NIGATA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — In the north-western part of the island of Hondo (central Japan). It comprises three civil provinces: N., Akita, Yamagata; it was erected on 13 August 1912, with territory detached from the archdiocese of Tokyo and the dioceses of Hakodate and Osaka. It has an area of 33,568 sq. km. with 5,070,000 inhabitants. Catholics number 2,613 with 2,110 catechumens; Protestants number 5,000.
The great majority are Buddhists and Shintoists. The Jesuits were the first evangelizers between 1620 and 1626. In 1633 the Dominicans arrived, among whom Fr. Luca dello Spirito Santo is to be remembered, while the Franciscans established a station at Sakata. Persecution destroyed the missionary work, and only in 1870 did the priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society found new stations. In 1907 the missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word arrived at N., and the mission remained entrusted to them from 13 August 1912 until 14 January 1941, when they were succeeded by the Japanese secular clergy.
There are 15 foreign priests and 5 Japanese; 57 nuns, of whom 49 are native and 8 foreign; 3 major and 3 minor seminarians; 39 catechists; 92 teachers; 8 doctors; 23 nurses; 17 quasi-parishes; 17 primary and 18 secondary stations; 21 sacred buildings; 3 hospitals; 2 orphanages; a home for the elderly; a foundling hospital; a middle and a high school; 3 vocational schools.