Japan Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Japan, go to the Religious Records page.

For records on Japanese Buddhists, see Buddhist Records.

What they are
These records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths were kept by church clergy. They include the parish registers of Roman-Catholic and various protestant churches. They cover the time period of 1873 to the present.

Content

 * Baptisms
 * Name of individual
 * Date of birth and baptism
 * Names of parents
 * Residence
 * Marriages
 * Names of the groom and bride
 * Ages
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Sometimes birthplaces and parents of groom and bride
 * Deaths and Burials
 * Name of the deceased
 * Date and place of death and burial
 * Age at time of death
 * Marital status
 * Cause of death
 * Name of spouse
 * For children parents’ names are often included
 * Other Lists
 * Membership records list baptismal dates and usually names of parents
 * Confirmations list names of young people who are being confirmed, usually with birth dates

How to obtain them
You would need to go to the Christian church where your ancestor lived in Japan. The Family History Library does not have microfilms of these records

A wiki article describing an online collection is found:

Japan, Village Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

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