A bronze relief commemorating Sebastian Kimura, the first Japanese Jesuit priest and one of Japan’s 205 beatified martyrs, was unveiled at the Japan Catholic Seminary in Nerima-ku, Tokyo, on May 8.
The ceremony was led by Bishop Yoshinao Otsuka of the Kyoto Diocese, chairman of the Japan Catholic Committee for the Promotion of Canonization, who blessed the relief and offered incense in the presence of priests and seminarians.
The artwork is part of the Japan Catholic Committee for the Promotion of Canonization’s efforts to support the cause for canonization of 205 martyrs, including Sebastian Kimura, who was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1867.
According to the official news site of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, the committee hopes the initiative will inspire more vocations to the priesthood.
The central figure in the relief is Sebastian Kimura with outstretched arms, surrounded by scenes depicting his missionary life.
At his feet are engravings of him preaching the Bible, anointing the sick, and celebrating Mass. Above these is an image of his arrest and martyrdom by burning at the stake in Nagasaki in 1622.
During the ceremony, Father Taro Asai of the Nagoya Diocese, a trainer at the seminary, spoke about Kimura’s spiritual discipline. He recalled, “Sebastian Kimura carried an hourglass to accurately measure time and never missed prayer and meditation.”
This hourglass is symbolically featured in the relief—positioned in front of Kimura’s lap, with a child reaching out to it.
Artist Maki Ando, 75, from Maebashi Church in Gunma, created the relief. He developed the concept after discussions with Christian researcher Father Shinzo Kawamura, SJ, and by studying traditional historical drama aesthetics.
Known primarily for painting Western icons, Ando said this was his first time creating a Japanese face for such a work. “When he finished, he was surprised to realize that he had been looking at (unconsciously observing) Japanese faces as well as Western faces,” the report said. He described the artwork as “my life itself.”
Katsuaki Imai, a second-year seminarian from the Tokyo Diocese, reflected on the symbolism. “If the hourglass is a symbol of Sebastian Kimura’s prayer, then I thought the child reaching for it was a symbol of spreading faith. We seminarians are here (at the seminary) because we want to spread faith, so I thought we were given a good thing,” he said.
