St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church (カトリック片瀬教会)

St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church (カトリック片瀬教会)

Close to Enoshima, one of the major tourist attractions of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, is the St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church (カトリック片瀬教会) standing along Sakai River next to Yamamoto Bridge.  Some may suspect this church building was originally a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine, but it was built as a church in 1939.

The altar and nave of St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church

The nave of St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church

The altar of St. Joseph's Katase Catholic Church

The origin of this church traces back to the mid-Meiji period, after the ban on Catholicism was lifted, when a Marianist member Father Alphonse Henrik visited Katase Beach where he met Shotaro Yamamoto who heavily contributed to the development of the area.  Later, his son, Shinjiro (1877 ~ 1942), attended the Ecole de l’Etoile du Matin, founded by Henrik, where he was baptized.  He later served in the Imperial Japanese Navy and also as a military attaché at the Japanese embassy in Italy.  As he contributed to settling issues that were lying between the Roman Curia and Japan at the time, upon his return to Japan, the Roman Curia gave him special permission to set a nave in his house which was later taken over by the chapel of the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres.  In 1937, the Diocese of Yokohama was formed.  In 1939, the consecration of the church was held on St. Joseph’s Day, under Archbishop Jean Baptiste Alexis Chambon (1875 ~ 1948).

エジプト避行

聖家族

On display inside the church are several works of the fresco artist Luke Hasegawa (長谷川路可) (1897 ~ 1967).  These include "エジプト避行" (which can translate to "The Flight into Egypt"), "聖家族" ("The Holy Family"), and "聖ザビエル日本布教図" ("Saint Xavier's Missionary in Japan").  Other works of Hasegawa include the mosaic murals of a legendary sumo wrestler, Nomi no Sukune, entitled "Victory" and of a Greek goddess entitled "Glory" that once covered the walls of the former Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.  Photos of his works are also posted on the Facebook website of the Japanese Embassy in Vatican City.

聖ザビエル日本布教図

暁の星なる聖母

Above the entrance, inside the nave, is a painting of "暁の星なる聖母" ("The Bright Morning Star, Mother Mary") by an Italian artist, Franchi Mussini, with Pope Benedict XV's signature.

There is also a building called Shisai-kan (司祭館) which was originally the residence of the Yamamoto Family built around 1926.  The first floor is now used as the church office.

Shisai-kan

Sunday Masses are held from 8:00 AM and from 10:00 AM.