Rick Rocks Japan
Two Television Documentaries On Rock Legend Rick Wakeman
That Reveal His Christian Faith Will Be Shown To Entire Japanese Nation
by Andrew Wooding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hiroshi Nakagawa at +1 310-533-0808 or e-mail at harvesttimetv@mindspring.com
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (December 19, 1997) - Japanese rock fans are about to discover
something new about Rick Wakeman, one of their idols and the former keyboardist with YES -
that he is a committed Christian.
Hiroo Inaba, an award-winning Japanese documentary maker has completed two programs on
rock legend Rick Wakeman and his Christian faith and now they will be transmitted on a
series of Japanese television stations, the firs just after Christmas and the second, late
in January and also early February.
All of the footage was shot by a Japanese camera crew during Wakeman's visit to Southern
California in January to attend the National Religious Broadcasters Convention at Anaheim,
and also at Easter, when he performed on five successive nights his powerful oratorio on
the life of Christ called "The New Gospels" as a benefit for ASSIST Ministries
of Garden Grove, California.
"The first program will include Rick's testimony and some of the performance of 'The
New Gospels,' and also 'Morning Has Broken' that he played at the Calvary Chapel Easter
sunrise service at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater," said Hiroo Inaba, who now works for
Harvest Time Ministries in the United States. "The second program mainly
features footage from 'The New Gospels' concerts and both programs will have a Biblical
message at the end."
The first will come from Inaba, who, after he became a Christian himself, attended Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and the second by the president of Harvest
Time Ministries, Rev. Kenichi Nakagawa.
"Rick Wakeman is very popular in Japan," said Inaba. "I believe he
has performed in Japan more than ten times on tour. He would go once every two
years. I heard that just last week he was in Japan performing with Japanese keyboard
legend Tomita at a baseball stadium."
"Many Japanese people will be touched by Rick's testimony. They will probably
be surprised, but definitely touched. In Japan, he is famous as Rick Wakeman, but
not many people know about his testimony. Because the Japanese people know and
respect his talent, Rick's testimony will communicate the Christian message to the
Japanese people very well."
Inaba explained that Harvest Time Ministries airs weekly Christian television programs in
Japan and also on U.S. stations where there is a large ethnic Japanese audience, and he
chose Rick because of his huge following in Japan. "Rick Wakeman is one of the
best persons for this purpose because he is a legend of a keyboard player, so he has a
very high talent for music," he said. "He has already had fame and
popularity amongst the Japanese."
"His spirituality, and especially in the way he uses 'The New Gospels,' in which he
uses the Word of God very strongly and recognizes the power of the Holy Spirit, is very
powerful. He is like a modern-day Bach."
Inaba describes the interviews with Rick Wakeman as "wonderful." He said
that Wakeman openly shared his personal testimony of how he came to a faith in Jesus
Christ as a teenager in South Harrow, London, but then went through a difficult period
during his wild days in the rock world. "He told me how in 1985 he came back to
Jesus and also mentioned how he now believes that God has loaned him his talent.
Rick realizes that this is the best time because he can unite with Jesus Christ and have
an intimate relationship with Jesus.
"Also, his friend, Dan Wooding, gave us a great interview which will be in the first
program. He said that by watching Rick's life change he knew how God is powerful and
faithful. Dan said that Rick went through a very tough time, but now he has given
his life back over to God and is producing even more powerful music. He would like
Rick to know how much God loves him. Probably Rick does not know the whole picture
of how God has a plan for his life in which many more people will be blessed by his
testimony and his music."
When asked for his personal view of "The New Gospels," the Japanese
documentary-maker said, "It is magnificent. Very wonderful. It's a modern
Bach. It is very pure Gospel by Rick using the Word of God. It is a very
strong presentation about the story of Jesus with modern music."
Inaba explained that he was once a producer in the documentary division at NHK, which is
like the BBC in Japan. "I produced many documentaries, including Christian
testimonies for them," he said. "Some of them got prizes and had an
estimated audience of 12 million."
"I resigned from NHK in 1993 and came to the States to enter Fuller Theological
Seminary. After I graduated, God guided me again into the TV world, and this time He
called me to make Japanese Christian TV programs. During these last two years I have
produced Christian documentaries, such as the ones on Heather Whitestone -- who was Miss
America in 1995, Brett Butler of the L.A. Dodgers, and Elizabeth Dole with Peter Lowe, who
puts on huge success seminars across America."
He is also the representative of Harvest Time U.S.A. "Our headquarters is in
Japan, and Harvest Time is Japan's premier Christian TV ministry, which broadcasts a
30-minute weekly program. We cover 13 TV stations throughout Japan and some parts of
the U.S., including L.A., Hawaii, and Texas," he said. "It
started in 1985 and its aim is to foster a spiritual movement in Japan through the TV
medium."
Inaba added, "Japan is now going through a period of change politically,
economically, socially, and spiritually. The Japanese have tried to get economic
wealth, but now many Japanese realize there is no happiness through the economy. The
value of life has been shaking and my people are now losing their faith in the economy or
technology and want to try to find something new. They are now also confronting many
problems in the family, such as the education or their kids or occult activity, so this is
good timing for a spiritual harvest."
Harvest Time Ministries Japan was founded by Rev. Kenichi Nakagawa in Tokyo as a
non-denominational, evangelical outreach ministry in January of 1986.
The purpose of the organization has always been to preach the Gospel to the Japanese
people through the medium of television. Broadcasts began in April of 1986 with the
airing of a 30-minute magazine-style program on six regional stations.
In April of 1988, "Harvest Time" began airing weekly programs with English
sub-titles for the Japanese-speaking people in Southern California on KSCI-TV, channel 18.
The program began airing in Hawaii (ch. 20) in July of 1989. In addition, their
programs are currently seen in New York/New Jersey (ch. 63), on the local
cable system in Plano, Texas (ch. A10) and on the Sky Angel Satellite System (ch.
9701).
Harvest Time Ministries in Japan is now working on establishing the "Harvest Time
Network" which will become the first 24-hour television broadcasting network in which
explicitly Christian content could be aired to the nation. Their website is:
www.harvesttime.tv.
