Accompaniment: Japan

Chris Chaplin, msc. I arrived in Nagoya on Friday, January 19. The main purpose of my visit was to meet and listen to each of the members of the MSC Japan Mission, to see their activities, and to discuss the change to a Community under the Generalate, as in the background just outlined. Bern Tethool, current local superior, organised an excellent itinerary of opportunities to accompany our confreres individually and see their places of mission and a gathering with all the members.

On Sunday, January 21, I joined Kenji Konda and his mother, Nobuko, who was visiting from Randwick, Sydney, for the Parish Mass at Johokubashi Church, presided by Rey Tibon. This is our main church in Nagoya. It was the first occasion for Deacon Toan Le MSC to read the Gospel during Mass in Japanese. His reading was well received, given how demanding is the Japanese language training which Toan is undertaking. I met Sister Marie Teresa SSND, who gave a lengthy talk at the end of Mass to the parishioners about their mission in Nepal. In the parishes, there is at least one Mass in Japanese on Sunday as well as Masses other than separate language. Many Japanese parishioners are immigrants from Nagasaki who came after the war to find work in industrial Nagoya. Many Catholics are married into non-Catholic families. Among the 120 million Japanese, less than 1% are Christian, with less than 300,000 Catholics nationally. Many non-Japanese are not assimilated into Japanese society. After Mass, my first conversation was with Kenji. He is Australian but born in Japan. He has a great sense of hope. He took me to the Mikokoro (Sacred Heart) Centre in Nagoya, in the afternoon, where I met with Keith Humphries who celebrated Mass in English with a lovely mixed group.

On Monday, January 22, the community gathered for the morning together. On Tuesday, 23, I travelled and talked with Frits Ponomban to the Ono Mass substation in Fukui Prefecture, and then to Fukui parish church. It had begun to snow, which added to my delight. We continued on to Tsuruga Church to meet with Arun Kumar and to a restaurant for lunch together. Fritz returned home to Fukui, now in heavy snow. My conversations then continued with Arun as we drove to Obama substation church and eventually back to the Honbu (main house) at Nagoya. Unfortunately for Arun, he had to drive back to Tsurguga through the snow covered roads, a very long day for him and Frtiz. I am grateful to you both.

On Wednesday, January 24, I met with Sadami Takayama, our Japanese confrère, who had come to Nagoya that morning on the Shinkansen speed train from Tokyo. He ha sbeen working in university fields for some years. I had time with Priyo Susanto, and then with Rey Tibon. In the afternoon, I had a group gathering with Devid Abram (Indonesia), Babetara Anetoka (Kiribati), and Toan Le (Vietnam), who are in the CCFE (Cross-cultural Formation Experience) and are undertaking the arduous studies in Japanese language and culture. After this, I spent a short time with each individually. I was impressed by their dedication to their studies and the possibility of continued ministry in Japan.

Thursday, January 25, Bern drove us through the continuing snow to Ogaki Church to have time with Joey Mission. From here, we went to Gifu church and kindergarten to visit Brian Taylor and Carroll Sompotan. The lifework of Brian in the parish and kindergarten is phenomenal. After lunch and individual conversation with Brian and Carroll, Bern drove on to have time with John Graeme at Kakamigahara. John’s resilience and dedication is inspiring.