This is the real Tokyo Dome

No, this is not about Tokyo Dome - the big sports arena in Japan 's capital. I'm actually talking about a catholic cathedral. A real discovery off the beaten track.

Christians in Japan

When it comes to religion in Japan, most people think of only Buddhism or Shintoism. Who really knows that Christian missionaries were also traveling in Japan and were able to convince some inhabitants of this religion? Of course, the Christians in Japan form only a very small splinter group. Only 90,000 of the 18 million inhabitants of Tokyo profess to Christianity. But when you walk through Tokyo's Bunkyo district, you can hardly believe it. At least that was how it was on my second trip to the Japanese capital.

A spaceship in the middle of the city

In the middle of Bunkyo, between multi-family houses, sports fields and shops, an incredible building stretches into the sky: The Katedoraru Be Maria Daiseido, better known as St. Mary's Cathedral. Like a spaceship just landed, the unusual structure stands out from the surroundings. At first only the 61 meter high bell tower can be seen. The closer you get, the more prominent are the eight curved walls that form this incredible church up to 40 meters in height. Concrete shells, which were clad externally with bright shiny, stainless steel.

In 1899 a neo-gothic wooden church was built on the site of today's cathedral as an annex to a French school. But in 1945, it fell victim to an air raid by the Americans. Responsible for the reconstruction in the early 1960s is the visionary and world-famous architect Kenzo Tange, who also designed the buildings for the Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics. The project was supported by Cologne, the partner diocese of Tokyo. The German diocese sent money, a construction planner and some German church bells to Japan. One year after the Olympic Games, Tange's Cathedral was completed. And it is just as breathtaking today as it was back then.

A cross from above

Even if one can hardly believe it from below, the almost vertical walls of the church form a cross. This is only visible if you look at it from above, for example with Google Maps. In any case, they are majestic only by their height and their radiance - especially when the sun shines on it.

Once you have passed the simple wooden door, you can enjoy a completely different picture. The concrete walls were left raw in the interior. No cladding, no plaster and no paint adorn the side walls. A strong contrast to the external appearance. Inside, there is only an amber window mosaic behind the altar and an opening behind the organ from Italy, built in 2004, which is the largest in Japan. The light falls so softly and subtly on the massive, gloomy concrete walls that they - even because of their unusual shape - seem almost airy and light. Hard to describe, my photos can not really reflect the impression.

In a side aisle you will find a pieta and a bust of the missionary Francies Xavier from the 17th century. Xavier was the first to peddle his faith in distant Japan in 1549. The bust was a gift from the Cologne Jesuits for the inauguration in 1964.

The bones of the Three Holy Kings

The Cologne Cardinal Rainer Woelki was in the spring of 2016 to visit and brought as a gift a few bone remains of the Three Holy Kings, which should be buried according to a legend in the Cologne Cathedral.

Outside St. Marys Cathedral there is a small reconstructed grotto of Lourdes. It has existed since the times of the old wooden church and had to do with the French school.

Architect Kenzo Tange wished to be baptized christian after completion of the cathedral. When he died in 2005 at the age of 91, not only did his memorial service take place in the cathedral, he found his eternal rest in her crypt.

How to get to the cathedral

Take the metro (Yurakucho Line) to Edogawabashi Station. From there, a walk of about 20 minutes along Edgawa Park (right bank of the Kanda River opposite the metro station) leads to a gate leading into the large public garden of Chinzanso Hotel. Cross this garden until you reach the hotel lobby. Outside on the Mejiro Dori you will see the bell tower 400 meters away on the left side.