Our pipe organ is also a living instrument. Just as a person needs to maintain one's health, so too must the health of our beloved pipe organ be maintained.

In August 2022, our pipe organ falls silent as it undergoes a comprehensive four-week overhaul. Then from September, our pipe organ resumes accompanying and aiding us in our liturgy and prayer.

May this be an opportunity for a better understanding of our pipe organ, and for affectionately watching over our constant companion.

Pastor : Saturnino Ochoa, S.J.

At about the time the current church was dedicated, a pipe organ made by the German company Jehmlich Orgelbau Dresden was installed. Jehmlich, which has a history of more than 200 years, has a workshop near the historic city of Dresden. It has built more than a thousand organs that are installed worldwide, including three large organs in Tokyo.

Our organ has three manual keyboards, a pedal board, and over three thousand pipes, which makes it one of the largest instruments at any church in Japan.

Each organ is a custom-made instrument tailoted to the space and acoustic design of where it is installed. Our organ, built in Germany, has over the years adapted to Japan's climate. Moreover, temperature and humidity constantly affect subtle changes, making it a truly living instrument.

Our organists, playing on this living instrument every single day for 23 ears, even amid the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, have kept the pipes in good working order, thereby preventing any major breakdowns - an outstanding achievement.

Since the church's dedication in 1999, the pipe organ has been loved by everyone associated with the church. It has supported the daily Masses and liturgies from its unobtrusive location. More than twenty years have passed, and, like the church building, the pipe organ requires extensive maintenance work.

The overhaul will involve disassembling all the 3,146 pipes and other components, cleaning the internal areas, and repairing the result of constant use. A team of four craftsmen will spend approximately four weeks working with care on the organ. Pipe organs can live for hundreds of ears with proper care. There are many such "historical organs" in Europe - the result of making the organ breathe through the day-to-day organ playing that continuously blows air through the pipes.

I pray that the organ of St. Ignatius Church will also take a new step toward the future and that it will be regularly used to its full potential as an instrument of praise to God.