Status of the Diocese of Tohoku : after affect of  earthquake and tsunami

By The Rt Revd John Hiromichi Kato

Five days ago, on March 11 at 2:46 PM, there was a major earthquake followed by a tsunami and fires. Now we are facing potential disaster caused by the malfunction of nuclear power plant. On the day of earthquake it was snowing. Today it is expected to get colder. The tsunami and the fires it caused have made us miserable. We are now experiencing a lack of food supply. Over the past five days there have been as series of worrying aftershocks. Essential services are disrupted, particularly the phones with many people unable to recharge their cell phones. There is now a petrol shortage in the immediate area. We were simply not prepared for problems on this scale. In the central part of Sendai City there does not appear to be major damage to the buildings; it almost appears as if there is no problem, but in reality the lack of essential services--gas, electricity and water--is particularly hard for people.

What we are experiencing in our city does not compare to what we have seen in the media, particularly those areas directly impacted by the tsunami. According to the Asahi newspaper, life for the between 400,000 to 500,000 people living in temporary shelters is getting worse. The affected area is very wide and diocesan staff have not been able to visit all areas. What we do know about churches and kindergartens (in the Tohoku diocese, kindergartens are often attached to churches) is:

The Grace Church, Kamaishi and Kindergarten: The building did not suffer damage from the tsunami, but not all church members have been found (this location is right on coast and it was very fortunate that Tsunami did not reach the building)

St. John’s Church, Isoyama: It is located very close to sea and it has been reported that one person dead. It is not known about others in the area. We pray that they are all safe in some temporary shelter. (This church has membership of 8 without a resident priest)

St. Timothy Church, Onahama: In this town people were either evacuating the area or staying inside a building to avoid possible exposure to radiation.

Christ Church, Sendai (Cathedral Church of diocese of Tohoku): Some parishioners are from the area affected by tsunami and we have not been able to confirm their safety. The Church building will not collapse but because of safety we had Holy Eucharist in the parish hall last Sunday.

There are 29 churches, chapels, and missionary stations in diocese of Tohoku, and many of them are located inland in areas not affected by the tsunami. In these locations building did sustain slight damage such as cracked and broken windows, cracked or fallen walls, ceiling damage, etc.  

I mention all the suffering we are experiencing but there are many heart-warming stories too. For example right after the quake traffic lights were not working but I did not observe any traffic chaos because people were driving very cautiously taking particular care of the elderly.

Within the diocese of Tohoku 'The Headquarters for Relief Activity in Tohoku Diocese' has been established and it is located in the memorial hall for Bishop Norman Spencer Binsted (named after the first bishop of diocese of Tohoku and 23rd bishop of NSKK, originally from The Episcopal Church) in the Diocesan Office building. I, the Bishop of Tohoku, will be in charge of it and we will handle information gathering and the challenges ahead for immediate relief and rehabilitation. There are already few members gathered there.  Revd Stephen Kofuku Wakui has also been appointed to this organisation also. The first priority is to confirm safety of parishioners and church building, but the eventual challenge is to rebuild our diocese. With God’s blessing I pray that we will accomplish this task.

There have been many inquiries and offers of help from across the Anglican Communion. Just to mention few: the Archbishop of Canterbury, churches within diocese of Louisiana,  Western Louisiana, and Daejeon with which the diocese of Tohoku has companion relationships. Also we have received offers of help and prayers from bishops and dioceses within NSKK and I want to express many thanks for all of these. Challenges to overcome the damage is not limited to diocese of Tohoku, and other dioceses have been affected in some way. So I want to offer churches and people in other dioceses our solidarity and prayers .

I realize that many challenges lie ahead of us. I pray that what we do will be with God’s blessing that Christ has taught us to do so in his holy words.