A survey of interdenominational cooperation within each of three Japanese religions in Los Angeles, Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity

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Content A SURVEY OF INTERDENOMNATIONAL COOPERATION mTHIN
EACH OF THREE JAPANESE RELIGIONS IN LOS ANGELES,
SHINTO, BUDDHISM, AND CHRISTIANITY
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Religion
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
by
Norio Osaki
February 1941
UMI Number: EP65115
All rights reserved
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a note will indicate the deletion.
Dissettafiori Publishing
UMI EP65115
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ty
This thesis, w ritten by
.........IQRIO..OSAKI.. ............
under the direction of h is .. F a culty Committee,
and a p p ro v e d by a ll its m em bers, has been
presented to and accepted by the C ouncil on
Graduate Study and Research in p a rtia l f u lf ill
m ent o f the re q u irem en ts f o r the degree o f
MASTER OF ARTS
3 e a n
Secretary
D a te Eabx.u.ar.y. .. l9i fl .
Faculty Committee
1.
Chairman
TABUS OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
CHAPTER
I. DENOMINATIONAL BACKGROUND OF THE JAPANESE CHURCHES
IN LOS ANGELES.............................. 1
The Shinto shrines....................... . 1
Shindo Honkyoku Sect ...................... 2
Taisha S e c t................ 3
Konko-Kyo Sect............................ 3
Tenri-Kyo Sect ............... 4
The Buddhist temples ........................ 4
Shingon Sect........................ 6
Jodo S ect............................... 7
Shin S e c t ...................... 7
Zen Sect........... 8
Nichiren S e c t ............................ 9
II. TEE STATUS OF SHINTO SHRINES AND BUDDHIST TEMPLES
IN LOS ANGELES.............. 14
Establishment of the Shinto sects in America . . 14
Shindo Honkyoku Sect........................ 14
Konko-Kyo Sect..............................15
Konko-Kyo Federation of North .America .... 15
Tenri-Kyo Sect..............................16
Tenri-Kyo Missions of America . ........... 16
ill
CHAPTER PAGE
Taisha-Kyo S e c t ............................ 17
Summary....................................17
Status of the Shinto congregations in Los Angeles 19
Daijingu Shrine • • • 19
American Shindo Shrine .................... 20
Konko-Kyo Shrine........... 20
Tenri-Kyo congregation.......................22
Los Angeles Izumo Taisha . .................24
Hollywood Izumo Taisha Shrine ............. 25
Los Angeles Inari Shrine • .................25
Meiji Shrine Association .................. 26
Summary ..................................26
Establishment of the Buddhist sects in America • 26
North American Buddhist Mission............. 28
Higashi Hongwanji Branch of the Shin Sect • • 28
Shingon Sect................................50
Nichiren Sect • . . ...................... 30
Nichiren-Shu Branch .................... 30
Honmon Hokke Branch .................... 31
Zen Sect ..................................31
Jodo S e c t ...................... 31
Status of the.Buddhist temples in Los Angeles . 34
Nishi Hongwanji Temple.............. . . • 35
Senshin Gakuin ............................ 37
iv
CHAPTER PACE
Hollywood Buddhist Association ............. 37
Higashi Hongwanji Temple (Betsuin) ......... 38
Otani Mission (Fukyojo).....................39
Koyazan Temple (Betsuin) ............. ... 39
Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu Temple ........... 40
California Nichiren Temple ................. 41
Hokubeizan Zen-Shu (Betsuin) . . ........... 42
Gohozan Zennei Temple .................... 43
Tozen Zen Kutsu or Mentorgarten ........... 44
Jodo-Shu Temple .......................... 44
III. STATUS OF THE JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN
LOS ANGELES................ 48
Establishment of the Japanese Christian Churches
in America..................................48
The Japanese Congregational, Presbyterian and
Methodist churches ...................... 48
The Japanese Holiness bhurches ............. 53
The Japanese Baptist churches ............. 53
Japanese Baptist Union of Southern California 55
Japanese Regular Baptists . ........ .... 55
Status of the Japanese Christian churches in
Los Angeles . ............................ 59
Japanese Methodist Church ................. 61
Japanese Christian Institute (Disciples of
Christ).................... 62
V
CHAPTER PAGE
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church ........... 64
St. Francis Xavier Church . ............... 64
Hollywood Independent Church ............... 65
Japanese Union Church .................... 66
Japanese Reformed Church.............. . . 67
Japanese Free Methodist Church ............. 69
Japanese Holiness Church . . 69
Japanese Church of Christ ................. 70
Hollywood Presbyterian Church ............. 71
Japanese Baptist Church .................. 72
Japanese Independent Baptist Church ....... 73
Japanese Seventh Day Adventist Church .... 74
IV. DISTRIBUTION OF THE JAPANESE CHURCHES IN
LOS ANGELES..................................76
Japanese communities in Los Angeles ......... 76
Distribution of Shinto Shrines ............ 77
Distribution of Buddhist Temples .......... 78
Distribution of Christian Churches ......... 80
Comparison of the distributions............... 82
V. COOPERATIVE WORE AMONG THE JAPANESE CHURCH IN
LOS ANGELES........ 84
The Shinto Shrines.......................... 84
Young Men’s Shinto Associations............. 85
Young Women’s Shinto Association...........85
Vi
CHAPTER PAGE
Women’s Shinto Associations ............... 85
The Buddhist Temples....................... 86
Young People’s Buddhist Associations ....... 87
Young Men’s Buddhist Association Federation • 88
Young Women’s Buddhist Association Federation 88
Women’s Buddhist Associations......... 89
The Christian Churches ...................... 89
The Japanese Church Federation of Southern
California .......................... 90
Organization......... 90
The Executive Board.......................91
History........................ 91
Departments.............................. 92
Activities of the Federation............... 92
The Summer School ..... ........... 92
Department of Social W o r k............... 95
Department of Book Service............... 96
The Monthly Prayer Meeting ........ 96
Department of Evangelism................. 97
Department of Far East Mission Work ... 97
Nanka Christian Shinyo Kumiai ......... 98
Nanka Christian Kyozai Hoken ........... 99
Affiliated organizations ................. 100
Ministers’ Association ................. 100
vil
CHAPTER PAGE
Ministers* Retreat ..................... 100
Japanese Christian Women’s Association
Federation........................... 101
Laymen’s Association ................... 103
Friends of Jesus in Los Angeles............ 104
Organization ............... ...... 104
Activities.................... 104
Weekly Sunrise Service ................. 105
Contributions ..................105
Cooperation with the Federation.........105
Japanese Nisei Church Federation ........... 106
Choir Festival ......................106
Annual Conference ....................... 106
Mar Casa Leaders’ Advance..................107
Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association . • 107
Japanese Young Women’s Christian Association . 109
Associated Christian Youth ................. 109
VI. THE EXTENT OF UNION AMONG THE JAPANESE CHURCHES
IN LOS ANGELES, COMPARED WITH THAT OF THE SHINTO
SERINES AND THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES.............. Ill
Shinto Shrines .................. ...... Ill
Buddhist Temples............................. 112
Christian Churches .... ................... 113
History of the Japanese Union Church in Los
Angeles................................ 114
vili
CHAPTER PAGE
West Los Angeles Union Church.............. 116
Santa Maria Union Church................ , 117
Pasadena Union Church .................... 117
Japanese Christian Church of San Francisco . . . 118
Berkeley Union Church ..................... 118
Riverside Union Church .................... 119
Salt Lake City Union Church................ 119
Attitudes toward church union and federation . . 119
Roman Catholic attitude .................. 119
Attitude of the Church of Christ............ 120
Attitude of the Free Methodist Church .... 120
Seventh Day Adventist view . .............. 121
Attitudes of ministers of Federation churches 121
Attitudes of superintendents ............... 121
Attitudes of church officials and laymen of
churches belonging to the Federation .... 123
CONCLUSION . ...................................... 124
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 128
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Sectarian Shinto • .......................... 5
II. The Buddhist Sects and Their Branches in Japan . • 11
III. Shinto Sects in America...........................18
IV. Shinto Shrines and Their Membership in Los Angeles £7
V. Nishi Hongwanji Temples in America................29
VI. Buddhist Sects in America ....................... 32
VII. Buddhist Temples in America....................... 33
VIII. Established Buddhist Sects in Los Angeles..........46
IX. Buddhist Temples in Los Angeles................... 47
X. Establishment of the Japanese Presbyterian Churches 50
XI. Establishment of the Japanese Congregational
Churches .................. ......... 51
XII. Establishment of the Japanese Methodist Churches
XIII. Establishment of the Japanese Holiness Churches .
XIV. Establishment of the Japanese Baptist Churches
XV. Establishment of the Japanese Christian Churches
XVI. Japanese Christian Churches in Los Angeles . . .
XVII. Distribution of Shinto Shrines in Los Angeles .
52
54
56
57
75
79
INTRODUCTION
Statement of the problem. The purpose of this thesis
is to survey interdenominational cooperation within each of
the three religions in Los Angeles, Shinto, Buddhism, and
Christianity. It is to see whether the cooperation is based
on federation or union. The writer is interested, too, in the
possibility of uniting organizations within a religion. Four
teen Shinto shrines, twelve Buddhist temples, and fourteen
Christian churches seem too many for a community of only
twenty thousand.
Owing to the nature of this survey, doctrinal and
sociological studies are omitted. However, the denominational
history and doctrines of the Los Angeles Shinto shrines and
Buddhist temples are briefly reviewed, for the average
American reader may not be familiar with these two groups of
organizations.
Gathering the data. Books, periodicals, and unpub
lished materials yielded the history of the shrines, temples,
and Japanese churches in America as well as their doctrines
and government. To obtain a knowledge of the work of these
organizations in Los Angeles, the writer visited each and
interviewed its minister. A questionnaire was sent to all
union churches in California. Knowing the difficulty of ob
taining answers, the writer sent no questionnaires to the laity.
X
The attitudes of the laity as manifested by their interest in
and attendance at services and in their daily conversations
can be summed up by the clergy. The results of the interviews
together with answers from the mailed questionnaires are in
cluded in the data.
Treatment of the data. In the first chapter the denom
inational history of Los Angeles Shinto and Buddhist sects are
briefly reviewed. In the second chapter establishment of the
Shinto and Buddhist sects in America, and status of the Shinto
shrines and Buddhist temples in Los Angeles are outlined. The
third chapter treats of the establishment of Japanese Christian
churches in America, and the status of the Japanese Christian
churches in Los Angeles. In the fourth chapter the distribu
tion of Japanese religious organizations in Los Angeles is
studied, and a comparison made of. the distribution within the
three groups: Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and Japanese
Christian churches. In the fifth chapter is found the survey
of interdenominational cooperative work within each religion,
and again a brief comparison of one with the others. The
sixth chapter is devoted to the extent of church union within
the Japanese Christian churches in Los Angeles and California.
The attitudes of Shintoists, Buddhists, and Christians toward
interdenominational unity within their respective religions
are also studied.
CHAPTER I
DENOMINATIONAL BACKGROUND OF THE JAPANESE
CHURCHES IN LOS ANGELES
I. THE SHINTO SHRINES
Shinto is the only indigenous religion of Japan. The
term "Shinto” is applied to all religions, outside of Buddhism
and Christianity, which worship Kami, God or Gods. These ob
jects of worship may be ancestors, heroes, spirits, emperors,
the Sun Goddess, the Creator or the Life of the Universe.
Shinto is divided into two branches: State Shinto and
Sectarian Shinto. (Some authors, including John Clark
Archer, divide Shinto into three types: State, Sectarian and
Domestic.^ However, since the author’s intention is to study
only the organized churches, the study of the Domestic type
is omitted.)
The State form is characterized by ancestor and nature
worship, and Japanese nationalism. It teaches that the em
peror is the direct descendant of Amaterasu 0-Mikami, the Sun
Goddess, and is the supreme ruler of Japan.
Sectarian Shinto is characterized by founders and dogma,
and organizations resembling those of the Buddhist and Christian
^ John Clark Archer, Faiths Men Live By (New York: Thomas
Nelson and Sons, 1934), p. 20.
2
churches. While the officers and ministers of the State
Shinto are appointed by the government, Sectarian Shinto has
its own ministers and officers. There are thirteen branches
of Sectarian Shinto, each of which is politically independent.
o
These are as follows:
1. Kurozumi-Kyo 8. Shinshu-Kyo
2. Shindo Honkyoku 9. Mitake-Kyo
3. Shusei-Kyo 10. Shinri-Kyo
4. Taisha-Kyo 11. Misogi-Kyo
5. Fuso-Kyo 12. Konko-Kyo
6. Jikko-Kyo 13. Tenri-Kyo
7. Taisei-Kyo
Shindo Honkyoku, Taisha-Kyo, Konko-Kyo, and Tenri-Kyo have
mission in Los Angeles, as well as in other centers of America.
The other nine sects have no organized missions. However, no
doubt there are members of these branches who worship in their
homes. As yet they have not coordinated their practices to
establish missions.
Shindo Honkyoku Sect. This sect, resembling the state
religion in its doctrine and practice but not in shrine organ
ization, was established in 1884 by Inaba Masakuni. The ob
jects of worship are Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, and other
National Gods as in State Shinto; however, unlike those of
State Shinto, the officials of this sect are appointed by the
^ Kenji Ogura, Story of Shindo (Tokyo: Kinsei-sha,
1939), p. 56.
3
leading body of the sect. According to the Japanese census
of 1930 there are 617 Honkyoku shrines.and 524 ministers.
This sect has two shrines in Los Angeles: the Daijingu
Shrine and the Shindo Shrine.
The Taisha Sect. Taisha, a very popular form of Sec
tarian Shinto, whose objects of worship are the National Gods,
was founded by Sonfuku Chiba in 1882. Though the founder es
tablished a Sectarian Shinto, he accepted the traditional be
liefs of the Shinto, worshiping Okuni Nushi, nephew of the
Sun Goddess, and others of the Japanese pantheon. At present
2
the sect has 3,343,477 followers.
This sect is represented by two shrines in Los Angeles.
The Konko-Kyo Sect. The Konko-Kyo was founded by
Bujiro Kawada (1814-1883), who believed in God as the creator,
life-giver, and benefactor of all things. He emphasized spir
itual living, mutual aid, and healing through faith in God.
The sect at present has fifteen hundred churches, thirty-five
hundred ministers, six hundred young men’s associations and
more than three million followers.^
The Konko-Kyo Shrine in Los Angeles, and the Konko
3 Ogura, loc. cit.
^ A personal interview with Reverend Tsuyuki of Los
Angele s Konko-Kyo Chur ch•
Shrine in San Francisco, represent this sect.
The Tenri-Kyo Sect. Tenri-Kyo is the most popular.of
the Shinto sects and was founded by Miki of Yamato (1789-1887),
who believed in the supreme being, creator of all things,
healer of all diseases, and lover of all mankind. The founder
practiced and stressed mutual aid. The believers help the
poor and often share their property with one another. The
sect has, according to the census of 1930, 10,186 shrines and
2,934 ministers.
The following table, which was taken from the Tovo
Nikki. a business diary (published by Hakubun Kan, Tokyo,
Japan, 1940), shows the names of all the divisions of Sec
tarian Shinto, their years of establishment as a nationally
recognized sect,, their founders, and the membership in 1930.
The objects of worship are omitted; however, they are all
Gods appearing in Kojiki. the oldest book in Japan. Accord
ing to Reverend Yoki of the Konko-Kyo Shrine in Los Angeles,
the Japanese government does not allow the establishment of
a Shinto sect which does not teach the worship of the Gods
appearing in the Kojiki. Those marked have shrines in Los
Angeles.
II. THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES
The sects to which the Buddhist temples in Los Angeles,
TABLE I
SECTARIAN SHINTO
Sect
Year of
establishment
Founders Membership
Fuso-ICyo 1882 Kakugyo Hasegawa 486,906
Jikko-Kyo 1882 Kakugyo Hasegawa 405,519
Kurozumi-Kyo 1876 Munetada Kurozumi 551,236
Misogi-Kyo 1896 Shotetsu Inouye 337,287
Tenri-Kyo# 1908 Miki Nakayama 4,118,238
Konko-Kyo# 1900 Genhichi Fujii 747,869
Shinri-Kyo 1894 Keihiko Sano 1,412,332
Taisei-Kyo 1882 Shosai Hirayama 728,373
Shinshu-Kyo 1882 Seijo Yoshimura 739,381
Mitake-Kyo 1882 Osuke Shimoyama 2,038,647
Shusei-Kyo 1876 Kunimitsu Nitta 411,801
Shindo-Honkyoku# 1884 Masakuni Inaba 1,206,778
Tai sha-Kyo# 1882 Sonpuku Chiba 3,343,477
# Represented by shrines in Los Angeles.
6
as well as in other parts of America, belong are the five
major sects of the Mahayana School, namely, the Shingon, the
Jodo, the Shin, the Zen and the Nichiren. The other eight
sects of the same school have no missions in America.
The Shingon Sect. The sect was founded by Kukai {774-
853) who carried on the work of his master Denkyo of combining
Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan. Kukai taught that all Gods,
whether Shinto or Buddhist were manifestations of the great
Illuminator (Dainichi). His great contributions were ritual
istic mysticism and ancestor worship and the reconciling of
the two great religions. Thus both Shinto and Buddhist Gods
were worshiped in the same temple.
The sect has 11,957 temples and 7,909 ministers accord
ing to the census of 1930. The number of members is estimated
5
at three million.
The Shingon Sect has eleven branches:^
Kogi Shingon Shu Koya
Kogi Shingon Shu Niwaji
Kogi Shingon Shu Daikakuji
Shingon Shu Toji
Shingon Shu Sankai
Shingon Shu Ono
Shingon Shu Daigo
Shingon Shu Sehyoji
Shingi Shingon Shu Ohizan
Shingi Shingon Shu Toyoyama
Shingi Shingon Shu Zentsuji
^ A personal interview with Reverend Takahashi of the
America Koyaza Betsuin (The Shingon).
^ A report of Reverend Takahashi.
7
Only the first branch, the Koya, has missions in America.
The Jodo Sect. According to Reverend Reikai Nozaki,
Jodo was founded by St. Honen, who advocated the doctrine of
salvation by faith as did his disciple Shinran. Shiaran be
came the founder of the Shin Sect and claimed that he in
herited his doctrine from Honen. However, though they
preached the same doctrine, the followers of Honen, during
the Kamakura period (13th century), added some teachings of
the Zen Sect, meditation and self-discipline. Therefore, the
Jodo Sect of today has the doctrine of salvation by faith
with some Zen views of self-discipline.
Jodo has two branches: the Chinzei and the Seizan.
The Chinzei is the larger, having 90 per cent of the con
stituency of the sect, which numbers 8,283 temples and 6,580
7
ministers. The Chinzei branch started a mission in Los
Angeles in 1937, establishing the Jodo Temple.
The Shin Sect. This sect was founded by St. Shinran
(1173-1262). Its distinctive features are an emphasis on
faith as a means of salvation; contempt of ritualism which at
that time was practiced by all the other sects; and a recog
nition of normal life for the clergy, which was denied by
the others.
^ Census of 1930.
8
Shinran spent his life like a layman. After his death,
the sect was divided into ten branches, against his strict
injunction not to preserve it as a religious organization.
Thus there is no orthodox successor to the original Shin
Sect, each of these branches being treated as an independent
denomination.
The Shin is the largest religious organization among
Buddhist sects, having 19,815 temples and 15,891 ministers,
according to the census of 1930. The branches of the sects
are as follows:®
1. Nishi Ibngwanji
E. Higashi Hongwanji
3. Takata
4. Bukkoji
5. Kibe
6. San Monto
7. Kosho
8. Yamamoto
9. Seishoji
10. Izumoji
Among these the Nishi Hongwanji and Higashi Hongwanji are the
most powerful and have come to be recognized as rival repre
sentatives of the sect. They have some forty temples in the
Japanese communities in America. The other branches have
none.
The Zen Sect. The sect is characterized by the doc
trine of salvation through meditation and discipline, and
® Shinryu Umehara, Shin Shu (Tokyo: Yuko-sha, 1938),
pp. 10-21.
9
by a profound Oriental philosophy. The founders were many:
lissai in 1191, Dogen in 1236, and Yin Yuen, a Chinese Monk,
in 1654. The sect has 20,225 temples and 17,058 ministers
according to the census of 1930,
At present there are two branches: The Soto Shu and
the Rinzai Shu. According to Reverend Ryuko Tachibana of Los
Angeles Soto Zen Temple, there are no fundamental differences,
but some minor doctrinal differences vhich were inherited from
the founders of the branches. The branches are loosely united
by a general board, Somu In Kai, in which the two branches are
equally represented. The board is the highest administrative
body of the sect. It was established in America in 1927 and
at present is represented in Los Angeles by Soto Zen Betsuin
Temple, Zennei Temple, and Zen Kutsu Mission. The first two
belong to the Soto Shu branch and the last to the Rinzai.
However, the first temple, Zen Betsuin, is the only one recog
nized by the Somu In Kai, or general board; the rest are in
dependent temples.
The Nichiren Sect. Although Nichiren, like most great
reformers, did not intend to found a sect, in 1253 he revolted
against the ritualism and sentimentalism of the aristocratic
Buddhism of Kyoto and a new sect resulted. His conviction
was based upon the sutra, Kegon-Kyo, the Lotus of Perfect
Truth. He asked his followers to revere the doctrine,
10
repeating the name of the sutra. He also opposed the Jodo,
Shin, and other sects which worshiped Amida Buddha and re
garded Gautama only as a great teacher. To Nichiren, the
historic Gautama was the Buddha. When the Mongolians invaded
Japan, Nichiren showed such great patriotism and so impressed
his followers that the sect today is identified with patriotism.
Today the sect has 4,989 temples and 4,443 ministers.
It consists of the following branches, each of which is an
independent denomination.®
1. Nichiren
2. Honmon
3. Nichiren Sho-Shu
4. Shohon Hokke
5. Hokke
6. Honmon Hokke
7. Honmyo Hokke
8. Nichiren Fuju Fuse
9. Nichiren Fuju Fuse Komon
Only the Nichiren and Honmon Hokke branches have established
their missions in the Japanese communities of America.
Table II gives the names of Buddhist sects and their
branches in Japan, and the number of temples. Those marked §
have their established temples in Los Angeles.
Authorities disagree on the number of sects. This .
confusion is caused by the difficulty of classification as to
which sects comprise a group. For example, the Shingon Sect,
according to Toyo Nikki, has three division, whereas, according
® According to the report of Reverend Nikkan Murakita
of California Nichiren Church of Los Angeles.
11
TABLE II
THE BUDDHIST SECTS AND THEIR BRANCHES IN JAPAN*
Sects and branches Number of temples
Tendai Sect
1. Tendai Branch
2. Jimon Branch
3. Shinsei Branch
Kogi Shingon Sect#
Shingon Sect
1. Daigo Branch
2. Toji Branch
3. Sentsuji Branch
4• Sankaiji Branch
5, Zentsuji Branch
Shingi Shingon Sect
1. Chizan Branch
2. Toyoyama Branch
Shingon Ritsu Sect
Hitsu Sect
Jodo Sect#
1. Jodo Branch (Chinzei)#
2. Seizan Zenrinji Branch
3. Seizan Komyoji Branch
4. Seizan Eukakusa Branch
Rinzai Sect#
1. Tenryuji Branch
2. Sokokuji Branch
3. Kenjiji Branch
4. Nanzenji Branch
5. Myoshinji Branch
6. Kenchoji Branch
7. Tofukuji Branch
8. Daitokuji Branch
9. Yenkakuji Branch
10. Eigenji Branch
4,438
12,002 (inclu
sive of all
Shingon sects)
8,238
5,978
* The classification of sects and their branches
differs according to the author. This classification is
found in Toyo Nikki, a business diary, published by Hakubun
Kan, Tokyo, Japan, 1940.
# Those having temples or missions in Los Angeles.
12
TABIE II (Continued)
THE BUDDHIST SECTS AHD THEIR BRANCHES IN JAPAN
Sects and branches Number of temples
11. Butsuji Branch
12. Hokoji Branch
13. Kokutaiji Branch
14. Kogakuji Branch
Soto Sect# 14,351
Obaku Sect 501
Shin Sect# 19,822
1. Hongwanji Branch (Nishi)#
2. Otani Branch (Higashi)#
3. Takata Branch
4. Koseiji Branch
5. Bukkoji Branch
6. Mokube Branch
7. Izumo ji Branch
8. Yamamoto Branch
9. Seishoji Branch
10. Sanmonji Branch
Nichiren Sect# 5,028
1. Nichiren Branch#
2. Nichiren Seishu Branch
3. Shohon Hokke Branch
4. Honmon Branch
5. Hokke Branch
6. Honmon Hokke Branch#
7. Honmyo Hokke Branch
8. Nichiren Fuju Fuse Branch
9. Nichiren Fuju Fuse Komon Branch
Yuzu Nenbutsu Sect 354
Ji Sect 494
Hosso Sect 42
Kegon Sect 33
13
to Heverend Takahashi of the Los Angeles Shingon Temple, there
is one sect with eleven branches* Actually each branch is a
denomination in the American sense, for each branch is polit
ically and financially independent.
CHAPTER II
THE STATUS OF SHINTO SHRINES AND BUDDHIST TEMPLES
IN LOS ANGELES
I* ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHINTO SECTS IN AMERICA
Shinto was first introduced to the Japanese community
in San Francisco in 1900. Although there was neither an
officially recognized group, nor a building in which to wor
ship, Heverend Sudo, the first Shinto priest in America,
began by performing the prayer of purification in his home
whenever the people requested it. This continued until the
earthquake of 1906 caused a sudden migration of a large,
number of Japanese from the Bay Region into Southern
California.^ Shinto followed the migration of its people,
and in 1909 the first officially recognized America Shinto
shrine, the Daijingu, was established in Los Angeles by
Reverend Sudo. In 1920, a sister church of the Daijingu was
established in the east side of the city. These two were the
only Shinto shrines in America until 1924.
The Shindo Honkyoku Sect. These first two Shinto
shrines built in America belong to the Honkyoku Sect. In
1914 the Daijingu Shrine of Los Angeles started a branch in
^ Isamu Nodera, **A Survey of the Vocational Activities
of the Japanese in the City of Los Angeles” (unpublished
Master’s thesis. University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, 1935), p. 5.
15
San Pedro, California, which later became an officially
recognized shrine. At present these three are the only
2
shrines of the Honkyoku division of Shinto in America.
The Konko-Kyo Sect. The success of Shinto in America
was not brilliant until the coming of the more popular Sec
tarian Shinto sects. In 1924 Konko-Kyo was introduced to the
Japanese Community of San Francisco, and in the following
year to that of Los Angeles. The sect was well received by
the Japanese in America and at the present time Konko-Kyo
shrines are found in the following cities: San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, Portland, Tacoma, Vancouver,
and Seattle.5
The Konko-Kyo Federation of North America. The seven
Konko-Kyo shrines in America united in 1937 with the two
Konko-Kyo shrines in Hawaii to organize the Konko-Kyo Shrine
Federation of North America. Two years later the Konko-Kyo
Shrine in San Francisco was made the headquarters of Konko-
Kyo missions in North America.^
o
A personal interview with Reverend Sudo of the
Daijingu Shrine in Los Angeles.
^ A personal interview with Reverend Tsuyuki of the
Konko-Kyo Shrine in Los Angeles.
^ Ibid.
16
The Tenri*> Kyo Sect. Tenri-Kyo is the most popular
Sectarian Shinto. The first American mission was established
in 1927 in San Francisco, and in the following year the work
was extended to Los Angeles, Sacramento, Tacoma, Seattle,
Portland, and Salt Lake City. In the last thirteen years
the sect has made remarkable progress and established shrines
5
in the following Japanese communities in America.
In California: Los Angeles
San Pedro
Compton
Gardena
Venice
Hawthorne
San Fernando
San Diego
Guadalupe
San Francisco
Fresno
Turlock
Sacramento
Stockton
Marysville
In Oregon: Portland
In Washington: Tacoma
Seattle
In some cities are found more than one shrine. For instance,
in Los Angeles there are eight Tenri-Kyo shrines.
The Tenri-Eyo Missions of America. In 1934 the thirty-
seven Tenri-Kyo congregations in the United States, twenty-one
in Hawaii, and one in Canada, organized a body called the
5
A personal interview with Reverend Susumu Yoshida,
Secretary of Tenri-Kyo Mission in America.
17
Tenri-Kyo Mission of America. The headquarters are located
at 2727 East First Street, Los Angeles.
The Taisha-Kyo Sect. Taisha-Kyo was advocated in
America for many years by Reverend Goichi Ishimaru, but the
sect was officially established only three years ago. In
1938 Reverend Hirotaro Araki founded a Taisha shrine in
Hollywood, California, and Reverend Goichi Ishimaru estab
lished another in Los Angeles the following year.
Summary. Shinto came to America with the Japanese
immigrants in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The
first Shinto priest was Reverend Sudo, who first performed
the prayer of purification in his home in 1900. The first
Shinto shrine was established in 1909, and until 1924 there
were only two Shinto churches. Since 1924 the two popular
Shinto sects, the Konko-Kyo and Tenri-Kyo, have made remarkable
progress and the number of congregations has increased to
forty-six. To these are added the two shrines of the Taisha
Sect; bringing the total number of Shinto shrines in the
United States to forty-eight.
The following table shows the established Shinto sects,
the year of their establishment, the number of shrines, and
the names of cities in which one or more of their shrines are
found.
TABLE III
SHINTO SECTS IN AMERICA
18
Sect
Year
established
Number of
shrines
Location of
shrines
Shindo Honkyoku 1909
Konko-Kyo 1924
3
8
Tenri-Kyo 1927 37
Taisha-Kyo 1938
Los Angeles (2)
San Pedro
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Sacramento
San Jose
Portland
Tacoma
Vancouver
Seattle
Los Angeles (8)
San Pedro
(2)
Compton
(2)
Gardena (2)
Long Beach
Venice -
Hawthorne
W. Los Angeles
San Fernando
San Diego
Guadalupe
San Francisco
Fresno
Turlock
Sacramento (2)
Stockton (2)
Marysville
Portland (3)
Tacoma
Seattle (5)
Los Angeles
Hollywood
Note: The figures in brackets indicate the number of
shrines in the city to which the brackets are attached.
19
II. STATUS OF THE SHINTO CONGREGATIONS IN LOS ANGELES
The Daijingu Shrine. Originally established in San
Francisco, the Daijingu was later moved to Los Angeles be
cause of financial difficulties and a decrease in membership.
In 1909 the congregation was officially recognized by the
board of the Shindo Honkyoku Sect in Japan. However, it is
economically independent, receiving no aid from the board.
The shrine is located at 452 Jackson Street in the neighbor
hood of the Japanese business district. The present member-
0
ship is as follows:
Ministers 1
Assistant ministers 3
Members 360 families
Sunday School 0
Women’s Shinto Association 250
Young Men’s Shinto Association 60
No regular Sunday service is held. A women’s meeting
takes place each month. The activities of the minister
consist in the performance of the ritual and frequent
personal visits to the homes of members. In general,
Shinto has two annual ceremonies called the Spring Cere
mony and the Autumn Ceremony.”
A residence is used for the meetings. Hence, it lacks
the beauty and dignity of a shrine, but the traditional Shinto
^ A personal interview with Reverend Sudo of the
Daijingu Shrine in Los Angeles.
^ Kyojiro Takahashi, ”A Study of the Japanese Shinto
and Buddhism in Los Angeles” (unpublished Master’s thesis,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1937),
p. 120.
20
altar imported from Japan creates a religious atmosphere and
gives some esthetic satisfaction to the worshipers.
America Shindo Shrine. The other shrine of the Shindo
Honkyoku Sect of Los Angeles was established in 1920 at 527
North Fayette Street and later moved to its present location,
2626 last Second Street. The membership of this shrine is
as follows:®
Members 620
Sunday School 0
Young People 0
Women’s Association 60
No Sunday services are observed. On the first, fif
teenth and twenty-eighth day of each month a service is held.
On the thirteenth of the month a full ritualistic service is
conducted. Again, in the spring and autumn, as in the other
Shinto shrines, special festivals are held. All Japanese
national holidays are observed by prayer and ritual.
As with the sister shrine, a small residence is used
for services. The altar is large, occupying half of a room
twenty feet square. It has all the simplicity and beauty of
Shinto altars found in the shrines of Japan.
Konko-Kyo Shrine. Reverend Katori established the
Konko-Kyo Shrine in 1925 at 112 North San Pedro Street and
in 1928 moved it to the present address, 2924 East First
® A personal interview with Reverend Sudo,
21
Q
Street. At present the membership is as follows:
Ministers 2
Members ,^ 190
Sunday School 0
Women’s Association 50
Young People’s Association 80
A regular church service is held on the first, tenth,
and twenty-second day of each month. There are also the two
annual ceremonies, in the spring and in the autumn. A short
service is conducted three times each day. Worshipers may go
to the shrine at any time for prayer and consolation. A
minister is at the shrine at all times.
The church is economically independent of the Konko-Kyo
Shrine in Okayama, Japan. When Reverend Tsuyuki, the present
minister of the shrine, came from Japan to America he came at
his own expense; and has never received a salary for his
missionary work. The shrine, however, sends contributions
annually to the headquarters in Japan.
The ministers of this sect are not allowed to seek for
members. They are to wait for people to come voluntarily or
to be brought by other members. The church is supported by
free-will offerings, and has no budget plan. Ho contribution
of any sort is solicited.
This shrine has a building designed after the style of
^ A personal interview with Reverend Tsuyuki of the
Konko-Kyo Shrine in Los Angeles.
There are plans for a Sunday School to be opened soon.
22
those in Japan. It is a wooden structure with Oriental curved
roofs. The alter, of the traditional Shinto t3rpe, is made of
plain wood, without carving or painting, except for fancy
brass door.knobs on the sanctuaries. The hall has a seating
capacity of two hundred. Preaching is part of the service
on the monthly service days. (In the State Shinto shrines no
preaching is done. Neither is proselytism execised. The
shrine is a place of worship. In the sectarian church preach
ing is permitted and proselytes are continually being added to
the shrine.)
The Tenri-Kyo congregation. There are seven Tenri-Kyo
shrines in Los Angeles with a total membership of 2,270, com
prising 945 families. All of these have been established
since 1928. No other sect, either Buddhist or Christian, has
as many congregations in Los Angeles Japanese communities as
the Tenri-Kyo. However, each Tenri-Kyo shrine is much smaller
in membership and has a smaller building than the average
Buddhist or Christian church. Some of them have only twenty
or thirty members. Efach shrine is set up in a residence.
Services are held on one Sunday in each month. The date of '
the monthly services is decided by the congregation. Each
shrine has a minister, who is supported by the free-will
offerings of the members.
The shrines are distributed as follows:
25
11
South California Church 144 N. Chicago Street
Southern Pacific Church 133 S. Hewitt Street
Southern City Church 348 E. Second Street
Wilson Church 815 Crocker Street
North American Church 126 N, Mott Street
Rikuto Church 953 S. Normandie Avenue
Hollywood Church 462 N. Madison Avenue
Once a month, usually on the third Sunday, all the
members of the Tenri-Eyo shrines in Los Angeles and vicinity
hold a joint service at the headquarters of the Tenri-Kyo
Mission of North America, 2727 East First Street, Los Angeles.
According to Reverend Susumu Yoshida, Secretary of the Tenri-
Kyo Mission of North America Headquarters, the average monthly
attendance is three hundred. On the twenty-sixth day of the
month, the day oh which a grand service is held at the Head
quarters of the Tenri-Kyo Sect in Japan, another service is
held. The attendance at this service is usually one hundred.
This small attendance is due to the fact that the twenty-sixth
day of the month rarely falls on Sunday.
The Headquarters of the Tenri-Kyo Mission is in a
beautiful California-Spanish style building which has all the
dignity of a Shinto shrine. It is indeed the largest and
finest Shinto church in Los Angeles. The cost of the building
and the lot on which it stands was seventy thousand dollars.
A personal interview with Reverend Susumu Yoshida,
Secretary of the Headquarters of the Tenri-Kyo Mission of
North America.
24
The chapel, or auditorium, is equipped with hardwood pews and
the traditional Shinto altar. It will seat one thousand
persons.
In the Headquarters of the Tenri-Kyo Mission are found
12
the following organizations and their membership is as follows:
Ministers* Association of America 149
Young Men’s Tenri-Kyo Association 700
Women’s Tenri-Kyo Association 700
Hinomoto Language School 30
Sunday School 50
Hinomoto Club (the Nisei organization) 100
Three of the seven Tenri-Kyo ministers in Los Angeles are
women. No Japanese Christian or Buddhist groups in Los
Angeles have women ministers. Traditionally all Shinto
priests are men, but the Tenri-Kyo Sect has broken this tra
dition for the reason that its founder was a woman.
Los Angeles Izumo Taisha. There is one officially
recognized shrine of the Taisha Sect in Los Angeles, which is
located in a residence. It was established in 1938 by Reverend
Goichi Ishimaru. Although there is no enrollment of members,
the shrine is maintained by offerings of worshipers who attend
services or come for personal prayer. The minister travels
all over Southern California to distribute Izumo Taisha tab
lets to those who would like to have them. The receivers of
the tablets usually make a donation to the minister. In a
Ibid.
25
year more than two thousand families have received tablets.
Hollywood Izumo Tai sha Shrine. A sister shrine to the
Los Angeles Taisha was established in Hollywood in 1937 by
Reverend Hikotaro Araki. This, too, is a small residence used
for services and members are not enrolled. Reverend Araki
distributes the Izumo Taisha tablets in Southern California,
and the shrine is kept up by the offerings made by the re
ceivers of the tablets. The minister observes all religious
services, following the shrine calendar which is very much like
14
those of other Shinto shrines.
Los Angeles Inari Shrine. A tiny, wayside shrine with
out priest or enrolled members stands in the backyard of a
store at 310 Jackson Street in the heart of the Japanese busi
ness section. It is kept up by individual contributions
dropped into a box before the altar. The business men in the
district usually contribute toward the expense of a festival
ritual performed once a year by the Daijingu and America
Shindo priests. Other than this there is no service in con-
15
nection with the Los Angeles Inari Shrine.
A personal interview with Reverend Goichi Ishimaru.
Ibid.
A personal interview with Mr. Nagamoto who takes
care of the shrine unofficially.
26
The Mel.11 Shrine Association. A Meiji Shrine altar,
imported from Japan and kept in a hotel at 112 Rose Street,
is open to the public. Before the altar à.group of people
hold services regularly every month. The group calls itself
an association, but it is not officially recognized as a
Shinto shrine.
Summary. There are four denominations of Sectarian
Shinto in Los Angeles. There are fourteen shrines, eight of
which are Tenri-Kyo shrines. Hov/ever, only the Tenri-Kyo
Headquarters and Konko-Kyo Shrine have shrine edifices. The
total membership of all Shinto shrines is about 3,440.
The following table gives the names of Shinto shrines,
their membership, and their places of worship.
III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUDDHIST SECTS IN AMERICA
Buddhism was introduced to America as early as 1880
with the coming of the Japanese immigrants to San Francisco.
The first Buddhist temple was established in that city in
1898. Since 1898 the Shin Buddhist Sect gradually increased
among the Japanese communities. A church was established in
1899 in Sacramento, in 1900 in Fresno and San Jose, and in
1905 in Hanford and Los Angeles. From 1905 to 1914, in Los
Angeles, as in all of America, the Shin Sect was the only
Buddhist organization. In 1938 this sect had thirty-five
27
TABLE IV
SHINTO SHRINES AND THEIR MEMBERSHIP IN LOS ANGELES
Sect
Year of es- Number of Place of Sunday
tablishmént members worship school
Shindo Honkyoku Sect
Daijingu Shrine 1909
America Shindo 1920
Konko-Kyo Sect
Konko-Kyo Shrine 1925
Tenri-Kyo Sect 1928
Tenri-Kyo Headquarters*
South California Shrine
Southern Pacific Shrine
Southern City Shrine
Wilson Shrine
North American Shrine
Rikuto Shrine
Hollywood Shrine
Taisha-Kyo Sect
Los Angeles Taisha Shrine 1958
Hollywood Taisha Shrine 1939
Non-Sectarian
Inari Shrine 1920
Meiji Shrine Association 1938
360 Residence
620 Residence
Shrine
190 edifice
2,270 Shrine 50
edifice
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
Residence
A wayside
shrine
A hotel room -
Totals 4 sects 14 shrines 3,440 2 shrine 50
edifices
11 residences ,
* The Tenri-Kyo Headquarters alone has a Japanese Language
School, the enrollment of which is 30 students.
28
temples in the cities of the Pacific Coast from Vancouver in
the north to San Diego in the south, while the temples of the
other sects all combined were only eight.
The North American Buddhist Mission. A federation of
the thirty-five Buddhist temples of the United States and
Canada belonging to the Nishi Hongwanji branch of the Shin
Sect, the North American Buddhist Mission is an independent,
self-supporting religious order. It has. its headquarters at
1981 Pine Street, San Francisco, and an annual budget of
#300,000 is met by the Japanese immigrants without help from
Japan.
The campaign for the establishment of a mission was
started as early as 1899 by a group of Japanese Buddhists
residing in San Francisco. Since that time, over a period
of thirty-five years, the ardent priests and laymen have es
tablished thirty-five temples and many preaching stations
which have not yet reached the status of a temple. Following
is an enumeration (Table V) of the communities in which these
temples have been established and the date of establishment.
The Higashi Hongwanji Branch of the Shin Sect. The
Higashi Hongwanji Branch of the Shin Sect was established in
Los Angeles in 1904. According to Reverend Izuhara of the
Higashi Hongwanji Temple of Los Angeles, although one third
of the members of the Shin Sect in America came from families
29
TABLE V
NISHI HONGWANJI .TEMPLES IN AMERICA*
City
Year of
establishment
City
Year of
establishment
San Francisco 1898 Salt Lake City 1913
Fresno 1899 Palo Alto 1914
Sacramento 1900 Alameda 1916
Seattle 1901 Denver 1916
San Jose 1902 Placer 1917
Portland 1903 Florin 1918
Oakland 1904 Tacoma 1919
Hanfdrd 1905 Brawley 1922
Los Angeles 1905 Salinas 1924
Vancouver 1905 El Centro 1925
Watsonville 1906 San Diego 1926
Stockton 1907 San Luis Obispo 1927
Guadeloupe 1908 Oxnard 1929
Bakersfield 1909 Yakima 1929
Bacaville 1909 Lodi 1929
Berkeley 1911 Raymond 1929
Santa Barbara 1912 Gardena 1931
White River 1912
* Ko sal Ogura, ” A Social Study of the Buddhist Churches
in America” (unpublished Master’s thesis, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1932), pp. 1, 8, 11.
The same number of temples is reported by the census
of 1936.
30
belonging to the Higashi Hongwanji Branch in Japan, a large
number of them joined the Nishi Hongwanji Branch, for they
found no temple of their own branch in many Japanese communi
ties in America. At present the Higashi Hongwanji has three
temples. They are in Los Angeles, Palia, and Berkeley.
The Shingon Sect. Of the eleven branches of the
Shingon Sect, only the Koya Branch is represented in Los
Angeles. This branch was established here in 1914 when a
temple was built in Los Angeles, Since that time Shingon
temples have been erected in Stockton, Sacramento, Oakland,
and Terminal Island. Each temple is federated under the
.Shingon-Shu Mission of North America for which the Koyazan
Temple of Los Angeles is the headquarters. There are twenty-
one preaching stations (Daishi-Kyo), which have not yet
reached the status of a temple.
The Nichiren Sect. The Nichiren Sect is represented in
America by its Nichiren-Shu and Honmon Hokke, two of the nine
branches.
a. The Nichiren-Shu Branch with mission work in Los
Angeles since 1914 at present has temples in the following
cities: San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and
Sacramento. All of these are united under a mission head
called the Nichiren-Shu Mission of North America. The Los
Angeles Nichiren-Shu Temple is the headquarters of the Mission.
31
b. The Honmon Hokke Branch. The Honmon Hokke was
established in 1930 in San Francisco. At present the branch
has temples in Monterey, Oakland, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
The Zen Sect. Zen is represented in America by both of
its branches: the Soto and the Rinzai. The Soto Branch was es
tablished in Los Angeles by Reverend Isobe in 1921. It now has
temples in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Pedro, with
preaching stations in Compton, Riverside and Domingus Hill. The
Rinzai Branch is represented by Tozen Zen Kutsu (Mentorgarten).
The organization was formed at 1988 Bush Street, San Francisco,
in 1928, by Nyogen Senzaki who had been engaged in missionary
work among the Americans since 1915. The work was extended to
Los Angeles and a branch founded at 441 Turner Street in 1931.
The distinctive characteristic of the mission is that
it was started for the purpose of propagating Zen among the
American intelligentsia.
The Jodo Sect. The last Buddhist sect to be established
in America was the Jodo Sect. Services were first held by
Reverend Reikai Nozaki in 1936 at 1614 East First Street, Los
Angeles. Reverend Rozaki’s temple belongs to the Chinzei
Branch of the Jodo Sect, one of two Jodo branches. At present
it is the only Jodo temple in America.
Y. H. Sacon, A Study of Japanese Religious Organiza
tions in North America Ta study presented to the University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1932), p. 85.
TABLE VI
BUDDHIST SECTS IN AMERICA
32
Sects Branches
Year
established
Number of
temples
Shin Nishi Hongwanji 1898 35
Higashi Hongwanji 1905 3
Shingon Koyazan 1914 5
Nichiren Nichiren-Shu 1914 6
Honmon Hokke 1930 5
Zen Soto 1921 3
Rinzai 1928 1
Jodo Chinzei 1936 1
Total 5 sects 8 branches 63 temples
33
TABLE VII
BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN AMERICA
Name of sect Location of temple Year established
Nishi Hongwanji (See Table V)
Higashi Hongwanji Los Angeles 1905
Palia 1935
Berkeley 1935
Shingon Los Angeles 1914
Stockton 1936
Sacramento 1936
Portland 1938
Terminal Island 1935
Nichiren-Shu San Francisco 1932
Vancouver 1929
Seattle 1916
Portland 1930
Sacramento 1930
Los Angeles 1914
Honmon Hokke Monterey 1932
Oakland 1940
Seattle 1920
Los Angeles 1937
San Francisco 1930
Soto Zen Los Angeles 1927
San Francisco 1930
San Pedro 1935
Rinzai Zen Los Angeles 1931
Jodo Los Angeles 1936
34
IV. STATUS OF THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN LOS ANGELES
The Buddhist mission work in Los Angeles was started in
1904, fourteen years after the Christian mission was estab
lished. It v/as started by Heverend Izumida, a priest of the
Nishi Hongwanji of the Shin Sect. Because of friction within
the mission. Reverend Izumida and his followers transferred
their allegiance to the Higashi Hongwanji Branch and organized
a Higashi Hongwanji temple near Evergreen Playground. In the
following year those remaining true to the Nishi Hongwanji
Branch organized a temple at 322 Jackson Street. Until 1912
the Higashi and Nishi Hongwanji were the only Buddhist temples
in Los Angeles and had grown rapidly, enrolling a large number
of the Shin Sect followers in the city and receiving into
their temples the followers of other sects. In 1912 a temple
of the Koyazan Branch of the Shingon Sect was established at
133 North Central Avenue. This, too, grew rapidly since a large
number of the immigrants were Shingon followers from Wakayama
Province, where the influence of the Shingon Sect is predomi
nant. In 1914 a temple of the Nichiren-Shu Branch of the
Nichiren Sect was established at 614 East First Street and
later moved to the Boyle Heights Japanese district. In 1927,
when the Japanese community was well established and its popu
lation had reached 20,000, a temple of the Soto Branch of the
Zen Sect was established at 123 South Hewitt Street. In 1931
55
Reverend Nyogen Senzaki opened a Mentorgarten for Americans
for the teaching of the Zen doctrine and the practice of
meditation, or Zazen. Dissension occurred in the Soto Zen
Temple and in 1936 one of the ministers organized another Zen
temple at 614 last First Street which was later moved to 7274
East First Street. In 1937 a temple of the Honmon Hokke Branch
of the Nichiren Sect was established at 130 Rose Street. The
temple is politically independent of the other Nichiren temples
in Los Angeles but dependent on the Nichiren temple of the same
branch in San Francisco. This was the last temple established
in Los Angeles.
Nishi Hongwanji Temple. In 1905 the Nishi Hongwanji
Betsuin, a pioneer Buddhist temple, was established in Los
Angeles at 300 Jackson Street, and in 1925 moved to the pres
ent site, 119 North Central Avenue. The Temple has a large
organization with thirty branches located in such towns as
West Los Angeles, Hollywood, Compton, San Fernando, Canoga
Park, Bangle, Hawthorne, Pasadena, East Los Angeles, Venice,
Burbank, Long Beach, San Gabriel, and North Hollywood.
The membership of the temple, including its branches,
17
is as follows:
Head minister 1
Ministers 7
A personal interview with Reverend Okita of Nishi
Hongwanji Betsuin of Los Angeles.
36
Members 5,000
Women’s Associations 400
Young Men’s Buddhist Association 200
Young Women’s Buddhist Association 200
Sunday School 1,300
The thirty branches are visited by the seven ministers
in circuit and services are held once or twice each month. In
the Compton and Hollywood branches and Senshin Gakuin the
Japanese language is taught every day. In fourteen branches
Sunday schools are conducted each Sunday, and in sixteen
branches women, young people, boys and girls Buddhist associ
ations meetings are held each month.
Of all the Buddhist temples in America, the Nishi
Hongwanji Temple is the most beautiful, having an extremely
elaborate altar in an auditorium seating one thousand people.
Around the auditorium are well-equipped education, social,
and administration plants. Unlike the Nishi Hongwanji Temple,
its branches, with but few exceptions, lack adequate church
buildings. Most of them use their language schools and resi
dences for services and Sunday school.
Though it is the largest Nishi Hongwanji Temple in
America, and officially recognized as a Betsuin, a direct
branch of the Head Temple in Kyoto, Japan, the temple in Los
Angeles is incorporated under the North American Buddhist
Mission, whose headquarters are in the San Francisco Buddhist
Temple. Appointments of ministers are made at the headquarters
and must be approved by the Honzan, or Head Temple in Kyoto.
37
Locally, the Nishi Hongwanji Temple belongs to the
Buddhist Federation of Los Angeles, having been a member .
since its organization.
Senshin Gakuin. The Senshin School is one of the
Nishi Hongwanji branches and is located at 1234 W. 36th Place.
It was built primarily for use as a Japanese language school
but is now being used for Sunday school and church as well.
It was rebuilt two years ago and has large classrooms and a
hall with a beautiful altar and six hundred seats. The member-
1 Q
ship is as follows:
Minister 1
Teachers of the Language School 2
Students of the Language School 120 .
Sunday School 150
Women’s Association 30
Young People’s Buddhist Association 60
Hollywood Buddhist Association. A mission of the Nishi
Hongwanji Temple of Los Angeles, the Hollywood Buddhist Asso
ciation was organized about twenty-five years ago. The present
membership is as follows:
Members 100
Sunday School 130
Women’s Association 120
A residence is used for services and the Hollywood Japanese
Language School for a Sunday school. The ministers of the
A personal interview with Reverend Okita of Nishi
Hongwanji of Los Angeles.
38
Association are supplied by the Nishi Eongwanji Temple of Los
Angeles.
Higashi Eongwanji Temple (Betsuin). The Eigashi
Eongwanji Betsuin is located at 118 North Motto Street. The
minister of the temple, until recently, was Reverend Izumida,
a pioneer of the Buddhist Mission in Southern California. Ee
19
retired in 1936. The membership of the church is as follows:
Read minister 1
Ministers 4
Members 1,000
Sunday School 90
Women’s Association 40
A regular service is held each Sunday night, and
Sunday school each Sunday morning.
The Eigashi Eongwanji Temple was designed specifically
as a temple and has Oriental curved roofs. The first floor is
used for an office, social, and educational rooms while the
second floor is used for the chapel, which has a beautiful
altar and hundreds of seats.
The Eigashi Eongwanji Temple is a Betsuin, a direct
branch of the Eigashi Eongwanji Eonzan, the head temple of
this branch of the Shin Sect in Kyoto. The temple is the
headquarters of the Eigashi Eongwanji Buddhist Mission in
America, which has at present three temples and several
19
A personal interview with Reverend Izuhara of
Eigashi Eongwanji of Los Angeles.
39
preaching stations and branches. Locally, the temple belongs
to the Buddhist Temple Federation of Los Angeles.
Otani Mission (Fukyojo). The Otani Mission is a preach
ing station rather than a recognized temple and a branch of
Higashi Eongwanji Temple of Los Angeles. The branch is lo
cated at 938 Towne Avenue in the neighborhood of the Japanese
business district. The membership of the branch is as
SO
follows:
Minister 1
Members 30
Sunday School 30
Japanese Language School 70
Koyazan Temple (Betsuin). Koyazan Temple established
in Los Angeles in 1912 is located at 133 North Central Avenue
21
with the following membership:
Minister 1
Assistant ministers 3
Members 1,300
Sunday School 90
Young Men’s Buddhist Association 25
There is no regular Sunday service except for the
Sunday School. The twentieth day of each month is regularly
celebrated in memory of the founder, St. Kukai, and an elab
orate ritual is practiced on March 21 commemorating Founder’s
Ibid.
^ A personal interview with Reverend Takahashi of
Koyazan Betsuin of Los Angeles.
40
Day. The annual events of the Buddhists are Buddha’s Day,
April 4, and Buddha’s Death Day, December 8. Besides these
there are two festival days, one in spring and one in the
autumn.
The present temple building is a wooden structure,
having a hall and an elaborate altar. The new temple, which
is under construction, will be a large and beautiful brick
building housing an auditorium of one thousand seats and
social, educational, and administrative facilities. The tem
ple is known in the community for its charity and social ac
tivities. With the facilities of the new temple the members
expect to do an even greater service to the community.
This temple is a direct branch of the Koyazan Eonzan,
or the head temple of the Koyazan branch in Japan. It is the
headquarters for the Shingon Koyazan temples and twenty-one
preaching stations (Daishi Ko) in America. The Los Angeles
temple belongs to the Buddhist Temple Federation and is used
as the headquarters of the Federation.
Los Angeles Hichiren-Shu Temple. The Nichiren-Shu
Temple at 2800 East Third Street was established for the bene
fit of Nishi Eongwanji believers in Los Angeles and vicinity.
Many, finding no organization of their own sect, had joined
the NiShiEongwanji Temple, and not all of these broke their
old affiliations to attend the Nichiren-Shu Temple. Many,
41
however, did. The membership at present is as follows:
Minister 1
Assistant minister 1
Sunday School 70
Young People’s Association (Eisho Seinen Kai) 30
Women’s Association (Murakumo Fujin Kai) unknown
Language School discontinued
Members 200 families
Some of these have membership in both temples.
The Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu Temple is the headquarters
of Nichiren-Shu Mission in North America and a member of the
Buddhist Temple Federation.
California Nichlren Temple. The second Nichiren Temple
was established in Los Angeles at 130 Rose Street in 1937.
The temple is an extension of the San Francisco Nichiren Temple
and belongs to the Honmon Hokke branch of Nichiren. Before the
temple was built, the many members of this sect had joined the
Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu Temple. At present there are about
fifty members enrolled. However, there are thousands of Honmon
Hokke Nichirens in Los Angeles and in other parts of Southern
California. The temple has no Sunday school or other temple
24-
organizations as yet.
A personal interview with Reverend Ryushin Okihara
of Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu Temple.
A man’s being a member of more than one temple is
not uncommon among the Japanese in America. Some Japanese are
not only members but also officials of a Shinto temple and of
a Buddhist temple at the same time.
A personal interview with Reverend Nikkan Murakita
of California Nichiren Temple.
42
It does not belong to the Buddhist Temple Federation
of Los Angeles. The reason for this is not known to this
writer. However, according to one Buddhist minister, it
does not belong to the Federation because the temple has not
reached the status of an officially recognized temple of the
Honmon Hokke branch of the Nichiren Sect.
A small residence is used for the temple.
Hokubeizan Zen-Shu (Betsuin). The Hokubeizan Zen-Shu
Temple was established in 1927 at 123 South Hewitt Street.
The main feature of the Zen Sect is the practice of medita
tion. Regular services are not held, with the exception of
five annual services (Hoe). Members come to the temple at
odd hours and practice meditation for half a day, or even a
day, without food, though water is taken. At present, how
ever, Zazen, the typical practice of the Zen Sect (very rigid
and formal) is not practiced because of a lack of the proper
facilities. A simplified form of Zazen, Seiza, is practiced.
25
The membership of the temple is as follows:
Ministers 1
Assistant ministers 4
Members 700
Women’s Association 30
Sunday School
Young People’s Association 80
Japanese Language School 20
A personal interview with Reverend Tachibana of
Hokubeizan Zen-Shu Temple of Los Angeles.
45
Evening School 20
School teachers 4
The temple is the headquarters of the Soto-Shu Mission
in North America, which is composed of three churches in San
Francisco, Los,Angeles, and San Pedro, and three preaching
stations in Dominguez Hills, Compton, and Riverside.
The Los Angeles temple is a dignified building with
an elaborate altar and a fairly large hall.
This group is a Betsuin or a direct branch of the Soto-
Shu Honzan, or head temple of the Soto branch of the Zen Sect
in Japan. The local affiliation of the temple is with the
Buddhist Temple Federation of Los Angeles of which they are
a faithful member.
Gohozan Zennei Temple. In 1936 Reverend Taigaku
Uyeshima, a former minister of North America Zen-Shu Church
in Los Angeles, founded the Gohozan Zennei Temple at 614 East
First Street. Later it was moved to the present location at
727:1 East First Street. The membership is as follows
Minister 1
Members 300
Women’s Association 80
Japanese Language School 80
Teachers 5
Sunday School
Young People’s Association
A personal interview with Reverend Uyeshima of
Gohozan Zennei Temple of Los Angeles.
44
The temple holds Sunday School classes in Daini Gakuen,
a Japanese language school, 1055 Fedora Street. There are
about seventy pupils enrolled in the Sunday School.
The temple belongs to the Soto-Shu branch of the Zen
Sect. However, it is not recognized by the General Board of
the Soto-Shu and, therefore, cannot belong to the Temple
Federation of Los Angeles, only officially recognized temples
being accepted in the Federation.
Tozen Zen Kutsu or Mentorgarten. The Mentorgarten
of the Tozen Zen was established by Reverend Senzaki at 441
Turner Street in 1931. According to Reverend Senzaki, his
mission does not belong to any sect. However, he was once a
monk of the Rinzai: branch of the Zen Sect and even at present
he follows the doctrine of the Rinzai rather than that of the
Soto. The members of the mission are all American. However,
they are not officially enrolled.
The mission holds a meeting twice a week, and the ser
vice consists mainly of a lecture on the Zen doctrine and
Zazen or the practice of meditation.
A small residence is used for the mission; therefore,
it lacks the dignity of a temple. When the audience is too
large for the house, the service is held in the garden.
Jodo-Shu Temple. The membership of the Jodo-Shu temple
at 614 last First Street is as follows:
45
Ministers 2
Sunday School 20
Young People’s Association
Women’s Association 30
Japanese Language School 20
Members 230%"
A residence is used for the temple. The chapel is in
a large room with an elaborate altar. The seating capacity
of the room is not more than fifty.
The temple is officially recognized by the board of
the Chinzei branch of the Jodo Sect, and belongs to the
Buddhist Temple Federation of Los Angeles.
A personal interview with Reverend Reikai Nozaki
for the Jodo-Shu Temple in Los Angeles.
46
TABLE 7III
ESTABLISHED BUDDHIST SECTS IN LOS ANGELES
Sects Branches Temples
Shin Higashi Hongwanji
Nishi Hongwanji
Higashi Hongwanji Temple
Otani Mission#
Nishi Hongwanji Temple
Senshin Gakuin#
Hollywood Buddhist
Association#
Shingon Koyazan -Koyazan Temple
Nichiren Nichiren
Honmon Hokke
Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu
Temple
California Nichiren Tenple
Zen Soto
Rinzai
Hokubeizan Zen Temple
Gohozan Zennei Temple
Tozen Zen Kutsu*
Jodo - Chinzei Jodo-Shu Temple
# A branch of the temple.
* An independent mission.
TABLE IX
BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN LOS ANGELES
47
Name
Estab
lishment
Location
Place of
worship
Member of
federation
Membership
Sunday
school
Women * s
associations
Language
school
Nishi Hongwanji Tenple
1905
Downtown Temple edifice Yes 5,000 1 ,3 0 0 400
—
Senshin Gakuin 36th Street School room No 50 ISO 30 200
Hollywood Buddhist
Association 1915
Hollywood Residence No 100 130 120 —
Higashi Hongwanji Temple
1904
Boyle Heights Temple edifice Yes 1,000 90 40
—
Otani Mission 1931
Downtown Residence No UnenroUed 30
—
70
Shingon Temple 1912 Downtown Temple edifice Yes 1 ,3 0 0 90 100 —
Nichiren-Shu Temple 1914
Boiyle Heights Temple edifice Yes 200 families 70 Unenrolled —
California Nichiren 1937
Downtown Residence No 50 — — —
Soto Zen Temple 1927
Downtown Temple edifice Yes 700 — 30 40
Soto Zennei Temple 1936 Downtown Business building No 300 — — SO SO
Tozen Zen Kutsu 1931
Downtown Residence No Unenrolled
—
— —
Jodo-Shu Temple 1936 Downtown Residence Yes 230 20 30
20
CHAPTER III
STATUS OF THE JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN LOS ANGELES
I. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAPANESE CHRISTIAN
CHURCHES IN AMERICA
The Japanese Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist
churches* Shintoism and Buddhism followed the journey of the
Japanese immigrants into the various communities of America.
But Christianity was newly introduced to them by earnest
American Christians. As early as 1872, Congregationalism,
Presbyterianism, and Methodism were almost simultaneously in
troduced to the Japanese community in San Francisco. A group
of Japanese students receiving instruction in English and the
Bible from Mrs. Wilkon, a Congregationalist, organized a group
called the Gospel Society. With the help of the Women’s So
ciety of the Congregational Church, the Gospel Society rented
a basement room in the Chinese Methodist Church, which was
supervised by Dr. Gibson, and held services there. However,
Dr. Gibson wanted to make the Society Methodist, and a quarrel
arose between the Methodist and Congregational churches. The
Gospel Society was divided, the smaller part of the group re
maining in the Methodist Church and the larger organizing
another Gospel Society on Golden Gate Street. The former group
became the Japanese Methodist Church in 1886, building a
49
worshiping place on Jessy Street. The latter, with the help
of Mac Kengy of the Presbyterian Church became the Japanese
Presbyterian Church in 1911. The author of Japanese Christian
history in America does not explain why the Congregational
Church withdrew from this group but much later a Congregational
1
Church was founded. It was recognized as a Congregational
Mission in 1899. Thus, in the early days of Japanese Christ
tianization in San Francisco, Methodism, Presbyter ianism, and
Congregationalism were introduced.
The following three tables list the Japanese Presby
terian, Congregational, and Methodist churches in America,
the year of their establishment, and the changes that have
been made in denomination. At present there are fourteen
Japanese Congregational churches in America with 1,563 mem
bers and 1,452 Sunday School pupils;^ and there are thirty-
nine Japanese Methodist churches with 1,330 members. In
1940 when the Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Epis
copal Church South were united, four Japanese Methodist
churches were added (see Table XII).
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California,
History of the Japanese Christian Churches in America (trans
lated by the writer; Los Angeles, 1932), pp. 27-35.
2
A personal letter from Reverend Kumazo Fukushima,
Japanese Congregational Church in Montebello, California.
5 According to Reverend Yamaga, Japanese Methodist
Church in Los Angeles.
50
TABLE %
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAPANESE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES
Location Established Changes
San Francisco 1885
Salinas 1898
Watsonville 1898
Stockton 1898
Los Angeles 1903
Wintersburg 1904
Seattle 1906
Hanford 1908
Monterey 1912
Sacramento 1920
Long Beach 1921
Hollywood 1923
Cortez 1927
United with Congrega
tional Church in 1914
United with Congrega
tional Church in 1918
51
ESTABLISHMENT
TABLE XI
OF THE JAPANESE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES
Location Established Changes
San Francisco 1899 United with the Presbyter
ian Church in 1914
Los Angeles 1901 United with the Presbyter
ian Church in 1918
Riverside 1902 United with the Methodist
Church in 1927
Oakland 1906
Fresno 1907
San Diego 1907
Seattle 1907
Santa Barbara 1912
Pasadena 1913
Salt Lake City 1919
Santa Maria 1929
Union Church of Methodist,
Congregational and Christian
Ogden 1927
churches
Yakima 1928
Montebello 1932
52
TABLE Xri
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAPANESE METHODIST CHURCHES
Location Established Changes
San Francisco 1886
Oakland 1889
Sacramento 1891
Portland 1893
Fresno 1894
San Jose 1894
Los Angeles 1895
Vacaville 1896
New York 1901
Riverside 1902 United with Congregational
Church
Spokane 1903
Seattle 1904
Oxnard 1905
Bakersfield 1906
Pueblo 1908
Tacoma 1908
Denver 1908
Berkeley 1909 United with the Christian
Church in 1929
Palo Alto 1909
Stockton 1909
Loomis 1912
Florin 1913
Brawley 1913
Livingston 1920
Salem 1928
Hood River 1929
Santa Maria 1929 United with Congregational and
Christian Churches in 1929
Wapato ?
West Los Angeles 1930
Methodist Episcopal Churches South added in 1940:
Alameda 1898
Walnut Grove 1913
Oakland 1915
Dinuba 1922
53
The Japanese Holiness Churches. In 1920 Bishop Juji
Nakada of the Holiness Church in Japan, and his son, Ugo,
made some converts in Los Angeles. Upon their return to
Japan, they sent Reverend Sadaichi Kuzuhara to take care of
the converts. Reverend Kuzuhara organized a church among
these converts in 1921, calling it the Los Angeles Holiness
Church of the Oriental Missionary Society, which is the
Mission Board of the Holiness Church in Japan. During the
twenty years from 1920 to 1940, Reverend Kuzuhara with his
followers built seven Holiness churches in California, one in
Washington, and three in Hawaii. These churches broke away
from the Oriental Missionary Society in 1932, and became po
litically independent. They had been economically independent
from the beginning. These eleven churches formed a mission
and called it the Holiness Church Federation of North America.
The Holiness Church of Los Angeles is the headquarters of the
Federation.
The Japanese Baptist Churches. The first Japanese
Church in America was established in Seattle in 1899. It was
an outgrowth of the Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association
4
under the leadership of Reverend F. Okazaki. Moneta Japanese
Baptist Church was, however, the first church in California.
^ Y. H. Sacon, A Study of the Japanese Religious
Organizations in America, p. 32.
54
TABLE XIII
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAPANESE HOLINESS CHURCHES
Location Established
Los Angeles 1921
Modesto 1924
San Lorenzo 1929
San Diego 1930
Seattle 1933
Centerville 1931
San Fernando 1933
Baldwin Park 1933
55
Later, seven churches were added. The date and place of the
establishment of the churches are given in Table XIV. These
churches belong to the Baptist Church, Northern Convention.
Japanese Baptist Union of Southern California. Several
years ago the following organizations within the Northern
Baptist Convention started a Japanese Mission in Southern
California; Los Angeles Baptist City Mission Society, Southern .
California Baptist Convention, Woman’s American Baptist Home
Mission Society, and the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
Starting with a church in Gardena, the Mission was ex
tended to the various Japanese cojjimunities in Southern Cali
fornia. At present there are six churches. These six churches
seeing the need of coordinating their work, organized a union
in 1954, the Japanese Baptist Union of Southern California.
The locations of the mission are: Los Angeles, Moneta,
Terminal Island, Garden Grove, Pomona, and Downey. The member
ship is 420 and the church school enrollment is 776.^
The Japanese Regular Baptists. In 1938 a former minis
ter of the Japanese Baptist Church in Los Angeles, organized
an independent church and affiliated his church with the group
of Regular Baptists.
5
K. T. Shiraishi. Japanese Baptists in Southern
California are Marching On (a pamphlet. Los Angeles, 1939),
3 pp.
56
.TABLE XIV
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAPANESE BAPTIST CHURCHES
. Location Established
Tacoma 1895
Seattle 1899
Moneta 1915
Terminal Island 1918
Sacramento 1920
Camellia 1924
Los Angeles 1926
Garden Grove 1928
Pomona 1928
Modesto 1930
Downey 1938
57
TABLE XV
ESTABLISHMENT OF OTHER JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Name Established
Free Methodist
Berkeley
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Santa Monica
Stanton (Sunday School only)
Irvine
Upland
Stage
Redondo
Palos Verdes
Phoenix
Swink (Sunday School only)
Gallup
Stockton
Reformed
San Francisco
Los Angeles
West Los Angeles
Protestant Episcopal
Los Angeles
Seattle
San Francisco
Christian
Berkeley (united with Methodist
Church in 1929)
Los Angeles
San Bernardino
Church of Christ
Los Angeles
1920
1912
1921
1925
1937 ?
1930
1937
1936
1910
1920
1925
1908
1908
1909
1900
1904
1912
1923
58
TABLE XV (Continued)
ESTABLISHMENT OF OTHER JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Name Established
Roman Catholic
Los Angeles 1911
San Francisco 1912
Seventh Day Adventist
Los Angeles 1935
NOTE: Besides those listed above, there are
eight independent (non-denominational) churches and
one Friends Church.
59
II. STATUS OF THE JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN LOS ANGELES
In the last half century (1889-1940) eighteen Japanese
Christian churches have been built in Los Angeles, fourteen
of which have survived, one was discontinued, and three have
merged into a union church* In 1889, when there were only
seventy Japanese in the city, fortunately, there existed a
religious organization called the Japanese Young Men’s
Christian Association. In 1890 with the help of an American
Methodist church the Association was reorganized into a
Japanese mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1896
the mission was again reorganized under the leadership of Dr.
M. C. Harris. This time a Japanese Methodist church was es
tablished at 252 Winston Street, Reverend Tokutaro Nakamura
being appointed the first pastor. In 1898 because of the
rapid growth of the city and the extensive employment of
Japanese by the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Japanese popu
lation increased to two thousand. About this time, between
1897 and 1901, Reverend Morizo Yoshida, the successor to
Reverend Nakamura baptized 125 Japanese, firmly establishing
the church spiritually and in membership. Thus, the first
Christian church in the city was well founded.
In 1903, seven years after the founding of the Methodist
Church and when the Japanese population had reached three thou
sand, a Japanese Presbyterian church was established.
60
In 1904 a Congregational church and a Japanese Christian
Institute were opened; and in the following year, another
Congregational church, the Bethlehem. All were established
more than ten years after the establishment of the Methodist
Church.
In 1907, a year after the San Francisco earthquake, the
Japanese population in Los Angeles had increased to seven thou
sand, swelled by the migration from San Francisco. About this
time a Japanese Protestant Episcopal church was established at
961 South Mariposa Avenue.
In 1911 the Maryknoll Mission of the Roman Catholic
Church started a church and school at 222 South Hewitt Street.
Later it opened a home for Japanese homeless children and a
sanatorium.
In Hollywood the Japanese residents felt the need of a
church and established a non-denominational church in 1917. In
the following year, the two Japanese Congregational churches
and the Presbyterian church united and called themselves the
Japanese Union Church. Their building was located in the heart
of the Japanese community.
When the Japanese population reach 21,989 in 1921, the
Japanese Reformed Church and the Japanese Free Methodist Church
were established in the neighborhood of the Union Church.
From 1921 to 1925, the Japanese population reached a peak
of 21,402 to 22,732; during this time four more churches were
61
established: the Holiness Church in 1921, the Church of Christ
and the Hollywood Presbyterian Church in 1923, and the Baptist
Church in 1925.
The effect of the Japanese Exclusion Law upon the
Japanese community was evidenced in a decrease in the popula
tion between 1925 and 1930. By 1930 it had dropped to twenty
thousand. The decrease was, however, checked in 1935, and the
population has remained around twenty thousand ever since.
During this last five-year period two churches were added to
the list of Japanese churches: the Seventh Day Adventist Church
in 1933 and the Independent Baptist Church in 1938. The
Nazarene Church was discontinued in 1938.
Japanese Methodist Church. In 1890 when the Japanese
in Los Angeles numbered only seventy what is now the Japanese
Methodist church was organized as a mission. In 1896 it be
came a church. For nearly ten years it was the only religious
institution in the Japanese community, serving as a free em
ployment agency, dormitory, English school, and a charity
organization, as well as a minister to the religious needs of
the community. Between 1896 and 1901 the church made 122
converts.
After several changes of location, in 1907 the church
finally settled at 1120 Georgia Street. There were two build
ings, one for services and the other a dormitory. In 1926 a
62
splendid new building was built at 3500 South Normandie Avenue.
That same year the language school of the church united
with the Daigo Gakuen and the new body was called Kokugo Gakuen.
In 1938 the united school raised a well equipped educational
building near the church with a beautiful chapel. This chapel
is used for Sunday worship by the Nissel members of the church.
The membership of the church is as follows:
Ministers 3
Issei Church 150
Nissei Church 100
Sunday School 150
Epworth League 100
Women’s Association 70
This church belongs to the Northern California Methodist
Conference. According to Reverend Yamaka, all Japanese
Methodist churches in America belong to this conference for
this conference began the Japanese mission work and has car
ried it on until today.
The church is a faithful member of the Japanese Church
Federation, and its ministers have been many times president
of the federation.
Japanese Christian Institute (Disciples of Christ).
Since 1914 the church has been called the Japanese Christian
Institute, and, as the name would indicate, has been a well
equipped educational organization. However, the initial body
in 1904 was a small group of Japanese students who received
English and religious instruction from Miss Calla Harrison,.
63
a returned missionary from Japan. This group was organized
and fostered by Mr. B. F. Coulter of the Broadway Christian
Church. The group grew and established an educational center
in a rented house with the help of the Christian Women's Board
of Southern California. In 1905, Dr. H. H. Guy became super
visor of the center and in 1908 he organized a church with ten
Japanese as a nucleus. Soon the church called Mr. Teiza Kawai
from Japan to guide and shepherd it. For this rapidly growing
group, the Christian Women of California in 1914 built an edu
cational building with a chapel, classrooms for the study of
Fnglish and Japanese, Sunday School rooms, a dormitory and an
office. Later, a cafeteria, barber shop, and gymnasium were
added. In 1923 Mr. Kav/ai went into the rural work of the
Church. He was succeeded by Mr. K. Unoura. Noticing that his
constituents had moved toward the eastern side of the town,
with the aid of American Christian Women friends, in 1929 Mr.
Unoura erected a fine educational building at 822 East 20th
Street. Its kindergarten and Japanese language school were
excellent. In 1931, with the gifts of American friends, a
new church building with social halls and classrooms was
erected beside the educational building. At present the
Japanese Christian Church is a great religious, educational,
and social organization. Its membership is as follows:
Ministers 3
Issei Church 269
Nissei Church 140
64
Sunday School 163
Japanese Language School 145
Kindergarten 32
Women's Association 35
The church is an active member of the Japanese Church
Federation.
St. I^lary's Episcopal Church. In 1907 a Japanese mis
sion of the Protestant Episcopal Church was organized in the
10th Street Japanese district. An American minister, and a
Japanese secretary, carried on the work until 1913, when a
Japanese minister was appointed and the mission became a
church.
At present the church has eighteen clubs and organiza
tions, a language school, and a kindergarten. The membership
is as follows:
Issei Church 82
Nissei Church 175
Sunday School 300
Women's Association 25
Language School 80
Kindergarten 23
The church has a beautiful edifice for worship and a
large building for school and social activity.
The church is an active member of the Japanese Church
Federation. Reverend Misao Yamazaki* the pastor, has been
president of the federation several times.
St. Francis Xavier Church. The St. Francis Xavier
65
Church is the outgrowth of the first Catholic mission estab
lished in Los Angeles in 1911. In 1920 the Maryknoll Order
adopted the mission and began educational work among the
Japanese. The church and the school have grown considerably
and at present the membership is as follows:
Fathers 3
Sisters 42
Brothers 5
Members 450
Adults 250
Children 200
Parochial School 420
According to Father Levery, 15 per cent of the enrolled
pupils are Catholics, the remainder representing six religions.
There are many religious, social, and service organizations
for all age groups operated by the church. The best known or
ganizations are their home for children and sanatorium for
Japanese patients. To accommodate the many activities of this
organization, a beautiful church building, school plants, a
social hall, a gymnasium, and a large playground have been pro
vided. The children's home and sanatorium are off the church
premises. No Japanese churches in Los Angeles are as ade
quately equipped as this church.
The church belongs to the Maryknoll Order of the Roman
Catholic Church. Consequently, it does not belong to the
Japanese Church Federation.
Hollywood Independent Church. In 1916 when there were
66
about 360 Japanese in Hollywood, Dr. James French of the
Methodist Church South began a Sunday School class in his
church with eleven Japanese young people as pupils. With the
help of these young people, Miss Helen Topping, secretary of
the Los Angeles Young Women's Christian Association, organized
a kindergarten for the Japanese children in Hollywood. The
Sunday School, vhich later became the Japanese Young Men's
Christian Association, and the kindergarten, which later grew
into a Japanese language school, formed a good foundation for
the church. The church was established in 1917 without any
denominational affiliation. According to one of the founders
of the church, they preferred the status of a non-denominational
group as one less apt to admit dissension. Also, it was felt
that the Hollywood Japanese community was too small to have
more than one church. The church was established in the Carter
Court and remained there until it was moved in 1928 to the
present site, 4537 Lexington Avenue.
The membership of the church is as follows:
Minister 1
Issei Church 75
Nissei Church 50
Sunday School 80
Women's Association 30
Japanese Union Church. Japanese Union Church, the only
union church in Los Angeles, was a result of the ardent Japanese
church unity movement which had been going on since 1910 among
67
the California Japanese. The church resulted from the union
of three bodies: the Japanese Presbyterian Church, the Japanese
Congregational Church, and the Japanese Bethlehem Church (Con
gregational). The church was established in 1917 at 227 North
San Pedro Street. In 1923 a dignified building costing two
hundred thousand dollars was erected on the present site, 120
North San Pedro Street. The church, because it is located in
the Japanese business district, is the religious and social
center of the Japanese community. Its auditorium, social hall,
and gymnasium are used for community activities. Until re
cently, the church conducted an evening English school.
The present membership is as follows:
Ministers 2
Director 1
Issei Church 150
Nissei Church 130
Sunday School 198
Women's Association 76
The church belongs to the extension boards of the
Presbyterian and the Congregational churches, receiving an
equal amount of help from each board.
The church is a faithful member of the Japanese Church
Federation, and is headquarters for the federation.
Kyoritsu Gakuin, the church language school, is located
at 506 North Evergreen Avenue. It has four teachers and
eighty pupils.
Japanese Reformed Church. In 1920, a Reformed church
68
was established in the heart of the Japanese business section
at 202 North San Pedro Street. Like the San Francisco Reformed
Church, it was organized jointly by the Los Angeles members of
Rikko Kai, a society in Japan which gives cultural and religi
ous training to those who go abroad, and by the Home Mission
Board of the Reformed Church in the United States. Reverend
Tsuneshiro Kaneko, the first minister, started a Sunday school
and church with these Rikko Kai members. At the same time he
started an evening English school and a free employment agency
for Japanese newcomers. In 1923 Reverend Kaneko was succeeded
by Reverend Kiichiro Namekawa. The latter added a kindergarten
and a music school (piano and voice) to his institution. The
English school continued only until 1925, two years after the
Japanese Exclusion Law was passed. In 1933, at the height of
the depression, the kindergarten and the music school had to
be given up because of financial difficulties of the Home
Mission Board, which had been the major source of support for
the institution.
At present the church is purely a religious institution,
doing no social or educational work. The membership of the
church is as follows:
Minister 1
Members 36
Young People's Church 13
Sunday School 30
Services are held in a brick building which was once
used as a cafeteria and in 1923 remodeled for church use. It
69
lacks the beauty and dignity of a church.
The church is still a mission of the Home Mission
Board, and a member of its California Classis. Although a
member of the Japanese Church Federation from 1920 to 1955,
the Reformed Church is no longer connected with the Federation.
Japanese Free Methodist Church. In 1912 a Reverend
Sadami Mizukami and eight members organized the Free Methodist
Church at Los Angeles Harbor. In 1918 the church was moved to
the city of Los Angeles and was first located at 400 Jackson
Street, later on at 730 East First Street, and finally at 210
South Chicago Street.
The membership of the church is as follows:
Members 41
Young People 32
Women's Association 10
Sunday School 76
The church does not belong to the Japanese Federation.
However, the minister and members often attend Federation
meetings and many of them hold policies of the Japanese Church
Federation Funeral Insurance.
This church cooperates without formal organization
with the Japanese Holiness Church. They hold meetings jointly
and occasionally exchange ministers.
Japanese Holiness Church. The Holiness church was es
tablished in 1921, when Bishop Juji Nakada of the Oriental
70
Missionary Society toured California. He made a few converts
in Los Angeles who later became the nucleus of the church.
Reverend Kuzuhara, a minister of the Oriental Missionary
Society, came from Japan and took up the first pastorship.
In 1932, when the Oriental Society in Japan was divided, this
Holiness Church, with the other Holiness churches in America,
withdrew from the Society.
The membership of the church is as follows:
Ministers 2
Issei Church 130
Nissei Church 50
Sunday School 100
Women's Association 50
Young People's Association 75
(50 baptized, 25 unbaptized)
The church is headquarters for the Japanese Holiness
Church Federation of America, but does not belong to the
Japanese Church Federation.
A small wooden building, purposely built for worship,
houses the church.
Japanese Church of Christ. The Church of Christ is
located at 1444 West 37th Street. It was in 1923 that the
church was founded by Reverend Ishiguro with the help of the
local American members of this denomination. The church be
came economically independent in 1932. The present membership
^ An interview with Reverend Sasaichi Kuzuhara, minister
of the Japanese Holiness Church.
71
is as follows:
Minister 1
Members 48
Sunday School 100
Japanese School IE
Unlike other Japanese churches, this church has never
belonged to the Board of Home Missions,of its own denomination.
According to Reverend Ishiguro, the Church of Christ has no
Home Mission Board and its missionary work is carried on by
local churches.
The church does not belong to the Japanese Church
Federation as this denomination does not recognize other
churches as sister churches.
The Japanese Church of Christ uses a large residence
for the church and school.
Hollywood Presbyterian Church. The Hollywood Presby
terian Church was established in 1916 at 1000 Tamarindo Street
in Hollywood Japanese district. Reverend Tokusaburo Horikoshi,
the founder, was a graduate of an American Presbyterian semi
nary, and a one-time member of the Japanese Independent Church.
In 19E5 the church was moved to its present site at 4011
Clington Street in the Madison Avenue Japanese district.
Besides the work of evangelism, the church, while in
the Hollywood district, conducted an evening English school,
at present it conducts a kindergarten.
The present membership is as follows:
72
Issei Church 40
Nissei Church 40
Sunday School 80
Women's Association 35
The church has a large hall which is used for the
kindergarten and for worship.
This church belongs to the Southern California Confer
ence of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of
America, but is also a member of the Japanese Church
Federation.
Japanese Baptist Church. The Baptist church was organ
ized in 1925 under the combined leadership of Reverend E. H.
Jones of the Christian Center on East First Street, Los
Angeles, and Reverend M. Ito of the Baptist Church on Terminal
Island. Reverend Jones had done the pioneering work before
the church was actually organized by starting a Sunday school
for Japanese children and evening services for the Japanese
employees of the Union Pacific Railroad, and by visiting
Japanese at homes, hospitals, and sanatoriums. Reverend Jones
and Reverend Ito found twenty Japanese Baptists in the city,
who had belonged to various Baptist churches on the Pacific
Coast. With these members and Reverend Jones' pioneers the
church was organized with the direction and support of the
Los Angeles Baptist City Mission Society. Reverend H. Y.
Shibata was appointed the first pastor.
In 1926 a beautiful stucco church and an educational
73
building were built in Boyle Heights, the most thickly popu
lated Japanese residential district, and dedicated to the
church use.
Besides church services for each of the tv/o generations
and a Sunday school, the church has conducted a kindergarten
and a Japanese language school.
The membership of the church is as follows:
Minister 1
Issei Church 107
Nissei Church 50
Baptist Young People's Union . 55
Sunday School 179
Women's Association 85
Japanese Language School 106
Language school teachers 4
Kindergarten 21
The church is supported by the following Baptist organ
izations: Los Angeles City Mission, Southern California Conven
tion, Women's Home Mission Society, and the American Home
Mission Society. The church is a member of the Japanese
Baptist Union of Southern California and has been a faithful
member of the Japanese Church Federation since its beginning.
Japanese Independent Baptist Church. In 1938 a former
minister of the Los Angeles Baptist Church organized an
Independent Baptist Church at 3506 East Fourth Street. Accord
ing to Reverend Yorishige Watanabe, the church is one of the
Regular Baptist churches. At present, although he conducts
religious services every Sunday evening, he has no enrolled
74
membership. There are a small group of Sunday school pupils,
and a group of week-day kindergarten pupils.
The church does not belong to the Japanese Church
Federation. It is economically independent, and uses a
residence for school and church.
Japanese Seventh Day Adventist Church. In 1933, in a
lecture room of the White Memorial Hospital, a group of
Japanese doctors, graduates of the Hospital, gathered and
organized the Japanese Seventh Day Adventist Church. The
group was small until the coming of Reverend Okahira who in
creased the membership to forty. The church belongs to the
Southern California Seventh Day Adventist Conference, and it
has an unusually close connection with the American Adventist
Church in the same block. All the Japanese children, young
people, medical cadets and women receive their religious
training in this American church. Consequently, the Japanese
church has no separate organizations of children, young people,
and women. The Japanese church has at present forty members;
seventy children, twenty-seven young people, five cadets and
some women in the American church.
A large lecture room of the White Memorial Hospital
is used for services. This church does not belong to the
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California. It has no
affiliation with any of the other Japanese churches.
TABLE m
JAPANESE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN LOS ANGELES
75
Name of church
Estab
lishment
Location
Place of
worship
Member of
federation
Membership of
Issei Church,
Membership of
Nissei Church
Sunday
school
Women* s
association
Language
school
Methodist 1896 36th Street Church edifice Yes 150 100 150 70
— —
Christian 1908 Downtown Church edifice Yes 268 140
163 35 145
Protestant Episcopal 1907 Tenth Street Church edifice Yes 82
175
300
25
80
St. Francis Xavier 1911 Downtown Church edifice No 250 200 — — 420*
Hollywood Independent 1917
Madison Street Church edifice Yes
75 50 —— , — ——
Union 1918 Downtown Church edifice Yes 150 130 198 76
—
Reformed 1920 Downtown Church edifice No 36 13
30 — —
Free Methodist 1920 Downtown Residence No
41 32 76 10
—
Holiness 1921 36th Street Church edifice No 130 50 100 50
—
Church of Christ 1923
36th Street Residence No 42
—
100 — 12
Hollywood Presbyterian 1923 Madison Street Hall Yes 40; 40 80 35
—
Baptist 1925
Boyle Heights Church edifice Yes 107
50
179 85
106
Independent Baptist 1938 Boyle Heists Residence No Unenrolled
—
Unenrolled — . —
Seventh Day Adventist 1933
Boyle Heights Lecture room No 40 27
70 Unenrolled —
* St. Francis Xavier Church has à week-day parochial school and the Japanese language is taught as one of the school subjects.
CHAPTER 17
, DISTRIBUTION OF THE JAPANESE CHURCHES IN LOS ANGELES
I. JAPANESE COMMUNITIES IN LOS ANGELES
At the time of the present survey there are six major
areas in this city where there is a concentration of
Japanese.^
These Japanese communities are as follows:
1. Downtown District
2. Boyle Heights District
3. West Tenth Street District
4# West 36th Street District
5. Madison Avenue District
6. Hollywood District
Of the six districts, all but the first, which is pri
marily a business center for the group, are to be classified
as residential.
The downtown district is a large area bounded on the
north by East First Street, on the south by Tenth Street, by
Isamu Nodera, ”A Survey of the Vocational Activities
of the Japanese in the City of Los Angeles" (unpublished
Master's thesis. University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
1935), p. 10.
According to Mr. Seki, attache to the Japanese Consu
late in Los Angeles, these districts must have undergone some
changes since Isamu Nodera studied them in 1935 but they have
remained as major Japanese areas in the city.
77
Main Street on the west and Santa Fe Avenue on the east.
The largest Japanese residential zone in this city,
that in Boyle Heights, extends from Boyle Avenue to Downey
Road, and from East First to East Eighth Street.
The West Tenth Street Japanese district is located
between West Tenth and Pico Streets, and between Vermont
Avenue and Western Avenue.
The West 36th Street Japanese district is composed of
two subdistricts: the large one is bounded by Jefferson Street
and 37th Place, Vermont and Western; and the smaller one by
28th Street and Jefferson, Western and Arlington.
The Madison Avenue Japanese district, located closer to
Hollywood than to the business center of the city, stretches
from Melrose Avenue to Beverly Boulevard, and Hoover Street to
Vermont Avenue.
The Hollywood section, situated fartherest from down
town Los Angeles, is the second largest Japanese residential
zone in this city. It spreads from Hollywood Boulevard to
Melrose Avenue and Van Ness to Highland, covering an area
approximately ten square blocks.
II. DISTRIBUTION OF SHINTO SHRINES
In the downtown district are found seven Shinto shrines:
Three Tenri-Kyo shrines, a Daijingu shrine, an Inari shrine, a
Meiji shrine, and a Taisha-Kyo shrine. Each uses a residence
78
for church services with the exception of the Inari Wayside
Shrine, built in the garden of a business man.
There are five Shinto shrines in the Boyle Heights
district: three Tenri-Kyo shrines, the Shindo shrine, and the
Konko-Kyo Shrine. They are all built on or within two blocks
of East First Street running from Chicago Street to Evergreen
Avenue.
In the Tenth Street district there is only one Shinto
shrine, that of the Tenri-Kyo Eikuto Sect. The shrine has no
church edifice but uses a residence for its services.
There are two Shinto shrines, the Hollywood Izumo Taisha-
Kyo Shrine and the Tenri-Kyo Hollywood Shrine, in the Madison
Avenue district. They are located a few blocks apart.
In the Hollywood and 36th Street districts there are no
Shinto churches.
The largest number of shrines is found in the downtown
and Boyle Heights districts where the most Japanese reside.
The shrines of each Shinto sect are distributed as set out in
Table XVII.
III. DISTRIBUTION OF THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES
The Buddhist temples, eleven in all, are found in three
Japanese districts.
Down town there are eight temples: the Nishi Hongwanji,
the Koyazan, the Zen-Shu, the Jodo-Shu, the California Nichiren
79
TABLE XVII
DISTRIBUTION OF SHINTO SHRINES IN LOS ANGELES
Sect Downtown Boyle Heights Tenth Street Madison Avenue
Tenri-Kyo 3 3 1 1
Konko-Kyo 0 1 0 0
Shindo
Honkyoku 1 1 0 0
Taisha-Kyo 1 0 0 1
Meiji* 1 0 0 0
Inari* 1 0 0 0
Total 7 5 1 2
* Meiji Shrine and Inari Shrine are officially unrecog
nized and do not belong to any sect.
80
the Gohozan Zennei, the Otani, and the Tozan Zen Kutsu. The
first three temples represent large denominations of Japanese
Buddhists and have more than one thousand members. The second
three are of the smaller denominations and have a membership
of less than one hundred. The last two are temples in name
only. The Otani is a preaching station or extension of the
Higashi Hongwanji and the Zen Kutsu is a mission for Americans
only.
In the Boyle Heights district there are two temples,
the Higashi Hongwanji and the Los Angeles Nichiren-Shu. Both
are of the major Buddhist denominations.
There is only one temple in the Hollywood district.
Having no building of its own it uses a classroom of the
Hollywood Japanese Language School for Sunday school and oc
casional services. It is really a preaching station or exten
sion of the Nishi Hongwanji Temple.
IV. DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Japanese Christian churches are found in all of the
Japanese districts except the Hollywood district.
In the downtown district are found three churches; the
Japanese Union, the Japanese Reformed, and St. Francis Xavier
churches. The two Protestant churches are only one block
apart. According to Mr, Tanaka, an official of the Union
Church, a plan to unite these two churches has been discussed
81
many times, but no agreement has been reached.
The Japanese Christian Church might also be said to be
in this district. However, it is located twenty-one blocks
from the center of the downtown district.
There are four churches in the Boyle Heights district:
the Baptist, the Independent Baptist, the Free Methodist, and
the Japanese Seventh Day Adventist churches. The Independent
Baptist Church was separated from the Japanese Baptist Church
two years ago.
In the 36th Street district there are three churches:
the Japanese Methodist, the Japanese Holiness, and the Church
of Christ. These churches are independent and do not cooperate.
In the West Tenth Street district, the St. Mary's
Episcopal Church has been the only religious organization
since 1907.
There are two Christian churches, in the Madison Avenue
district, the Presbyterian and Independent churches. The
Independent Church was the only church from 1916 to 1923. In
1923 a group left the Independent Church and formed the Presby
terian Church. This was the first of the two dissensions which
have occurred in the Christian Japanese community. It would
be well for these churches to unite, for one church is more
suitable to the size of the district than two.
There are no Japanese churches, shrines or temples in the
Hollywood district. The Japanese have not been welcome in
82
Hollywood since 1920 and are moving to the Madison Avenue
district.
In all Los Angeles there are no two Japanese churches
belonging to the same denomination except the Hollywood
Presbyterian Church and the Japanese Union Church, the latter
being a union of the Presbyterian and Congregational churches.
Neither are there in the same district two churches belonging
to the Japanese Church Federation with the exception of the
Hollywood Presbyterian and Independent churches.
V. COMPARISON OF THE DISTRIBUTIONS
The Christian churches are more evenly distributed than
the Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples. There was an unwrit
ten understanding among the larger denominations as to which
district each was to take. This, of course, is a wise arrange
ment when introducing a new religion. The smaller churches
were not parties to the agreement and they continue to move in
wherever they can find a following. With the Buddhists and
Shinto other conditions are more important. Their membership
is made up mostly of those who are already Buddhists or Shinto,
but who lack a place of worship. Therefore, the wisest ar
rangement is a geographically central location to which the
members can come from the surrounding districts.
This condition is slightly changed, however. Because
of local prejudice against Japanese in Hollywood, the Japanese
83
Christians are gradually moving to other districts. When many
members of the Independent Church of Hollywood moved into the
area in which the Presbyterian Church was already established
they established a church of their own.
CHAPTER V
COOPERATIVE WORK AMONG THE JAPANESE CHURCHES
IN LOS ANGELES
I. THE SHINTO SHRINES
There is very little interdenominational cooperation
among the four Shinto denominations in Los Angeles, although
the eight shrines of the Tenri-Kyo Sect work together a great
deal. On Memorial Day a joint religious service is held at
the Evergreen Cemetery and another once a year at the wayside
Inari Shrine at 510 Jackson Street. Whenever the Japanese
community celebrates such Japanese national holidays as the
Emperor’s Birthday, or Empire Day under the auspices of the
Japanese Association, Shinto priests unite in the performance
of a religious service before a temporarily set up altar.
These joint religious services may be called the only inter
denominational religious activities among the Los Angeles
Shinto shrines, for there is no cooperative philanthropic
work at all.
Participation of the Shinto shrines in community enter
prises, such as raising funds for the Community Chest, for the
Japanese Children’s Home and Home for the Aged, or for soldiers
wounded in the present Sino-Japanese war, is on an individual
shrine basis. It is the shrine cooperating with the community.
85
Young Men’3 Shinto Associations. There are three Young
Men’s Shinto Associations in Los Angeles connected with the
Daijingu Shrine, the Konko-Kyo Shrine, and the Tenri-Kyo
Shrine respectively. The first two are organizations within
the shrines while the last is an association composed of young
people from all Tenri-Kyo shrines in the city and has its of
fice in the Tenri-Kyo Mission of America. Each of these three
belongs to a single sect. There is no intersectarian Young
Men’s Shinto Association in the city.
The associations are independent of one another, and,
according to Reverend Susumu Yoshida, Secretary of the Tenri-
Kyo Mission of America, there exists no cooperative or feder
ated plan among these three associations.
Young Women’s Shinto Association. There is no Young
Women’s Shinto Association among the Shinto shrines in Los
Angeles.
Women’s Shinto Associations. There are four Women’s
Shinto Associations in Los Angeles. They are the Daijingu,
America Shindo, Konko-Kyo, and Tenri-Kyo Associations. The
first three are individual shrine associations while the last
is an intershrine association of the Tenri-Kyo Sect. The
first two, the Daijingu and the America, although belonging
to the same sect are not federated as is the association of
the Tenri-Kyo Sect.
86
There is no association which is intersectarian in the
city, nor is there a federated plan existing among the four
organizations.
II. THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES
The six Buddhist denominations in Los Angeles cooperate
through their Temple Federation organized in 1925. The Feder
ation, which is composed largely of priests, meets monthly to
plan and carry on interdenominational activities. Major annual
activities are the celebrations of Buddha’s Birthday and Death
Day. Buddha’s Birthday is usually celebrated for five days.
An English service is held the first day and Japanese services
the second. On the third day there are general assemblies of
Buddhist young people and Sunday schools. The fourth day is
given over to lectures, and the fifth day to social and recre
ational activities. On the Sunday nearest the Birthday there
is a procession.
Other interdenominational activities include celebra
tions of 0-bon or "All Soul’s Day" in July, and a joint ser
vice on Memorial Day at the Evergreen Cemetery.
The Federation has no philanthropical and educational
activities which it can claim as its own. All charity and
educational activities are carried on by the individual
temples and individually the temples participate in community
enterprises, sponsored by the Japanese Association.
87
The Buddhist Temple Federation is composed of all de
nominations, none of which claims orthodoxy as does the Roman
Catholic Church in Christianity. Each denomination is recog
nized as a branch of Buddhism. However, there are two churches
which do not belong to the Federation. The California Nichiren
Temple of the Honmon Hokke Branch of Buddhism refuses to join.
The other non-member is the Zennei Temple, which is not ac
cepted by the Federation on the grounds that the temple is a
dissenter and unrecognized by the headquarters of the Zen-Shu
Branch of Buddhists, although the temple claims that it be
longs to the Zen-Shu Sect. One of the ministers in Los Angeles
stated to the writer that by not accepting "unauthorized"
churches, the Federation can prevent the rising of small
churches established by many unemployed Buddhist priests in
the city.
There is still another cooperative service among the
Buddhists in America although it is very unusual in Japan.
This is the participation of priests of several denominations
at funerals. In the service they read together the sutras
common to all denominations or the sutras of the denomination
in which the funeral is held. This sort of cooperation does
not seem important at the present time but might be the start
ing point for future unity among the denominations.
Young People’s Buddhist Associations. In some temples
88
there are separate Young Men’s and Women’s associations while
in some the two are combined and called the Young People’s
Buddhist Association. All Buddhist temples except the
California Nichiren Temple have one of these associations,
and each association is an individual temple organization.
There is neither an. intertemple nor an interdenominational
association.
The Young Men’s and Women’s Buddhist Associations of
the Nishi Hongwanji Temple are, however, federated with the
other Young Men’s and Women’s Associations of the Shin Sect
in America.
The Young Men’s Buddhist Association Federation. The
federation of Young Men’s Buddhist Associations is composed
of twenty-seven young men’s groups of the Shin Sect in America.
No other sect participates. The league is an expression of
cooperative work among young Buddhists for the advancement of
Buddhism in America, for the religious education of children,
for physical development, and for the cultivation of speaking
ability, both in English and Japanese.
The Young Women’s Buddhist Association Federation.
Thirty Young Women’s Buddhist Associations in America, all of
which belong to the Shin Sect have been federated since 1927
and hold an annual conference in the large Japanese communities.
The federation is similar to that of the young men’s in its
89
aims and activities, adding to its purposes only assistance
to ministers, mutual aid among women and charity work in the
community.
There Is some cooperation among Buddhist young people’s
associations although they are unfederated. During the Buddha’s
birthday celebrations young people take an active part though
the celebrations are held under the auspices of the Buddhist
Temple Federation.
There is a chance of federating the associations for,
according to one minister of the Zen Sect, the young people
of his church have expressed a desire to hold joint meetings
with other associations. This may result in a federation.
Women’s Buddhist Associations. Women’s Buddhist
Associations are found in the following temples: Nishi Hong-
wanji, Higashi Hongwanji, Koyazan, Zen-Shu, Zennei, Nichiren-
Shu, and Jodo-Shu temples. Each association is tied closely
to a temple and a denomination. None is interdenominational.
There is no federated plan among these associations.
Nor is there any cooperation among them.
III. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
The Christian churches in Los Angeles have many inter-
chruch enterprises, each of which the writer shall treat sep
arately. A first section is devoted to a study of the Japanese
90
Church Federation through which much cooperative, work is
carried on.
The Japanese Church Federation of Southern California
Organi zation; . The Japanese Church Federation of
Southern California is composed of thirty churches out of a
total of forty-six churches in Southern California. The num
ber of churches and their denominations are as follows:
Union 6 Methodist 5
Baptist 5 Congregational 3
Presbyterian 3 Protestant Episcopal 1
Christian 2 Independent 1
Friends 1 Friends ôf Jesus 1
The number of churches and denominations outside of the
Federation are as follows:
Free Methodist 4 Nazaréne 1
Holiness 2 Church of Christ 1
Reformed 2 Seventh Day Adventist 1
Regular Baptist 1 Roman Catholic 1
The total number of ministers, missionaries, and members of
the churches within the Federation are as follows:
Japanese ministers 32 ^
American missionaries 16
Members 3,801
It was not possible to learn the total membership of churches
91
outside of the Federation, but the total number of ministers
is as follows:
Japanese ministers 11
American fathers (Catholic) 3
Brothers 5
Sisters 40
Missionaries 12
The Executive Board. The Executive Board of the Church
Federation is composed of a president, vice-president, secre
tary, treasurer, and numerous committees, who are either min
isters or laymen elected or appointed at the annual meeting
of the Federation.
History. In 1913 the ministers and delegates from the
Japanese Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Christian
churches in Southern California organized a federated body
(Do Mei Kai). They elected Reverend Kenichi Inazawa their
first president, and Reverend Atsuji Komuro vice-president,
to head the Japanese church unity movement. The organization
was called the Christian Domei of Southern California, and in
1913 united with the Japanese Dendodan, or Evangelical Body of
Northern California. After a division in 1915 the bodies were
again federated through a newly organized Central Dendodan,
whose advisors were Dr. Johnson of the Methodist, Dr. Hinman
of the Congregational, Dr. Actor of the Southern Baptist,
Professor Guy of the Pacific Seminary, 2Ær. Mein of the American
92
Bible Society, 2üf• Cub of the Christian Church and Hr. Hisataro
Abiko of the Japanese-American Daily News. In 1918 the Central
Dendodan disbanded and the Dendodan of Northern California dis
continued its work until 1924. The Domei of Southern Califor
nia continued its good work, and in 1931 became the Church
Federation of Southern California. The change was not in
organization but in name only.
Departments. There are ten departments in the Federa
tion each of which consists of three or more committees. The
departments are as follows:
Summer School International Relationship
Evangelism Church Relationship
Social Work Far East Evangelism
Young People The Retreat Ground
Current Events Auditorship
The departments indicate the general purposes of the Federation.
Activities of the Federation.
The Summer School. The Summer School, which is held
every summer in the Japanese Baptist Church at Terminal Island,
is the cooperative work of thirty churches belonging to the
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California. For an
example, the seventeen ministers and 144 members enrolled at
the school in 1932 represented Baptist, Independent, Union,
Friends,, Congregational, Christian, Methodist, Presbyterian,
93
Reformed, and Episcopal churches. To these were added offi
cials from the Japanese Y. M. C. A. and a few individuals
from churches not listed above.
The following representative program will show how
cooperatively the study, devotional and recreational programs
are carried on by ministers and laymen.
THE FIFTEENTH SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE CHURCH FEDERATION
OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Date: August 5th (M. ) to 11th (S.), 1935.
Place: Terminal Island Japanese Baptist Church.
Motto: ’ ’ The Enrichment of the Church”— Fhilippians 2:13.
Principal Reverend Yuzuru Yamaga (Methodist)
Vice-Principal Reverend Koijiro Unoura (Christian)
Y. P. Leader Mr. Masao Satow (Y. M. C. A.)
Minister Reverend Jingoro Kokubun (Union)
Superintendent Reverend Kickitaro Yamamoto (Baptist)
Treasurers Reverend Kiei Endo (Methodist)
Reverend Yasuo Oshita (Methodist)
Secretary Mr. Shinji Saito (Social Worker)
Committees on
Studies Reverend Yamazaki (Episcopal)
Lectures Reverend Kengo Tajima (Union)
Devotions Reverend Jingoro Kokubun (Independent)
Children Mr. Keikicki Murakami (Baptist)
Women Christian Women’s Federation
Publicity Reverend Kiyoshi Shiraishi (Baptist)
Music Reverend ÎJÎasahiko Wada (Baptist)
Sports Reverend Tohru Kuwano (Independent)
. Morning Prayer meeting every morning except Monday
6:00 to 7:00
Study Periods every morning 9:00 to 9:45,
Tuesday Theology Reverend Tajima (Congrega-
Wednesday Social Problems Reverend Kawano (tionalT
Thursday Church Problems Reverend Kikuchi (Presbyt.)
Friday Political Problems Reverend Machida (Methodist)
Saturday Y. P. Problems Reverend Unoura (Christian)
94
Lectures every morning 10:00 to 10:45
Monday The New Testament Reverend Ishikawa (Friends)
Tuesday The New Testament Reverend Ishikawa (Friends)
Wednesday The Old Testament Reverend Endo (Methodist)
Thursday The New Testament Reverend Watanabe (Congreg.)
Friday The Old Testament Reverend Shiraishi (Baptist)
Saturday The Bible and Prayer Reverend Watanabe (Congreg.)
Sermons every morning except Monday 11:00 to 12:00
Tuesday Sermon Reverend Kuwano (Independent)
Wednesday Sermon Reverend Shimada (Presbyterian)
Thursday Sermon Reverend Yamamoto (Baptist)
Friday Sermon Reverend Yokoi (Methodist)
Saturday Sermon Reverend Yamazaki (Episcopal)
The afternoons and evenings were spent in recreational and
social programs, testimonial meetings, conferences, or in
sight-seeing. On Sunday, the last day, from 9:00 to 10:45
a. m., a joint meeting of Sunday schools was held, from
11:00 to 12:00 a joint morning service of all churches be
longing to the Federation, and in the afternoon a confer
ence of the Women’s Federation.
As indicated in the program, the Summer School is inter
denominational in all respects, organizationally, religiously,
socially, and spiritually. Every minister takes some part in
the varied activities. Different ministers conduct the study
periods and deliver lectures on theological and social prob
lems, and yet there have been no serious controversies to dis
turb the fine spirit and unity of the school. The audience
feels perfectly at home when they listen to the sermons of
ministers belonging to other churches. Every morning the
ministers and laymen hold a prayer hour, kneeling on the sand
of the beach.
All meals are prepared by women volunteers of the dif
ferent churches. A schedule is made for the week so that there
95
will be no confusion. Although the cooking is an activity of
the Summer School, the Women’s Association Federation takes
full responsibility.
There is no other place in America where so many
Japanese Christians gather for study or for devotion as at
the Summer School, which has been conducted for the last nine
teen years. Although the enrollment has never exceeded two
hundred, those attending the last day’s joint meetings often
number more than one thousand.
Fifty acres of land were bought in 1930 for the school,
and it is now the community property of the Church Federation,•
the churches, and individual Christians.
Department of Social Work. This department was organ
ized in the year 1914. The work was carried on by ministers
and laymen of the Federation until 1926, when Mr. S. Saito, a
full-time worker was hired. Mr. Saito has the help of ministers
and laymen, and the Women’s Association Federation.
The following tabulation shows the types and number of
cases the department carried in the year 1939:^
Placing patients in the county hospitals 53 cases
Placing the old in the Home for the Aged 17 ”
Placing patients in the state hospitals 8 "
Testifying for the poor 14 ”
Sending the disabled to Japan 16 "
^ According to the Annual Report of 1939 of the
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California.
96
Arrangement of funerals 42 cases
Taking patients to the clinic 77
Applications for relief 22
Visiting the sick 230
Running errands for prisoners 23
Investigations 9
Finding jobs for the unemployed 3
Applications for unemployment insurance 2
Visiting the Home for the Aged 15
Visiting prisoners 53
Distribution of. magazines 200
Distribution of newspapers
Distribution, of Thanksgiving baskets 9 families
Party for thé aged 20 persons
Distribution of Christmas gifts 13 families
Distribution of Christmas gifts to the sick 120 persons
Department of Book Servi ce. A book service was organ
ized at one of the Church Federation meetings in 1938. The
purpose of this service is to select and buy good Christian
literature, both in English and Japanese, and sell it to the
churches belonging to the Federation.
In the last two years a catalogue with twenty-four in
expensive Japanese books and eleven English books was sent to
each church of the Federation, and two hundred books were sold.
The Monthly Prayer Meeting. Ministers and members of
the Los Angeles Japanese churches belonging to the Federation
meet on the first Wednesday of the month for prayer. They
meet in the church appointed by the Federation whi oh makes the
schedule of monthly meetings evenly distributed among all its
member churches. According to one of the ministers this fel
lowship between the members of the different churches promotes
a fine sense of oneness among the Japanese Christians.
97
Department of Evangelism. In the spring and in the au
tumn an evangelistic campaign is conducted throughout Southern
California. Usually two or more ministers visit each church
belonging to the Federation and hold meetings for two or three
days. A schedule is made by this department, and suitable
ministers are sent to each church.
Special evangelistic campaigns are conducted whenever
good evangelists or prominent Japanese Christians are avail
able. In the year 1940 three Christian leaders from Japan
conducted evangelistic meetings in the churches of Southern
California. These leaders were Dr. Yuasa of University of
Doshisha (Congregational), Reverend Shimizu of the Congrega
tional Church, and Bishop Kugimiya of the Methodist Church.
Setting aside denominationalism, they followed faithfully
the program made by the Japanese Federation.
Department of Far East Mission Work. This department
is actually carried on by the Laymen’s Association and the
Women’s Association of Southern California, with the help of
the Federation ministers. The three plans which they made
and carried out are: support of Chinese ministerial students
in seminaries in Japan who are to return to North China after
graduation; support of an orphanage near Shanghai, started and
managed by Yasuko Kusumoto, a Los Angeles girl; and help for
Mrs. Wakao’s Far East Mission in Peking.
For these enterprises a definite budget will be made in
98
the coming Federation annual meeting.
Nanka Christian Shinyo Rumiai*^ The Nanka Christian
Shinyo Kumiai is a credit association established in 1934,
when Toyohiko Kagawa came to America to start his "Kingdom of
God Movement” in the Japanese communities along the Pacific
Coast.
The purpose of the association is to help with the finan
cial problems of the churches, and its individual members.
Membership in the Kumiai is not limited to confessed Christians.
At present the association has a capital of $14,544.36,
of which $3,500.05 is invested in bonds and $4,510.00 is loaned
to churches and members. The largest loan was $1,000.00 to the
Church Federation for the purchase of a lot for the Summer
School at Redondo Beach.
Various uses of the loans are made by the churches and
individuals. Churches buy school buses, organs, church or
school lots. Sums loaned to members for their private needs,
such as automobiles, houses, and equipment for farming or
business.
The executive board is composed of a president, two
vice-presidents, two treasurers, three auditors, and two
secretaries. They are elected at the annual meeting of the
Federation and serve one year without salary.
^ A personal interview with Mr. Fukuma Inoshita,
Treasurer of Nanka Christian Shinyo Kumiai.
99
The members, 250 at present, save one dollar a month,
and receive a bond for each twenty-five dollars saved.
The members represent twenty-three of the twenty-five
Japanese churches belonging to the Federation, and several
unaffiliated churches.
Nanka Christian Kyozai Hoken. The Nanka Christian
Kyozai Hoken is a funeral insurance association established in
1934. At present it has a membership of 450 drawn from Feder
ation churches, from the Church of Christ, the Free Methodist,
and other churches not belonging to the Federation.
The registration fee is two dollars and dues differ
each year. One dollar is collected each time a death occurs
among the members. The membership suffered two to five deaths
a year during the last five years. These fees pay the running
expenses of the Hoken and funeral expenses of the members.
The executive board is that of the Nanka Christian
Shinyo Kumiai, the credit association. The combined success
of the credit association and the funeral insurance, according
to Mr. Inoshita, has contributed much to the successful opera
tion of the Federation and brought it prestige. Seeing the
success of this phase of Federation work* the Japanese
Federations in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, and
in the Hawaiian Islands have instituted credit associations
and funeral insurance following the suggestions of the offi
cials of these two organizations.
100
Affiliated Organizations.
The following organizations, considered separately,
are closely affiliated with the Church Federation. However,
they are so interrelated with the Federation that they are
almost a part of it.
Ministers’ Association.^ The Ministers’ Association of
the Japanese Church Federation of Southern California is sup
posed to be composed of all of the ministers of churches be
longing to the Federation. However, only ministers in Los
Angeles and neighboring towns, such as Pasadena, Gardena, San
Pedro, Montebello, and Norwalk, hold membership and attend
the monthly meeting held on the first Monday of each month at
one of the ministers’ homes. Outstanding activities of these
meetings are book reviews, discussions or business conferences
pertaining to the affairs of the ministers. A dinner or lunch
is usually served after the meeting, followed by a very in
formal social hour. Receptions for new ministers or farewells
for departing ministers are held whenever the occasion arises.
Visiting ministers are usually invited to the association and
asked to speak.
According to Reverend Kubota this monthly fellowship of
ministers makes the Federation work most effective.
Ministers’ Retreat. The Ministers’ Retreat is a
^ A personal interview with Reverend K. Kubota.
101
biannual affair of the ministers of the Japanese Church
Federation. In the spring and autumn the ministers retire
temporarily from their church work to spend three days in
prayer, contemplation, study, and fellowship in a quiet place.
No outside lecturers are invited. Study is carried on among
themselves. The Ministers’ Retreat is often observed previous
to a great task to be undertaken, such as the annual spring
and autumn evangelistic campaigns, or a series of meetings led
by such visiting evangelists as Toyohiko Kagawa, S. Sato, and
Dr. Iwahashi. A Retreat was held a few days before the Pan
American Japanese Christian Congress in Los togeles in 1939.
This congress was the greatest task the Federation has ever
undertook.
Twenty to thirty ministers attend the Retreats at one
4
time.
Japanese Christian Women’s Association Federation.^ The
Federation of Church Women was established in 1929. It is an
organization of the women’s associations of churches belonging
to the Japanese Church Federation. At present thirteen women’s
groups are taking active part in the Federation.
The general purpose of this Federation is to cultivate
the spirit of Christian unity among women, to promote
^ A personal interview with Reverend K. Kubota.
^ A personal interview with Mrs. C. Kawamura, President
of the Women’s Association Federation.
102
fellowship, and to heighten the spiritual living of Japanese
women immigrants. Some of the principal activities are as
follows:
Raising money for the social department of the Church
Federation whenever its funds are near depletion.
Raising money for the support of the Summer School of
the Church Federation.
Preparation of meals and arranging for social activi
ties of the Summer School.
Preparation of the annual banquet held by the Laymen’s
Association for the Japanese ministers.
A monthly visit to the Japanese in the Downey Home for
the Aged. Each month a women’s group from one church takes
the responsibility for the visit.
Raising money for the Japanese Children’s Home, a secu
lar institution which also receives aid from the state, the
county, the Community Chest, and the Japanese community. In
reality it is a Christian institution for its officers are
mostly Christians and the major portion of the budget is
raised by the Japanese Federation of Church Women.
Taking charge of all social affairs of the Church
Federation. For example, when the Pan American Japanese
Christian Conference was held last year, the Federation pre
pared daily meals for nearly three hundred delegates.
The Federation is a member of the Japanese Women’s
103
Association Federation of Southern California, and of the
International Women’s Association.
Laymen’s Association.^ The Laymen’s Association may be
said to be a counterpart of the Ministers’ Association of the
Japanese Federation of Southern California. However, the
association is not as well organized as that of the ministers.
Although membership is open to all the laymen of the churches
belonging to the Federation, the actual members are an esti
mated two hundred.
The Credit Association and the Funeral Insurance are
Federation activitives. However, the laymen actually carry on
the work. The laymen are planning to build a home for Japanese
retired ministers on the site of the Federation Summer School,
With the help of the Church Federation and the Federated
Church Women, the laymen have raised money to support Christian
mission work in China and the orphanage operated by Mss Yasuko
Kusumoto, who was once a worker in the Japanese Children’s
Home in Los Angeles.
The Laymen’s Association collects yearly a sum of five
hundred dollars for their Bethany Fund which is used mainly
to help ministers and their families. A minister’s son trying
to complete his seminary work, a minister who needs hospital
care, or the bereaved family of a former minister can call
^ A personal interview with Mr. Seno, Treasurer of the
Laymen’s Association.
104
upon the Bethany Fund for financial aid.
The biannual events on the Laymen’s Association calen
dar are the exchange of laymen between churches for the pur
pose of giving testimonials, and banquets to acknowledge the
services of the ministers in their spring and autumn evange
listic programs.
Friends of Jesus in Los Angeles
The Friends of Jesus are a group of people who partici
pate in Kagawa’s "Kingdom of God Movement". The group was
organized in 1925, when Toyohiko Kagawa came to America to
assist with the evangelistic program of the Japanese Church
Federation. Before returning to Japan he organized the Friends
of Jesus in several Japanese communities.
Organization. The Friends of Jesus is an interdenomina
tional organization. The members represent the churches be
longing to the Japanese Federation and the Church of Christ.
Several are nonresident church members. No members of the
Reformed, the Seventh Day Adventist, the Free Methodist, or
Holiness churches participate.
Activities. There are four major activities;
Observing weekly sunrise services;
Contribution of one hundred yen monthly to Kagawa’s
rural evangelistic work in Japan;
Contribution of ten dollars monthly to the wages of
105
the social worker of the Federation.
Distribution and sale of Kagawa’s books, magazines,
and pamphlets.
The Weekly Sunrise Service. The weekly morning services
rotate among the churches belonging to the Federation. The
service consists of hymns, prayers, and a short sermon by a
minister belonging to the Federation or by visiting ministers.
After the service a fellowship breakfast is served, having
been prepared by the women of the church. The attendance
averages forty to sixty persons.
The Contributions. In the beginning when the Friends
of Jesus was organized a contribution was made toward Kagawa’s
settlement work in Osaka, Japan, but lately the sum of one
hundred yen is contributed toward Kagawa’s rural work at his
request. The monthly contribution of ten dollars for the
salary of the Federation social worker has been maintained
for many years. However, according to the secretary, the sum
of forty dollars was contributed monthly until the Federation
became able to pay the major portion of the social worker’s
wages.
Cooperation with the Federation. According to the
secretary, the weekly devotional and social fellowship of the
Friends of Jesus helps to promote the cooperative work of the
Federation. The weekly fellowship intensifies the sense of
oneness among Christians, and members of the Friends of Jesus
106
are a dynamic force in the Federation work.
n
Japanese Nisei Church Federation
The Japanese Nisei Church Federation is composed of all
English speaking churches within the Church Federation.
English is used among the young people’s groups, and Japanese
among the adult. However, the active member churches in Los
Angeles and vicinity are the Union, Christian, Episcopal,
Methodist, Hollywood Independent, the Community, the Pasadena
Union, and the Montebello Congregational churches. The pur
pose of the Federation is the exchange of viewpoints, creation
of community interests, carrying on of cultural projects,
promotion of unified work among the churches, and religious
and social fellowship.
The Choir Festival. The Choir Festival is an annual
effort of the Nisei Federation to present good sacred music
to the Japanese community. The choirs of the Los Angeles
Union, the Pasadena Union, the Christian, the Methodist, and
the Episcopal churches participate. The Festival of 1940 was
a success with 150 choristers performing.
The Annual Conference. The Annual Conference is held
usually in November with representatives from all Japanese
7
A personal interview with Mr. Susu-Mago, a leader of
the Nisei Church Federation.
107
churches belonging to the Federation. Economic, social, voca
tional, educational, and religious problems are studied and
discussed under the leadership of such speakers as Lome Bell
of the Y. M. C. A., Dr. Mendenhall of îfliittler College, Dr.
Creston of Redlands University, and Dr. Odell of Occidental
College. The Conference usually lasts three days, during
which time religious and social fellowship are enjoyed. Games
and contests are also held. It ends with a great banquet.
Mar Casa Leaders* Advance
A Leaders* Training Camp is held at Mar Casa, Balboa,
usually in the spring. Each Japanese church in Southern
California sends three potential leaders, and every year some
eighty or ninety young people attend the camp to receive re
ligious, social, and educational training. The leaders are
usually the speakers at the Annual Conference of the Federation,
Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association
This association is the Japanese branch of the Young
Men’s Christian Association of Los Angeles, organized in 1923.
It is, of course, nonsectarian and cooperates with the Japanese
churches in the city. Support comes from the Community Chest,
donations and membership fees.
The aims of the association are to help individuals
and to aid in social reconstruction. It works cooperatively
108
rather than competitively to achieve the aims which the
churches and other agencies in the community have in
common, and at the same time to add its own distinctive
contribution to the work.®
The achieve its aims the association has twenty clubs with
competent leaders. Fifteen of the clubs meet in the churches
and the remainder in schools or homes.
The churches in which these clubs are found belong to
the Japanese Church Federation. The association receives bet
ter cooperation from these churches than from the unfederated
churches.
The association devotes much of its time to club work
with the belief that the spiritual, social, mental, and phys
ical life of boys and men grows and develops best in group
life. It helps clubs to contact one another; it provides
intergroup life for the club members.
Some of the important activities of the clubs are
summer camping, leadership training, interracial adjustment,
sports, intergroup association, study groups on marriage and
family relations, and conference work.
The association is a member of the advisory board of
the Nisei Church Federation. It assisted in the organization
of the Federation.
8
A personal interview with Mr. î^sao Sato, Secretary
of the Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association.
109
Japanese Young Women’s Christian Association
The Japanese branch of the Young Women’s Christian
Association of Los Angeles was organized in 1912 and is sup
ported by the Community Chest of Los Angeles, members’ fees,
and donations.
The office of the association is located in the Japanese
business district. Centered around the office are religious
and social activities.
The association is a member of the advisory board of
the Nisei Church Federation, in whose work it takes an active
part. Of the nineteen clubs claimed by the association, ten
meet in Federation churches. In this and other ways, the
association cooperates with the churches.
The association aims to develop the religious, social,
mental, and physical life of young women mainly through club
work. The important goals of the clubs are leadership train
ing, recreation and parties, community dances, marriage rela
tionship study, interracial contacts, personal adjustment to
home, school, and work, craft work, singing and folk dancing.
Associated Chfistiah Youth
A group of young people was organized in 1935 by
Reverend J. Morikawa of the Baptist Church. Representing sev
eral Japanese churches, they called themselves the Associated
110
Christian Youth. At present this group draws young people
from nearly every Japanese church in Los Angeles and vicinity.
Unlike the Nisei Church Federation, the group is not a
federation of churches. Neither is it affiliated with the
Issei Church Federation. Its members have joined the group
individually, not as a representative of their church; it has
members from all churches.
The group meets about once in three weeks, usually at
a church in which a large number of its members are found,
though sometimes meetings are held in homes. Once a year it
holds a conference. The meetings and the conference consist
of prayers, testimonies, and special addresses.
The group is an organization for religious fellowship.
It may be said to be a religious fellowship of theologically
conservative or "fundamentalist" individuals in the Japanese
churches.
CHAPTER VI
THE EXTENT OF UNION AMONG THE JAPANESE CHURCHES IN
LOS ANGELES, COMPARED ICETH THAT OF THE SHINTO
SHRINES AND THE BUDDHIST TETdPLSS
This chapter is a result of interviews with Japanese
ministers and with a limited number of church officials and
laymen.
I. THE SHINTO SHRINES
Among the Japanese Shinto shrines in Los Angeles,
there is no shrine union either within a sect or between
different sects. Where there is no shrine federation, an
organic unity could hardly be expected.
Historically, no shrine union has ever occurred in the
United States. None of the shrines in Los Angeles claims or
thodoxy, for each sect is thought of as one of the thirteen
Shinto sects recognized by the Japanese government.
According to Reverend S. Yoshida, Secretary of the
Tenri-Kyo Mission of America, the ministers of the eight
Tenri-Kyo shrines in Los Angeles feel no need of uniting
their congregations. These are well distributed in the city,
and at the same time are federated under the Tenri-Kyo Mission
of America.
Neither have the ministers ever considered uniting
112
their shrines with the shrines of other sects. They are also
indifferent toward the organization of a Shrine federation
for with their eight churches and a large membership they feel
self-sufficient without cooperating with other Shinto sects.
This feeling was manifested in the last Memorial Day service
at Evergreen Cemetery. This sect conducted an impressive
service using many ministers and musicians and had a large
attendance. The other Shinto sects had a joint service.
However, the ministers of the other three sects are
just as indifferent toward shrine union. They have not given
it much thought, for they consider it impossible for their
shrines to be united as long as their sects in Japan are sep
arate and independent. Permission to unite their shrines with
the shrines of other sects is unobtainable.
It has been the writer’s observation during twenty
years’ stay in Los Angeles that among the Shinto laymen the
belief is prevalent that there will be no intersectarian
shrine union within Shinto.
II. THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES
Although there has been no temple union in the history
of Buddhism in Los Angeles, six temples out of the nine in
the city are federated.
The ministers of the federated temples agree that as
long as their sects in Japan are independent and ununited no
113
Buddhist temples in Los Angeles can be united. They differ,
however, in their attitude toward temple union. Two ministers
defended sectarianism. Four showed a favorable attitude
toward unity. One minister of the Higashi Hongwanji Temple
showed real grief over the strife existing between his denom
ination and the Nishi Hongwanji of the Shin Sect which have
been rivals for the last thousand years. Since the Buddhist
temples in Japan have been federated, the next step, he said,
is to unite them. But before uniting temples of different
sects, temples within the sect must first be united,he believed,
The ministers of the Zen-Shu Temple were favorable to
temple union. The Zen sects, three in all, they thought should
be united first of all. At present the Soto and Rinzai sects
have a joint board and jointly conduct a university.
The laymen of the Buddhist temples invariably believe
that temple union is impossible because their denominations
have too long a history of contention and the rival feeling
among them can never be overcome.
III. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Among the Japanese Christian churches in Los Angeles
there is one example of church union. That is the union of
two Congregational and one Presbyterian church. While their
denominations are ununited, these local churches have united,
and they work with the extension boards of both denominations.
114
In all of California there are eight such Japanese
churches. They are as follows:
Los Angeles Union.Church (Congregational and Presbyterian)
West Los Angeles Union Church (Congregational, Methodist,
and Presbyterian)
Pasadena Union Church (Congregational and Friends)
1
Santa Maria Union Church (Methodist, Congregational, and
Presbyterian)
Riverside Union Church (Methodist and Congregational)
San Francisco Christian Church (Congregational and
Presbyterian)
Berkeley Union Church (Methodist and Disciples)
History of the Japanese Union Church in Los Angeles.^
In 1914 a union of two Congregational churches and one Presby
terian church in the Japanese community in Los Angeles was
attempted but resulted in failure. The district superinten
dents of the two denominations. Dr. Sturge and Dr. Hinman,
labored painstakingly, but in vain. Again, Superintendent
Hinman attempted to unite two churches of his own denomina
tion, but failed. This attempt, however, was resumed when
Reverend Junzo Nakamura from the Presbyterian Church in
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California,
History of the Japanese Christian Churches in America (trans-
lated by the writer; los Angeles, 1952), pp. 126-128.
115
Sacramento came to Los Angeles. Nakamura met several times
with Giichi Tanaka and Magojiro Furuya and obtained their
cooperation for church unity. At eight o'clock on Wednesday,
October 13, 1917, the members of the three Japanese churches
assembled and held a prayer meeting at the Central Hall
(property of the Presbyterian Church), 212 South Hill Street,
Los Angeles. The meeting was presided over by Reverend
Nakamura, and the group prayed earnestly for church unity.
On the following Sunday at the same place the first united
morning service was conducted by Reverend Nakamura as chair
man, Reverend Furuya as reader of the Scripture, and Reverend
Tanaka as speaker. There were fifty present.
Having held a successful joint prayer meeting and
morning worship, the committee on church unity met on February
27, 1918, at 227 North San Pedro Street. With Kango Kojima,
an experienced former district superintendent of Ushigome,
Tokyo, to advise them they promptly adopted a constitution
and a creed, and appointed Masayoshi Omura as the secretary.
It was agreed that an equal number of officers be chosen from
the respective denominations and the following were elected:
Elders - Kango Kojima, Shuzo Sato, Shinji Kawamura,
Morimi Endo, Masayoshi Omura, Rokuichi Kusumoto;
Supervisors ^ Riichi Hori, Seihachi Yamaguchi, Haruo Fujita;
Treasurers - Masataka Zaiman, Chikashi Tanaka, Hidezo
Nakanishi;
116
Secretary - Masayoshi Omura*
Thus, the Japanese Union Church in Los Angeles was or
ganized with Giichi Tanaka as ministering pastor, Junzo
Nakamura as minister of evangelism, and Magojiro Furuya as
minister of education.
Later, two of the ministers, Reverend Nakamura and
Reverend Furuya, left the church. Reverend Kiyosumi Ogawa
became assistant minister and a lot was purchased at 120
North San Pedro Street. On it they built a new church. The
building was dedicated on July 25, 1923, and Reverend Nakamura
invited to offer the dedication prayer.
Still later. Reverend Ogawa and Reverend Tanaka resigned
and Reverend Noriyoshi Toku of the Methodist Church took their
place.
West Los Angeles Union Church. The Union Church of
West Los Angeles, according to Reverend J. Morikawa, the
present pastor, is actually a community rather than a union
church. It belongs to the Methodist Conference.
When it was organized in 1930, it was a union of three
denominations: Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian.
It attempted also to include the Japanese Reformed Church of
that district, but failed to bring it into the fold. Later
the Congregational and Presbyterian churches withdrew their
help from this church and left all responsibility to the
Methodist Church.
117
Santa Maria. Union Church. In 1929 with the help of the
boards of the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and
Christian churches, the Santa Maria Union Church was organ
ized. The movement had been started by twenty Christians of
different denominations who had persuaded these boards to
organize a union church for them. Later the Christian Church
Board withdrew, and the church at present belongs to the
three denominations who help with its support.
Annually it receives five hundred dollars from these
denominations, six hundred dollars from its members, one
hundred fifty dollars from its Sunday School, and five hun
dred from friends.
The church has been a member of the Japanese Church
Federation of Southern California for some time. The present
minister thinks that all Japanese churches in Southern Cali
fornia should cooperate through the Church Federation rather
than through church unity.
Pasadena Union Church. A church was organized in
Pasadena in 1913 by the united action of the Congregational
and Friends church boards. The present minister of the
Pasadena Union Church thinks the union is very satisfactory.
At present the church is 75 per cent self-supporting.
The other 25 per cent is contributed by other churches in
Pasadena.
118
To the question, "Should all churches in Southern
California be united?" the minister said: "In small cities
churches should be united." He expressed the opinion, how
ever, that all Japanese churches need not be united under one
board. They can very well cooperate under the Japanese
Church Federation.
2
The Japanese Christian Church of San Francisco. At
one of the meetings of the Dendodan, it was decided to make
the federated Japanese churches into a united church. For
this purpose special committees were appointed. In May of
the following year, 1914, the annual meetings of the Presby
terian Church and the Congregational Church were held simul
taneously in Los Angeles to discuss the problem of uniting
their Japanese churches. As a result, in October of the same
year the Japanese Congregational Church and the Japanese
Presbyterian Church of San Francisco were united. The united
church was called San Francisco Japanese Christian Church,
and Kohachiro. Miyazaki of the Presbyterian Church and Kunio
Kodaira of the Congregational Church were sent as its
ministers.
Berkeley Union Church.^ A union of Berkeley Methodist
2 Ibid.. p. 125.
® Japanese Church Federation of Northern California, A
Handbook of the Japanese Christian Churches in Northern Cali
fornia (Osaka, Japan: Nichiyo Sekai Sha, 19367, pp. 125-126.
119
Episcopal and Christian churches was organized in 1929, and
named the Berkeley Union Church. The Methodist body had been
in the city since 1909, at first as a mission of the Japanese
Methodist Church in Oakland, and from 1914 as a Methodist
Church. The Christian Church had been there since 1903,
having begun as a union church, and from 1908 as a Christian
Church.
The union of these two was accomplished with the help
of Superintendent Watson, Superintendent Smith, Reverend
Chiyokichi Tagashira, and Reverend Nobuto Oda. The united
church became financially independent and at present has no
connection with either of the two denominations.
Riverside Union Church. A union of the Japanese
Methodist and Japanese Congregational churches in Riverside
took place in 1927 and the resulting body was called the
Riverside Union Church. The Methodist Church had been there
since 1902.
Salt Lake City Union Church. Salt Lake City Union
Church united the Congregational and Presbyterian churches.
It was established in 1919.
IV. ATTITUDES TOWARD CHURCH UNION AND FEDERATION
The Roman Catholic attitude. One of the St. Francis
Xavier Church fathers in Los Angeles gave an answer to the
120
question is not St. Francis Xavier Church a member of
the Japanese Church Federation of Southern California?" The
following is, however, only a portion of his long letter.
As citizens, we are brothers and should dwell together
in civic unity, but those of our American brethren who
broke unity with the Catholic Church are not our brothers
in religion. The Catholic Church did not break with them;
they, or their ancestors, broke with the Catholic Church,
and their duty is to return to Catholic unity. . . .
The writer understands this statement to mean there can be no
church unity unless the Protestant churches "unite" with the
Roman Catholic Church by becoming Roman Catholic churches.
The attitude of the Church of Christ. The view of the
pastors of the Church of Christ is that the Church of Christ
is the only true Church of Jesus, and so-called Christian
churches are not real churches. They are either religious
organizations or clubs.
The attitude of the Free Methodist Church. An American
minister of the church writes:
We agree immediately that they (Japanese Church Federa
tion) would not ask us to deny any of our standards;
however, their standards are so much different that the
mere fact of association places us in the public mind
as according together. Our small group in the large
group would be completely submerged and our identity as
holiness people would be lost.
Regarding union of the Japanese Free Methodist Church and
the Japanese Holiness Church he writes:
The Holiness Church and our Church have nearly the
same articles of faith. The chief difference is in the
121
matter of government. It might be very conceivable that
these two churches could unite without losing their funda
mental beliefs. The two churches operate now, however,
with great cooperation, and neither has a church located
where it is competitive to the other denomination.
The Seventh Day Adventist view. A Japanese minister of
the Adventist church says, "The Japanese Seventh Day Adventist
Church will not join the Japanese Federation because the Con
ference to which our church belongs will not allow our church
to do so."
Attitudes of ministers of Federation churches. Pastors
of churches belonging to the Federation are unanimous in their
views on church union and federation. All want to have coop
eration among the Japanese churches, but they would rather
cooperate through the Church Federation. However, they do not
object to church union. Nor do they show enthusiasm for it.
There is no advocate of Japanese church union at present.
Attitudes of superintendents. A superintendent of the
Methodist Church wrote the following statements:
There are three Japanese Union Churches in which the
Methodist Church takes a part: Riverside Church (Methodist
and Congregational), Santa Maria Church (Methodist, Con
gregational, Presbyterian), and Berkeley Church (Methodist,
and Disciples). Riverside Church is the oldest in this
group. The union here is complete and the situation sat
isfactory. Both Santa Maria and Berkeley Churches I or
ganized. Santa Maria is successful. However, so far it
has had only Methodist pastors and I superintend the work
as in our own churches. The Berkeley Church has not been
successful. The members are not all able to agree.
122
In answer to the question, "Would you like to see all
Japanese churches in California or in America controlled by
one Home Mission Board rather than by many?" he wrote
The Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian Churches
have considered this but have been held back by the fact
that many older Japanese are too strongly denominational.
. . . Baptists, Episcopalians, and small and extreme sects
would not join anyway.
To the question, "What churches should be united?" he
wrote: "I can not think of any Japanese communities where
Christianity is strengthened by union."
A superintendent of the Congregational churches believes
that all the Japanese union churches in which the Congregational
Church takes a part are successful and satisfactory. These
churches are the Los Angeles, the San Francisco, the Riverside,
the Pasadena, and the Santa Maria churches. However, the fact
that the elements of the Congregational Church are more pre
dominant than those of the Presbyterian Church, the Los Angeles
Union Church may not be satisfactory to the Presbyterian Church.
In the San Francisco Church the Presbyterian is more predominant
than the Congregational element.
All Japanese churches should be controlled or supervised
by one Home Mission Board rather than by many.
The Los Angeles Union Church and the Japanese Reformed
Church, which are only one block apart, should be united. A
superintendent of the Reformed Church, when asked directly
whether or not the Japanese Reformed Church and the Union
123
Church should be united, made no commitment.
Attitudes of church officials and laymen of churches
belonging to the Federation. Generally speaking, officials
know more about denominational differences and history than
laymen who are converted to Christianity rather than to a de
nomination. However, very few Japanese church officials
fully appreciate denominational differences. They believe all
denominations should cooperate, and at present are satisfied
with cooperation through church federation. None is working so
earnestly for church union today as the many prominent Japanese
Christians worked for it some twenty years ago.
Laymen are also satisfied with church federation rather
than church union. Although the subject of church union has
been discussed in many Federation meetings, laymen show very
little interest in it. Twenty years ago there was great in
terest among the laymen. These, however, are growing old,
according to Reverend Y. Yamaka, and they must be replaced by
4
younger Japanese Christians with new vision.
^ A personal interview with Reverend Yuzuru Yamaka of
the Japanese Methodist Church of Los Angeles.
CONCLUSION
All Japanese religious organizations in Los Angeles
belong to three faiths: Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity.
The Japanese immigrants to America brought with them Shinto
and Buddhist faiths; while it was through the American
Christian churches that the Japanese studied and accepted
Christianity.
Shinto has thirteen sects of which four are established
in America: Shindo Honkyoku, Taisha-Kyo, Konko-Kyo, and Tenri-
Kyo. These four sects support thirteen shrines in Los Angeles.
Buddhism in America has five sects: the Shingon, Shin,
Zen, Nichiren, and Jodo. These sects are represented in Los
Angeles by eight temples and four missions.
Thirteen Christian denominations out of the two hundred
and some in America have Japanese churches in Los Angeles.
They are the Methodist, Christian, Protestant. Episcopal,
Roman Catholic, Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, Free
Methodist, Holiness, Churches of Christ, Baptist, Regular
Baptist, and Seventh Day Adventist churches.
There are six districts in Los Angeles where a high
degree of concentration of Japanese people stands out. They
are: Downtown, Boyle Heights, West Tenth Street, West 36th
Street, Madison Avenue, and Hollywood districts. In the Down
town and Boyle Heights districts are found twenty-nine shrines,
temples and churches. Twelve shrines, eight temples, and five
125
churches are built on or near East First Street, running from
San Pedro Street to Evergreen Avenue. Hence, nearly all
Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples are to be found near
East First Street.
The Christian churches are more evenly distributed
than the Shinto or Buddhist temples, one or more churches
being found in each district. The churches belonging to the
Japanese Church Federation have a still better distribution.
One church is found in each district, except the Hollywood
Presbyterian and Hollywood Independent churches, which are
both in the Madison Avenue District.
Fourteen Shinto shrines, twelve Buddhist temples, and
fourteen Christian churches seem too many for the Los Angeles
Japanese community of only twenty thousand. With the hope of
finding possibilities of uniting some of them, a general sur
vey of these organizations was made. Each organization was
visited and its minister was interviewed. The denominational
background of the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples was ob
tained through books and interviews with priests.
The findings are as follows: There is no possibility
of uniting organizations of Shinto, Buddhism and Christian,
for there exists not even interfaith cooperation of any sort,
whether of religion, educational, or social work.
Among the Christian churches in Los Angeles proper,
there is only one union church, which is of the Congregational
186
and Presbyterian churches. However, there seems no possibil
ity of uniting any more churches, for the church unity move
ment among the Japanese Christian churches in Southern
California is either dormant or dead.
No shrines and temples of different sects have ever ■
been united in America. The ministers and laymen are indif
ferent to union.
There is one thing which was common in each religion.
That is, some interdenominational cooperation is found in each
of these three religions* Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity.
The Shinto shrines in Los Angeles cooperate annually on two
occasions, holding services together on Memorial Day and the
Emperor’s Birthday, and occasionally on special Japanese
holidays. Their cooperation is without formal organization.
The Buddhist temples in Los Angeles cooperate through
a formal organization, the Buddhist Temple Federation. The
main work of the Federation has been the joint celebrations
of the Birthday and the Death Day of Buddha. No organizations
within the temples are federated.
Half of the Japanese Christian churches in Los Angeles
cooperate through the Japanese Church Federation of Southern
California and its affiliated organizations. These churches
are Methodist, Christian, Hollywood Presbyterian, Protestant
Episcopal, Hollywood Independent, Union, and Baptist.
There are eleven interdenominational organizations
127
among these churches belonging to the Federation,
The common aims of these interdenominational organiza
tions are evangelism, socialization, and social work among
the Japanese churches in Southern California, and the mission
work in China.
The independent and noncooperative churches are St.
Francis Xavier (Catholic), Reformed, Free Methodist, Holiness,
Regular Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, and Church of Christ.
However, there is some cooperation between the Japanese
Holiness Church and the Japanese Free Methodist Church.
There is no cooperative work between the Roman Catholic
Church and the Protestant churches.
The ideal of the union of all Japanese religious organ
izations seems impossible of attainment. To unite all relig
ious organizations within one religion has formidable diffi
culties. The younger Japanese may find the way to remove
these difficulties aided by the changes which time inevitably
brings.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS '
Archer, John Clark, Faiths Men Live By. New York: Thomas
Nelson and Sons, 1954.
Belcher, Joseph, The Religious Denominations in the United
States. Philadelphia: Potter, 1861.
Clark, Elmer Talmage, The Small Sects in America. Nashville:
Cokesbury Press, 1937.
Douglass, H. Paul, Church Unity Movements in the United
States. New York: Institute of Social and Religious
Research, 1934.
Japanese Church Federation of Northern California, A Handbook
of the Japanese Christian Churches in Northern California.
Osaka, Japan: Nichiyo Sekai Sha, 1936.
Japanese Church Federation of Southern California, A Fifty-
Year History of the Japanese Christian Church in America.
Tokyo, Japan: Shinsei Do, 1932.
Japanese Methodist Church of Los Angeles, A Forty-Year History
of the Los Angeles Japanese Methodist Church. Tokyo,
Japan: Shinsei Do, 1937.
Ogura, Kenji, A Story of Shinto. Tokyo, Japan: Kinsei Sha,
1939.
Phelan, Macon, New Handbook of all Denominations. Nashville:
Cokesbury Press, 1933.
Tenri-Kyo Mission of America, A Ten-Year History of Tenri-Kyo
Mission in America. Nara, Japan: Tenri-Kyo Kyocho Press,
1938. •
Umehara, Shinryu, Shinshu. Tokyo, Japan: Yuko Sha, 1938.
MAGAZINES, REPORTS AND UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS
Evangelical and Reformed Church, Blue Book, Annual Reports of
Officers and Boards. Philadelphia: Heidelberg Press, 1939.
130
Japanese Christian Church, The Thirtieth Anniversary of the
Japanese Christian Institute. Los Angeles, 1934.*
Mi chi No Tomo, April, 1940. Nara-ken, Japan: 1940 Tenri-Kyo
MiChino Tomo Sha.
Nodera, Isamu, "A Survey of the Vocational Activities of the
Japanese in the City of Los Angeles." Unpublished Master’s
thesis. University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
1935. *
Ogura,'Kosei, "A Social Study of the Buddhist Churches in
America." Unpublished Master’s thesis. University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1932.
Sacon, Y. H., A Study of Japanese Religious Organizations in
North America. A study presented to the University of
Southern California, Los Angeles,1932.
Shiraishi, K. T., "Japanese Baptists in Southern California
are Marching On." A church report, Los Angeles, 1939.
Takahashi, Kyojiro, "A Study of the Japanese Shinto and Buddhism
in Los Angeles." Unpublished Master’s thesis. University
of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1937.
The Watchman, October 15, 1940. Nashville: Southern Publishing
Association.
Watson, Ben 1., "A Study of the Japanese Christian Churches in
the United States." A report of the Home Department of
United Christian Missionary Society.
INTERVIEWS
Horikoshi, Tokujiro, minister of Hollywood Presbyterian Church,
4011 Clington Street, Los Angeles.
Ishimaru, Goichi, ministers of Izumo Taisha, 205§ South Garey
Street.
Ishino, Mikio, minister of Hollywood Independent Church, 1117
North Commonwealth Street.
Izuhara, Kwankai, minister of Higashi Hongwanji, 118 North
Mott Street.
131
Kubota, Kenzo, minister of the Christian Church, 817 East 20th
Street.
Levery, Hugh, Father of St. Francis Xavier Church, 222 South
Hewitt Street.
Murakita, Nikkan, minister of California Nichiren Church, 130
Rose Street.
Nozakai, Reikai, minister of the Jodo Church, 614 East First
Street.
Okita, Mi yoShi, minister of Nishi Hongwanji Temple, 119 North
Central Avenue.
Senzaki, Nyogen, minister of Tozan Zen Kutsu, 441 Turner Street.
Sudo, Sakuich, minister of Daijingu Church, 452 Jackson Street.
Suzuki, Eizaburo, minister of Japanese Methodist Church, 3500
South Normandie Avenue.
Tachibana, Ryuko, minister of Zen Betsuin, 123 South Hewitt
Street.
Takahashi, Seitsu, minister of Koyazan Church, 1153 West 22nd
Street.
Tsuyuki, Taiichi, minister of Konko-Kyo Church, 2924 East
First Street.
Unoura, Kojiro, minister of Japanese Christian Church, 814
East 20th Street.
üyèshima, Taigagu, minister of Gohozan Zennei Church, 727§
East First Street.
Watanabe, Sosaburo, minister of Japanese Union Church, 1615
Michigan Avenue.
Watanabe, Yorishige, minister of Independent Baptist Church,
3223 Gleason Avenue, . . . - .
Yamaka, Yuzuru, minister of Japanese Methodist Church, 2254
West 29th Place.
Yamazaki, Misao, minister of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church,
960 South Normandie Avenue.
Yoshida, Susumu, minister of Tenri-Kyo Church, 117 North
Saratoga Street.

Asset Metadata

Creator Osaki, Norio (author)

Core Title A survey of interdenominational cooperation within each of three Japanese religions in Los Angeles, Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Master of Arts

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,philosophy, religion and theology

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Language English

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c39-172593

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