Nomura Motoyuki, revered for helping Seoul’s impoverished, dies at 94

Pastor Nomura Motoyuki plays a musical tribute in apology to Korean survivors of wartime sex slavery in front of the Statue of Peace near the former Japanese Embassy site in Jongno District, Seoul, Feb. 13, 2012. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Nomura Motoyuki, a Japanese pastor and social activist who worked with the urban poor in Seoul’s Cheonggye Stream area, died Saturday. He was 94.

Nomura had been receiving treatment for malignant lymphoma since last month and died in a hospital, according to the Purme Foundation. In accordance with his wishes, no funeral was held.

Nomura dedicated much of his life to serving the urban poor along the Cheonggye Stream in Seoul. After the 1950-53 Korean War, refugees settled in the area, forming sprawling slums. Waste from city sewers flowed directly into the stream, creating unsanitary conditions. In 1969, a massive fire destroyed 150 homes — a stark reminder of the vulnerability of residents in the densely packed shantytown.

Born in Kyoto in 1931, Nomura left veterinary school after witnessing the devastation of World War II. He later moved to the U.S. to study theology, where experiencing racial discrimination deepened his empathy for Koreans under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Motivated by lifelong remorse, he visited Korea dozens of times from 1968 to 1985, each time working to aid the urban poor along Cheonggye Stream.

In 2006, he donated a collection of 20,000 photographs to the Seoul Museum of History. In recognition of his contributions, Nomura was named an honorary citizen of Seoul in 2013.

In 2012, Nomura knelt before the Statue of Peace near the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno District, offering an apology for Japan’s wartime atrocities. He later received multiple death threats from Japanese far-right groups.

Beginning in 2009, Nomura made annual visits to the Purme Foundation, a Korean nonprofit dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities — especially children — and promoting their self-reliance and social inclusion. He offered comfort and donated savings from his modest income, contributions that helped fund the construction of the Purme Foundation Nexon Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital.

According to the foundation, Nomura donated a total of 75 million yen ($505,400) to support residents of the Cheonggye Stream area.

“My father continued to donate even after his income declined in old age,” his son Makoto said. “He lived humbly and practiced, every day, the biblical teaching to ‘enter through the narrow gate,’” a verse that encourages choosing the righteous path over the easy one.