Via: TuscaloosaNews.com
Tuscaloosa, MS — In the “Land of the Rising Sun,” Christianity is a religion practiced by few.
About 2 percent of Japan’s population is Christian, according to the CIA World Factbook. The overwhelming majority of the populace — 72 to 84 percent —practices Shintoism, Buddhism or a combination of both.
And yet gospel music has become one of the country’s most popular new music genres.
“Gospel music is very popular over there with Christians and non-Christians,” said Rev. Andre Reynolds, the minister of music at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham and founder of the Japan Fire Mass Choir.
“The (Japanese people) are traditionally soft spoken and don’t express their emotions in public,” he said. “This music — gospel — is loud, lively, and jumping, so it was almost antithesis to them, but usually opposites attract. When they sing it, it allows them to step outside their norm.”
On Saturday, the Fire Choir, which consist of about 30 members from various Japanese cities, will perform a gospel concert at Cornerstone Full Gospel Baptist Church at 6 p.m.
Reynolds said this will be the choir’s fifth visit to Alabama.
“They love American church and they love American culture, so once a year they come here,” Reynolds said.
“If you closed your eyes, you would not even know they were Japanese,” he said. “It will sound authentic. Every now and again you will hear a little accent because they pronounce their vowels differently, but it is authentic.”
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