Japan

The Japan Bible Society (JBS) presented its latest ecumenical translation of the Bible to Pope Francis on April 10, 2024, during the general audience in the Vatican.

Pope Francis welcomed the Japanese bishops to the Vatican Palace.

Father Takeya Motoi, SVD, worked for the Home for the Homeless in Nagoya City, Japan. He was the founder of ‘Sasashima Kyosei Kai’ (Sasashima’s Solidarity Organization) for and with the homeless in Nagoya City, Japan.

Bishop Daisuke Narui, SVD, of Niigata, said the quake, which has an estimated magnitude of 7.6, has killed more than 200 people, injured more than 500, and resulted in several aftershocks and subsequent earthquakes, and caused massive destruction.

The Pope expressed solidarity with those suffering, those who have lost loved ones, saying he was "deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake in the Ishikawa prefecture."

“We also pray that the investigation of Ukon's miracles will be completed, approved, and canonized at least within the next year or two,” said Archbishop Thomas Aquinas Manyo Cardinal Maeda.

“Especially in the last three years of the pandemic, the world has become more selfish, exclusionist, and sometimes even violent,” said the bishops

“We are now in the milestone year of 400 years since then, living by faith,” said Archbishop Kikuchi, SVD

Today there are over 300,000 Brazilians living in Japan, mainly as workers in factories. They came from various corners of the enormous country. In their midst, I find meaning in my ministry today as a Divine Word missionary.

Tokyo Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Paul Kazuhiro Mori died at Tokyo Shin Hospital (Takeda Prefecture) on September 2.

Catholic Church should be the “church of listening,” Archbishop Kikuchi

"We want to be with the people." Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi.

The Congregation of the Infant Jesus Sisters marks their 150 years of presence in Japan.

"Treat your patients as if they were your parents," is the motto of Tadashi Hattori

A 90-year-old Japanese Franciscan nun says God calls her to trust and serve in “daily tiny events."

Followers of Unification Church members are facing harassment and threats since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's death.

As the Church in Japan holds its annual Ten Days of Prayer for Peace event the Japanese bishops reiterate that peace is everybody’s responsibility. In their message for the occasion, signed by the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan (CBCJ), Archbishop Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, the prelates reflect on Pope Francis’ words in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Archbishop Kikuchi of Tokyo condemned the assassination of the Japanese Ex-PM Shinzo Abe, saying “Only dialogue provides real solution to establish justice and peace"

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Pope Francis and top Vatican officials in talks about the need for “a world free of nuclear weapon.”

“I received faith from my parents. I learned about the religion from them. Their teaching was very simple,” says Mary Green Rose Nant Zin Mar Tun, a migrant worker in Japan.