Our Lady of Akita: The Japanese Apparitions and the Three Messages

# The Sanctuary of Akita (Japan) and the Apparitions of 1973-1979 to Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa## Akita Marian ApparitionsThe apparitions of Akita refer to the Marian manifestations that occurred in Akita, Japan, between 1973 and 1981, to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa, a member of the Pius X Institute of Servants of the Sacrament. The site of these apparitions is Yuzawadai, a small religious community in Akita, where a wooden statue of Our Lady began to shed blood and tears, a phenomenon verified 101 times between 1975 and 1981. The apparitions were approved by Bishop John Shojiro Ito of Niigata in 1984 and confirmed as “worthy of belief” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) in 1988.## Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa: Healing from Deafness, the Hand Stigma, and the Beginning of ApparitionsAgnes Katsuko Sasagawa was born in 1931 in Niigata, Japan, and converted to Catholicism in 1949. She became deaf in 1973, precisely during the onset of the apparitions. On June 12, 1973, a voice guided her to pray before a wooden statue of Our Lady. On June 27, the statue began to bleed from her right hand. Agnes reported three distinct messages received during this period. Notably, her deafness miraculously healed in 1982, on the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, an event attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Akita.## The Three Messages of Our Lady of Akita (1973): Conversion, Reparation, and Future Punishments**First Message (July 6, 1973):** “Many men on this earth afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him. To make the world know His anger, Heaven Father is about to bring a great punishment upon all humanity. Pray the rosary fervently, in reparation for the sins continually committed.”**Second Message (August 3, 1973):** “If men do not repent and improve, God will punish them more severely than He did in the Flood. A greater punishment is coming. Fires will fall from heaven and annihilate a large part of humanity. The survivors will be so sad that they will envy the dead.”**Third Message (October 13, 1973):** “As I said, if men do not repent and improve, God will bring a terrible punishment upon all humanity. It will be a greater punishment than the Flood. Satan will infiltrate even within the Church to such an extent that cardinals will oppose cardinals, bishops will oppose bishops. The Church will be filled with those who accept compromises.”## The Tears of the Statue: 101 Episodes Between 1975 and 1981 and Scientific TestimoniesThe wooden Katsura (a Japanese maple) statue began to shed tears on January 4, 1975, and wept 101 times until September 15, 1981. The tears were analyzed and confirmed as human liquid of an unknown origin. Professor Kaoru Sagisaka, a forensic medicine expert from Akita University, verified that the samples had characteristics of living tissue. The tears attracted global media attention and were a significant factor in the formal ecclesiastical investigation.**Ecclesiastical Approval: Bishop Ito (1984) and Cardinal Ratzinger’s Confirmation (1988)**On April 22, 1984, Bishop John Shojiro Ito issued the Pastoral Letter “To Venerate Our Lady of Akita,” declaring the apparitions and phenomena as “supernatural” and “worthy of faith.” In 1988, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, confirmed this approval, stating that the Akita apparitions were in accordance with the message of Fátima. Akita is one of few approved Marian apparitions in Asia, alongside those of Kibeho (Rwanda, 1981-1989), which were approved in 2001.**Deepen Your Studies:** Explore Mariology, Marian Apparitions, Our Lady of Fátima, Theological Mariana, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.

Also see: Complete Guide to Approved Marian Apparitions by the Church

View the complete list of approved Marian apparitions recognized by the Church.