A New Contract
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The new Seminary has two campuses, one in Fukuoka, the traditional site of the Sulpician Seminary, and one in Tokyo. The new Seminary came into existence under a contract made between the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Japan and the Canadian Province of Saint Sulpice. The Holy See nhas named Sulpician Father Joseph Tsuyomi Makiyama, p.s.s., as the rector of the new Seminary. He will reside in Fukuoka and travel between the two campuses regularly. Two Sulpicians, Fathers Michel Satoshi, p.s.s., Oyama and Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama, p.s.s, will reside in the Tokyo campus.
Sulpician Archbishop Joseph Takami, p.s.s., Archbishop of Nagasaki, chaired the Committee that designed the new Seminary structure. The Tokyo campus will house the students for philosophy and the deacons, while the Fukuoka campus will host the students in theology.
Two Anniversaries
This new Seminary marks a major milestone in the history of Saint Sulpice in Japan. On February 2, 2009, the Seminary had celebrated the 75th anniversary of the presence of Saint Sulpice in Japan and the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Le Grand Seminaire in Fukuoka. As the day on which the contract was signed that created Japan Catholic Seminary, it also marked the closure of the Sulpician Seminary as such. The new Seminary is now operated under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops of Japan.