A Temple for Taiwan's Sea Goddess Mazu in Yokohama, Japan

TaiwanPlus News

A Mazu temple in Yokohama, Japan is a familiar sight for Taiwanese expatriates and a cultural bridge for Japanese visitors. While the sea goddess is still little known in Japan, the temple passes down religious traditions and offers comfort to the Chinese diaspora community in East Asia's biggest Chinatown.

Transcript

00:00Listen to the chanting, close your eyes, and breathe in the incense.

00:10It's an experience familiar to many Taiwanese, but stands out in Japan.

00:16Set against the backdrop of urban Japan, this temple is unique,

00:20even if passerby don't grasp its significance.

00:24I don't know anything about it at all.

00:28I don't know anything about this place. I just happened to be passing by.

00:33So, what is this unknown edifice?

00:36Here in the heart of Yokohama, in East Asia's biggest Chinatown, stands a Mazu Temple,

00:42a spiritual anchor for Chinese diaspora community in Greater Tokyo.

00:47Centuries-old traditions that's dedicated to the sea goddess are practiced and passed on,

00:53preserving cultural memories that are also shared across Taiwan.

00:57Da Shan Jingyuan has been working at the temple since it opened in 2006.

01:03She is a Taiwanese living in Yokohama,

01:05and hopes to bring more understanding of the Mazu folk religion to people here.

01:10The sea goddess Mazu has been worshipped for centuries around coastal communities in Taiwan and China,

01:19where she is believed to protect seafarers and travelers,

01:21making her particularly significant for Taiwanese living overseas.

01:25The sea goddess Mazu has been worshipped for centuries around coastal communities in Taiwan and China,

01:32where she is believed to protect seafarers and travelers,

01:35making her particularly significant for Taiwanese living overseas.

01:40I live here for three years.

01:43It's because of working?

01:44Yes, I work here.

01:46And do you often come to the Mazu temple?

01:50Because I live here in this area, and I'm quite often here.

01:53I've been here for a year for about two or three years.

01:56There are about 67,000 Taiwanese living in Japan, one-third of whom live in or near Tokyo.

02:04While the temple has close ties with Taiwan, in particular the Grand Mazu temple in Tainan,

02:10it serves the entire ethnic Chinese community and welcomes all visitors.

02:15The importance of the Hoa Kho is to speak of an spirit of a present in Taiwan.

02:22It is also a traditional cultural heritage of the Chinese community.

02:24Every people who have worked hard to establish this Mazu temple.

02:30Mazu temple is the mutual heritage of the Chinese community.

02:33It's the kind of desire to speak of what everyone has to say.

02:36The spirit of an present in Taiwan maybe is more than a bit of a誇張.

02:39But there are people who are left out,

02:42The Yokohama Temple hopes to pass down traditions among generations of ethnic Chinese expatriates,

02:56while also opening a window for Japanese people to learn about a different spiritual world.

03:03It is very beautiful.

03:07There are staff here who could help explain everything to us.

03:11I think it's wonderful that there are places like this in Japan.

03:16I hope that places like this will not disappear.

03:19Over the past two decades, the Yokohama Matsu Temple has become a place for both worshippers and the wider community.

03:28Its bright colors welcome the curious, and it will continue serving Yokohama,

03:33just as Matsu temples have served people in Taiwan and China for centuries.

03:39Ryan Wu, Bryn Thomas, and Jeffrey Chen in Yokohama, Japan for Taiwan Plus.

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