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The Bahá'í Faith in Japan begins after a few mentions of the country by `Abdu'l-Bahá first in 1875. Japanese contact with the religion came from the West when was living in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1902 converted; the second being . In 1914 two Bahá'ís, George Jacob Augur and Agnes Alexander, and their families, pioneered to Japan. Alexander would live some 31 years off and on in Japan until 1967 when she left for the last time. The first Bahá'í convert on Japanese soil was in 1915. `Abdu'l-Bahá undertook several trips in 1911-1912 and met Japanese travelers in Western cities, in Paris, London,〔(trans. by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab.)〕 and New York.〔 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá met Fujita in Chicago and Yamamoto in San Francisco. `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tablets, in 1916-1917 compiled together in the book titled ''Tablets of the Divine Plan'' but which was not presented in the United States until 1919. Fujita would serve between the World Wars first in the household of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and then of Shoghi Effendi.〔 In 1932 the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Tokyo and reelected in 1933. In all of Japan there were 19 Bahá'ís. In 1937 Alexander went on Bahá'í pilgrimage to return years later. In 1938 Fujita was excused from his services in Haifa out of fears for his safety during World War II and returned to Japan until 1956. In 1942, back in the United States, the Yamamoto family lived at a relocation camp during the war.〔 Bahá'í Americans associated with the American Occupation Forces reconnected the Japanese Bahá'í community — Michael Jamir found Fujita by 1946〔 and Robert Imagire helped re-elect the assembly in Tokyo in 1948.〔 In 1963 the statistics of Bahá'í communities showed 13 assemblies and other smaller groups.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963 )〕 In 1968 Japanese Bahá'ís began to travel outside Japan. In 1971 the first residents of Okinawa converted to the religion. In 1991 the community organized an affiliate of the Association for Bahá'í Studies in Japan which has since held annual conferences, published newsletters, and published and coordinated academic work across affiliates.〔(Yerrinbool Report on Scholarship 1999 ) Affiliate Associations for Bahá'í Studies-Japan〕 The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 15650 Bahá'ís in 2005 while the CIA World Factbook estimated about 12000 Japanese Bahá'ís in 2006. == Early period == The first mention of Japan in Bahá'í literature is with the Secret of Divine Civilization written by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1875. It was written to try to enlighten Persia. It says: …the government of Japan was in the beginning subject to and under the protection of China, and that now for some years, Japan has opened its eyes and adopted the techniques of contemporary progress and civilization, promoting sciences and industries of use to the public, and striving to the utmost of their power and competence until public opinion was focused on reform. This government has currently advanced to such a point that, although its population is only one-sixth, or even one-tenth, that of China, it has recently challenged the latter government, and China has finally been forced to come to terms. Observe carefully how education and the arts of civilization bring honor, prosperity, independence and freedom to a government and its people.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bahá'í Faith in Japan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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