Yasushige Imakoma
1926 - Present
Biography
Yasushige Imakoma was a Japanese Christian pastor, hymn writer, and advocate for ministry with blind people. Born in Tokyo on March 10, 1926, he became a Christian after the Second World War and Japan’s defeat. He began studies at the Seminary for Rural Ministry in 1952 and continued his theological training at Japan Biblical Seminary. His pastoral ministry began with a congregation in Kawasaki, where his experience of postwar Japan helped shape his concern for Christian witness, human communication, and spiritual renewal.
In 1968 Imakoma devoted himself to ministry among blind people and became head of the Japanese Association of Christian Mission to the Blind. From 1976 to 1989 he served a congregation in Toshimaoka and later worked as an associate pastor in Shimizu. His best-known contribution to international hymnody is the Japanese text commonly transliterated as “Mikotoba o kudasai,” prepared in 1965 and published in the 1967 Sambika Dainihen. The hymn later circulated in English through an interpretive paraphrase and became an important example of twentieth-century Japanese Christian song. Imakoma died in Tokyo in 2013.
In 1968 Imakoma devoted himself to ministry among blind people and became head of the Japanese Association of Christian Mission to the Blind. From 1976 to 1989 he served a congregation in Toshimaoka and later worked as an associate pastor in Shimizu. His best-known contribution to international hymnody is the Japanese text commonly transliterated as “Mikotoba o kudasai,” prepared in 1965 and published in the 1967 Sambika Dainihen. The hymn later circulated in English through an interpretive paraphrase and became an important example of twentieth-century Japanese Christian song. Imakoma died in Tokyo in 2013.
Hymns by Yasushige Imakoma
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Role: Lyricist