God’s rays of mercy shine everywhere, and through his plan of salvation to these islands, He touched generous souls, who carried out his plans down to the smallest detail.
One of these rays of mercy fell on a young man named Shinjiro Stefano Yamamoto. He was a Japanese admiral who was already retired by World War II. His life was distinguished by a stellar military and diplomatic career. he died in 1942.
But his conversion to Catholicism was the ray of mercy that shone forth in his life. he was a man, who above all, knew his conversion was a supreme gift of God’s grace. he shares his conversion story freely, and begins by saying:
If it is true that every conversion is a manifestation of God’s grace, I must confess that a retrospective glance over my past life will bear witness to this truth.
This amazing man was born on December 22, 1877, and he at- tended grammar school in Katase, his ancestral home, about an hour away from Tokyo. he came from a family of means, and so when he finished grammar school, he felt sure his father would send him off to Tokyo for high school. Shinjiro’s dream was to become a government minister like so many of the young men of his generation who wanted to show their bravado.
However, God had another plan. his father stood his ground and refused to send Shinjiro away to school because he was so unruly and rebellious. His behavior among the neighbors of his town was so bad that his father deemed him un t to be sent away to school in Tokyo.
During this time, a european inquired at their home about renting a house for the summer. After ob- taining a rental, the man returned to open a summer school staffed by the Brothers of Mary, in Shinjiro’s town. Shinjiro’s father was impressed with the strict educational standards and discipline given to the students. He decided to send Shinjiro to the school that summer. The experience was extraordinary.
Shinjiro’s father had such admi- ration for the Brothers, that when the Brothers left to go back to Tokyo, he sent Shinjiro with them, entrusting his son’s education to them. God had preceded Shinjiro.
It was here in Tokyo that shin- jiro’s conversion began. The lives of the brothers made a deep impression on him. This is what he wrote:
By and by I began to learn of their private and spiritual lives, how every one of them submitted to his superior with unconditional obedience regardless of nationality, age or education. I saw how they loved us more than themselves, how they followed a strict rule, made vows and actually lived up to them. An explanation for all this could only be found in their religion.
At this revelation, Shinjiro felt he could not escape becoming a Catholic, and he admits that it was only Divine Providence that guided his steps and helped him carry out his rm resolu- tions. he recounts how difficult it was to convince his father who was a Buddhist elder at a famous Buddhist Temple. His arguments in favor of becoming a Catholic were met with resolute resistance. after repeated talks with his father in the spring of 1893, Shinjiro went to bed and wept all night because his father would not give him permission to study the Catholic faith. But, he said “God did not forsake me.”
At home during the summer, Shinjiro gave it one more try. As he later stated: “I believe the Holy Ghost must have loosened the tongue of a poor, unbaptized heathen.” He told his father that he did not want to stray from the right path and disgrace him. By becoming Catholic, Shinjiro reasoned, he could guard his soul from going down the wrong road. he further reasoned that if his father valued “honor” above all else, then he should let him become a Catholic, or else he could never be sure he could live up to that value of honor. his father relented, and it was clear again that the mercy of God had preceded him.
After that summer, he began taking instructions, and was baptized on Christmas Eve that same year. He was the first Japanese to be baptized at the chapel of the Morningstar School he attended. since then he said: “it was simply the Will of God that manifested itself in my life.”
On nishing school, he joined the Navy, took part in three battles, and was miraculously saved from death a number of times. He was married for 30 some years and was blessed with several beauti- ful children. With his newfound faith, Shinjiro became a fervent apostle who headed an organiza- tion of Catholic laymen. he also served the Emperor of Japan for the remainder of his life, and was entrusted by the government, for the rst time in the history of Ja- pan, to take a message to the holy Father. at one point, as legate to the Vatican, he requested the then pope Benedict XV, to send religious orders to the Paci c. The Jesuits accepted and the rest is history for the mercedarian sisters.
This is where the path of the mercedarian missionaries of Ber- riz crossed that of Admiral Shinjiro Yamamoto. in addition to coming to the Paci c, Mother Margarita met with mr. Yamamoto in Japan regarding a house for women.
On October 3, on the then feast day of saint Teresa of Lisieux (“The Little Flower” and the Co-patron saint of the missions with St. Francis Xavier, S.J.), Mr. Yamamoto visited the Mercedarian sisters in Japan. mother margarita writes about the encounter. “With great interest he listened to the plans of studying Japanese and establish- ing a school. among other things, he told us that we should establish in our house the spiritual exercises for women; exercises not known in Japan.” mother margarita responded that it was a wonderful idea, where- upon he added that he felt we (the Mercedarians) were the ones called upon to establish it. Mr. Yamamoto then invited the sisters to attend Mass at his home on Sunday.
After the mass, Mother Margarita presented him with a beautiful embroidered pillow, in remembrance of the Mercedarian missionaries. Mother Margarita wrote: “We leave this noble house, our hearts captivated with the atmosphere of piety and simplicity which is lived.
As we have just celebrated the 90 years of the mercedarian mis- sionaries of Berriz in our islands, we also celebrate the Mercy of God, which brought the gift of salvation to these islands, and we thank him for the generous soul of Admiral Shinjiro Yamamoto, who encouraged the de- velopment of such missions.
The ray of mercy that touched the life of Admiral Shinjiro Yamamoto lit a re of fervor which touched many lives. As Admiral Shinjiro looked back upon his life with gratitude, he said:” God did not take into account my sins and frailties. i am walking in the sunshine of his mercy.”
