The life stories of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan from Japan are being filmed for posterity as a means of sharing and preserving their accounts of their childhoods, their spiritual journeys and call to religious life, and their ministries, for the Congregation now and into the future.
By Debra Vermeer
Sisters Yoshi Suzukawa SGS, Hiro Kageyama SGS and Theresia Hiranabe SGS, aged in their 90s, had their stories filmed last month during a visit to Japan by Sisters Ann-Maree Nicholls SGS and Michelle Reid SGS, and more are expected to follow next year.
The filming was done in collaboration with a Japanese videography company. The interviews were carried out in Japanese and will feature English subtitles.
Michelle said the project was sparked last year when she became concerned that as the Japanese Sisters aged, it was important not to lose their stories and their voice within the Congregation.
“I had a chat with the archives staff about the value of story-telling and said I was concerned that perhaps we hadn’t captured the Japanese Sisters telling their individual stories,” she said.
“From that conversation, a seed was planted. I talked to the Sisters about it, and this project grew from that discussion.”
Working with the videography company, Michelle said an outline of the interview process was developed, with the overall caveat that the Sisters who were telling their stories would have the final say.
The interviews covered their whole lives, including their family situation when they were growing up, their education, their religious upbringing, and what drew them to the Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
Yoshi and Theresia were both raised in non-Christian traditions and baptised as young adults before joining the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, who had arrived from Australia in 1948 at the invitation of the Archbishop of Nagasaki to help the community rebuild after the dropping of the atomic bomb in World War II.
The first community of Sisters who departed for Japan in October 1948, photographed at St Scholastica’s Convent in Glebe Point, NSW. Back, from left: Sisters M Canisius Whitton, Julian McKenna, Marie Eustelle Gleeson and John Constable; front, from left: Mother M Catherine Teresa Mercovich, Cardinal Gilroy and Sister M Etheldreda Boyle. Image: Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
For many years, Yoshi taught at Seiwa Girls Middle and High School in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Ken, which was established by the Sisters. She also served as Provincial Superior for six years. After retiring from Seiwa in 2006, she spent nine years in the Good Sams’ community at Bacolod in the Philippines and then took up pastoral ministry in Nara.
Theresia, who endured a traumatic post-war experience in occupied Manchuria, was left an orphan at age 13 when her parents died of typhus. She was baptised at age 20 and, while teaching at Seiwa, she entered the Novitiate at 30. Following many years at Seiwa, Theresia spent three years working in a Tokyo hostel for students, after which she was appointed Superior at Sasebo for six years.
Hiro escaped death as a 15-year-old by running with her sister as bombs dropped around them during World War II. She also met the while teaching at Seiwa, later joining them after becoming Catholic as a young woman. Following her teaching career, Hiro was a missionary in Bacolod for 17 years altogether, returning to Japan in 2021, aged 91.
From left: Good Samaritan Sisters Haruko Morikawa, Ann-Maree Nicholls, Michelle Reid, Etsuko Hattori and Eiko Mukae. Image Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
Despite their extraordinary lives, it took some encouragement for the Sisters to embrace the filming of their stories, but Haruko, who helped with the coordination of the project, said they came to see the value of sharing their experiences.
“I had not ever thought or heard of doing that before,” Haruko said. “When Michelle first explained it, I was rather confused. What? My story? Is it useful to record my story for the archives? How can I find my story?”
However, Haruko realised that bringing the stories of the Japanese Sisters all together could indeed have value.
“I thought that with everyone’s contributions, people might find it interesting as we have different perspectives, like a stained-glass window,” she said.
“As this project was the first experience of something like this for us, we felt shy and hesitant, which I think is a very natural reaction.
“But, the story I have is a reality. This reality is a part of my life, good or bad, likes or dislikes. When you film that story, it goes out from you and becomes a moment of public sharing, requiring detachment, like the parable of the hidden pearl, which was discovered and the value was shared (Matthew 13:45-46).
“Everyone’s story is valuable and indispensable. If we can share our stories among us, they will be even more valuable.”
As the filming of the first three Sisters got underway, Ann-Maree Nicholls was also in Japan for a pastoral visit in her capacity as the member of the Congregational Council with pastoral governance for the Japanese Sisters.
She said it was wonderful to see the Sisters happy and settled into their retirement living in the Domus Gratiae aged care residence for priests and religious in Amagasaki in the Archdiocese of Osaka, where they moved in 2021 with the closure of their convent in Nara.
“My visit was an opportunity to meet individually with the Sisters, as well as together, and to hear their voice,” she said.
Ann-Maree also led a formation session with the Sisters, sharing with them the current priorities of the Congregation’s Plenary Council.
“We had an interpreter, so they were able to talk to me about whatever they wanted to and to seek clarification and understanding of what’s happening in the life of the Congregation,” she said.
Cherry blossoms in flower. Image: Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
“It was a really good visit, to be able to be there with them all at Domus Gratiae and see them doing so well and that their needs and well-being are being met. We also did some sightseeing together, which was beautiful with all the cherry blossoms in flower.
“The COVID-19 period was really difficult for them, with many restrictions in place in the facility. Things are better now and they are grateful to be together there and to care for each other.”
Michelle said while the filming project will largely look back on the stories of their lives, the Japanese Sisters remain involved and active in a range of areas, with Sister Etsuko Hattori SGS still going back to Nara every week to undertake ministry, and Hiro currently in the Philippines, catching up with the Sisters and community members in Bacolod.
“They are still very outward looking and continuing their ministry of ‘being neighbour’ in their daily lives,” she said.
Michelle said the project could serve as a model for a similar initiative in other areas of the Congregation where Sisters are also ageing.
“Story-telling is such an important part of who we are, being founded on the parable of the Good Samaritan,” she said. “Jesus told stories all the time. And all cultures have their own stories. They are a way to pass on wisdom and knowledge and they are part of understanding who we are. I hope this project will contribute to that rich heritage.”
Good Samaritan Sisters on a Jubilee Year of Hope pilgrimage to Takatori Church at Nagata-ku in Kobe. From left: Sisters Fidelis Yamauchi, Masako Adachi, Eiko Mukae, Haruko Morikawa, Hiro Kageyama, Etsuko Hattori and Johanna Yushiko. Image: Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
