by Matsumoto Toshiyuki, pastor?
Kyodo-midorigaoka Church, Southwest Subdistrict, Tokyo District
The year 2008 marks the passing of 100 years since the first Japanese immigrants went to Brazil. To celebrate this anniversary, 2008 was designated "The Year of Japanese-Brazilian Exchange"(Ano do Interc?mbio Jap?o-Brasil) by the governments of both countries, with commemorative stamps and coins being ……
by Maruyama Motoko, head piano teacher
Toyo Eiwa Educational Institution, Tokyo ?
The boys camp with the longest history in Japan, Nojiri Gakuso, is held every summer at Tokyo YMCA's Lake Nojiri Campground. The 73rd session was held this year. The camp songs sung there are called "Tomi-songs," and there are more than 100 of them. The man who compiled the songbook is my father, Tomioka Masao.? Fro……
Next year, 2009, will be the 150th year since evangelism began in 1859 in Yokohama. The Kyodan considers this to be an appropriate year to regard with special remembrance. Of course, celebrations are being planned not only by the Kyodan but also by the wider Japanese Christian community, such as a gathering under the theme "Commemorating 150 Years of Mission" being planned by the Japan Evangelical……
The 36th Kyodan General Assembly was held Oct. 21-23, 2008 at the Metropolitan Hotel in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Under the theme of "The Kyodan: Unity and Solidarity as the Church Universal," the agenda items uppermost in the minds of participants centered on the issue of "open communion," in which non-baptized worshipers are allowed to partake of the communion elements, and on the related issue of the "……
Rudyard Kipling's famous words, "East is East and West is West and never the 'twain shall meet," may have a certain ring of truth to them, but in many ways the "twain" have met, with both Japanese and North American cultures importing various traditions and even fads from each other. The flow has been mostly from North America to Japan since Japan opened up to the outside world some 150 years ago,……
It has been eleven years since the Kyodan's new Hymnal 21 was compiled and
published by the Kyodan's Hymnal Committee. Included in this hymnal are a
number of hymns by Japanese composers. We would like to share with you how
the words of one of the hymns, "In Old Galilee when Sweet Breezes Blew" (No.
57 in Hymnal 21), were written by Befu Nobuo (1913-2003).
Befu Nobuo was born in 1913 in Kochi P……
by Tim Boyle, missionary
? ? ? Buraku Liberation Center, Osaka
Japanese Hymns in English is the title of a book I ran across that was
written by Pauline Smith McAlpine in 1975.? It contains her translations of
50 hymns written by Japanese Christians, along with short biographies of the
composers of the hymns.?Few of these hymns have been known in the West, but
in recent hymnals of several mainlin……
The event? "Under the Lord's Blessing, Youth Mission 2008," was successfully
held July 31-Aug. 8 by Kyodan's Committee on Edudation. There was good
fellowship between the seven young people from the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan and the Japanese youth who participated.
The program began with a reception on July 31, and the next day, on Aug. 1,
we had the opening service. Afterwards we strolled th……
Youth Mission 2008 with the Berlin-Brandenburg Evangelical Church-the 5th
Germany and Japan Youth Exchange-was held in Japan, Aug. 12-22. The Steering
Committee of the National Federation of Kyodan Women's Societies (NFKWS)
planned and hosted the program. Pastor Ute Feuerstack headed the German
delegation. The three-day retreat convened at Ashino-ko Camping Village in
Hakone, Aug. 13-15., with14 G……
Kyodan Moderator Yamakita and Group A's seven other members visited Holland,
Michigan, April 18-22. (Holland is the home place of the Dutch Reformed
Church, the present Reformed Church in America, which sent the first
missionaries to Japan 150 years ago.) The Hesselinks and the Magees guided
them to churches, schools, and social institutions. After a dinner on April
19, the visitors from Japan pre……
