In ur TamTam recruitin' ur converts

[railsquid]

This sign has been gracing the elevators at TamTam in Akihabara for a while now:

 

tamtam-sign by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Rough translation:

 

Solicitation without permission within this store is a disruption of business and strictly forbidden.
  Beware of malicious solicitation

 

There have been reports of people pretending to be railway fans talking to customers and enticing them out of the shop and trying to recruit them to religious organisations etc. Because of that and for the protection of your personal information

   please take care!

 

It's a dangerous world out there, folks...

Edited July 21, 2017 by railsquid

[Suica]

The model train cult!

[Gryphr]

All hail the holy Plastic Mould!

[Davo Dentetsu]

The religion that is EF510.

We had the Great Split of 2012 because we couldn't decide if the body of our god was blue, red or silver.

[Suica]

Hey, bud! C'mere.

[Densha]

Reminds me of the time I was taking pictures of 'the old Azusa' at Shinjuku and some Japanese guy randomly started pursuing me to come with him to his 'church' near Ochanomizu or thereabouts. No thank you, let me behold the holy Azusa in peace.

 

I also remember a story from someone from my university years ago that when these kind of people kept coming back to his apartment in Japan, he eventually went along with them... and was converted to some strange Japanese religious sect. I believe he still doesn't know what sect up to this day.

[railsquid]

Come to think of it only the other day I politely turned away a little old lady who rang the doorbell in the hope of gaining a new Watchtower subscriber. Don't recall any solicitation incidents in connection with railways though.

[nscalestation]

I was there last month and noticed this sign.  Not being able to read it I was ignorant of it's message.

[HantuBlauLOL]

Railfanning has become a religion now?

[ToniBabelony]

Funny to see religion poisoning even the rail hobby aspect. We have the occasional jesus people leaving their artistic flyers in the mailbox. They're easily recognisable on the street as well as roaming old ladies (two by two; hands of blue) with leaflets and books of extremely violent works of fiction.

[Wonderbolt]

Are these more traditional religions or cults?

[katoftw]

Traditional religions. But Japan being a mainly non religious socioty in a sense deems these as cults as a result.

 

I omhave had a few Japanese friends complain about the aggressiveness of these groups recently. eg Door knocking with refusal to leave, foot in door blocking closure etc. All the horror stories I use to hear and witness in 80s Australia. I guess Japan is just going through said process now.

Edited July 23, 2017 by katoftw

[Wonderbolt]

So I bit like Jahovahs Witnesses are seen like over here or how to Moonies were seen in the past.

[Kiha66]

I ran into (was ambushed by) some Jahovahs Witnesses' in the Sasebo Ginza, they actually caught me while was I watching an N gauge layout in a store's front window!  Luckily they seemed reluctant to follow me out into the rain, but I was a little bummed to miss out on the trains.  The layout was mighty impressive though!  

 

[medusa]

Once in my life I let in the Jahovahs Witnesses when they rang my doorbell. You have to know I'm a really hard Pagan so they had no easy play with me. Every time the discussion went to the point one of them said: "But in the Bible it is written..." I answered: "Maybe. But in our Holy Books it's written different."

 

In the end they left after half an hour and never again one of them knocked on my door. :D

[ToniBabelony]

Traditional religions. But Japan being a mainly non religious socioty in a sense deems these as cults as a result.

Japan is very religious, but not in the western sense of the word. Shintoism and -in a lesser sense, Buddhism (including a certain amount of Taosim and Confucianism) are penetrating life in every way and every moment. It's like Christianity and pagan beliefs do in European societies, though maybe even in a deeper sense, as even aesthetics (also contemporary) are heavily influenced by established rules. It is however very hard to define what is and what isn't religious expression with Shintoism, as it does not have a central dogma, nor a central source material and can thus be more subscribed to a natural/animistic belief system that revolves around bringing the individual in harmony with the spirits/gods/entities (kami) of nature and the universe (which is where Buddhism steps in).

 

It's more small Buddhist sects (e.g. Soka Gakkai, Sho-shinkai, etc.) and Christian sects that tend to be more agressive in their recruiting approach.

[kvp]

These missionaries are also present in eastern Europe and they mostly expect the common response of someone being an atheist. If you want to scare them you have to be more creative like telling them you are a Calvinist (swiss protestant). This branch of christinaity started in Hungary in the 16th century more as a political, pro democracy movement and to this day most leading conservative politicians are calvinists. That actually scares most missionaries as they only want to talk about religion and not local and national politics or other national problems. :D

[serotta1972]

I ended my day at Tam Tam and my intention was to just go see what it was all about and also walk around Akihabara but something came over me and I walked out with 4 trains, there is something strange going on in there.  :)

Edited July 24, 2017 by serotta1972

[railsquid]

Clearly you have come under the influence of the shadowy Mo-Kay-Tet-Sudoh cult.

[cteno4]

I ended my day at Tam Tam and my intention was to just go see what it was all about and also walk around Akihabara but something came over me and I walked out with 4 trains, there is something strange going on in there.  :)

Danger will Robinson! Danger! ;-p

 

Jeff

[marknewton]

We don't get evangelists annoying us here at Waterfall because we're in the middle of nowhere. But where we used to live in Engadine was a hotspot for people who were door knocking for Jesus. But anyone standing at our front door would see into a room furnished and decorated in Japanese style, and a bookshelf full of Japanese books. So when they asked what my religious beliefs were I'd tell them I followed Shinto. That was usually enough to send them on their way.

 

But now and again you'd get some that were a bit more persistent. So I'd collected a number of tracts and screeds from the Mormons, the JWs and a few other oddbods who'd called. I kept them on the shoe rack near the front door. If the evangelist was a JW I'd grab a Mormon tract and tell them they were too late, the Mormons had just left and I'd signed up with them already. That was always fun. :)

 

I'll also admit once answering the door wearing my wife's silk nightgown and inviting them in for a drink. That was even more fun!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

Ok we probably should drop this thread as it's trending on religion some and best to keep clear. I thin enough has been said.

 

Jeff