Sin

Japan’s culture is frequently described (following Ruth Benedict’s shame/guilt framework) as shame-oriented (恥, haji, public loss of face) rather than guilt-oriented; there is a real risk that 罪 gets processed primarily as causing 迷惑 (meiwaku, trouble/inconvenience to others) or public shame rather than moral guilt before a holy God regardless of social consequence. This is compounded by biblical illiteracy: many secular Japanese have no prior framework at all for guilt before a personal God.