Japan’s largest Protestant group reports damage

TOKYO — The Sendai-based Northeastern District Center Emmaus of the United Church of Christ (UCC) in Japan, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, has reported churches and schools have been damaged following the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami. No casualties among their members have been reported.

The UCC in Japan also reported a chapel of its Shinsei Kamaishi Church in the coastal fishing city of Kamaishi is “drowned into the water” and filled with mud and oil.

The pastor and his wife were evacuated. Built in 2000, the chapel was known as a pioneer “eco-church,” with a solar-power system and transparent glass roof.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saitama, north of Tokyo, reported “severe damage” to a monastery in the coastal city of Mito.

The Orthodox cathedral in Sendai was not damaged, according to several Orthodox websites.