Japan Catholic News
July 2009
OKINAWA PRIEST LOOKS BACK AT 1945 BATTLE
Catholic Weekly, July 5, 2009
As much at one fourth of the civilian population of Okinawa was killed
in the battle of March-June 1945 known as the "Typhoon of Steel." One
of the survivors is Father Kiyomasa Oshiro, 76, pastor of the Kainan
Church of the Okinawa diocese.
In April 1945, the 12-year-old Kiyomasa along with his mother, grandfather,
two brothers and a cousin fled their home on the Motobu Peninsula
in northern Okinawa because of worsening air raids and naval bombardment
by Allied forces. The family spent two months wandering the mountains.
The priest said, "My job was to carry a pot of salt as it could
keep vegetables and grasses edible, except for poisonous ones."
Isolated from news of the battle, the only thing they could do was
to change campsites as often as possible. When they bumped into other
refugee families they wound up exchanging only a few words with each
other.
Fr. Oshiro saw his cousin torn apart when a bomb exploded nearby.
Recalling the scene he said, "The head blew off her body. Blood
and bubbles gushed out. The thought, 'my turn is next,' flashed
across my mind. I remember hugging my mother and crying."
When the air raids were over the family returned home to Sesoko Island
of Motobu.
"My grandfather and I went out to search after our runaway horse," the
priest reminisced. "Then, we saw some 50 horses that had gone wild galloping
headlong toward us. I was frightened. But, when they got to about 50 meters
in front of us one of them slowed down and came to us. It was the one we were
looking for! We embraced him around the neck, pressing our cheeks on it."
Because Okinawa had lost so many young people and teachers during
the battle and the island was so devastated, the young Oshiro decided
that he would become a teacher to "save people" and enrolled
in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Ryukyus.
One day he visited a church near the campus. There, he said, he experienced, "a
light shining on my war-afflicted soul."
He changed paths and entered the seminary, following a school friend,
Fr. Kazuo Ono of the Kagoshima Diocese.
Fr. Oshiro worries about the future when he considers that 75% of
U.S. bases in Japan are located in Okinawa. He said that if a war
were to occur, Okinawa would be a target again as a matter of course.
He remarked, "We ran into the mountains because we thought the
Japanese military bases there would protect us. But, on the contrary
the existence of the bases caused the U.S. attack. As a matter of
fact bases invite battle."
"Japan's defense policy infringes on 'distributive justice' in
this regard," he added. "The government should reform the policy
to conform to this justice. Until then the Okinawa tragedy will remain unresolved.
I hate war from the bottom of my heart."
CBCJ PLENARY FOCUSES ON NEW JUDICIAL SYSTEM, ISSUES
GUIDELINES FOR CLERGY, RELIGIOUS AND LAITY
Catholic Weekly, June 28, 2009
The 2009 regular plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference
of Japan (CBCJ) took place June 15-20 at the Tokyo Catholic Center. On
June 18, the bishops gathered at Tokyo's Kojimachi Church to celebrate
an opening Mass for the Year for Priests. Afterward, priests representing
each diocese joined the bishops for the rest of their meeting for a discussion
on furthering evangelization.
Seventeen bishops from all of Japan's 16 dioceses along with one
diocesan administrator met, joined by representatives of religious communities
and staff from the CBCJ acting as observers. Before the discussions, there
were reports and announcements, including one about pilgrims who will visit
the Vatican in November to give thanks for last year's beatification of
188 Japanese martyrs.
The meeting's main point of discussion was the May initiation of
the lay judge system. The CBCJ officially confirmed a letter of instruction
to the laity, as well as a separate letter to priests and Religious
regarding the conference's opinion on the system. An English translation
of the letter to the laity can be found at the CBCJ website, www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/edoc/090617.htm.
The letter to the clergy says that as a general rule, if a priest,
Sister, or any member of a religious community is served notice of selection
to be a lay judge, he or she is advised to submit a clearly stated refusal
and if chosen to serve despite that refusal, the clergy member is encouraged
to pay a fine rather than serve, because of the rule that clergy are prohibited
from accepting public office which includes participation in exercise of
the power of the state. Deacons, however, are not bound by this rule of
the clergy.
The bishops also confirmed that the Committee for Church Administration
and Legislation is preparing a document to present to the government, outlining
the reasons for the Catholic clergy's refusal to serve in the role of a
lay judge.
On June 18, the bishops also held a press conference to announce
their position to the general media.
"We also respect the position of members of the laity who, following their
conscience, refuse to become lay judges," said Tokyo Archbishop Takeo
Okada.
Archbishop Okada added that Catholics would suffer if Catholic lay
judges were to become involved in cases involving the death penalty. Even
if the Catholics expressed their opposition to the death penalty during
deliberations, that opposition would not be publicly announced due to legal
confidentiality issues.
WORRIES ABOUT LAY JUDGE SYSTEM CONTINUE
Catholic Weekly, June 21, 2009
The religious communities network "Stop the Death Penalty" held
a seminar to study the lay judge system from the religious viewpoint on June
6 at the Japan Christian Center in Tokyo.
The seminar marked the 13th of the "abolish the death penalty" series
developed by the Jesuit Social Center.
Ryokaku Tanabe, a performer of kodan, a traditional storytelling
form, was invited to narrate a new story in his series "the death
penalty and the lay judges system." About 40 people, including Catholics,
Protestants, Buddhists, citizens and students.
The story dealt with the robbery of eight million yen from a pawnshop
and the murder of its clerk. The trial, involving citizen judges, was unable
to reach full agreement, but in a five-to-four vote sentenced the accused
to life imprisonment. The accused then appealed to a higher court in order
to be judged by professional judges alone.
After the kodan performance, participants engaged in group discussions
to express opinions and impressions. Many spoke of the difficulty of fact-finding
and sentencing in the trial procedure.
"Can we get anywhere if we worry to excess about passing a false sentence?" was
one opinion. Others said, "But, can we be so sure as to say that this
case leaves no room for doubt whatever?"
It became obvious that there were misunderstandings among the lay
judges about life imprisonment. A recommendation was made to learn more
about what it actually means to prisoners. Participants expressed anxiety
over their scant knowledge about the penalty system, and which penalties
should be applied for which crime.
A Sister expressed her worry that if the majority of lay judges called
for the death penalty, it might mean that she would be seen as favoring
the penalty even if she was in the minority.
Haruka Takekoshi, a 19-year-old university student, said that the
seminar was a good opportunity for her to exchange views with people opposed
to the death penalty, since those around her are more or less of in favor
of it.
A group took up the problem of care and support for the criminal.
An eye for the weakness of human beings and consideration for criminals
was stressed.
In his concluding remarks Makoto Iwai, a lawyer, answered a question
about how arguments at a lower court are conveyed to a high court.
He explained that only the first trial's sentence with a brief
summary of its reasons were usually passed on.
Iwai mentioned up that courts used to look at hard facts alone, but
recently have become aware of the importance of looking at individuals.
Otherwise judgment might miss the whole point of a case. He added that
the courts themselves have begun to change.
PARISH HELPS BRAZILIAN STUDENTS AS RECESSION CLOSES
THEIR SCHOOLS
Catholic Weekly, June 14, 2009
Since the recession began, there has been an increase in the number of
Brazilian families in Japan unable to pay for classes at schools
devoted specifically to their needs. In Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, where the largest
population of Brazilians in Japan resides, two out of eight Brazilian
schools have been forced to close. In response, the Hamamatsu Church, with Salesian
pastor Fr. Hitoshi Yamanouchi, has provided support for students
going to public schools as well as hosting free classes in the parish meeting
hall specifically for Brazilians who have been unable to go to other
schools.
The Young Brazilians Education Support Project holds classes from 9 AM
to 4 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday using a year-long curriculum designed
specifically for the project.
There are currently about 50 students aged six to 16. As of May
27, students were divided into 4 classes based on age and ability,
with 5 periods each day for classes in Japanese, Portuguese and mathematics.
The children can also look forward to lunch and recess, running around
the churchyard and playground.
About 80 percent of the parishioners supporting the classes are Brazilians
and other foreigners, some of whom have lost their jobs. They use family
cars as school buses and a kitchen in the church to make lunch. Teachers
from the closed Brazilian schools and retired Brazilian teachers, along
with Sisters from the Miyazaki Caritas convent, lead the classes.
People in the church started to help each other beyond nationalities
because they feared that serious problems might arise if there were
no help for adolescents who no longer attend regular school. These young
people might become dependent shut-ins, be tempted into delinquent behavior
or develop
emotional problems.
Enrollment in the classes is not limited to parishioners of Hamamatsu
Church. At least one student comes in to the city after an hour's
drive from home. Isaku Sato, who is in charge of welfare concerns at the
church, said, "Many Brazilians are working to send part of their money back
to family in their home country, and have little savings. Most of them
have been sending their children to Brazilian schools, since they plan
to eventually return to Brazil. However, that means that many of the children
do not speak much Japanese, and so it's not easy for them to transfer
to Japanese public schools."
Hamamatsu Church has already accomplished the project's first goal
of completing an 18-day course of study that started in mid-February. The
project is currently in its second phase, from last April 20 to March 19
of next year, with increased Japanese classes so that students have a better
chance of gaining admittance to regular Japanese schools.
The project receives subsidies from the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology for an honorarium for teachers and assistants,
while funds for school supplies and food come from parishes, the Yokohama
diocese, convents, seminaries, and schools as well as charitable organizations
and individual contributors.
There are some who questioned whether a parish should be involved
in running a school, but Fr. Yamanouchi insists that a church is not just
a place for Mass and prayer, but a place of welcoming, instruction, faith
formation, and meeting friends.
"I want children to experience the church as a place they can find
their place in the world," he said. "Of all the things a faith
experience can be, if time at church is happy and enjoyable, then even
if the children leave Hamamatsu, or Japan, whenever they feel troubled,
they can remember their experience at a church, and be inspired to go to
(another) church."
Among the children, there is a 13-year-old boy who had never been
in a classroom before coming to Hamamatsu Church's Brazilian classes. He
was unable to read either Portuguese or Japanese, but he discovered the
joy of learning and gained confidence.
Observing his change and growth, people in Hamamatsu Church have said, "We
are really happy that we started the school." As a whole, students
were hesitant at first about the classes, but have found an anchor
in the new routine.
Hamamatsu Church also gives supplemental classes to foreign students who
go to public schools.
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