I don’t even know where to start with today’s Key City: Sanjo. My editor might have to rein me in if I get too wordy!

Sanjo is long and relatively skinny, running east to west and is basically cut in half by the Ikarashi River, which forms a “T” with Japan’s most famous river Shinano on the city’s western border. These great rivers help make the land very fertile, and farming has been the way of life for the people for millennia. To the east are dense forests and snow-capped mountains, lending the area great beauty.

Of everything I’ve learned about Sanjo, though, nothing is more amazing to me than its blacksmithing tradition. In 1625 the governor of the area,, found a way to help his

citizens survive the destructive flood season each year. He paid for blacksmiths from Edo (modern Tokyo) to come and teach his farmers how to make nails while their farmlands were underwater.

Today, you can visit the Sanjo Blacksmith Dojo, which still trains its students to work metal in a traditional way. Tourists can even take classes on building a fire, quenching, forging, grinding and sharpening.

Seibei Ootani knew his people could not survive as things were going, and that sentiment is still true in Sanjo. The people there do not know the Gospel, and they cannot survive as they are. They need the Savior!

Pray for us that we can plant churches that will still be training men to preach the Gospel after 400 years of saving lives!

Several of the cities we talk about on this blog grew up around forts or castles, and Key City: Mihara is no different. When construction began on Mihara Castle, the population immediately began to multiply. People flocked there for many reasons, not least of which was safety from the wars ravaging Japan at the time.

In 1567 when the castle was completed, the citizens took to the streets dancing in celebration. That celebration is still remembered in a festival called Yassa Matsuri. The young and old gather in the streets, dressed in brightly colored, traditional happy coats. Local businesses shut down, sending their workforces into the parade of dancers. For over 400 years, that first celebration has been reenacted each year.

I wonder why. The castle itself is in ruins. Only three of its original buildings still stand, and the rest of the complex is dilapidated and unrecognizable. The grounds serve no purpose, other than that railroad tracks were built on the foundation. Why would they still celebrate something that has come to such ruin?

Because they remember their history. Their city could never have survived without that castle. The people would have been killed in war or starved in poverty. They owe their existence to that castle, and they know it!

I think back to the church I grew up in. It’s not the same as it was. Many of the people I loved are gone. The buildings have changed over the years. But when anyone asks me about it, I only have the highest praise… because I know that I owe my existence to that church. Just like Emperors in old Japan used castles to influence and interact with their people, God uses his church to reach and change us.

Mihara has an old castle. Most sizable Japanese cities do, but what they need now are some churches!

Irony can be difficult to define, but you often know it when you see it. I can’t think of any better way to describe the plight of today’s Key City: Izumisano.

In the 80’s and 90’s, Japan’s economy was bustling and the only way to keep up with that growth was to expand. There was only one problem with that, though: Japan is an island! Seems like a big problem, right? Not to the Japanese. They just decided to build more island…

Literally. They started constructing an island in Osaka Bay in 1987 and in 1994 opened Kansai International Airport on that man-made land. They built the massive Sky Gate Bridge from Izumisano to the airport and even developed an entertainment park and Japan’s second-tallest skyscraper.

At first everything worked well. The airport was busy, and tourists loved the amusement park. Businesses flocked to the city. But then the global economy stumbled in the early 2000’s and traffic at the airport plummeted. Businesses abandoned the area and unemployment and debt from the construction of the airport began to take its toll on the city.

In fact, the fate of the city is in such a state that in March of this year, the local assembly decided to lease the naming rights to the city. What does that mean? It means that corporations will have the opportunity to rename the city for up to 5 years. That’s just ironic, isn’t it?

Almost 30 years ago, Izumisano City put its faith in a booming economy and built a marvelous, state of the art airport to take advantage of their prosperity, yet today, that same airport is drowning the entire region in debt.

This city has almost no Gospel witness, and they still don’t know who to put their faith in. They are sinking with their sin debt. Pray that we can join together to get the truth to Izumisano City.