Any fake priests amonsts our SJ congregation?

[2pints-mate 0]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6067002.stm

 

"With a rise in the popularity of Christian-style weddings in Japan, some Westerners are finding they can make a lucrative living by acting as priests. But it does not please everyone, particularly genuine priests, as Kathleen McCaul reports. Mark Kelly is originally from Lancashire in England. He has been living in Japan for six years and, at the weekend, he is a fake priest."

 

[spook 0]

"I give a good performance. I use an Apache wedding prayer in my ceremony. It works very well, although I had to take out the part about the bear god in the sky," he said.

 

"If people are crying by the end of the wedding, I think I have done a good job."

 

what on earth??

[damian 0]

In another thread last year or so, the little guitar salesman said he dressed up as a priest twice a day for years.

 

I think it takes a certain type to play dress-ups for money.

[jgraves 0]

Weddings and funerals are the two biggest money-makers for churches (and temples, and Shrines, and and and). Of course priests are going to be pissed. Many call that feeling of hurt "sacrilege" or something spirit related, though.

[thursday 1]

yesterday there was a snowboarding vicar here.

[the snowboarding vicar 1]

That will be me.

 

I'm sure actual priests will not be very happy about this. What a curious situation!

[thursday 1]

well, Vicar, maybe you could help out on your next visit.

[nzlegend 1]

there is one well known forum member who is in the gig for sure, I wonder if will out himself??

[sakebomb 0]

I was one but my concience actually got the better of me so I quit...the money was excellent but sometimes it isn't the be all end all!!

 

And at least it is a job where most people are happy!!

[indosnm 0]

From what I hear these days the money isn't that good anymore.

I've been offered a few gigs many times but the money just isn't enough to get me outta bed for work on a sunday.

[fjef 0]

According to this FAQ all Priests must be fake!

[slow 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by SG:
there is one well known forum member who is in the gig for sure, I wonder if will out himself??

Maybe on Monday, we'll see...

[Ocean11 0]

He's not fake, he's a registered vicar of God.

 

[Davo 1]

I know lots of current and former fake ministers who operate here in Kansai, including 3 guys I work with. To the Japanese it's just an abstraction and an amusement. In terms of true religious meaning it's much the same as Christmas for westerners who aren't religious. To such westerners, like me, Christmas symbolises a special time to get together with family. To the Japanese it just symbolises the romantic (I guess) notions of marrying.

 

I also heard that the money ain't what it used to be, plus it's a bitchy cutthroat kind of "industry". My mate was all paranoid earlier in the year as competition between "priest vendors" had led to immigration doing swoops to crackdown on people engaged in employment contrary to their visa status. Apparently one outfit was out to get others or something like that.

 

I've never considered it seriously because it's weekend work, sounds stressful/weird and it somehow seems wrong even though I have nothing against the idea. It's just another form of entertainment/fashion and the Japanese, like Westerners, are great at picking out what they like from other cultures and religions for their amusement.

 

I think weddings are a waste of money. Nothing wrong with some guy making money out of other peoples willingness to throw it away.

[KRUSTY 2]

Went to my Wifes friends wedding in Nagano city last year and there was a older European guy doing the service. Did it all in Japanese and I kinda have to admit that he did a pretty good job considering the very artifical chappel that it was in. Dont know how religious he was but saw him a few weeks later at lake Nojiri and a friend told me he was involved with the "Gaijin Village" which was started by Missionaries some time before the war. So I guess there might be a slight chance that he could possibly be a "real" Priest.

[eskimobasecamp 0]

mr wiggles is a fake priest........ well he looked like one last time i saw him

[Ocean11 0]

When we got married, we had a weird Shinto/Buddhist ritual in my mother-in-law's flat. All of her six sisters were there with Grandma too, and one of them beat a little drum thing and chanted a sutra. Then we drank sake from the 3 sizes of dish like you would at a shrine if you forked over a big wad of cash. It was all managed with a pleasant level of seriousness and levity. It was 'fake' and 'grass-roots real' at the same time, which for someone who hates ceremonies came close to being not too much of a dreadful bore.

[Kumapix 0]

I went with a real japanese priest who spoke crap english over a foreigner who spoke crap Japanese

[NoFakie 45]

I know Japanese blokes who've done occasional work as Shinto holy men. They dressed up and went around collecting donations to a shrine. Like the fake gaijin priests, they said it was easy money.

 

Like many things, the problem with weddings is that they are commercialized and ritualized. If you can avoid those pitfalls, you can have a good laugh with your mates. There's nowt wrong with getting people together, hopefully in a nice location.

 

There's a great film by Itami Juzo if you want to see the similarly farcical side of Japanese funerals. All his DVDs are subtitled in English so you can rent it at Tsutaya.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

it used to be easy to do weddings in Japan but the laws have changed and there have been crackdowns on these "fake priests" - though there are many who are actual priests and run their own churches here in Japan. I know a few people who do it as well. Money seems good and I dont think its such a big deal either.

[mina2 6]

When you say money seems good - what kind of money are we talking?

[bushpig 0]

I know of people who used to get 2 or 3 man per 20 minute wedding!

[sava 0]

I was going to make some sort of joke along the lines of 'If you pay enough, I'll be whatever you want me to be'. Except it seems that's really the case

[sanjo 2]

2 or 3 man for 20 minutes?

 

I feel the need to become a (fake) priest. (Would God forgive me?)

[bushpig 0]

not anymore sanjo, unless you are really lucky. A lot of places only give 5000-8000 per wedding now. Still good money, but not the con it used to be...