1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Overseas mission in Japan of the Iglesia ni Cristo, Philippine-born Christian Church
| Project/Area Number |
09610318
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
文化人類学(含民族学・民俗学)
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| Research Institution | Sophia University |
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Principal Investigator |
TERADA Takefumi Sophia University, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (20150550)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1998
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| Keywords | Christianity / Philippines / Iglesia ni Cristo / Mission / Conversion / Migration |
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| Research Abstract |
The present study focused on the state of missionary activities in Japan of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a Philippine-born Christian Church. The Iglesia ni Cristo has at present, 162 congregations and 179 committee prayer groups outside the Philippines. The official and systematic overseas mission by this church started in 1968 when the church for the first time established the congregation overseas at Honolulu. The committee prayer groups formed in Japan around 1980 were found basically in areas where the United States military bases are located. This situation however has changed in the last two decades as the number of Filipinos residing in Japan increased. Today 9 congregations are established at Chiba, Gunma, Hamamatsu, Ibaraki, Nagoya, Okaya, Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama, while 16 committee prayer groups are confirmed at Fukui, Sapporo, Iwakuni, Iwate, Kagawa, Kushiro, Miyazaki, Numazu, Okayama, Okinawa, Ono of Hyogo-ken, Saseho, Takahama, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka and Yokota. The most recent case of newly-established congregation was found in Ibaraki. Majority of followers in Japan are Filipinos and/or Filipino migrants, but sometimes their family members are also included in the congregation as converts. The Iglesia ni Cristo has been known as the church of Filipinos. The growth of congregations and committee prayers groups overseas may change the characteristics of the church in the future.
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