Mormon Life - Japan tag

Apostle visits Saints in the Land of the Rising Sun

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:45:00 -0700

source: ldschurchnews.com

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy spent 12 days traveling in the Asia North Area during the month of February. Stops on their itinerary included the Japan cities of Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Tokyo and Sendai, as well as many coastal cities in the Tohoku area devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Accompanying Elder Oaks and Elder Hallstrom during their travels were their wives, Sister Kristen Oaks and Sister Diane Hallstrom. Also joining them for part of their travels were Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Seventy and president of the Asia North Area, Elder Michael Ringwood of the Seventy and first counselor in the Asia North Area presidency, Elder Koichi Aoyagi of the Seventy and second counselor in the Asia North Area presidency, and their wives, Sister Lesa Stevenson, Sister Rosalie Ringwood and Sister Shiroko Aoyagi.

A classic dilemma: The translation of the Book of Mormon into Japanese

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Editor's note: This is one in a series on the Book of Mormon translations and translators.

Literary Japanese was at a crossroads when four missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Tokyo Bay in August of 1901.

Over the next eight years, one of those missionaries, young Alma O. Taylor, helped navigate the first Japanese translation of the Book of Mormon across a landscape of changing literary styles. Initially overwhelmed by the language, Elder Taylor played a major role in producing a translation that scholar Shinji Takagi calls "a great literary achievement."

Church expands donations to Japan

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:06:00 -0700

source: Newsroom.lds.org

One day shy of eight months from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled to a remote area along the coast of Tohoku, Japan, and presented equipment and supplies to the devastated fishermen in that region. The donation is in addition to the support already given by the Church in Sendai and other villages this year.

Nobuaki Irie celebrates 20 years of performing LDS music in Japan

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:51:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Nobuaki Irie, a native of Osaka, Japan, had never sung in public until he joined the LDS Church and was serving as a missionary in Fukuoka. In the 20 years since, this former Buddhist has sung and written music with artists like Janice Kapp Perry, Afterglow, Kenneth Cope , Jericho Road and others, all in Japanese.

This weekend Nobu is giving a 20th anniversary concert in his home ward in Osaka and has released "I Will Sing!" This new CD includes many of his favorite inspirational songs sung in Japanese with the artists who created them, and he includes several meaningful originals.

Groundbreaking held for Sapporo Japan Temple

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:10:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Mormon Life says: Hooray for more temples. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Sapporo Japan Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) was held Saturday amidst wind and rain, marking the beginning of the Church’s third temple in Japan and sixth in Asia.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Church’s First Quorum of the Seventy presided at the groundbreaking. He was joined by Elders Michael T. Ringwood and Koichi Aoyagi of the Seventy. Former Japan prime minister Yukio Hatoyama also attended the ceremony.

Church helps Japanese fishermen get back to work

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:33:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

"Now we can go back to work and feed our families."

These were the words of the fishermen in a small village near Sendai, Japan, on a very rainy day this September as they cut the ribbon on a new ice making machine donated by the Church, using humanitarian donations from around the world. On March 11 a tsunami destroyed all but one of the 84 fishing boats in the local fishing cooperative. Some of the boats have been repaired. But even though they have boats, the fishermen were beached without ice to bring back the catch.

Rebuilding Japan: Supplies Donated to Sendai Fishermen; Missionaries Restore Shinto Shrine

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:23:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Mormon Life says: There's a video of the ceremony if you click on the forwarding link. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) continues to help in the effort to rebuild Japan since March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Two recent efforts include the donation of a new industrial size ice maker to fishermen in a small village near Sendai, and the restoration of a Shinto shrine in Tagajo.

A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new ice machine was held 1 September. The 11 March tsunami destroyed all but one of 84 fishing boats in a local fishing cooperative. Although some boats were repaired, the fishermen were beached without ice to preserve the daily catch.

“Now we can go back to work and feed our families,” a local fisherman said.

Missionaries in Japan help restore sacred Shinto shrine

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:21:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

The priests at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo — a shrine of such importance in Japan that it can be compared to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. — recently invited Church leaders here to describe how Latter-day Saints conduct their humanitarian efforts around the world, but especially in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku.

Meiji Shrine is in the heart of Tokyo and was built in 1910 to honor the Emperor Meiji who re-opened Japan to the world in the 1860s. It is one of the three most important shrines in the Shinto religion and is a Tokyo landmark known to almost every visitor from abroad.

The invitation from Meiji came following an unusual — at least in the eyes of the Meiji priests — service project by Christian missionaries at one of their shrines in Tagajo, just outside Sendai. Missionaries from the Tokyo Mission of the Church rode the bus all night to spend the day cleaning the Yawata Shrine, one of the many Shinto shrines damaged by the tsunami. The Yawata Shrine is hundreds of years old and is designated as a Historical Legacy Site in Japan.

Helping Japan heal

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 09:06:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Standing in the doorway of an evacuation center here, Koichi Chiba greets two senior LDS missionaries.

He recalls the days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, when everyone in the evacuation center received half a rice ball to eat each day and nothing else. Then he talks of the missionaries' first visit.

"If you hadn't come, we wouldn't have had meat to eat," Mr. Chiba tells Elder Conan Grames and his wife, Sister Cindy Grames. "The other thing we didn't have — we just couldn't get fresh vegetables. You brought us the first fresh vegetables."

Journey into Japan: LDS missionaries don T-shirts, get to work

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:07:00 -0600

source: ksl.com

When the sea overruns the earth and washes away all semblance of normal life, as Japan's tsunami did in March, everything changes — even Mormon missionaries' routines.

Yuri Bennett, of Pleasant Grove, wanted to be a missionary in the land of her ancestors. But did she think mission service would look anything like this?

"No. I was ready to proselyte, but I'm very happy to do this because that's what they need — to be helped," she told KSL News during our recent trip to Japan.

Utah Scout honors ancestor by donating soccer balls to school in Japan

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:37:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

It is easy to forget about the tragedy that surrounds the Yamashita Middle School here while watching a soccer game in this community in northern Japan. Shouts of joy, in stark contrast to the recent sorrow, fill the atmosphere as the ball moves up and down the field.

And that's just what Sterling Peterson, 17, a Timpview High School student from Utah, wanted.

He traveled to Japan to do what he could to help these students after a 9.0 earthquake and powerful tsunami devastated their community. Four of their classmates died in the disaster, which left 15,401 dead, displaced thousands and destroyed more than 551,000 homes throughout Japan, according to the National Police Agency. To date, some 8,146 people remain missing.

In Japan disaster's wake, members search and care for others

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:14:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: Great photo gallery. Yumiko Yoshiki was standing in her home on March 11 when the shaking started and things around her began to fall. Tsunami alarms followed.

She grabbed her money and some clothing, and with her adult daughter, started to run. Instantly they realized it would be necessary to flee by car. Sister Yoshiki took one car, her daughter another.

But when Sister Yoshiki of the Ichinoseki Branch, crested the hill in her coastal city, her daughter was not behind her. She wanted to go back, but the story of Lot's wife filled her soul and she knew she must look forward.

Sendai missionaries return to disaster zone to help rebuild community

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:12:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

From the window of a bus, Elder Patrick Hiltbrand recognized the streets and buildings around him. He saw his old apartment, the places he shopped for groceries and the streets where he proselytized as a missionary.

On June 16, three months after being trapped on the second story of a Church meetinghouse while water from a massive tsunami consumed the city below him, Elder Hiltbrand returned with others from the Japan Sendai Mission to help rebuild this community.

The Japan Kobe Mission miracle

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:05:00 -0600

source: presidentmcintyre.com

In mid January 2010, I received a call from the Area President, who told me of the planned consolidation of the Hiroshima Mission. The consolidation was to take place on or about July 1st and would result in the closure of the Hiroshima Mission with about two thirds of that mission being absorbed by the Kobe Mission.

Shortly after hearing this news, I found a map and began to ponder the implications of this change. As I looked at the map, the island of Awaji continued to come to mind. Awaji lies between Honshu and Shikoku, two of the four main islands of Japan. Awaji sits in the Inland Sea and connects Shikoku and Honshu with two wonderful bridges located on opposite sides of the island. Near the center of Awaji, lies the town of Sumoto which is home to the Sumoto Branch of the Kobe Stake.

Japan Sendai Missionaries offer 'Mormon Helping Hands' in Japan recovery effort

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:16:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

"It is a weird feeling to realize the last time I was here cars were piled up on top of each other," said Elder Hiltbrand of Pocatello, Idaho. "It feels good to be able to serve people and help people where I was able to see what happened to them."

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and powerful tsunami, which struck Japan March 11, left 15,401 dead, displaced thousands and destroyed more than 551,000 homes, according to Japan's National Police Agency. To date, some 8,146 people remain missing.

LDS Church helping fishermen get livelihoods back

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:53:00 -0600

source: ksl.com

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expanded its relief efforts for victims of Japan's earthquake and tsunami this week with a humanitarian donation to a fisherman's cooperative.

The view from the minivans that rolled through the rubble of cities that were devastated left even a veteran observer of natural disasters unable to find a comparison. When asked if he'd ever seen anything like it, Bishop H. David Burton, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, replied, "Nothing, nothing compares with the degree of devastation and the width and the breadth of it. Three hundred miles!"

The tsunami devastated the coastal fishing industry. Repairing the boats is not enough, and that's what led to the presentation this week from the LDS Church.

Returned missionaries from post-war Japan era gather

Sat, 21 May 2011 10:27:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

More than 60 years after they were in the mission field together and only weeks after natural disasters hit Japan, missionaries who served in Japan during the post World War II era gathered for their 120th mission reunion on April 21.

"It's good to see you all again," said Jack Clawson, reunion planner, during his opening remarks.

As they gathered in the Pagoda Restaurant in Salt Lake City — a tradition they have had for a few decades — they sang hymns in Japanese, shared their love of Japan and testimonies of the gospel.

Church aid continues to help Japan disaster victims

Sat, 21 May 2011 10:11:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

"I have never seen anything like this!"

These were the words of Elder Claudio R.M. Costa of the Presidency of the Seventy as he stood and looked at the destruction of the village of Onagawa on the northeast coast of Japan.

He and Sister Margareth Costa traveled to the small town on May 9 as one stop on their trip through Japan. Onagawa was washed almost completely away in the tsunami that made landfall shortly after the 9.0 earthquake that shook the country on March 11. Ten percent of the town — approximately 1,000 people — are dead or missing in the wake of this disaster.

How to help those in Japan without spending a dime

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:18:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

It’s hard to watch the news. People are dead and dying, without homes and hope. Especially right now, the Japanese have caught our attention. If we could, we would fly there ourselves and give our hearts and our help.

For most of us, the help will need to come in other ways. Here are 10 good projects that can significantly aid the Japanese people.

1. Donate blood at a local blood drive. There is illness, disease and trauma. Your donation here will make more donations available there. Imagine the hope you will give to those who need blood to survive. Contact the American Red Cross today, and give a precious and personal commodity — your own blood.

Missionaries to return to areas of Japan devastation

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:05:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Six weeks after a 9.0 earthquake and devastating tsunami hit Japan, some missionaries that were previously removed from the Japan Tokyo and Japan Sendai Missions will return to areas now considered safe within those missions. These missionaries will be transferred in the near future, with other missionaries likely returning as conditions continue to improve.

Missionaries will return to areas located a significant distance from the region most affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Those returning to the Japan Tokyo Mission will be serving in areas to the south and west of Tokyo, while those returning to the Japan Sendai Mission will be located at the northern tip and western side of the island.