Episcopal Press and News

Japanese Priest Works in Alaska

Diocesan Press Service. August 9, 1965 [XXXIV-10]

JAPANESE PRIEST WORKS IN ALASKA

In the spirit of the Toronto MRI document a priest of the Nippon Seikokai (The Holy Catholic Church in Japan), the Rev. Peter S. Yoshimura served St. Mary's Church, Anchorage, Alaska, while the Rev. Alexander C. Zabriskie, priest-in-charge was on furlough.

Epiphany Church, Kuana, in the Diocese of Kyoto agreed to give Father Yoshimura to the Anchorage parish; St. Mary's hoped to give the Japanese priest an experience that would enlarge him and help him better serve the heavily populated industrial seaport where his parish at home is located.

This project began in the fall of 1964 when the Rev. Kenneth Heim, Executive Council missionary in Japan, visited Anchorage. The parish was celebrating its tenth anniversary and wanted to know how it could help the Japanese church with part of its Anniversary Fund. The answer came back that the most profitable project for both might be the trip of Father Yoshimura to Anchorage.

St. Mary's underwrote the costs of Father Yoshimura's stay- his transportation, salary, etc.

The Japanese priest is 32 years old and married with two children. A third child was expected during the summer so his family remained in Japan. He is from a Christian family and received the support of his family in his decision to enter the priesthood, a rather unusual event in a culture which places great emphasis on the elder son's ability to support his parents- an impossibility for a priest in Japan.