We are currently developing a software that will assist people in learning the Biblical Greek. It is targeted toseminary students as well as anyone who wants to be able to read Greek. The software comes with a function that
reads out the text of the Greek Bible (UBS 4th edition, Nestle-Aland 27th edition) in the Ancient Greek
pronunciation.
The characteristics will be: 1) karaoke function, the part that is being read will change its colour; 2) dictionary
which will display the meaning and the pronunciation when you click a word; and 3) Greek / Japanese interlinear
text. We are hoping to launch it in the fiscal year 2006 - 2007.
Right: Rev.Watabe GS;
2 nd Right: Board Chairperson Rev. Omiya
Beautiful Japan

Rev. Makoto Watabe, the General Secretary, attended the 9th World
Assembly of the World Council of Churches that was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil
from the 14th - 23rd February 2006. The social, political, racial, humanitarian andeconomical issues in the Southern Hemisphere were mainly discussed. An hour
and a half Bible Study was conducted
everyday. It is worthy to note that the Orthodox
Church was participating as the proper
memberof the WCC. This time of gathering was
beneficial in deepening the fellowship, prayer and deliberation, to enable us to face
the various challenges of the ecumenical movement in the 21st century.

Rev.Watabe, also the National Christian Council
in Japan, China, Committee Chairperson;
preaching in Xian, Sep. 2004

Since 1990, JBS has been awarding those who have contributed greatly to the Bible Work; people whoplayed significant roles in the translation, production and distribution of the Bible, for example, those with specializedskills, such as gilding or publishing the Braille Bible.
Last year, this award was presented to the General Director of New Life League, Japan, Mr. Roald Lidal.
The NLL has distributed the Bible to more than 90 countries andprinted the Bible in more than 80 languages. The award ceremony isusually held during the Christmas worship service of JBS.

Tokyo Tower

Japan Bible Society
Since 1875 (131st anniversary)
Public Relations Dept.
30 September 2006
5-1, Ginza 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo,
Japan 145-0061
Phone: +81-(0)3-3567-1988
Fax: +81-(0)3-3567-4451
E-mail:info@bible.or.jp
http://www.bible.or.jp/e/index.html

Our Latest Bullet Train

A kabuki actorRev.Watabe, GS

I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will doeven greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.
John 14:12 (CEV)

Welcome back to our second issue of theJBS news international!
We hope to inform you of our past
activities through this newsletter so that we will
be able to remain close to your hearts. This year
we have had the International Bible Forum andother events, which we hope will stir the interestsof those in Japan so that more people will readthe Bible. We hope to continue these events inthe future, too.

We ask you to remember us in yourprayers so that His work will spread. May God'sabundant life and blessing be with you all.
Sincerely in Christ,

Makoto Watabe
General Secretary

In November 2005, the Translation
Department was established with four
staff: the assistant director Dr Yuko
Taniguchi, the librarian Ms Yuko
Takahashi, Mr Shuji Miyazaki and Dr
Katsuomi Shimasaki. Since then, they
have been busy organizing theInternational Bible Forum and editing theStudy Bible, as well as the lecture notes
for the forum at the same time. JBS ishoping to continue organizing similarseminars every year.
The Poster ofInternational Bible ForumGod's Unchanging Word for a changing World is the slogan for the United
Bible Societies, which was taken up in 2004. However, human words / languages
The Symposiumchange as time changes but God's words never does. The symposium held underInternational Bible Forum was held from May 3rd to 5th,

the theme of "Revisiting the Bible from the original text to modern translations: how

2006 at Hotel New Otani in Tokyo. A keynote lecture andto convey the Bible to the modern society?" challenged the participants to explore

symposium, along with 27 lectures aroused the interest of thefurther into the world of Bible translation and distribution.

attendees in the Word of God. Also, other activities such as

The aim of the forum was to re-discuss the Bible so that we can re-learn the Word as the main theme of theconcerts and art exhibition were held. Nine lecturers from abroad

forum, "Revisiting the Bible, Today" testifies. It gave us all a great opportunity to reconsider our activities of spreading

and 14 from Japan were invited to conduct the lectures and overGod's Word here in Japan.
Fringe events included Bible quiz, a violin recital, a hand-copying Bible booth, and

2,000 people from various backgrounds including scholars, clerics

a book fair. Pastor of Soai Church, United Church of Christ in Japan lead us in the quizand lay people attended the lectures that gave us the total ofevent and participants enjoyed competing over various prizes.
At the violin recital, a Korean violinist, Mr. Jung Chanwoo, played beautiful music,

5,000 participants.

which included repertoires such as "Zigeunerweisen." He also shared his testimony with

Our lectures were divided into 3 themes: "Biblical theology," "Bible translation," and "church and the society."

us and afterwards the promotion video of the JBS was shown.

The lecturers were the following:This is the Full Study Bible, which includes both the New
Testament and the Old Testament texts with explanation notes. Thisis the first of its kind in Japan. As it was the case with the New
Testament Study Bible which was published in 2004, some notes aretranslated from the CEV Learning Bible published by the American
Bible Society, but we have added notes for enrichment in order toDr Emanuel Tov
The Professor of the Hebrew University
The Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea
Scrolls Publication Project

Dr James Robinson
The Professor Emeritus of Claremont
Graduate University

Dr Adrian Schenker
The Professor Emeritus of University ofFribourg
President of the Editorial Committee of BHQ

deepen the readers' understanding of the Bible and its history.
The book is made in such a way as to correspond with the New
Interconfessional Translation Bible page number, thus making it easier to look up thepart the reader is looking for. The size of the book and the fonts are also bigger. The

Size: 182×257mm; 2,208pages
Domestic Price

actual heaviness of the Study Bible reminds us that the Bible is the Word of God,

Hardcover: $103.14 (NI64 STUDY)

which we can strive to learn and understand with the help of God.

PaperBack: $91.11 (NI60 STUDY)

Size: 105×71×27mm

Dr Klaus Wachtel
The Institute for New Testament Textual
Research,
University of Munster

Dr John Dominic Crossan
The Professor Emeritus of De Paul
University

Dr Lourence de Vries
The Professor of Free University ofAmsterdam
UBS Honorary Translation Consultant

Weight: 70g, Built in speaker

In 2004, JBS produced the "Bible Talk - New Testament" inCat no.: RVRBT-NTJapanese and in English. This year, we launched the Spanish Reina Valera 1960 (knownas RVR 1960) version. Reina Valera is a very popular version in Spanish speaking countries.
The recording used is narrated by Samuel Montoya. Bible Talk is small in size and uses thedigital sound format. We are currently developing other languages also and hope that it will
be used to reach out to the furthest corners of the world. If you are interested in distributing
Bible Talk in your own country, please contact Japan Bible Society.

Dr Young Jin Min
General Secretary of Korean Bible Society

Dr Daud Soesilo
UBS Asia Pacific Area
Translations Coordinator

Dr Yu Suee Yan
UBS Translation Consultant,
Asia Pacific Area

Why don't you try another "GS" product?
Lexus GS

God's Unchanging Word for a changing World is the slogan for the United
Bible Societies, which was taken up in 2004. However, human words / languages
The Symposiumchange as time changes but God's words never does. The symposium held underInternational Bible Forum was held from May 3rd to 5th,

the theme of "Revisiting the Bible from the original text to modern translations: how

2006 at Hotel New Otani in Tokyo. A keynote lecture andto convey the Bible to the modern society?" challenged the participants to explore

symposium, along with 27 lectures aroused the interest of thefurther into the world of Bible translation and distribution.

attendees in the Word of God. Also, other activities such as

The aim of the forum was to re-discuss the Bible so that we can re-learn the Word as the main theme of theconcerts and art exhibition were held. Nine lecturers from abroad

forum, "Revisiting the Bible, Today" testifies. It gave us all a great opportunity to reconsider our activities of spreading

and 14 from Japan were invited to conduct the lectures and overGod's Word here in Japan.
Fringe events included Bible quiz, a violin recital, a hand-copying Bible booth, and2,000 people from various backgrounds including scholars, clerics

a book fair. Pastor of Soai Church, United Church of Christ in Japan lead us in the quizand lay people attended the lectures that gave us the total ofevent and participants enjoyed competing over various prizes.
At the violin recital, a Korean violinist, Mr. Jung Chanwoo, played beautiful music,5,000 participants.

which included repertoires such as "Zigeunerweisen." He also shared his testimony withOur lectures were divided into 3 themes: "Biblical theology," "Bible translation," and "church and the society."

us and afterwards the promotion video of the JBS was shown.

The lecturers were the following:This is the Full Study Bible, which includes both the New
Testament and the Old Testament texts with explanation notes. Thisis the first of its kind in Japan. As it was the case with the New
Testament Study Bible which was published in 2004, some notes aretranslated from the CEV Learning Bible published by the American
Bible Society, but we have added notes for enrichment in order toDr Emanuel Tov
The Professor of the Hebrew University
The Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea
Scrolls Publication Project

Dr James Robinson
The Professor Emeritus of Claremont
Graduate University

Dr Adrian Schenker
The Professor Emeritus of University ofFribourg
President of the Editorial Committee of BHQ

deepen the readers' understanding of the Bible and its history.
The book is made in such a way as to correspond with the NewInterconfessional Translation Bible page number, thus making it easier to look up thepart the reader is looking for. The size of the book and the fonts are also bigger. TheSize: 182×257mm; 2,208pages
Domestic Price

actual heaviness of the Study Bible reminds us that the Bible is the Word of God,

Hardcover: $103.14 (NI64 STUDY)

which we can strive to learn and understand with the help of God.

PaperBack: $91.11 (NI60 STUDY)

Size: 105×71×27mm

Dr Klaus Wachtel
The Institute for New Testament TextualResearch,University of Munster

Dr John Dominic Crossan
The Professor Emeritus of De PaulUniversity

Dr Lourence de Vries
The Professor of Free University ofAmsterdam
UBS Honorary Translation Consultant

Weight: 70g, Built in speaker

In 2004, JBS produced the "Bible Talk - New Testament" inCat no.: RVRBT-NT

Japanese and in English. This year, we launched the Spanish Reina Valera 1960 (knownas RVR 1960) version. Reina Valera is a very popular version in Spanish speaking countries.
The recording used is narrated by Samuel Montoya. Bible Talk is small in size and uses thedigital sound format. We are currently developing other languages also and hope that it will
be used to reach out to the furthest corners of the world. If you are interested in distributing
Bible Talk in your own country, please contact Japan Bible Society.

Dr Young Jin Min
General Secretary of Korean Bible Society

Dr Daud Soesilo
UBS Asia Pacific Area
Translations Coordinator

Dr Yu Suee Yan
UBS Translation Consultant,
Asia Pacific Area

Why don't you try another "GS" product?
Lexus GSWe are currently developing a software that will assist people in learning the Biblical Greek. It is targeted toseminary students as well as anyone who wants to be able to read Greek. The software comes with a function thatreads out the text of the Greek Bible (UBS 4th edition, Nestle-Aland 27th edition) in the Ancient Greek
pronunciation.
The characteristics will be: 1) karaoke function, the part that is being read will change its colour; 2) dictionary
which will display the meaning and the pronunciation when you click a word; and 3) Greek / Japanese interlinear
text. We are hoping to launch it in the fiscal year 2006 - 2007.
Right: Rev.Watabe GS;
2 nd Right: Board Chairperson Rev. Omiya
Beautiful Japan

Rev. Makoto Watabe, the General Secretary, attended the 9th World
Assembly of the World Council of Churches that was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil
from the 14th - 23rd February 2006. The social, political, racial, humanitarian andeconomical issues in the Southern Hemisphere were mainly discussed. An hour
and a half Bible Study was conducted
everyday. It is worthy to note that the Orthodox
Church was participating as the proper
memberof the WCC. This time of gathering wasbeneficial in deepening the fellowship, prayer and deliberation, to enable us to face
the various challenges of the ecumenical movement in the 21st century.

Rev.Watabe, also the National Christian Council
in Japan, China, Committee Chairperson;
preaching in Xian, Sep. 2004

Since 1990, JBS has been awarding those who have contributed greatly to the Bible Work; people who
played significant roles in the translation, production and distribution of the Bible, for example, those with specializedskills, such as gilding or publishing the Braille Bible.
Last year, this award was presented to the General Director of New Life League, Japan, Mr. Roald Lidal.
The NLL has distributed the Bible to more than 90 countries andprinted the Bible in more than 80 languages. The award ceremony isusually held during the Christmas worship service of JBS.

Tokyo Tower

Japan Bible Society
Since 1875 (131st anniversary)
Public Relations Dept.
30 September 2006
5-1, Ginza 4-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo,
Japan 145-0061
Phone: +81-(0)3-3567-1988
Fax: +81-(0)3-3567-4451
E-mail:info@bible.or.jp
http://www.bible.or.jp/e/index.html

Our Latest Bullet Train

A kabuki actor

Rev.Watabe, GS

I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will doeven greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.
John 14:12 (CEV)

Welcome back to our second issue of theJBS news international!
We hope to inform you of our past
activities through this newsletter so that we will
be able to remain close to your hearts. This year
we have had the International Bible Forum andother events, which we hope will stir the interestsof those in Japan so that more people will readthe Bible. We hope to continue these events inthe future, too.

We ask you to remember us in yourprayers so that His work will spread. May God'sabundant life and blessing be with you all.
Sincerely in Christ,

Makoto Watabe
General Secretary

In November 2005, the Translation
Department was established with four
staff: the assistant director Dr Yuko
Taniguchi, the librarian Ms Yuko
Takahashi, Mr Shuji Miyazaki and Dr
Katsuomi Shimasaki. Since then, they
have been busy organizing theInternational Bible Forum and editing theStudy Bible, as well as the lecture notes
for the forum at the same time. JBS ishoping to continue organizing similarseminars every year.
The Poster ofInternational Bible Forum