‘To worship Christ’: Nourishing the faithful in Japan

The Rev. Dr. Daniel Jastram, LCMS missionary to Japan, welcomes worshipers to the Divine Service in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on Sunday, May 12. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Megan K. Mertz

The Rev. Dr. Daniel Jastram is the only missionary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) currently serving in Japan.

Born in Shibata, Japan, he speaks Japanese fluently. At the age of 19, he came to the United States for college and seminary. He hoped that he might be sent to teach at a fledgling seminary somewhere in the world, but that wasn’t part of God’s plan. So, it came as quite a surprise 40 years later when an unexpected encounter at an LCMS convention resulted in a phone call asking if he’d be interested in returning to Japan as a missionary. In 2016, he went “home” to Japan.

At the time, he knew that the Synod’s relationship with the Japan Lutheran Church (JLC) was rocky. The JLC had long been debating women’s ordination and practicing open Communion. But Jastram soon saw that the situation was further along than Synod leadership had realized — a fact that was finally officially confirmed at the 2023 LCMS convention, when delegates recognized that fellowship with the JLC had been broken by false doctrine and practice.

Upon this realization, Jastram shifted the direction of his work. His top priority became “to establish faithful Lutheran worship.” He and two other Lutheran pastors serve people from a variety of backgrounds from this small church located in the lower level of an apartment building.

On a Sunday in May, attendees of the English service included an English teacher from Fort Wayne, Ind.; an exchange student from Sacramento, Calif.; a new Lutheran convert from San Diego and his Japanese wife; a Japanese man who works as a lecturer at a local university; and a Japanese woman who lives in Booneville, Mo., but travels back to Tokyo regularly to see her family.

All are grateful to find faithful Lutheran worship in an area like Shinjuku that is well connected by Japan’s extensive public transit system. English teacher Ryan Huizing travels an hour by train to reach the church. “Why do I come? To worship Christ, of course,” he said. “To celebrate in a true LCMS fellowship in the way that I feel most comfortable and that I feel is the best way to glorify God. I am very blessed to be able to receive the Sacrament here.”

Jastram also stays in regular contact with the Rev. Manabu Wakabayashi, the force behind Kobari Evangelical Lutheran Church in Niigata City, an area several hours from Tokyo. Wakabayashi studied at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, where his family lived from 1996 to 2002.

The groups that gather in Shinjuku and elsewhere may be small, but Jastram never stops preaching, teaching and trying to build up Lutheranism in the country. “There’s only one Christian church throughout the entire world: all those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin through His death and resurrection,” Jastram reminded his listeners in a sermon in May. “Jesus prays to the Father that we may be one, and that we could have His joy every day of our lives.”

Read a longer version of this story in the Fall 2024 issue of Lutherans Engage the World.

Posted Oct. 23, 2024