Kazuo Ozaki goes through a mountain of listeners' letters at his former office in Quito, Ecuador.

(Aug. 29, 2013 - by Harold Goerzen) When longtime HCJB Global Japanese radio broadcaster Kazuo Ozaki made a return visit to his home country of Japan earlier this year, you'd think a celebrity had arrived.

Known for the informative, culturally relevant, inspiring radio programs he has produced for the past 49 years, listeners traveled from far and wide to meet Ozaki during his month-long visit to the island nation.

Ozaki was honored at the Yodobashi Church in Tokyo Sunday, May 26, to mark the beginning of the 50th year of Japanese broadcasting from HCJB Global.

"This was the very first time to have our listeners and those who support the Japanese radio ministry to meet and have fellowship together with believers at the church," he explained. "For many of the listeners who came, it was their first time to attend a Christian church. I wanted to give them a chance to initiate personal contact with the believers and churches. For me it was a dream come true to see these two groups meeting together."

Among the many listeners who came to Christ through the Japanese broadcasts, one is a man named Takizawa, now in his mid-40s and a member of the Yodobashi Church.

"He listened to the Japanese radio broadcasts as a teenager, but then dropped his shortwave listening hobby until last year when he bought one of the new high-tech receivers that can pick up faint, faraway shortwave radio signals," Ozaki related. "That's when he gave his life to Christ."

Japanese broadcasting timeline illustration created by Yuichiro Tanabe.

Takizawa is on the worship team at the Yodobashi Church which handles the correspondence with listeners who respond to Ozaki's weekly radio programs. Takizawa also prepared a video about HCJB Global that he showed at the special church service when Ozaki preached.

At the beginning of the 50th celebration, the church ensemble played "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," an apropos piece in light of Ozaki's longevity with HCJB Global. "Pastors from other churches shared their experience as supporters of the ministry," Ozaki recounted. "Rutsuko Bedow, a gospel singer, also sang some original songs. She had visited Radio Station HCJB in 1997, and I often received requests to play her songs on the radio."

"Then I was asked to speak about 50 years of ministry in five minutes! But how?" Using an illustrated timeline created by artist Yuichiro Tanabe, a graduate of the Alliance Academy in Quito, he was able to tell the story of the Japanese radio ministry through the eyes of a boy who grew up in Ecuador.

Meeting at the Yodobashi Church in Tokyo.

Also during the meeting, Tatemichi Ohtake, director of the Japan Shortwave Club, presented Ozaki with a book titled, An Astronaut Landed in Ecuador, written by Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese astronaut. Ozaki first met him in Ecuador in 2000 when he visited the country to work on a television documentary.

"I had the privilege of visiting and interviewing him again this summer," Ozaki shared. "He told me, 'I flew twice on the Space Shuttle. Seeing our beautiful blue Earth from orbit made me aware of the deep, unbreakable connection between Earth and all life forms and how our species' future is closely linked to the entire wellbeing of our planet.' While interviewing him I felt his loving concern for God's creation. We, as Christians, must act with the same motivation to share the gospel to all people on earth who need to hear the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ before it's too late."

Near the end of his trip to Japan, Ozaki preached at the church in Kurihama that he had helped plant with TEAM missionary Vic Springer, a brother of the late HCJB Global missionary broadcaster Joe Springer.

Kazuo Ozaki with two long-time listeners to the Japanese broadcasts, Tsuyoshi Sengoku (left) and Yoshiyuki Nagasawa.

"Two listeners came to this service," Ozaki recounted. "One of them was Mr. Yoshiyuki Nagasawa. He brought a folder full of letters from HCJB that he had collected throughout the years. He had become a Christian by listening to HCJB. He also showed me his treasured gift that he received from us when he passed his high school entrance exam 30 years ago."

Another listener, Tsuyoshi Sengoku, rode his scooter to the church after looking up Ozaki's itinerary on HCJB Global's Japanese website. "He had never been in a church before. He seemed to enjoy the service. Most important of all, both became good friends and promised to come to the church again."

Ozaki was born and raised in Japan's Honshu Island where he lived until high school. "World War II ended when I was in junior high school in 1945," he shared. "When the bombs were dropped, they destroyed two-thirds of my city. I remember going to the shelter, holding my little brother in my arms. Next day I saw that our house was gone."

Kazuo and Hisako Ozaki with their three children (left to right), Michio, Joyce and Yuji.

As a teenager, Ozaki met an American missionary to Japan who helped him learn English. "The missionary opened his house to have meetings with local people even though he couldn't speak Japanese yet. He lived in Sapporo and asked me to translate for him."

"I became a Christian by preaching to myself!" Kazuo admitted. "I was not a Christian at first, but I interpreted the missionary's messages, and I understood the gospel by preaching to the people through my translations."

Ozaki's linguistic skills came in handy when he joined Japan's defense forces at the age of 21, serving in the information section. "I would translate newspaper articles into Japanese," he said. "I also needed to use my English to get information from the American officers regarding the northern part of Japan and translate it for the defense forces."

After completing his military service, Kazuo was active in his local church. Seeing the need for more Bible training, he began studying at Japan Christian College in Tokyo. That's where he met his wife, Hisako, a secretary at the school. They married in 1961, the day before he graduated from the college.

Kurihama Gospel Church in Japan that Kazuo Ozaki helped plant before joining HCJB Global in 1964.

Ozaki first heard about Radio Station HCJB from Dr. Akira Hatori, radio pastor and chairman of the Pacific Broadcasting Association (PBA), who had visited Quito in 1962. As a result, PBA began to send the Japanese programs to HCJB but the program tapes, they were being played backwards, unbeknownst to the staff. This led to PBA's plea to send a Japanese radio missionary to Quito. Ozaki began praying with the staff at PBA to supply this person, not realizing he was the man.

A year later the Ozakis applied and were accepted as missionaries with HCJB Global, and they moved to Quito in January 1964. After completing Spanish language study, they began producing programs for the estimated 1 million Japanese immigrants in South America. The first programs aired on May 1, 1964.

Interest in the Japanese programs grew steadily throughout the years, peaking in 1976 when more than 61,000 letters were received from listeners, mostly in Japan where major electronics manufacturers were encouraging long-distance listening, especially among the youth.

To handle the massive load of correspondence, even HCJB Global missionaries who didn't speak Japanese took envelopes home just to open and clip the letters. "We also recruited our Japanese friends in Quito to help. We answered each letter by hand with an HCJB QSL (listener confirmation) card going to all who requested one."

In 2000 the Ecuadorian government first asked that HCJB Global shut down its antenna site in Pifo, Ecuador, because of the construction of the new international airport. This led to the end of shortwave Japanese broadcasting that year. However, broadcasts continued via satellite and streaming on the Internet.

In 2004, after 40 years in Ecuador, the Ozakis moved to Wheaton, Ill., to live with their daughter, Joyce. Her husband built a recording studio in the basement where they continued to produce radio programs.

Airing programs to Japan via shortwave resumed in 2006 when the Australian government granted HCJB Global-Australia a license to start shortwave broadcasting. That same year, Hisako died after a courageous battle with cancer.

Kazuo at his studio in Tucson, Ariz.

Undaunted, Ozaki continues to produce two weekly half-hour radio programs that air twice each Saturday and Sunday. He now resides in Tucson, Ariz., living with his daughter and son-in-law and family. His son, Michio, and his wife, Anne-Marie, have served as HCJB Global missionaries since the 1990s.

"Now my studio is my bedroom," he said. "The house is at the foot of Sabina Canyon away from downtown-a very quiet place. After 49 years of producing radio programs, Ozaki has no plans to slow down, producing programs tailored to an audience dedicated to shortwave listening. He is claiming one of his favorite Bible verses, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2, NASB).

Source: HCJB Global