Last month’s article quoted the Annual Letters of 1906-1907-1908 describing the arrival of the colony of RSCJ from Australia who founded the first house of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo in January 1908.

Three years later, when it was time to write the circular letter again, the new community had progress to report. They had built a large new building for the boarding school, described as European in style but built according to Japanese methods to withstand earthquakes. They already had 130 pupils.

Western families resident in Tokyo were quick to send their daughters whom the nuns warmly welcomed. The annalist remarks, however, “Our field of apostolate would be far too limited if we educated only Western children, who are mostly Protestant and a very small minority besides. It was the dear Japanese souls whom we wanted to reach.” Accordingly, the religious began the process of establishing the Japanese school. The attitude toward things Japanese is evident in the description of this process. They observed that, because the Japanese had experienced exploitation on the part of foreigners, they were wary of missionaries. “In order to do good among these people, we must go along with their ideas and secure the protection of their government. That is why our first concern was to obtain all the necessary authorizations to open a secondary school, an elementary school and a kindergarten.” The European boarding school had to be authorized also, but since it did not depend on the ministry of education, its program, did not have to follow the state curriculum; the nuns were free to follow “our dear Plan of Studies.”

Fortunately they had friends in high places who could use their influence to obtain these authorizations. More importantly these friends, one of whom was a former minister of education, helped them find a Japanese educator to take over the direction of the school. It took six months, but in November 1909 this woman appeared in the person of Mme H***, as she is identified in the Lettres annuelles, the famous Madame Hirata. She seemed totally suitable, except for one thing: she was Protestant. Her qualities overcame this obstacle in the minds of the nuns, however, and she was hired. The curriculum was drawn up and submitted to all the authorities, and, finally in April 1910, the Japanese school came into being, the elementary and secondary students in the new building and the kindergarten in the Japanese house that had been the nuns’ first home.

The RSCJ then asked themselves what their role would be in this establishment: They realized that they could not teach the basic curriculum; even if their language skills were equal to it, the government would not sanction teaching by foreigners. But they received what they described as magnificent diplomas granting them the right to teach foreign languages throughout “the Empire of the Rising Sun.” That would be their mission, and in that way they would be able to exercise “a discreet influence,” not only on the children but also on the Japanese teachers.

That influence was exercised from the beginning upon Mme Hirata, who gradually overcame her prejudice against Catholics and convents. She began to make inquiries and then asked for formal instructions in the faith from Mother Heydon. She could not bring herself to take the step of coming into the church, however, until tragedy struck. One afternoon, fortunately after the children had gone home, the little kindergarten building caught fire and burned to the ground. Firemen, lacking a water supply, could not save it. Mme Hirata felt responsible because it was feared that carelessness on the part of maintenance personnel caused the fire. She observed that the nuns were able to accept this misfortune with equanimity, even with resignation to God’s will, and she decided to be received into the Catholic Church. She wrote to Mother Heydon: “You Catholics, you religious have something that allows you to rise above the vicissitudes of life, and I don’t have it.” From then on she was a fervent Catholic, especially devoted to the Eucharist. At confirmation, she took the name of Josephine after Mother Mabel Josephine Digby, the superior general who had been praying for her from the beginning.

Mme Hirata’s conversion was followed by that of one of the older students; the Japanese mission was well launched, and at the end of the year 1911, the nuns were looking forward to the second foundation.