Japanese sister gives up three fingers for truth's sake

[Bek]

There is a story circulating in local JW WhatsApp groups about a sister who went to great lengths to become a JW. I could not believe it, because it sounded way too extreme, and I wanted to ask if any one of you has heard the story before. Here is a translation of the story: 

 

Quote

A case from a congress in Japan. A sister was asked to give an interview about how she came to the truth. She wanted to study with witnesses, but first she had to get her father's permission. He was a member of the Japanese mafia and was a very tough man. The Japanese mafia has a reputation for being very harsh and cruel in its relations with people. For example, instead of killing someone, they mutilate and maim them to make them suffer for the rest of their lives. When she asked her father if she could study with the witnesses, he immediately replied with a resolute "NO!" He will not allow any of his daughters to learn from these people. She tried to explain how much it meant to her, but it was all in vain. After many attempts on her part, he finally told her: if it is so important to her, then she must be ready to sacrifice something for him. She told him she was ready. He said that the price she would have to pay to start the study would be to cut off one of her fingers. She tried to convince him, but soon realized that this was the only way she could study. So she agreed! The little finger of her right hand was cut off ... She began to study. After a while, she wanted to start attending congregation meetings. Again I had to ask my father's permission. He told her that she would have to sacrifice one more finger if she really wanted to attend the meetings. She agreed. And her father cut off her middle finger ... She progressed spiritually and now the moment of baptism has come. The script was the same as before. He told her that she knows the price. And the ring finger of the same hand was cut off ... Nevertheless, she was grateful to Jehovah for being baptized and did not think about the sacrifices she made. The brother asked his sister, "Now that a long time has passed, does her father have any remorse for his actions towards you?" She said: "Why don't you ask him himself ... he is being baptized here today!" Her father went on stage, hugged his daughter and burst into tears. He said: what a pity that he hurt his daughter in such a cruel way. Now he would never have done that. The brother asked the sister if she felt anger towards her father for what he had done to her. She replied, "If all it took to get my father as his brother was three fingers, it was worth it."

Do you think it is true? If it is true, it is an amazing story. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Bek

[well]

Maybe those fingers are metaphore... 😬

 

Indeed we have to lose some to gain Jehovah's friendship...

 

Anyway, I'd never asked permission from my parents to study and so on... I did it secretly as they showed opposition from the first... Then, when I decided to get baptized, I informed my mom about it the day before... 

[well]

But, of course I've also heard some experiences about getting permission from parents, mostly they are elderly bro/ sis... Different background... 

[New World Explorer]

10 minutes ago, ivy said:

Maybe those fingers are metaphore... 😬

 

Indeed we have to lose some to gain Jehovah's friendship...

 

Anyway, I'd never asked permission from my parents to study and so on... I did it secretly as they showed opposition from the first... Then, when I decided to get baptized, I informed my mom about it the day before... 

You're lovely tough cookie...

[well]

2 minutes ago, New World Explorer said:

You're lovely tough cookie...

Not really... But not as soft as donut though 😁

Edited August 6, 2020 by ivy

[New World Explorer]

2 minutes ago, ivy said:

Not really... But not as soft as donut though 😁

But donuts are sweet ...LOL 

[Dages]

I've heard this story a long time ago. I don't know if it's true.

My Japanese wife heard it first when she was in France...

[carlos]

Yes, it was widespread here in Spain too some years ago. I preferred not to spread it since I had no way to confirm it's true.

 

Maybe someone here can confirm or disprove it.

Edited August 6, 2020 by carlos

[Stormswift]

2 hours ago, New World Explorer said:

But donuts are sweet ...LOL 

You know? I think donuts are yuck. Just thought I'd divulge that. hahaha

[Shawnster]

5 hours ago, Bek said:

There is a story circulating in local JW WhatsApp groups about a sister who went to great lengths to become a JW. I could not believe it, because it sounded way too extreme, and I wanted to ask if any one of you has heard the story before. Here is a translation of the story: 

 

Do you think it is true? If it is true, it is an amazing story. 

 

 

I was at a convention where this experience was shared in a talk.  This was over 20 years ago. 

 

That doesn't mean it's true or false. Other urban legends have been shared in talks at conventions.  

[Dages]

Besides that, the concept of cutting a finger to show determination to stay in the group/family is correct, it's in the Yakuzas' culture.

[Hinata]

18 minutes ago, Dages said:

Besides that, the concept of cutting a finger to show determination to stay in the group/family is correct, it's in the Yakuzas' culture.

 

Yes, cutting one’s finger is a very old tradition that is found in all of Asian countries.

 

We hear a lot of stories of the Korean brothers and the non–Witnesses, who cut their fingers, during the times Japan invaded and colonised the Korean peninsula.

 

But Japanese Yakuza have a very specific way of cutting the fingers to swore their meanings, a tradition even found from the 1700s.

 

They cut from the pinky up to middle fingers of their left hand. This is to discourage them to use the swords, a disgrace to Yakuza.

 

It may be that the story was built upon this.
 

[Dages]

1 hour ago, Hinata said:

They cut from the pinky up to middle fingers of their left hand. This is to discourage them to use the swords, a disgrace to Yakuza.

Phalanx bone by phalanx bone... ouch ouch
It's a way to say : I'm sorry, I want to stay in the team.

 

https://wol.jw.org/fr/wol/dsync/r30/lp-f/r1/lp-e/2018172#h=12 

Tohru has cut 3 phalanx of his left hand, 2 on his little finger and 1 on his ring finger 😧

[ChrisC]

Is it from a yearbook? It sounds very familiar.

[Bek]

On 8/14/2020 at 4:12 AM, ChrisC said:

Is it from a yearbook? It sounds very familiar.

No, it is not. Someone also thought that it might be, but could not find it in the yearbooks. 

[jayrtom]

I think that if this was true, one experience so extraordinary, it would be in a yearbook, specially when recounted on several assemblies (here too) - we had other similar faked stories recounted on our assemblies such as the lost day found at NASA, the creator of dragon ball being now a JW told that he listned to Satan himself telling him to make cartoons to target specifically the sons of JW's... etc...

 

[Shawnster]

2 hours ago, jayrtom said:

I think that if this was true, one experience so extraordinary, it would be in a yearbook, specially when recounted on several assemblies (here too) - we had other similar faked stories recounted on our assemblies such as the lost day found at NASA, the creator of dragon ball being now a JW told that he listned to Satan himself telling him to make cartoons to target specifically the sons of JW's... etc...

 

 

.The check in the Bible given to a rebellious son....  I heard this at a District Convention. The way this story goes a brother had 3 sons.  The first two were doing well in the Truth and as a gift they were each given a car when they achieved a certain life milestone (I think it was graduating high school).  The third child was rebellious didn't want to have anything to do with the Truth.  When he reached that milestone and was expecting a car he was given a Bible instead.  This infuriated him and he never opened the Bible.  Years later the father dies.  In his grief the youngest son opens the Bible to discover a check in there from his father written for the amount of a car.  The moral being if the boy would have only read his Bible he would have discovered the check and not been so bitter all those years....

 

Yeah, it was funny when I heard that exact same story on a popular TV sitcom a few years later.  Obviously an urban legend.  Witnesses would hear such experiences and then modify them to fit the Truth instead of Christendom.  These stories would get spread around as fact.  

[Dages]

2 hours ago, jayrtom said:

the creator of dragon ball being now a JW told that he listned to Satan himself telling him to make cartoons to target specifically the sons of JW's... etc...

The creator of Dragon Ball isn't a JW now. But I've heard that he has studied in the past.

[jayrtom]

1 hour ago, Dages said:

The creator of Dragon Ball isn't a JW now. But I've heard that he has studied in the past.

You heard that on an assembly or convention?

[Dages]

About Toriyama not being a JW?

From my Japanese wife.

 

[Hinata]

34 minutes ago, Dages said:

About Toriyama

 

Yoshito Usui’s wife was also a sister, when he died, she said the she hopes to see him again in the Paradise.

 

[Shawnster]

14 hours ago, Hinata said:

 

Yoshito Usui’s wife was also a sister, when he died, she said the she hopes to see him again in the Paradise.

 

Which doesn't indicate whether a person is a Witness or not.  I hope to see all my dead relatives again in the Paradise, yet only one of them was a Witness.

[Pjdriver]

Is Child abuse legal in Japan?  I too heard this years ago but I can’t remember where. 
I agree with Joao, ....if it was legit it mostly likely would have been in a yearbook or a magazine experience.

Another experience I heard years ago that sounded sensational, was about a sister who started dating a young man who studied and was baptized (apparently just to marry her). She started having doubts about his sincerity, so she had a plan.
After service one day they were at a park and there was a pond there.....as they were walking and talking she feigned being unhappy with the truth and threw her service bag In the water. Like Adam he quickly followed suite by throwing his bag into the water too. Then she knew his real motives.  

It could possibly be true but I wouldn’t assume so. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Pjdriver

[jayrtom]

On 8/16/2020 at 7:31 AM, Dages said:

About Toriyama not being a JW?

From my Japanese wife.

 

That is strange in relation to the way the experience was reccounted... Apparently, Dragon Ball author, converted to the JW's and later told is experience, on an assembly in Japan, about what Satan himself told him to put in the cartoons to specifically target the JW's childrens...

A searched this man Wikipedia page and judging by the amount of work he has done (and continues to do) I find it impossible that he was ever a JW even less that he was interviewed in an assembly - Again being such an amazing experience it would be on an yearbook

 

But, maybe it's possible that he has studied in the past and that's how the story came to existence after being retold several times...

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by jayrtom

[jayrtom]

Well I just remembered to hear this story in this forum and it was 7 years ago, so you see how this goes round and round

 

Worst even if someone as reproachable as a CO tells himself such an incredible story saying he was there! (Unless the brother telling that here on the forum was lying)

 

Just look this nonsense, worth reading for a good laugh  (and then a :facepalm: and then some :tears:

Quote

When I was a pioneer I was invited to have lunch with our CO. Great man with great experience. It was that time when the smurfs stories came out. So I ask him about it. He told me that in some cases many were affected and other do not.  Then he told me his experience in NY city with a JW'S family. He said it was about 2 in the morning when he received this called from a sister telling him that her two children were flying yes flying in their room. So he called another elder and prayed before getting to the sister house.

When they arrived they went directly to the room and he said that literally these children were hanging in the air in a spooky way.He closed the door and pray again to get Jehovah's guidance. They spoke with the sister and she said that the last thing they have in their home was a complete bedroom set of the smurfs given by their grandma. So the brothers after another prayer went to the room and started to take everything related to the smurfs. They took them outside and sent them down a thing they have in the NY apartment to burn things. He told me that as soon the smurfs stuff went down the fire the noise and scream were horrible. They almost get burned as the fire went up toward them.

They went back to the room and the children fall down to the bed and went to a deep sleep. They prayed again with the sister and counsel her about the smurfs stuff. That was his own experience as he told me.