Franciscan Chapel Center — Local services in Tokyo

Yes, English mass is here and it's great, yes they have Eucharist.

Here's some info on what the mass is like and getting in smoothly.

There is an orange juice vending machine to the far right of the entrance, and an Italian place further up right on the corner. Upon entering the building, look to your right. You will see a small cabinet with goods, and a staircase to the right of that, the mass is held upstairs, on the second floor. Go up the stairs.

Upstairs, you will likely be greeted with friendly people handing you a book with the mass songs and prayers in it, for your assistance.

Before you enter the door leading to mass, look to your right, above the books, next to the door, is where the holy water is located.

Upon entering mass, feel free to walk around the backs of the pews, to the left or right, following the wall, browsing all the seating options. At first, it may look like you can't go to the left without walking in front of others, but the pillar is not attached to the wall and you can walk behind it easily.

Try not to feel pressured to sit right away. If possible, leave seats available close to the entrance, easily accessible for late comers (which typically, there will be a few). This will bring less disturbance and seat shuffling to the mass later on.

By the way, the seats do typically get filled up on Sunday evenings, but you should still be able to sit down in my experience.

There will be some lyrics and responses on a screen displayed to the right and left of the altar. Along with page numbers from the book you were handed when applicable.

There is a pianist and choir with lovely voices.

There is no kneeling here, and not in the other two churches I visited in Japan. I'm not sure why, it just seems normal to stand here. You can bow or kneel if you feel compelled to, especially when in the presence of Jesus, but you may be asked to stand again if you kneel.

The bread (body of Jesus) is served here, and easily accessible. I really appreciated the Eucharistic ministers handling Jesus gently and placing it carefully and thoughtfully in the hand. It really feels like they are being respectful, so keep an eye out for that. The wine (blood of Jesus) can be more difficult to get to if you aren't paying attention the first time. Please keep an eye out for it, and plan your move because it should be there. If you are towards the end of the line, and notice there is a lot of wine left, take a bigger swig for the priests sake. You may need to walk further away from your seating area to get to the wine and thread through people to find the way back to your seat. Try to be patient and courteous, you will be fine.

There is chanting and singing here which is refreshing to see, as I didn't see that in the other churches I visited in Tokyo (mind you, only two others).

The priest is easily likeable, warm, charming and passionate. His speeches are educational and remind us of why we Catholics do things like go to mass. He puts focus on strengthening our relationship to God and educating us on Catholicism.

After mass ends, you can either leave your book at the pew or take it out the door with you and hand it to one of the people who will offer to take it for you. People tend to crowd around this area on the way out, so be patient when trying to get that holy water on the way out.

The priest usually comes downstairs after mass and chats with whoever wants to talk with him at the front of the building downstairs. This is a nice moment to let him know how much you appreciate being able to attend mass so far away from home and thanking him for his service.

Overall this was my favourite church to go to in Tokyo, I highly recommend. Hope this helps you navigate more...

While visiting Tokyo, I attended Mass at Franciscan Chapel on Sunday 5/25 & 6/1. First, the positive aspect of the Mass. It is heartwarming to see the children surrounding the alter during the Eucharist.

Here is the negative and the reason I would find a different church to attend Mass when I vacation in Tokyo again. My decision is based upon a feeling I had that visitors are not welcome.

On 6/1, I was disappointed with the incidences which occurred during Mass. The church is significantly small compared to any Catholic Church that I have visited. Therefore, unnecessary noise is amplified. During the homily, an infant started to cry and the young mother did her best to calm her baby. The Priest stopped his homily and request that an usher remove the mother and child from the main church. The usher escorted both mother and baby to the infant room to view the Mass. I felt sorry for the mother and baby as the usher paraded them past the entire “standing room only”congregation. I’m certain that the mother was embarrassed. This incident should have been handled with greater empathy. As the priest continued his sermon, I was so distracted and disturbed that I didn’t even listen anymore. Basically, the incident went from bad to worse. I feel that it is ironic that a major focus upon children is highlighted during Mass. But yet, when a child cries they must be immediately be removed before the Mass can continue.

To make this incident even more disturbing is that a veteran parishioner who was sitting in the front row would turn around and glare with hatred at the mother and crying baby. This old Caucasian man in a red shirt & glasses sitting next to an African American woman displayed utter resentment toward the mother and child. Whoever you are you should be ashamed of yourself. Instead of displaying distain and ignorance maybe offer some assistance to the mother. Especially since you were so bothered by a child crying.

And lastly, the final incident which makes me feel that visitors are not welcome in Franciscan Chapel involves the same man with glasses and red shirt. There were 2 empty seats next to this man and the African American woman. A woman carrying a small child and her husband with their second child attempted to sit down. After a short conversation the family of 4 left the seats and had to stand. Apparently, the seats were being saved for the veteran parishioners 2 pre-teen boys. Some people reading this may disagree although the considerate Christian action would have been to allow the family of 4 to sit down and have your boys stand up.

During my travels, I’ve attended Mass as a visitor countless times. I have always been welcomed and upon leaving the Church I always felt a sense of pride knowing that Christian’s care about each other. But as I left Franciscan Chapel, I felt ashamed and embarrassed.

I’m certain that Franciscan Chapel helps many people in various ways. I truly hope the occurrences on 6/1 were just outliers and the experience can help to...

Mass was lovely. Beware the very heavy use of incense of you're suffering respiratory issues. A woman had to leave the service to care for her child and the priest made a comment about it during the service. That wasn't problematic on is own (unless you're a woman or family with kids) however it was a bit of foreshadowing. The well thought out homily had two messages. One was not weaponizing Christianity by understanding more Christ's love and grace for others. The second part was about the idea that we often do not remove the wooden beam before our eyes before complaing about a speck in another's face. Perhaps this was the set up to show us that no matter how much incense you have, you cannot conjure the Holy Spirit through excessive ritual. Shortly after Mass I witnessed the same priest verbally accost a foreign girl who clearly was not familiar with the customs of the church. This person had crossed her arms during the eucharist but the priest was forceful in having her take it. (It was obvious because I had already noticed he was doing this to others too, almost... I hate to say, bullying... adults into consuming the host that had come up with arms crossed for a blessing.) She apparently did not consume it (fear of allergy maybe? Simply wanting a blessing?) But did not know what to do with the host. The priest proceeded to make the family of the young woman a whipping post in a very public display. When I pointed out the priest was being the kind of Christian he just warned us about he proclaimed his justification of his antics as "an officer of the church," while storming off leaving his acolytes to cold shoulder the family. Clearly he should have handled the situation with more ... fruits of the Spirit... (love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, self control). So if you're going to check off your Sunday obligation, fine, but don't look deeper unless you want to witness a Pharisee...