Madam, - I am misquoted in the feature on Christmas in Japan in your edition of December 18th as saying that non-Christians who attend Christmas Mass "like the atmosphere of it, rather than the religion". Many might say this, but my view is that Japanese religious pluralism involves a genuinely spiritual response to various traditions and rituals. In the case of Christianity, it is Christmas that most touches the imagination of the Japanese and of other Asians.
May I say that I also think the writer might take a more sympathetic attitude to Japan's young lovers, who are generally trying hard to conduct their lives with decency and style. On neither score are we Irish in a particularly privileged position to take a condescending attitude to the Japanese. - Yours, etc.,
Father JOSEPH O'LEARY, Sophia University, Chiyoda-ku, Japan.