A Conversion Story Like No Other From Japan

Ito Miyuki, 38, and her daughter, Kotone, 5, will be baptized into the Catholic faith tomorrow — Shinto Priest's Wife, Daughter Becoming Catholic. On a trip to Mother India, Mrs. Ito had been given a rosary by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, whose visage later appeared to her after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, which later disappeared.

So much for the glorious part; now for the possibly scandalous part:

With only a few days left before her baptism, Miyuki continues to play sacred music during her husband's ceremonies. After her baptism, she plans to continue to do so.... For some time Miyuki considered the possibility of abandoning her functions in the shrine, but she was dissuaded by a priest of the parish and the team of laymen that support her.

Her husband's words, however, lessen the scandal a bit, at least in this blogger's mind:

Considering my position, I can’t be baptized myself... But for my own part, I do wish I could. This area has a shrinking population, but despite this, all the residents continue to support Shinto festivals with monetary offerings. I feel I must do what I can to meet the needs of those who do so much to protect this shrine.

The country has been notoriously impenetrable to the Gospel, at least after Japan's "Christian Century" (1549-1639). Her rural areas, like Korea's, are dying from depopulation. Only elderly farmers are left, probably not the most fertile ground for evangelization. Could this Shintō priest be delaying his own baptism that he might offer his elderly "parishioners" the only opportunity some contact, however imperfect, with the divine?

UPDATE: Peter Kim of Totus Tuus has a post that, while not related to the story above, sheds some light on it, reminding us that the "Shinto worship of Japan was... allowed as a cultural event rather than as a religion by the Holy See" — Catholic Church and Shinto Worphip.