Tsunami devastated cathedral reopens in Japan: Church of England Newspaper, March 21, 2014 April 11, 2014
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Nippon Sei Ko Kai.Tags: Diocese of Tohoku, Great East Japan Earthquake, John Hiromichi Kato
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The Anglican Church in Japan, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, has re consecrated Christ Church Cathedral in Sendai City in the Diocese of Tohoku, three years after it was severely damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. On 11 March 2011 an earthquake with a recorded magnitude of 9.0 with an epicenter 70 km of the eastern coast of Japan struck, creating a tsunami tidal wave that devastated 20 prefectures in North East Japan. On 10 February 2014 Japan’s National Police Agency reported that 15,884 people had been killed by the earthquake and Tsunami while 2,633 remained missing, while 127,290 buildings were leveled and a further million damaged. In a statement released by the NSKK, the Rt. Rev. John Hiromichi Kato, Bishop of Tohoku thanked the wider church for its help in rebuilding which was “made possible not only by the donations and huge efforts of the laity of the church but also the prayers and support of the whole of Anglican Church in Japan.”
Canterbury calls for peace in Korea: The Church of England Newspaper, May 12, 2013 p 7. May 14, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Korea, Archbishop of Canterbury, Arms Control/Defense/Peace Issues, Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Nippon Sei Ko Kai.Tags: John Holbrook, Second Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference
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The Bishop of Brixworth with Korean and Japanese colleagues holding the communique of the 2nd Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has added its voice to the call for peace in Korea. In a message read to the Second Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference held in Okinawa from 16 – 22 April 2013 Archbishop Welby lauded the work of the Korean and Japanese churches to foster peace in Northeast Asia.
“Your gathering has come at the most needful time,” Archbishop Welby wrote, in a statement read by his representative to the conference Bishop John Holbrook of Brixworth in the diocese of Peterborough.
“We stand with you in solidarity with the people of Korea at this time of heightened tension. I applaud the commitment of the Anglican Communion to work with the Anglican Church of Korea in its dedicated mission towards peace in Korea. May the initiatives you pursue contribute to the breaking down of enmities and to the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. Recent developments have shown how urgent this remains. I pray that the Lord may grant you the courage to keep faithful to this calling.”
Approximately 80 delegates attended the conference convened jointly by the Nippon Sei Ko Kai and the Anglican church committee. In his opening address Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu of Japan said peace will come to the region by a call for relinquishing “our own rights … And trying to protect the rights of others, or those who lack even basic rights.”
In the closing communiqué the delegates said East Asia was “hounded by the alarming threat of military escalation, the proliferation of destructive nuclear weapons, and the deadly effects of nuclear power generation.”
“We noted the danger signs are governments moving toward a war footing, they said, adding they feared the “possible revision of Japan’s skis Constitution would undermine stability in the region.”
The conference declared its “unequivocal opposition to war as a means of resolving disputes” and pledged “never again to war!”
Japanese synod calls for an end to nuclear power: Church of England Newspaper, July 8, 2012, p 6. July 9, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Nippon Sei Ko Kai.Tags: Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, nuclear power
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The Fukushima reactor venting steam following the 11 March 2011 earthquake
Nuclear power is un-Christian and must be banned, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai said last month in a statement adopted by delegates to their 59th meeting of General Synod.
In a statement dated 23 May 2012 the NSKK – the Anglican Church in Japan – said Japan’s experiences in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown had shown the risks outweighed the benefits of nuclear power. “It is not too much to say this is a warning from God to each of us who, having suffered from nuclear bombings, have failed to acquire sufficient knowledge about nuclear power and exposure to radiation,” the statement said.
Approximately 30 per cent of Japan’s electrical power was generated by a network of nuclear power plants before the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. After the cooling systems failed a nuclear emergency was declared at the Fukushima power plant and 140,000 residents within 20 kilometers m of the plant were evacuated after radiation leaked from the reactor.
Public concerns over the safety of nuclear power in earthquake-prone Japan led to calls for the closure of the country’s 54 reactors. After almost two months without nuclear power in Japan Unit 3 of the Oi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted on 1 July 2012 – making it Japan’s only functioning nuclear power station.
The government has asked residents and businesses to cut consumption of electricity by between five and 15 per cent on summer 2010 levels this summer. The reductions are voluntary and there is no penalty for individual consumers and businesses that do not meet them, but the government has said it will order rolling blackouts if demand reaches 99 per cent of supply.
In its statement the NSKK said that even “without accidents, nuclear power is a real threat to people’s lives in that it imposes sacrifices on socially weakened people throughout the process, from the mining of uranium to the disposal of radioactive waste. It also runs counter to the teachings of Jesus Christ as it cannot be sustained without people’s sacrifices.”
The synod adopted a three point statement saying “Nuclear Power Endangers the Life Created by God; Nuclear Power Destroys the Nature Created by God; Nuclear Power Deprives People of the Peaceful Life Given by God” and called “For a World Without Nuclear Power Plants.”
“As Christians following Jesus Christ, we must speak publicly against nuclear power,” the synod said.
They called upon the government to close all Japan’s nuclear power plants and for a “conversion of Japan’s energy policy toward the development of alternative sources of energy.”
A government white paper on energy had recommended Japan wean its self from its reliance on nuclear power, and the government had suspended restarting the country’s working reactors as it reviewed its options.
But on June 16, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda authorized the restart of two reactors at the Oi plant amid warnings that the existing alternative sources of power generation could not support Japanese industry, leading to massive economic dislocation.
Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.
Archbishop’s call to end nuclear power in Japan: The Church of England Newspaper, March 16, 2012 p 6. March 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Disaster Relief, Nippon Sei Ko Kai.Tags: earthquake, Nathaniel Uematsu, nuclear power
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The Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai has written a pastoral letter to Japanese Anglicans marking the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu thanked Anglicans for their outreach to those left homeless by the 11 March 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake that devastated Japan’s East Coast province of Tohoku, but noted the experience had shown Japan that it must end its reliance upon nuclear power.
The most powerful quake ever to hit Japan, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused massive destruction and triggered a tsunami whose waves rose to 133 ft when it came ashore in Iwate Prefecture and pushed six miles inland around the city of Sendai.
On 12 March 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,854 deaths, 26,992 injuries, and 3,155 people missing across twenty prefectures from the earthquake and tsunami. The physical destruction caused by the quake left 129,225 buildings destroyed, 254,204 buildings “half collapsed”, and another 691,766 buildings partially damaged the police reported. The World Bank estimated the economic cost of the earthquake at $235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history.
The tsunami waters also led to meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, forcing residents within a 12 mile radius of the plants to leave their homes.
The Japanese government has since shut down most of the country’s 54 reactors, which had provided some 30 per cent of Japan’s electricity, leading to mandatory conservation schemes and rolling blackouts for the whole country as the country switches over to alternate forms of power generation.
In his letter, Archbishop Uematsu described the relief work being undertaken by church agencies for those devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. He noted that “even today a great number of people remain in evacuation centres and temporary shelters with fears and uncertainties in their minds.”
“One year on, in the devastated towns and villages in the North-east of Japan, life is still far from a strong recovery. Even now, a great number of people are left with nowhere to go back to since their houses were contaminated by radioactive material.”
The archbishop noted the earthquake had led to a rethink of Japan’s energy policies. Japan, he noted, “is the only country in the world which has experienced an atomic bomb attack in its history, and therefore we have always insisted on the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
“Meanwhile we have enjoyed the comfort and convenience which nuclear power plants have provided for us. The Great East Japan Earthquake revealed completely the fragility of the safety with which we have always trusted these nuclear power plants.”
“Now we must seek to change our lifestyle and find different energy sources,” the archbishop said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Rebuilding begins in Japan following March tsunami: The Church of England Newspaper, June 24, 2011 p 6. June 27, 2011
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Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Anglican Church in Japan has launched its “Let’s walk together” programme to support victims of the Eastern Japan earthquake that has left over 30,000 missing or dead.
Led by the Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu, and Bishop Jun Nakamura of Tokyo, the aid campaign initially focused on assisting Japanese Anglicans and those in greatest hardship: the “elderly, children, those with disabilities, foreign residents, low-income people, refugees” affected by the 11 March tsunami and earthquake.
Archbishop Uematsu reported the March earthquake was the “strongest earthquake in the country’s history. The resulting enormous tsunami wrought unprecedented death and destruction up and down the coast, particularly in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki.”
“Current figures show roughly 30,000 people dead or missing. Many have lost family and friends, homes and savings. Many still have no choice but to stay in emergency shelters. Moreover, this cataclysmic event seriously damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, resulting in radioactive pollution which has forced not a few people to leave the familiar surroundings of their homes.”
Immediately after the earthquake, the NSKK began its disaster relief efforts, focusing on emergency assistance. The Japanese government, however, was quickly able to restore basic services and “we stopped collecting supplies on 15 April, and sent the final shipments to the Diocese of Tohoku” in Sendai.
The next stage of disaster relief assistance has now begun, the Archbishop said, with its efforts focused on rebuilding churches, institutions and homes destroyed by the earthquake.
Archbishop Uematsu asked the wider Anglican Communion to help in the rebuilding of Eastern Japan, saying “we humbly ask for your understanding and support, and especially your prayers for the success of this undertaking.”
Earthquake damage report from the NSKK: The Church of England Newspaper, April 21, 2011 p 8. April 27, 2011
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The interior of St Stephen's Church in Mito in the Diocese of Kita Kanto, Japan, following the March 11 earthquake. The church has since been declared unsafe and has been demolished
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The churches of the Dioceses of Tohoku and Kita Kanto escaped relatively unscathed from last month’s earthquake and tsunami, reports Shinya Yawata, the NSKK’s international secretary. However, the human cost of the March 11 earthquake of Japan’s northeast coast has been catastrophic.
There are 13,200 confirmed dead and 14,300 missing, Mr. Yawata said on April 15, while 167,000 people have been forced from their homes.
“Most damage has been caused by the tsunami rather than earthquake itself,” he said, with the government estimating almost 53,000 homes were destroyed.
“In addition we are facing the potential impact of nuclear radiation caused by malfunction of the nuclear power plant” at Fukushima, and “we are experiencing many aftershocks with some of them causing more damage to already weakened structures.”
In Sendai, Christ Church was badly damaged by the earthquake but not touched by the tsunami which leveled many buildings along the coast, Mr. Yawata said, and none of the diocese’s other churches were touched by the waters as they are inland or on high ground.
However, most Tohoku churches have “suffered varying levels of earthquake damage, including cracked or fallen walls and windows, damaged ceilings, broken furniture,” while in the neighboring diocese of Kita Kanto diocese two church buildings were badly damaged, and one had to be torn down.
Support from the other dioceses of the NSKK has begun to pour into the affected areas, Mr. Yawata said, with the “major area of relief work” coming in the provision of “food and necessary goods for daily life, such as cooking fuel, clean towels, clothing.”
The NSKK is continuing to assess the needs of its congregations and the wider community, Mr. Yawata said, with the Provincial Office “providing care where and when it is required.”
“Please continue to keeps us in your prayers,” the church’s international secretary said, as the work of reconstruction will be long and arduous.
Tohoku ‘annihilated’ archbishop reports: The Church of England Newspaper, April 8, 2011 p 7. April 13, 2011
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Bishop John Kato of Tohoku at the 2008 Lambeth Conference
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), the Anglican Church in Japan, writes that two weeks after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck northeast Japan, the number of dead and missing has risen to over 30,000.
“Villages and towns along the coastline of Tohoku region were almost all annihilated,” Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu said in a March 30 report to the Anglican Communion.
“In addition, because of the fear of the radiation leak as a result of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, people who live in the 30km radius of the reactor were told to evacuate. They are having a difficult life in evacuation centres in places far away from their homes. In fact, the fear of nuclear contamination is felt not only by those people who live within the 30km radius, but also by people in Tokyo, which is more than 100km away. Many people are living with uncertainty,” the Archbishop said.
On March 26 the Archbishop travelled to Sendai City, the largest city in the Tohoku region and site of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Tohoku. “Parts of the walls had fallen down, the walls were cracked. It looked to me as the whole building was lopsided,” Archbishop Uematsu said, adding that because of the risk of aftershocks, the congregation was worshipping in the neighbouring church hall.
Accompanied by the Bishop of Tohoku, the Rt Rev John Hiromichi Kato, the Archbishop visited the “devastated area along the coastline of Sendai City. The devastation caused by the tsunami was simply beyond our imagination. The tsunami reached the fourth floor of buildings destroying everything. The wreckage of houses and the huge number of cars are simply still lying there. Police and members of the Japan Defence Regiment were still looking for corpses. There was no sign of life there. Standing in that area surrounded by nothing but wreckage, all we could do was silently look at the scene in front of us and pray.”
The troubles at the Fukushima nuclear reactor have compounded the misery of Tohoku, the Archbishop reported as fears of “radiation contamination” have left people “wary” of delivering relief supplies. “As a result, the evacuees are in real dire straits because they are not receiving enough food,” the Archbishop said.
However, “Japan is a wealthy country and I imagine that once the transport infrastructure is restored and fuel is once again available that local supplies will reach the affected areas,” he said.
What the church in Japan “really would like” is for Christians “across the world to do is support us by praying. The Japanese Church is a small church, but knowing that brothers and sisters in the worldwide Communion are praying for victims and the Church’s relief activities, that gives them strength. I would also be very grateful if they would support us financially now and in the future so that we can help restore people’s lives and our church communities,” the Archbishop said.
Archbishop’s letter from Japan: The Church of England Newspaper, March 25, 2011 p 8. March 30, 2011
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The Most Rev. Nathaniel Uematsu, Primate of Japan and Bishop of Hokkaido
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK)—the Anglican Church in Japan—has released an update on the situation in Northeastern Japan, ten days after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the region.
“We Japanese are accustomed to earthquakes and tsunamis,” Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu wrote, “however no one could have imagined that such a major earthquake or tsunami could have happened. As of [March 22], more than 8,400 people are confirmed dead and still 12,000 people are missing. There are more than 300,000 people who are enduring hardship at various evacuation centres.”
The safety of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex reactor remains in doubt, and has led the government to evacuate all those living within 30 kilometres of the reactor site, he said. While Tokyo Electric has been “working tirelessly” to prevent a nuclear accident, “people are already discovering levels of radiation in the milk and vegetables” from local farms, the archbishop reported.
The archbishop thanked Anglicans around the world for their encouragement and support since the earthquake, and welcomed the offers of assistance the church had received, but asked for patience from those who wished to volunteer their services.
“Because there is no structure or system to receive these people in the devastated areas at the moment, only the official public servants such as doctors, nurses, Japan’s Defence Regiment personel and fire fighters, police, medical centre staff and local council staff members are allowed to provide care to those affected,” by the disaster.
However, once the extent of the damage is known to the churches and homes of the people of the Tohoku and Kita Kanto dioceses, there will be a need for volunteers to help rebuild.
However, the NSKK “consider the people affected by the disaster to be the church’s priority. In most of the areas affected by the disaster there are no Anglican churches, however it is the NSKK’s desire to stand with all people there and to do whatever we can to support them.”
The first rescue and relief phase will soon come to an end, the archbishop said, but the “restoration phase will go on for a long time. As the NSKK, particularly as Tohoku Diocese, we believe that it is during this second phase when God will most use us to do his work.”
“I would like to express my utmost gratitude for the prayers and warm words which were sent to me from everybody. I would like you to continue to pray for the ongoing relief and restoration work,” Archbishop Uematsu said.
Japan urged to go forward with the Covenant, ‘warts and all’: The Church of England Newspaper, Dec 10, 2010 p 7. December 11, 2010
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The Most Rev. Nathaniel Uematsu, Primate of Japan and Bishop of Hokkaido
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Concerns that section IV of the Anglican Covenant is ‘un-Anglican’ should be set aside in view of the parlous state of the Anglican Communion, the Primate of Japan told the 58th General Synod of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK) meeting at St. Barnabas Church, Ushigome in the Diocese of Tokyo.
In his presidential address to the May 25-27th general synod, published last month in the NSKK’s English-language newsletter, Archbishop Nathaniel Uematsu reported the NSKK House of Bishops’ Theological and Doctrine Committee “have expressed their opinion that such a Covenant should not be necessary, as it provides restrictions and exclusions.”
In 2008 the NSKK’s 57th General Synod received the covenant for study. The bishops’ theological committee was not convinced that all Anglicans could or should be “ruled by this one agreement,” and balked at section IV. “One of the major characteristics of the Anglican Communion has been that in its long history the richness of diversity has been widely appreciated,” the Japanese primate explained.
“However given the present situation of confusion and disagreement among the Anglican Communion, the expectation of the Anglican Covenant is increasing and NSKK needs to consider its suitability,” Archbishop Uematsu said.
In summarizing the state of the Communion, the Japanese church leader used uncharacteristically strong language, laying the blame for the dissension upon the Episcopal Church (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). However, the solutions proposed by leaders of the Global South coalition were troublesome, he stated.
“It is strongly felt that the disorder in the Anglican Communion has increased. The dangerous possibility of a split in the Anglican Communion continues to deepen,” Archbishop Uematsu said.
In the interval between the 57th and 58th Japanese general synods, the Primates Meeting, the Lambeth Conference, and the Anglican Consultative Council made “requests and recommendations” that the US and Canada forebear from pursuing gay bishops and blessings, while the “Archbishop of Canterbury has repeatedly given appeals and requests to address the problems.”
Yet, “in spite of the recommendations and appeals [TEC] and the [ACC] have proceeded with the ordination of a homosexual Bishop and recognizing the ‘marriage’ (union) of same sex couples, further complicating the situation and resulting in some provinces threatening to sever relations” with the two North American provinces, while other “provinces have expressed their intention of establishing a separate ‘Province’.”
“These unfavorable movements have created the situation where a number of provinces, dioceses and churches are unsure of where they stand dangerously affecting their identity within the Anglican Communion,” Archbishop Uematsu warned.
“Furthermore, certain movement has occurred that may create a new Anglican Communion which excludes the TEC and the ACC even going as far to say they may even exclude the Archbishop of Canterbury!” the Japanese primate said.
Bishops asks for forgiveness for Japan’s conquest of Korea: The Church of England Newspaper, July 9, 2010 p 6. July 16, 2010
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The Most Rev. Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, Bishop of Hokkaido and Archbishop of Japan
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Bishops of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), the Anglican Church in Japan, have agreed to issue a formal apology to their Korean brethren for their country’s conduct on the 100th anniversary of Japan’s annexation of Korea.
The decision came at the second joint meeting of the Korean and Japanese House of Bishops from June 28-29 on Jeju Island, South Korea. The 11 bishops of the NSKK and the three bishops of the Anglican Church of Korea (SHK) discussed the lingering hostility many Koreans and other East Asians feel towards Japan for its conduct during the Second World War and in its annexation of Korea, Formosa and Manchuria.
The bishops agreed the Japanese church would issue an apology on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. The Japanese bishops also agreed to make a pilgrimage in October to to South Korea’s Ganghwa Island in repentance for their country’s actions.
Japan occupied Korea in 1905 and formally annexed the province on Aug 29, 1910. At the start of the Second World War, English missionaries in Korea were imprisoned by the Japanese and the SHK was incorporated into the NSKK. A Japanese bishop was appointed by the government as Bishop of Chosun.
From 1945 to 1965 there was no communication between the two churches, but following the appointment of the first Korean Anglican bishop dialogue between the churches was opened, and formal relations were established in 1984.
Last year the Korean Mission Partnership, formally the Church of England Mission to Korea, reported that 19 Korean clergy were serving with the NSKK in Japan, both in expatriate Korean congregations and in Japanese Anglican congregations, helping the Japanese church respond to a growing clergy shortage. Three Korean seminarians are currently training in Japan as well.
The first joint meeting of the House of Bishops took place in Paju, near the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea, in 2007. The next meeting has been scheduled for October, 2011 in Okinawa. A joint meeting of clergy and lay leaders from the two churches meet each April
US Military Policy Attacked: CEN 2.08.08 p 7. February 9, 2008
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Church leaders from the Philippines and Japan have issued a joint statement denouncing US military policies in East Asia, and condemned plans for a free trade agreement between the two countries.
“We stand against the forces of war and militarism: we lament the sustained US military war exercises in Mindanao and their presence in the rest of the Philippines, and the expansion of its bases in Okinawa,” delegates from the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and the National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ) said at the close of their joint Jan 21-25 meeting in Davao City.
Church leaders from the two countries noted that though the social and economic realities of their societies were very different, both nations were linked “are inextricably linked to the designs of the Empire especially its use of militarism as a tool for control and dominance.”
“We do not want our countries as launching pads for the US wars of aggression against the peoples of the world for its sole economic and political interests,” they said.
The church groups called the proposed Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, a free trade pact, “one sided, unequal and deceptive pact.” It would be “hugely beneficial” for Japan “but will surely aggravate the Filipino people’s misery.”
The conference also denounced “the continued political killings and other human rights violations in the Philippines whose targets are known critics of the policies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.” (pictured)
In his conference address, the Rev. Rex Reyes, Jr., General Secretary of the NCCP accused the government of President Arroyo of having betrayed the people. The Anglican priest said the Arroyo presidency had led to “the repression and the militarization of the countryside.”
“The government’s counter-insurgency campaign, under the guise of war against terror,” had been implemented to enrich the government and its cronies through “the implementation of the economic policies of liberalization and privatization.”
The “repressive policies of the government” which had banned strikes and placed the country in a “state of emergency” were “meant to stifle principled dissent.”
“Peace and justice” remained an “enduring concern” for the Episcopal Church in the Philippines and the NCCP he said. The churches sought not to replace one regime with another, but to foster a “theology and spirituality that affirms the sanctity of life and the gifts of grace and providence bestowed on us by the Creator,” he said, and lead to the transformation of Filipino society.
Church anger of Japan euthanasia guidelines: CEN 11.09.07 p 8. November 12, 2007
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Church leaders have denounced guidelines adopted by the Japanese Association of Acute Medicine (JAAM) that allows doctors to euthanize terminally ill patients.The Oct 15 policy paper allows doctors to stop life prolonging treatments of the terminally ill, if the patient has stated in writing they do not wish to receive such treatment and their family endorses the decision.
If the family cannot decide or if the cannot be found, the decision should be left up to a team of medical professionals, JAAM said.
Critics charge the new guidelines are being driven by fears of government prosecution, rather than medical ethics. Japanese law is silent on euthanasia, with the state tending not to prosecute cases of “mercy killing” when done with the family’s permission. However, in 2005 a Yokohama doctor was jailed for three years for giving a comatose man a lethal injection.
On Oct 27 the Japanese newspaper the Ashai Shimbun reported that JAAM began compiling the guidelines after police questioned a doctor at Imizu City Hospital in Toyama Prefecture who had removed artificial respirators from seven terminal-cancer patients between 2000 and 2005.
The Rev. Masakatsu Seki, professor emeritus of Christian life ethics at St. Paul’s University in Tokyo, told Ecumenical News International the guidelines violated medical ethics.
“The logic is that if they follow the process towards halting measures for prolonging lives according to this [report], they will be justified and won’t be sued for illegal acts and that they have supported death with dignity as a mercy killing,”, the Anglican priest said.
Japan unveils its new hymnbook: CEN 10.26.07 p 7. October 27, 2007
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The Anglican Church in Japan, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai [NSKK] has revamped its hymnal, replacing Hymns Ancient and Modern with a new book that seeks the enculturation of Christian hymnody into the Japanese cultural experience.
Work on the new hymnal began in 1994 with a mandate to move away from reliance upon Japanese translations of traditional English and American hymns. The new book, the Hymnal of Nippon Sei Ko Kai was released with month and includes 590 hymns and 77 liturgical chants.
The new book combines colloquial Japanese hymns, with translations of Chinese and other Asian Christians hymns, the NSKK said. It also sought to add hymns that celebrated creation and God’s relationship to man.
Japanese Church opposes re-militarization: CEN 8.24.07 p 9. August 22, 2007
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| THE DIOCESE of Chubu has urged voters to reject the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s [LDP] plans to amend Japan’s ‘Peace Constitution’, saying a remilitarised Japan could provoke a world war and would turn the country into an Asian Britain, making it a tool of American foreign policy interests.“If we don’t dissuade the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (pictured) from changing Japan’s Peace Constitution, not only will the world be losing a powerful instrument for peace, but the change may also precipitate a war in Asia, in which China would almost certainly be involved, and to which the US would almost certainly respond,” the Central Japanese diocese’s international affairs commission said last week. |  |
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