Federation Chairperson Yoshimori greets the audience (Image source: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/chishinko/e/b2754ae4f1eaae47815a0b1bd19312b8)
Posting a translation of the narration from a Doyusha video from last month:
On August 27, the “Tenrikyo Federation for the Hearing-Impaired” held a ceremony celebrating its 50th anniversary at a venue on the Tenri University campus.
Founded in 1961, the Federation has implemented missionary and welfare activities catered to the deaf, which include organizing sign language and doctrinal study sessions.
The ceremony included greetings from Federation Chairperson Shigeru Yoshimori and a congratulatory address from Uzo Takami, chief of the Tenrikyo Mission Department’s Social Welfare Section. Groups and individuals who have long contributed to the federation’s activities were given awards.
In the afternoon, Mr. Kentaro Hayase, who is a sign language instructor for a TV program on NHK, gave a commemorative lecture. (Lecture title: “Living in a World without Hearing.”) Mr. Hayase, who is deaf himself, included his personal experiences as he spoke of what he felt deaf people ought to strive for in their lives.
Related articles in Japanese can be read at:
- Tenrikyo Japanese webpage – 聴力障害者布教連盟 創立50周年記念式典(8月27日)
- Chuwa Grand Church blog – 第21回三布連おつとめななび総会
