With Bishop Yutaka Minabe from Diocese of Yokohama retiring, I have been commissioned as a Management Bishop of Diocese of Yokohama from April 1. It has been 40 years since Bishop Jyuji Uematsu that a Diocese of Chubu Bishop has been commissioned as a management bishop to Diocese of Yokohama. This will continue until the bishop for the next term is ordained and takes post.
For those of you who know the history of our diocese, the Diocese of Chubu, until it was established (regionalized at first), belonged to the southern Tokyo region, the forerunner of Diocese of Yokohama, (according to the NSKK districts of those days) and fell under the jurisdiction of the bishop of the Church of England.
Church of England’s second bishop under NSKK, Edward Bickersteth, had come to Gifu, Nagoya, Ogaki for the order of confirmation. Also, he had come to inspect Gifu after the Nobi Earthquake. Furthermore, Nagano Holy Savior’s Church, celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, was consecrated by the successor to Bishop Bickersteth, Bishop Awdry. He, too, held orders of confirmation within the diocese.
Afterwards, in 1912, Chubu Region was established, and became independent from southern Tokyo Region. But for some reason, the emblem of the Bishop of Chubu Region was much similar to that of the Bishop of southern Tokyo Region. The emblem of the Bishop of Chubu Region is the same as the Bishop of southern Tokyo Region with the mark of maple, Canada’s official arboreal emblem, incorporated into it. It has not changed to this day. I do not know why the emblem was not renewed upon establishment of the region, but it might have been to bear in mind that Chubu Region (The Anglican Church of Canada) had been established separating from the southern Tokyo Region (Church of England).
I wanted to take a moment to talk about the different connections between Diocese of Chubu and Diocese of Yokohama.