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[Toshio Furukawa's a Christian?]




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Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 2242
Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:37 pm Reply with quote
Toshio Furukawa's Wiki article says he is a Christian. Is this true, or just another one of Wiki's information that was made up to seem it were true?

[Topic Adjusted, please post descriptive topics -t]
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7406
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:56 am Reply with quote
The magic Google ball says "Yes".

Reference.com wrote:
He is Christian, and upon hearing of the late Hirotaka Suzuoki's deteriorating condition he has said that he prayed that his soul would be allowed into Heaven."


http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Toshio_Furukawa

Emerje
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Tenchi



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4536
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:08 am Reply with quote
I thought Reference.com just reposts Wikipedia entries?
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PantsGoblin
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Joined: 27 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:36 am Reply with quote
Ya, that same exact text is in the wiki article.
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
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Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:12 am Reply with quote
I did a bit of searching myself and found what looks like his homepage: http://www.topio.jp/

If you go to the 'private' second, he has some photos of his family and home. Among them are some photos of a Christmas tree, a stained-glass plaque of a cross, a crucifix, a nativity scene and--what I think is the most interesting--what appears to be a photo of him in front of a small church. Looks like he might actually be one, although without being very solid with Japanese I can't say for sure.

EDIT: I just ran his profile through one of those free translators. It's mostly gibberish, of course, but in the jumble of words I managed to pick out "Favorite book Bible".

I actually remember hearing rumors of there being a Christian voice actor in Japan, and I just laughed it off. I didn't expect it to be true.
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Curtis W.



Joined: 30 Sep 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:03 am Reply with quote
What is wrong with a chrisian japanese person? I am curious why this is such a shock to you all?
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:05 am Reply with quote
Ah, I see, I never actually checked the Wiki entry. I thought that info seemed awfully complete for something as obscure as the personal info of a Japanese voice actor. I just went to the first hit I got and found the info. Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop

Emerje
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Greennunu



Joined: 23 Jan 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:14 am Reply with quote
Curtis W. wrote:
What is wrong with a chrisian japanese person? I am curious why this is such a shock to you all?


I was kinda wondering the same thing, Christianity is a very dominant religion, even among asian community.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:18 am Reply with quote
But not in Japan, where the number of Christians is frequently quoted as being around 1% or less of the total population.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
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Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:10 pm Reply with quote
The Catholic church is in Japan, and there are at least 1 million there, half of which are Japanese. The church has been there since 1543, so it's not that surprising really.
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blind_assassin



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 755
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:38 pm Reply with quote
Just because it's been there a while doesn't mean it's really become all that important. It's already been said that about less than 1% of Japanese people are Christians. Even so, I still agree with people that wonder why others are surprised. It might not be particularly popular but it's not exactly in the same realm as say, Tom Cruise being a Scientologist. It's interesting to know I suppose but it shouldn't really cause anything interesting to come of it.
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Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
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Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:31 pm Reply with quote
I don't have anything against Toshio-sensei being one. I'm one myself. I just found it to be unusual because he's the first Christian Japanese seiyuu I've read about.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:33 pm Reply with quote
I am not surprised if this person is a Christian. There is nothing wrong with that. Maybe the fact that Japan is comprised of over 90% Shintoism and Buddhism gives off some kind of stereotype, but Japanese Christians are out there. Though it's in Japanese, Wikipedia's entry for Dragon Ash's Kenji Furuya says that though he did not get baptized, he did convert to Christianity due to his going to a Christian high school.
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:03 pm Reply with quote
I'm really more just interested in this because I'm a Christian (and, to top it off, the daughter of missionaries--in fact, my Mom is a secretary in the Asia department of a missions organization). Sense the percentage of Japanese Christians is so small (being the daughter of a missionary, you hear about it all the time Anime hyper), to hear about a Japanese Christian who works in the anime industry is surprising and a little exciting.

I'm sure this sounds bizarre to someone who's not from the same background. Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop
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