WLPM Introduction | Word of Life Press Ministries products

Word of Life Press Ministries (WLPM) is a group of nondenominational evangelistic ministries, seeking to bring glory to God.

We commit ourselves to fulfilling the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20), through the power of his Holy Spirit and the gifts God has given us, and by daily prayer and consecration.

We seek to lead men and women to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. For this and the spiritual growth of Japanese Christians, we conduct ministry activities such as publishing Christian literature in the Japanese language, starting from God’s Word the Bible, and ministering through various other media and seminars.

We seek to serve the Church, the Body of Christ, and to serve believers who love God and follow Him in obedience. We strive to be a blessing and encouragement to our brothers and sisters as they grow into effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Greeting from Word of Life Chairman Nosei Ando

From Rev. Nosei Ando who was chosen as Chairman of the Board of Directors succeeding Rev. Akira Yoshimochi.
“Word of Life Press Ministries” celebrates its 68th anniversary this year, but its work and mission do not change, that is to convey the word of the Lord.
But the way to tell will change with the fast-changing world. How can we tell the Word of God to a new generation? How can we respond to the needs of the world and the church? I hope to make efforts to be able to fulfill an important mission： communicating how the church can help the world to get to know God. In addition to text-based publishing projects that have been continued since the missionaries began the company’s work, we would like to continue using all possible methods, such as video, music, goods, other audiovisual materials and Braille books to fulfill the mission the Lord has given to us.
It is also a great pleasure to contribute to the publication of the Bible and Hymnal necessary for personal spiritual life, including churches of various denominations. I am especially thankful that we were able to complete the publication of the “New Japanese Bible (Shinkaiyaku) 2017” with the cooperation of the New Japan Bible Publishing Association and the publication of the previously released “Evangelical Hymns for the Church” produced by the Japan Evangelical Association for Congregational Singing.
I pray that Word of Life will continue to be used by God for your spiritual life and the work of evangelization.

Greeting from WLPM President Shinichi Iwamoto

In 1950, Word of Life Press was started by several missionaries to bring the gospel to the heart of devastated Japanese during the post-war chaos. In 1994 the missionary founder, Kenneth McVety, passed the baton of its leadership to Motoyoshi Tago who became Group President. Since then we have advanced its work by guidance of the Lord God. Throughout its 68-year history, the mission has never been changed. With the wisdom (vision or purpose) of informing everyone of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the various activities including publications, the goal was always to serve God and serve the church.
On April 16, 2018, Rev. Nosei Ando was appointed as new Chairman of the Board of Directors succeeding Rev. Akira Yoshimochi, who had guided us as Chairman for a long time on the Board of Directors. Starting with Chairman Ando, with the spiritual guidance of the pastors of the Board, Word of Life Press will use mission (vision) and assets inherited from seniors of faith and fulfill our mission of literature evangelism. I will fulfill my position with all my strength.
Since my inauguration as the president last year, I tell my staff that the mission of WLPM is to “convey the gospel to the citizens of the whole world (Kunitomi) in accordance with the Lord’s Great Commission. “Transmitting the Gospel” has been our mission from the very beginning, but I am determined to always keep this “mind” cherished by our seniors, always be “aware” of it, always make it our “aim,” and “set up an action plan” to carry it out. Also, although it may be too small a vision compared with the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus, by 2025 we have decided to set this goal: “to convey the gospel to 10% (12 million people) of the Japanese population through the work of Word of Life”. With the aim of achieving this goal, we will strive to work with the Lord with all our staff. We appreciate your continued support, cooperation and advice.
Shinichi Iwamoto, President

Introducing Word of Life Press Ministries

Word of Life Press Ministries (WLPM) is a group of nondenominational evangelistic ministries, seeking to bring glory to God.

Introducing Word of Life Press Ministries

Word of Life Press Ministries (WLPM) began in 1950 as a literature evangelism committee of missionaries of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). It became independent from TEAM in 2003 and is now part the religious corporation Word of Life Ministries (Inochi no Kotoba Senkyōdan). Rev. Nōse Andō is chairman of the Word of Life Ministries board. TEAM missionary Kenneth McVety directed WLPM virtually from its beginning until 1994, when Mr. Motoyoshi Tago became Group President. In 2017 Mr. Shinichi Iwamoto succeeded Mr. Tago as President (shacho). WLPM has grown into a large Christian multi-media publishing, retailing and distributing enterprise with a staff of 80 Japanese evangelical Christians from many different denominations. It includes ministries that publish Bibles, books, music, CDs, DVDs, computer software, Christian education materials, church supplies, 3 monthly magazines, tracts, gifts, cards and a weekly newspaper. Over 700 titles are in print at any one time and 60 to 80 new titles a year are published. Ministries also include a ministry to the blind, a nationwide tract distribution ministry, and a child evangelism ministry. Distribution is by a chain of 7 wholly owned Christian bookstores, mail order, internet store, event sales, church visits, Gospel Box mobile store, and wholesale to religious and secular retailers. WLPM has had a vital part in the growth of the evangelical movement and in evangelizing all of Japan.

WLPM’s ministry began in Japan for Japanese people and has no connection with ministries in other countries that use a similar name.

Word of Life Press Ministries (Inochi no Kotobasha Dendō Group)
 2-1-5 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0001 JAPAN

Twelve ministries are housed at the headquarters building in NAKANO Ward in downtown Tokyo.

(1) Book Publishing Ministry  a. Word of Life Press publishes 50 to 60 new titles a year. Books range from Bible study, commentaries, reference works and theology to evangelistic books, manga (comic book style), gift books, children’s books, books for Christian growth and a new hymnal, Evangelical Hymns for the Church. Electronic editions for Kindle and Kobo readers and smart phones are also available for some titles. Many titles are available as print-on-demand editions from amazon.co.jp. Seven hundred titles are currently in print. Missions and denominations subsidize some important publishing projects. The CARDIA BOOKS imprint has counseling books. The KAIROS imprint has books addressing important issues in society. Short-run digital printings of out-of-print titles are published under the RIPA BOOKS imprint. A monthly magazine, Inochi no Kotoba (Word of Life), has book reviews and articles on the Christian life. b. Forest Books is impacting Japanese society with books that gently introduce biblical principles to the 99% of Japanese who are not Christians. They are widely marketed in secular bookstores under the FOREST BOOKS imprint and include manga (comic book style) books, picture books for children and adults, novels, biographies, non-fiction books introducing the Bible to secular people, poetry and art books, plus books aimed at businessmen and women. c. Manga: Lammy is a monthly evangelistic comic book (manga) for children. The serialized manga stories from Lammy are published in books under the LAMMY COMICS imprint. d. Special Publishing Service (Jihi Shuppan) provides expert help for churches, denominations, missions and individuals to publish books under their own name with their own funds by contracting for editing, design, layout and printing arrangements by WLPM staff. WLPM can also distribute the book.

(2) New Japanese Bible Center. In 1962, evangelical leaders agreed Japan needed a Bible translation that is dependable and contemporary. Forty-one translators were contributed by a coalition of 5 trans-denominational associations and funding came from Japanese churches as well as North American foundations. In 1970, the completed Shinkaiyaku Bible translation (The English title is the New Japanese Bible-NJB) was released. It is an essentially literal translation designed to teach sound doctrine and was revised in 1978 and 2003, and a comprehensive revision affecting 90% of the text was released in 2017 as the Shinkaiyaku 2017. There are 18 printed editions and it is available in audio CD, Braille, and electronic editions, including a downloadable application for iPhone (useable on iPad), Android smart phones, Kindle and Kobo reader editions. A Bilingual Bible: Japanese-English edition is available with the English Standard Version (ESV) in parallel columns. The NJB is also used in the Japanese edition of the Life Application Study Bible (Baiburu Navi). The NJB is quoted in evangelical books, periodicals and curriculum. More than 15 million Bibles or testaments have been distributed. This is remarkable in a country of 126 million people where there are only 400,000 Protestant church members in 7,900 churches with 260,000 attending on any given Sunday.

(3) The Printing Service arranges printing for all publishing divisions in the print medium and prints advertising flyers for the divisions.

(4) Outreach (Non-Profit)  a. Church School Growth Center produces a comprehensive curriculum (Seicho) for Sunday Schools and camps. It provides training seminars for Sunday School teachers and produces Christian education resources and supplies, a line of books for children and the family, youth books, books on prayer and songbooks. It sponsors interchurch Joy Joy Festivals for children in various parts of the country. It also publishes the Japanese Contemporary Bible (Ribingu Baiburu) meaning-based translation in everyday language for the 99% of Japanese who are not yet Christians to introduce them to the Bible in various editions, including an audio CD edition, and a downloadable application for iPhone (useable on iPad). b. Child Evangelism staff produces tools to reach children for Christ, visits Christian kindergartens and sponsors a monthly book club for children. c. Since 1953, Every Home for Christ (EHC) has four times coordinated successful efforts by churches and missionaries to place a Gospel tract in every home in Japan. It has reached into hospitals and prisons as well. Recent targets have been un-churched areas for which it provides some tracts free. EHC distributed 1 million tracts over 3 years in areas hit by the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Disaster. EHC’s newsletter Tanemaki shares prayer requests from EHC ministries around the world and raises money for EHC projects in other countries. EHC has produced 180 million tracts and more than 388,000 readers have taken correspondence courses, bringing thousands into local churches. It is supported by donations as well as the sale of tracts. EHC is now pursuing a 5^th nation-wide distribution to every home in the OIKOS Initiative and hopes to finish by 2038. d. The Gospel Braille Information Center is a ministry to the Blind, that operates from donations and is staffed entirely by volunteers. It produces Braille and computer-generated voice editions of books, Bibles (Shinkaiyaku and Contemporary), magazines, songbooks, hymnals and tracts. It cooperates in seminars and camps for blind Christians.

(5) LifeCreation is the multi-media, audio-visual ministry that produces:  a. DVDs & Audio CDs: Christian DVDs, including dramatic features, animated children’s stories, animated Bible stories, biography/testimonies, plus documentaries on Japanese Christian history and culture. It distributes other companies’ productions that have Christian themes to the entire Christian market. The entire 5 seasons of the computer-generated animated Bible stories of SUPERBOOK are available on DVDs. Audio-only products include an audio edition of the Bible called The Listening Bible, a dramatized edition of the Gospel of Luke from the Japanese Contemporary Bible as well as sermons on the New Testament on CDs. b. Music: printed songbooks and music CDs for children, youth and adults. Outreach events include evangelistic concerts with the excellent roster of Japanese Christian musicians who record for us as well as some foreign artists from time to time. Music imprint: The J-WORSHIP series has contemporary praise and worship music. c. Software: computer software for Bible study (J-BIBLE for pc) and Christian growth.

(6) Olives weds beauty with a message in a. Gift items that witness in a Christian’s home and lifestyle including plaques, jewelry, calendars, greeting cards, Christmas and Easter products, stationary and Bible covers. Also included are b. Supplies for Sunday Schools and churches (baptism, communion, weddings, funerals, etc.) and Christian kindergartens. c. Books, Visual Aids and Games: art books and children’s picture books, visual aids and card games that make learning the Bible fun and reach not-yet-Christians. All these are part of the line of over 800 products listed in their colorful Olives catalog.

(7) The General Affairs Department handles legal affairs and accounting for all divisions and oversees the building and properties.

(8) The Advertising Department designs and develops advertising campaigns, publishes catalogs and announcements.

(9) The International Department is the link to the world for WLPM. Staff includes multi-lingual Sachiko Niimi plus TEAM missionary Don Regier. They publish 5 English catalogs (Books, Bibles & Software, Music, Tracts, DVDs & Audio) of WLPM’s Japanese publications and put all that information on the English page of the web site. They create English advertisements for English periodicals and issue press releases in English. Mr. Regier teaches seminars for new missionaries on how to use the tools for evangelism that WLPM and other publishers produce. For books, videos or songs translated from English, the staff helps check the translation, corresponds with the original publisher, and handles contracts in English. For WLPM books translated into other languages they provide contracts for foreign publishers. They recommend books to translate into Japanese and answer English letters, faxes, phone calls and e-mail. For WLPM customers in Japan who prefer to order in English, they can take orders by phone and e-mail and send the order to the WINGS online store and mail order department. They facilitate international distribution of WLPM products through selected retail outlets in North America: www.multilanguagemedia.org and www.japanesechristianbookstore.com. The staff can help a limited number of overseas ministries who want to minister in Japan with logistical and communication roles and by coordinating with Japanese ministries.

(10) Periodicals  a. Gospel for the Millions Magazine is Japan’s premier Christian family magazine with beautiful design and selection of articles appealing to seekers as well as believers. Each month 8,000 copies are printed, but they are read by many more. Articles include feature articles, devotionals, testimonies, serialized manga and novels, local churches and Christian history in various regions of Japan, all in a colorful visual design. b. Manna Monthly Devotional magazine has daily devotions that focus on Bible passages with commentary and application questions, plus a Bible reading plan to cover the entire Bible in 3 years. c. More than any other publication, “THE CHRISTIAN” Newspaper has given a voice and identity to the evangelical movement. The weekly paper’s 10,000 readers include laymen and church leaders of all denominations. Its online edition is accessed by many more and is a prime source of news on Christianity in Japan to the government and general public. Through features and reports on news across Japan and around the world, it has fostered unity and cooperation. This department also publishes one million copies per year of the monthly Gospel Edition (Fukuinban) 4-page full-color tabloid-size tract leaflets for adults. This division publishes an online edition of the yearly Christian Databook, which is a comprehensive guide to Japanese churches and Christian organizations, publishers, bookstores, hospitals and other ministries in Japan on their web site.

(11) Marketing coordinates marketing campaigns for several ministries and administers five departments: a. The Bible Shop Chain of 7 wholly-owned Christian retail stores is the vital link between the publishing ministries and the public. These stores are called Life Centers or Oasis Book Centers and are located throughout Japan but the headquarters is here. Service to the 70 other Christian stores in Japan is outsourced to a warehouse in nearby Ibaragi Prefecture. b. The General Market Service staff promotes WLPM products in secular stores. For people not near a store, c. WINGS is an online store and mail-order ministry at www.gospelshop.jp that sells materials from all Christian publishers, not just WLPM, and enables those in even remote villages to receive Christian literature. d. The Off-Site Sales staff operates sales tables at Christian events and visits local churches in the Tokyo metro area to introduce new products. e. The Gospel Box is a van outfitted as a store on wheels visiting towns with no bookstore in a nation-wide ministry to local churches.

(12) Digital Media maintains the computer-run company-wide inventory system and the in-house network. It maintains the company web site at www.wlpm.or.jp where all WLPM products are showcased and customers can order WLPM products from within Japan. The web site also links customers to other ministries in Japan and promotes various events sponsored by all the various ministries of WLPM. It also operates online outreach ministries, Christian Media Online at http://wlpm.xsrv.jp/media/ and BibleLearning at biblelearning.net to reach Japanese who would not enter a Christian store or church.

Missionaries and International Relationships

Although WLPM is now independent, it still maintains a warm working relationship with TEAM. WLPM maintains its non-denominational character, and TEAM assigns missionaries to work with the ministry in the International Department. WLPM provides ways for overseas churches and other ministries to partner with us in reaching Japanese for Christ. We have established a non-profit corporation in Illinois that issues tax-deductible receipts for contributions from US partners. US dollar checks should be made out to Word of Life Press Ministries and mailed to:

Word of Life Press Ministries-USA
c/o Zoller, Swanson & Company
137 N. Oak Park Ave. Suite #320
Oak Park, IL 60301
USA

The International Department staff also partners with overseas churches and other ministries to bring teams of volunteers for outreach ministries for tract distribution. These partnerships provide opportunities for churches to have a vital part in these ministries of the Body of Christ in Japan that seek to reach the 99% of Japanese who do not know Christ.

Nation-wide Outreach

While much of our work at WLPM is publishing and creating various products, we also endeavor to meet contemporary needs by planning and providing comprehensive service to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We plan and support concerts, art exhibitions and teaching seminars all over Japan. Plus, we offer planning and support for many more creative ideas for local churches and missions. For example, periodically we sponsor Joy Joy Festival children’s evangelistic rallies across the country that bring hundreds of children and Sunday School teachers together in cooperation with local churches. We have also launched new online outreach ministries, Christian Media Online at https://wlpm.xsrv.jp/media/ and BibleLearning at biblelearning.net to reach Japanese who would not enter a Christian store or church.
All across the nation, there are believers and churches that pray for and support WLPM ministries and various projects. “Ministry Partners” volunteer to pray for WLPM, serve in roles in evangelism events and projects and give funds for WLPM projects. Each year hundreds of churches around the country host “Literature Evangelism Day” presentations and sales tables that encourage believers to share the gospel with others using the tools provided by WLPM. The Gospel Box vehicles tour towns and cities without Christian bookstores for sales and outreach events with local churches.

From the time of its founding, Word of Life Press Ministries has had one purpose and vision, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ for Everyone.” This is the vision that still burns in our hearts and is our motivation in each of our various activities. All these ministries are based on a clear call to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to penetrate this fast changing world with our never changing message.
Our goal is to promote the Bible’s world-view and the Christian message in Japanese society where it is not known. Less than 1% of Japanese are Christians. All that we publish is consistent with that world-view and message, even those publications that are not directly religious in content. We count on high quality design and content to reach all Japanese. Our Forest Books imprint is specifically directed to the secular market where the people are. We believe these qualities also make many of our titles appealing to people in other cultures and languages and hope we can spread the blessing around the world through translations into other languages.

Contact Us

Contact Us : Word of Life Press Ministries (Inochi no Kotobasha Dendō Group)  2-1-5 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0001 JAPAN  Tel. 03-5341-6911; Fax 03-5341-6912; (From overseas use country code +81 and drop first 0)

E-mail gospelhq@wlpm.or.jp   or gospelhq2@main.wlpm.or.jp WLPM Headquarters Building：2-1-5 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0001 JAPAN Tel. 03-5341-6911

Japanese Customer Service support@wlpm.or.jp tel. 03-5341-6914

English-speaking staff gospelhq@wlpm.or.jp or gospelhq2@main.wlpm.or.jp tel.: 03-5341-6917 or 6915 fax: 03-5341-6912

Rights and Permissions gospelhq2@main.wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6915

Word of Life Press publish@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6920

Forest Books forest@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6924

New Japanese Bible Center bible@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6940

LifeCreation music, DVD, software lk@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6927

Olives – goods, gifts, church supplies cr@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6926

Church School Seicho (Growth) Center seicho@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6929

Every Home for Christ ehc@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6930

Gospel Braille Information Center mb@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6931

Subscription for magazine and newspaper cs-read@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6958

Gospel for the Millions hyakumannin@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6952

THE CHRISTIAN Newspaper cs-edit@wlpm.or.jp tel.03-5341-6957

WINGS Online Order wings@wlpm.or.jp tel. 03-5623-7925

Bible Shop Stores wlpm.or.jp/shop/ tel. 03-6855-8811 automatic voice selection directs you to the store