Niigata, Apostolic Prefecture of

NIIGATA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. - In the northwestern part of the island of Hondo (central Japan). It comprises three civil provinces: N., Akita, Yamagata; it was erected on 13 Aug. 1912, with territory detached from the archdiocese of Tokyo and from 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 mass is composed of Buddhists and Shintoists. The Jesuits between 1620 and 1626 were the first evangelizers. In 1633 the Dominicans arrived there, among whom Fr. Luca dello Spirito Santo should be remembered, while the Franciscans founded a station of their own at Sakata. The persecution destroyed the missionary work, and only in 1870 did the fathers of the Society for Foreign Missions of Paris 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 Aug. 1912 until 14 Jan. 1941, when the Japanese secular clergy took over there.

There are 15 foreign priests and 5 Japanese; 57 sisters, 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 aged; a foundling hospital; a middle school and a high school; 3 vocational schools.

Edoardo Pecoraro