March 04, 2013
The zombie mission
Accommodating the surge in missionaries brought about by lowering the age requirement, 18 for men (down from 19) and 19 for women (down from 21), the Mormon church has added 58 missions (mostly by dividing existing ones), bringing the total slate to 405.
Hearing that news, a light went on in my head. No—it couldn't be—but it did make sense—so with baited breath I checked the official list. And wouldn't you know it: Tokyo South is back!
Tokyo South was born in 1978, a few months before I arrived in Japan. After a three-decade long roller-coaster ride, it was shuttered in 2007, merged with Tokyo North to create the original entity from which it had sprung. Now it stalks the earth once again.
Tokyo South is the zombie mission. It won't stay dead!
But while the new rules (especially for women) will push up the total missionary workforce numbers, I have to wonder if these levels can be sustained once the current surge washes through the system.
Back in the day, missionary service was considered a Mormon male rite of passage, like the military draft used to be. And then, as I observe in the introduction to Tokyo South, the church shifted to "the few, the proud" mode.
Now it's gone back to casting a wide net. Well, if big numbers are the goal, the only question is how low the common denominator can go. As Tokyo South shows: pretty dang low. And yet, I've since concluded, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Still, for every "spring forward," there's a "fall back." Call it the "Daylight Saving Time effect." I won't be surprised if Tokyo South goes back on the chopping block in a few years. That it was axed in the first place shows how tenuous the church's hold has become in Japan.
Hearing that news, a light went on in my head. No—it couldn't be—but it did make sense—so with baited breath I checked the official list. And wouldn't you know it: Tokyo South is back!
Tokyo South was born in 1978, a few months before I arrived in Japan. After a three-decade long roller-coaster ride, it was shuttered in 2007, merged with Tokyo North to create the original entity from which it had sprung. Now it stalks the earth once again.
Tokyo South is the zombie mission. It won't stay dead!
But while the new rules (especially for women) will push up the total missionary workforce numbers, I have to wonder if these levels can be sustained once the current surge washes through the system.
Back in the day, missionary service was considered a Mormon male rite of passage, like the military draft used to be. And then, as I observe in the introduction to Tokyo South, the church shifted to "the few, the proud" mode.
Now it's gone back to casting a wide net. Well, if big numbers are the goal, the only question is how low the common denominator can go. As Tokyo South shows: pretty dang low. And yet, I've since concluded, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
From a purely practical standpoint, the mission should not have become the venue of choice for Personal Growth and Rehabilitation. But we are an imperfect species, and if not now, when? More importantly, the church remains in short supply of what universal conscription supplies the nation in times of crisis (an organized religion, by definition, being constantly in a time of crisis): a common cause and experience that reaches simultaneously across generations.
Still, for every "spring forward," there's a "fall back." Call it the "Daylight Saving Time effect." I won't be surprised if Tokyo South goes back on the chopping block in a few years. That it was axed in the first place shows how tenuous the church's hold has become in Japan.
Related posts
How it began
The evolution
The truth is worse
Tokyo South is dead
The weirdest two years
Labels: lds, religion, tokyo south
Comments
# posted by 
interesting. I read your Tokyo South a fair few years ago, and honestly had no idea what the book was going to be about. suddenly I'm pulled into a world i know nothing about, and it was all I could do to comprehend the environment I was reading. in a funny kind of way, that might be how the main character felt when they left to a new country for a mission they seemed to be a bit confused about themselves. i think most of what I read probably flew over my head. but despite that, i was compelled to keep reading to the end. it was interesting, but the whole thing seemed so weird to me i just can't forget it. i feel there were some things about it I envy, and others that I absolutely don't. What is the point I am trying to make here? I think I simply wanted to say that I read it.