OARAI, Japan (UCAN) -- Many of the employees of the seafood processing plants in Japan's Ibaraki prefecture are Indonesians. One of them, Hani Rangitan, organizes a weekly Mass on Saturdays for Catholics among them.

Rangitan, 41, came to Oarai with his wife in 2001. Their 18-year-old son lives with his grandfather in Indonesia. Oarai, a seaside resort town in Ibaraki prefecture, is about 100 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

About 30 people gather for the Saturday-evening liturgy. Jesuit Father Roger Downey began celebrating Mass for the group six years ago, and now Father Suri Waruyo of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary continues the service.

"The language and cultural differences make working in Japan very difficult, but I am happy here now," says Rangitan, an electrician who repairs machines used in processing and packing fish and shellfish.

Most of about 500 Indonesians in Oarai come from Manado, the Indonesian city closest to Japan. Manado, on Sulawesi Island, is the capital of North Sulawesi province, which has a majority Protestant population, unusual in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population. The Indonesians in Oarai include a large number of Catholics and Protestants.

Each evening in May and November, the Catholics gather in someone's house after work for the rosary. They rotate the meetings around their houses and spend a few hours socializing in addition to praying.

Besides the Mass in Oarai, Indonesian Catholics here also join parishioners in Mito for Sunday Masses. Mito, the capital of Ibaraki prefecture, is 40 minutes away by bus or 20 minutes by train.

Elsa Morina, 29, takes care of these arrangements. She and her three siblings have been employed for the past six years in a factory where they process smelt and cuttlefish. According to Morina, they came to Japan because they "wanted to go overseas and gain some experience."

Many of the Indonesians in Oarai are of Japanese descent or married to someone of Japanese descent. During World War II, Japanese troops occupied Indonesia and fathered children with local women. But the soldiers had to return to Japan when the war ended.

Morina met her 90-year-old grandfather in Hiroshima. "I got a surprise when I went to visit him with my mother once. I did hear when I was small that my grandfather was Japanese, but I did not know the details," she recounted.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Mass is offered every Sunday evening in the Indonesian language at Kojimachi Church. The congregation of about 60 people is largely made up of students, post-graduate interns and others who have found employment in Japan. This Mass also was begun by Father Downey six years ago. Indonesians learned of it by word of mouth and through the Internet.

"Many of us are employed in banks, information technology, education and mechanical engineering," said Cindiar Soemono. The 30-year-old leader of the Tokyo group added, "We are like a big family. After Mass we do not feel like scattering right away so we have a meal together."

Maureen Gunawan, 29, who leads the choir, pointed out that they use either Japanese or English daily for work and communication. "It is nice to get together and pray in our own language," she said.

The group also has sponsored charity concerts for various causes, including aid to people affected by the 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 150,000 people in Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)