Foreword

The writer has taken great pleasure in living again with Japan Yearly Meeting, as she has prepared the manuscript for this little book. And yet she knows that by every consideration it should have been prepared by a national of that country. She has tried to look at the whole subject with as Japanese eyes as she could, but if in places some American viewpoints have peeped through, she hopes they will be f6roiven. At least she can say that her main source has been Japanese,--Seijii Hirakawa's book, entitled "Fifty Years of Quakerism in Japan." Since there was no recourse to other sources than those to be found in this country, it has been impossible to verify certain statements, and mistakes may thus have crept in.

The work in Japan has been an instance of international cooperation. The Mission Boards of Philadelphia and of Canada Friends have been permitted to extend a hand in an especial way, but others from across the seas have given support to Quakerism in Japan. God grant that the days may soon come when we can again join hands in enterprises for a spiritual Kingdom.

Edith F. Sharpless
Haverford, Pennsylvania
June 8, 1944