God, the bread of eternal life, to whom shall I leave thee?"), taken from quotes of Simon Peter in John 6 and Matthew 16. Papal visits Pope John Paul II (1981) became the first pontiff to visit Japan. He had gone to the atomic bomb memorial sites in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pope Francis (November 2019) visited Japan for the first in decades. He visited former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Emperor Naruhito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Sophia University, and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park. See also Christianity in Japan List of Saints from Asia Kirishitan History of the Catholic Church in Japan Tarō Asō Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan Lorenzo Ruiz Silence, the acclaimed historical novel by Shūsaku Endō drawn from the oral histories of the "Hidden Christian" communities (Kakure Kirishitan and Hanare Kirishitan) that survived the 17th century state suppression of the Catholic Church in Japan. Domingos Chohachi Nakamura, the 1st Japanese missionary to work abroad, he emigrated to Brazil in 1923 to work on behalf of the Japanese living there. His process of beatification started in 2002. Our Lady of Akita References External links GCatholic.org on the Catholic Church in Japan Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan Catholic churches in Japan Japan Japan Catholicism in Japan