Kyoto Know Better

I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my older sibling, who just graduated from college. He’s treating himself to the trip he’s always wanted to go on. As he’s scrolling through flights on his laptop, Grandma, who is visiting for a few weeks, overhears the conversation.

Grandma: “What’s this I hear about you going to Japan? You shouldn’t go. It’s a godless country.”

Sibling: *Without looking up.* “I’m going to Kyoto, Grandma. There are literally two thousand temples and shrines there.”

Grandma: “Not the real God. Not Jesus. They killed Christians! And they… they bathe naked out in the open like heathens! That country’s being punished for turning its back on Him!”

I glance between them. My sibling finally closes the laptop and gives her a long look.

Sibling: “Grandma… I’m not sure it’s the Japanese who are being punished right now.”