Easter and Transfiguration 1945 — and 2003
by Timothy M. Nakayama

On the Third Sunday of Lent 2003, Dean Robert Taylor of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, noted that the Eucharistic lectionary readings on the Sunday after the beginning of the 1991 Gulf War were identical with the readings on the first Sunday after the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War. In wondering puzzlement, he made an aside, asking what appeared to be unanswerable — what might one conclude from such a coincidence? Without coming to any conclusions about this passing comment, I was reminded of two Church Calendar dates, one whose anniversary will come on April 20^th of this year (2003), and the other in August.

While serving as a priest in Okinawa in the 1990’s, I discovered Easter had come early in 1945, and that day ushered in the Battle of Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa 1945 began on April 1, which was Easter Day!

Okinawa is located in an area of the Western Pacific dubbed "Typhoon Alley." The first invasion of Japanese soil by the American and British military, the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, has been described as the "Typhoon of Steel." About 240,000 died in the Battle of Okinawa. More non-combatant civilians died in that Battle than had ever perished in any battle in the world prior to that time — more than died in the dropping of the two atomic bombs combined.

The nuclear bombings were four months after the Battle of Okinawa. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1945. Three days later the second atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki. This city is where Christianity was first introduced to Japan beginning in 1549 by the Jesuit missionary and Portuguese ambassador, Francis Xavier. In the wake of the massive number of converts from the first evangelistic wave, new Japanese Christians were martyred by crucifixions and drowning in scalding hot springs. In 1945, many 20th Century Japanese Christians died in the nuclear holocaust.

…in the Japanese language the word used to translate "transfiguration" may also mean "disfiguration." The Transfiguration of Jesus on the Holy Mount was by a "glistering white" light. In stark contrast, the light of disfiguration from the atomic bombs caused untold devastation…

On April 1, 1995, for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, we lit the Paschal Candle at All Souls’ — with the Bishop’s permission, because April 1, 1945 was Easter Day. This began 84 days (the length of the Battle) of prayer at noon and at sundown — twice each day — with the "Reading of the Names." We secured the names of all who died of every nation from the prefectural government and read each one during our prayers as our remembrance of the Battle when so many lives were lost. The names of deceased American Marines, Navy, Army and Air Corps personnel were read by representative members of the U.S. military. British soldiers’ names were read by English expatriates. The names of Japanese soldiers were read by residents from mainland Japan.

The first compilation came to over 234,000. Meeting for 1 1/2 hours at each noonday and for over an hour in every evening, it took 77 of the 84 days to complete the "Reading of the Names" by hundreds of participants. In subsequent years, more were discovered, and read at the annual observances.

The ecclesiastical calendar gets swept into these two war events: Easter Day 1945, and the Transfiguration 1945, respectively. For me, the conjoining of the war anniversaries with these annual Church Calendar festivals makes the Cross and Resurrection, and these Festivals of Our Lord, more profound with each passing year.

The Rev. Timothy Makoto Nakayama is an Episcopal priest who has served in pastoral work in urban and rural settings with different racial/ethnic communities in three countries. He was born and raised in Canada, ordained in the Anglican Diocese of Calgary, and then emigrated to Seattle. Tim’s ministry of over 40 years of social change includes regional community organizing, assisting in the formation of the national Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry, and welcoming refugees from around the world, especially Southeast Asians in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. He served as a missionary in Japan in the 1990s, and is now retired in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Seattle, Washington). Tim may be reached by email at frtim@yahoo.com

Also by this author:

Racial Profiling Will Not Create Peace (January 2003)

A Japanese-American Perspective on September 11, 2001 (September 2001)