Aki Sugawara
Workplace:
I joined Astemo, Ltd. (a large Japanese automobile parts company) in 2021, and work in corporate communications out of our corporate headquarters near Tokyo Station.
Church:
Horizon Chapel Setagaya (non-denominational)
Ways I serve on Sundays:
Sunday music team leading, message translation, video recordings
Marunouchi Office Group:
I co-lead one of the 14 Marunouchi Office Groups, called TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday), which meets on Friday lunchtimes.
Being a witness for Christ at the workplace can feel daunting, especially as a traditional salaryman. When I first started working in Japan nearly ten years ago, it was at a free-thinking Japanese media start-up. In that eclectic environment, the CEO would rave about getting high from marijuana, and I would counter that God was the greatest high. But when I switched gears to a buttoned-up corporate environment in Otemachi five years ago, that organic sharing was lost to the polite yet reserved setting of the keigo-steeped workplace. (Note: keigo is the Japanese system of particularly polite and respectful language.)
In such a formal environment, how could I share? Dropping hints of my being a Christian and going to church seemed to go nowhere, with people acknowledging but never showing interest into going deeper. Afraid of being branded as part of a weird cult (a cultural death knell in Japan), it dampened my resolve to share—at least, to the level that I did when working in the United States. But how much of that was me exercising discernment, and how much was it just timidity masked as wisdom?
Facing such questions, I learned about Testimony in the Workplace, a six-session weekly course led by Akira Endo, which aims to equip Christians to be a witness at their work. His teaching not only drew on the fundamentals of Scripture, but also his wealth of experience of putting his faith out in the open, which led many to hear the gospel. To hear of such powerful testimonies was not only encouraging, but also gave practical insight to be a Christian witness, in a cultural context where sharing the gospel in Japanese can feel radically counter-cultural. More importantly, the course shone light into my own personal walk with God, as well as the disciplines that guide how to approach this frenetic life. As I quickly learned living in the tight urban sprawl of Tokyo, the gospel can easily be choked out by the stresses and cares of the world, even in our own hearts.
Amidst the unrelenting demands to work late, honestly it was at times a challenge to attend the sessions. But making that time always proved fruitful, as I also could hear from other Christians facing similar challenges to myself. We can often feel spiritually isolated or siloed in corporate life, and the mutual encouragement and connection proved invaluable—because those connections can extend beyond the six weeks into a lasting network of like-minded believers.
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58