The second world war left so many orphans in Japan that they provided for the Salesians a new and vast field of action. At Nakatsu and Tokyo two orphanages were opened where in 50 years of work very many youngsters, who had been deprived of everything, were educated in line with Don Bosco's system. Some of them became Salesians. The "Don Bosco Gakuin" of Tokyo, now completely rebuilt, is one of the great social works for the young in Japan.
In the post-war years Japan was poor and the Japanese had a hard life. It was in this period too that the Salesian work enjoyed a period of great development. Alongside the small seminary at Milyazaki rose the fine school "Hyuga Gakuln", which now has over a thousand pupils, while at Osaka the "Selko Gakuw' was opened, a school which is now amongst the most renowned in that great city.
In this period too the Church dedicated to Mary Help of Christians was built at Beppu in the province of Oita, and that of St Mary of Edo at Tokyo Meguro, a large church well known throughout the country for the celebration of marriages. Japan, in fact, is the only country in the world which has received from the Vatican a special permission to bless in Catholic churches the marriages of non-Catholics. Such blessings must be preceded by a series of conferences which provide a good opportunity for pre-evangelization. The function is very similar to the liturgical rite of Christian marriage, and the number of young unbaptised couples who want this blessing in the salesian church of Tokyo Meguro is so great that less than half of the requests can be satisfied.
The Shichi Go San, literally the 753, is a blessing which children at the age of three, five and seven years, receive in Shintoist temples to enable them to grow up sound and healthy. Christian children receive this blessing in church, and for it they wear a Kimono of the most vivid colours. The Shichi Go San is a valid attempt at inculturation.
From the end of the seventies to the beginning of the nineties the Japanese Province had a substantial number of novices, considering how few Catholics there are in Japan. In the nineties several new works were opened: the aspirantate of Yokkalchi in the province of Mie, the Oita Study Centre, and the SAITEC (Salesian Intercultural and Technological Centre) was recently inaugurated in Tokyo.
Another initiative of the Japanese Province is the DBVG (Don Bosco Volunteer Group). For six years this organisation, with financial help from the Government, has been sending young Japanese for short experiences of volunteer work in south-east Asia and in the islands of the Pacific to work on small projects.
The public schools in Japan are in a state of crisis. Fierce competition to get into prestigious universities on the one hand and the problems on the part of an ever-increasing number of students create serious tensions and destroy the relationship between pupils and teachers. Diligence, discipline and courtesy, the traditional virtues of Japanese students, have become the characteristics of a minority.
Episodes of violence have become commonplace, especially in the public schools. Horrifying instances of cruelty perpetrated by pupils of lower middle schools have caused sensations in recent years. In 1997 a total of 152,000 juveniles were arrested, an increase of 14% over the figure for the previous year. Weaker youngsters, who are unable to resist, commit suicide. In 1996 the pupils giving up in elementary and middle schools reached 112,000, or 2.5% of the total.
As well as running schools, the Salesians in Japan look after difficult boys, coming for the most part from broken families. Delinquency, drug addiction and prostitution are caused not by poverty and destitution but by a lack of moral principles. Many of these youngsters are foreigners.
Missionary work is Japan is difficult, it is not easy to make contact with the ordinary people. Schools, clubs and activities of various kinds are opportunities for sowing the seed of the Word, it is the Holy Spirit who breathes life.
The Boys Town of Kodaira, in the outskirts of Tokyo, which came into existence in the immediate post-war years as a home for war-orphans was completely rebuilt in the late eighties in line with modern educational criteria. It is the biggest and finest institution of its kind in the city, the most modern and functional in Tokyo. Here the youngsters are followed up personally, and the kindness they receive from the Salesians and those who work with them does much to heal their psychological scars. There are 115 boys at present and come, for the most part, from broken families; many of them have had a very unhappy early life.
The eight Salesians and forty lay-staff, who work at Boys Town, try to reach this segment of youngsters whom Don Bosco would not hesitate to describe as “poor and abandoned" even if they lacked nothing financially. These are the poor youngsters of Japan: they have plenty in the line of food and entertainment, but the lack of affection and understanding weakens their character and creates a powerful obstacle to normal human growth and development.
When it was a matter of designing the new church, the architect made it deep study of the Catholic Liturgy, and was rewarded not only with the inspiration of the modern and artistic church but also with the grace of baptism.
The school which is built alongside Boys Town has over 200 pupils, all of whom are either late developers or have been unsuccessful in the fiercely competitive system for getting into Japanese schools.
