ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO PANAMA – While speaking to a journalist aboard his flight to Panama, Pope Francis confirmed that he will visit Japan this year.

I was reading Dennis Bocks’ The Ash Garden for English class last semester. The book follows the story of three main characters affected by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima during the Second World War.

TOKYO, Japan – A 17th century Catholic Samurai and martyr was beatified during a Mass in ‎Osaka, Japan on Tuesday.

HIROSHIMA, Japan - For a long minute on a sunny morning, silence fell over the memorial park that commemorates the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.

Pope Francis departs Aug. 14 on a five-day trip to South Korea, his first to Asia and the start of an important new papal focus on the region: In January, Francis will return to visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines, and a trip to Japan — where the Pope wanted to go as a young priest — is reportedly under consideration.

TORONTO - Though they’ve watched from a distance, Toronto’s Japanese Catholic Community has prayed with intensity for Japan as the country continues to rebuild following the devastation of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck March 11, 2011.

The small group gathered on the first anniversary of the disaster for its regular monthly Mass, and special prayers for Japan.

Many of the Japanese Catholics at Mass had come from an ecumenical and interfaith prayer service earlier in the day at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.