Inter-religious dialogue is an inevitable part of the peace-building process in our society where all parts of the globe are so interlinked and face tension. However, Christianity is a religion of mission, and it has claimed that it has the one and only truth. A question remains whether Christianity is entitled to participate in an inter-religious dialogue in the first place. At the same time, we should not forget the past history in Japan where a super ideology (Emperor Imperialism) surpressed religions in Japan by oppressing and eventually engulfing them under the requirement of total obedience to this Emperor Imperialism. We need a new theology of mission if Christianity is to maintain its identity and at the same time deepen inter-religious dialogues and cooperation with other religions. In the development of religious theology, Christian missiology has changed its key concepts from "indigenization" to "inculturation" and then to "interculturation." There is a possibility of building human bonds and a challenge for the birth of a new theology in the concept of interculturation.

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The weakening of bonds between people in modern Japanese society has made it difficult to recognize various problems in local societies and to support people suffering from these problems. In this era which is filled with such "difficulties" and in which human bonds to sustain lives have weakened, religious workers should make connections with the "suffereings" of contemporary people and alter religious facilities into strongholds for changing local society. In the organized institutions of religion, original experiences are embedded as the devices of "collective memory" that could help to transcend the modern framework of community. Various attempts of religious workers engaging in social support are not just arbitrary "contributions to society" from the side of "religion," but also can be a moment of awakening for religious workers themselves. This experience can urge them to re-inquire concerning the bond of "religion" itself, from the standpoint of "sufferings," and reinvigorate the memory of original cooperation.

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In Japan, the number of foreign residents is increasing. At the same time, newly imported religions such as Brazilian evangelicalism and Islam, which are unknown to most Japanese, have established themselves in various regions. Now, they manage isolated religious communities whose members are almost totally limited to Nikkeijin and Muslims. However, in spite of their isolated situation, the religious communities are trying to approach local Japanese society, such as by supporting the Japanese as well as the foreign poor, and praying to God for the salvation of the economically depressed Japan. Most Japanese do not know about and are indifferent to this activity. Insofar as Japan is engaged in considering the issue of symbiosis between Japanese and immigrants, it seems to be necessary for Japanese to recognize the messages the religious newcomers are proclaiming. In light of the situation that there is an increasing number of religious newcomers in Japan, the construction of a co-operative relationship between them and local communities is worthy of investigation.

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Islam is often described as the most rapidly expanding world religion. However, its vitality had been observed only after the manifestations of the Islamic revival in the 1970's. In the earlier decades, reporting the declining roles of Islam in social and political arenas, under the process of secularization, was more common than not, until the advent of the Islamic revival, which has been reinstituting "the religious bond" among its adherents. One of the main characteristics of Islam is that it provides not only spiritual and ethical teachings for its adherents but also practical norms in their daily life as the sanctions of the Shari a, the revelation-based law. This law is considered as the law of the Umma, or the universal and single Islamic community, therefore transcending national borders. Many Muslim countries in the post-colonial era disregarded the Islamic law, following the legal system of modern nation-states based on the separation of the state and the church. The Islamic legal sanctions, however, have survived in Muslims' daily life in their religious rituals, family relations, festivities, and the like. They were strengthened by the Islamic revival, and in their turn, strengthened the human bonds based on religion in their society. Religion in the case of Islam is manifested not so much as an individual creed, but more as practices of brotherhood and community of the faithful. The mosques function as the center of the community and as a theater of such practices. Return to Islam first brings movements to build mosques, then the mosques become a basis for welfare for the poor, often with a medical clinic attached to serve the unprivileged needy. In Muslim countries as well as in Muslim communities in Western countries, Islamic revival is mostly accompanied by (1) Qur'anic and Islamic education, (2) building mosques and encouraging prayers, (3) welfare and benevolence activities, (4) an increase of pilgrims to al-Hajj, and (5) establishment of Islamic banks.

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