Fragmented Identity

I once asked a Japanese Christian why she didn’t invite work friends to church. She replied, “Church is my place, and I don’t want work friends to invade my space.”

I asked, “Is it okay that your work friends are going to hell?”

“Yes,” she answered.

I was shocked. At first I assumed that her theology and discipleship were inadequate, but as the years go by, I think she was articulating a powerful cultural dichotomy.

In my previous article about evangelism (Spring 2013), I looked at young adults’ (YAs) challenges with communication and how that has affected their ability to reach out to others. In this article I will discuss an issue that not only affects YAs, but all Japanese people as well, which profoundly undermines their ability to evangelize: fragmented identity.

In Japanese culture, the group is very significant. Yet, Japanese people are highly skilled at not allowing their groups to mingle. A wife will go her whole life without meeting anyone from her husband’s office. A young man doesn’t introduce his girlfriend to his parents until they are engaged. A wife may never bring her husband to church. A father doesn’t know who is in his daughter’s club. Although the group is significant, separate groups do not mix.

Cultural and historical background

Many cultural and historical realities cause this fragmented identity.

During the Tokugawa era, families were required to register at the temple and were assigned to five-household groups, or gonin gumi. These families held each other mutually accountable to the government. For example, if one person in the group became a Christian and someone told on them, the Christian would be killed. But if one person became a Christian and no one informed the government, and it was later discovered that he was a Christian, everyone in the five households would be killed.

The shame-based culture, which comes from the power of the group, also contributes to this segmented self.¹ The power of the group and the need for secrets from others in the group is deeply rooted in Japanese culture and history.

Fragmented identity and Christian identity

The fragmented approach to life easily leads Japanese people to divide their spiritual lives from their everyday life. I believe this is one reason that many churches are so lenient about Christians marrying non-Christians. Married life and church life are two separate groups.

If Japanese people keep their spiritual lives separate from the rest of their lives, how can we bring new people into the church? Where and whom can they evangelize?

If a Japanese YA can’t bring their Christian self to other groups they are a part of, perhaps the answer is to invite their non-Christian friends to church and get their friends to conform to the Christian group. But, as I’ve said before, no matter how much they love and enjoy their own church, most don’t invite their non-Christian friends to church.

YAs tell me that if you invite a friend to church and that person doesn’t enjoy it, then it is difficult to remain friends. To many YAs, the risk of rejection of the “church” part of self is too great, so it is better to keep the parts of their lives separate and do nothing to risk “sticking out” in their non-church groups.

Dinner rolls vs. French loaf

To help YAs understand how the Lord should permeate all our relationships, I use a visual aid. I start with six dinner rolls and stick one toothpick in each. The toothpicks are labeled: “church,” “family,” “friend,” “school,” “work,” and “club.” I describe how Japanese people often have different personalities for each group that they are part of. Then, I take a loaf of French bread and transfer all the toothpicks to it, explaining that our relationship with God should be part of all these relationships. Cognitively, they agree; in reality, they don’t know how to accomplish it.

How do we overcome this fragmentation?

We need to help our YAs learn better communication skills for evangelism, but we also need to help them overcome the ingrained cultural practices that contribute to fragmented identities. Somehow, we need to redeem these cultural values in order to help them to evangelize. As a foreigner, I do not know what that looks like. Often I feel that as foreigners, we can point out the problem, but the solution must come from the Japanese people themselves.

However, Japanese people need to recognize this issue first. I am not aware of anyone writing or discussing this identity problem, whether Japanese or foreign, Christian or not. When I discussed this issue with pastors, they all agreed that it exists but none had ever articulated it this way.

After recognizing the problem, Japanese people need to want to change. My pastor suggested that this fragmentation is the cause of so much depression and other mental illness in Japan. It is tiring to keep all these parts separate and in order. Perhaps the emotional pain of fragmented identities will push the church to work toward more integrated identities, and thereby help people to be better evangelists in their various groups.

I pray that we missionaries working with the Japanese church can come up with ways to help Japanese, both young and old, to become free to evangelize. I would welcome ideas, or helpful books or links on this topic.² 

1. I highly recommend Honor and Shame by Roland Muller as an excellent introduction to shame-based cultures. Muller is experienced with Muslims, but much of what he writes also applies to the Japanese.
2. During my home assignment I have been studying counseling, and learning about PTSD, DID, and other identity related topics. My studies have led me to this theory of fragmented identity in the Japanese.
3. Photo by Kevin Morris (OMF), edited by April Mack