Tuesday, July 23rd
We went to Tokyo Oedo Museum in the afternoon. It proved to be a great opportunity to deepen our knowledge of Japanese culture, since the day before, Fr. Sekiya had talked to us about the place. Japan is rare among countries, in historically having maintained a policy of seclusion for 250 years. Having earlier heard that the Japanese national character is introverted, and that Japanese have a stronger consciousness of shame than of guilt, we took this time to deepen our knowledge of how Japanese people lived during these 250 years.
Father Yoshiki Sekiya, a Salesian priest, began our meeting by celebrating a Mass, during which Sister Augustine Matchuendem renewed her vows. After Mass, we enjoyed listening to the priest play and sing songs from his childhood. Then the presentation began.
In Japan, where higher education began late, there were two models at the beginning of higher education for women.
The first model was created by the first European and American Christians when they came to Japan. At the time, education was focussed on teaching English. Our CND school belonged to this model.