This book is another attempt to record Bahá'í history in the early days of the Faith in the Orient to preserve it for future generations of Bahá'ís. Each time I have written a book, it has been with these future Bahá'ís in mind.
The facts are not difficult to write about but to give the times some sort of flavor and give the people mentioned substance does not come easily. When possible I have included a sentence or two concerning the individuals involved that they might seem more real. I was very fortunate to be able to interview a number of the early Bahá'ís of Tokyo. Many of the people mentioned in this book have been friends through the years as I too was a part of the story from December 1953. Nevertheless, in many cases biographical information on the early Bahá'ís is scant or non-existent, and available sources and individual recollections often allow me to give no more than a bare outline of the Bahá'í activities. Still, some sort of record - however sketchy - is better than none.
Generally speaking this book deals with the 1950s and earlier, as Tokyo was the center at that time. After that, the Faith was growing in many different directions, and although Tokyo was still the center, other areas were equally active and important. But that is another story.
I must thank my painstaking assistant, Mr. Hideyasu Takashima, who for many Saturday afternoons searched through various Bahá'í documents in Japanese, Esperanto and Braille, for material I wanted to use.
In the Japanese language all roads are said to ascend (noboru) to Tokyo; roads leading away are said to descend (kudaru). Tokyo is the capital, the hub, the center, the summit of the Japanese nation. Tokyo's position is no doubt partly the cause and partly the effect of the following words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá written in 1914: "Unfurl thou the divine Flag in Tokyo."
History tells us that Tokyo has risen from its ashes many times, the last after World War II. The Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in Tokyo was likewise a casualty of the war, but reborn in its aftermath. Tokyo again bears the divine standard.
Table of Contents Chapter 1