Joseph Keikyo: Christian mangaka in Japan?

[Aibou]

Not very long ago I found an article which might interest some of you (Christian) manga freaks. It's covers an interview with Joseph Keikyo, a Christian mangaka in Japan. I was very surprised to find such an article in the Netherlands, which covers Christian themes and manga at the same time! How rare is that?!?
So I tried to google that person (in romanji), but no result other then the article itself.

FYI it's a Dutch article.. I will try to translate it!

Source: http://halbertsma.com/artikned.html#3

Trouw: Joseph Keikyo preaches through manga (1)
Religion and Philosophy, Thursday 5 February 2004
Tjalling Halbertsma

,,The people are in a hurry'', says Joseph in his homechurch in Tokyo. ,,No one has the time to read the Bible.'' That's why the missionary uses 'manga', Japanese comics.
Examples of Joseph's comics: The crucifixtion, and the Last Supper which began as a Japanese teaceremony.
Manga -comics- are the beloved medium of the Japanese reader. Every week hundreds come out, some as thick as a telephonebook. Adults AND children read the comics, which in western eyes contains a lot of violence and sex. In Japan popular manga-artists are seen as stars.
,,Rather 84 percent of my hearing can remember the message in this way", praises Joseph his comics, ,,Without images it's just seven percent." That's something what he remembers very well after 50 years of Christian missionary work.

UPDATE
He presents children in kimono's who are bound with with big ropes to wooden crosses or go down in a sea of flames. "Which cross is destinied for me?", a girls asks the vicious samurai in a comic. She has, just like every other child, innoncent big eyes. The samurai warriors carry enormous swords to behead the Christian victims.
In a country where the Bible, Einsteins relativitytheory and countless other religious and scientific pieces are worked out in the manga-comics, then Josephs cartoonesque sketches not unusual.
"You see such illiustrations regularly in japanese cultbooks about Atlantis or King Arthur and the Holy Grail.", says the English anthropologist Michael Shackleton, who is connected to the gakuin University of Osaka. "But even in this context Josephs message is remarkable.

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(1) 'Trouw' is the name of a Dutch newspaper

The rest of the article seems to be about the history of Christians in Japan and so forth, not sure if you'd like to read that..??

[The Doctor]

hmm...I would very much like to see what other kind of works he does. :-)

[ShiroiHikari]

wow, that's really cool.

if you have the time, I'd be interested in reading about the history part.

[Doubleshadow]

Wow! That's wonderful!

[Shao Feng-Li]

I looked up his up his name in Goggle, and I see a Reverend Joseph, director of the Keikyo Institute in Tokyo.

"Here Ken Joseph, founder of the Keikyo Institute..."

http://www.keikyo.com/index-e.html

[Aibou]

thanks for the link!
I've translated another part of the article.. not yet about history and such.

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He presents children in kimono's who are bound with with big ropes to wooden crosses or go down in a sea of flames. "Which cross is destinied for me?", a girls asks the vicious samurai in a comic. She has, just like every other child, innoncent big eyes. The samurai warriors carry enormous swords to behead the Christian victims.
In a country where the Bible, Einsteins relativitytheory and countless other religious and scientific pieces are worked out in the manga-comics, then Josephs cartoonesque sketches not unusual.
"You see such illiustrations regularly in japanese cultbooks about Atlantis or King Arthur and the Holy Grail.", says the English anthropologist Michael Shackleton, who is connected to the gakuin University of Osaka. "But even in this context Josephs message is remarkable.