Japanese Province St. Mary
The history of the Thuine Franciscans in Japan dates back to 1920. The Franciscan Bishop Wenceslaus Kinold, who was Bishop of Sapporo at that time, asked for Thuine sisters to be sent to educate girls on the island of Hokkaido. Thus three sisters were sent from Thuine to Sapporo and in 1925 they opened the Fuji School for the education of young ladies.
The Church in Japan is small and Catholics are a minority. The main religions are Shinto and Buddhism. The Catholic faith came to Japan in 1549 through St. Francis Xavier. The history of the Church is marked by an unshakable fidelity to the faith and the martyrdom of many believers.
