Rev. SHOJI Tsutomu, former NCCJ General Secretary passed away on August 28, at the age of 88.
See the Condolence Message from NCCK and “Tribute and Appreciation for Rev. Shoji” by Rev. YAMAMOTO Toshimasa, former NCCJ General Secretary in PDF.
As the General Secretary of the National Christian Council in Japan, he led the NCCJ to support the democratization movement in South Korea in collaboration with other ecumenical partners such as the Catholic Church and civil grassroots organizations. NCCJ played a critical role not only by organizing support movement in Japan but also directly assisting Korean churches and students providing news and information from outside. His leadership and connection he had created to support the Suh brothers were very important. This further let Shoji further to involve in the issue of reconciliation and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. He was one of the leading figures to convince the World Council of Churches to take up its important subject for ecumenical solidarity, and successfully host the famous Tozanso meeting in 1984.
After he stepped down from General Secretary of the NCCJ, he became the board director of Tomisaka Christian Center, an ecumenical theological research institute.
He dedicated the last part of his life for the Korea Museum in Tokyo. This is a small museum established by citizens group including Koreans, Japanese Zainichi Koreans, and Japanese to learn together the history of Japan and Korea. He served as the director until his death.