Seventh-day Adventists in Japan celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Voice of Prophecy Radio Broadcasting in Japan. The event took place September 1 at the Tokyo Central Church, the location of the former radio studio, and the national Adventist Church headquarters.

Seven of nine radio pastors from the past 50 years were able to attend the event, coming from mainland Japan, the United States and Korea.

The first regular weekly radio program was broadcast by Radio Tokyo Broadcasting Station in 1952. The first radio pastor was Paul H. Eldridge, an American missionary to Japan at that time, who spoke fluent Japanese. Eldridge, 88, sent a video message to the anniversary event, attributing the start of the radio ministry in Japan to “God’s miraculous guidance.” 

Today, the Voice of Prophecy studio in Japan continues to produce radio programs and oversees the church’s Bible Correspondence School, a range of multi-media productions, and, Internet and satellite evangelism.

There are nearly 15,000 Adventists worshiping in 115 churches in Japan, which has a population of 130 million people.