para-zouyo”).27. This book
discuss about the “paradox of zouyo (donation)” in Japan before the war, “What important for afunction of religion is the point that it give “zouyo” an unacceptable meaning to avoid “paradox ofzouyo. For example, in case of Kousuke Tomeoka, he understands charity as the love that Jesus
gave to human being28s. Charity become to have religious meaning, and its remuneration is given in
religious style (please Heavenly Father)” (p.42). There is a premise of “it is analogous with the lovethat Christ dedicated to human beings”. . Nihera detail tells specifically with quoting the contents
that Christian Kousuke Tomeoka [1864-1934] wrote in his book. He analyzed the state ofChristianity that it is used as “Jin-dō (Humanitarian)”. Although ‘Jin-dō’ is a media for promoting
charity projects, we can find doubts repeatedly that a true charity = <zouyo> is actually an anti‘zouyo’. (ibid.p.39). Tomeoka points out that ‘because they live in idleness, they become to be theone who have to receive salvation’. The answer of Tomeoka is to teach work (exertion) to therescuer and to let them ‘be able to run own business independently’. From that point of view, there
is no poor law like in England in Japan. ‘恤救規則 (Jyutsu Kyu Kisoku) ‘was raised by the ideathat ‘Rescue only because of unavoidable reason and you should not rescue other people easily. In
case of rescuing, you should do it on necessity and restriction.’(ibid.p.46). Kousuke Tomeoka stateda ‘spirit of social service’ as follows. It was used to be ‘Eastern morality, which was a moral, thatmajority of weak people serve to minority of strong people’. However, nowadays, ‘the moral ofsocial service means that stronger people council weaker people’”29.
Nihei specifically captures a viewpoint of the Christian world that has inherited “Christianity(Christianismos), which is the word cannot seen in the Bible. From my vertical “activity”
viewpoint, it is a social project that cannot be supported by Kousuke Tomeoka. From the part that
Canovan, M. 1995. Hannah Arendt, Her Political Thought. Translated by Terashima, T. Miraisha. p.102, 103.
Hannah Arendt alleged that ultimately, the “public nature” can be guaranteed only by people’s “activities”.
Inagaki, H (Coauthor). 2015. Kirisutokyo Fukushi-no Genjitsu-to Mirai. Kirisuto Shimbun. p.109.
27 Nihei, N. 2011. Volunteer-no Tanjyo-to Shyuen – Zouyo-no Paradox-no Chishiki Shakaigaku. The University of
Nagoya Press. p.42.
28 About Kosuke Tomeoka is from “Encyclopedia of Britannica”. “He went to the United States in 1894, and studied
the European and US criminal system. He became a part-time staff for the Home Ministry after 1900, andparticipated actively in the regional improvement movement and as the social project investigation member.”
29 Volunteer-no Tanjyo-to Shyuen – Zouyo-no Paradox-no Chishiki Shakaigaku. p.60-61. 1929.Jindo, Vol.280.
“Jyutsu Kyu Kisoku” was the law during 1874-1931 in Japan. “Para-zouyo” (Jindo, Vol.280. p.37), “Jyutsu Kyu
Kisoku” was principally dealt as “Jinmin Sougo-no Jyouki”. In other words, it is expected that the spontaneous“gifts” such as humanity between people, sincerity “emotion”, mutual assistance and “charity” would be alternate
to it, while the state is not fulfilling the social security function.
26

8 / 37was quoted by Nihira, the “activities”, which is based on the vertical relationship “I and thou” fromtranscendent existence, has not been delivered. It is the impression that rather concentrated to an
extraordinary Christian who contributed to horizontal “movement”.
By the way, the movement of improvement of living conditions in prison had started by the
missionary doctor John Cutting Berry [1847-1936] who landed to Kobe in 1872.30
Robert Pekkanen quotes a Japanese religious researcher Helen Hardacre, who was born in 1949.
There are three distinguishes sectors that consist religious world in Japan; “Existent religion(Temple-Buddism, Shrine-Shintoism, Christianity)”, “New religion (including Soka Gakkai, Risshō
Kōsei Kai, Reiyukai Kyodan, Tenrikyo, etc)”, and “New-new religion” that has been occurred fromthe 1970’s". General people do not clearly distinguish the three. After the attack of the Aum
Shinrikyo in the early 1990’s, religion was “divided largely”. Since the Aum incident, according toHardacre, there was a transformation in the selection of public policy to protect society (including
potential conversion) from the abuse of religious group’s right to protect their freedom. 31
For Habermas and Nihira, I think that it is possible to discuss the paradigm tendency of “end ofvolunteer” because of that religious movement has a premise that it has no public importance.

iii. Gratuitous
Jesus taught to his disciples that there is “Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:8)”
in the Bible. It is a basic to do the volunteer-dō as free of charge. We do volunteers with providing
physical strength, time, transportation expenses, food expenses, and accommodation expenses.
However, we never expect reward. The reward includes not only money but also fame, position andhonor.
Speaking of “Houshi”, some people may associate with “no-pay working (unprofitable)”.
Thoroughly, it is the road of an oddball person who against the values of economic supremacy.
In Japan, there was a volunteer spirit of reciprocity. It’s a gently act to place food under the roof ofpoor people. Helping each other so called “secret charity” was not unusual.32 “Secret charity” wasKobe and Bible. Editing committee of “Kobe and Bible”. Kobe Shinbun Shyupan Center. p.62.
The Prison Act of modern Japan was enacted that based on the “Prison report” of Harima, Osaka, Hyogo andKyoto, which was submitted by Berry in 1979. Before Kousuke Tomeoka became a cleric in 1891, Taneaki Hara
[1853-1942] was inspired by Berry’s life and he became the first Japanese Christian cleric in 1888. The activity ofprison cleric was permitted to monk of Shinshū Ōtani-ha, Ukaikei Tan in Nagoya, 1872.
31 Pekkanen, R. Volunteerism and Civil Society. Translated by Okamoto, M. (Quoted in Volunteerism Kenyu. p.38.)
Hardacre, H. 2003. In The State of Civil Society in Japan―After Aum: Religion and Civil Society in Japan.
Cambridge University. p.133-153.
[Online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfuFxi-TNIk.
Shimazono, S. 1998. The Structual Evolution of Religious Communities in Japan―The Commercialization of the
Sacred. Socail Science Japan Journal 1 No.2. p.181-198.
32 “In-Toku (secret charity): For those who do good things, something good will always come back”, by Daijirin.
Abe, S. 1997. Fukushi-no Tetsugaku. Shakai Fukushi Senmonsyoku Library. p.92. Entire Japanese people
awakened to the connection of people while letting money account and self-responsibility aside, and theystrengthened the thought of “I would like to be useful”. There is a feeling that Japanese who had been lived in themarket economy and exchange economy suddenly returned to the economy of given and reciprocity. In
contemporary society where the exchange principle dominates, in an emergency time, it is “self-help” that each
person protects themselves, so that each person makes effort for savings and aiming for richness. Money is the
only things to rely on. It seems so. On the other hand, in the economic society of reciprocity, it is not savings to
say “things” when in the emergency, but it is a network of aid, that is, “mutual help” and “mutual assistance”.
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developed into “reciprocity”. For example, if someone helped you for rice planting and you will go
to help the person for rice harvesting, which is an “in return principle”. This is a custom such as,
condolence money for a funeral, a gift in return for a funeral offering, wedding celebration money, agift in return for a wedding offerings, a summer gift and and end-of-the-year gift. Reciprocity whichconnects communities that cannot be seen in Europe and the United States is currently disappearing.
And also some negative aspects such as duty, humanity and social ties are decreasing. The act that it
sells debt to others with asking for a goodwill in return is deviate from the volunteer-dō33
In England, by the establishment of welfare state in the 1940S, health and welfare services
changed into “administrative services”. Due to the spread of system of paid volunteers, the strict
boundary between “paid labor” and “volunteer” is becoming fuzzy. If volunteer activities
themselves receive preferential taxation because they are operating public movements, theirprofitable partnership with bureaucracy start and so volunteer groups will receive benefits fromadministration in return of accepting a re-employment of retired bureaucrats. And a benefactive
relationship will be established. And because of that, they start to receive an indirect political
donation and they will be asked for organizational vote-gathering activities. Therefore, we should
maintain our activities as non-government and non-profit34. It is helpful to know about “non-profit”
if you are going to do volunteer-dō. In economics, non-profit organizations do not distribute profits
to their members. Then, if you ask to the state and the administrations, they react to answer thatthey are non-profit. However, professor Yukio Irie from Osaka University argues that the politicalcommunity is a profit organization. In fact, Kobe city administration was called as “Kobe
Corporation” before tthe Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Since the community has acommerciality, it composition is the profit organizations like an enterprises. It clear up the fact thathas been overlooked as “there is nothing wrong to be personal or profit organization. What wrong isthat pretend to be as a ‘public’ although it is a private, and referred to as non-profit although it isprofitable.”
Administrative

Enterprises

Volunteers(Public, Non-profit)(Private, Commercial)(Private, Non-profit)

Administrative

Enterprises

Volunteers(Personal, Profit)(Personal, Profit)(Public, Non-profit)

Turn over the preconception.

After everything was lost by the tsunami, the most reassuring for the victims was not “money” but “bond”.
Yamada,T. (Professor of Kyushu Sangyo University, Economics department, Economic policy. October issue.)
33 Yamamoto, E. 2007. Bible and Economy. Kwansei Gaguin University Press. p.104, 119.
There is a golden rule in Jesus word, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”(Matthew 7:12). Beyond the passive teaching of not doing anything rather makes trouble to others or not doing
anything disliked by people, it is advocating aggressive action guidelines. For the neighbors of the Ten
Commandments, passively act is not an end, but it is required actively act like “compassion” or “mercy”.
34 Okamoto, E (Coauthor). 2011. Volunteerism Research. No.1. Osaka Voluntary Action Center. p.6-10.

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As long as the state (local government) says that they are the public, they must use shovel andwork with sweating voluntarily, just like individual's volunteering act. Moreover, it is the viewpointthat if you have a free discussion space where is opened to everyone, so that your activity isevaluated as public for the first time35. Even we receive a blessing of intangible and tangible
supports by our organization, Yasuo Mikio from Miyoshi Soap Corporation, neighborhood people
around my home office, Tarumi prayer meeting, and KISO farm, chronic deficit balance isinevitable. Since it is not a project, it is the fate for volunteer activities that it will never be rich. I
am a founder of the organization and also a pastor of the Christian church, which belongs to theBrethren. Brothers’ pastor is unpaid, so I am using linguistic ability in order to prepare necessary
things for my family. In other words, you never earn money from doing volunteers, rather you
invest your small income into activities. The basic principle of volunteer activities is an interactive
activity, which is consolidated by three pillars of “Independence”, “Communality’ and “Gratuitous”.
Next, I do like to think together about the “dō” of the “volunteer-dō”.

c. " Dō (=the way)"
Not only Japanese, but also any people in the world often uses “○○-dō”. Sadō (tea ceremony),
Kadō (flower arrangement), Bushidō (the way of warriors), and Kishidō (Chivalry). In the Bible,“dō” [Greek word o`do,j hodos] means the course of life, the way of living and the way of life. “Dō”
in the Hebrew
derek also has the meaning of “journey of life”36. “For he guards the course of
the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”(Proverbs 2:8) “The righteousness of theblameless makes their paths straight.” (Proverbs11:5). “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not theirown; it is not for them to direct their steps.”(Jeremiah 10:23) The Bible clearly emphasizes the%r,D,important roads. “This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the
oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or
the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3) It means that take careand serve for “temporary resident” (Koreans in Japan), “orphans” and “widows” is the “justice”.
Biblical scholar Hiroya Katumura explain about the Proverbs 11:4. “Wealth is useless on the Day of
Wrath. However, righteousness will save you from death”37. “Righteous” (Hebrew
tsidqah)In ‘the Bible, The New Interconfessional Translation’, it is ‘Jizen’) is the same “just and right” inJeremiah 22:3. Therefore, liberation from disaster, war, family and social violence is a necessary
condition of peace road. There is Tetsuro Honda who is the unpaid priest in Kamagasaki, is working
for the people whose right of living is oppressed, by hair-cutting and looking after with living

hq'd'c.

Irie, S (Coauthor). 2000. Volunteer Gaku Kenkyu. Vol.1 – Volunteer and Kokyosei. The International Society of
Volunteer Studies in Japan. p.45-47. Kobe International Supporting Organization HP. [Online]
http://kisokobe.sub.jp/article/proposal/7613/
36 Gesenius, W. Brown, F. 1979. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. p.201-203
Author. 2015. Volunteer Way – 20 years from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Radio Kansai. January 9.
37 Katsumura, H. 2012. Metsubo-no Yokan-to Kyomu-wo Ikani Ikaseruka. Kansai Shingakujyuku Edition. Shinkyo
Publishing. p.100. “Indeed, nuclear accident happened, so money is useless. It will cost money to stop theaccident, even spend a lot of money, it doesn't mean that the accident would end. Earthquakes and tsunamis
cannot be stopped by the power of money. Society has a moment when money or wealth is not useful at all. It is“righteousness” that becomes a subject at that time. Perhaps, it could be read as a volunteer activity.”
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together. He is in solidarity with “the least of these.” (Matthew 25:45) According to Honda, people
who lives in cheap-poor temporary house or on the street never try to be “the least of these.” They
made to be “small and least” by society, institutions and enterprises. To love God is to protect therights of socially vulnerable status people as typified by “the fatherless”, “the widow”, and “theforeigner residing” (Deuteronomy 10:12-19). To love a neighbor is the act with consideration on theside of “the foreigner residing”, “the hired worker”, physically challenged people, easily oppressedpeople and throttled “the poor”. Moreover, for those people cannot even ask for help, we shouldmake a first action to be their neighbors. (Leviticus 19:9-18, Luke 10:29-37)38
George Fredrick Müller [1805-1898] who is a British man and called “the father of orphans” chosea narrow road39. It is the tradition for pastors of Kobe International Christ Church, which is theSuper-denominationalism Brethren Christian Church of methodical of Müller, to do not receive
payments. Moreover, it is natural behavior to serve for orphans.
Before the Second World War, the Japanese rescue movement was known as a settlement house
movement. It rose from among the private sectors. Juji Ishii [1865-1914], who had a high regard for
Müller, gave up his medical service but started to devote his life for people who are in need of theirlife and orphans. The settlement house movement gave influence toward social improvement andsocial education. The first settlement house was established by Sen Katayama [1859-1933] in 1897,
which was called “Kingsley House” and located at Kannda Misaki-cho in Tokyo. Eventually, it
developed into “movements”, such as social improvement and labor union. Well, is the volunteer-dō“movement”? Or is it “activity”? In order to avoid making mistakes, I will explore which is thebreakthrough that should apply passion. When you head to the top of the Mt. Fuji, it looks highpeak from both Gotemba in Shizuoka Prefecture side and Yamanashi Prefecture side. Many people
use imaginations that it is better to have alternatives or various ways to go. I will discuss in my realexperience on the field without desk paradigm.
It is not unusual for young people to find the way of “activities”, not start to walk volunteer-dō byawakening. In 2011, a twenty-year-old young man who was a Hikikomori (stay-at-home), he wastold “thank you” from the house owner which was completely destroyed while he was sanitizing thehouse at Watanoha in Ishinomaki city, Miyagi Prefecture. It was the first experience for him to be
thanked from others. After that, he became a regular volunteer. And after five years from the
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, he was introduced as the center of activities by Editor Toshihiro
Kitamura in the interview coverage article of “Chugai Nippoh”40.He was not asked by the volunteer
Honda, T. 2003. Shiisakusareta Monono Gawanitatsu Kami. Shinseishya. p.160.
Author. Fukuintoha Nanika. Kobe International Christ Church. Worship preaching. 2014, September 21.
[Online]http://kisokobe.com/kicc/2015/09/30/%E7%A6%8F%E9%9F%B3%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF%E4%BD%95%E3%81%8B/
39 1986. Kirisutokyo Jinmei Jiten. The Board of Publications The United Church of Christ in Japan. p.161.
A quote from parts of George Müller’s writing. “I ran willful at my youth age. I joined Brethren and became apreacher. I stand on my conviction that materially and spiritually necessities are only given by faith and prayer. I
eliminated Maintenance donation
system and declined salary, and started charity project that only by offeringsof willing partners.”
40 Kitamura, T. 2016. Tsutaetai, Wasurenai. ⑪. Chugainippoh. April 15. Toshihiro Kitamura’s book “Ku-En” covers
religious ruts and records.
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center or social welfare council at the affected area to remove the debris and mud. When heparticipated in the volunteer at the field, he meet with victims by himself. It is a contact between aperson and a person without relations of efficiency and effectiveness. It is a contact with a severely
hurt person. The vertical “activity” becomes an “opportunity” through victims. And an “interest”
that to go to the field will be developed. And you will find a “value” to continue for again andagain, 3 months, 1 years and 3 years. Once your value judgment was formed, your experience,
helplessness and modesty never criticize about other volunteer’s imperfect41. Volunteer- dō increases“own potential ability”, recognizes “pleasure to live”, realize “being needed by people” and finds alife with “worthwhile and motivation”. The young man became an adult because he has being
needed by others42.
There are various streams, such as anti-nuclear movement, campaign for eliminating 2015
Japanese military legislation and campaign for defending constitutionalism. There is a common
points of “opportunity”, “interests” “value” and motivation of people who volunteered to organic
moving body. However, I will talk about completely different vector from the next section.

(2) Genealogy of horizontal “movement”
a. Deprivation of Rescue Movement in JapanIn 1995, due to the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, about 80% of the Mizugakinishi area in
Nagata-ku, Kobe city, was burnt down. As a system, the readjustment for restoration of disasterdamaged area was executed. 80% of the affected residents wanted to return to their original place,but only less than 30% of them could actually return. It has been trying to manage for solving
restoration, reconstruction and rebuilding by the system. Administration came up with the idea of
Hakomono (public building) project. It was Kobe airport, subway and advanced medical
technology. They tried to build something better than before. Even land prices were falling becauseof collapse of the bubble economy, they still rushed for making a soaring economy. It seems that therestoration has been progressed with the idea of making something greater, bigger and taller than
before the disaster.
At the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Kenichi Hino [Representative Director of
NPO Itami Human Rights Awareness Association] said as follow. “Since the Japanese economic
miracle, Japanese society seemed to be somehow developed and stabilized by pretending forsuperficial institutional conditions. Same as a measures to eliminate discrimination, most of the
projects were said as completed. However, this disaster might revealed the superficial varnish fromthe bottom. I think that we are asked to questions such as the structure of the building and life style
from the bottom. And I think that such a place to send information exist in the disaster area.”43
Ito, T. 2010. Atarashii Jidaiwo Tukuru Shyakai Kyoiku. Nippon-Seinenkan. p.43.
Kouroki, H. 2006. Kiboeno Chikara. Kouseikan. p.52-53.
“Through providing and sharing something that exist inside of me, which other people need it, I could realize mymeaning of existence is needed by others. From that moment, I could confirm myself positively and know themeaning of my existence. Two people (boy and girl) were able to discover their meaningful “own self” byappearance of “meaningful others”.
43 Hino, K (Coauthor). 1996. Kiroku Hanshin Awaji Daishinsai Hisabetu Buraku. Hyogo Buraku Liberation and
Human Rights Research Institute Edition. p.273.
41
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As Yubari City, where is famous for Yubari Mellon, made a declaration of bankruptcy I 2007,
many people at the affected areas of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, such as Ishinomaki City in
Miyagi Prefecure, Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecutre, Futaba-machi, and Tomioka-machi, said
that their town also became like it. Even though Japan’s reconstruction level is like this, I am
amazed at restarting of nuclear power plant, linear motor car and Olympic Games. The greedinessof recent people makes forgetting about radiation exposure, lonely death and unattended death, withletting others to be unconscious. What can we resolve the problems at the area, where human rights
don’t have any meaning, by alone?
In March 2016, Sojichiro Kawamura (79 years old), who works hard on the problem of “leased
restoration housing”, joined in the Tohoku volunteer. In the cold weather, we visited temporary
housings together. Even though Kawamura is the aged person, he is fighting alone against Kobe
City for the elderly people who are forced to leave their final home. He stands alone for Nagata-ku
in Kobe City where failed for restoration and redevelopment as well as victims who are notincluded in a mutual aid system by delivering messages to the society.
As time goes by, we hear the voice that there is nothing that volunteer can do. It means that there is
no more emergent because of prosperity, economic growth and change of people’s needs. When I
try to go to Tohoku site immediately after the disaster, I was said that it is rather annoying if anamateur goes in activities, such as removing muds, clearing destroyed materials and visiting
evacuation centers, instead of professionals. We continue to do volunteer while getting various
unfriendly gazes, evil-speaking and advices. Because in the affected area, there are people who arestill enduring. A hands-on policy is the trigger to the mobile power for going to the affected area
immediately. Some people are more dead than alive, and some are not affected at all. “What do you
think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninetynine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?” (Matthew 18:12)44
Horizontal “movement” also does not rise by the system. And social projects cannot save people.
People can only be changed by people. Being close to anxiety, solitary and loneliness cannot be
44

Author’s quarterly journal. 2016. Shien. No.14. Kobe International Supporting Organization. p.1
Among young people in Hanshin, they are also not firmly aware of their preparation against the Nankai Trough.
Therefore, one of the effective ways is visiting the disaster place so that people would not forget about the factthat more than 6,000 people had been sacrificed by the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, and remindful about
the importance of life. For example, in Hyogo prefecture, there were cases that elderly people were given fullconsideration by authorities that they do not need to leave their earthquake disaster house even after 20 years
passed. However, the elderly residents of Hyogo’s Canal Town are forced to leave their place by Kobe City. There
are angry elderly people against ruthless administrations. Because they cannot live their house as “the last living
place”.
There are victims of elderly 60s and 70s without having place and hope for tomorrow in Kobe. People lost theirhomes in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake are now unable to work, not having savings and neither people torely on to. Martin Luther King Jr. said “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words
and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” At the time of the Great HanshinAwaji Earthquake, the connection of heart through “mutual support”, “mutual assistance” and “face-to-face” that
happened as the first year of volunteers encouraged people as like living in Utopia. We appreciated our living life.
However, time goes by, the temporary community that occurred at the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake and the East Japan Great Earthquake disappeared with a call to aim for an efficiency priority
society. President Baldwin Jacobson Lonsdale, who I met at Vanuatu immediately after being affected by“Cyclone Pam”, attended the International Disaster and Risk Conference in Japan. He said frankly “When I
visited Sendai, I was disappointed to see the situation that Japan back to seek material prosperity just likebefore”. The attitude of “share sufferings”, “co-existence”,” Ku-en (connection born from sharing sufferings)” withfamilies and regions is required by the whole country.

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done by the system. Only human can do it. I hear the voice that temples and shrines, churches andreligious facilities which have recovered froestoration are just only sceneries. It is only human canemotionally empathize with the sorrow of loss of loved one, the sorrow that only survived one, thesadness that cannot be stand by close people's sorrow and the sorrow of others, just as own sorrow.
Volunteers are the vessel for sorrows.
The volunteer “dō” is something to “Umekusa (=fill-in)”. It is requested that you continue to workwithout shaking and not being bombarded with the appearance of restoration and the hard wave of
information like “it is a wild chrysanthemum which is called as just a grass until it blooms”.45

b. Rut of Christianity“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans andwidows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) It is“religion (in Greek qrhskei,a threskeia)”. The etymology “” threskos leads particularly to
pay attention carefully about the form that appeared outside of the religious provisions and divine
faiths. For religious people, taking care of “orphans” and “widows” who receive the lowest priority
is not an option, but it is a standard criteria. From the context that “threskos” appears 4 times in the
New Interconfessional Translation Bible, it proofed that “Christianity never require special
ceremonial acts from the beginning”46. We go out to the world that does not accept religious life thatis many about prayers at the synagogue, praise and sermons, which can be seen in sincere believers.
There is the faith for the basic of me, which still push me and drive me to the way to the Tohoku
volunteers, and never giving up.
My mother gave me an influence to cultivate my threskos. My father Yuji [1919-1988] wasfeeding his poor family while he was not eating enough because of household, and he was justlicking salt. My mother Kashiko [1921-1992] was filled with a spirit of charity that she received at
the Shirayuri Gakuen as well as at Kojimachi Church [now St. Ignatius church], which wasdedicated and established at her adolescence age of 15. When I came back from kindergarten, I saw
many times that my mother was quietly giving a one hundred-yen bill to the neighboring people ofAuthor. 2015. Volunteer Way – 20 years from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Radio Kansai. January 9.
6:30pm.
“As a friend to talk to, be next to the loneliness of the groan of those who lost someone to talk to.”To be with like “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15).
In the 1st century AD, Mary and Martha were saddened by sorrow because they lost their brother, Lazarus. It is
recorded as “Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply
moved in spirit and troubled. Jesus wept.” (John 11:31-35). Whether a religious believer or not, if you meet aperson whose diaphragm muscular strength is weak due to the breath of sorrow, you are tend to empathize tothe person. You are moved by the heart of “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another,be compassionate and humble.” (1 Peter 3:8). “Commiserate” (in Greek “sumpaqh,j”. It means ‘together’ + ‘feel
pain’. It is the origin of English word ‘sympathy «compassion, pitymercy, sympathy»’) is the motivation.
Therefore, it shares same pain. It naturally express about the share-sufferings. Becoming “one heart (In Greek‘o`mofrh,vn’, it means ‘make diaphragm one’)”, a relationship with others will be born for the first time.
46 Author. 2012. Nihonno Shyukyo Fudoto Kirisuto Kyo. KBH Kirisuto Kyo Sekai Series. July 17. 1994. Shinyaku
Seisho Shyakugi Jiten. Vol.1. Kyobunkan. p.197-1987. “Shyu (宗)-Kyo (教) = Religion” is a Buddhist term. It isthe combined word of “Shyu (the ultimate truth which cannot be expressed by language)” and “Kyo (teachingexpressed by language)”. English word “religion” is a derivative of the Latin “religio (originally ‘religo’, means<tie it up, combine>)”. In other word, English word “religion” represent the way to connect God and humanbeings that had been disconnected. (Hiro, S. 1990. Christianity and Islam. Shincho Sensho. p.23)
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“beggars”, veterans and suffering people. In my child’s mind, although I had uncomfortable feelingsof “we are hungry too, why?” I thought my mother was great. It is a charity aspect of Christianitythat I could not find in Professor Ichiro Suetsugu [1922-2001], who was the most influential person
for me from my adolescence to adulthood. She often told us about the way of living of Satoko
Kitahara [1929-1958] who was called as a Maria of the Ants Town, Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe[1894-1941] who was called as a saint of Auschwitz and monastery Zenon Żebrowski [1891-1982].
These three people were longing presence for me and my brothers. It was a typical environment for
Roman Catholic believers where easily to find everywhere in the room about the way of dedication
for war orphans and also magazines of “Knights of the Immaculata”. Polish Father Kolbe andmonastery Zenon visited Japan in 1930, and they had took care of orphans, people dying on thestreet, sick people and strangers for about 30 years. And Kitahara got influence from monastery
Zenon at her age 20 years old.
Kitahara’s work also sowed seeds in Kobe too. Social welfare service corporation Gyokoukai wasfounded in Kobe, 1954. Founder Father Robert Vallade [1914-2009] came to Japan in 1950 after thewar. As a result of thinking what he capable is in sufferings, he went to the Ants Town in Tokyo, in
1953. He was prompted to do similar rescue movement by Kitahara. He lived in the shack at side of
Ikuta River in Kobe City, and worked to collect trashes by using pushcarts. And he gave his income
to the poor people. Vallade responded to the interview, “It is not an insulting mind to save people. It
is my hope that I can be a help to the poor people and I want to share suffer and sorrow together
with them”. He started from the Ikuta River to the Muko River, and eventually the activity spreads
to Osaka and Kyoto as the Emmaus Movement47. It became an opportunity to start food service at
Kamagasaki where was used to be said that the poorest area in Japan.
The Emmaus Movement also started to comes close to its end around 1960. It faced to economic
difficulties. The low price of collected waste items, the lack of man power to collect, competition ofwaste collecting between neighborhoods associations as well as children’s associations were theelements. An end of rescue movement was put, which was based on the Ikuta River and the Muko
River in Kobe. The Vertical “activities” are not appreciated by people. Like a Vallade, nobody havewritten any masterpiece that make public people to be surprised. Because the vertical “activities”
are the activity that get lost in oblivion. Shinran, Kōbō-Daishi, and Dōgen Zenji dazzled others
because of their great influence. It is obvious that horizontal movements have been healed sickness
people not only that time, but also up to the present time through great masterpieces. However, thetranscendental existence is “Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself (Latin translation,‘deus absconditus’)” (Isaiah 45:15), against the oppressed society, the affected area and thebattlefield. It is the God who taste sufferings. You should not understand about God’s suffering andLove just like the two sides of a coin. It is usual for God’s anger to fight. Just like love forhumanity, benevolence and Mother God, if anyone blindly accept anything such as “love of God”,
47

Kanshya. (The 50th anniversary of the foundation of Gyokokai welfare corporation. p.3, 21)
Kobe Emmaüs was established in 1956. (Gyokokai Central Office). Emmaüs movement is about inviting homelesspeople for food and sleep place. It is named from the place in Luke 24:13. It was introduced by French Priest Abbé
Pierre in 1949. His faith is “human beings are only saved for the first time through serving to others”. Atsuko
Suga [1929-1998], who got influence from Priest Vallade, was reported as “enjoyable thing about trash house” and“the landlady of Emmaüs house” on Asahi Shimbun (1972, May 5).

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“compassion of Great Buddha” and “meekness”, the person is an impostor. A solid timber
horizontal “movement” softly sugarcoat people’s dissatisfactions, angers and mortification. The
movement to forget the God’s anger is different from the volunteer-dō. Because it leads to rob theact of “the hidden God”. The volunteer-dō must express the God’s anger by itself and have energy
to crack down the regime that oppress and discriminate people as well as undermine human rights.
The rescue movement at the biggest slums along the Ikuta River by Toyohiko Kagawa [18881960] before the war was not dead. I will talk about Kagawa later. RegardingKagawa’s dependent
on vertical “activities”, Nihei mentioned about it in only one time with small letters in manuscript.
If it says in the paradox, the realities of the volunteers are invisible. In other words, it is notrecognized by the society. It is an “event” that is generated from vertical “dialogue”.
Immediately after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, I got a phone call from Yoshio Arikawa[1936-2013] because he heard about my preparation to go to Tohoku. . For our organization, it was
the first Tohoku volunteers. Supplies were delivered from all over the country and it was piled up
around my house office. I had hurt my back because I was reorganizing, maintaining andtransporting all supplies with my wife. I was worried because of anxious feeling whether I could go
or not just before my departure. Arikawa was a retired entrepreneur who was managing a peal
company called Clover.
We agreed with the will of walking together on the volunteer-dō. He delivered donations, goods
and encouragement generously to the organization. Clothes were given from Emmaus. Arikawa
received baptism directly from Kagawa while he was studying at Doshisha University in 1957.
Arikawa and his university friend Mikio Ibuki were distributing foods at Higashi Yuenchi [south
side neighborhood of Kobe City Hall]. After continuous 3 years work with the organization,
Arikawa passed away. Arikawa’s New Ikuta River Kyoseikai became to stand on the brink. About
the emergency food distribution, I was chosen as a successor because I was the member of theexecutive committee of 2009 the Centennial of Kagawa Toyohiko's Sacrificial Lifestyle. However,the project was not a vertical “activity” but a horizontal “movement”. From April 2014, the New
Ikuta River Kyoseikai receive a baton to serve street living people on every Thursday. The torch of
cooking was handed down to Rumiko Kusumoto as the main person who participated in the 36th
Tohoku volunteer. Arikawa told when he was alive that there were 3 times food distributions in aweek after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake at Kobe. Every time, more than 150 people made aline for food distributions at Kobe. However, he said that they were not homeless people, but mostly
welfare protection receivers. The point is, people who were receiving 120,000 yen a month weremaking the line. The New Ikuta River Kyoseikai is providing foods only to the homeless people
who live at the Higashi Yuenchi. On the same time, in March 2014, Tetsuro Honda encouraged the
young people of the Tohoku volunteers to take good care of the homeless people who are not in theline of food distributions. I applied his method because I thought that it is possible for myorganization to do, since we cannot do a large scale activity like Mamiko Yamano of the Catholic
Social Activity Kobe Center. At the beginning, Buddhist monk Takeshi Kawanami from
Kamagasaki provided food materials, and Masahiro Ioi who went to the Tohoku volunteer together

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with me, Yumiko Goto, Masanao Toyohara, Shujo Fujimaru, Hoyu Yokoyama and other Buddhist
monks supported rice supplies to our activity. There is also regular support from the food bankKansai and also there are fresh vegetable from our organization’s farming, we are able to continue
our activity. You Nonomura (78 years old, one of the first supporters of ‘Kobe-no Fuyu-wo Sasaeru
Kai’),who I respect, is continuing to go around the street at night, even though it is not allowed now.
He sighs, “The place was closed and surrounded by wire mesh as ‘keep out’. Made the park into aspace without anything so that all shade where someone can be hidden is eliminated, (Although it issaid to be measures against suspicious persons and terrorists, authorities are anticipating theincreasing numbers of dissatisfied people. Also, things like letting private enterprise to manage andoperate parks are progressing, and make the place impossible to live due to enterprise’s
convenience.) There are strange partitions for benches of parks and bus stops so that people cannot
lie down, and the space where can be a shelter for rainy day under the stairs of pedestrian bridge issurrounded by wire mesh so that no one can enter”48. Beside of these people, there are less than 20
street-living people without home, relatives and residential certificates. There is an advice that weshould not do food distributions to such people. Mr. and Mrs. Arikawa and Ibuki traveled monthly
to Tohoku after the earthquake, and kept running side-by-side. When I visited when he still alive, hesaid fluent in English “The Lord makes me an instrument”. This spirit is a motivation to keep
running for those who are entrusted now.

c. Paradox of Volunteer Movement
Paradox means contradiction. Let me excuse myself to concentrate on Nihei’s “Para-zouyo”, which
set up a monumental achievement that never looked down youth. It is not criticism but critic. Critic
is derived from the Greek word kri,nw krino “to judge”. I am talking because I have an
expectation to Nihira who is a spirited person in academic society from now. First of all, I would
like to take a look about Toyohiko Kagawa [1888-1960] who was ignored by “Para-zouyo”, andIchiro Suetsugu [1922-2001] who I used one chapter to talk about him. And besides, Suetsugu is nota Christian.
Rescue Movement by Toyohiko Kagawa
The volunteer movement history in Japan cannot be talked without Toyohiko Kagawa. In 2008, I
was recommended by Professor Shizuo Imao, as one of the executive committee members of 2009
the Centennial of Kagawa Toyohiko's Sacrificial Lifestyle49. According to Souichi Oya, “Most of
the movements are originating from Toyohiko Kagawa”. He said “It is countless such as peace
movements, social projects, labor union movements, agricultural cooperative activities and co-op
union”50. Kagawa was also nominate for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prie for Literature. In
overseas, his name is recognized as one of the three great philosophers of the 20th century,
Nonomura (Coauthor). 2015. Nojyukumo Yurusarenai Jidai. Kobe YMCA YOmawari (Tentative title). Activity
Report. Vol.10. p.23-24.
49 http://www.core100.net/project/jikko.html
50 Ooya, S. 1960. Kamiwa Waga Bokushya. (‘Ah-a. Kagawa Sensei’).
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alongside Dr. Schweitzer and Gandhi. Kagawa had to be watched by government because of the
Taisho democracy, labor union and strike. Therefore, there is a tendency to criticize Kagawa’s
activities as left wing anti-government ideology. However, same as Ichiro Suetsugu, Kagawa wasneither a left wing nor a right wing. In order to guarantee a recovered life security for unemployedpeople, he raised life insurance union, consumers' cooperative and labor union campaign. The first
farmers’ association and cooperative association in Japan were also spread radially from the
Kagawa’s office. Kagawa’s rescue movement was the volunteer itself. Kagawa felt righteous
indignation towards Christian world, because it was sharing joy of Christmas only inside of theChristian church. On December 24, 1909, in order to live together with people who cannot enjoy
the joy of Christmas, he joined into the Shinkawa, Kobe City, where was the oldest poor slum inJapan.51 Kagawa conducted social practice for the civilians’ life defense, such as from "rescue poor
people" to "protect poor people", labor movement, famer movement and cooperative union
movement at the time of the Japanese capitalism rise.52 Since 2011, the current councilor of
Kagawa Memorial Center Yoshito Nishi tells visitors. “He took care of dirt, slept with Hansen'sdisease sufferers, changed medical dressings of syphilis patients, gave the last remaining kimono,and endured violence and threats.”
What was the truth moment that Kagawa started to involve in poverty problems, economic
problems, social movements and peace movements for his lifetime? “I am a child of geisha. My
father was passed away at his age 44. 60 days after my father’s death, my mother was also passed
away. She was 33 years old. I was legally registered as child of my father’s lawful wife, but I havenever received kind words from my lawful mother. I was called as ‘a child of a mistress, a child of a
mistress’ at the primary school, and was crying. One day, I was suspicioned that I had stabbed an 8
years old girl, who was a daughter of house servant, by the tip of the umbrella, so I kept crying forthree days and three nights inside of the mosquito net. For me, life was too sad and dark. I sunk into
the tears because I didn’t know what to do even I became 14 years old. The darkness and sadness oflife was only becoming serious for me.”53“I was born in Kobe in July, 1888 (Meiji 21) and I lost myboth father and mother almost at once and I became an orphan when I was 4 years old. Therefore, I
was adopted to my grandmother-in-law and mother-in-law whom were living in the countryside ofTokushima Prefecture.”54Immediately after Kagawa heard about the Great Kantō earthquake [1923(Taisho 12)], he went to Tokyo from Kobe by “Yamashiromaru (ship)” which carried goods and
Takeuchi, M. Murayama, M. 2009. Kagawa Toyohiko To Volunteer. Kobe Shimbun Publishing Center. p.317.
Inagaki, H. 2016. Calvinism. Vol.32. (‘Abraham Kuyper and Toyohiko Kagawa’. Japan Calvinist Association)
p.40.
He said “It was British man Robert Owen who came up with this cooperative movement. Owen has alreadystarted to use the term “co-operative society” since around 1824. Regrettably, he thought of this as simply
productive cooperative science, and he was not able to think more about this as an economic movement based on
spiritual and religious consciousness, so he could not rise up until that level.” Next, on December 31, at
Rochidale city in England, 28 fabric workers gathered one pound each and established a small association basedon Christian philanthropy, it is said that was the beginning of cooperative society. Three principles at that time
were 1) Profit refund, 2) Restrictions of equity and 3) Voting rights of one person, one vote. Then, German
Frédéric von Raiffeisen improved these three principles, and made a private cooperative insurance (credit union)
by Christian sprit in 1872.
53 Kagawa, T. 1950. Kirisutokyo Niyumon. Ooizumi Shoten. p.27-33.
54 Torigai, K. 2012. Kogiroku. Vol4. Japan Bible Society. p.155. Kagawa, T. 1957. Seishono Hanashi. Shyakaishiso
Kenkyukai Shyupanbu. p.18.
51
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19 / 37relief money. At the Great Kantō earthquake, 1.9 million people were affected and more than 105
thousand people died or were missing. Kagawa started to operate, such as emergency stations, job
placement services and safety deposit box services at the Sumida River. Kagawa and his volunteers
took public’s attention by doing cooperation for the restoration immediately after the disaster. Roka
Tokutomi contributed to Tokyo Asahi Newspaper with the title of “Kagawakun-ni”, which was
about the activities taken by Kagawa at the time of the Great Kantō earthquake, “I have never seen
your work after the earthquake, but your work was taken up in the newspaper, and your each ofactivity is the most necessary work for the formation of new Japan”.55
Nihei’s insight about the rescue movement of Kagawa is “Even if it denies about donation such as
sympathy and charity, when a donor made a choice to do that act (aim for sharing the position), it ispossible to see as an act of meta-level donation (=<paradox of donation> is recursive”56. In 2001, I
has criticized Kagawa in my book, “Kobe and the Bible”57. However, I cannot agree with Nihira’s
stereotypic critic that < paradox of donation> is recursive. Because he did not mention how
Christian world had judged about Kagawa. “What the most Kagawa criticized about is that towards
Christians at the church where he belongs to. ‘I declare that there is no church in Japan’. And hecalled to the church like this. ‘Oh, my beloved Japanese churches that has left the first love, let’s
return to the first love!’ Just because of remarks like a prophet, he could not receive the necessary
logistic support. On the contrary, he became to be seen by suspicious eyes from many church
members. Kagawa stood in the gap between the frontline of the government that was drunk by
nationalism and the church that was confined in the shell of narcissistic, as he has been. After that,at the prosperous stage of the military fascism in the 1930s, this situation was too difficult tocontinue fighting alone, and it was becoming the situation that weakened the mind and body.”58
Kagawa says, “It may be possible to abandon my wife. It is probably not impossible to abandon
my son or daughter in case of certain death. But, I cannot abandon the Bible in any case. Even if atyrant like Nero appeared and forced me ‘throw away the Bible, today”, I rather will choose death atthat moment. For me, the Bible is the one and only book of life. I live for the Bible and die for the
Bible. The Bible is a part of myself”59.
If you hear the discourse of Kagawa like this, you might think Kagawa like a fanaticalfundamentalist. Therefore in the context, Nihei had no other way but reached to an assessment “It
was a god for Kagawa that gives motivation and meanings of ‘<donation> that to be done in formof corruption of donation’”60. However, I cannot seize Kagawa unambiguously. Because even I say
in beginning of my book “Kumono Hashira” as “the heart melt into God”, it is different from theviewpoint of God who stands at low place. He tried to “improve” the people of discriminatedcommunities as a top of leader, “I am not a person who take a pessimistic view of the improvement

Torigai, K. 2012. Kogiroku. Vol4. Japan Bible Society. p.155. Kagawa, T. 1957. Seishono Hanashi. Shyakaishiso
Kenkyukai Shyupanbu. p.18.
56 Para-zouyo. p.448.
57 Author. 2001. Kobe and Bible. Editing committee of “Kobe and Bible”. Kobe Shinbun Shyupan Center. p.210.
58 Schell, K. 2009. Kagawa Toyohiko (1888-1960) : sein soziales und politisches Wirken. Translated by Goto, T.
p.167.
59 1952. Seishyono Hanashi. ‘Yousensho 31’. p.25.
60 Para-zouyo. p.448.
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of excursive people”61. It cannot be concluded that the viewpoint of God was the motivation, “heOne who sits enthroned on high”. (Psalm 113:5)62
Even though Kagawa mentioned about the interracial origin of people of discriminatedcommunities in the “Eta-mura Kenkyu” of “Hinminshinri-no Kenkyu”, he is a champion of Japan’s
rescue movement without waiting for evaluation from overseas. Kagawa can be said to be a geniusof the horizontal “movement”.

Meeting with Suetsugu Ichiro
Nihei introduce about volunteer movement of Ichiro Suetsugu over 30 pages of Chapter 6.
As a person who had been taken care bySuetsugu’s wife Kiyoko, it is regrettable that the original
image of Suetsugu is only seen from the words in publications.
I heard the lecture by Suetsugu after he was dispatched from the Central Youth Organization
Liaison Council. I was 16 years old at that time. I still can recall lively about his energetic talks. His
talk attracted young people who are interested in outdoor life, camping and mountain climbing.
Suetsugu said strongly, “It is incorrect to say that volunteer activities are possible for Christiancountry, United States, but impossible for young Japanese people”63. He emphasized that there is a
Bushidō of “Hagakure” that is a selfless spirit. He said “Many of the American technical leaders at
the time did not try to understand the traditions and customs of the locals at all. They stick in
American lifestyle at any place, so they never fit in the local people. And it was born from reflection
on this”64. He devoted himself to set up the current JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency),
Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and JYVA (Japan Youth Volunteers Association).
At the time of 9/11, 2001, I started an arbitrary association of refugee support called the “KobeInternational Supporting Organization”, which was the antecedents of the “Kobe International
Sustaining Organization”. I named the organization name that is similar to the International
Cooperation Agency without recognizing it. I even forgot that I was succeeded the DNA of
Suetsugu. I recognized the spirit of Suetsugu “I don’t need neither status nor honor. I just be the'umekusa' of the society” has been inherited, through my trials that no money gather into

Kagawa,T. 1915. Hinminshinrino Kenkyu. Keiseishya Shoten. p.98-99.
“I mainly take racial theory. If you study their skin, it is certain that there is a kind of special race among E-Ta
(old discriminated people in Japan). For example, most of them are the white race.
It is truly surprising thing, so I cannot help thinking about them as a descendant of the Caucasoid. Everyone
admits that there are many beautiful women among E-Ta (Mr. Endo also admits). And it is certain that there areracial origins for this. However, it is impossible to deny that E-Ta is a mixed species.”
62 Honda, T. 2009. Kamagasakito Fukuin. Iwanami Shoten. p.134-135., Setouchi, H. 1971. Yohano Nami.
Chuoronshya. p.85-87., Kuribayashi, T. 1984. Kenkanno Shingaku. Shinkyo Publishing. p.459.
63 Japan International Cooperation Agency. 1985. p.17. Mr. Suetsugu established Nihon Kensei Kai and developed
volunteer activities throughout Japan. On the same time, he started volunteer for Japanese prisoners of war in
the Soviet Union, aid for returnees form the southern battlefield, war orphans and homeless children.
64 Suetsugu, I. 1972. Mikaito Hinkonheno Chosen – Zenshinsuru Nihon Seinen Heiwa Butai. Mainichi
Newspapers.
“At that time, public mind was speaking loud about whether socialism or capitalism, and the future direction ofJapan was being debated. However, we needed to create a new one beyond the old measure of such an idea.”(Kensei Undo Jyugonen Shi. Kensei Undo Jyugonen Shi Editing Committee. p.43) Mr Suetsugu contributed to
the World Peace as a “Grass-Roots Ambassador” and “Friendship Ambassador”.
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organization, nobody can grow and no acceptance by the society65. There is an opinion to call
Suetsugu as “the Father of volunteers in Japan”66.
Suetsugu had ability to influence Prime Ministers, such as Nobusuke Kishi, Eisaku Sato, andHayato Ikeda on the anti-nuclear peace movement, Okinawa's reversion to Japanese administrationand the Japan-Soviet Northern Territories dispute. However, he never shows up on the front stage ofpolitics, but continued to be “a hero behind the scenes” in the Kasumigaseki branch room. At the“Japan-United State Kyoto Conference” in 1968, I was also a background role of Suetsugu. I was
not able to do simultaneous interpretation, so I just stayed outside of the scholar’s generous
discussions. But this conference also was an opportunity to wake up for searching national identityand became a clue of religious itinerant. Although Suetsugu is called as the biggest “a patriot”, “abehind-the-scenes fixer” and “a lobbyist”, he never out of the rule of democracy67. Suetsugu was thelast member of hard-core intelligence agency who was trained at the Rikugun Nakano Gakko(Military Army Nakano School) Futamata Branch. Hroo Onoda [1922-2014], who was a classmateof Suetsugu, talked about the Nakano School68. The Imperial Army trained soldiers to be faithful tothe country, while Nakano School was a training institution of “volunteers”. Despite having
attachment to the imperial family, he did not support “the theory of national policy”69. Therefore, he
was not a philosopher to believe “Japan is a family state that thinks the Emperor as the father andthe people as a child”.
As the Father of volunteers, Suetsugu shifted himself from “volunteer soldier” under the wartime
to “servants” of youth education after the war. He asked for not only himself but young man whocame to him to be honest poverty. Excellent fellowships, who cannot live only by ideal, gradually
2008. Kojien. 6th edition. Iwanami Shoten. ‘A grass that grows in the shade of tree and cannot be seen bypeople.’In the “Nihon Kenseikai Kouryo”, it is said “1) We live with pride and responsibility as the Japanese youth, train
severely together with fellowships, and always make effort to become a saṃskṛta person to the state and society.”
So that they stand up to be as a “saṃskṛta person” to demonstrate the volunteer spirit. “Nihon Kenseikai” wasestablished in 1949, after the war. 152 national branches and 37,000 members. Members of Kensei sang “Wakai
Chikarano Uta (young power song)” and uplifted themselves. Later, this song became a song of the Japan
Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. (Keisei Undo Jyugonen Shi. p.278, 289.)
66 Akiba, T. 2008. The Japan Society for Studies of Voluntary Activities. 2007 Academic Journal. Japan Society for
Studies of Voluntary Activities. p.91.
67 Ibid. p.94. Suetsugu's friendship with Shinsuke Kishi [1896-1987], who became familiar with through theconsolation of Sugamo Prison where class-A war criminals were placed, was regarded as a right wing movement.
And he was viewed with awe by the successive ministers because they stood stiffly in front of him.
Fukumoto, T. 1964. KaigaiKyoroku Houshitaino Kousouto Sonokeii – Nihonteki Heiwabutai Kousousuishinno
Tameni. Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council Journal ‘Seisaku Gextsupo” No.99. p.76-84.
68 “School spirit was freewheeling that was unlikely at that time, and we were not punished even we criticize ourcountry and having doubt about Hakkō ichiu ("all the world under one roof"). There was even more a generalatmosphere of ‘do not die for the Emperor’. The subjects that they devote their lives are neither the Emperor not
the government or the military. They were asked whether can die as a sacrifice stone willingly because they love
their Japanese nationals. Based on such mental education, they were trained the intelligence methods to be ahuman being who not desire their life and name.” (Onoda, H. 2000. Tatsuta Hitorino 30nen Senso. Tokyo
Shimbun Publisher. p.50.)
69 “Kokutairon (national polity theory)”. 2007. The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia. Revised version. Hibonsha. It
is also said as “Japanism”. Although there is a transition depending on the time, the national polity theory
emphasize “excellency and permanency” of the Japanese national system by continuous one blood lineage ofEmperor family. This theory started by the national scholar of Edo period, such as Nobunaga Motoori and
Atsutane Hirata, and they don’t admit the existence of heretic people who disturb the citizen’s unity. Yasuhiro
Nakasone [1918-] former Prime Minister, who was the funeral chairperson at the death of Suetsugu, he said
about Suetsugu as a “paragon of demobilized people”, “hero of after the war, who should be compared with
Shinsaku Takasugi of ‘Bakumatsu Kiheitai’” and “patriotic man”.
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left from the battle line. As young people who do not have military experience are able to keep tothe regulations, courtesy and uniformity because they received Japanese style education, but they
could not to be “self-sustainability”, “independent” and “superman” by growing out as a children of
Suetsugu. If Suetsugu was like such a, drill sergeant under the wartime, stone-cold superior officer
of foreign legion or authoritarian, young people may could have followed up to him everywhere.
However, the norm of Suetsugu was different. Hirosi Kouroki [1948-], who is introduced by Nihei
as one of the successor of Suetsugu, testified as follow70. Except Kouroki had experienced thesynchronic process of “the relationship of youth”, that tried to carry their duty beyond their death,
was literally naked. Even serious arguments at every night and energetic arguments that sometimes
made soldiers fight each other, I feel like it that seems building up love as fellowships each other".
A sense of honesty does not intermingle with Suetsugu’s “selection”, “decision” and “personality”.
“Be content with low life could not be done without throwing yourself out. Because you dare to
endure the hardships when you become the heart of local people.71”
Professor Takeshi Akiba from Ritsumeikan University introduced about Suetsugu, “Despite thegreat social influence, Suetsutu was rarely talked in the intellectual world. It is also a big theme,‘Why Suetsugu was underestimated?’”72. Nihira talked about Suetugu in “Para-zouyo”, andeverybody evaluate his achievement to convey about Suetsugu to future generations by covering theexcellent materials. On page 264 of “Para-zouyo”, he said “The figure of ‘volunteer’ = <Good
Zouyo> = <movement>, ‘Service’ = <Bad Zouyo> = non-<movement> are established. In thissemantic theory, the word “service” becomes to have a negative value”. It is clear for the readersthat the objective cross section that seems “vanishment of service” is inevitability. However, is it
only me to feel not enough about the negative analysis of youth development, not only as “apatriot”.
If Suetsugu still alive, I think about what kind of reaction he does after he heard about this report.
“Regarding the certificate of gratitude from the Mistier of Foreign Affairs, whatever the person do
on dispatched place, going on trips to other countries for 5 to 10 times without staying at his
assignment country, or buying local women even getting unpleasant face from people, as long as hecomplete the period of assignment, he can be the person who dedicated to the developing country.73”
The spirit of Bushi-do was enclosed inside of Suetsugu who I was attached for 10 years since I was
16 years old. Especially, I was cultivated about “You should not think of the desire for gold andsilver. Richness is harmful to your wisdom” at the Nakano School, therefore I could escape frommyriad vices that were derived from money74. Unfortunately, there is no describe on any documents
about many excellent young people, who follow along to Suetsugu, had walked away one after
another, just like missing important things here and there. Nobody was able to do same practices
that of no-compensation and unpaid. On the other hand, Christians don’t have the viewpoint for“Para-zouyo” which observes paradox that everyone wishes to be like a Christ. There is no leaders
Para-zouyo. p.267-269.
Mikaito Hinkonheno Chosen – Zenshinsuru Nihon Seinen Heiwa Butai. p.117.
72The Japan Society for Studies of Voluntary Activities. p.92.
73 Ishibashi, K F(former Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers). 1997. Seinen Kaigaikxyoryokutaino Kyoko –Amakudarino Onsho. Kenyukan. p.234-235.
74 Nitobe, I (Coauthor). 1989. Bushi-do. Mikasa Shobo. p.96.
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among the successors of Suetsugu to lead “Corvee and Patriorism”, “Admiring Emperor”, and“Shyuren-kai”. The leaders of Japan Youth Volunteers Association (JYVA) have no choice but toimport directory overseas volunteerism theory.
Habermas who warned forcibly toward “Philanthropy” and “Cultural Poverty”, and Neoliberalism
were grafted. Civil society like Alec Dickson and play park were believed that can provide
attractive programs for children.
After the WWII, Suetsugu gathered war damaged orphans and provided vocational training of
shoes cleaning. The Child Welfare Act that was enacted in the second year after the WWII and thatdefined to send waifs and war orphans into the facilities. However, only 14% of children werestayed at public facilities, and private sectors should took care of rest of the children75.
Unfortunately, the government conducted hunting for waifs and homeless people and imprisoned
them. In 1993, I met with Yoshioka who was doing shoes cleaning under JR Sannomiya station’s
viaduct. When I told him that Suetsugu was also doing shoes cleaning at Shinbashi, Tokyo after the
WWII, he started to talk about his life. Although he entered an orphanage of abbey Zennon in
Nagasaki because he was a war orphan, he escaped from there because the place was too strict. He
talked with smiling that since he was made to intone the Lord’s prayers many times, so he still cansay it.
Japan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. It is the 158th among 168
member countries of the United Nations. I cannot help to say that how consciousness to thechildren’s rights was low. I was also a young man with the service spirit that compare favorablywith anyone. However, my confidence to live as a “movement” man like Suetsugu’s disciples began
to decline.
My religious pilgrimage began. I dived deep into the Unification Church, Mormonism, Soka
Gakkai, Seicho-no-Ie, and Shintoism. Especially with Kaichi Komiyama, who incurred Sun Myung
Moon's wrath because of the Unification Church’s “unification doctrine”, I argued about “the world
and the nation”. Komiyama is a leading actor who pulled out Osami Kuboki from the Risshō Kōsei
Kai in 1964 and made him as the chairman of the Unification Church in Japan. He was the firstpresident of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles in Japan. Komiyama kicked
his combinational marriage partner who was matched by Sun Myung Moon, and left from theorganization.
In the same year, I had a first date with my wife at the church by match making of Father Cangas
from St. Ignatius Church. In order to get married, I came to the land of Kobe where Kagawa
dedicated himself. In the same time as Kayoko received her baptism at Tarumizu Catholic Church,
we had our wedding ceremony. When I was on my seeking journey of the Bible’s truth, I met the
Biblical fundamentalism of Jehovah's Witnesses. I signed up to the gospel that only the Bible willsolve essential problems such as war, illness, hunger and poverty. After that, I burned my passion

75

Henmi, M. 1994. Dianiji Sekaitaisengono Nihonniokeru Furouji, Sensoukojino Rekishi. Historical research of
education : bulletin of the Society for Historical Research of Education. Vol.37. p.112-113.

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for the abolition of the Christian churches. It took me 13 years to withdraw from it. I had been kept
troubling my wife in a roundabout way.

(3) Inactivity of Volunteer Movement – Inactive Youth Movementa. Insensitivity to neighbors
A philosopher, Tatsuru Uchida was going to spread spiritual awakenings on natural disasters, wars
and poverties. His words “I had been training for a long time to make my internal ‘alarm’ soundwhen ‘something not sure, but it is a very dangerous thing’ come close to me. Among the rationalist,
there are people who laugh at him with saying ‘What on earth are you guys are saying delusions?
There is no way to be able to make judgement like something is coming, when no material or
numerical form for the evidence. I think the ‘deterioration of alarm’ is greatly related to thisearthquake disaster and nuclear accident. And for Japanese, in order to survive the 21st century, we
should verify the ‘spiritual rebirth’ program once more”, make us realize it76.
There is a tendency to think that volunteer activities were born after the Great Hanshin-Awaji
Earthquake. From January 17, 1995, it is said that the number of volunteers who worked in thedisaster area reached 1.37 million people in a year. (Hyogo Prefectural Police Report) And it
became the trigger for people that more volunteers go to help as the disaster is bigger, once thedisaster occurred77.
Yoshimi Utsunomiya introduces about Kenichi Kusaki [1941-2000] who established theInternational Society of Volunteer Studies in Japan, “He was born in September 10, 1941 (Showa16) at Okayama Prefecture. His childhood was poor and he was living only with his mother. When
his was a third year middle school student, his mother was suicide. He was baptized at 17 years oldwhile he was attending an evening high school. He wished ‘I want to work to live with people whoare poor, weak and in suffering place’. He joined in ‘Chikuho-no Kodomowo Mamoru Kai’ which
support children of Chikuho area in Kyushu because the lives of coalminers there had become
severe due to the transformation of country’s energy policy”78.
Even in this Kumamoto Earthquake on April 22, 2016, only professional volunteers were accepted
to enter disaster area during 6 days after the earthquake. Kenichi Kusaki claimed, “Volunteers
should not be categorized by professional or amateur”79.
6,434 people lost their life in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on January 17, 1995. Nearly 1.4
million people, especially young people, came together to help. I would like to discuss why it wascalled as the first year of volunteer, even though there is a history of activities by Toyohiko
Kagawa, Ichiro Suetsugu and Seinendan. Since the Meiji Restoration, in order to keep up with theWestern countries, modernization of Japan had been promoted by government. Therefore, theUchida, T. 2011. Ootsunamito Genpatsu. Asahi Shimbun Publications. p.117-119.
Yamaguchi, K (Coauthor). 2005. Volunteer Gaku Kenkyu. Vol.5. Siagai Volunteerno 10nen. International Societyof Volunteer Studies in Japan. p.3.
78 Utsunomiya, Y (Coauthor). 2001. Kobe and Bible. Editing committee of “Kobe and Bible”. Kobe Shinbun
Shyupan Center. p.151.
79 2001. Hanshindaishinsaito Kokusai Volunteer Ron – Kenichi Kusachi no Ayunda Michi. ‘Kusachi-san no
Shigoto’ Editing Committee. Epic. p.98., Kusachi, K. 1997. Volunteer Seishinwo Kataru. Published by Kobe
Medical Cooperative Association. Kobe Ikyo News Journal. May ~ December issues.
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structure that “people” depends on “government” has been established. There is an ethea thatvolunteer activities in the disaster area are a monopoly of “government”. A voice of leaving all
responsibility had raised with the thought of the work at the disaster area should be done by thecountry or society. At the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, about volunteers, they were geared up
for more feeling of “ordinary people carry backpack over their shoulders with confidence that they
can do something” rather than “activities for special qualification, ability and professional”. Itchanged the consciousness of the whole Japanese. The wall which thinks distinguishably about“government” and “people” was broken down by making a sound. The new layer of “volunteer”,
which is not a professional, was born between “government” and “people”. The problems that werecreated by the Japanese economic miracle [December 1954 - November 1973], such asenvironmental pollution, Minamata disease, asbestos, solitary death, isolated death, domestic
violence (DV) and living support for bedridden elderly people, cannot be solved by administrations
alone. Volunteers provide services that administrations cannot cover. They were expected tocompensate for deficiencies in emergency response. Private NPOs began their activities innationwide spread, like a bamboo shoot after rain. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology also issued. “Under such a social circumstances, volunteer activities or NPO
activities at local society that are done by individuals or organizations, and those devoted activities
which solve social problems without seeking profits, could not be captured by dichotomous way of
traditional ‘government’ and ‘people’ based on the reciprocal spirit for mutual supports each other.
It is becoming to be evaluated as the activity for a new ‘public’”. (July 29, 2002. Central Council
for Education) A breakthrough gate to make recommendations on policy was opened that “people”
has independency and act to solve problems of welfare, environment and human rights, without
administration sole only have responsible for “public” because of “new public”. This is the reason
to be called as the “first year of volunteer”. It is an original popular theory to understand that“public welfare” means “human rights of others”80.
However, it had been done by back-to-back that volunteers dangerously might become an
authority’s subcontractors, an order taker or a complement actor, because services that basicallyauthorities have responsible for, are on volunteer’s shoulder. If profound support by theadministration and social welfare council continues, volunteer’s original identity of independence,
communality and gratuitous would tone down and become passive activities.
Looking at the affiliation status to a youth association, such as children's association, boy scouts,
girl scouts, and sports association, around 70% of boys and 40~50% of girls are belong to it at
higher grade of elementary school. However, it become over 20% of boys and over 10% of girls at
the second grade in middle school, and over 10% of boys and 5% of girls at the second grade in
80

Nagai, K. 2016. Kenponi Kinkyujitaijyokouwa Hitsuyouka. Iwanami Shoten. p.6.
Lawyer Susumu Tsukui advocates that “Emergency provisions” is harm at the disaster site, and he keep raisingan alarm over with saying “If we put entire authority on the top leader of our country, the site will be ‘in themode of waiting instructions, and people stop thinking’”. (2016. Asahi Shimbun Publications. April 5)
Oota, M. 2011. “Kougi-roku.” Vol.3.-Uragami Yonban Kuzure Kirishitanno Jyunanno Kioku-. Japan Bible
Society. p.12. As seen in “Saigono Itsuku” (1915), the conflict between “authority” and “people” is the subject of
Oogai Mori’s writings. It seems that the memory of “people”, which all they could do was to be onlookers fortragedy, remained as a spiritual trauma throughout Oogai’s life more than the barbarous massacre toward
innocent believers.

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high school. The percentage is becoming lower81. There is a tendency that people avoid youth
activity because of hardship, negative image and troublesome. It is necessary to analysis the reasonof why the youth movement in Japan is stagnant, inactive and unpopular.
For example, I will take look in the volunteer movement at the time of the Flood Disaster in the
Hanshin in 1938 [July 3-5, Showa 13].
The total amount of rainfall reached 491.8mm and the river was overflowed and it destroyed
bridges and bunds. And when the numbers of dead/injured people were combined, it became morethan 3,000.
The fatalities number reached 640,000 which were more than 60% of Kobe City’s population.
House damages were 139,000 and it was equivalent to 70% of residence. The total damage from thedisaster was recorded at Kobe City as 136.5 million yen82. On July 6, right after the disaster,
Toyohiko Kagawa and others visited there from Tokyo. They not only visiting the affected area, butalso they encouraged public staffs. According to the “Co-op Kobe no Ayumi. Chapter 7: the Flood
Disaster in the Hanshin”, it is recorded that 933 people dead and 696,000 people (72% of Kobe
City) were damaged at that time.
The Hyogo Prefectural Academic Affairs Department, Social Education Division mobilized theDai Nippon Seinendan. 89,424 young people from the prefecture were recruited under a slogan of“Kinrou Houkoku (=work hard and serve the country)” In the record, deaths and injuries of theservant’s side are seen. They followed the order to devote all at once for the country regardless ofown will. The mobilizing side has praised as “It is truly a pleasure for this day’s Japan, which isapproaching a big leap by logistic support, to show attitude of life of Japanese spirit”83.
Originally, “Japan Seinendan Council (JSC)” was founded throughout the country for the purposeof developing campaigns for “community development, companionship development and humanresource development”. It did not begin to do “Jyu-go”, that is to exercise logistic support of thewar. The youth group has a respectable philosophy that mission statement of “Mental and physicaltraining, and completion of better individuals”, “fraternity and encouragement”, “building a goodliving local society” and “world peace”. In Yamagata Prefecture, around 1948, the long-term
educational course was named “Seinen Gakukyu (=Youth Class)” that had a cover role of theevening high school. Zensyu Sagae [1920-1977], a youth group leader in Yamagata Prefecture, is
National Institution For Youth Education (2011). “Seishyonenno Taikenkatsudounadoto Jiritsuni Kansuru Jitai
Chosa. Seishyounenndantaini Shyozokushiteiru Kodomono Wariai.” (2011 Report).
82 Tabuchi, K. 1938 Kobeshi Suigai Fukou Kinrouhoushi Kinen. Kobe City Hall., Kato, N. 2007. Shizensaigai
Kagaku. (Showa 13nen Hanshin Suigai ‘Saigai Shi’gun no Kenkyu). National Institute for Environmental
Studies. p.291-305.
1953. Motoyama-Shi. Motomurayama Editing Committee.
83 1938. Suigai Fukou Kinrouhoushi. Hyogo prefecture educational affairs section. p.64.
It is a pleasure in pleasure that we were given a training sufficiently and we could have a precious experience asJapanese that never can have again, while understanding about feeling as the Japanese and Japanese spirit.
And even if these young people return to their hometown, it is a great harvest that their experience is becoming
a source of their activity and giving influence on their life. It is just like that a triumphal hero returned to be aconnection between battlefield and “Jyugo” and show tension status all the time, those selected young men’s
experience gave a mental well-being sensation to the local people. Not only arguments or words, but show theattitude of Japanese spirit by our life is truly a blessing for Japan that is currently undergoing a great leap by
the Jyugo-service. “Jyugo” means back of the front line. And it refers to the general public people or domestic
places that are not directly involved in the war. Matsumura, A (Editor). Daijirin. Sanseido. 3rd edition. 20062014.
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introduced on page 258-260 in “Para-zouyo”. Sagae was a representative model of Japanese
movement person who was born by the JSC in Yamagata Prefecture. The Seiken Movement thatwas started by Suetsugu, the Overseas Cooperation Youth Service and Japan Youth Volunteers
Association (JYVA) could not be completed without the existence of Sagae84.
In recent years, about inactivity of JSC, not only Tokyo but Saitama Prefectural Union Seinendan
ceased its activities in 1991 [Heisei 3]. Hyogo Prefectural Union Sennendan in 2006 [Heisei 18] andToyama Prefectural Japan Seinendan Council in 2007 [Heisei 19], they officially withdrawn fromthe Japan Seinendan Council, which is the head of the council, because of sluggish activities.
Although there is no official announcement, but the number of prefectural union organizations,which are actually inactive condition, is not small. Government and Ministry of Education, Science
and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) started
institutionalization of Seinen Gakukyu. “Seinen Gakukyu” peaked in 1995 and turned to decrease
afterwards, and continue to decrease. Ironically, it began to decrease as soon as subsidies wereapplied.
Apart from Seinendan, youth hostels and non-accommodation type working youth homes, which
are still active accommodations for young people at oversees, are also decreasing. It was thought as“a house of youth” in around 1958, but it now is a complete lack of exuberance and it hard tobelieve that many people were used to use it. Even if subsidies are called to be the source of all evil
as “paid volunteer”, is there no choice?
However, in case of Hyogo Prefecture, unlike other prefectures, youth hostels have survived. Even
though Seinendan had finished, other youth group activities are active in this area, regardless ofwhether they are receiving support or not. The relationship between the administration and eachgroups are not a hierarchical relationship, and it rather the administration is serving by their84

The life story of Zenshyu Sagae, who was the founder of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, was covered on
Yamagata Shimbun. The story begins with “The Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, which represent
Japan’s international cooperation, is born from the experience of Yamagata Prefectural Youth Organization.”
2012. Yamagata Shimbun. September 23. Testuya Yaguchi, Waseda University Professsor. Nichi-Sei-Kyo: The
Sei-Nen-Kai (the youth association), the predecessor of Sei-Nen-Dan (the youth group), was not an
administrative organization like the municipalities at the beginning. It was one of the community institutions
and it developed themselves to collect youth’s morals and to be the place where conduct mental training andphysical exercise since Meiji era. Eventually, grow of the Jyugo activities by the Sei-Nen-Kai at the time of the
Russo-Japanese War caught the eyes of the military, and gradually the guidance from administration
strengthened, and the integration of the Sei-Nen-Kai by each municipal was progressed. This movement headed
towards the formation of a nationwide association of Sei-Nen-dan. The Great Japan Sei-Nen-Dan association wasestablished as central organization in 1924 and a centralized organization system was completed. The Sei-NenDan is positioned as the core organization of the national reinforcement, and not only mental training andphysical exercise but also Jyugo activities including military training. It experienced an unfortunate era that it
had been taken by the total warfare system. It aim was “In the way of the Imperial country, provide group stylepractical training for young men and women, to train hard each other and exercise unbreakable strong mind ofJapanese to carry great tasks”. Moreover, it is recorded by the Minister of Education and lower authorities, “Eachgovernors or municipalities seat as the head of association, and it had a period of being as integratedorganizations." After the war, as a reaction to that , and as it is said on page 258 of “Para-zouyo”, there was also atime of trial that seems to be swept by the Left Wing (Communist Party). It is still organized by young men andwomen of the 20s and 30s who live in the area of the same municipality now. They engage in; (a) Hobby andrecreational activities (sports festival, music concerts, dramatic art, haiku meetings, flower arrangement, etc.),(b) industrial and economic work (agricultural improvement, fish farm, agricultural products processing, etc.), (c)community service (repair work on road and bridge, snow removal, collect disused articles, community chest,
prevention activities for juvenile from becoming delinquents, etc.). However, since the Sen-Nen-Dan was an
agricultural farmer-based organization, it is shrinking rapidly because the number of young farmers isdecreasing.

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volunteer spirit. Probably it is a regional atmosphere that many citizens are proud of theirhometown, because it most raises the bud of youth movement and also have strong human rightconsciousness.
In the Flood Disaster in the Hanshin area, schools, Seinendan and women’s associations were
mobilized. As a voluntary movement, religious groups and foreigners in Japan also introduced
about it. On page 28-29 of “Memorial of Kobe City Flood Disaster Restoration”, the photo imagesof “monks of the Honmon Butsuryū-shū” and “Tenrikyo”, and record of “youth monks of theHigashi and Nishi Hongan-ji”, “Kurozumikyō Houshidan” and “Takuji-tai of United Church of
Christ” are contained.

b. Act of Religious People
It is also important for religious peple to issue for the “government” from the position as people.
In 1974, the Prime Minister Bhutto regime searched for nuclear armaments with experts to counter
India. Abdus Salam [1926-1996], who was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, was abeliever of the Ahmadiyya and he contributed to the government’s science project, but he wascriticized because he was against for nuclear armaments85.
In the case of the United Kingdom, Christian socialism became a fuse to continue of social
improvement and welfare state formation. However, in the case of modern Japan, another aspect
comes to mind. During the formation of the modern industry in the early Meiji 30’s (1897), there
was a start of Christian socialism and labor union movement, but the authorities quickly took up thebuds. Furthermore, as a measure to cope with the regime after the Russo-Japanese War, the Meiji
government emphasizes the view of the family-oriented nation and encourages charity projects
politically. That means, the government promoted horizontal “movement”.
In the Taisho period, the socialism, which takes charity projects as the subject to overcoming
criticism, was emphasized again. The movement was mainly about labor problems. Campaigns ofsaving orphans, poor families and discrimination against women were derailed repeatedly86.
Kagawa himself was accused due to the various kinds of movement that Kagawa started, such as
medical cooperation, agricultural cooperation, and labor union movement, because of differences inideology, thoughts and welfare state view87. Because he did not fight, impeach nor pursuits against
Japanese rulers like Junzo Akashi [1889-1965] (President of Todaishya, which was the Japan branchof the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society [the Jehovah's Witnesses])88.
Akutsu, M. 2015. Spirituality And Peace. Being Net Press. p.121-124., Author. England Visit – World Islamic
Conference. August 21~23, 2015., Abe, M. 2002. For Beginners Islam. Gendai Shokan. p.43. “Department
Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2008.”
86 Hosoi, I. Journal of the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies and Social Sciences, Fukuoka Prefectural
University. Vol.14, No.2. Journal of the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies and Social Sciences, Fukuoka
Prefectural University. “Jyuji Ishii and review of previous research on Okayama orphanage in 2006.” Vol.14,
No.2. p.75-94., “Social activists like Jyuji Ishii and review committee of previous research on Okayama
orphanage did not try to change the Japanese spirit from the ground.” p.107.
87 Kagawa, T. 1921.Jiyukumiai Ron. Keiseishya Shoten. p.6, 77, 103. “It is better to be said ‘Mr. Kagawa, are you
still a passive resister?’ If all the speech of speakers has somewhat complaints about class strife, those catcalls
are always related to me. Those were ‘Bury Kagawa’, ‘Listen carefully, Toyohiko Kagawa’ and so on”.
88 Author. 2001. Kobe and Bible. Editing committee of “Kobe and Bible”. Kobe Shinbun Shyupan Center. p.22.,
2011. ‘Megusuri’ Journal. No.23. p.10-14., No.24. p.11-14.
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Kenichi Kusachi says about it. “The Protestant that established the idea of voluntarism was rooted
in the tradition of the English dissenters. Dissenters are nothing less than objections to the religious
authority, tradition, formality, and privilege.” (“Kobe-hatsu Hanshin Daishinsai Ikou”. Iwanami
Shoten. 1995) 89Kagawa read a book of Sanshiro Ishikawa in 1905, and he learned about
cooperatives and kept the idea90. An intellectual historian Shozo Fujita criticized the relief projectsof Toyohiko Kagawa and Gunpei Yamamuro, “The devastating majority of Japanese Christians
could not have space inside of them even once to criticize own country within the modern war
history of Japan. Also, even about their own ‘terrible’ war responsibilities during the Pacific War,they are almost unaware about it after the war.91” Fujita’s criticism toward Kagawa is using theparadox of Kanzo Uchimura self-faith, and he condemns the horizontal “movement”.
In order to keep the relationship with fundamental salvation of religion, as Fujita points out, weneed to expect “salvation comes from society” and depend on “people’s approval” and “social
assistance”92, and it is necessary to deny dialectically that we took it more important than thevertical relationship (Galatians 1:10). The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah also did not do thehorizontal “movement” as an organization. They devoted themselves to the vertical “activity” thatreceived the oracle.
Meanwhile, we must not forget about the rise of act of the Japanese women’s human rights by thehorizontal “movement”. Japanese Christian women, who got influence from the Woman's ChristianTemperance Union of North American women in Christianity, established the Japan Christian
Women's Organization (then, Tokyo Christian Women’s Organization) in 1886. They developed
temperance movement, prostitution-abolition movement and step house for DV. Haru, who is thewife of Toyohiko Kagawa, was going to be awakening in the spreading of women’s movement.
They broke away from the traditional Biblical view of “a woman should keep silent in the church”.
“I live in Shinkawa. And even I secretly thought people (about women) contemptuously, but I was
surprised their courage and power to talk about being able to be something for others. I truly

Koizumi, Y. Hanshindaishinsaito Kokusai Volunteer Ron – Kenichi Kusachi no Ayunda Michi. ‘Kusachi-san no
Shigoto’. p.68. On the same page, Professor Koizumi said, “It can be said that the origin of voluntarism of Mr.
Kusachi is here. He says that Mr.Kusachi’s ‘make objection’ connect to ‘I will not do it even if I was told, I will doit even if I was not told.’”
Mr. Masakiyo Murai, successor of Mr. Kenichi Kusachi says. In recent years, the role of volunteers in disasters is
becoming to get attention, and the more their activities are recognized, the rootless rumors “If a large number ofvolunteers go immediately after the disaster, the affected area will be confused” were expanded strangely. Andan equation, which is necessary to manage volunteers to avoid giving troubles at affected area and also follow amanually prescribed norms for activities on the ground, is established somewhere down the line. Murai, M.
2011. Saigai Volunteer-no Kokorogamae. p.27.
90 Schildgen, R. 2007. Toyohiko Kagawa: An Apostle of Love and Social Justice. Shinkyo Publishing. p.87.
91 Fujita, S. 1979. Ishinno Seishin. 3rd Edition. Misuzu Shobo. p.78.
“Is it a salvation by person or the relationship between people?” “Here, for Christianity, the universal ‘salvation’for specific primary human beings is adhered and confused with temporary salvation in a special person’s reality
in a special occasion. Under the Japanese spirit, which the transcendence of faith is traditionally weak and thefaith always stick to morals, customs and sentiments to fate, there is consistent tendency for such ideologicaldecadence of religion. However, even Kagawa and Yamamuro were also serious and energetic and indomitable associal activities, in a sense, they returned to the trend of decadence of this traditional religious thought bycompletely buried themselves in their social movement. (ibid.p.103)
92 ibid.p.109. It condemn with the words of Kanzo Unichimura, if “the movement” is only “I absorb the surrounding
people’s efforts into self as much as possible, and do whatever I want to do.”, in the other word, you think ‘my aid
comes from society’ and it is just like ‘asking’ for ‘people’s approval’ and ‘social assistance’…..’if it is not a prayerof what comes down to yourself ’, the ‘movement’ is really disgusting things”.
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understood that Jesus make people stronger.93” Haru started to visit not only churches, but also to
the prison, orphanages, charity schools, charity hospitals and juvenile training school and so on.
Along with that, she was going to shape her thoughts that women’s living place should not belimited inside of the house, and women’s ability can be demonstrated in many places 94.
A girl high school student, who went to Tohoku volunteer, told. “We came to know about it for the
first time in the field and no words came out because of anger and surprise. Government said that
restoration has been completed, but that is wrong. I think we only can say that it is completed forthe first time, only after Fukushima people are able to live their life that no differences from otherprefectures.” She closed her report with saying “On-okuri (=spreading the grace)”. I felt that it has
religious view from the angle of spreading the grace that we received in return95.
“Ta-Ko” in Volunteer is written as “他己(other-self)” in Chinese character. It is the opposite of “自己(self)”. “Altruism” is a made-up word by French sociologist Augste Comte in the 19th century96.
In some cases, the work as being “Ta-Ko” in the affected area to serve the people who are made to
be small reached to women’s sensibility and it may become the starting point to accuse the systemof the current regime suppression by becoming a crowd. Mothers who stand up for the “Radiation
Exposure on Children Trial” in response to the announcement of “frequent occurrence” of pediatricthyroid abnormality in Fukushima, they also joined with the volunteer spirit.
Iwata, M. 2016. Kirisutoto Sekai. Vol.26. ‘Kagawa Haru niokeru Jyoseikan’. Tokyo Christian University. p.18, 30.
“I will throw my life in so that I can continue my work for poor people”. Nabetani, Y. 2014. Kagawa Haru
Monogatari. The Board of Publications The United Church of Christ in Japan. p.114.
94 Ichibangase, Y., Kawao, T., Tsumagari, Y. 2004. Mumeino-hito Ishii Fudeko – Kindaiwotoi Rekishini Umoreta
Jyoseino Shyogai. Domesu Publishers. p.13.
As Ichibangase pointed out, “Japan’s history is that ignoring the history of women, the history of undeveloped
groups and regions. (snip) It is completely the view of central, and it is the history view of more discriminator’sside than discriminated people and the history that is inclined to men.” Even in Christian Church, the traditional
interpretation that the wife should obey to her husband based on patriarchy is shaking. “Submission” describedin Ephesians 5: 22~23 means a general request that Christians submit to each other. The word of Paul “thehusband is the head of the wife” is not the dominant patriarchy but it is an origin of “the head” that is a source tosupplies energy and nutrition to the other. (Morita, M. 2016. Calvinism.Vol.32. p.63)
95 Ikeuchi, K. 2015. Shi-En. Quarterly journal. No.13. Kobe International Supporting Organization. p.2.
The report from a participant, Kaede Ikegami, the 2nd year of Saibi High school.
“Our country still does not admit the relationship between this disease and radiation. The thyroid gland is apart that naturally promotes the secretion of growth hormone. If we cut this organ of a frog, they cannot betransfigured. In other words, they will not be able to change from tadpoles. Fortunately, human can promote
growth by administering medicines, but this means that we should be keep drinking this medicine entire life.
Although medical insitutions in Fukushima must break through these conditions, but it was uncovered that at
the top medical institution Fukushima University Hospital, after the nuclear accident, only hospital officials weretaking stable iodine. Stable iodine is a medicine that mitigates the effect of radioactive iodine, in other words, it’sa medicine to prevent radiation exposure. Even they are in an position that can order it anytime, they only took
medicine at the hospital without distributing it to the prefectural people. When we first learned about thismonstrous behavior of the medical institutions, words did not come out because of anger and surprise. Our
country says that the restoration has been completed, but that is wrong. We can say that has been completed forthe first time, only when Fukushima people become possible to live everyday life that does not differ from otherprefectures.”
An excerpt from the 62nd Tohoku Volunteer Report of Kobe International Supporting Organization.
In the story of the 2016 delegate, Mariko Michiie, there was a discussion whether leave Kadonowaki Elementary
School or not, which keeps scars of disaster time, because there are people who remind the trauma of the disasterand feel sick just by looking at the school. People are arguing whether teardown it or not. I personally think thatit should be kept. Because I think that it has lessons and warnings to convey to future generations. It is an
opinion of one volunteer in Kansai, but I would appreciate it if you could consider it.
96 Inaba, K. 2011. Ritashyugito Shyukyo. Koubundo. p.44.
Psychology uses the word “Aita-shyugi”, but it has the same meaning. In the fields of animal behavior and genetic
research, the term “Rita-Syugi (altruism)” is also used. Since Conte defined the word “altruism” as opposed to“Riko-Shyugi (egoism)”, it is more appropriate to use “Rita-Syugi” than “Aita-shyugi” as opposed to “Riko-Shyugi).
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A master of Saihouin at Tarumizu district in Kobe City said, “Whose life is it? Is it my own thing?
I think ‘life is a borrowed one’. Even the life is a fulfilled one, you cannot feel happiness if there isno one around you. You can feel the meaning of your life by only being among other people.
Ultimately, own life is for other people. This express in word of the Buddhist world as ‘利他(altruism)’”97.
In order to devote your life for others, you need to become a “Ta-Ko”. Just like a “Ta-Ko(octopus)” in the sea also has strong adsorptive power, we need adhesion to fully promote public
nature. It sometimes eat own feet because too desperate and too hungry. At Ojika Peninsula in 2011,
I heard from 阿部捷一 at Ishinomaki City, who is the server for me, about a lore, “When theoctopus crawled up from the sea and enter the radish field, they pull the radish from the ground andcarry it to the sea”98. From “Ji-Ko” centered way of life, you will transform to “Ta-Ko”. There is aword in the Bible, “The scales fall from one's eyes”. There are pregnant of experiences, lessons andquotations of the predecessors that would change your value of life.
The adsorption power of “Ta-Ko” is too poor to be side of the pain, suffering and vexation of thelocal people. Helen Keller said “So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain”.
People who have rich qualifications, skills and experiences an execute projects in collaboration withthe military (SDF), government and administration. Therefore there is a structure that theadministration can easily to ask for. To build public buildings, we need careful planning,
management institutions and financing to implement.
Small children (especially orphans), women who lost their family breadwinner and single elderly
people, receive a low priority. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Tohoku earthquake andtsunami are good examples. To recover from the disaster, we need full of considerations,mindfulness and caring. These things are often forgotten while utilizing rich funds for recovery of
public buildings, restorations and urgent reconstructions. “Foreigners, orphans and widows” areabandoned, and there is sorrow of breathings. It is a bipolarity of light and darkness. It is
inaccessible for orphans and widows to airports, subways and advanced medical facilities.
I have discussed that volunteer activities also have the bipolarity. The horizontal “movement” isable to develop effectively, efficiently and progressively to the work that returns it to the former
condition of the structures before the disaster by using rich funds of back up from and religious
groups. It is welcomed from the administration. On the other hand, the indistinctive guerilla style
visiting activities are modest. It is not to unfurl manuals, well-developed skills and qualifications
effectively. It is a hands-on policy, so it just walks around like a cockroach on the ground alone. It is
not a pleasant existence for the administration, the government and SDF. They are ordinary people
and they don’t have any official numbers. They never had a volunteer study at special training
seminar and do not carry a qualification. Before the administrations, experts and doctors arrive, theyreach to the people, who are gasping for breath, earlier than anyone else. They find the condition of
lifeline, clothing, food and housing as well as livelihoods that necessary for health, and they
approach to people to give treatment and caring. Sometimes, they give foods, living expenses and97
98

Sakai, M (Chief priest of Koyazan Shingonshyu Saihouin). 2011. Kobe Shimbun. December 8.
Author. 2011. Oshika Hando Kikitori Chyosa. Vol.4. Oshika Hanto Rekishi. July.

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first aid. It is the activity that can be done by individually, alone or personal basis, not by group ofpeople.
The program of “the arrival of the kingdom of God” is carried out by “open commensality” whichis the typical of the traditional healing miracles. In other words, It will be come true by “Invite
people without prejudice and heal each other while eating and drinking together in our life. And
then the kingdom of God will come”99. The work that can sympathize about what is fulfilled here is
the direction of the volunteer-dō. The to,poj topos is the kingdom of God where can eat together
with single elderly people, isolated temporary house residents, lonely people and orphans at theaffected area.
The motivation for providing goods is also the place to share what you “receive” from the top of thetranscendental existence.
Social qualifications, academic backgrounds, and skills are not important for Co-existence, Sharesufferings, Ku-en (connection born from sharing sufferings). As long as you have an aspiration to
help for others, you can do it.

c. Only Gokiburi is able to “restore the field, mountain and bay”
To live for others, you must be a Gokiburi (cockroach). Gokiburi have been abhorred from the
beginning of human society, feared at sometimes, and it had been eliminated. Gokiburi is derived
from “gnawing dishes”. Gokiburi can survive even in extreme situations. No matter how poor they
are, they can live anywhere100. Even on the battlefield, the affected area of the atomic bomb and theaffected areas of the natural disasters in the world, they can walk like guerrillas. They can moveeven in hell of just before the meltdown of nuclear waste. Unlike a decontamination robot, it don’trust and don’t make trial or error, and never clog nozzles.
Wataru Mizugaki, director of the Kobe International Supporting Organization, talked at the Kobe
Newspaper Kaikan. “The current Christians in Japan preaching about hope in our lives and it seemthat they have forgotten about hell. So, is hell a world view only for ancient people? People, who
could severely escape from tsunami at the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, said ‘It was a picture ofHell, when I recall it’. Where did the victims of the earthquake go? There is one thing for sure. Oursociety has created hell by accident because we got nuclear plants. We must not refuse to
Kongo, G. 2013. Kirisutokyo Shisou Dansou. Nakanishiya Shyupan. p.116.
The program of “the arrival of the Kingdom of God” is carried out by miracle healing as a typical first traditional
healing and “open commensality”. In other words, the idea that the Kingdom of God will come now is confirmed
everywhere, by such as
inviting people without discrimination, eating and drinking together.
(Haruna, S. 2003. Onkeino Hikarito Shizenno Hikari. Seikeijyosanjyo Shyupanbu. p.82)
As Professor Haruna pointed out, “That cry out can be answered only by return to true faith in God. Restorationof human nature and creation is impossible until you restore the relationship between human and God as well as
have God’s figure in human mind. Human being was created for the first time by “open commensality”, and Latin
word “Creatio Secunda” will be restored.
100 In the “New Kaiyaku Seishyo” 3rd edition (2003), it translate Hebrew word “lysix'”as “Aburamushi (=Aphid)”,which appears 6 times, and in other word “Gokiburi (=cockroach)”. Moreover, it appears in 1 Kings 8: 37, 2
Chronicles 6:28, Psalm 78:46, Isaiah 33:4 and Joel 1:4, 2:25. In the first encyclopedia in Japan “The Wakan
Sansai Zue” by Ryōan Terajima (1713), the word “Aburamushi” and “Gokikaburi” are written. This “Gokikaburi”
originally means a bowl with top cover, and “Gokikaburi” is an insect to bit this bowl. Originally, “Gokikaburi”
was mistyped to “Gokiburi”. (Yasutomi, K. 1991. Gokiburino Hanashi. Gihondo Shuppan. p.20-21)
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acknowledge this reality. We must completely confront this sin.101” Disintegration means to forget.
We stay close to the site where the recovery at the affected area has not been progressed, and people
who have experienced the hell. Even five years have passed; still many people and quietly singleliving people are seeing hell by temporary housing and solitary restoration housing. They also havetrauma, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and murderous intentions against people who
didn’t lost anything.
Jesus abandoned the glory of God and made a decision to “choose” humans. He was the God who
was “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world
began” (John 17:5). That is “Because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). “I
am also [kavgw, kago in Greek (verse 17)]” is written. “In other words, it suggests that the child andthe Father are equal”. It was God himself102. But on the earth, people mocked Jesus as a sinner, ablasphemer and a myrmidon of Beelzebul, the head of evil spirit. (Matthew 12:24).
At the beginning, I asked you what to do if you saw the fallen person on the street.
There is a scene that Jesus was asked “so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke
10:29).
In the parables, Levi appeared who had ignored the fallen person on the street who was more deadthan alive. Since he cherished religious ceremonies, he just passed the place without a glance. Jesus
did not state that his doctrine, groups, rituals, and religious experiences lead to the eternal life. The
act of “love your neighbor” connect to the “eternal life”. Neighbors were Samaritans and pagans.
“‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’
The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do
likewise.’”(Luke 10:36-37). It is a self-appointed Christians, if the person don’t perform “do as thesame way” (poie,w poieo in Greek <do, execute, work>) and he/she only can be satisfied withsalvation by grace. It is the person who doesn’t know Christ. You should not stand on the starting
line forever without heading to the goal. Being a neighbor is not qualified by a church, a ceremony
or a baptism. There shouldn’t be a complacent to exclude others or other religions. You should be aneighbor for “Ta-Ko”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer [1906-1945] addressed the answer to the question ofJesus “who is my neighbor?” He explained that once vertical interfere comes in, you can treat yourneighbor good, and saying “To be a neighbor is not qualified by others, but it is a request that heconfronted to me. Nothing more and nothing less. I must be the neighbor to others”103, “He
confronted to me”. Samaritans who are kind to their neighbors are not Christians, but pagans.
Therefore, Jesus becomes “an existence for others” not by whether you have consciousness of faith,
but by the volunteer-dō that treat others importantly. There is an irony that there is a true “Christian(christianos Acts 11:26, 1 Peter 4:16) among the pagans who Christian world thought as enemies.
Mizugaki, A. 2012. Kobe Shimbun. January 19.
Author. 2001. Megusuri. Journal No.24. p.6. “カーゴー<I also> (カイ<also, and> +エゴー<I , me>)”103 2001. Theologe-Christ-Zeitgenosse. DBW4 Nachfolge (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke Eberhard Bethge Eine
Biographie. p.67)., Okano, A. 2008. Bonhoeffer-no Ningengaku. Osaka University Sociolinguistics PhD Thesis.
p.225.
101
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Therefore, Jesus could not be judged by whether he was converted, believed or baptized. Those
people who act as “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)” can receive
grace. “Acting” poieo is a way of life. In Addition, in verse 23 of the same chapter, he tells “I never
knew you”. “I never knew” is not a relationship of “me and you”, and it is isolated from the
kingdom. The social projects of self-appointed Christians that are dedicated to evangelisms,
occupation, bloodshed as horizontal “movement” is out of line from the sanctification. Rather thanreturning glory to the God, he goads to such as the Cathedrals, the majestic liturgies, and theGregorian chant that whether they are reigning as proxies of Christ. It must be reformed to return to
the Bible constantly. (Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda [Latin]).
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that hemight be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8: 29)“Something resembling the appearance of the Son of God”, to be like a Christ, co-existence, sharesufferings, and Ku-en are accompanying with104.
In Kumamoto Prefecture where there was a main earthquake on April 16, the false rumors werespread. Someone said “Koreans put poison into wells”. At the Great Kantō earthquake, not only thepolice and military but also civilians joined the action of assaulting or killing Koreans
indiscriminately105. The volunteer-dō also expected to have the qualities that can criticize publicrumors and media coverage by the government. It is asked for a “gift” that sympathizes to pain of
Koreans and shares their hurting together. It is found in the volunteer-dō that even a worm will turn.
It is not only Christians to pursuit the volunteer-dō of co-existence, share sufferings, and Ku-en.
For example, faith of Tenrikyo is said that is a suffering religion for having a cheerful living. It
means that it is a religion to suffer for having the cheerful living. The cheerful living is a status thatboth mind and body are saved, but you have to keep fighting to achieve for it. That thinks to be as
the mission for believers106.

Shinmen, M. 2011. Shinsainiokeru Shi. (“Think about the ‘death’” Lecture. Kobe Shimbun Hall.)10 million people lost their house by the bombings of the US military from the sky. And tens of thousands of war
orphans were born. It is said that there were 35,000 children among orphans who didn’t have place to sleep andfood to eat, so they became ragamuffins and they were just walking around the streets. Even they go to a place
where hungry people get together, nobody gives food to then. They dig garbage can and eat rotten foods, andthey dead because of food poison. Some children were hit by a car because they were on the way to run away
after stealing a food box or a tomato. They slept on the concrete of the underpass road, and their hair grows alot. They wear tattered clothes and their body have a stomach-churning smell. They were called “stray dogs,
cooties, bad smells, dirty, beggars” by a surrounding children, and nobody treated then as a human. There werealso orphans that were fostered out to their relatives or acquaintances, and they were abused or used for money
purpose. Even they entered to the care house, they were placed in a cage just like animals of zoo. They stretched
their thin arm, which are like a dead branch, out of the cage, and cried “please give me a food”. No warranty isgiven to these war-damaged orphans, but compensation is only paid to military personnel.
105 Suzuki, J. 2004. Kantou Daishinsai – Shyobo, Iryo, Volunteer-kara Kenshyosuru. Chikuma Shinsho. p.193.
106 Kaneko, A. 2001. Shyukyogenrishyugiwo Koete. Hakubasha. p.114.
Religious people who do supporting activities to homeless people are not only supporting them by staying close
together. They listen to the cries that are silence voice, so they give “sound” (or at least provide a chance to speakout) to it. They stay close topeople to let them talk about their experience to share it.
Miyamoto, Y. 2013. Shyukyo Kenkyu. Vol.86. No.4. p.155
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Why do the Christians dare to continue to experience the sufferings at the field? It is written,“Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed weshare in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17)”. Since I am areligious person to “share sufferings” for groaning, I went to the Tanba Flood Disaster at myhometown Hyogo prefecture because of Ku-en and to “suffer together” (sumpa,scw sumpascho[sun ‘together’ +pascho ‘receive sufferings, experience sufferings’]. Ref. Matthew 17:12, Acts 1:3).
Greek “splagchnisthmai”(Mathew 9:36) in English is “have a compassion with ~”107. This word
doesn’t exist in Japanese and the word of Ryukyu (Okinawa), “Timugurushi (painful liver)” has themost appropriate meaning108. The volunteer-dō that coexists with the people who had been hurt isthe breakthrough gate for the love of our neighbors.

<Conclusion>
Many of the college students, high school students and young people who participated in the
Tohoku volunteer, did not taste self-satisfaction of “I did something good” for affected area of
Tohoku. Intentionally or unintentionally about “restoration of fields and mountains”, they served toplant rice paddies by their own hands, rice reaping, sun drying, threshing, making firewood, making
charcoal, and farming. By establishing a connection, a link of co-existence, share sufferings, andKu-en are born.
Then, if you realize that the connected spirit was the vertical “activity”, it is the soul of voluntarism.
Taking care of orphans and widows is realizing the “righteousness” of God. You become a tool of
God as a flow pipe of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the horizontal “movement” promotes tocover or be supplementary movements of the administration, the government and the country. In
order to capture the interests of many people, it will demonstrate the exploration of pioneering rolethat Japan’s bureaucracy system could not do. However, our “volunteer-dō” is powerless for“movements” such as anti-racists, total abolition of nuclear weapons and protection ofenvironmental ecology while keeping pace with human rights thought. Even it seem to be unrelated
to citizen movements, social movements, and political movements, each points may become lines,
and eventually spread to be a surface. It is because that voluntary activity is connecting with thesite, the area and the surrounding relationships. We immediately go to the site, even over the borderline of realm, languages and nationality, and even it located to other countries, remote places andbehind the earth. Volunteer spaces and slopes are where “groans” exist. We stay together by
107Murata, M. 2012. Shiwo Kangaeru – Itsushyowo Kakegaenonaimononi Surutameni-. “Think about the ‘death’”

Lecture.) English word “compassion” is made from “com” and “passion”. “Com” is the same in Latin “cum”, and it
makes compound term. However, “cum” seems to be meaning “together”, “together with” and “have something”.
The word “passion” comes from Latin “passio”. Of course, it means “suffering”. It also means “Passion of Christ".
In short, “compassion” is, for example, compassion to the environment is consider about whether theenvironmental status is in suffer or not. Needless to say that human’s “indifference” to natural environment has
become the root cause of environmental destruction. In other words, it is asking to us that how we can keep
having an “imagination to the environment”. When thinking about that, “compassion” is an important meaning
content that religion teaches, and when you turn your eyes to the environment, I believe that the necessity ofimagination for the natural environment is more important than anything else. I think what is taught by“religion” is keeping to ring alarm against “indifferent” society to the environment.
108 Enomoto, M. 2000. Makete Katsutowa. The Board of Publications The United Church of Christ in Japan. p.1925.

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voluntary, communality and gratuitously. Be there for means to suit totally the convenience of otherpeople’s conditions and circumstances, and it doesn’t ask for the condition, qualifications andexperience of you. Anytime, anyone and anywhere, you can do it and that is the profile of thevolunteer-dō.

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