{"id":1030522,"date":"2026-02-09T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"trans-26976-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/trans-26976-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan \u2013 Salesians Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Their Arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi<\/strong>, Archbishop of Tokyo, and concelebrated by Bishop Mario Michiaki Yamanouchi<\/strong> and Bishop Andrea Lembo<\/strong>. Also present were Fr William Matthews, SDB<\/strong>, Regional Councillor for East Asia–Oceania; Fr Domingos Leong, SDB<\/strong>, Provincial of China; and Fr Marcello Baek, SDB<\/strong>, Provincial of Korea, along with Salesians from across the region.<\/p>\n

Prior to the Mass, students from Salesian schools offered creative presentations recalling the beginnings of the Salesian mission in Japan, including a short dramatization on the life of Fr Vincenzo Cimatti, SDB<\/strong>, and a symbolic dance inspired by the sea voyage of the first missionaries. A letter written by Fr Cimatti, describing the circumstances surrounding the Salesians’ arrival in Japan one hundred years ago, was read by members of the Salesian Cooperators.<\/p>\n

In his homily, Bishop Yamanouchi<\/strong> invited the assembly to “bring the heritage of these one hundred years to life in the present,” encouraging the Salesian Family to read its history as a living mission and a call to renewed responsibility in today’s world.<\/p>\n

The liturgy was enriched by the joint choirs of the Caritas Sisters of Jesus<\/strong> and the Salesian Sisters<\/strong>, accompanied by the Himonya Church Band<\/strong>, while a handbell performance by students of Kodaira Salesio Junior High School<\/strong> guided the congregation into reflective remembrance of the Salesian journey in Japan.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the Mass, words of thanksgiving were offered by Fr Atsushi Hamasaki, SDB<\/strong>, Provincial of Japan, followed by an address from Fr William Matthews, SDB<\/strong>, as representative of the Rector Major. Four young representatives then shared a message expressing their hopes and commitment for the next hundred years of the Salesian mission, which was warmly received by the assembly.<\/p>\n

The celebration concluded with the centenary theme song, “Yume\u2011wo\u2011Tsunaide: Weaving Dreams,”<\/strong> filling the cathedral and bringing the historic Eucharistic celebration to a moving close.<\/p>\n

One hundred years after the arrival of the first nine Salesian missionaries led by Fr Vincenzo Cimatti<\/strong>, this centenary celebration became a moment of profound thanksgiving and renewed commitment, affirming that the future of the Salesian mission in Japan continues to be entrusted to the shared responsibility of the entire Salesian Family.<\/p>\n

The centenary year will conclude in October<\/strong> with the visit of the Rector Major, Fr Fabio Attard, SDB<\/strong>. As the journey continues, the Salesian Family in Japan looks to the future with hope, committed to weaving Don Bosco’s dream into the lives of new generations.<\/p>\n

\n [Gallery Missing]<\/strong> Folder not found: wp-content\/uploads\/images\/GIA - Centenario 2026<\/code>\n <\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eucharistic celebration was presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Archbishop of Tokyo, and concelebrated by Bishop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2026976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3631,97,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1030522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-est-oceania","category-east-asia-oceania","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infoans.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}