Osami Kuboki announces Universal One Television's first telecast

Gaku Makise
October 2, 1989

Satellite amplifying waves from the ground station.

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Japanese Unification Church, Universal One Television telecast its first program via satellite on October 2, 1989. They had been testing it a number of times since July 20, 1989. The commemorative broadcast program was entitled, "God's Love Embraces Jape and lasted for two hours. Starting at 8:00 a.m., it was televised nationwide to all churches and families who had receivers.

Hiroshi Sakazume, head of the Public Information Department, was master of ceremonies and introduced President Kuboki. In his address, President Kuboki said, "I'd like to celebrate this 30th anniversary of our church together with the church members throughout this entire nation."

Later, they introduced the Takasaki Church in a local report which demonstrated the joy of our members toward the advent of satellite telecasting. Featured in the report were interviews with our members including the Kantoh district leader, Oasamu Yokoyama. All expressed great expectations for witnessing via satellite.

The telecast took us to Kyushu, to follow an investigation of the Japan-Korea tunnel near Karatsu in the Saga prefecture. At a studio, the Secretary-General of the International Highway Corporation explained that the tunnel is a part of the "International Highway Project" initiated by Father at the 10th ICUS in 1981. It has been eight years since they began its construction and it is drawing the attention of many foreign countries. A technical expert guided reporters to a depth of 410 meters in the tunnel. He had been working on the Seikan Tunnel (between Aomori and Hakodate) for the past 20 years.

Modulation room.

At the Celebration

In celebration of the 30th birthday of our church, Mr. Toshiki Saito, General Affairs Manager, Setuo Sakurai, Witnessing Department Chief, Takeshi Ohbayashi, head of the Men's Department, and Katsuko Yokoi, head of the Women's Department, shared a few of their reminiscences. They read congratulatory messages from various presidents of the worldwide Unification Churches including Korea, Germany and America. The President of Song Hwa University in Korea sent his best wishes. Dr. Tadaaki Shimmyo; an assistant professor at the Unification Theological Seminary in the United States, and various Japanese missionaries in foreign countries congratulated our church. They also read telegrams of praise and encouragement sent in by church members watching the program.

Ground station and its parabolic antenna.

A Short History of Satellite Telecasting

A satellite cruising in an orbit 36,000 km above the earth, receives and amplifies electric waves coming from a station on earth. The first such communication satellite was the "Telstar No. 1" launched by the United States in 1962. The first television satellite broadcast between Japan and the U.S. began in 1963 via "Relay No. 1."

The National Space Development Agency of Japan launched "Sakura Nos. 2a and 2b" in 1983, followed by "Sakura Nos. 3a and 3b" in 1988. There are many enterprises and agencies now using NTT, which is utilizing these satellites. There have been two additional satellites launched in 1989: the Japanese communication satellite and the cosmic communication. This year saw the first telecast via satellite. Now we are installing antenna equipment in churches and homes of church members living all over Japan.

Programs aired included Father's sermons and addresses, Unification Movement news, studies of the Korean, English and Chinese languages, lectures on Divine Principle and Unification Thought, as well as worship services for children. The programs occur for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.

Mr. Oyamada, vice president of the Unification Church of Japan, shared his thoughts at this beginning of our new satellite telecasts:

"The Unification Church, founded in Korea, now has missionaries in 138 nations. So far, we have been able to receive only small amounts of information from them. Now the satellite telecasts enable us to receive Father's words immediately and show us his character and life style.

"Now, should Father speak in other nations such as Korea or America, it can be simultaneously seen and heard in Japan. Moreover, members can learn Divine Principle, VOC and Headwing ideology from excellent lecturers of various nations. This will do tremendous good in reviving the spirit of our members. We can encounter and participate in Father's various projects in the fields of religion, culture, economics, science and many others.

"We can now provide accurate information to our church members from the departments of witnessing, education and public information. We will be able to perceive accurately the relationship between the providence and world affairs by receiving information of them more quickly.

"Japan has to fulfill her responsibility as God's Providence advances from the individual level, through the family, society, nation and finally to the world level. To do that, satellite telecasting is indispensable."