Motoyuki Nomura Papers

Motyuki Nomura was born in Kyoto, Japan on June 21, 1931. He moved to Kentucky and Los Angeles to pursue his studies at Kentucky Bible College and Pepperdine University respectively. Nomura is most renowned for his missionary work along the Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul, South Korea. An impoverished community, Nomura invested roughly 75 million yen (500,000 USD) in the area during his almost twenty years of missionary work, earning him the nickname, "The Saint of the Cheonggyecheon Poor." On the home front, Nomura worked as a minister at the Kaiko Koizumi Church of Christ in Japan.

Alongside his aid work in Cheonggyecheon, Nomura also worked to mend relations between Korea and Japan in the wake of World War II. He frequently traveled to Seoul to publicly apologize for Japan's crimes during their occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century. These actions were polarizing as Nomura would call upon Japanese politicians to also apologize, causing him to be harassed in his home country.

Nomura worked closely with many American Church of Christ missionaries on their missions to Japan, and acted as a mediator for disputes that took place between locals and missionaries. Nomura helped introduce missionaries to Japan, and helped them acclimate when they first arrived in the country.

Motoyuki Nomura passed away on July 26, 2025.