Abstract
The Church seeks to be inclusive; one that opens her doors to everyone. For many Filipino Catholics (FCs) in Japan, their ecclesial existence is marked by a history of negotiation as “guests” hosted by the Japanese Catholics (JCs). Within this field of host–guest interplay, this paper explores the dynamics of sociospatial seclusion by employing the ideation of marginality proffered by Loic Wacquant’s study on urban ghettos. The paper argues that the guest-identity of FCs must not be understood as a unilateral action imposed upon by the dominant hosts against the former’s subjugated narrative as powerless victims. Instead, its maintenance is perpetuated by FCs’ elective and chosen ethnic clustering. In attempt to obtain better analytical clarity of this dynamics, this paper employs the functional value of the Cartesian plane as a mapping device in plotting historical events of interplay within a spatial field. The techne inherent in the Cartesian plane is embedded with the episteme of Wacquant’s ideation. Fused together, its utility as a heuristic device is herewith proposed. It is hoped that this theoretical construct can also be useful to any analysis of marginality contained within a host–guest interplay.
Highlights
Filipinos’ entry to Japan has mainly been economic in purpose, that is, to work and earn a decent income and to provide enough sustenance for their families and relatives back home (Semyonov 2005)
Religions 2020, 11, 161 no longer feel at home in their own church. This tension within religious space is within and among Japanese Catholics (JCs) and Filipino Catholics (FCs) as there are other Catholic migrants coming from Vietnam, South Korea, and India among others who have their own narratives to share
Kiyose parish, recalled her chanced encounter with the Japanese parish priest of Kiyose back. She was just outside the church and was talking with some of her Filipino friends after attending a Nihongo Sunday mass when the Japanese priest approached them. It was in this specific encounter where they were instructed to look for a Filipino priest to preside over a Tagalog Sunday mass to cater to the increasing number of FCs in his parish
Summary
Filipinos’ entry to Japan has mainly been economic in purpose, that is, to work and earn a decent income and to provide enough sustenance for their families and relatives back home (Semyonov 2005). Religion’s default condition is diversity (Grim and Finke 2012), these Filipino Catholics (FCs) are all aware of their position within the ecclesial space they want to treat their home, as ‘guests’ hosted by Japanese Catholics (JCs). Inasmuch as they are cautious of the hosts’ response, the latter is suspicious of the guests’ presence deemed as bothersome. Religions 2020, 11, 161 no longer feel at home in their own church This tension within religious space is within and among JCs and FCs as there are other Catholic migrants coming from Vietnam, South Korea, and India among others who have their own narratives to share. It is hoped that this heuristic device on mapping locations, positions, and interactions of players within a certain field would add analytical clarity to studies that concern asymmetry of relations within a host–guest encounter plane
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