Hokkaido Holiday

by Richard M. Romney

Associate Editor

For the Saints in Sapporo, Japan, festival day means drums, banners, races, and missionary work.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The drums are pounding. The runners toe-up at the starting line. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A life-size panda bear with a cartoon face races among the crowd, encouraging cheers: “Fourth Ward! Fourth Ward!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Children wave long banners bearing Japanese calligraphy back and forth in the warm autumn sun. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Cheerleaders decked out in pink and black wave pom-poms and jump up and down.

The drum beats stop. The crowd is silent. The starter raises his gun. “Yoi!” (Get ready!) “Don!” (Bang!) The sprinters dash from the blocks, muscles unleashed in a furious rush for the tape. The crowd is instantly wild again, hoarse from cheering but cheering just the same. One runner, stronger than the rest, edges in front and beats the others by a stride. Cheers erupt again and the drums are pounding: BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

It is early fall. The location is Sapporo, largest city of Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. The activity is a stake olympics and missionary activity combined. And the eager participants include many young Latter-day Saints, their families, and a lot of non-LDS friends.

Taiku taiki is the phrase they use to describe a sports fest, and the afternoon event, planned during a harvest festival holiday, lives up to the name. There are athletic activities of just about every kind, always punctuated by furious drumbeats and orchestrated cheering.

Stilt racers amble around the track to warm up, while their encouragers jog alongside, counting cadence: “Ichi, ni, ichi, ni” (one, two, one, two). Members of the stake presidency race down the middle of the stadium, pushing old tires with sticks. In some races, the contestants run backwards or are given a card with the name of a stake official they have to find and bring back to the announcer’s table. Another contest tries to see how many people can stand as a group on a six-by-eight-foot board.

There’s a six-kilometer (three and three-fourths mile) race, a tug-o’-war, a conventional relay race, a Primary children’s race, a contest to see who can stuff the most balloons in a garbage sack, and a variation of a three-legged race using three people with the two central pairs of legs tied together—actually a four-legged race. There’s even an opportunity to become acquainted with American football.

“There were many young people involved in preparing for today,” says Minoru Setoda, 17, of the Iwamizawa Branch, Japan Sapporo Stake. “Different responsibilities were handed out according to ward and branch, like being in charge of timing the events, for example.” Minoru should know. He’s the physical activities specialist for his branch.

Koji Taira, 17, one of Minoru’s friends, is not a member of the Church. Like many other nonmembers, he came today because he was invited and it sounded like fun. “I haven’t seen too many activities as friendly and open as this one,” he says. He has spoken with the missionaries before—he met them one day when he was walking downtown. “I still have a lot of questions about the gospel,” he says. “But they are willing to teach me and that is a great help to me.”

After an hour or two of good, hard physical effort, it’s time to break for lunch. Families and friends cluster around hibachi, small charcoal grills. Soon prawns, shrimp, and chicken are roasting on the coals. Everyone enjoys the onigiri (rice balls), the fruit juice, and the sunshine of the warm, bright day.

In Hokkaido’s freshwater streams salmon spawn. In her rolling, forested hills and steep mountains, brown bears claw tree bark and wade in rivers. In the winter, a snow festival gathers competitors from around the world to carve ice sculptures. Monumental ski jumps and skating rinks mark the sites where 1968’s Olympic gold medals were won or lost. Steep canyons and bare rock walls remind a visitor of Yellowstone Park. So do forest ranger’s hats. But wherever you wander in Hokkaido, or anywhere in Japan for that matter, one thing is common everywhere: water—cool, clear, and clean.

“My name means ‘pure water,’” explains Toshiko Shimizu, 16, of the Shiroishi Ward. Her friend Yukiko Endo, 18, of the same ward, says she loves living in a land with so many streams. “More than the fact that water is pretty,” she says, “is that there is an abundant amount. In some other countries, I understand that you must purchase water. But here, if you turn on the faucet, fresh water flows out.” That, she says, is a blessing from Heavenly Father.

There are other blessings from Heavenly Father in this land, too. The most precious of them all is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is finally gaining acceptance, especially among the young. Many of the youth of Hokkaido are recent converts. Many are the only members in their families. Some have grown up in the Church. But they all share a common love for the truth and an earnest desire to follow the Lord’s way.

“The Church helps me in my everyday life,” Toshiko says. “It helps me to learn to do good deeds, to be compassionate, to value my family more. When I come home from sacrament meeting I feel refreshed.”

“When I was little, I went to Church because both of my parents were going,” says Akio Katanuma, 17, of the Sapporo 2nd Ward. “But as I grew, having attended various Church conferences, including the temple dedication in Tokyo, I have come to understand more about the Church. I know it is true. I know it with all my heart.”

Katsumi Nakahara of the Iwamizawa Branch has been a member for a little more than a year. He met the missionaries when they were proselyting on the street. “I did not think it was strange,” he says. “But they were foreigners. So I thought I would go and visit the church. I received a brief lesson. But during that lesson I felt the Holy Ghost. Since then it has been a process of following the Spirit from one step to the next.”

“I’ve been in the Church ten months,” says 16-year-old Mumi Okamura of the Shiroishi Ward. “The ward sponsored an English conversation class. While I was there, I talked with one of the teachers about the Church. The more we talked, the more interested I became. Now my whole life is centered around the Church. On holidays and weekends, I’m usually at some sort of Church activity.”

All of these young Saints possess a common desire to share their testimonies with others. They know how they can help the truth to spread, how they can help their friends and neighbors to find the joy of the restored gospel. Many of the young people in Japan have heard of Christ, but many still have much to learn.

“My friends see me with the missionaries quite often, so they know I go to church,” Katsumi says. “But sometimes it’s hard to approach them about it directly. That’s why I like to bring friends to activities like this one today. It’s a way to get them to know many people, to feel comfortable before you talk about difficult doctrines.”

Maya Tanaka, 13, has been a Church member about a year. She first met the sister missionaries at a bus depot. “I’m the only member in my family,” she says. “But they all support me. I know that the best place to share the gospel is in my own home. But traditions are hard to change. Still, the Church teaches us to love our families, and the Japanese have always believed that.”

Masahiro Suzuki, 18, of the Sapporo 2nd Ward, is excited because right now his family is listening to the missionary discussions. He’s also excited because his family has agreed to allow him to go on a full-time mission, especially since he plans to pay his own way. “Elder Mark E. Petersen (of the Council of the Twelve) visited here, and I told him I would earn money for my mission,” Masahiro says. Working part-time as a jackhammer operator while he attends drafting school, Masahiro has managed to put aside sufficient funds for his entire mission. “Be sure to let Elder Petersen know!” he says, with a wide grin.

Seiji Katanuma, president of the Japan Sapporo Stake, also grins as he looks out over the crowd eating lunch. “Remember,” he says, “that in Japan the young face many challenges. Many parents are divorced, many families oppose Church membership. But our young people hold on in spite of it. They’re strong because they have to be.”

Soon the meal is over, and the lounging in the sun is through. It’s been a full day and most folks are eager to head home. But some of the teenagers have a different idea. They’re headed for downtown Sapporo.

Sapporo’s streets are wide but noisy. Motorcycles, a popular form of transportation and recreation, whine between the buildings. The city hall, made of orange brick and patterned after Renaissance architecture of Europe, seems strangely out of place. On the main town square, an Eiffel Tower-ish structure peeks over the highrises nearby.

Near the tower, a fountain sprays upward, misting the air. This is the meeting spot. As the LDS teens gather, some decide it’s time for a snack. They walk over to what looks like a popcorn wagon or lemonade truck. They come back with, not popcorn or pink lemonade, but corn on the cob, a local delicacy. And they eat it with delight.

It might seem like these young people have had enough Church activity for one day, so they’ve decided to come to town for a lark. You soon see that’s not true, however, when the full-time missionaries arrive. Even after a full day of sports events to which nonmembers were invited, the youth of the stake have volunteered to go tracting and street contacting with the elders and sisters.

“I don’t know a lot about full-time missions,” says Hiromi Tsuchiya, 16, a sister from the Iwamizawa Branch. “But I think this is a good way to find out about them. I don’t want to get in the way tonight. But I am sure this will be a great help if I become a full-time missionary, because I’ll know a little bit about what to expect.”

Her friend Yumi Kitayama, 15, from the Teine Branch, says if she had more courage working with the missionaries would be easier. “It’s hard to talk to people I don’t know at all,” she said. “This helps me see what missionaries go through all day long. If I get scared, I just think of the Young Women program and all the fun we have. I know other people would like to share in that if they only knew.”

Yoshio Suzuki, 17, of the Otaru Ward, Japan Sapporo West Stake, says he understands that street contacting is important, and he’s glad to help. But, he adds, there’s an even better way to share the gospel. “By bringing my friends to church, to activities like we had today, to regular meetings, to missionary discussions, I make the missionary’s job easier. I too want to go on a full-time mission. I hope when I do there will be members willing to come out and work with me.”

The sun’s glow has faded from golden to black. Lamps now light the gardens on Sapporo’s main square. The corn-on-the-cob vendor has closed up for the night and is wheeling her cart away.

A few of the young Latter-day Saints have headed home, too. But not one group. They’re busy explaining a brochure to a businessman. He’s interested in their message. Yes, he’d like the missionaries to come tell him more. An appointment is made. The man leaves with a smile and a handshake.

The Saints in Sapporo hope he will learn more. More and more and more.

Photos by Richard M. Romney

Calligraphy by Annette Horiuchi

Illustrated by Mary Lou Romney

It was a day of stretching, a day of straining, a day of shining as bright as the sun. Each ward identified itself with snappy colors and clever costumes. Young and old banded together to run relays, shout cheers, and jump for the sky. Their exuberance embodied the love for living so common on Hokkaido, so widespread among Latter-day Saints wherever they are.

Calm beauty is also abundant on Japan’s northernmost island. The arched tunnel at Obaku seems like a natural spot to rest and think. In all of Japan, nature is loved. But especially on Hokkaido, nature is present. It’s a wonderland where bears wander in the hills and salmon spawn in sparkling brooks. As autumn deepens, so does the color of the leaves. (Photo by Tohru Hotta.)

Near a downtown fountain the youth of Sapporo joined the missionaries. Amidst the bright flowers of the city’s central square they found a father and told him about the gospel. They spoke of families, love, and friendship. The man smiled and asked how he could find out more. As the elder wrote the man’s name in an appointment book, the young people felt the joy all missionaries feel when they find an interested person.