Japan Catholic News
August 2008
ACTIVITIES FOR PEACE UNITE DIOCESES THROUGHOUT
JAPAN
Catholic Weekly, August 24, 2008
As in years past, the Catholic Church in Japan designated
Aug. 6-15 as a time to reflect on the wars of the past and to work
and pray for peace in the future. All over Japan, parishes hosted marches
and other events for the Japan Catholic 10 Days of Peace.
Tokyo
In the Tokyo archdiocese, the parishes of Kojimachi, Sekiguchi, Tama,
and Kisarazu held a prayer relay during the 10 Days for Peace.
On Aug. 9, Kojimachi Church sponsored a lecture by Yumi Kikuchi titled "The
Environment, Human Rights, and Peace" in which she tackled issues
including 9/11, the war on terror and the environmental crisis.
After the lecture, Tokyo diocesan auxiliary Bishop Kazuo Koda led
more than 100 on the Peace Pilgrimage Walk, a nearly five-kilometer walk
from Kojimachi Church to Sekiguchi Church. Participants arrived around
5 PM, when they were welcomed by Tokyo Archbishop Takeo Okada, who presided
over the main event, a Mass for Peace.
Kyoto
Throughout the Kyoto diocese, churches held lectures, ecumenical
gatherings and even a screening of a movie about Japan's peace-mandating
Constitution in celebration of the 10 Days of Peace.
Among these events, in the east block of southern Kyoto, after a
Mass for Peace lead by Bishop Yoshinao Otsuka on Aug. 10, nearly 200 joined
a march for peace through Kyoto's business district and Kawaramachi, near
the cathedral.
The marchers left from Kawaramachi Church at about 4:45 PM. Behind
a banner strung across the street, the brass band from Notre Dame Academy
Elementary School played music for peace. In the heat of the setting sun,
Bp. Otsuka led marchers on the nearly two-kilometer walk to Maruyama Park,
a walk lasting nearly an hour.
Participants kept in step, waving hands, cheering, and chanting, "We
pray for peace as one in Christ." The band led them in hymns including "Amen,
Alleluia" and "Look at the Birds of the Sky."
Wakayama
Among other peace events in Osaka diocese, a line of candles marked
the Peace Walk in the Kihoku block of Wakayama on the evening of Aug. 9.
Catholics and non-Catholics alike made up the crowd of approximately 1,000
marchers who left the Yakatacho Church and rounded Wakayama Castle before
returning to the church about an hour later.
Last year, the Kihoku block sponsored a movie screening, but this
year they decided to emulate the processions of light at Nagasaki's Urakami
Cathedral and in Lourdes, France.
Representing the executive committee, Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist
Sister Yukiei Tamura said, "Since we were having fire so close to
Wakayama (Castle), we consulted with the tourism board, police and the
fire department."
Before starting off, participants offered up prayers, then started
the march singing hymns, including "Peace Walk," written and
composed by Franciscan Brother Naoki Ida.Sr. Tamura said, "If only people would gather across denominations,
our hopes and dreams for peace can become one. Isn't that what we all feel?
I hope it keeps going. I think it's a great opportunity."
Kitakyushu
In Fukuoka diocese's Kitakyushu region, the theme of this year's
Kitakyushu Peace Gathering held at Obama Church Aug. 10 was "Let's
Talk Together to Think about Peace." In the morning, individual parishes
held Masses, and in the afternoon participants met at Obama Church
to begin the Relay Talk.
The meeting began with speeches from four elementary school students.
Sixth-grader Ayaka Kihara discussed her view of the terror attacks
in the US and the Iraq War, saying, "If we start with mutual forgiveness
in our hearts, we can come together." Second-grader Daiki Haraguchi
talked about fishing for cans with his grandfather, now deceased,
and urged adults in the audience not to throw garbage in rivers.
Following the elementary students, Mario Lopez, from the UK, talked
about meeting two atomic bomb victims in the midst of their Zen meditation.
"They weren't perfect people, but in seeing how they are able to realize
true peace, I gained a whole new understanding of the idea," he said.
Next, Shin Yoshinaga of the Kinkokyo Shinto sect discussed the ongoing
process of collecting the remains of those who died in battle in Okinawa.
The final presentation came from Oblate Fr. Jude Peirispulle, of
the Koga Church in Fukuoka. He talked about the 8,000 lives lost
in Sri Lankan ethnic conflicts where people "think that winning in war brings
about peace." He said that while people are trying to establish peace
without discrimination, the efforts are "weak and small."
After his speech, the audience engaged in free discussion, and offered
prayers for peace in Sri Lanka.
Koyo Church's Fr. Makoto Yamamoto, chairman of the peace prayer
meeting, said, "The Relay Talk, being interreligious, gave me a sense of unity.
We were able to pray together in a relaxed atmosphere. We started by listening
to the children, asking adults to think about peace, and were able to get
a sense of that responsibility."
On Aug. 5, 19 Catholics brought "atomic bomb" fire to
light the altar at the Peace Plaza in Yamegunhoshinomura, Fukuoka.
The fire was originally kindled by the atomic attack in 1945 and
has been kept burning since then.
"That kind of thing brings us all together. Small parishes might do
the same, but the atmosphere is totally different," said Fr. Yamamoto.
The fire at the plaza was carried to Hiroshima diocese's peace celebration
taking place the same day. Afterward, it was passed on to Saitama diocese.
The fire also came to light up a graveyard for Korean coal mine victims
in Soedamachi, Kitakyushu on Aug. 15.
Saga
On Aug. 10 in Saga City, the Saga Catholic Council for Justice
and Peace held a "Thinking Together about Peace: August 10 Saga Gathering" at
Saga Church (in Fukuoka diocese).
Every year on Feb. 11 (National Foundation Day), Saga normally hosts
a meeting devoted to reflection on freedom of religion, but this year it
was moved to August because of the ordination of Fr. Kouhei Ide, a member
of that parish, on the national holiday.
Professor Toshio Hatayama gave a lecture with the title "The Constitution
as it Faces Globalization in a Stratified Society," explaining that
after the cold war, instability increased. He pointed to Japan's
national discussion about departing from constitutional pacifism,
suggesting that the thoughts and stories of those who have experienced
war still have a part to play. He emphasized that Article Nine of Japan's
Constitution renouncing war has its own part to play on the international
stage in struggles concerning poverty, human rights, the environment, and
violence of all kinds.
At the question-and-answer session, he tackled questions on truancy
in schools and whether or not Japan should be a permanently neutral
country in times of war.
WORLD YOUTH DAY INSPIRES YOUNG JAPANESE WITH JOY OF THE CROSS
Catholic Weekly, August 3, 2008
 Sydney, Australia, hosted the 23rd World Youth Day (WYD), July 15-20, with the theme "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses " (Acts 1:8). One hundred eleven pilgrims from Japan participated in the world's biggest youth event along with over 400,000 youth from all over the world sharing the joy of their common Catholic faith.
On the morning of July 15, Japanese pilgrims gathered in a church in Sydney either from the homes of host families where they had stayed in Brisbane or flying in directly from Japan to form the Japan pilgrimage. In the afternoon they took part in the Opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney.
July 16, 17 and 18 were days of preparation leading up to a Vigil and Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. In the mornings of each day catecheses were given in various languages. The Japanese ones were by Bishops Kenjiro Koriyama (Kagoshima), Goro Matsuura (auxiliary of Osaka) and Mitsuaki Takami (Nagasaki).
Bp. Matsuura told the young participants, "The Church is a place for everyone to love each other. It's important that you respond to God's call and offer yourself."
Afternoons featured various events. Young people presented a variety of performances, songs, dances, etc. that highlighted national, social and cultural traits. The Japanese pilgrims, wearing happi festival costumes, joined the Asian Youth Gathering, where they performed Tanko-Bushi, a traditional song and dance of coal miners.
The Way of the Cross was the main event for Friday afternoon. Pilgrims walked through the streets, stopping at the stations set at the city's major places, such as St. Mary's Cathedral, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Sydney Opera House and Darling Harbor. On the way a Passion play was performed, which was enacted so realistically that some onlookers were moved to tears.
The culmination of the WYD was the Vigil and the Closing Mass with the pope at Randwick Racecourse on the night of July 19 and the next day. The Japanese pilgrims participated in the walk to the venue very early in the morning. No cars were allowed on any roads to Randwick. Arriving at the venue, well over 200,000 youths mingled with one another openly and freely singing, dancing, taking and exchanging pictures, discussing and talking all around the racecourse.
In his homily at the Vigil, the pope said, "We need to understand the person of the Holy Spirit and his vivifying presence in our lives. This is not easy to comprehend. Yet we do know that it is the Holy Spirit who is the love which binds us to the Lord and one another."
As it was getting dark, Eucharistic Adoration took place in which youths participated with a candle in their hand. Then all slept in a sleeping bags under the stars.
 Salesian Fr. Naoki Sato of the Nakajimacho Church in Kochi commented, "WYD provides young people with a precious opportunity to be with the Holy Father and able to feel that all are one in Jesus Christ."
On the 20th the venue swarmed with pilgrims not only from the Vigil but also those coming from all over Australia. Some 400,000 people gathered for the closing Mass
During his homily at the Mass, the pope exhorted the young pilgrims, saying, "The Holy Spirit is the power of God's life! It is the power of the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at the dawn of creation and who, in the fullness of time, raised Jesus from the dead. As the source of our new life in Christ, the Holy Spirit is also, in a very real way, the soul of the Church. Dear young people let me now ask you a question. What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely conceived freedom? How are you using the gifts you have been given, the 'power' which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?"
The Pope concluded the Mass with an announcement that the next World Youth Day will take place in 2011 in Madrid, Spain.
Redemptorist Fr. Nozomu Ishida of the Atago Church in the Nagasaki archdiocese said, "Jesus has the power to unite into one so very many young people from all over the world, all of them different in tongue, race and nationality. He is the One who we believe in. He is with us now and here. What an experience! I only hope to keep the momentum moving ahead among Japan's young generation."
The Japan pilgrimage group organized "a day to look back" before its departure on July 21, in which Masashi Shinoda of Karasaki Church in the Kyoto diocese said, "Every participant has his or her personal concerns, while their physical, social, and spiritual circumstances vary widely. The Walk and the Vigil were not so easy for me, but I thought while doing this every one carries their own cross and we are sharing them with Christ's Cross. I finally felt warm. The joy to gather around the One was there. I think it was the joy of the Cross."
GROUP WITH CATHOLIC ROOTS BECOMES GOVERNMENT-CERTIFIED NPO
Catholic Weekly, June 29, 2008
The not-for-profit organization (NPO) Sanyukai, which has offered the homeless a place of refuge, services such as free health and lifestyle counseling and free meals for more than 20 years, was recently recognized as a government-certified NPO. A Catholic priest, Fr. Yasusada Fujii of Tokyo Archdiocese, is the organization's official representative.
The process had been underway for two years as of June 1. The inspection process leading to certification of an NPO is demanding, and according to statistics published by the Government of Japan, among the 35,000 NPOs operating throughout Japan, only 87 have been recognized in this way.
The term "certified NPO" refers to an organization receiving broad-based financial support from charitable contributions and approved by the chief of the National Tax Agency. To be approved, an organization must fulfill a fixed set of requirements concerning such things as management and operational practice.
After certification, donors receive tax incentives for their contributions. For individuals, for example, money donated is tax-exempt, while organizations may donate twice as much as to groups not officially recognized.
Tokio Ishizuka, a member of Tokyo's Tama Church and chief financial officer of Sanyukai, explained that the process could be moved forward only "with teeth clenched" in resolution.
Various paperwork was required, Ishizuka said, including a list of all donors of ¥200,000 or more and other information, such as "how much rice was donated and when, as well as what was done with it."
But, according to Ishizuka, the hardest part was obtaining references verifying that the Sanyukai had abided by all applicable regulations, including that of the governor Tokyo.
On June 20, Ishizuka, whose background is in banking, told a reporter, "The procedures were difficult, but they raised the institutional awareness of, for example, appropriate accounting practices, and ultimately it helped us mature as an organization." He was working that day at Sanyukai, preparing meals for the 20-odd people lined up waiting their turn outside.
Sanyukai was formed by Catholics and others in 1984 in a district formerly known as Sanya and it incorporated as an NPO in 2002.
The group's employees consist of five full-time and seven part-time
workers whose wages are furnished entirely from charitable contributions.
In addition, about 50 volunteers offer their services, including a
number of doctors. Many of these people are also active in churches.
In August of last year, the number of people receiving free medical
services since the project began reached 100,000.
Another certified NPO with deep ties to the Catholic Church is "Caring for Young Refugees" (CYR), which also operates in Tokyo with Fr. Masakatsu Fukamizu, a diocesan priest, acting as representative.
ECUMENICAL PRAYER GROUP REMEMBERS MARTYRS
Catholic Weekly, June 8, 2008
Chotokai, a nationwide ecumenical movement which has long conducted interfaith morning prayer meetings, held a two-day national convention May 23-24 at Kumamoto Terusa hotel in Kumamoto City, drawing participants from throughout Japan.
This meeting, the 47th such event, centered on the theme, "Praying together in remembrance of the martyrs." One hundred fifty participants gathered from all over Japan, including places as far away as Hokkaido and Okinawa, to study the lives of martyrs and engage in prayer.
Certain topics were selected in advance and recommended for special petitions, including the realization of world peace, the proliferation of Chotokai in prefectures that do not yet have chapters, Christian unity, the success of the beatification ceremony for the 188 Japanese martyrs this year and greater participation in Chotokai, especially by young people.
On the first day, Pastor Yoshichika Yamashita, pastor of Kumamoto's Kusabacho Church (United Church of Christ in Japan), offered a lecture titled "Reverend King, 20th Century Martyr" in memory of the American civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The next day, Bishop Osamu Mizobe of Takamatsu, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan Special Committee for Canonization and Beatification, spoke on "Freedom of Faith, Freedom of Religion."
Umeda Church parishioner Yoshiteru Maeoka, 76, has been a member of Chotokai for six years. He said that through Bishop Mizobe's speech, he gained a renewed appreciation for the lives of faith exemplified by the martyrs.
"Although it's true that we have freedom of religion these days ...Well, we really need to get serious about our faith. Chotokai is involved in ecumenical activities and seems to me that it's a very significant entity. The members all have great enthusiasm and really hope it keeps growing," he said.
Fr. Masato Fukahori, pastor of Saga Church in Fukuoka diocese and responsible for promoting veneration of the martyrs within the diocese, and Jesus Christ Church of Japan Pastor Hideki Nagao were the other two preachers at the event.
Shozaburo Yoneda, chairman of the Chotokai national organization, expressed his happiness and "gratitude for the many significant sermons and lectures, which will provide great strength and courage for lives of faith."
Although the convention is an annual event, this is the first time in 13 years that it has been held in Kumamoto. On May 25 and 26, tours were organized for those interested, and, after Sunday Mass or liturgy at their respective churches, participants visited Christian historical sites in Amakusa and other places of interest.
"Nippon Notes" by William Grimm
THOUGHTS ON A PRIEST SHORTAGE
UCA News
TOKYO (UCAN) -- The Japanese magazine Yomiuri Weekly reported on July
20 the number of priests in Japan dropped about 82 percent from 1970
to 2005.
When that period began, the country had about 1.6 million priests,
but now only about 300,000. The article goes on to mention that 30
percent of priests now serve multiple communities, some ministering
to as many as seven or eight.
Since Japan is home to fewer than 440,000 Japanese Catholics, the numbers
obviously do not refer to Catholic priests.
The article, entitled Otera ga naku naru! (The temples are disappearing!),
shows how the decline in the number of Buddhist priests in Japan is
leading to the closing of temples throughout the country. It cites
figures from the government's Agency for Cultural Affairs showing that
the number of Buddhist temples has dropped from 96,000 to 86,000. As
aging priests die or retire, the rate of decline will grow even steeper
since there are few younger priests to succeed them. The New York
Times (July 14, 2008) carried an article with the even more dire title, "In
Japan, Buddhism May Be Dying Out."
We are used to hearing and worrying about the Catholic clergy shortage.
In the same 35-year period mentioned in the Yomiuri Weekly article,
the Catholic Church in Japan experienced a 20-percent decline in the
number of priests -- from 1,926 to 1,542. So, by some measures, we
actually are better off than the major traditional religion of Japan,
though this is not much comfort in the face of our own problems.
What Buddhism faces in Japan puts our Catholic situation, and some
of the proposed responses, into a new perspective.
Two solutions offered for the Church's shortage of priests are a married
clergy and better inculturation. The situation of Buddhism indicates
that those suggestions, while valid for other reasons, will not solve
our problems.
One unusual feature of Buddhism in Japan is that its priests are married.
In fact, caring for a temple is usually a "family business," with
responsibility passing from father to son. Part of the reason for the
decline in temple priests is the reluctance of priests' sons to follow
in their fathers' footsteps, especially in rural areas where the young
have left for life in the city and temple affiliation is dropping below
300 families, considered the minimum to support a temple, its priest
and his family.
Powerful trends in society that cannot be countered by having a married
clergy are at work. It is unlikely that simply having a married Catholic
clergy will be any more successful than Buddhism in facing those trends.
Much of the talk of inculturation for the Church in Japan presents
Buddhist meditation, liturgy, architecture, etc. as models for what
we should be doing. While there are certainly reasons to de-Westernize
Catholicism, it is not so clear that adopting Buddhist styles and practices
will achieve much for us. After all, they are not working for Buddhism
itself, as more and more people, especially in the cities, lose interest
in what for more than a millennium has helped define traditional Japanese
culture.
When I returned to Japan after some years away and was wondering in
what sort of activities to engage, a Japanese Catholic told me, "Whatever
you do, don't get into religious archeology, caught up in Zen and other
ancient religious forms. Look at Japan as it is today and find ways
to proclaim the Gospel in this day and age." His point, confirmed
by the Yomiuri and Times articles, was that the days of Buddhism as
an expression of Japan are ending as the nation becomes increasingly
post-religious.
The decline of Buddhism is partly due to its failure to take bold steps
to present itself to Japanese society as it actually exists today.
Perhaps complacency based on being the traditional religion and a sense
that, for the most part, there was no other option for people kept
Buddhism from responding soon enough to a changing world.
This sounds similar to the situation of Christianity in Europe, including
those parts that have been traditionally Catholic. The situation in
Asia is not significantly different. Even here, we seem to hold on
to old institutions, styles and structures that, quite frankly, are
not very successful in the present and will be even less so in the
future.
Can we find a way to be Church that is not archeology, but which actually
presents the Gospel in a way that answers the search of men and women
in the 21st century and which, by doing so, will call forth ministers
for that Gospel proclamation?
Finding a solution is not easy, but it is impossible if we do not grasp
the problem. The way to find it is to step away from our institutions,
prejudices and "comfort zones" to immerse ourselves in the
hopes, fears and doubts of people around us. Laity, in particular,
must develop the spiritual and intellectual tools to understand and
respond, and the clergy must aid them in that development.
Buddhism may have lost its chance to speak to the hearts of Japanese
in the 21st century. Will the Church be ready to take up that challenge?
Maryknoll Father William Grimm
is the editor-in-chief of Katorikku Shimbun, Japan's Catholic
weekly.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer and
do not represent the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan.
back to top
CATHOLIC MOVIE AWARD GOES TO DOCUMENTARY ON SCHOOLGIRLS IN OKINAWA BATTLE
Catholic Weekly, July 20, 2008
An annual award for films that reflect gospel values has been given
to a documentary about schoolgirls forced to serve as nurses during
the 1945 battle of Okinawa.
The 32nd Japanese Catholic Movie Award under the auspices of SIGNIS
Japan, Japan Catholic Media Council, was awarded to Himeyuri (star
lilies), a film directed by Shohei Shibata, released in March 2007.
The award ceremony and a showing of the film were held July 4 at ZERO
Hall in Nakano, Tokyo.
The annual award is granted to a film released within the previous
year between December and November.
During the World War II Okinawa battle, 200 girl students in southern
Okinawa, neither knowing where to go nor what to do, were forced to
nurse wounded soldiers on the battlefield. They were called the Himeyuri
Corps, and many died in battle. The award-winning film is a documentary
featuring the testimonies of 22 survivors. It took 13 years to film
them all.
Fr. Masahide Haresaku, vice-president of SIGNIS Japan, said, "We
thank the Himeyuri survivors for telling us their bitter experiences
and the director and staff for making the film that tells us what we
must face squarely and listen to firmly."
Fr. Eichi Shimosaku of the Secretariat of the Catholic Bishops Conference
of Japan (CBCJ) read a message from Tokyo auxiliary Bishop Kazuo Koda,
director of the CBCJ Social Communications Desk.
"The film itself presents the true spirit of the survivors' mission," the
bishop said in his message. "We extend our appreciation, as it
leaves to us what we mustn't forget."
In his talk after the showing Shibata, the director, said, "The
story of the Himeyuri Corps has been dramatized in movies and TV programs.
But, there has been no documentary film made solely out of survivors'
testimonies. Editing testimony was in fact weaving a life of the Himeyuri
Corps."
In directing the filming he set two rules. One was to ask the speaker
to come to the sites where she worked. The other was to neither induce
narration nor stop a speaker until she had finished saying what she
wanted to say.
"They were in their 60s when we started the filming. Now they
are in their 80s," Shibata continued. "Three died before
the film was completed. Some are currently sick. The words of the Himeyuri
survivors, who finally began to tell their stories that they didn't
or couldn't disclose before, impressed me with the power that welled
up from their hearts. I think only those who have known pain can talk
about hope."
Information regarding show schedules etc. are available at the film's
website: www.himeyuri.info/index.html or from Production Asia, telephone
042-497-6975.
CARITAS JAPAN HELPS HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN CAMBODIA
Catholic Weekly, July 27, 2008
Caritas Japan Assistance Committee members Katsuhiro Kawahara and Sawako
Inae conducted an inspection tour June 23-27 of job training and the
health care projects that Caritas supports in Cambodia.
The projects organized by Caritas Cambodia aim at youths' economic
self-reliance through job training and at village family health care
through hygiene education.
According to Inae, 35-40 percent of the Cambodian population lives
on merely one US dollar per day. The literacy rates remains around
40 percent. Because many men were killed by the Pol Pot regime, 30
percent of householders are widows. The average age of the population
is only 22.
By the time war on the Indochinese Peninsula finally ended in 1998,
it had devastated major social infrastructures such as roads, electricity,
water supply, schools and healthcare. Since many able persons were
killed, social reform was retarded and the national economy stagnated.
The resulted scarcity of job opportunity drove young people to drug
abuse and prostitution.
Caritas Cambodia began the youth job training program in 2000, offering
15 courses such as repair of electric appliances or cars, hairdressing,
bookkeeping, secretarial work, etc. By the time Caritas Japan began
its financial support in 2003, a total of 1,700 young men and women
had taken courses. Currently about 120 youths, aged 17-25, are studying.
Almost all graduates have gotten a job.
"The impacts this project has on the future of Cambodian youth
is enormous," Inae commented. "Its contribution to the youths'
economic self-reliance is also significant."
Village Health Volunteers (VHV) is another project that Caritas Japan
has supported since 2001. The program trains volunteers to improve
hygiene and gives village women lessons on how to prevent malnutrition
in their babies and children.
VHV was found useful not only for physical health, but also psychological
health, as the villagers regained the mutual communication and solidarity
that had been damaged by the widespread spying on neighbors that was
a feature of the communist regimes.
"Job training and health care are indispensable to Cambodia," Inae
concluded, "as they boost the nation's human resource development
by building up the base of human power. We will continue our financial
aid for both."
CATHOLICS OFFER SERVICES TO HOSPITAL PATIENTS IN KANAGAWA
Catholic Weekly, July 13, 2008
A Catholic volunteer group offers company and comfort to patients in
13 hospitals in Kanagawa prefecture.
The group, called 'Lampus' (lamp), currently organized in 66 small
teams, has a membership of about 320 parishioners from 16 churches
in the Yokohama Diocese.
The group was set up in 1987 at a call from Augustinian Fr. Alfred
Burk, then pastor of Futamatagawa Church, who was approached by St.
Marianna University School of Medicine Hospital for help with patients.
Later, when a friend of Tokuko Shiino, who now directs Lampus, was
hospitalized in Kanagawa Cancer Center, Shiino obtained permission
to do volunteer work. She, together with Terumi Suguro, a Futamatagawa
parishioner, began a mobile library. In the beginning, they visited
patients' beds carrying books in cardboard boxes. Now they draw four
wheeled bookshelves displaying about 300 books, mostly on loan from
public libraries or donated by individuals.
Lampus expanded as time went by. During the last 10 years it began
to receive requests for a similar service from doctors or nurses who
had transferred to other hospitals. So, Lampus has branched out of
Yokohama to Ashigara, Chigasaki and Kawasaki, all large cities in Kanagawa
prefecture. Lampus, as a case arises, entrusts the mission to a nearby
church.
The way Lampus operates is to form an organizing committee that bridges
the hospital and the group as the base of cooperation. An important
principle of the activity to allow members a wide freedom to act on
their own plans, but always with the needs of patients paramount.
At the Cancer Center the work begins at nine in the morning. Member
put on aprons -- pink for women and yellow for men -- and
recite a prayer of Mother Teresa for their spiritual preparation. The
prayer time is repeated at midday for afternoon activities. Outpatient
desks, patients' rooms and the terminal-care section are the volunteer's
working places.
In the entrance hall members welcome patients and visitors, and often
guide newcomers to their consulting room or a doctor's office.
Tomoko Kimura, with15 years' experience, takes particular care of cancer
patients.
She said, "Patients who have been given a diagnosis of cancer
often fall into difficulties in reading and writing forms, since their
heart and hands begin to tremble. I approach such patients to help
complete the necessary procedures. Some elders, particularly lonely
old persons, have come to return a friendly look to members' smiling
greeting."
The service includes footbath and massage at the bedside of patients
and the laundering of patients' hospital wear. Occasionally, music
concerts or clown performances are arranged in the hall.
In a corner of the terminal care section flower arranging takes place
every Thursday. Lampus members bring flowers that they grow in their
own gardens. Patients select their favorite flowers, sitting in a chair
and enjoying leisurely talks.
One patient commented, "I love natural flowers. Just looking at
them is enough for me."
Another added, "I always look forward to Thursday. The joy is
so great that I might even say to my family I would be all right if
no one visited me on Thursday."
A free coffee service is open from Monday to Friday. Elegant cups and
saucers are used to serve drinks at the bedside. The volunteers hope
that this service will allow families and other visitors to taste a
happy hour with their patient.
Shiino said, "Most Japanese are born and die in hospitals. Then,
why not to make the hospital a place of consolation? We are saying
a simple 'Yes' to a call from God."
Other activities Lampus offers include cradling premature babies on
behalf of their mothers in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and nursery
care for sick children at meals or playing with them with toys or games.
Role playing as patients to assist in the training of medical students
and training on volunteerism for novice students is also included in
the group's activities.
|
