† カトリック玉造教会
大阪高松カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂
ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL
Location
Naniwanomiya Palace, located in the northern part of the Uemachi Plateau (Uemachi Daichi), and Osaka Castle to its north were the birthplace of Osaka’s history and culture. Naniwanomiya Palace was the first palace built in Japan during the Asuka period (592- 710), and even in the Nara period (710-794), state events
were held here and emperors sometimes attended them. Also during this period, Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty went to Chang’an in China, where they may have had contact with Christianity. The cathedral is located almost adjacent to the Naniwanomiya Palace.
In the period when Osaka Castle was still standing, the residences of various feudal lords lined the walls ofthe site. The northwest corner of the Cathedral grounds belongs to Etchu-cho, the former residence of Hosokawa Etchu-no-Kami, and is the site where Lady Gratia met her violent death. Not far from the Cathedral grounds, the “Etchu Well,” well known as Mrs. Hosokawa’s well, still remains, and a monument to her tragic death, inscribed with her last words, stands nearby. The fact that the Osaka bishop’s Cathedral was built here is itself significant in terms of the history of cultural exchange. Besides, there is no fear of tsunami
from the expected Nankai earthquake.
Outline of construction(from the record of the late Fr. Michio Tanaka in 1962)
St. Mary’s Cathedral was designed by Nikken advisor Eikichi Hasebe. It is a large complex of steel-framed reinforced concrete, approximately 2450 square meters (750 tsubo) in area, 3696 square meters (1120 tsubo) in total, and with an eave height of 20 meters.
The exterior is covered with light cream-colored tiles, but the sky-blue portion in the center of the front where the marble statue of the Immaculate Conception, to which the cathedral is dedicated, is made of a special construction material called taizan tile, which never discolors.
The roof is bronze, the interior walls are covered with Italian Verona red marble at the lower part, the upper part with ceraskin gold joints, and the wavy ceiling is covered with a new construction material especially designed to enhance the acoustics.
The floor is covered with Verona red marble for the inner sanctuary, white cloud marble for the inner staircase, the center of the outer sanctuary, and the aisles, and precious Portone marble with a gold pattern on a black background for the four walls of the entrance hall and the pulpit. All of the above marble is of Italian origin.
The square in front of the chapel and the staircase are made of Travertine marble, and the other parts are made of terrazzo block.
Interior Decoration
The large mural inside the chapel is the Japanese painting “The Virgin Mary in Glory” by the painter Insho Domoto, a member of the Academy of Arts.
The fixtures of the cathedral, including the central altar, the bishop’s throne, and the side altars, were made by the Mencaraglia company of Carrara, created by the famous Italian sculptor Areghini. The statue of the Immaculate Conception on the facade of the cathedral, the crucifix of Christ on the right wall of the
entrance, and the relief of the “Burial of Christ” on the outer wall of the chapel are also made of Italian marble.
The statue of Jesus dying on the cross between the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John, hanging from the ceiling, the 14 scenes of the Way of the Cross, the statue of St. Francis Xavier, and the statue of Saint Agnes in the chapel are wood carvings, masterpieces by the Italian Tyrolean sculptor Lungarce.
The stone statues of Blessed Ukon Takayama and Gratia Hosokawa, located at both ends in front of the cathedral, are masterpieces by Abe Masayoshi.
The cathedral has a total of 100 large and small windows, except for the ventilation windows, all of which are stained glass windows depicting in beautiful colors the life of the Virgin Mary from the Immaculate Conception to the Assumption. The side window of the chapel depicts St. Francis Xavier, one of the patron saints of Tamatsukuri Church, teaching the Japanese people. The stained glass window next to the side altar at the far right depicts the infant Jesus and his parents in Bethlehem. Next to it is a representation of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. All of this was made by Benshu Habuchi of the Venice Atelier, using materials imported from Europe and the United States.
The grand pipe organ was made by Verschueren in Holland, and with 2,400 pipes, it was the largest organ for a cathedral in Japan at the time.
The bell tower that stood at the time of the cathedral’s construction was removed after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, as it was feared that it might collapse. The fountain in the vestibule was also
removed because it was considered dangerous for children. The baptismal font and communion table in the cathedral were also removed.
Construction Process
▪️March 17, 1959,
Cornerstone Laying Ceremony
Cardinal P. Agagianian, prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the
Faith, is invited to perform the cornerstone laying ceremony. Also, a tree-planting ceremony was held with Papal legate Fürstenberg.
▪️October 1960:
Eikichi Joseph Hasebe, the architect of the cathedral, passes away.
▪️December 1960:
Completion of the new rectory to replace the old rectory on the site for the
construction of the new cathedral.
The development of the site for the new cathedral was initially undertaken while
using the church built in 1949 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of St. Francis Xavier as the parish church, which became more and more difficult as the construction progressed.
▪️March 21, 1963:
Dedication Ceremony
▪️1964
Installation of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima
▪️March 1995:
Dismantling of the Cathedral bell tower
▪️May 2014
Seismic reinforcement and renovation work
▪️Up to present
Characteristics of St. Mary’s Cathedral
Traditional cathedrals in Europe have a form known as a basilica. It is usually accessed through the entrance (atrium), where there are two rows of columns, and three naves, or congregation seats, in the three spaces between the columns. In its front is the main altar, with congregational seats and side altars on either side of it, as well as a group of seats and a semicircular ceiling behind the main altar (apse). Above the main altar is a dome. When this is viewed from above, it is cruciform in shape. It is often oriented toward the east.
This is because it is said that “light comes from the east” (lux ex oriente). Churches built according to these principles also existed in Japan. The first cathedral in Kawaguchi, Osaka, was one such church. However, St. Mary’s Cathedral cannot be called a basilica. It is a very new cathedral. It is simple and rustic, but it is also
characterized by meticulous attention to detail. It is a simple rectangle, being long from north to south and short from east to west. It has a facade (front entrance) to the south, and the interior faces north. This is because the Uemachi Plateau is north-south, and the east-west slope is quite steep. The church also has a road running from east to west on the south side. The former Tamatsukuri Church also had its front to the south, but the area was burnt to the ground in an air raid by the U.S. military. Bishop Yoshigoro Taguchi had purchased the land around that church piece by piece with aid money from Europe and the U.S. (testimony of Shigeru Fujino). This may indicate that the idea of building a Cathedral here had been brewing since
shortly after the war.
