An opera about the life of a daimyo who was exiled for his Christian faith will be staged next year to mark the 100th anniversary of Japanese migration to the Philippines, according to organizers.

"I hope this opera will play a significant role in conveying to the world today the story of (feudal) lord Takayama Ukon" and inspire people to reflect on his life, said Edward Ishita, key organizer of the Japanese-Philippine production "Ukon Takayama -- The Blessed Lord."

Takayama Ukon (1552-1615) is Japan's best-known Christian daimyo. He was forced from the Harima domain into exile in Manila with his family and followers after the Tokugawa shogunate's order of general persecution of Christianity in 1614. He died in Manila the following year.

Ishita, director of the Tokyo Opera Association, hopes the production will deepen ties between Japan and the Philippines.

The opera -- to be staged by the Tokyo Opera Association and the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines -- will premier at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in February. In May, it will be performed in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagasaki and elsewhere in Japan.

Speaking at a recent event marking the launch of the project, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon described Ukon as someone for whom Filipinos have a "high respect and regard" and who was "one of the early foundations of Japan-Philippine relations" -- as evidenced by a statue of him erected in the Philippines, similar to one in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture.

Besides marking a century since Japan mobilized road construction laborers to comprise the first substantial wave of immigrants to the Philippines, Siazon noted that 2003 marks the 450th anniversary of Ukon's birth, as well as the ASEAN-Japan exchange year proposed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

In the exchange year, the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will each have a designated month, and Japan two months, in which to hold commemorative exchanges.

February, which was designated for the Philippines, coincides with the annual Philippine-Japan Friendship Festival held by the Japanese Embassy in Manila.