TOKYO, ARCHDIOCESE OF. — Located in the central-western part of the island of Hondo, it comprises the two civil prefectures of Tokyo and Chiba, with a total area of 5,079 sq. km.
Originally this territory belonged to the Diocese of Funai, erected in 1587, and later to the Apostolic Vicariate of Japan, established in 1846 and entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions Society. On 28 June 1876 the mission was divided into two apostolic vicariates: Southern Japan, with its center at Nagasaki, and Northern Japan, with its center at Tokyo. In 1891 the latter vicariate was elevated to the status of the Archdiocese of Tokyo, at the same time being deprived of the seven northern civil prefectures of Japan and the island of Hokkaido, which formed the Diocese of Hakodate, now Sendai. On 13 August 1912 the same archdiocese ceded to the new Apostolic Prefecture of Niigata the territories of Toyama and Ishikawa, which were later annexed to the Apostolic Prefecture of Nagoya. On 18 February 1922 the territories of Aichi and Gifu were detached and became part of the new Apostolic Prefecture of Nagoya. On 9 November 1937 the Archdiocese of Tokyo was transferred to the secular clergy, and on 2 December the first Japanese archbishop was appointed. It has seven suffragan dioceses: Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Osaka, Sendai, Yokohama, Kyoto, and Sapporo.
Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, was founded by a feudal lord about 600 years ago. It rose to prominence under Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who established his castle there, now the Imperial Palace. During the Tokugawa Shogunate (350 years), although the ancient capital Kyoto (Miaco) existed by law, Edo (later Tokyo) gradually became the de facto capital, the center of life and the heart of the entire Empire of the Rising Sun.
Greater Tokyo is also the seat of various religions: Shinto, Buddhist, and Protestant. Among the Shinto sects, the jinya or national shrines are not included. The influence of Buddhism is immense. In Tokyo, Buddhists have 76 famous temples and countless followers. Magnificent is the modern "Hishi Honganji," a kind of Buddhist Vatican.
Spiritual State. — The archdiocese has a population of 8,600,000; the city alone has 6,230,000. There are 20,398 Catholics with 4,329 catechumens; 3,000 Eastern-rite dissidents; 52,000 Protestants; and 8,520,000 pagans. There are 28 native priests and another 189 foreign priests.
Tokyo — Sophia University. — a) The University was founded in 1913 by the Jesuits. In 1937, immediately after its foundation, 400 government institutes were affiliated with II. b) Sophia Kirishitan Bunko (since 1940), a bibliographic catalog of works concerning Christian antiquities and their historical period. It is published annually under the direction of Fr. Laurens, S.J. c) Sophia, a quarterly review begun in March 1952. Published in Japanese with English summaries, it is the organ of the University. It deals with scientific and cultural questions of interest to East and West. d) Seiki, a monthly periodical. Connected with the University Fathers, it is of a popularizing nature and intended for intellectuals. In the few years since its foundation, i.e., in the postwar period, the University has produced 200 books and articles, mostly of a scientific nature. To contribute to the religious and moral formation of students, a boarding house is attached to the "Studium." It accommodates 160 students. The University is also the seat of two important groups of scholars: the Federation of Catholic Physicians and the Society of Catholic Scientists.
II. Seishin Daigaku, founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo. Previously entrusted to the Catholic University of Washington, in 1950 it was officially recognized by the government and authorized to grant degrees in English and Japanese literature and in history. Until that year, no women's university in Japan had been authorized to offer higher education beyond the baccalaureate. The University publishes an annual.
III. Seisen Yochi Daigaku, founded by the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart as a high school for languages in 1949 and recognized by the government as a university in 1950. It grants degrees in English and Japanese literature. The students number over 100.
IV. Nanzan University, located in Nagoya, was founded by the Fathers of the Society of the Divine Word. Initially opened as a high school for foreign languages, it was later expanded and recognized by the Japanese government as a university in 1949. The Faculty of Letters includes the following departments: literature, languages and literatures of the Far East (Japanese and Chinese), philosophy and pedagogy, and juridical-social sciences. Attached to it is an Anthropological Institute, which is connected with the "Anthropos" Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland, directed by the well-known Fr. Wilhelm Schmidt, Pontifical Academician. The organ of the Institute is the scientific periodical Gakkai zasshi (Man and Culture). The University has 160 professors and 1,034 students; it is connected with four middle schools, both for boys and girls, with over 2,000 students and 120 professors.
There are also two university "Colleges": several high schools, including one for the Japanese language for missionaries directed by the Franciscan Fathers in Tokyo, founded at the instigation of Fr. Schnusenberg, General Delegate O.F.M. for the Far East, and inaugurated on 10 September 1951. — See pl. XXII.