I 
 
 6 k 
 
 
 Mn iffatbfr 
 
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Honolulu, Hawaii, 
 
 June 1st, 1919. 
 
 Dear Friends 
 
 You are no doubt well acquainted with Rev. T. Ckumura's 
 religious and educational activities and his efforts to promote frank 
 and harmonious relations between American people and Japanese in 
 Hawaii. This coming month of August will be the twenty-fifth an- 
 niversary of his devoted service in these islands, and wish to cele- 
 brate it in a fitting manner. 
 
 After our careful discussion of different plans, we 
 thought that one of the best ways of showing of our friendship with 
 him and our interest in his wrorks will be to share the part of his 
 financial burdens. He has been trying in various ways to clear the 
 debt of 12500 which has been outstanding against his church young- 
 men's clubhouse and darmitory these several years. But he has not 
 been successful in eliciting any response on account of the war ac- 
 tivities. We believe that you will agree with our thought that this 
 is the best way of celebrating the anniversary of Mr. Okumura's 
 Christian service in Hawaii. 
 
 Will you kindly give your most earnest consideration to 
 this appeal, and help us? We wish that you will forward your contri- 
 bution to Mrs. T. Kishimoto, Chairman of the committee, P. 0. 
 Box 894, Honolulu, T. H. 
 
 With our best wishes. 
 
 Sincerely yours. 
 
 Mrs. T. Kishimoto 
 Mrs. K. Yamamoto 
 Umetaro Okumura 
 
iiy iPatl)fr 
 
Rev. Takie k)kumura 
 

FOREWORD. 
 
 I have been prompted to write this 
 brief biography of my father by an 
 urgent request of a group of his friends 
 who desire to celebrate in a fitting 
 manner the twenty-fifth anniversary 
 of his devoted service in Hawaii and 
 the fifteenth anniversary of the Ma- 
 kiki Church. 1 have jotted down from 
 my memory all that 1 have heard from 
 my father and uncle. 
 
 For friendly counsel and other 
 manifestations of kindly interest in 
 connection with the publishing of this 
 booklet, 1 am exceedingly grateful to 
 intimate friends of my father. 
 
 U. Okumura. 
 
 Honolulu, T. H., March 1, 1919. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 JiV. 
 
 https://archive.org/details/myfatherrevtakieOOokum 
 
1, HIS ANCESTRY. 
 
 Japan for three hundred years before the Meiji revolution 
 was ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The period of the 
 Shogunate is characterized by the rise of feudalism and the 
 reign of profound peace. The samurai, or the knight, played 
 a most conspicuous role. The samurai was not a blood- 
 thirsty warrior of the dark ages, as Dr. Nitobe aptly por- 
 trays. “The samurai Icoked upon the profession of arms, not 
 as a matter of slaughter but as a means of mental and spiritual 
 training. He went to battle, and he prepared for combat, not 
 so much to gain victory as to try his skill with his peer. Fair 
 play and square deal were the chief attractions of their mode 
 of warfare.” The samurai in other words stood for ideals. 
 And inspite of the rigorous training necessary to become an 
 expert in the use of the sword, he found leisure to patronize 
 the different arts. The samurai is undoubtedly one of the 
 forces which have reconstructed and have produced the Japan 
 of today. 
 
 The ancestors of my father were samurai who served the 
 household of Prince Katsutoyo Yamauchi, the feudal lord of 
 Tosa. Tosa was a stronghold of one of the four most power- 
 ful feudal lords, (Higo, Nagato, Satsuma and Tosa), who 
 were the leaders in the Meiji Revolution which overthrew 
 the rule of Tokugawa Shogunate. When leyasu Toku- 
 gawa wrested the political power of Japan from Toyotomi 
 Hideyoshi, he appointed Yamauchi Katsutoyo of Kakegawa 
 as the feudal lord of Tosa. Tosa was still in the hands of the 
 hostile samurai who had stubbornly fought against Toku- 
 gawa the Shogtm. It was very dangerous for Yamauchi to take 
 up his official post. On his venturesome journey from Kake- 
 gawa he was accompanied by nine chosen and most trusted 
 samurai who were dressed exactly like the feudal lord. 
 Wherever the feudal lord went, these samurai acted as his 
 bodyguard. One of these samurai was Yasudayu Okumura, 
 an ancestor of just twelve generations before my father. 
 
 1 
 
Sukeyomon Okumura, father of Yasudayu, was one of the 
 “Karo,” or counselors, of Maeda, feudal lord of Kaga. In the 
 battle of Osaka, by which victory Tokugawa leyasu became 
 the Shogun, Sukeyomon Okumura distinguished himself. He 
 was killed in action at Sengokubori Yasudayu, one of his 
 sons, was then a mere boy. Yamauchi Katsutoyo of Kake- 
 gawa, later feudal lord of Tosa, took the boy into his .service, 
 in recognition of the marked bravery of his father. 
 
 Shudayu Okumura, my great-grand father was a samurai 
 who took great interest, not in the sword, but in Chinese 
 classics, of which he was a profound student. On his por- 
 trait which has been handed down, Kokyo Hineno, a scholar, 
 writes of him, as “a man of profound learning, a deep thinker, 
 an excellent poet, a man of pure and exalted nature, and a 
 man never hated or disliked by others because he had no 
 malice or hatred of others.” Matajuro Okumura, my grand- 
 father, inherited his father’s scholarly characteristics and was 
 a man who had read a great deal. Just prior to the Meiji 
 revolution he was a governor of one of the districts ift Tosa. 
 My father was born in the grandfather’s official resid^ce, 
 April 18, 1865. Alatajuro retired very early from the^poli- 
 tical world and devoted his life to writing. He declined all 
 offers of governmental office after the revolution. But as he 
 was an intimate friend of men like Count Goto, and Viscount 
 Fukuoka, he was frequently consulted by them on political 
 matters. 
 
 Takie Okumura, my father, is the oldest of the three sons. 
 There was one sister older than father. His succeeding 
 brother was adopted very early by an uncle, and at the age 
 of twenty-one years he became the head of The Seventh 
 National Bank. He started a steamship company, organized 
 a pioneering company in Hokkaido, and made great success 
 in the business world. But death cut short his very promising 
 career at the age of thirty years. The youngest brother still 
 survives and is at present the secretary of Doshisha Univer- 
 sity, Kioto, Japan. " ' 
 
 2 
 
I'atlier at the age of nine years, with grandfather 
 and grandmother. 
 
2. HIS CONVERSION. 
 
 In old Japan Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism were 
 household religions. Each has a distinctive field of service. 
 Buddhism ministers to the family in time of death. The 
 “Hoji” or the rite over the departed one and the funeral 
 services are always conducted by a Buddhist priest. Shin- 
 toism looks after the actual present day life, and has to do 
 with blessings, or trials, on this earth. When a birth occurs 
 in the family, the babe is taken immediately to a Sbinto sbrine 
 for consecration and blessing. Confucianism impresses on 
 the family the morality or ethics of every-day life. It teaches 
 the ideal relationship between father and son, loyalty to a 
 superior, charity, chastity, thrift, etc. 
 
 Father’s family originally belonged to the Jodo sect of 
 Buddhism. But like all other Japanese families, it also es- 
 poused Shintoism and Confucianism. Immediately after the 
 Meiji revolution. Yamauchi, feudal lord of Tosa, following 
 the example of Mito and three other feudal lords issued an 
 edict abolishing Buddhism from Tosa. Every Buddhist tem- 
 ple was destroyed to the very foundation. Shintoism as a 
 sort of state religion was enforced upon the peoi)le. And with- 
 in the memory of father, his family became staunch .Shintoist. 
 Every first and fifteenth of the month, the family was wont 
 to go up to the shrine for consecration and blessing. During 
 the illness of grandfather, father used to visit the Shinto 
 shrine and repeat the “Hyakudomairi" — a religious practice 
 of repeating hundred times the ]>rayer for recovery by clap- 
 l)ing the hands and going around a stone pillar, a short dis- 
 tance from the shrine. My grandfather was a scholar in 
 Chinese classics and from his boyhood father was taught to 
 memori/.e thn.se beautiful precepts in “Shisho” and ■‘(iokyo.” 
 Me was taught early to keep the home strictly in accord with 
 the Confucian teachings. 
 
 -At about the age of seventeen years my father first heard 
 about Christianity (1881). Dr. X'erbeck and Dr. Thompson, 
 Dutch reformed missionaries with Rev. K. Yoshioka, came 
 to Kochi and carried on a three days’ evangelistic campaign. 
 He went to hear their preaching out of sheer curiosity. The 
 terms “Cod” and “love” made a great impression on his 
 
 3 
 
mind ; but he was not moved to take up Christianity as his 
 religions faith at that time. This was partly because of his 
 devotion to the faith of his fathers and partly because of his 
 education. 
 
 Tosa is sometimes called in Japan the cradle of Liberalism. 
 Tt was there that Itagaki first raised the standard of the 
 Liberal party in Japan and cried out for political reforms 
 I'rom about thirteen or fourteen years old, my father was 
 taught political science which was then in vogue. In school, 
 Mill’s “Representatives,” Herbert Spencer’s “Social Statis- 
 tics,” Russel’s “Constitution,” Rousseau’s “Contract Social,” 
 (iuizot’s “Civilization,” etc., were freely used as text books, 
 (iradnally the religious culture received during the earlv years 
 disappeared, and he turned out to be a sophist, one who de- 
 lights only in arguing and. reasoning. It is no wonder that 
 the ])ractical preaching of Dr. \"erbeck did not appeal to him. 
 On the contrary it pro\ oked in him a sense of revolt. He 
 called upon Dr. \"erbeck the next day at his hotel with 
 the sole purpose of “fi.xing” him. He asked an explan.ntion : 
 “Christianity is, as you declare, a teaching of love, why is 
 it that England, a Christian nation and your country, stronglv 
 oppose the revision of treaties which means a great future 
 to Japan, an infant nation?” Calmly Dr. ^'erbeck explained 
 Christian teachings on ‘Love,” “Duty,” etc., and completely 
 refuted every argument which my father attempted. Finally 
 he was cornered, and became so humiliated that he dare.l not 
 raised a finger of opposition. Though decisively defeated in 
 debate, he still clung to the belief that Christianity is a religion 
 detrimental to Japan — a religion of foreigners that encourages 
 tricks, deception, treason, and hypocrisy. He resolved he 
 would fight against it to the end. Wherever he went he 
 did his best to harrass the church services. He did not feel 
 any scruple about throwing stones or resorting to violence, 
 if necessarv. against the church and Christians. Two vears 
 later while in Tokyo, he tried to break up the prayer meeting 
 at the Kanda church, and was chased off by the members. 
 
 In 1887 the Liberals petitioned the government for the 
 freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and for political 
 rights. A great campaign calling for immediate political 
 reforms was launched. The delegates from the whole country, 
 
 4 
 
about 500 in number, gathered at Tokyo to move the gov- 
 ernment. The situation became very critical. 
 
 One of the leaders was Hon. Kenkichi Kataoka, later first 
 speaker of the House of Representatives, and still later Presi- 
 dent of Doshisha University, an earnest Christian. ( )ne day 
 he called father and said to him : “You are one of my relatives, 
 but 1 cannot rely on and speak with absolute confidence on 
 the matters of grave importance to any one who does not 
 believe in the same God. Go to a Christian Church. At 
 Ichibancho church, you will meet men like Shimada Saburo, 
 Nishimori Setsuzo, and many of your friends.” These words 
 came like a big stick to one who had been harassing the 
 Christian churches. After thinking it over carefully, at last 
 he stepped into the church. His friends gladly welcomed him 
 and gave him a copy of the New Testament and Dr. \Trbeck's 
 “Evidences of Christianity.” Everyone was astonished to see 
 him sitting (|uietly in the back ])ew and devouring every word 
 the minister ])reached. lie left the church a new man. 
 
 ( )n December 25th of the same year, martial law was de- 
 clared. The Liberals were ordered to move out of the city 
 of Tokyo and remain more than three miles from the Em- 
 peror’s palace. Kataoka. Hoshi, Hayashi, and thirty other 
 leaders of the Liberal party refused to obey the order, and 
 were imprisoned. Reluctantly father was comi)elled to return 
 to Osaka and wait until the situation cleared up. 
 
 Immediately on his return he sought out a Christian church 
 and attended its service. Later through the introduction of 
 his friends, he I)ecame a regular attendant upon Rev. Air. 
 Aliyagawa’s church. In this way, his relation with an in- 
 stitution which he had hated and tried to destroy, grew and 
 deepened. Rev. Aliyagawa’s preaching and personality moved 
 him to make a decision to accept Christianity. On September 9, 
 18^9. together with my grandmother and mother he was 
 baptized and admitted to Rev. Aliyagawa’s Osaka Church. 
 
 5 
 
3. HIS PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 Three years of bitter opposition against the Christian 
 church had lieen to father an excellent opportunity to study 
 Christianity. A year before his baptism, he had read through 
 the Bible and various books on the main points of Christ- 
 ianity, so that he had a sufficient grasp of Christian 
 religious problems. Immediately after his baptism, he be- 
 came closely associated with Sunday school work, preached 
 at the mission of the church, and helped the relief work among 
 the tough elements of the slum districts. 
 
 In Osaka there is no grove, or woods, or mountain where 
 one can freely go for prayer and meditation. The church 
 was used instead. Father used to go there very early in the 
 morning, just before daybreak for half an hour of quiet 
 meditation and prayer. One morning on his way home, he 
 came face to face at the church door with Mr. K. Imamura. 
 Imamura was one of the founders of the Osaka church, and 
 an earnest and devout church leader. He had a printing press 
 and used to publish articles on Christianity and Bible truths. 
 He came to Hawaii for a short visit with Rev. O. H. Gulick 
 in 1874. Mr. Imamura came to know father and began to 
 take great interest in him. Frequently father was invited 
 to Air. Imamura’s home, and was urged by him to consecrate 
 his life to Christian service. At that time, father was in 
 business, and always replied to Air. Imamura’s suggestion 
 that should he achieve a success, he would consider the ques- 
 tion of becoming an independent Christian worker. 
 
 In 1802. Alessrs Alasuno and Alitsiise, joint editors of “The 
 Young Alan,” a monthly magazine published by the organ- 
 ized Y. AI. C. A. of the Kansei provinces, resigned and went 
 to America. Air. Imamura, the publisher, offered the edi- 
 torial care of the magazine to my father. At first he hesitated 
 fearing it might interfere with his own business. But he 
 accepted the task when he saw a great opportunity of service. 
 The magazine opened many unexpected and undreamed of 
 opportunities to come into contact with different church 
 leaders, to read searchingly volumes of Christian literature 
 and to study deeper into the fundamentals of Christianity. His 
 interest and enthusiasm in the religious activities redoubled. 
 
resulting finally in the decision to enter the Christian 
 ministry. 
 
 In the fall of 1889 following the suggestion of the pastor, 
 a grouj) of young men of the ( )saka church held a week’s 
 ])rayer meeting to think over quietly one’s life work. Father 
 had the chance of a life time to ponder seriously past ex- 
 periences. Me saw vividly nothing hut a series of failures 
 and disappointments. He had ventured the manufacturing 
 and the retailing of paper, sugar, dried honito, and camphor, 
 had been a turkey, a ])olitician’s messenger, etc. But he had 
 been a miserable failure in every one of these enterprises. 
 
 realization that he could start his life anew and a strong 
 conviction that Cod himself had pre])ared him for the Christ- 
 ian ministry through various experiences of failure, glowed 
 intensively within him. On January 1. 1890, he handed to 
 his pastor a statement of his determination to enter the ser- 
 vice of the Lord. That Fall he entered the Theological de- 
 ])artment of Doshisha University. Undoubtedly Hon. Ken- 
 kichi Kataoka, and Mr. Kenkichi Imamura, had more than 
 any others the greatest power for good over him. Had it 
 not been for these two men, father would never have be- 
 lieved in Christianity, nor have entered into the Christian 
 ministry. His life might have been an ignoble political life, 
 without any enthusiasm for the higher nature of man. 
 
 The four years in Doshisha was uneventful. He preached 
 every week end at Kusatsu, Omi, and built a church there. 
 That church is now under the sui)ervision of the “Friends.” 
 
 In the winter of 18‘X) Kioto and Osaka were the centers 
 of an influenza e])idemic. He himself became a victim of 
 the disease, and was confined to his room in the dormitory. 
 .V telegram came one night from his family at Osaka. It 
 read. “Ume is sick; come immediately.” (it alludes to the 
 writer’s illness when about four years old). He hurriedly 
 ])ack up his grij), and caught the midnight train to Osaka. 
 ( )n the train his mind was again flooded with thoughts of the 
 past. Why. he thought, God is still using a whip? He had 
 confessed all his j)ast sin and had consecrated his whole life 
 to the service of His Kingdom. He had not committed any 
 sin which deserved the whipi)ing from God. Is it because 
 of his lack of devotion, of his faith and loyalty to God? 
 
Pondering on these things he did not know when he reached 
 Osaka. He was awakened from his semi-stupor by the call 
 of the conductor. When he reached home, he was greeted 
 by the cry of “Papa"’ from the child who was thought of as 
 dead. Again and again he had received far more severe 
 j)unishment from God. But at every instance he had thanked 
 (iod for the opportunity of consecrating himself and his 
 family and for the joy of entering into a new and purer life. 
 
 8 
 
4. MINISTRY IN HAWAII— THE NUUANU CHURCH. 
 
 While in the Divinity school, fathe-r read the biography of 
 Henry Martin, a young- man who went to India immediately 
 after his g-raduation from college, as a missionary, and died 
 very early in the service of His Kingdom. The young man’s 
 devotion, heroism, and unselfish service gripped father, and 
 he also was moved to take up the evangelistic work in some 
 foreign land. 
 
 Just then. Rev. Jiro Okabe, pastor of the Nuuanu Church, 
 was on furlough visiting Japan. He came to Doshisha one 
 day and lectured on the condition of Hawaii and its oppor- 
 tunities. He appealed for volunteers. Two years later, on 
 graduation from the Divinity school, an arrangement through 
 Dr. J. D. Davis was successfully made with the Hawaiian 
 Hoard, and father came to Hawaii, August, 1894, as an asso- 
 ciate j)astor to Rev. ( )kabe. Rev. (dkabe was a man of rare 
 ability, and his service was much needed in various social 
 actix ities. He left the affairs of the church entirely in father’s 
 hands, and gave himself wholly to the e.xternal activities. 
 
 A revolutionary attemj>t to reestablish the Hawaiian mon- 
 archy was commenced about January 1, 1893. Martial law 
 was declared in Honolulu, and all church services were sus- 
 pended. Rev. ( )kabe joined the citizen’s guard. After a 
 month the revolution subsided and the church took on its 
 normal life. Rev. Okabe had about this time entertained 
 the idea of traveling around the world and left Hawaii, thus 
 leaving the entire burden of the church on my father’s 
 shoulders. 
 
 Father came to Hawaii just nine years after the influx 
 of Japanese immigrants into Hawaii had begun (February 
 1883). There were then about 23,000 Japanese scattered all 
 over Hawaii, and in Honolulu a little over 1000. The Japa- 
 nese community of those days was exactly like that of a 
 frontier town of the West of which we fre(|uently read. It 
 was a community without social order or social control. The 
 one reason for this condition was that the majority of the 
 immigrants were drifters who had been attracted here on 
 three years’ contract by the all-mighty dollar. As long as 
 they could accumulate a fortune and be able to go back to 
 
 9 
 
tlieir native land and lead a blissful life, they cared nothing 
 about morality or the ethics of every-day life 
 
 To preach to the ])eople in this topsy-turvy condition, 
 father became convinced that he himself as a minister of a 
 Christian church, must set the exami)le and encourage Japa- 
 nese immigrants to live here permanently by building up a 
 home. Even among the gentlemen of those days, with the 
 exception of Consul-Ceneral Fujii, every one had come here 
 without his family. Father himself was here in Hawaii all 
 alone on three years’ contract with the Hawaiian Board. 
 The leave of absence being granted, he returned to Japan 
 in liS96. The autumn of that year he brought his whole 
 family and has since made Honolulu his permanent home and 
 his field of activity. 
 
 ft was by no means an easy task to build uj) a church. The 
 majority of Japanese immigrants had come to Hawaii from 
 Vamaguchi Ken and Hiroshima Ken, which two Kens con- 
 stitute the most ])Owerful stronghold of Buddhism in Japan. 
 There were already at that time (pute a number of Buddhist 
 ]>riests in Honolulu and on the plantations, who were looking 
 after the “Hoji” and the funeral rites. There was in Ho- 
 nolulu a jolly Buddhist priest, Mr. Matsuo, with whom father 
 became acquainted. One day father called on him at his 
 house in the Portuguese Camp on the corner of Pauahi and 
 Nuuanu streets, and asked him jokingly in the course of their 
 conversation how many Japanese in Hawaii were Buddhists. 
 'The priest instead of replying asked father how many Japa- 
 nese were Christians. F'ather’s answer was 400 Christians. 
 'Then the priest boldly claimed that if 400 Christians were 
 deducted from 25,000 Japanese, the remainder were Budd- 
 hists. He forgot the great number of harlots and hoodlums, 
 when he ventured to make such bold claim. Naturally when 
 asked by father whether those women of ill fame and hood- 
 lums were his adherents, he did not know how to make a 
 re])ly. That incident clearly illustrates how few the Christian 
 churches of those days claimed as their constituents. That 
 small band of Christians experienced great hardships and 
 persecutions. .\ doctor just because of his faith in Christian- 
 ity lost nearly all his large practice. Christian merchants 
 were bovcotted. In some plantations the Christian laborers 
 
 10 
 
Old Nuuami Church 
 
 and Makiki Church. 
 
were discharged from the service through the slanders of 
 Japanese Buddhist lunas. The weaklings unable to resist 
 the open and secret persecutions of Buddhists all deserted 
 the churches. Only the stronger ones bravely fought against 
 the host of enemies, and held the fort. The church of those 
 days was like a fortress surrounded on all sides by enemies. 
 But gradually the number of Christians increased and the 
 foundation of the church was laid here and there in Hawaii. 
 
 The Christian workers of those days were men fired with 
 great enthusiasm and zeal for the spread of His Cospel. 
 They .were men and women tremendously active. They l)uilt 
 up night schools teaching the English language. They or- 
 ganized temperance societies, and in some places, benevolent 
 societies to succor the down and out. They acted not in- 
 frequently as ])eacemakers in family quarrels, and in the mis- 
 understandings between the laborers and the plantation man- 
 agers. They furnished all kinds of assistance, either writing 
 the letters, or sending into the Consulate death, birth, or mar- 
 riage notifications. They toiled as ])astors, evangelists, peace- 
 makers, interpreters, and helpers. Their toils and trials have 
 changed the chaotic community into an orderly peaceful com- 
 munity. They have achieved great success because they have 
 dared to do the things which others laughed at and dared 
 not do. And we have many things in the i>resent Japanese 
 community which are rendering commendable service, be- 
 cau.se Christian churches each with a small band of members 
 have dared to tackle the impossibles with Christian spirit. 
 
 11 
 
5. THE MINISTRY IN HAW All.— MAKIKI CHURCH. 
 
 When father succeecied Rev. ( )kal)e as pastor of the Nuu- 
 anu church, tliere were only ninety-two members, which was 
 consideral)ly large for a church of early days. Every year 
 new members were admitted. Rut the strength of the church 
 failed to appear because the majority of the new converts 
 shifted constantly. Just about the time when their faith 
 was being kindled they were already ])acking their belongings 
 and were leaving the islands permanently. Those who were 
 young and ambitious were attracted to America. Even though 
 many remained here, the attractions of material wealth were 
 so strong that they dropped one by one within a year or two. 
 The building up of an early church was exactly like children 
 building up sand hills on the sea beach, which are con- 
 stantly washed off by the waves. 
 
 Tn 1898 Hawaii was annexed to the United States. Tyranny 
 gave way to Democracy. All contract laborers were liber- 
 ated. They became free laborers, and many began to flock 
 into America. The church received a staggering blow. Noth- 
 ing but total collapse suddenly threatened it. 
 
 Jnspite of this bitter experience, the church endured and 
 during father’s eight years’ pastorate, the membership in- 
 creased to 380. The ability and resources gradually increased 
 and matured, so that on October 1902, it declared itself an 
 independent self-supporting Christian church Eather re- 
 signed the pastorate and Rev. Shinjiro Okubo was called to 
 the church, which was the first Japanese church to become 
 financially independent from the Hawaiian Board. 
 
 The connection with Nuuanu church being severed, father 
 opened a new field of activity in the eastern section of the 
 city, under the auspices of the Hawaiian Board. He started 
 his activity in the form of a Bible class in one Christian 
 family, with a group of their friends and neighbors. Gradu- 
 ally by visitation and calls a fair-sized group of ten eager 
 listeners and gospel seekers was secured, and a little chapel 
 capable of accommodating three dozen chairs was opened on 
 Kinau street. After strenuous labor for a year ten were 
 bajitized. The attendance increased so fast that the little 
 chapel became too small In F'ebruary 1904. a larger cottage 
 
 12 
 
was rented, and the activities still further enlarged, resulting 
 in the organization of a church with twenty-three members 
 in the month of April. The new-born church immediately 
 pushed forth its aggressive evangelistic campaign. By its 
 first annual meeting, the membcrshi]) was completely doubled. 
 The attendance of new converts and strangers steadily grew, 
 so that the need of a church structure which would best serve 
 the Makiki district came to be keenly felt. In 1906 American 
 and Japanese friends contributed very liberally, and enabled 
 the church to buy suitable land and erect the present edifice. 
 Since then the church has witnessed a typical revival. The 
 membership increased so fast that in 1914 its membership 
 numbered .^00 and it had secured financial independence The 
 coming April of this year will be its fifteenth anniversary. 
 The total number of members enrolled in the church is now 
 CA2. An addition of 1.^0 is aimed for this year. The cam- 
 paign toward this goal is being pushed forward with great 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 A peculiar characteristic of the Makiki church, is that 
 each member is always fired with an evangelistic spirit, so 
 that he enters into the new plan of each year’s cam])aign 
 with incomparable enthusiasm and zeal. Kither as individuals 
 or in groups the church members themselves voluntarily carry 
 on the cami)aign, distribute leaflets and make calls on their 
 neighbors or the people in the different Makiki camps. 1'here 
 is ])erhaps nowhere outside of the Makiki church that the 
 members feel more keenly their respective duties and respon- 
 sibilities to the church. There is not a single member who 
 ])ays a large sum to the church. Hut practically every member 
 is giving something out of his income, thus enabling the 
 church to carry its annual budget of a little over .‘‘^2800. 
 Another characteristic is that the Makiki church has pro- 
 duced a great number of evangelists and Christian workers, 
 men like Rev. K. Maeda of Ewa, Rev. K. Okamoto of Lihue, 
 S. -\oki of Kona, Umetaro Okumura, T. Kawasaki, Y. M. C. 
 -A. .secretary. Two former members are now in Theological 
 .seminaries preparing for the Christian ministry. Two other 
 members are now in High Schools studying with ambition 
 to iiecome some day Christian ministers. 
 
 The Aiyu Kwai (men’s and women’s) and the Christian 
 
 13 
 
Endeavor Society represent the social and spiritual aims of 
 the church’s extra activities. The Christian Endeavorers were 
 organized in April, 1905, as part of first anniversary activities. 
 The present membership is 28. The society has encountered 
 various experiences, but it has been right along the backbone 
 of an unusual revival which the church has experienced. 
 Three years ago, an English-speaking C. E. Society was or- 
 ganized, and has thus far actively participated in the differ- 
 ent activities of the Oahu Young People’s Union. 
 
 The Aiyu Kwai was organized a year ahead of the church, 
 July, 1903. It has on its membership roll not only church 
 members but also outsiders. It has been the recruiting ground 
 of the church. On its membership roll a little over 500 have 
 been enrolled. But a great many have moved to the other 
 islands, or to America and Japan. Only about 270 members 
 are in Honolulu and its vicinity. In 1915 it secured a lot 
 opposite the church and has built a comfortable club house, 
 which holds a meeting hall, reading and game rooms, an 
 office, and dormitory, worth about $12,000. The club activ- 
 ities are night school, employment bureau, etc. The women’s 
 iViyu Kwai with a membership of 80 runs a kindergarten, 
 English class, sewing and knitting classes. Every year the 
 club carries on a campaign to aid the unfortunate brothers 
 and sisters in Leahi Home, the Insane Asylum, and the Mo- 
 lokai Settlement. 
 
 The Aiyu Kwai issues each month a periodical and dis- 
 cusses current questions and problems. M’hen it first came 
 out in June 1908, it was called “Aiyu Soshi.” Later in 1914 
 the name of the periodical was changed to “Makiki Kyoho,” 
 and it became the joint organ of the church and of the club. 
 In January, 1919, the periodical again changed its name — 
 this time into “The Paradise Times.” In every aspect, the 
 periodical underwent a change. It came to cover a wider 
 scope, and has come to be one which will best meet and 
 serve the needs of the Makiki district. 
 
 The columns of this periodical gives information on the 
 Makiki Sunday school, which has three branches, Manoa, 
 Moiliili and Waikiki, and an enrollment of 455 pupils and 
 28 teacjiers. This is undoubtedly the largest and best or- 
 ganized Japanese Sunday school in Hawaii. 
 
 14 
 
6. EDUCATIONAL WORK. 
 
 One day during the first month in Hawaii, father happen- 
 ed to be at a meeting, when he saw a little girl standing at 
 the entrance all alone. Thinking she was very lonesome, 
 father tapped her on the shoulder and inquired whether she 
 had come with her mother. She replied in a peculiar mixture 
 of different languages. “Me mama hanahana yokonai,” 
 Failing to make out what she actually meant, father asked 
 Ichigoro Ishimtira, who had come here in 1868, for an ex- 
 planation. “Me mama" was a broken English phrase for 
 “my mother", "Hanahana" meant in Hawaiian, "work”, and 
 "Yokonai", stood for "can not come” in Japanese. It was 
 not an uncommon thing to find the majority of the children 
 in those days speaking in a curious dialect made up of 
 different languages. They did not comprehend the difference 
 between languages, and a])peared to have used in their daily 
 speech what they freciuently heard in the streets and on the 
 ]>layground. It is safe to say there were hardly any Japanese 
 childreti who were able to speak in correct Japanese, and still 
 fewer who could read and write. 
 
 ( >n meeting with the i)arents, father was repeatedly urged 
 by them to open a language school for their children and 
 teach them the Japanese language. Invariably they com- 
 ])lained that they could not understand the language of their 
 children or could not be understood by them. 
 
 There was a kindergaten at that time at Emma Hall on 
 the corner of Xuuanu and Beretania streets, the present site 
 of the Liberty Theatre. The Jai>ane.se department was in 
 charge of Miss. Ito ( )zawa (now Mrs. K. Imanishi), and 
 was su])i)orted by a monthly contribution of twenty-five 
 dollars from interested friends. Father was then looking 
 after the collection of the contributions from Japanese, and 
 in his canvassing, he was approached often by represent- 
 ative Japanese to start a language school for those who had 
 left the kindergaten. 
 
 In those days Hawaii was still an independent kingdom. 
 Jai)anese, resident in the islands, were mostly contract labor- 
 ers, who had not the slightest idea of settling here perma- 
 nently, or of investing their little fortune in these island 
 
 15 
 
industries. They longed only for money, regardless of how 
 great or small, and left the islands as soon as their ambition 
 was realized. The majority left the islands immediately 
 after the expiration of their binding contract. In a few 
 cases, Japanese remained permanently. But the longest ones 
 were of six years residence, and this was regarded in those 
 days as a very long term for any man to live in Hawaii. In 
 the face of this constant shifting and restlessness, the teach- 
 ing of the Japanese language to Japanese children became 
 imperative, and the thought of opening a school for such a 
 need, and ])urely for such a purpose came to be entertained 
 by my father. Later when father decided to live here perma- 
 nently, he discovered that the building up of a language 
 school was the best way of checking the laborer’s desire of 
 going back to Japan. He approached the Japanese consul 
 and vainly sought a financial backing. Messrs. Den Suga- 
 wara and Kanjuro M’atanabe, members or the Liberal party 
 and later members of Parliament were then in Honolulu 
 engaged in establishing an immigration company. With 
 them father discussed the situation and the need of a pure 
 language school, and sought their support. They promised 
 him that they would back Japanese in Hawaii, in the event 
 they should petition the Japanese government for financial 
 aid. The campaign was launched but did not succeed. 
 
 A year later, Mr. Hideo Kuwabara, who had been working 
 at Kohala came to father. He was an earnest Christian, 
 and had had a Japanese school teacher’s license and had 
 experience in teaching in Japan. The necessity of establishing 
 a Japanese language school and its opportunity of service 
 were laid before this man, and his cooperation was definitely 
 sought. Mr. Kuwabara realized that teaching was his life- 
 work, and immediately consented to lend his service with- 
 out any pay. His resolution meant a great deal more than 
 an immense fortune to father who had been struggling to 
 build up a school. There was no school fund, but that 
 difficulty was met by my father who divided his salary 
 with the teacher. Mrs. H. C. Coleman was then approached. 
 She j)romised to assist the new venture by throwing open 
 one of the rooms in Queen Emma Hall. Two friends of 
 father contributed fifteen dollars, and with this fund, crude 
 
 16 
 
tables and benches were made, and a language school was 
 commenced on April 6, 1896. 
 
 There were only thirty pupils. But it was by no means 
 an easy talk to teach them. They had been long neglected 
 and left to do what they pleased, and should they be discip- 
 lined for misdeamenor, they would not show up at the next 
 day’s session. Even the parents would take their side and 
 would slander the school. Mr. Kuwabara and father would 
 then call on the parents and induce them to send back their 
 children to school. Four months later, the children’s parents 
 saw the postmarks on the telephone posts and were greatly 
 encouraged by the change which had appeared. They began 
 to see the importance of a language school, and contributed 
 libertlly toward the school endowment. Within a few 
 months the pupils multiplied, and house on Kukui street was 
 rented and the school room was enlarged. In 1899 with the 
 support of Japanese residents, a large piece of land on 
 Nuuanu street was secured and a larger school building 
 erected. This was the beginning of the present Central Insti- 
 tute on upper Nuuanu street with a large attendance of over 
 700 pupils. 
 
 The school was founded by my father, and it was natural 
 that the school should be permeated with Christian spirit 
 and principle. But when the school moved from Kukui 
 street to its present site on up])er Nuuanu street, a change 
 in the conduct and administration became imperative. Should 
 the school be continued as Okumura’s school, it would 
 inevitably be looked upon as Christian, or as a Christian 
 mission school, and it might give the Buddhists a pretext 
 for starting their own school for Buddhistic propaganda. 
 The connection with religious influence was definitely severed, 
 and a committee of forty with Consul-general Saito as its 
 chairman was elected to look after the school’s interests. 
 Completely the character of the school changed, and it be- 
 came a big community work of the Japanese^ 
 
 Three years later, however, the Hongwanji sect established 
 its own propaganda school at Honolulu. It carried on a 
 campaign among the parents, and stirred up the community 
 by inciting competition for pupils. Nuuanu school which 
 began so auspiciously received a staggering blow. Its daily 
 
 17 
 
attenclance of a little over two hundred pupils suddenly drop- 
 ped to seventy pupils. This is the beginning and root of the 
 constant friction between the independent schools and the 
 llongwanji, or Buddhist schools. Hongwanji gradually ex- 
 tended its hands into the different plantations where Chris- 
 tian, or independent ( non-religious ) schools were already 
 located, and unscrupulously established their own propa- 
 ganda schools. In almost every locality they carried on a 
 campaign among the ignorant and strongly Buddhistic 
 parents to draw away the pupils of Christian, or independent 
 schools, by stuffing into them the idea that theirs is the only 
 through and through Japanese school, the school which is 
 based on genuine Japanese nationalistic ideas, and the only 
 school which inculcates “Loyalty and Patriotism to the 
 Emperor and the Empire", and creating an impression among 
 them that independent, or Christian schools are the friends, 
 or flatterers of the Occidentals (Americans). The school 
 agitations which took place at Papaikou, Aiea, Wailuku, and 
 Kahuku are excellent examples. 
 
 In those early days when the language school was first 
 opened in Honolulu, it did not matter, nor was it felt illegal 
 to follow strictly the standard and principle of teaching laid 
 down by the Educational Department of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment. But with Hawaii’s annexation to the United States, 
 the complete alteration not only of the aims of Japanese 
 schools’ but also of their standard and principle of teaching, 
 became a necessity. Hawaiian-born Japanese children have 
 Iieen granted by the Federal Constitution all the rights and 
 privileges of American citizen, and this change in the status 
 of Japanese children has thrust upon Japanese schools an 
 entirely new duty and responsibility. It has come to be 
 their task to turn out not half and half, but 100% American 
 citizens. To actually succeed in this glorious task the schools 
 should discard the instruction of imperialistic ideas with the 
 aim of moulding' out of Hawaiian-born Japanese good and 
 loyal Japanese sujects. 
 
 Among Japanese school teachers, however, there were and 
 are still many who do not realize this. Some are not able to 
 be convinced, and have followed even up to recent years the 
 original policy and aim. A few to-day have pulled down their 
 
 18 
 
old “sign” and revised their modus operandi, hut their spirit 
 is not changed, and they are the very ones who are endanger- 
 ing the future of the Japanese schools in Hawaii. 
 
 The instruction of pure Japanese language, exclusive of 
 Japanese imperialistic ideas, is essential. It is essential to 
 enable the children born here to actually play the role of 
 interpreters to the American people of what is best in Japanese 
 culture, and to Japanese of what is best in Americanism. If 
 Japanese schools lose sight of this fundamental aim, they 
 will be stumbling blocks in the way of true Americanization, 
 and will undoubtedly create misunderstandings among 
 American people. My father’s attitude towards Japanese 
 schools has been this, and out of the desnre to increase the 
 real value and efficiency of the schools, he has repeatedly 
 advocated the establishment in Honolulu of a Central Board, 
 whose duty is to govern all Japanese schools and see to it that 
 they direct the whole plant of instruction towards the actual 
 production of loyal American citizens. Such a board, he 
 thinks, should be made up of both Americans and Japanese. 
 
 Along with the Japanese school work father has built up 
 a Christian Boys’ Home. He was led to establish it by a 
 strong desire to train Christian young men who shall be 
 future leaders of Hawaiian-born Japanese. The Home has 
 had a varying experiences during the past twenty-three years. 
 But its fundamental aim has never been forgotten. It has 
 cared for more than 400 children. Some have remained more 
 than ten years, and some only a few months. Some have 
 gone to America and some to Jai^an . But the majority are 
 now right on the islands, acting as leaders among Hawaiian- 
 Japanese. When the Y. M. C. A. extended its field of acti- 
 vities into other islands, young men who offered their services 
 and helped to push it on so successfully were boys who had 
 been in the Christian Boys’ Home. 
 
 Originally this Home was called a Japanese Boarding 
 School. But with the discontinuance of the instruction in 
 both I'h'iglish and Japanese school subjects, the name was 
 changed . It came to be known, especially in the reports of 
 the Hawaiian Board as Japanese Orphanage. This name 
 also has become obsolete, since the Home does not take in 
 any more of the orphans, or the dependents, and a few years 
 
 19 
 
ago the present name, THE CHRISTIAN BOYS’ HOME 
 was adopted. 
 
 The origin of this Home dates back to the summer of 
 1896, when a certain mother asked father to look after her 
 boy while she was away in Japan. Reluctantly he took him 
 into his home. Following this another mother brought her 
 son to his home to be brought up by him. Within a few 
 months there were three or four boys being taken care of. 
 It was very remarkable that these boys underwent in a short 
 time a great change in their daily behavior, and even in their 
 facial expression. A boy of violent temper was brought to 
 father’s home. He was thought hoplessly incorrigible by his 
 parents and friends. Now and then when he was disciplined, 
 he would flare up into fierce passion and would attempt 
 to strike or throw anything which he could lay hands on. 
 But that boy became completely changed within a few months. 
 He came to delight in going out for mail just to hear from 
 father the word, “Thank you”. Year after year the number 
 of boys increased, and the work which father began with 
 reluctance multiplied. 
 
 In some years more than eighty boys were taken care of. 
 But when the Mid Pacific Institute was formally opened, 
 the older boys were all sent there, and the Home was limited 
 to island boys who desire to attend the Mckinley High and 
 Normal schools or grammar schools. Last year through 
 the aid of a group of friends, a new dormitory, capable of 
 accomodating forty boys was erected, and the work of 
 Americanization and Christianization was greatly strengthen- 
 ed. The success which this Home has made is due to the 
 interest and support of Hon. W. R. Castle, who has donated 
 the free use of his own property, and to the contribution of 
 the Mary Castle Trust, Mr. George Wilcox, Mrs. W. D. 
 Westervelt, the late J. B. Atherton, and Mrs. Atherton, Mrs. 
 H. C. Coleman, Mr. F. A. Schaefer, Mrs. C. M. Cooke, the 
 late Mr. J. P. Cooke, Mr. S. M. Damon. Mrs. H. P. Baldwin, 
 Mrs. H. Isenberg, Mr. A. F. Cooke, Mr. W. O. Smith. x\le- 
 ander and Baldwin. Mr. F. C. Atherton. Miss. Kate Atherton, 
 Mr. George P. Castle, Mr. and Mrs. Theo. Richards, Rev. 
 and Mrs. O, H. Gulick, Dr. John Gulick, Mr. and Mrs. W. 
 A. Bowen and Mr. W. D. Westervelt. 
 
 20 
 
7. SOCIAL WORKS. 
 
 There are now in Honolulu two or three social organizations 
 which father either had a direct or an indirect share in build- 
 ing up to their present influence and usefulness. First of 
 these social activities is a Temperance Society. In 1888 ? 
 little temperance society was organized as a sort of an evange 
 listic activity among the plantation laborers. It achieved 
 a wonderful success and proved its worth as a reform agency. 
 It restored the morally wrecked families, transformed drunk- 
 ards into sober workmen, and gamblers into honest and 
 thrifty laborers. Hon. Taro Ando, then Consul-General at 
 Honolulu, was greatly moved, but he himself was not ready 
 to follow the noble example set by the ])Oor and humble 
 workingmen on the plantations. Mrs. Ando constantly 
 worried over her husband’s drink habit, and tried various 
 ways of curing him. A steamer from Japan once brought 
 two tubs of sake, the gift from a Foreign Minister, to Consul 
 Ando. The sake in those days was very scarce in Honolulu, 
 and even a single cup of it was greatly prized. Mr. Ando 
 was overjoyed, but it nearly broke Mrs. Ando’s heart. She 
 pleaded with her husband to throw the sake away, but the 
 latter would not listen. One day when Mr. Ando was away 
 from his office, she had the two tubs carried to the backyard 
 and had them drained into the dumping hole. Her hasty 
 action angered Mr. Ando, but that single deed did more in 
 leading him into a sober life and in determining his whole 
 life work. 
 
 In April, 1889 a Temperance Society was organized with 
 Hon Taro Ando as its president. Mr. Ando’s temperance 
 resolution influenced a large number of Japanese. \\ ithin 
 si.x months its membership increased to over one thousand, 
 and the society became a very important factor in the com- 
 munity. Later, with the transfer of Hon Ando to other 
 official posts and the departure from these islands of other 
 'eaders, the societv gradually disappeared. But the name of 
 Mr. Ando and the work which that society accomplished in 
 the community are still remembered by Honolulu people 
 today, 
 
 In 1894 when father came to Honolulu, the society had 
 
 21 
 
already gone out of existence. Only its shadow remained 
 in the church service once a month. The temperance work 
 was however kept up by Miss. Castle, now Mrs. W. D. 
 Westervelt, and she deserves the credit of the transmission of 
 the spirit of the old society into the new one. In 1897 father 
 finally succeeded in discovering three charter members of 
 Mr. Ando’s temperance society namely, Messrs. K. Kawa- 
 saki, I. Ishimura, and S. Yasuniori. Their co-operation and 
 interest were enlisted, and the temperance society was revived 
 and reorganized. Father was chosen as President of this re- 
 organized society. Since then, the society has again and again 
 awakened the community to the need of temperance. It has 
 held mass meetings, distributed leaflets and pamphlets, and 
 encouraged voluntary decisions. Hawaii k now a prohibi- 
 tion territory, but the work of the society is by no means 
 di.scontinued. It is actually engaged in stamping out the 
 far greater evil of swipes and “moonshine”. 
 
 Brief mention of a Benevolent Society is now in place. The 
 society grew out of the Christian church. About the year 
 1889, a group of enthusiastic women met once or twice a 
 week and with a little fund which they constantly raised, 
 they worked among the sick and the needy. Three years 
 later the society admitted male members and the activities 
 were still further enlarged. But like the temperance society 
 it almost went out of existence. It received a great set- 
 back for a time through the departure from the islands of the 
 society’s leaders. Just on the eve of his departure from Hono- 
 lulu, br. Uchida who was then its only remaining officer and 
 active member asked father to look after the affairs of the 
 society. There was a little fund deposited in the bank, but 
 it was not carrying on any activity worthy of a benevolent 
 society. An interested group of Japanese was consulted, 
 and the society was reorganized in Ocober, 1897. 
 
 From the middle of December, 1900 the black plague broke 
 out in the city and parts of Honolulu were quarentined, parti- 
 cularly the Oriental section. The epidemic offered an excel- 
 lent opportunity to the society to prove its importance and use- 
 fulness. Its members co-operated with the Board of Health, 
 and engaged in various relief activities. On January 8,1SX)1 
 as a result of a great fire, which swept away the China town 
 
section, almost 3500 Japanese were thrown onto the streets 
 without shelter and food. The society immediately carried on 
 a relief work. It utilized father’s Boarding school as its 
 headquarters, cooked 1600 pounds of rice, and fed the fire 
 victims. The ladies of the society sewed thousands of shirts, 
 trousers, and holokus, and distributed them to the needy. 
 During the period when Japanese were kept in the detention 
 camps, special activities were carried on, and the needs of 
 those ])eople were adequately supplied. 
 
 ( )ut of such a beginning the Benevolent Society has grown 
 to its present prestige and usefulness. The feature of the 
 society is its up-to-(late hosj)ital, which is serving the com- 
 munity with remarkable results. 
 
 On the afternoon of his arrival here a friend of my father 
 took him for a walk around the city. On the corner of Pauahi 
 and Nuuanu streets, his friend ])ointed to a group of women 
 dressed in white holokus, and said they were Japanese harlots. 
 Father was so ashamed that he did not utter a single word. 
 But that very moment he resolved on a campaign against 
 them. Pauahi street was literally honey-combed with the 
 dens of these women of ill fame, who numbered a little over 
 200. The procurers and men higher u]). also about three 
 hundred in number, divided themselves into three factions 
 and constantly carried on inter-factional strife . They took 
 l)ride in molesting the innocent, law-abiding citizens. i\Ir. 
 Theo. Richards and others started a cani])aign to clean up 
 I’auahi street and the three factions of procurers. A ])ctition 
 was drawn up and passed around among the Japanese .At 
 that titne father was thought of as the instigator and leader 
 of the campaign by the leaders of the pimps, .\bout thirty 
 of them with hidden dagger and clubs tried several times to 
 intimidate him. “The Ilinode Shinbun”, their organ, by its 
 editorial, attempted for a week to stir up the community 
 against father. It insisted that “( )kumura should be forced 
 to leave Hawaii". Later they were arrested and their trial 
 for deportation came up before the court. The decision of the 
 court did not turn out as desired, but eventually they were 
 compelled to leave Honolulu. 
 
 Immediately in the wake of this clearing up campaign, the 
 district around Iwilei again became infested with men and 
 
 23 
 
women of ill fame. With the support of the late Dr. T. 
 Mitaniura and the late Mr. Kishimoto, father published thrice 
 a week a paper entitled. “The Honolulu Shinbun”, and carried 
 on an aggressive campaign against Iwilei. He ran this paper 
 for two years, and with the closing up of Iwilei, the paper 
 was gi^'en ^ up. 
 
 The Japanese Young iMen’s Christian Association was also 
 an organization in which father had a direct share. It was 
 organized on May 4,1900 by a group of young men in his 
 church on Nuuanu street. It started with the idea of the 
 training of Mind, Body, and Spirit. But this association add- 
 ed an another, the cementing of America and Japan into 
 closer relationship, and the establishment of international 
 friendship and brotherhood. It believed its mission was to 
 bring about this through the melting pot of Hawaii. 
 
 4'he association i)assed through all sorts of stormy weather. 
 At times it was very active and aggressive, and at times 
 ap])arently asleep and almost negligible. It has made many 
 blunders and met many disappointments. But the history 
 of the past nineteen years is not the history of mere failures 
 and disappointments. It is rather the history of sure, steady 
 growth. Its path of progress came to be clearer and its 
 office more apparent when about six years ago the association 
 merged with the City Y. M. C. A., and became its Japanese 
 Department. Last year it finally broke its years’ barrier of 
 isolation, and joined together with other Pacific races to form 
 an Inter-racial Y. IM. C. A. 
 
 24 
 
8. THE FUTURE. 
 
 \’iewed from our present standpoint, the most important 
 ])roblem of today is the question of harmonious relationship 
 between America and Japan. The Japanese in Hawaii more 
 than any others have the greatest responsibility in the solution 
 of this question. The reason for this is, that Japanese from 
 Hawaii are largely to be blamed for having caused in Cali- 
 fornia and elsewhere the wave of sentiment against Japanese. 
 They have promoted by their manners and tastes the thought 
 that the Japanese are unassimilable. 
 
 Japan was for a long time a hermit empire. Its door was 
 securely shut until the visit of Commodore Perry in July 
 18-16. In February, 1885, thirty nine years after the opening 
 of the door of Japan, the first company of Japanese im- 
 migrants arrived on these islands. They were a group of 
 very ignorant and low Japanese. They knew nothing of the 
 conditions of these islands. They had not the ability or the 
 highly developed capacity to assimilate the customs and 
 manners and tastes of the people here. Moreover they did not 
 think of Hawaii as their permanent place of settlement. It 
 is no wonder that they did not assimilate as quickly as they 
 should have done, and have sown the seeds of misunderstand- 
 ings among the American people. 
 
 The slow and almost invisible assimilation, which the Japa- 
 nese in Hawaii have now acquired, does not prove the un- 
 assimilability of the Japanese. It is perfectly unreasonable 
 to pass judgement on any particular race or nationality just 
 by picking the superficial facts which are so apparent to the 
 stranger. A true assimilation works from within, and it 
 takes years for a particular nationality to truly assimilate 
 the ideals of the country to which they have migrated. Japa- 
 nese in Hawaii can assimilate and will become good loyal 
 American citizens. The Japanese in Hawaii, particularly the 
 churches in Hawaii, should devote their whole force to ac- 
 complish this. The salvation of soul is vitally important and it 
 should be the prime mission of Japanese Christian churches. 
 But the Japanese church of the future can not hope to be a 
 dynamic factor in the community, if it fails to grasp the 
 leading ideas of the American people. The church should 
 
lead the constantly increasing population of Hawaiian-born 
 Japanese into the channels of American citizenship and enable 
 them to use the votes intelligently for the upbuilding of 
 Hawaii-nei. Neither the after-dinner declamations of dip- 
 lomats, nor the army and navy of one nation can hope to 
 cement any two nations into bonds of close relationship. The 
 relationship between two nations can only become real and 
 frank, if that relationship is grounded on Christianity ; and 
 unless the Japanese churches in Hawaii which have unique 
 and peculiar opportunity, rally their whole forces around 
 this glorious cause, there can not be an ideal relationship 
 between America and Japan. 
 
 26 
 
NtPPU JIJI PRINT 
 
 1