WCRP/RfP Japan held its 41st board meeting in Kyoto on September 13, 2022, and selected Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu as the new Chairman of WCRP/RfP Japan with a two-year term.

Rev. Tomatsu, a Buddhist of the Jodo Shu sect, was born in Tokyo in 1953. After graduating from Keio University, he received his Master’s Degree in Divinity at Taisho University in 1979 and a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard University Divinity School in 1991. He has been the abbot of the Shinkoin temple in Tokyo since 1993 and served as the Secretary General of the Japan Buddhist Federation (JBF) and Japanese Association of Religious Organizations.

At a press conference after the board meeting, Rev. Tomatsu stressed that for religious leaders, it is essential to commune with suffering people and extend a hand to them. “I would like to value field works so that we, the religious leaders, can embrace the joy and grief of many people as individual human beings,” he said.

The Most Rev. N. Makoto Uematsu, Bishop of The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Church of Japan, who preceded Rev. Tomatsu with four years (two terms) of being the Chair, said “Peace is the most significant element for the raison d'être of religious leaders. I am delighted with great hope that the new Chair will carry on the important peace-building activities under.”