THE OBLATES IN JAPAN FOR 50 YEARS
Need we recall that Japan is an archipelago of more than 3,900 islands with a surface area of 377,801 sq km – slightly more than Germany and a little less than the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin together? Its 126.5 million population is unequally distributed. The average population density is 330 persons per sq km, but it is much higher in some areas. For example, the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area (27.2 million) is the biggest in the world, and that of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (12.6 million) is the sixth.
Despite the effects of an economic crisis, Japan remains a very rich country, and is the second economic and financial power in the world.
In this ancient structured society Catholics are a tiny minority. Recent statistics give 442,000 as the number of Japanese Catholics, to which must be added close to 300,000 Filipino and Hispanic immigrants, who can be counted as Catholics. This is 0.35% of the population, one of the lowest proportions in the world. Pakistan has proportionally two times more Catholics and China three times more.
In an answer sent in preparation of the Synod for Asia, the Japanese bishops mention some "actual and future problems in which the Church of Japan is implicated." The following are worthy of mention. "The Catholic Church is a very fragile minority in Japanese society. In these conditions we must try to discover what it means to say that the Church is the sacrament of the Kingdom of God. – With the big increase in foreign immigrants we are little by little becoming a multinational Church. We are trying to develop a pastoral approach that takes this reality into account. – Considering the fact that the Church in Japan is a Church without young people, we are studying how to set up movements and communities that are open to all ages. – We are also concerned about the situation of Japanese society that can be characterized by both its spiritual deficiency and its economic abundance...."
In 1948 the Oblates entered the history of the Catholic Church in Japan
Francis Xavier landed in Japan from Malacca on August 15, 1549. That was the beginning of the evangelization of this country. The mission, at first reserved to the Jesuits, was later opened up to Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians.... Around 1605, the number of Catholics is said to have been more than 700,000. But a very severe persecution broke out and very many became martyrs. More than 4,000 are known by name. The Christians tried to survive in hiding....
In 1853, due to pressure from the United States, Japan opened up to trade with America. This made it possible for missionaries from the Paris Foreign Mission Society to discreetly return in 1859. Some churches were rebuilt, but it was not until 1889 that freedom of religion was officially recognized.
In 1940, all the foreign bishops resigned to make way for the Japanese. There were 113,500 Catholics at the time with 416 priests 117 of whom were Japanese. In 1941, Japan entered into war with the United States and occupied a big part of Asia. (The invasion of China dates back to 1937.) In 1945, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and later on Nagasaki, where some 75,000 people – including more than 8000 Catholics – were killed, finally led to the surrender of Japan.
It was to a vanquished, humbled Japan, occupied by the Allied Army, that Catholic missionaries came at the request of the Holy See and the Japanese Bishops. They numbered 240 in three years according to AROMI of 1948. Among them were the Oblates. In their first Pastoral Letter after the war the bishops say: "The greatest need of Japan today is spiritual leadership, persons to interpret to the Japanese nation the saving, sanctifying and ennobling message of Christian Revelation. In a word, Japan needs missionaries!"
For the Oblates, Japan is the first mission founded by the new Superior General, Léo Deschatelets, elected just the year before. The decision was announced to the Congregation in a letter dated January 25, 1948. "At the repeated request of the Holy See, after having called upon our Founder in prayer... we have decided that sometime during the course of 1948 the Congregation of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate will send missionaries to Japan. This means a new and arduous task for our Institute...." A few days later the S.C. of Propaganda suggested the island of Shikoku, in particular the civil Prefecture of Kochi, to which Tokushima would later be added. The territory entrusted to the Oblates represented more than half of the island and had between 300 to 400 Catholics at the time.
Ecclesiastically the Island of Shikoku (18,804 sq km) had been detached from Osaka in 1904 to form an Apostolic Prefecture entrusted to the Dominicans of Holy Rosary Province (Manila, Philippines). In 1948, the Bishop of Osaka, Paul Taguchi, was the Apostolic Administrator. "The Prefecture of Shikoku has been very poorly cultivated up to now, from the Catholic point of view, he wrote to the Superior General. Only about ten Spanish Dominican Fathers have been working in that large and extensive island. At present there are only about 800 Catholics out of a total population of over four million.... Only one church escaped damage from the bombs and earthquake.... There are many catechumens awaiting instruction.... As you know, the Japanese people on the whole are well educated and have a passion for reading. They have their own oriental culture. The younger generation have more or less adopted the Western ways of life. The Japanese language is not easy. It takes time and requires great patience.... Therefore all missionaries for Japan must be patient, ready for all difficulties, and have a good intellectual formation. Before starting their apostolate it will be necessary for your Fathers to spend at least a year and a half learning that language...."
In June 1948, the Superior General entrusted this mission to the Eastern U.S. Province. The first six missionaries were Frs Robert Gill, 41, who was Vicar Provincial, Leonard Robitaille, 38, Charles McBennett, 36, Leonard Scannell, 36, Timothy Mulvey, 35, and William McLaughlin, 31. They were all from the Eastern American Province except for Fr Robitaille, born in Minnesota, but who was a member of the St. Peter's Province of New Westminster, Canada, where he was Provincial Treasurer. They arrived in Japan at the end of 1948.
The territory entrusted to the Oblates is basically a rural and very mountainous area. Its people are mostly farmers, fishermen, lumberjacks and small merchants, ... "one of the most difficult and poorest areas in the country." Furthermore, the percentage of Catholics is much lower there than the already low national average.... Worthy of note is this statement in a letter by Fr Gill after a first contact with the local civil authorities. "We were told we were most welcome, and that we came at a time when the people were as badly in need of spiritual assistance as of material help.... The civic officials are most anxious that we start schools and welfare institutions...."
A few landmarks in 50 years of Oblate life
1952: opening of a novitiate at Aki to form Brothers whose "main work would be to teach catechism in Japanese."
1953: First vows of the first Japanese Oblate, 54 year old Bro Joseph Tsuda, a man well known for his artistic talents.
1954: Translation into Japanese of the 1928 text of the Oblate Rules.
1961: A scholasticate is opened in Tokyo. Japanese scholastics are joined by others from various countries who have already pronounced perpetual vows. After two years of language study, they received their theological formation in Japan and were thus better prepared for the mission in this country. This scholasticate continued until 1972.
1962: Ordination of the first Japanese Oblate priest, Fr Michael Yamazaki.
1967: Japan becomes a Vice Province.
1971: "We have been able to hold our own (in personnel) through the cooperation of the Eastern American Province, the Northern Belgium Province and the Philippines."
1984: The novitiate is reopened at Kochi. The 1982 Rule is published in Japanese.
1986: A residence for scholastics is set up in Nagoya. It also serves as pre-novitiate.
1990: The Oblate mission in Korea, founded by Italian Oblates, is attached to the Vice Province of Japan.
Today...
The Vice Province of Japan has 28 Oblates, including one Brother. Twenty-three are in Japan: five Japanese, eleven from the United States, three from Belgium-North, two from the Philippines and two from Sri Lanka (Colombo). The five others are in Korea: four Italians and one Sri Lankan from Jaffna. Fr Wency Laguidao, a Filipino who received his first obedience for this country in 1976, has been Provincial since June 1998.
The Catholics, still very small numbers...
The Oblates are in charge of ten parishes. Their surface area contrasts with the small number of Catholics and gives a very particular character to the parish ministry. Eight of the ten parishes are in the Diocese of Takamatsu. The one at Itami is in the Osaka Diocese (Honshu Island), and the Koga parish is in the diocese of Fukuoka (Kyushu Island).
Recent statistics for the Diocese of Takamatsu are thought provoking: 6,061 Catholics out of a population of 4,185,527 (a bit more than one per 700), in 27 parishes. There are 11 diocesan priests, 34 religious priests, one Brother, and 105 Sisters. Baptisms for one year numbered 155. Of the Oblate parishes, the one in Tokushima, where Fr Francis Hahn is parish priest, has the largest number of Catholics (388). At Aki (Fr Richard Harr) there are 43, and at Awa Ikeda (Fr Jan Van Hoydonck) there are 30.
Here are some extracts from the draft of the jubilee album about some of the parishes. "When Aki was started there was only one Catholic family living there. The parish territory covers several hundred square kilometers, extending all along the coast for about 110 kilometers, and reaching north into the mountains up to the Tokushima Prefecture border. In 1996 there were 43 Catholics registered in that territory. More than triple that number have been baptized there over the years, but they have migrated to the big city centers on Honshu, seeking work. This parish has a mission station at Mitsuhama in Muroto city, located east of Aki."
"The parish at Naruto, founded in 1959, was for many years a mission station of Tokushima. Already in 1949, when the Oblates took over the mission district, there were 20 Christians, thanks to the zealous work of a lay catechist, Mr. Joseph Sueho Tsuda (the future Oblate Brother). Naruto is about 20 kilometers north-east of Tokushima City. The parish territory extends northward some 60 kilometers and westward for about 30.... In 1978 the entire mission complex was moved to a new place. What once had been in the middle of a peanut field had become the busiest corner of the city center. Also, poor foundations and termites had made reconstruction necessary. The entire mission compound was therefore moved to a developing residential area. A separate church was built, besides a rectory and a kindergarten. There were 182 Catholics in 1996. This parish has given birth to four priests: one diocesan, one Franciscan and two Oblates." Fr Angelo Siani is presently the parish priest.
"While they were still in language training in Toyonaka the Oblates started saying Mass at the home of Mr. Rihei Okada, the former mayor of Itami, a city just south of Toyonaka, roughly halfway between Osaka and Kobe. There were a few Christians in that city. Very soon Bishop Taguchi asked the Oblates to start a parish in Itami. Land was bought in April 1949.... A kindergarten and rectory were blessed by the Bishop on January 24, 1950 and dedicated to Christ the King. Fr Charles McBennettt became the first pastor. The kindergarten hall served as a chapel until a church was built in 1966. This parish grew rapidly into one of the bigger ones in the diocese, partly by new conversions and baptisms, partly by the rapid growth of the city due to immigration from remote areas of Japan, mainly from the southern part of Kyushu, which brought many Christians from the Nagasaki area to the Kansai (Osaka). As of January 1, 1996 the parish had 773 parishioners." The present parish priest at Itami is Fr Bradly Rozairo, a native of Sri Lanka.
A great variety of services...
Although the care of the parishes is demanding, given the wide scattering of the Catholics, the Oblates' work was never limited to just that. The anniversary album recalls two other services in particular: kindergartens and teaching the youth and adults. Other types of service developed over the years out of needs and individual charisms.
Almost from the time of their arrival, the Oblates opened kindergartens in their parishes. This answered a real need of Japanese society. It was also a way to enter into contact with people through their children, as well as being a means of education. The financial support from them also helped for the subsistence of the missionaries and the building of churches. For some years now, Fr Leonard Inui has been introducing the Montessori method into these institutions with much success.
Very early on, the Oblates also became involved in teaching English in High Schools and universities. They found it to be a real ministry. In Kochi, the city opened a High School with a special English section and asked Fr Raymond Bourgoin to be the first teacher in this program. John Barrett, and later Tom Maher, succeeded him in this work. Mention must also be made of the night classes for adults organized and directed by the Oblates in Kochi: languages, art, music, psychology, cooking.... These were later discontinued.
OMI Info has already spoken of Fr John Deely's work with the deaf. Fr Jerome Novotny is very active in the Pro-Life movement and the fight against abortion. The Volunteer Bureau that Fr Lei Simons started in order to promote volunteer work in Kochi is "22 years young", and it is recognized in the city and even beyond. Among his activities for Peace and Justice Fr Xave Yoshikazu Tosa helped to prepare the "All Japan Meeting of the Justice and Peace Council", which was sponsored by the Bishops' Conference. The Kochi Prefectural Education Board has also asked his help in education for Human Rights.
For the past fifteen years or so, Fr Wency Laguidao has been caring for his fellow Filipinos. He is the National Chaplain, appointed by the Bishops' Conference. He presented a very detailed report at the Meeting of Chaplains for Filipinos Living Abroad which was held in Rome in October 1996. Statistics for '94 / '95 list 85,968 registered in Japan. "The Filipinos have carved a niche in Japanese society. They are here to stay, regardless of whether the Japanese are happy about their presence or not." The situation of young Filipinas who came to Japan to marry Japanese remains very precarious. They are often ill-informed of their rights, and when marital problems arise, they and their children are always on the losing end. There are also those who either willingly or through constraint got into prostitution.
The most recent Province Newsletter mentions the successful 14th Oblate Summer Camp led by seminarians Akio Horiuchi and Kenichi Furukawa, under the direction of Bro. Nobuhiko Yagi – vocation director – and Fr Leo Satoshi Kawaguchi, who is director of the formation house. According to the Provincial, this camp was the "baptism of fire" for Heriberto Villas and Howard Tatel, two Filipino scholastics who are studying Japanese with the hope of working in this country.
