MIYAZAKI, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. - Situated in the eastern part of the island of Kyūshū (southern Japan), it comprises the two civil provinces of Miyazaki and Oita. This circumscription was first erected as a mission *sui iuris* on 27 March 1928 and then elevated to an apostolic prefecture on 28 January 1935, being entrusted to the Salesian Society of St John Bosco. On 15 February 1946 it was transferred to the Japanese secular clergy, though the Salesians continued to render their service as auxiliaries. Recently, some priests of the Foreign Missions of Parma have joined them, with the former confining their apostolate to the civil province of Miyazaki and the latter to the province of Oita, by virtue of an agreement stipulated between the Bishop of Fukuoka, apostolic administrator of Miyazaki, and the respective missionary societies.
This mission covers an area of 16,072 sq km and has a population of 2,298,172 inhabitants (census of 1948), of whom only 2,960 are Catholics, with 407 catechumens. All the rest are Buddhists or Shintoists. Most of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture and fishing; only a minority are employed in industry.
The evangelization of this region dates back to St Francis Xavier. He was received in 1551 at Funai (now Oita) by the *daimyō* Ōtomo Sōrin, who later became a Christian under the name of Francisco. In 1588 the episcopal see of Japan was established at Funai and entrusted to the Jesuits. After the long period of persecution, in the first half of the 19th century the priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society began their work in this mission. The Salesians arrived in 1923.
There are 23 priests, of whom 2 are Japanese and 3 Italian; 33 Japanese sisters and 5 lay teachers; 8 quasi-parishes; 1 primary station and 4 secondary stations; 18 sacred buildings; 5 orphanages; 3 hospices; 2 elementary schools; 2 middle schools; and one high school.