Evangelii Network Japan (ENJ) is a grassroots, volunteer lay Catholic initiative based in Kanagawa. It exists to serve the new evangelisation in Japan, with a clear focus on the family as the primary place of faith and mission.

The work

ENJ organises:

• Evangelii Summit Japan, each year on the weekend of the feast of Christ the King. The 8th Summit is on Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 November 2026.
• Marian Conference Japan, held each year. The 4th was on Saturday 16 May 2026.
• Monthly Catholic Faith Formation seminars with the International Group at St Ignatius Church, Tokyo, since 2019.
• Retreats, and the Evangelii Network Japan channel on YouTube.

Through these works it seeks to proclaim Christ as King, deepen devotion to the Immaculate Heart, strengthen families, and equip the faithful for joyful witness in Japanese society.

Mission Immaculate Mediatrix

Through Mission Immaculate Mediatrix Japan (MIM Japan), ENJ also organises the 33 Days Consecration to the Immaculate each year and cooperates with the Franciscans of the Immaculate. This Marian apostolate invites the faithful to entrust themselves completely to the Mother of God, so that she may form them more perfectly in the likeness of her Son. It supports the wider work of the Immaculate in Japan.

The human person and artificial intelligence

ENJ also works to protect the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. Inspired by Pope Leo XIV's call in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, ENJ supports the sound governance of AI agents and technology. It takes part in the Builders AI Forum (BAIF), a Catholic lay activity working to protect humanity against the risks of AI abuse.

Catholic AI and human dignity

An independent lay initiative

Evangelii Network Japan is an independent, grassroots lay initiative. It is not a continuation of the National Incentive Conventions for Evangelization organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan (NICE I, Kyoto, 1987, and NICE II, Nagasaki, 1993). Even so, it seeks to carry forward the spirit of those gatherings in a volunteer, bottom-up way, especially their emphasis on the family as the primary place of evangelisation and on a faith rooted in daily life.

The saints

ENJ is inspired by St Patrick of Ireland, St Francis Xavier SJ, St Ignatius of Loyola SJ and St Maximilian Kolbe. St Patrick's missionary example was the first spur that led Neil Day (ニール・ディ) to begin the ENJ conferences.

What ENJ aims to do

As a bottom-up, volunteer movement (formerly known as the National Catholic Awareness Conference Japan), ENJ aims to:

• Celebrate the beauty of life and God's creation
• Raise awareness of the diversity of Catholic life and activity in Japan
• Encourage collaboration among Catholics, Japanese and international, in the home, parish, school, workplace and wider society
• Support the family as the first school of faith and the foundation of a culture of life and human dignity
• Inspire and equip a new evangelisation that is faithful to the Church and rooted in Japanese soil
• Strengthen Catholic identity and unity in mission under Christ the King
• Promote total consecration to the Immaculate Heart through MIM Japan, in cooperation with the Franciscans of the Immaculate
• Contribute to the ethical governance of AI in the light of Magnifica Humanitas and the work of the Builders AI Forum

The starting point

Inspired by the witness of the Hidden Christians, the call of Pope Leo XIV ("One in Christ, united in mission") and the teaching of Magnifica Humanitas, ENJ works so that Japan may hear two things. The family, protected and strengthened, is the natural starting point for the Gospel. And the dignity of every human person must be safeguarded in every sphere of life, including technology.