Statue of Blessed Justo Ukon Takamaya enthroned in San Miguel Pro-Cathedral
The statue of the Blessed Justo Ukon Takayama, an exiled Japanese Catholic martyr, was enthroned Wednesday at the San Miguel Pro-Cathedral.
Cardinal Jose Advincula, the first Filipino to establish the Blessed Justo Ukon Takayama Mission Station in Capiz, blessed the statue in a mass.
Takayama was a feudal lord and samurai who arrived in the Philippines with 350 other Catholic Japanese exiles on December 1614. He was beatified by the Vatican in 2017.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa said the statue enthronement at the San Miguel Pro-Cathedral shows the relationship between the two countries is “closer than brothers”.
“Despite passing away after only 44 days in the Philippines, he was able to experience the warmth and hospitality of the Filipino people and this created a seed for the long-standing friendship between Japan and the Philippines,” Koshikawa said in a speech after the blessing of the statue.
“It is amazing that his pioneering legacy continues to live on throughout centuries. I expect there would be a lot of Japanese visitors who wish to see this statue of Takayama Ukon here in San Miguel Church,” he added.
He died on February 3, 1615, 44 days after his arrival in the country which is celebrated as a feast day in Japan and the Philippines.
The original location of the San Miguel Cathedral was a refuge for exiled Japanese Catholics.
Eventually, the San Miguel Cathedral was transferred from the Pasig river to its current location in Manila.
This ceremony marks the 408th anniversary of Takayama's arrival in the Philippines.
According to Ernesto de Pedro, managing trustee of the Lord Takayama Jubilee Foundation, this is the 40th Takayama statue.
“It is our job to promote devotion to Takayama. This statue that is being installed here is statue number 40. And it will be the second statue (blessed by) Cardinal Advincula, the first being in Jamindan, Capiz,” De Pedro said.
De Pedro said other statues of Takayama can be found in Plaza Dilao, Manila Cathedral, University of Santo Tomas (UST), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, among others.
The statue of Takayama was also installed in six other countries, including the Vatican, America, and Italy.
“Pope Francis was so pleased upon receiving this statue that he gave us an Apostolic blessing...We are just a civilian promotions group but he gave us this apostolic blessing. Our movement is apostolically blessed,” he said.
De Pedro said they are planning to install another statue at the University of Oxford next year.
“During COVID times we only had one installation and that is in St. Francis Xavier Japanese Center, the Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. That was the only one we were able to manage. After we are back in business next year, we will be installing in the University of Oxford and many other places,” he said.
De Pedro said it was their foundation’s goal to erect statues of Takayama where statues of San Lorenzo Ruiz are installed because they are “symbols of Filipino-Japanese Christianity”.
“They are both martyrs. They are the bridge of understanding between our two countries,” De Pedro said.
De Pedro said the Takayama statue in Pro San Miguel Cathedral was a copy made of resin fiber glass.
The original statue was made of baticulin wood, a special kind of wood only found in Southeast Asia that does not decay or attract termites.
De Pedro, author and editor of the Vatican document that blessed Takayama, said it was his idea to place a statue in the Manila Cathedral.
“Nobody was thinking of a statue. So when eight Japanese bishops were invited to Manila to celebrate the Feast Day of Takayama, they were going to celebrate it at Manila Cathedral without a statue of Takayama. Just a portrait of Takayama,” De Pedro said.
"So I asked around, who can create a statue of Takayama? The fellow who carved the image of Calungsod happened to be available. I asked him to make a carving of Takayama. But with one difference, place the palm of martyrdom. This palm to indicate that he was a martyr,” he added. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
