Autumn and locating Catholic Churches in Japan

It was cloudy last Thursday and the temperature suddenly dropped bringing in prematurely the cold weather associated with late autumn in Japan. Fortunately, the sun resurfaced brightly the next day, making the holiday celebrating Culture Day on November 3 a more enjoyable one for the Japanese people, young and old alike!

As it was First Friday as well, some Catholics among the Japanese and foreigners went to mass. It is our first time to be in Yokohama for this latest visit of ours to Japan and we were pleasantly surprised to learn that there are so many Catholic Churches in this part of Japan.

Fr. Jaime Castaneda, S.J., who is the parish priest of the Catholic Church in Hongodai explained that shortly after the war, the religious may have been assigned to this area and from then on, they built numerous kindergarten schools and churches within various neighborhoods of this world-famous international port of Yokohama.

Without fail, Filipinos and most probably, any foreign Catholic, Christian, Moslem, or other devotees look for a church/mosque they can visit for prayers, mass and other services every week. Because of the language barrier, however, it is not easy to find one right away anywhere in Japan.

Often, the churches are referred to newcomers by old-timers in the area or by religious nuns that they pleasantly meet unexpectedly. That is how we discovered the various Catholic churches near our place in Yokohama. Sister Akiko Iwasaki, who teaches at the Ferris Women's University, happened to attend the same lecture about the Igorot women given by Silliman University Prof. Andrea Soluta, and when she learned that we were eager to know what churches were closest to our place, she readily browsed through the Catholic Churches Directory and gave us several options to choose from.

We missed the 6:30AM Mass of November 2 because we could not find the Oofuna Church easily and on time. We found it finally some minutes after 7, but we came after the mass had been celebrated! At the Church entrance, we were met by the kind Japanese Jesuit and parish priest, Fr. Kuga, who generously referred us to a nearer church, the one ministered by fellow Jesuit, Fr. Castaneda. Both mentioned that there were Filipinos who came for mass at the nearer church.

Most Japanese Catholic Churches have masses only in the Japanese language. Due to the increased and continuing number of foreign devotees, however, certain Japanese churches now hold services in Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, or English. We have been referred to some churches where we can go for English or Filipino masses and services. There are also a number of Filipino priests who assist their Japanese or foreign priests in certain parishes here.

Foreign migrants are revitalizing the Japanese churches whose Japanese priests and parishioners are aging, just like the majority of the Japanese population. It is a beautiful sight to see foreigners mingle with Japanese parishioners during services as well as church-related activities like bazaars and other missionary work.

Aside from church-related activities, the Japanese and foreign religious, the clergy, and the churches have also been very active in ensuring that foreign migrants, especially those in their parishes, are protected and their welfare attended to. Parish priests and their parishioners visit especially those who get hospitalized or those who are detained.

Churches serve as refuge and home for the migrants who are far away from their real homes and families. With no one to turn to in a foreign land, devotees look even more to God and always start out their journey in a foreign land searching for, locating God's churches closest and most accessible to their place of work and residence.

Unlike the Philippines where the churches stand out because of their massive size and elaborate architecture, churches in Japan are more difficult to trace and to locate not only because of the language barrier, but also because of their modest size and simple design.

Autumn, which signals the coming in of the cold winter and the departure of warm summer, is one of the most beautiful, picturesque season in Japan. At the start of autumn, it becomes doubly meaningful to finally, finally find God's church and His people so close to one's foreign home. Finally locating and finding a church one can go to makes being away from real home easier to bear somehow. It also makes the cold winds of autumn less harsh and more bearable now that the heart and soul are warmed and comforted by God and His people in His church.

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