The “Dark Ages” of the Church in Japan

In 1924, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which barred immigration to the United States from Asia. The Japanese government interpreted this law as emblematic of growing anti-Japanese attitudes in the United States. Anti-American sentiment became commonplace on the streets and in the churches of Japan. Attendance at Latter-day Saint Church meetings declined until only the most faithful of the members came regularly.

Feeling that the social, political, and religious climate was unfavorable, Heber J. Grant, now President of the Church, made the painful decision to close the Japan Mission—one which he had personally opened. On June 13, 1924, President Grant sent a telegram to Hilton A. Robertson, president of the mission, instructing him to discontinue all mission operations and arrange for the missionaries to return home. The Mutual Improvement Association (MIA), an organization for teens and young adults, was chosen as the only Church institution that would continue after the missionaries left.

Prior to the missionaries’ departure, Fujiya Nara was called and ordained as the presiding elder of the Church in Japan. At the first meeting of the Saints after the withdrawal of the missionaries, Nara proposed the publication of a newsletter, entitled Shuro (The Palm), to keep all members apprised of the affairs of each of the branches. In the first issue of Shuro, Nara expressed the deep sense of loss the Saints felt at the mission closure. This period was “the absolute dark ages” Nara said, but the MIA was the “path to light in the present darkness.” Nara continued to lead the Saints as best he could until 1934, when his work with the public railroad transferred him to Manchuria.

After Nara was transferred, there was a leadership vacuum in Japan. Takeo Fujiwara, a young convert from Sapporo attending BYU on a scholarship from university president Franklin S. Harris, was called by Heber J. Grant and set apart as the presiding elder and special missionary to Japan. Fujiwara was energetic and dedicated to his call.

Upon arriving in Japan, he quickly visited and organized branches in Tokyo, Osaka, Kofu, and Sapporo. He used his experience with the Church in Utah as a guide for how the Church should function, and he sent several lengthy reports of his activities to Alma O. Taylor in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, Fujiwara contracted tuberculosis in late 1935. Although his health declined rapidly, he remained committed to his call. On January 27, 1936, Takeo Fujiwara passed away. With his dying breath, he asked his father to write to Taylor and express his regret that he was not able to work harder.

After Fujiwara’s death, contact with the Saints in Japan was limited. In 1937, Hilton A. Robertson was called to open the Japanese Mission with headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, to preach the gospel among the large population of Japanese people living in the Hawaiian Islands. Hilton attempted to maintain contact with the Saints in Japan as often as possible, and in April 1939 he spent a month in Japan visiting the branches. However, as World War II began, Church members in Japan and Hawaii found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Contact between the Japanese Mission in Hawaii and the small band of Saints in Japan was lost.