Vol.XIV #3October, 2002

NSKK NEWSLETTER
日本聖公会管区事務所だより
NIPPON SEI KO KAI Provincial Office

Editor : E. Hajime Suzuki

65 Yarai-cho, Shinjuku-ku,

Tel. +81-3-5228-3171

Tokyo 162-0805 JAPANFax +81-3-5228-3175

The Rt. Rev. John Masanao Watanabe, ex-Bishop of Hokkaido Diocese, NSKK, passed away on
10th July 2002. He had exercised the Episcopal Ministry of Hokkaido Diocese from 1969 to1986. From 1983, he held the post of Primate of NSKK. Bishop Watanabe ended his life at theage of 76 years and 9 months.
In the August issue of “The Light of the North Sea”, the bulletin of Hokkaido Diocese, one ofhis posthumous manuscripts was published. It was entitled “The Road to Peace that I followed”,
with a subtitle, “My personal experience of the Pacific War led me to the Lord Jesus”.
The editor of the bulletin told me that this article was left with him by the Bishop, saying, “thisis the depiction of my youth.” It is a heartfelt article, in which he described how he had got over
all the difficulties of life to become a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus.
Bishop Watanabe was born in 1925 in Karafuto (currently part of the Russian territory ofSakhalin), located in the north end of Japan. In his childhood, he used to help his father in agrocery. During the Pacific War, he entered the Naval Academy of Japan, but in the last year of
the Academy in 1945, Japan lost the war. The ending of the war caused him to lose his dream of
becoming a naval officer. The Naval Academy was located in a place close to Hiroshima, which
was completely demolished by the single blast of that atomic bomb. On his way home to wherehis mother was waiting, he looked fixedly at the infernal scene of devastated Hiroshima. While
supporting his sickly mother, he had to stand a life of hardshipAt that time, he began to be inclined toward Christianity. Soon after his mother died, his father
returned home from Russia where he had been held as a prisoner of war, as if his mother gave
place to his father.
When his father was informed of the death of his wife, he closed his eyes without saying asingle word. “My father must have repressed his sorrow and anger against the fact that had
trampled upon his hope of meeting his wife. I decided to go to church on that day”. Bishop
Watanabe described in the article what happened in him on that day; one of the most moving
parts in the manuscript.
In 1947, he was confirmed and two years later he was admitted to Nippon Sei Ko Kai
Theological College. After graduation from the Theological College, he served in manychurches in various places in Hokkaido, and he also went to England for further theologicalstudy. After retiring from the Episcopate, he worked for a seafaring mission in Tanzania for 7years.

This article left by the late Bishop Watanabe has clearly shown us the essence of the life of him
who served as our spiritual leader, and who had faithfully replied to his calling, after having
survived the days of hardship brought by the Pacific War.
Hajime Suzuki
Editor-in-Chief

Fifteenth Anniversary of the Religious Summit Meeting on Mt. Hiei
Prayer for World Peace
DIALOGUE BETWEEN WORLD RELIGIONS AND ISLAM
In Oct.1986, Pope John Paul II invited world religious representatives to “ Religious People’s
Prayer Meeting for Peace “ in Assisi. From Japan, The Most Venerable Etai Yamada of theBuddhist Tendai sect and some others participated in the meeting. The next year, in August 1987,
on the occasion of 1200th anniversary of foundation of Hiei-Zan by Saicho, “The Religious
Summit Meeting on Mt. Hiei, Prayer Meeting for World Peace “ was held on a large scale
inviting various religious representatives from all over the world. The Primate, Rt. Rev.
Kikawada and some others participated in the meeting representing NSKK. Thereafter,Religious People’s Prayer Meeting for World Peace had been held every year in August on Mt.
Hiei, and this year was the fifteen anniversary of the Religious Summit Meeting on Mt. Hiei.
This year, the meeting was not merely for “Prayer for World Peace “, but a “ Dialogue Between
World Religions and Islam “ was added. Needless to say, it was meant to consolidate our desirethat the prejudice and hatred against Islam which had spread over the world since the Sept.11
incident in the USA would be swept away from all people’s hearts. Accordingly, six
representatives and leaders of Islam were invited from overseas. Moreover, Rev. Dr. MichaelIpgrave was added as the representative of Church of England for the first time. He is the InterFaith Religion Advisor of the Archbishop’s Council.
I would like to report a few points out of the schedule of 3rd and 4th August. After the opening
ceremony at Kyoto International Conference Hall, a memorial lecture and a symposium werepresented. There were around 1200 people in attendance. The memorial lecture was given by Dr.
Muhammad Saad Al-Salem, Chancellor of Al-lmam Muhammad lbn Saud Islamic University,
entitled “ Islam and Peace”. In the lecture, he appealed that God’s dogma was infringed by theconfusion between individual conduct and the teaching of Islam. “We need mutual
understanding and dialogue. Islam is a religion that seeks for Peace,” he said. The symposium
was entitled “Dialogue and Understanding of Islam”. Three speakers were Dr. Muhammad
Abdulfadel Abdulaziz, (Vice Dean of the Faculty of Creed and Theology, Al-Azhar Univ.,
Egypt), Dr. Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat (Moderator pf ACRP, Pakistan), and Dr. Musa ZeidKeilani (Member of the Executive Committee of the Islamic Congress for Jerusalem). They areall Muslim. Dr. Abdulaziz emphasized: “ Islam respects every single living thing.” Dr. Marwat
argued saying, “the word Sacred War (Jihad) means to fight against social injustice. Islam does
not allow terrorism that kills innocent people.” Dr. Keilani expressed his expectation forJapanese religious people to build a bridge between Islam and other religions of the world.
In the morning of the 4th Aug., a forum was held under the theme of Reconciliation and Religion
in which five people spoke. Rev. Dr. Ipgrave was one of them. Unfortunately I could not hearthem speak since it was Sunday. Later on I was told that the vivid reality of the conflicts had
been reported, and also misunderstandings of Islam had been pointed out as well. I hear that Rev.

Dr. Ipgrave had said that the dialogue between the Church of England and Islam was very
important as there were two million Muslims living in UK. In the afternoon of the same day, theCeremony of Inter-religious Prayer for World Peace was dedicated in the open space ofEnryakuji Temple, with five hundred people gathering. Each representative of the religiousgroups ascended one after another, and offered Prayers for Peace according to their religion
while synthesizer music was being played.
Before closing, a “Message from Mt. Hiei”, which emphasized respect for dialogue between
religions, mutual understanding, and a sincere desire for Peace, was released and resolved by all
the participants.
Rt. Rev. Barnabas Mutsuji Mutoh

INTER-RELIGIOUS SUMMIT AT MT HIEI
From 3rd to 4th August 2002, an ‘Inter-Religious Summit’ meeting was held at Mt Hiei, Kyoto.
This summit is an annual event in Japan, hosted by the Tendai school of Buddhism, but this year
held a special significance, as it marked the 15th anniversary of the first such gathering on Mt
Hiei in 1987 – which was itself a Japanese sequel to Pope John Paul II’s invitation torepresentatives of the world’s religions to come together in prayer at Assisi. This year at Mt Hiei,Anglican representatives included The Rt Revd Barnabas Muto, Bishop of Kyoto, withcolleagues from his diocese, and staff from the Provincial Offices of Nippon Sei Ko Kai,
together with myself from the Church of England. Over a thousand people, from all branches ofJapanese religions, attended the event, together with a number of invited guests from overseas.
The full title of the meeting, ‘Inter-Religious Gathering of Prayer for World Peace: Dialogue
between World Religions and Islam’, encompasses the three intertwined themes which provided
a focus for the three successive sessions: engagement with the Islamic world; the role ofreligions in conflict causation, resolution and prevention; and coming together to pray for peace.
On the first afternoon, Islamic scholars from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan andBosnia-Herzegovina presented key aspects of their faith and practice to a large Japaneseaudience in a public symposium. The decision to focus on Islam had been taken by theorganising committee in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, and having in
mind the widespread suspicion and misunderstanding of Islam in both the Western world andJapan. The Muslim speakers at the symposium naturally presented their faith as a religion ofpeace and unity, and it was interesting to see the amount of interest generated in the audience byeven quite basic issues of Islamic belief and behaviour – though there was evident a certain
disquiet over a forcibly expressed emphasis on the God-given prohibition of alcohol!
The morning of the second day consisted of a forum for religious leaders, in which Muslim,
Christian and Jewish representatives discussed the role of religions in relation to conflict. In
contrast to the expository mood of the previous day, this was cast more in the form of a dialogue,
with participants sharing a good deal of common ground in this area. The consensus at thesummit seemed to be that, while religions as such were not usually directly responsible forcausing conflicts, they did often have a negative record of contributing to a climate of hostility
which enabled or perpetuated conflict. Conversely, religious organisations could play a majorrole in conflict resolution and prevention through engaging in honest dialogue, sharing inpractically oriented movements for justice and peace, and educating their members about theauthentic reality of other faiths. These general principles were illustrated by the speakers withreference to such concrete situations as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel-Palestine, and NorthernIreland.
The meeting culminated in a gathering to pray for peace on Mt Hiei, the ancient Buddhist
sanctuary high above the sprawling city of Kyoto. Representatives of seven different religious
groups in turn offered prayers for world peace, each within the integrity of their own traditions,
yet most moving of all was to stand as people of faith together for a time of silence, punctuatedonly by the resonant booming of temple bells – ‘shoulder to shoulder’, as someone once said, ina time of global turmoil.
It goes without saying that this inter-religious gathering was superbly organised, from beginningto end, with a distinctively Japanese blend of careful efficiency, generous hospitality, and subtle
spirituality. I am very grateful to the organisers for making it possible for me to attend and makea presentation at the summit. I am also very thankful to Bishop Muto and his diocese for hosting
me in Kyoto for a week before the event – a time when I was able to make contact with several
old and new religious groups in the area. I hope and pray that the Mt Hiei meeting will stimulate
further interest in Japan in encounter with Islam in particular, and in inter-religious dialogue ingeneral – and I believe that the Nippon Sei Ko Kai could play an important role in helping toadvance that dialogue.
The Revd Canon Dr Michael Ipgrave

Thinking of the Day of the Dropping of the Atom Bombat the Memorial Service for the Victims of the Atomic Bombing held atNagasaki Holy Trinity Church
August 9, 2002
On August 9th in 1945, at 11:02 a.m., an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki
which took the lives of more than 74.000 people in a moment, and more than 76.000 people
received severe wounds.
57 years have passed since the tragic event occurred. 29 members of Nagasaki Holy Trinity
Church of Nippon Sei Ko Kai became victims of the A-Bomb. The church has been holding amemorial service for the victims of the atomic bombing every year on August 9th. But due to thefact that the Memorial Day has mostly fallen on weekdays, they were obliged to hold the service
under the leadership of the women’s group of the church for a long time.
From 3 years ago, Bishop Shoji Igarashi of Kyushu Diocese has been eagerly involved in thememorial service under the joint auspices of the Mission Department of the Diocese. In thecircumstances that most of the people in the world have been searching for peace, we planned todevelop and deepen the meaning of ‘Peace’ this year, remembering the tragic incident thatoccurred 57 years ago. We asked Bishop Toru Uno, the Presiding Bishop of Nippon Sei Ko Kai,
to give us a sermon at the Memorial Service. It was indeed a historical memorial service, for it
was the first time after the war that the Presiding Bishop had knelt down and participated in theprayer of peace before God in this very place where an atomic bomb was dropped.
Archbishop Uno emphasized the following three points in his preaching. The first one was thatthe most important thing was to share together the agony and pains of the people who received
severe injuries from the A-bomb by standing among them, and that retaliation against enemies
did not give any solutions.

The second one was that in order to abolish nuclear weapons and to create a peaceful world, weshould not leave politics to politicians only, but we have to get the grasp of them as our own
problems and to have responsibility to be concerned with them positively. The third one heemphasized was that there is the law of the jungle prevailing in the deep root of the idea to startwars between nations. But true peace only exists in the world where the weak and the small arerespected, and we have to build up a world where we could respect and support each other.
After the Memorial Service was over, we listened to the testimonies of two A-bomb victims, Ms.
Yoneko Takahashi and Mr. Nobuo Nishimoto. Ms. Takahashi was working at Fuchi Junior HighSchool in those days and she was crushed under a felled tree when the bomb dropped, but she
was rescued. Mr. Nishimoto was working at a precision machinery factory as one of the studentworkers. He was just home after a night shift and survived. Their testimonies were quite vividones. While we were having lunch together, it was very impressive to hear them saying, “it wasmore horrible and pitiable in reality but we could not tell them the rest of the story any more.”
It was a really valuable day to think over “Peace”. The 70 participants at the service would havebeen impressed even more than I was. We sincerely hope the ‘Assembly of Longing for Peace’in Nagasaki will be developed also in Hiroshima as a co-operative activity in the future.
The Rev. Masanao Hamao