Japan’s first woman bishop was consecrated yesterday at a ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in Northern Japan. The Rt. Rev. Maria Grace Tazu Sasamori was consecrated and installed on 23 April 2022 as bishop by her predecessor, the Most Rev. Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, the outgoing Bishop of Hokkaido and primate of the Nippons Sei Ko Kai (NSKK).
Bishop Sasamori was elected at the 80th meeting of the Diocese of Hokkaido’s synod on 3 November 2021. A parish rector in the Diocese of Tokoyo, Bishop Sasamori was elected on the tenth ballot, achieving a two thirds vote amongst the clergy and lay delegates.
She will become the first woman bishop in Japan and only the second woman bishop in Asia. The Rt Rev Puspha Lalitha, Bishop in Nyandal of the Church of South India was elected in 2013.
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