►Lord Justo Ukon Takayama (1552 Osaka-1615 Manila; beatified Feb. 7, 2017) came to the attention of post-war Philippines when a bronze statue of him was installed in 1977 as the centerpiece of the Philippines-Japan Friendship Park at Plaza Dilao, in Paco District — a Japantown reserved for Japanese expatriates since 1764 — though its original site in 1592 was the Manila City Hall area — within cannon range of the Muralla. Ukon, known in Manila as Dom Justo Ucondono, was deported to the Philippines for refusing to abjure his Catholic faith. Proposed as a Catholic saint in 1630, he was celebrated as “the epitome of the Japanese spirit.”

◘ KEY DATES IN BLESSED JUSTO UKON TAKAYAMA’S TIMELINE

● Jan. 21, 2016  – Pope Francis authorizes the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to publish a Decree of Martyrdom declaring the Servant of God, Justus Ukon Takayama as a “layperson … from Japan [who] died from the hatred of the Faith on Feb. 3, 1615 in Manila, Philippines” ;

● Jan. 27, 2020 – Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle commends Canonization Cause of Blessed Takayama to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) at its 120^th Plenary Assembly;

● Feb. 3, 1615 – Death day in Manila & Liturgical Feast Day in Japan and the Philippines in 2018;

● Feb. 7, 2017 – Beatification Rites in Osaka, Japan;

● April 24, 1590 — Apostolic “Breve” of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-150) sent to Ukon, who was stripped of his feudal domain in Akashi Prefecture for refusing to abjure his Christian faith;

● May 12, 1986 – the Jesuit General Postulator, Fr. Paolo Molinari, entrusts to Ernesto A. de Pedro, of the Manila-based “Lord Takayama Jubilee” Project, the translation to English of the “Positio” on the “Samurai of Christ,” Ukon Takayama, submitted in 1975 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Japan;

● June 1, 1563 – Baptismal day of Justus Hikogoro Takayama, named after St. Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165), whose liturgical feast day is June 1;

● June 10, 1994 – Justus Ukon Takayama declared “Servant of God”;

● July 24, 1587 — Chancellor Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉, 1537-1598) strips Ukon Takayama of his fiefdom in Akashi Prefecture;

● July 25, 2019 – Pope Francis imparts his Apostolic Blessing to Dr. Ernesto A. de Pedro and all the Prayer Warriors of Blessed Takayama;

● Sept. 29, 1988 – Registration of Lord Takayama Jubilee Foundation, first support group for “Samurai of Christ,” Ukon Takayama (now replaced by the Prayer Warriors of Blessed Takayama^®);

● Oct. 5, 1630 — Petition sent to the Vatican by the Manila Archdiocese proposing Takayama as the first Manila Catholic to be considered for sainthood;

● Nov. 14, 1963 – Manila Cardinal Rufino J. Santos “seconds” Takayama Cause to Church of Japan;

● Nov. 17, 1977 – Inauguration of the Takayama Memorial as the centerpiece of the Philippines-Japan Friendship Park at Plaza Dilao, Paco, Manila – and Annual Wreath-Laying Ceremony thereafter;

● Nov. 17, 1992 – Declaration of the Takayama Memorial as a National Monument – by the National Historical Commission;

● Dec. 21, 1614 — Arrival in Manila of Don Justus Ukon Takayama with the first boatload of 350 Catholic refugees and migrants from Japan;

● Dec. 21, 2018 — Manila City Council issues Resolution declaring every December 21 – as “Blessed Takayama Ukon Day” in Manila. ◘

Dr. Ernesto A. de Pedro, PhD
Managing Trustee, Prayer Warriors of Blessed Takayama