‘Lengthening the Tent Cords’ in Japan

“MAKE the place of your tent more spacious. And let them stretch out the tent cloths of your grand tabernacle. Do not hold back. Lengthen out your tent cords, and make those tent pins of yours strong.”​—Isaiah 54:2.

By those words, the prophet Isaiah pointed to the time when true worship of Jehovah God would undergo rapid expansion. Today, in one country after another around the world, we are witnessing just such marvelous theocratic expansion. This is, perhaps, nowhere more evident than in Japan, where there are some 96,000 worshipers of the true God.

Growth Through the Years

It was early in the second decade of this century that the good news of God’s Kingdom first reached Japan. Charles T. Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Society, made a 700-mile (1,100-km) tour through the Japanese islands and saw the need for preaching true Christianity. In 1926 an American-Japanese was assigned to Japan as the Watch Tower Society’s first missionary.

For some 20 years, many seeds of truth were sown and scores of persons learned about Jehovah’s Kingdom. Many of them underwent severe trials for their faith at the hands of the military government during the period of 1933-45.a

In 1949 the preaching work in Japan got a fresh start. Gilead-trained missionaries began arriving. By August, there were seven missionaries working in Tokyo, and, on an average, nine persons shared in the evangelizing work each month. Six more missionaries arrived in October, five of these starting the preaching work in Kobe. How would this preaching be received in this country of Buddhist and Shinto believers, recovering from the shock of World War II?

In less than ten years the number of Kingdom preachers grew to 1,000. But the ‘place of the tent was yet to be made more spacious.’ By November 1970 the number of Witnesses had multiplied tenfold, and three years later it reached 20,000. In another three and a half years that number was to double again​—for a new peak of 40,000-and-more Kingdom preachers! However, there were many sheeplike ones yet to be found, and Jehovah continued to pour out his blessing on the zealous activities of his people in Japan. In a little over six years, by June 1983, the 40,000 had doubled once again to over 80,000, and, as of this report, the number of Kingdom publishers in Japan has reached 97,305!

Those Who Preached Full Time

Clearly, Jehovah God has been the One behind the expansion. However, the zealous missionaries and other full-time preachers have played an important role.

By 1952 the missionary group had grown to about 50, and several new native Witnesses were entering the pioneer work. The example of the zealous missionaries encouraged more and more of their newly baptized companions to devote themselves full time to Jehovah’s service. Today, 37 years after the first missionaries entered the country, nearly 40 percent of all Witnesses in Japan are in the full-time (pioneer) work each month, with 36,118 reporting even in the short midwinter month of February 1985. Many of the missionaries who shared in this expansion from the start are still serving there, but the present group of 76 missionaries is now like a small ‘drop in the ocean’ of tens of thousands of local pioneers.

Would you like to meet some of these zealous ones? Let us get acquainted with at least a few, representing the spectrum of these pioneers.

First, meet some of the old-timers. Iwako Kono is our oldest special pioneer. At age 70 she has enjoyed this privilege of service for about 28 years and has helped almost 50 persons to dedication and baptism. Then there is Sadakichi Shimada. At 87 years of age he is the oldest regular pioneer in Japan. Toyoko Umemoto was 26 years old when she started to special pioneer. Now, with more than 29 years of faithful service, she has served the longest of any native Japanese special pioneer.

At the other end of the scale, there are many young ones who are using their youth to serve Jehovah. Meri Aida was 14 years old when she received her appointment to serve as a regular pioneer. Before that she had shared in auxiliary pioneer service for 41 months since her baptism at age 11. She did so while going to school.

Akiko Goto was seven years old when her mother started to do regular pioneer work, in spite of caring for two babies. Akiko followed her mother’s fine example and became a regular pioneer when she was 18, and then two years later she became the youngest special pioneer in Japan. Hisako Wakui was 21 when she started as a special pioneer. Now, after some 28 years, she has had the privilege of helping at least 37 persons to become worshipers of Jehovah.

Many have gone out from the big cities to the small towns and villages to bring the “good news of the kingdom” to all the deserving ones. Interestingly, about 60 percent of all regular pioneers are housewives, and the majority of them do not have believing husbands. This marvelous pioneer spirit has spearheaded the growth of Kingdom interests in Japan.

The Urgent Need for Meeting Places

The Japanese Witnesses fully appreciate the Bible command not to ‘forsake the gathering of ourselves together, and all the more so as we behold the day drawing near.’ (Hebrews 10:25) In the early years, most congregations held their meetings in small rooms in labor halls or civic auditoriums. Many of these were rented on a weekly basis. Often the brothers would arrive for their meetings only to be told that the room would not be available that day. This meant scurrying around to find another location and then, in less than an hour, setting it up for the meetings!

Happily, most of that is in the past. The majority of the congregations now have their own meeting places. Some rent on a yearly basis while others have renovated vacant buildings or warehouses. But the price of land in Japan is so high​—ranging anywhere from $35 to $50 (U.S.) per square foot​—that few congregations can afford to own the land where their Kingdom Halls stand. Some brothers who own property have torn down their houses and rebuilt with a Kingdom Hall on the first floor and their residence above. In several unusual cases, persons who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses or not even interested in Christianity have offered to build Kingdom Halls on their property and rent them to Jehovah’s Witnesses, even asking the Witnesses to submit plans for their hall. This has resulted in some truly unusual Kingdom Halls.

For example, in Yokohama, a parking-lot owner agreed to build a Kingdom Hall on stilts over his lot and to rent the hall to the Witnesses. One in Tokyo is on the second floor of a building anchored between the supports of an elevated railway. At last report, the brothers there have got used to the noisy trains overhead.

As the congregations have grown larger, so have the circuit assemblies. Whereas 20 years ago a circuit assembly might have only 300 to 400 in attendance, now there may be 1,500 to 2,000, or more. Facilities for assemblies this large are difficult to find. Thus, in 1975, a bankrupt bowling establishment outside of Tokyo was leased and remodeled to become Japan’s first Assembly Hall, with a seating capacity of 1,200. The second one, a fine ferroconcrete building, followed in 1982. It is in the central (Kansai) area of Japan and was built entirely by the volunteer labor of Witness men, women, and children. It seats 1,800. The third Assembly Hall has been built by volunteer workers on the property of the Watch Tower Society’s branch headquarters in Ebina. It will seat 3,000.

The last time all the publishers in Japan came together for one assembly was at the international convention at Ōsaka in 1973, with 31,263 in attendance. Since then, due to lack of suitable facilities, smaller conventions have proved to be more practical, and a Kingdom witness can be given in more places. Twenty-four such conventions were held in 1984, with 179,439 attending and 3,236 being baptized.

Expansion at the Branch

To keep pace with the rapid growth in the field, the Society’s branch office has undergone tremendous expansion through the years. From 1949 to 1962 the office was located in a two-story Japanese-style house in Minato Ward, Tokyo. It was finally replaced by a seven-story building that served as the headquarters until 1972. By then the Society saw the need to do its own printing. So a new factory and a Bethel home were built on an acre (0.4 ha) of land in Numazu City, 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Tokyo.

Within five years, however, the facilities at Numazu were taxed to the limit. Thus, 18 acres (7 ha) were purchased in Ebina, and a fine factory and a Bethel home, three times the size of the facilities in Numazu, were built. This complex, constructed entirely by the Witnesses themselves, was dedicated on May 15, 1982.

Magazine production was started with a new rotary offset printing press while construction was still in progress. After construction was completed, another four-color rotary offset press was added. The brothers were especially excited when tens of thousands of copies of the Japanese New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures rolled off the Society’s press in 1982. To keep up with the increasing demand for magazines and other literature, a five-unit rotary offset press was installed in January 1984. It can produce a thousand magazines a minute and can print The Watchtower and Awake! simultaneously.

To do all this printing and shipping and to look after the needs of the workers, the Bethel family has grown to 345 members. In addition, 165 have been working on the new construction project. Interestingly, there are 19 sets of fleshly brothers in this family.

Even though it was just three years ago that the Ebina facilities were dedicated, work is already under way for further expansion. Under construction on the same property are a new eight-story Bethel home, which will house 250 persons, and a six-story factory addition. Indeed, the “tent cords” are being extended beyond all anticipation.

Future Prospects

In this land of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs, there are many people who are looking for something in which they can put faith. How many will yet come to Jehovah’s “tent” remains to be seen. An indication of further progress is the fact that 224,696 persons met together on April 15, 1984, to commemorate Jesus’ death. And a concerted effort is being put forth to help the interested ones. Each month, some 142,000 home Bible studies are being conducted.

When the first missionaries arrived in 1949, who could have imagined that after 37 years there would be over 97,000 active praisers of Jehovah in this land? Yet, Jehovah has brought it about. True to his promise, he has indeed ‘stretched out the tent cloths’ and ‘lengthened the tent cords’ for his people. His Witnesses will continue to work hard and look to him to bring in the harvest before the end of this system of things.

[Footnotes]

[Graph on page 23]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Growth in Kingdom publishers in Japan in the past 37 years

(Feb.)

1949 9

1958 1,000

1970 10,000

1973 20,000

1976 40,000

1983 80,000

1985 97,305

[Picture on page 24]

Toyoko Umemoto has the longest record of special pioneering

[Picture on page 25]

Sadakichi Shimada is the oldest regular pioneer in Japan