YOKOHAMA, Diocese of. - Situated in the central-eastern part of the large island of Hondo (Japan), it comprises four civil prefectures, namely Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Shizuoka and Nagano, whose total area is 28,225 sq km.
It was erected on 9 Nov. 1937, by dismemberment of the archdiocese of Tokyo, of which it is a suffragan. On 5 Jan. 1939 the apostolic prefecture of Drawa was detached. By decree of 30 Nov. 1940 the diocese was transferred from the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris to the Japanese secular clergy.
The principal city is Y., with about 950,000 inhabitants, and is one of the most important commercial ports of Japan. Among others, the city of Kamakura deserves mention, illustrious for its history and antiquity: it was once, in fact, the center of the civil government and a center of popular and religious culture, both Buddhist and Shinto. It is a destination for many visitors who go there to admire the vestiges of that ancient culture. Near the city of Shizuoka is the famous locality of Toro, which is like the Pompeii of Japan.
Out of a population of 7,736,000 inhabitants, Catholics number 11,217 with 2,917 catechumens; 18 native priests; 9 collaborating foreign missionary institutes; 330 nuns; 13 major seminarians; 33 catechists; 327 teachers; 3 doctors and 119 nurses; 2 hospitals; 3 pharmacies; 3 orphanages; 1 home for the aged; 1 leprosarium; 7 elementary schools; 11 middle schools; 11 high schools; one vocational school.
Bibliography6 works
Edoardo Pecorano