{"id":11419,"date":"2026-07-08T14:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/our-lady-of-akita"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:13:13","slug":"our-lady-of-akita","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/our-lady-of-akita","title":{"rendered":"Our Lady of Akita"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rr-om\">\n<style>\n.rr-om{max-width:880px;margin:0 auto;font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;color:#1E2A36}\n.rr-om h1{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;text-align:center;font-size:2.1rem;margin:.4rem 0 .2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-sub{text-align:center;color:#8A6D1D;font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;font-style:italic;font-size:1.15rem;margin:0 0 1.2rem}\n.rr-om .rr-lead{color:#344054;line-height:1.75;max-width:720px;margin:0 auto 1.2rem}\n.rr-om h2{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.45rem;border-bottom:2px solid #C9A227;padding-bottom:.35rem;margin:2.2rem 0 .9rem}\n.rr-om h3{font-family:Merriweather,Georgia,serif;color:#1F4E79;font-size:1.1rem;margin:1.4rem 0 .5rem}\n.rr-om p{color:#344054;line-height:1.75}\n.rr-om .rr-datos{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(240px,1fr));gap:10px;margin:.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-dato{background:#F8F5EF;border:1px solid #E6E1D8;border-radius:10px;padding:.6rem .9rem;font-size:.95rem}\n.rr-om .rr-dato b{color:#1F4E79}\n.rr-om .rr-flor{background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1F4E79,#183B5C);border-radius:16px;padding:1.6rem 1.4rem;color:#fff;margin:2rem 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid #C9A22755}\n.rr-om .rr-flor h3{color:#F3E7BD;margin-top:0}\n.rr-om .rr-flor p{color:#E8EDF3}\n.rr-om .rr-flor a{display:inline-block;background:#C9A227;color:#1E2A36;border-radius:999px;padding:.7rem 1.5rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:700;margin-top:.6rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btns{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;justify-content:center;margin:1.6rem 0}\n.rr-om .rr-btn{background:#1F4E79;color:#fff;border-radius:999px;padding:.6rem 1.2rem;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:.92rem}\n.rr-om .rr-btn:hover{background:#183B5C;color:#F3E7BD}\n.rr-om .rr-fuentes{font-size:.88rem;color:#667085;border-top:1px solid #E6E1D8;padding-top:1rem;margin-top:2rem}\n@media(max-width:560px){.rr-om h1{font-size:1.7rem}}\n<\/style>\n\n<h1>Our Lady of Akita<\/h1>\n<p class=\"rr-sub\">Patroness of Akita<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"rr-lead\">The devotion to <strong>Our Lady of Akita<\/strong> refers to a Marian image linked to events reported at <strong>Yuzawadai, in the area of Akita (Japan)<\/strong>, between <strong>1973 and 1981<\/strong>. According to the account handed down by the religious community and by devotional tradition, Sister <strong>Agnes Sasagawa<\/strong> is said to have received messages through a statue of the Virgin, with insistent calls to <strong>prayer<\/strong>, <strong>penance<\/strong> and the praying of the <strong>Rosary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Key facts<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rr-datos\">\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Place:<\/b> Akita (Japan)<\/div>\n<div class=\"rr-dato\"><b>Feast day:<\/b> 12 June<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Origin and history<\/h2>\n<p>The devotion to <strong>Our Lady of Akita<\/strong> refers to a Marian image linked to events reported at <strong>Yuzawadai, in the area of Akita (Japan)<\/strong>, between <strong>1973 and 1981<\/strong>. According to the account handed down by the religious community and by devotional tradition, Sister <strong>Agnes Sasagawa<\/strong> is said to have received messages through a statue of the Virgin, with insistent calls to <strong>prayer<\/strong>, <strong>penance<\/strong> and the praying of the <strong>Rosary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>documented history<\/strong> usually cited in the available sources is that on <strong>22 April 1984<\/strong> Bishop <strong>John Shojiro Ito<\/strong> authorised the veneration of the Holy Mother of Akita in his diocese, after a prior investigation. Some later Catholic sources add that in <strong>1988<\/strong> the then Cardinal <strong>Joseph Ratzinger<\/strong>, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a favourable judgement on the messages, although this detail does not appear in all the references consulted. The figure of <strong>101 lacrimations<\/strong> between 1975 and 1981, on the other hand, belongs to the widely circulated account of the Akita phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The image and the shrine<\/h2>\n<p>The image venerated at Akita is a <strong>wooden statue<\/strong> of the Virgin Mary, of Japanese carving, associated in several descriptions with oriental features and a simple Marian iconography, though the sources consulted do not record all its iconographic attributes with precision. Devotional tradition presents it as a miraculous image connected with tears and, according to some accounts, also with blood and perfume.<\/p>\n<p>The veneration is centred on the <strong>Redemptoris Mater Shrine of Our Lady of Akita<\/strong>, at the convent of the <strong>Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist (Seitai Hoshikai)<\/strong>, in <strong>Yuzawadai<\/strong>. The sources consulted identify it as a shrine belonging to the religious community, but they do <strong>not<\/strong> record that it is a <strong>minor basilica<\/strong>, nor that it holds an official designation as a <strong>national<\/strong> or <strong>diocesan shrine<\/strong> in the strict canonical sense.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Patronage and coronation<\/h2>\n<p>Our Lady of Akita is presented in several devotional sources as <strong>patroness of Akita, Japan<\/strong>. Beyond that local attribution in popular and devotional materials, no broader canonical patronage of a city, municipality, diocese or nation can be stated with certainty from the sources consulted.<\/p>\n<p>As for a <strong>canonical coronation<\/strong>, <strong>no documented canonical coronation<\/strong> appears in the sources reviewed.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Feast and devotion<\/h2>\n<p>The date most widely given as the principal feast is <strong>12 June<\/strong>, linked to the first manifestation of 1973. Other sources also mention the memorial of <strong>15 September<\/strong>, the date of the last recorded lacrimation in 1981, which coincides with the feast of <strong>Our Lady of Sorrows<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The devotion of Akita is marked by its emphasis on <strong>conversion<\/strong>, <strong>reparatory prayer<\/strong> and <strong>penance<\/strong>. The sources consulted also note the interest of pilgrims and faithful in the convent chapel and in the testimony of the reported phenomena, although <strong>no reliable and consistent attendance figures<\/strong> appear in the materials at hand. In popular tradition Akita is often presented as a kind of \u201cFatima of the East\u201d, a devotional expression spread by the Catholic press, though it is not an official liturgical title.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Bond with the Rosary<\/h2>\n<p>The link with the <strong>Rosary<\/strong> is indeed attested in the content of the messages attributed to Akita: several sources note that special insistence was placed on the <strong>recitation of the Holy Rosary<\/strong> as the heart of the prayer asked of the faithful. For this reason, this devotion finds its natural place within a Marian spirituality of intercession, penance and contemplation of the mysteries of Christ with Mary, which is the very soul of the Rosary.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"rr-flor\">\n<h3>\ud83c\udf39 A flower for Our Lady<\/h3>\n<p>Offer a simple prayer to Our Lady of Akita. Pray one Hail Mary for Japan and for the peace of the world.<\/p>\n<a href=\"\/pl\/marian-prayers\/\">Pray a Hail Mary<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-btns\">\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/pl\/marian-prayers\/\">\ud83d\ude4f Marian prayers<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/pl\/marian-calendar\/\">\ud83d\udcc5 Marian calendar<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/pl\/how-to-pray-the-rosary\/\">\ud83d\udcff Pray the Rosary<\/a>\n<a class=\"rr-btn\" href=\"\/en\/advocaciones-marianas\/\">\ud83c\udf39 Back to Marian devotions<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"rr-fuentes\">\n<strong>Sources:<\/strong> the tradition of the shrine, diocesan information and Wikipedia. The distinction between popular piety and documented ecclesial history belongs to this article; extraordinary accounts are presented as devotion, not as doctrinal pronouncement.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Lady of Akita Patroness of Akita The devotion to Our Lady of Akita refers to a Marian image linked to events reported at Yuzawadai, in the area of Akita (Japan), between 1973 and 1981. According to the account handed down by the religious community and by devotional tradition, Sister Agnes Sasagawa is said to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Our Lady of Akita - Reza el Rosario","description":"Our Lady of Akita Patroness of Akita The devotion to Our Lady of Akita refers to a Marian image linked to events reported at Yuzawadai, in the area of Akita (Ja"},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11419","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezaelrosario.org\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}