A rooftop chapel in Tokyo is on an evangelical mission, spreading the word with fire, brimstone, levity -- and food -- to a flock of 200 homeless people every Sunday morning.
Services at Tokyo Aisen Christ Church, which sits atop a former inn in the Kudan district of Chiyoda Ward, seem much more energetic or inflammatory compared with most Christian churches in Japan: preachers shake their fists, jump in excitement and crack jokes as they entertain their congregation, some of whom come from as far away as Ueno Park in Taito Ward.
The flock responds by shouting amen and singing hymns louder and louder over the course of the service. Afterward, all are served a bowl of beef and kimchi.
Established in 1989 by a South Korean Presbyterian preacher, the chapel has actively engaged in missionary work to convert homeless people in Tokyo, offering services and free meals at the chapel on Sundays and meals in Ueno Park on Tuesdays. It offers Bible classes to members, and even employs some of its homeless converts.
"I have been to many churches on Sundays to get free meals, but this is the first one I always want to come back to. It is not just the food but the service that lures me back every Sunday morning," said a 58-year-old man who sleeps at JR Tokyo Station.
"Preachers here are powerful and hilarious," he said. "They convinced me that I deserve something precious, namely God's love."
The past decade witnessed a steady increase in the number of preachers from South Korea who engage in missionary work in Japan, where Christian churches have a relatively low-key presence.
Despite a long history of Christian missionaries coming from the West, Christians account for less than 1 percent of the population. Japan also has a history of repressing the religion during the feudal period. There currently are an estimated 540,000 Protestants and 450,000 Catholics in Japan.
Some Western missionary groups appear to be withdrawing or scaling down their activities in Japan. U.S. citizens in Japan on religious visas numbered 3,067 at the end of 1992 but just 2,119 at the end of 2002. Europeans living here under the same status declined from 1,294 to 838 over the same period.
But the same period saw South Koreans here on religious visas, mostly Christian missionaries, rise from 375 at the end of 1992 to 804 in 2002. After the U.S., South Korea is believed the second-largest source of Christian missionaries in Japan.
Compared with their Western counterparts, Korean missionaries tend to stay longer and build their own churches, counting on financial support from ethnic Koreans in Japan.
While there are no statistics on the number of churches built or run by Korean preachers, they estimate there are more than 500 nationwide, with congregations ranging from less than 30 to one that has more than 1,500.
"Some Western orders are giving up missionary efforts in Japan, so Korean preachers will play a larger role in propagating Christianity here, together with Japanese churches," said Paul Hwang, president of Tokyo Aisen Christ Church. Arriving in Japan in 1984, Hwang has built 15 churches nationwide.
Hwang attributed the strength of Korean churches to Christianity's legacy of being the "people's religion" on the Korean Peninsula, providing a spiritual foundation for lower segments of society during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule and the Korean War.
Korean Christian churches thus have a strong sense of mission to convert the masses and offer services that appeal to people at large. Japanese Christian churches, on the other hand, cater to relatively wealthy people and intellectuals, he said.
"Christianity is the people's religion in South Korea, because it was first accepted by the bottom rung of society and then spread to the rest," Hwang said. "That is why we offer services to homeless people, hoping that Christianity becomes deeply rooted in Japanese society."
In South Korea, nearly one-third of the population is Christian, and churches have a major influence on politics, the economy and society, Hwang said. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and his two immediate predecessors are Christians, and nine of the 20 Cabinet members of the Roh administration are reportedly Christian.
This tradition gives South Korean preachers the potential to spread Christianity in Japan, said Hirofumi Nodera, who studied theology in South Korea and is now the main minister at Akabane Bible Church in Tokyo's Kita Ward.
Nodera pointed out that Japanese churches tend to emphasize knowledge-oriented studies instead of energetic services, and they remain aloof from politics and secular activities, in contrast to their South Korean counterparts.
Propagating a religion in secular, modern-day Japan is obviously no easy task and even Christians with the strongest sense of evangelism often give up trying to make converts here.
South Korean preachers often end up mainly serving ethnic Koreans here, failing to attract Japanese to their churches, said Kim Jun Kee, who runs a Presbyterian church in Inagi, western Tokyo.
Kim noted that one factor behind the increase in Korean missionaries is that there are many young theology school graduates in South Korea who cannot find jobs at churches in their country.
"But it requires a strong sense of mission to spread the word in Japan, where people are usually very hesitant to let religion play a large role in their daily life," he said.
Kim noted that when he opened Inagi Bible Church in 1992 to serve the Japanese community exclusively, it took two years to gain a single convert. A decade of missionary work has gradually raised the church's membership to 25.