Japan Catholic News
June 2009
CHURCH AND VILLAGE HONOR KIRISITAN SAMURAI JUAN GOTO
Catholic Weekly, June 14, 2009
The Isawa plain in south Iwate prefecture is known for its widespread rice paddies. Its history goes back to the beginning of 17th century, when a Catholic governor, Juan Goto, ruled the land.
He is popular among farmers as he developed irrigation system that used water from the Isawa River to turn a wilderness into fertile rice fields.
Villagers hold festivals each spring and autumn to commemorate Goto's virtuous governorship and pray for welfare and good harvests through his intercession.
The Catholic Mizusawa Church hosts the spring festival on the last Sunday of May each year, while the village arranges the autumn one. About 120, villagers and village officials participated in this year's May 31 Mass and celebration.
Goto was born in Iwate, and studied and was baptized in Nagasaki. He learned Western irrigation technology. When a feudal clan leader, Masamune Date retained him as a governor of the Isawa area, Goto applied the irrigation system to turn a barren plain into rice paddies to improve the hard life of farmers. Some of the canals and dams he developed are still in use today.
Since villagers' welfare was always at the top of his ruling programs, farmers venerated and loved him. He was, and still is, very popular among the people to the extent that even today they call him "The Teacher."
Goto established not only an irrigation system but also the foundations for evangelization in the area. He built a church, invited Jesuit priests and named the site Fukuhara (field of the Gospel). It became a Catholic settlement. The church was said to be one of the first two churches in the Ou area, north of what was then the main part of Japan.
Goto had to leave Fukuhara as the Christian persecution became increasingly ruthless and unmerciful. Villagers held on to their faith and the village became a shelter for hiding priests. It was there that the recently beatified Jesuit Father Peter Kibe was captured.
The spring festival usually begins with a procession to a memorial at the remains of Goto's house, where Mass is celebrated. This year, due to rain, the Mass was offered indoors, led by three concelebrating priests: Fr. Moriya Sato of Mizusawa Church, Fr. Osamu Sato of Kitakami Church and Fr. Anton Züger, Missionary Society of Bethlehem.
Fr. Moriya Sato, who only arrived in Mizusawa this spring, said in his homily, "I had little knowledge of Goto, but reading a novel about him I was moved by his being a Catholic and the distinguished legacy he left us."
During the Mass a blessing of farms and paddies was conducted. Incense was burned and holy water was sprinkled out through windows. A cross from the Goto memorial was brought to the altar.
After Mass, Shoji Takahashi, chairman of the Fukuhara municipal council, gave an address, saying that Goto disappeared from history after his death until 1924, when he was posthumously awarded the rank of Jugoi, the Fifth Grade, Junior Court Rank. Takahashi said that the suppression of Goto's memory until then demonstrated the severity of the persecution of Christians. Takahashi also told the Mass attendees of his plan to organize an event in 2012 to mark the 400th anniversary of Goto's arrival in Fukuhara.
Atsuko Chiba, a parishioner of the Mizusawa Church, explained that there are several sites linked to Goto. In addition to the Juan Memorial, there is a Buddhist temple, Bishamondo, built on the site of the first church. Kannondo, a shrine that was used to hide a Marian statute under the guise of the goddess Kannon with a baby, and Juan-seki, a dam constructed by Goto to solve a dispute over water.
Chiba said that every year she becomes aware of a new phase of the feast. She said she plans to continue her involvement in the festivals in order to keep the cooperation between Church and village active and friendly.
Fr. Osamu Sato, who used to be pastor of Mizusawa Church, stressed the importance of letting Catholics know more of Goto and for them to learn more about his faithfulness to God and his neighbors.
FOREIGN AND JAPAN SIGNIS AWARDS TO JAPANESE FILM
OKURIBITO
Catholic Weekly, June 7, 2009
 SIGNIS, the international Catholic communications organization, gave
its annual award to the Japanese film Departures (Okuirbito)
at the Washington DC international film festival.
"The Signis jury cited Departures for its 'reverence for human
dignity,'" according to an April 27 announcement by jury chairman Frank
Frost as reported by the Catholic News Service (CNS).
CNS further reported that, "The film's title is derived from its Japanese
title, Okuribito, or 'one who sees people off.' The movie combines
serious drama with human-foibles comedy to tell the story of an orchestral
musician who loses his job in an economic downturn. Returning to
his ancestral village, he stumbles into a job assisting a man who 'encoffins'
the dead. The practitioner he assists educates him in the meticulous rituals
that lend dignity to the dead and consolation to the bereaved."
Since last year, Signis Japan had been paying attention to Okuribito,
which won the 81st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of
the Year in February. Signis Japan gives a Japan Catholic Film Award each
year, and this year's award will be given to Okuribito later this
year in a ceremony in Tokyo. Signis Japan is affiliated with the Catholic
Bishops' Conference of Japan's Office for Social Communications.
CHANCERY OFFICIALS DISCUSS IMPROVING CHURCH STATISTICS
Catholic Weekly, June 6, 2009
 The secretariat of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan
(CBCJ) held a plenary meeting of diocesan chancery officials
May 25-26 at the Japan Catholic Center in Tokyo. Representatives from
nine dioceses and others took part and dealt with issues raised by
the bishops regarding Church statistics.
Statistics announced each year constitute the official data of the
Catholic Church in Japan and include the number of Catholics, infant and
adult baptisms etc. The statistics are based on figures as of the end of
December compiled by each diocese from responses they receive from every
parish. The figures are published by the CBCJ around June of the following
year.
The session began with the issue of how to deal with parishioners
whose contacts have been lost for a long time. Due to some ambiguity
in instructions given in a recent survey form, several cases of people's
being mistakenly removed from parish records occurred. Fr. Manyo
Maeda of the CBCJ secretariat apologized for the unclear instructions,
confirming that removal from the records was wrong, and asked that new
instructions be followed from now on.
Opinions and questions expressed during the session included, "How
should we fill out the form if no children attend church schools?" "Wouldn't
it be better to count children in preschool at the end of December, instead
of a total of annual attendance?" "We need to develop a system to
count Catholics of foreign nationality and to place them in the statistics." "A
new column or box should be created to show community services with their participants." "We
need to think about a thorough reorganization of the report and develop a new
scheme to present clear statistics on the Church in Japan."
On the second day, May 26, the schedule and size of the plenary meeting
was discussed. Over 10 years ago it was the rule that all officials were
to convene annually. But, recently the meeting downsized to participation
by the archdioceses of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagasaki and then decisions and
information were conveyed to all the other dioceses. Whether or not to
continue the current style or return to the past one was investigated.
While chancery officials recently assigned to the position welcomed
the opportunity to meet regularly to learn things face to face, those with
long experience rather preferred to continue with an on-demand basis in
order to minimize the time and costs for communication. In their opinion,
emails and letters suffice for communication.
All participants agreed that a plenary meeting should be organized
when there was a specific request from the CBCJ or a diocese and that setting
the dates and agenda should be made in advance to allow ample time for
preparation.
HOSPITAL MARKS 120 YEARS OF SERVING HANSEN'S DISEASE PATIENTS
Catholic Weekly, May 31, 2009
 Koyama Fukusei Hospital in Gotenba, Shizuoka, a pioneer in the treatment
of Hansen's disease in Japan, celebrated its 120th anniversary May
16. Some 250 people connected to the hospital gathered for Mass and
reflection.After
the Mass, Catholics united with the wider community for a celebratory
event that included a professional musical performance.
Yokohama diocese Bishop Masahiro Umemura in his sermon likened the
experience of those who have stayed at the hospital to the experience
of the man whose blindness, Jesus said, was meant to show the power of
God.The
bishop also thanked the Missionary Sisters of Christ the King who
worked at the hospital.
After the Mass, the hospital's chairman spoke, praising five staff
members who served the hospital for many years, including one who served
more than 52 years. The chairman also presented Bishop Umemura with
a bouquet in honor of the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination.
The celebration also featured musical performances, games and other
entertainment for local families and children.
In 1887, Paris Foreign Mission Society Fr. Germain Léger Testevuide
met a person suffering from Hansen's disease. Inspired to help victims
of the disease, outcasts from society, Fr. Testevuide rented a house in
Gotenba and began his hospital, ministering to six patients. In spite
of initial opposition from local citizens, a proper hospital building was
established on the current site. Gradually, the priests and medical
staff won the support of locals.
Currently, the hospital features internal medicine, dermatology,
hospice care and Hansen's disease treatment services, as well as
Fukusei Memorial Hall, a national cultural property featuring information
on the treatment of Hansen's disease. Local residents visit the hospital
during walks, and a marathon course for elementary and junior high school
students runs through the grounds. The hospital is open to the whole
community.
JAPANESE CATHOLIC HELPS CREATE COMMUNITIES OF
THE POOR IN PERU
Catholic Weekly, May 24, 2009
Michiko Ohashi, a member of the Yoshizuka Church in Fukuoka, has
lived in Peru since 1984. She lives in a poor neighborhood in Carabaiyo,
a suburb of Lima, and helps at a vocational training school, community
kitchens etc. there, helping to create communities for people who
are too poor to live on their own.
Carabaiyo is located in a desert with neither grass nor trees. Many
people from different places such as the Amazon and Andes, different races,
cultures and backgrounds have come to the capital area to look for jobs.
Ohashi said, "People's minds are dominated by a feeling that they
can't achieve anything no matter how hard they try, and an idea that it
is impossible to create something together with people from different backgrounds.
I think this lack of confidence is a form of poverty. I wanted to change
it."
Due to generations of malnutrition, people are prone to illness,
and many children are born with handicaps. Because poor people scarcely
eat a meal once a day, Ohashi first helped local residents organize
a "community
kitchen."
Twenty to 30 families form a group to run a community kitchen.
They cook 150 to 200 inexpensive and nutritious meals each day. Each
family has six to eight members, but they come to buy food for about
four people. Then, people deliver the rest to the solitary elderly
and the sick, sometimes for free. Half of the people in Peru live
in poverty and there are 18,000 community kitchens across the country.
Mothers gather at community kitchens and learn about diet, nutrition,
hygiene, health for their families and child rearing. In Carabaiyo
a daycare center and kindergarten were also built at the mothers' requests.
Ohashi said, "Malnourished children get back their health after they
have commuted here for a couple of months and they learn how to take care
of themselves, such as brushing their teeth. In this way, mothers realize
the importance of education."
Ohashi and others have started a vocational training school with
a hope of giving jobs to many people. This school is the only well-equipped
one in Carabaiyo, and there are training courses for beauticians, barbers,
dressmakers, shoemakers, computer technicians, electricians and confectioners.
It often becomes an issue that a support system collapses after a
supporting group pulls out of a region. However, people in Carabaiyo
have helped each other and made the school bigger. Students make
their own desks and chairs. If there is someone who can't pay
tuition, he donates cement for construction instead. Others buy paint
with money they make by baking cookies at the school and selling
them at a bazaar. They have a strong feeling that the school is their
own.
Ohashi styles herself a "jack of all trades," but devotes
herself to being a coordinator. It is the residents who actually
do the work.
She said, "I support them merely by providing information that people
don't know and offering advice. For example, I check information
about grants from the government and municipality. Then I let the
people know that if, for instance, there were a course for dressmaking
in the school, the government would donate 10 sewing machines."
Local people call the training school "a rose in a swamp," meaning
a miracle. People gain confidence when they achieve something when
they did not expect they could. Ohashi believes that building up
these positive experiences can create a bright future.
She concluded, "Since I've been in Peru I've come to realize
the truth of Jesus' words, 'do not worry.' Thanks to the help of local
people of Japanese descent and also individuals in Japan at the moment,
we have been able to continue the ideal of aid without an organizational
structure behind it."
ECUMENICAL ASSOCIATION AWARD GOES TO WORK WITH
DAY LABORERS IN OSAKA
Catholic Weekly, May 17, 2009
The Japan Ecumenical Association held an Ecumenism Day gathering
at the Anglican St. Barnabas Church in Ushigome April 29 and gave
its fifteenth annual award to the Kamagasaki Christian Fraternal
Association in Osaka. Ecumenism is the movement that aims
at the unity of Christians.
The Kamagasaki Christian Fraternal Association was founded in 1970
by five organizations with the aim of "treating each person as a person." Today,
11 organizations including the Osaka Catholic archdiocese, Religious
orders, the United Church of Christ in Japan, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran
Church and several institutions are members. It works to promote the welfare
of day laborers and secure justice for them and their families.
Pastor Hitoshi Akiyama, chairman of the association, said at the
award ceremony, "Our goal is to help people realize their human rights
and to live in dignity, and to create a society in which people respect
each other and help one another."
He added that over the years, the bonds among Christians beyond denominations
and groups have grown gradually through the work.
After Rev. Akiyama talked, Motoi Yoshioka, a co-chairman of the association,
greeted the audience. Both speakers said that the catechism does not apply
well in the reality of Kamagasaki, in the story of missionaries or their
own experiences.
After the ceremony, Pastor Yoshikazu Tokuzen of the Japan Evangelical
Lutheran Church, a former executive president of the Japan Ecumenical Association,
announced new board members, and Pastor Yoshio Matsuyama became the new
executive president.
TAIWAN ARCHBISHOP IN TOKYO SPEAKS OF JOY OF FAITH, MISSION
OUTREACH
Catholic Weekly, May 17, 2009
 Starting last year, as part of its celebration of the Pauline Year,
the Catholic Church in Taiwan has been celebrating 150 years since the
first evangelization there. It has set a target of 15,000 new baptisms
and a famous pilgrimage statue of the Virgin Mary is being sent on a tour
around the island.
Taipei Archbishop Hung Shanchuan visited Japan April 30-May 6 to
meet with Chinese Catholics in the Tokyo area and lead a retreat. In August
of last year Archbishop Hung also undertook reformation of Taiwan's weekly
Catholic newspaper.
About 100 young Catholics in their 20's and 30's attended the May
4 and 5 retreat at Tokyo's Ueno Church.
Commenting later on the laughter and light spirits that marked the
retreat, the bishop said, "Faith is something that is full of joy,
so the mission is to spread the joy. That is the atmosphere we wanted to
create."
Archbishop Hung was inspired to visit when members of the Jesuit
China Center in Ueno Church which hosted this year's retreats under the
leadership of Fr. Robert Dieters, visited the archbishop last year.
Archbishop Hung said, "I am grateful to the archbishop of Tokyo for
supporting this center, sending out staff, and helping Chinese Catholics."
"Amid their troubles, those immigrants bearing witness to their faith
are vital to the Church in Japan," he added.
In an effort to reach the goal of 15,000 baptisms in Taiwan, each
parish has individually set a specific number of baptisms as a goal, and
started creative efforts to reach that goal.
Archbishop Hung introduced a unique missionary method, proposed by
a 70-year-old nun, whose convent faces a couple of roads. Based on her
idea, electronic billboards facing the roads were set up with scripture
passages in place of advertisements.
One day a person came to hear the meaning of the scripture passages.
The Sister asked him if he would come again next day. He answered
that he couldn't. Then, she asked him how about the next week,
and so on.
"The man said he didn't know, and the sister replied, 'Don't worry. The
time is yours. Even if you don't come back, I will be praying for you.' They
made an appointment each week for three weeks. Eventually the man came back
every week."
Taipei diocese has already reached its goal of 1,500 adult baptisms,
more than a tenth of which came with the help of Korean priests.
Last year, Archbishop Hon led the redesign of the 24-page weekly
Catholic newspaper, reducing its size by about half. The name was
also changed from Christian Life Weeklyto the more specific Catholic
Weekly. He hired four new editors of whom only one is a Christian.
The archbishop also changed the printing company in order to reduce
expenses. He chose many big and active pictures featuring people's
faces and movement in order to promote a greater sense of the life and
vitality of the Church. Once a week, the assistant editor of a prominent
Taiwanese paper comes in to review the Weekly, but rather than
changing the layout, the focus is on changing Catholics' awareness.
"Faith is joy. The newspaper can express that joy especially well with
pictures. Seeing lively pictures, the image of the Church changes, and Catholics'
field of vision widens," said the archbishop.
Subscribers and advertisers have increased as a result. Some complained
that the paper was good before, but criticism of the new version disappeared
after three weeks.
Archbishop Hung stressed, "Media is vital to mission. We have to spread
the joy."
VOLUNTEER NETWORKING COMMITTEE DISCUSSES DISASTER PREPARATION
Catholic Weekly, May 3, 2009
The tenth General Assembly of the Japan Catholic Volunteer Networking
Committee was held April 18 and 19 at the Catholic Niigata Church
with the theme Volunteer Networks during a Disaster. About 230
people, 100 of them from the Niigata diocese and the rest from
other dioceses, attended the meeting.
The general assembly is held every three years and aims to foster
work as volunteers at the global level. Talks were given by four
specialists. The titles of the speeches were "Natural Disaster
and Living in Harmony in Various Cultures," "Chemical
Contamination," "Working with HIV Patients" and "Educating
Children Both in Schools and Communities."
Itaru Nagasaka, an associate professor at Niigata International
Information University and a member of the Terao Catholic Church
in Niigata, specializes in the study of Filipino migrants. He has
experienced two major earthquakes, the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
in 1995 when he was a graduate student at Kobe University and the
Niigata Chuetsuoki Earthquake in 2007. Since he had just returned
from the Philippines and did not have a residence certificate in
Kobe at the time, he had a hard time going through many procedures
after the 1995 earthquake as a "resident of Manila." He
realized then that it would be even more difficult for foreigners
and that the Japanese legal system would be a bigger obstacle than
the language barrier.
"I came to realize that people who come from different cultures and backgrounds
show different attitudes even though they are in the same disaster situation," he
said.
He also mentioned that cooperation among scholars and others
who work for foreigners was essential in order for foreigners to
live in harmony.
After the talks, participants gathered in four groups according
to the topics and developed their understanding. In the evening,
a group session on youth formation was held. Activities in which
junior high and high school students visit hospitals under the
theme of "reflect on limited human lives" were reported.
Keiko Misaki, a member of the committee said, "It was good
for us to get together and discuss many things since we had different
experiences. Some people have experienced disasters, others worked
as volunteers and still others have never experienced a disaster.
There are individuals who work as volunteers, but there are no
systematic networks in Niigata. I think we need them."
Bishop Goro Matsuura of Osaka resigned as chairman of the committee
and was replaced by Bishop Isao Kikuchi of Niigata.
The next general assembly will be held in 2012 in Okinawa.
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