Later Developments in Tokyo Quakerism
Our excursion into Ibaraki Province has taken some time, and we must now return to the capital. The period of rapid expansion, of easy gains, was over, and progress came now only through patient effort. The years from 1900 to 1917 when the Yearly Meeting was finally set tip were years of emphasis on stabilizing work at its center, more than in reaching out into new fields. Perhaps the break up at the time of the Sino- Japanese War had taught its lesson. Change in personnel too may have had its influence. Gilbert and Minnie Bowles had now come to fill the places left vacant by the withdrawal of the Cosands. The years that followed might be called an educational period. The meetings of the Executive Committee were times of thorough and free discussion, where everyone ex- pressed his opinion, and received a thoughtful hearing. Laymen as well as the recognized workers were appointed to represent their meetings in this committee. Perhaps more than any other one influence, these meetings were the occasion for seeing how Quakerism works, and for the development of the Quaker type of character.

Besides these business meetings, summer conferences were held regularly, sometimes at Minato on the seashore, sometimes at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba, where Friends worshipped together, held Bible study courses, and listened to inspirational addresses. Women Friends also frequently held similar conferences for themselves at different times, as it was hard for them and their husbands to be away from home together. The sense of fellowship was strong at such times. Much emphasis was put on work for young men. Horace E. and Elizabeth Coleman opened their home to them and summer camps were regularly held. After the Coleman's retirement, Thomas E. and Esther B. Jones continued this work.

Japan Yearly Meeting was finally set up in 1917. Its formation had been urged by the Mission Committee as a symbol of independence from any authority emanating from abroad. Japanese friends were now to take the weight on their own shoulders. Financial support from abroad too was to be considered subsidiary to self-support, and was to be on a decreasing scale. This critical moment in the history of a "mission-propagated" Quaker group is one that Quaker embassies in Europe have perhaps escaped to great degree. That Japanese Friends weathered the danger with a growing sense of common purpose and harmony between the two national groups, speaks well for the forbearance and patience of both sides.

For the first few Years after the establishment of Yearly Meeting, in pursuance of the independence aim, no missionaries were appointed to committees, but gradually the need of more cooperation was felt, and the pendulum swung back to a more normal relationship. At last in 1923 the great earthquake made all work together to relieve the suffering of that time, without any consciousness of difference in nationality. This matter will be treated later under the head of Quaker Service.

In 1925 Seiju Hirakawa became clerk of the Yearly Meeting, and two years later in answer to a felt need, he resigned his principalship of the Friends Girls School, and was appointed to the position of General Secretary of the Yearly Meeting. From then on he gave the greater part of his time to the coordination of work within the Society, and when opportunity offered, to the furtherance of its leavening power in the outside world.

Hirakawa-san's first contact with Friends in Mito has already been mentioned. He came into Quakerism from a Buddhist background, and had been accustomed to the practice of silent meditation in the Zen manner before he joined Friends." But he himself feels that although the outward form has certain similarities to a Friends meeting for worship, the meaning of the whole process is so different that it can hardly be considered a stepping stone to the silent worship of Friends(8). He had come during his years at the school to feel a real concern for the Yearly Meeting, and it was through it that he felt he could give his best service. The years that followed his appointment as secretary, were a time of real progress in the functioning of that body. Its life ran more and more through distinctively Quaker channels.

Before then however, there had been an earnest and increasing desire to know what Quakerism was. In 1924 special gatherings were held in all the Meetings in commemoration of the Tercentenary of George Fox's birth. A visit to Japan by Rufus M. Jones in 1926 was utilized for a four-day conference, and Friends from all parts gathered in Tokyo. Some of them knew his books already, and were eager for this opportunity to meet him and hear his interpretation from his own lips. Four years later, Takeo Iwahashi, a member of London Yearly Meeting, living in Osaka, came north and spoke to Friends in their local meetings, on Quakerism. The fact that he had been denied the outer, physical light made all the more impressive his emphasis on the Inner Light. Japan Yearly Meeting sent representatives to the two World Conferences of' Friends that were held in London, England, in .1920, and at Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., in 1937.

The adoption of a Statement of Faith in 1928 may not sound like a distinctively Quaker step, but when the circumstances are considered, it should be granted that there was more reason for defining their position in the face of the vague conceptions commonly held of Christianity, and the almost absolute ignorance in regard to Quakerism, than there would be in some other quarters. It was drawn up by a committee of the Yearly Meeting, after long and prayerful thought. An entirely unofficial translation of its five clauses follows:--

1. We believe that God is our Father, and that his Spirit is within us.

2. We believe that the spiritual nature of man is of infinite and absolute value and we look for its highest realization in the experiences of daily life.

3. We acknowledge our tendency to fall into evil, but we believe that through sincere repentance,
we may obtain saving purification and new life.

4. By the coming together of personalities so purified by faith, we confidently expect the establishment of
    the Kingdom of God.

                    5. Relying upon our Lord Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Holy Bible, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we believe                             this faith may be realized.

Quaker Literature in Japan
The monthly publication of "The Japanese Friend"(9), an eight-page periodical, began in 1906, and through the succeeding years has helped to give solidarity and an understanding of Quakerism to the groups. The publication of other Quaker literature has perhaps not had the emphasis it should have had. Just at the beginning, the lives of George Fox, Elizabeth Fry, Stephen Grellet, and William Penn had been translated into Japanese. Daniel Wheeler and John Woolman came later, but all were done under mission auspices, and perhaps it was too early. The foundations, which made possible a true evaluation, were not yet well established. Later Rufus Jones' tercentenary "Life and Message of George Fox" was translated and published by "The Japanese Friend". Two other manuscripts have been prepared,--one a translation of George Fox's Journal (abridged), and one a historical account of Mysticism and Quakerism, but wartime rationing of paper, and censorship, have not permitted their publication. Following the example, set by London Yearly Meeting with its "Swarthmore Lecture", and by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting with its "William Penn Lecture", Japan Yearly Meeting has of late years established an "Inazo Nitobe Memorial Lectureship". It is the intention of the committee to publish these lectures in book form at a more convenient season. We must look to a later generation, however, for a distinctively Japanese interpretation of Quaker thought.

The Friends Girls' School
Our story began with the Girls' School, but after seeing it built on Saints Hill in 1887, we turned from it to other matters. We must now take tip again the thread of its development. Since that beginning more than fifty years ago, it has been sending out its -young women into society, in gradually increasing numbers. At present these amount to about one hundred every year, each one going out equipped with the regular five years' course of High School education, given by concerned and well trained teachers;  knowledge of English considerably above that given by the government schools; practice in governing themselves through a self-government association(10); and health of body and 'mind, gained from properly directed sports and exercises. But they have more than this. The windows of the spirit world have been at least partly opened for them by weekly, systematic study of the Bible. Some attempts at applying its truths to the problems of life have been made. Something of the joy of fellowship on Christian lines, therein set forth, has been experienced. Beyond that some of them have come into direct contact with the Father of their spirits, in a way that will go through life with them. They go out, some to enter higher schools, some to prepare for married life, to business positions, and to school rooms. Many of them become parts of the organized Christian movement. Some have served loyally in the Friends meetings, and become integral parts of them. But whether they do make such connections or not there is a serious purpose among most of them to live worthily of the light received.

Friends Girls' School in Tokyo

During its fifty years the school has had three principals:-- Chuzo Kaifu, 1887-1912; Seiju Hirakawa, 1912-1927; and Toki Tomiyama who is still in office. It is one of the few "mission-schools", so-called, which has never had a foreign principal. There has been great harmony between the Japanese and the Americans working together for the school. Whether it was in the time of Chuzo Kaifu when Mary Ann Gundry and Minnie Pickett and Sarah Ellis and others were associated, or in the time of Seiju Hirakawa when Alice Lewis was teaching there, or of late when Esther B. Rhoads worked with Toki Tomiyama, there has always been a spirit of cooperation. Indeed one of the glories of the school is that, in this way, it has been a kind of international experiment, and his born international fruit in the plastic hearts of the young people who attend it. Toki Tomiyama was one of its graduates, and later attended a Quaker School in America. She has had other opportunities to travel and to observe Quaker education in the West. Surely now if ever she has need of all the wisdom that comes to heart and mind, for she holds the principalship at a very difficult time.

The school received government recognition in 1912, so that its graduates have the privilege of going tip to higher schools. It is well thought of by the public and has loyal patrons and teachers. Dr. Nitobe lent his name to it as chairman of its Supporters Association, while he was living. It was during this time that the Princess Chichibu who had her-self once been a pupil at the Friends School in Washington, visited the school, a red-letter day for all connected with it. Setsuko Sawada is now chairman of the Board of Trustees.

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