Saturday, June 26, 2010

杉原 千畝 Chiune Sugihara

In my previous post I noticed a photo of Japanese diplomat 杉原 千畝 Sugihara Chiune (Japanese place the family name first), whom I knew to be a hero of the Holocaust, or השואה ha-sho’ah, during World War II, when he was instrumental in saving the lives of over 6,000 European Jews by getting them exit visas to Japanese territory. For his heroic acts, he was awarded the status of חסידי אומות העולם Chassidéy ’Ummót Ha‘olám, Righteous among the Nations, by the State of Israel in 1985.

Chiune Sugihara was born January 1, 1900, in Yaotsu, a rural area in Gifu Prefecture of the Chūbu region to a middle-class father, Mitsugoro Sugihara, and Yatsu Sugihara, a samurai-class mother. He was the second son among five boys and one girl. This has meaning for me especially, as that is the locale where my best friend in Japan, Taka Imayama, is from, and which I visited two years ago. My Japanese ‘home’ is Chūbu (Nagoya and Gifu).

I don't want to repeat his story in this post, but you can read it here in Wikipedia, and also here in a private webpage titled A Hidden Life.

What prompted me to research a little further was the question whether or not he was a Christian. From seeing him being included in the Catholic Hagiography Circle webpage dedicated to non-Catholics, I assumed he must have been, but I wanted to find out for sure. Many Japanese that are well known in the West have been Christians, such as my favorite actor Toshiro Mifune, or the conductor Seiji Ozawa, but it hadn't occurred to me that Sugihara might have been one too. Being a Christian in Japan is not quite the same as being one in America or Europe where it's almost something you are born into. Usually, you must choose.

As it turns out, Chiune Sugihara had accepted Orthodox Christianity when he lived in Harbin, Manchuria. He had married a White Russian woman, so the original impetus may have been as it often is, convert in order to marry. Orthodox Christianity does not permit the marriage of believers with non-Christians. But they were divorced, and in 1935 when he married his second wife, a Japanese, she also converted to Orthodox Christianity, taking the name Maria. This leads me to suspect that his Christianity was not merely a formality, as his later actions proved.

In his quiet, modest way, Sugihara very much embodied the noble concept of Tolstoy’s prince. He sought neither fame nor fortune, merely saying “I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't I would be disobeying God.” When asked why he chose to help the Jewish refugees, he responded,
“You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent. People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives… The spirit of humanity, philanthropy… neighborly friendship… with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation… and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.”
Yes, I would agree that he deserves to be commemorated in the calendar of saints, but it's God's calendar of saints, not ours, who are often duped by worldly glory and the will of men. As I prayed in my previous post, I pray again, “With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the souls of Your servants…”

HERE is a rough sketch for an ikon of Chiune Sugihara.
And HERE is the finished ikon.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sugihara was indeed quite an honorable person. As I understand matters, the fellow was told to close down the Consulate, return home, was then demoted, heavily castigated by the Jpn govt and died a pauper. If there be a heaven, I'm sure he's residing there in much comfort for his courageous actions. If the Europeans of the 1933-45 era had anywhere near the Christianity in them as did Sugihara, there would have been no Holocaust!

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

You are right about Sugihara. There were many who like him did similar things, each according to their level of courage and the position they held in the world, and most will remain unknown, except to the people they helped save, and perhaps to their close friends and relatives.

Those who officially "confess Christ" are not by that confession to be considered reliable followers of Jesus. The same thing will happen in any country where the Church is not persecuted but rather has prestige and social respectability.

Forgive me for asserting this, but I believe that only the suffering Church is the real Church, but I don't know who these others are. As for the membership in that Church, in the end no one will be found there except those whom the Father has drawn to the Son, those who join Him as He goes to Golgotha to suffer and die.

Jesus says, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14), and also, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). He knew then and He knows now who are His, and who listen to His voice, regardless of what they may call themselves or what others may say about them.

Thanks for your comment, brother or sister.

Bible Illustrated said...

I told the story of Chiune Sugihara to a priest friend of mine - he immediately suggested we make an icon of him. My spiritual father, who lives in Texas, wholeheartedly agreed with the idea. I drew an outline for the iconographer:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/Parastos/Icons/Chiune3.jpg

I find him extremely inspiring, for he showed the two greatest Christian virtues in abundant measure: love and humility - doing something so great and thinking nothing of it. Truly a holy man!

Bojan from Serbia

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Bojan,

Thank you for your comment and for the suggestion that an ikon be written of this modern Orthodox confessor. I have added a link to your ikonographic sketch in the post itself. When an ikon has been finally written, please let me see it and, if I have permission from the ikonographer, I will publish it here.

Romanos

Bible Illustrated said...

Thank you so much for putting the outline there! The iconographer who'll paint the icon is currently working on two icons for our chapel, but I'm assured she wouldn't mind one bit sending the you image once it is completed. I will let you know once that happens.

Bojan

Bible Illustrated said...

Hello Romanos! I wanted to let you know that icon is in the making. My iconographer friend done the outline. Knowing her, the icon shouldn't take too long. Here's the drawing on the board:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/Parastos/Icons/Picture979.jpg
We're still debating on what we should put on the scroll, you're welcome if you have any suggestion. :)
Yours in Christ,
Bojan

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Very nice sketch, Bojan! I will think and pray about what might be written on the scroll, and if anything comes to mind, I will offer it, only as a suggestion of course. Perhaps the ikonographer will be enlightened with the text the Lord wants placed there.
In Christ, your brother
Romanos

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

If you come here again, Bojan, here is something that came to mind:

At the time that Chiune Sugihara and his wife Yukiko thought of the plight of the Jewish refugees, he was haunted by the words of an old samurai maxim: "Even a hunter cannot kill a bird which flies to him for refuge." This reminds me of the verses in this psalm:

PSALM 124
The Savior of Israel

Song of Ascents, David.

If Yahweh had not been on our side
—let Israel repeat it—
if Yahweh had not been on our side
when they attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive
and burned us to death in their rage.

The waters would have closed over us,
the torrent have swept us away,
either would have drowned us
in their turbulent waves.

Blessed be Yahweh who did not let us fall
a victim to those teeth,
who let us escape like birds
from the fowler's net.

He tore the net
and we escaped;
our help is in the name of Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.

Bible Illustrated said...

An amazing suggestion! Thank you so much, I'll let her know this instant.

Anonymous said...

Svetlana (the iconographer) felt particulary inspired to paint the icon yesterday, and most of the work was finished. Here is the work in progress so far:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/Parastos/Icons/Picture992.jpg

There's still a lot to be done, but we can at least glance a bit at the finished product. The icon is done in encaustics.

Bible Illustrated said...

Dear Romanos,
the icon is finally finished. It will most probably be in the chapel of St. John Chrysostom in Belgrade's Student City. Here is the icon in full resolution:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TMan4sU5p20/Tud-cyIiwJI/AAAAAAAAAMM/25PK4yjyRLM/s1600/DSCF1902.jpg

The verse reads: Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him. The iconographer was tad strongheaded in that regard (I personally much favored the bird-catcher verse).
Hope you like this icon.

Bible Illustrated said...

Dear Romanos,
I want to let you know that thanks to Michael Filmore, reader of the Antiochian Church, troparion of Chiune Sugihara was recorded in Byzantine chant. You can hear it here:

http://youtu.be/5K9kpv2ZqVY

In Christ,
Bojan