Kanichi Yamamoto

Kanichi Yamamoto (1879-1961) was the first Japanese Bahá'í. He joined the religion in 1902. Some of his children also decided to join the Bahá'í Faith. ["Memories of `Abdu'l-Baha", p. 5]

Research shows that the first three Japanese Bahá’ís were all immigrants to the United States.

In the order of joining the Bahá’í Faith, the three were:

1. Mr. Kanichi Yamamoto (1879-1961)

2. Mr. Saichiro Fujita (1886-1976)

3. Mr. Kenzo Torikai (1882-1965)

These individuals did not know each other and, had they not joined the Bahá’í Faith, their paths may have never crossed, as they came from different parts of Japan and had decided to settle in different areas of the U.S. [ [http://bahai-library.org/east-asia/traces/3-4.html Traces that Remain: Chapter 3] ]

While to this day, Mr. Saichiro Fujita is by far the most well-known Bahá’í of Japanese origin, Mr. Yamamoto has the distinction of being recognized as the first Japanese Bahá'í. Born in 1879, he decided to move to Hawaii in the early 1900s. Mr. Yamamoto came from the province of Yamaguchi in Japan. He was raised a Buddhist but had later converted to. In 1902, while in Hawaii, he started working at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith in Honolulu. The Smiths' son, Clarence was already a Bahá’í and a Bahá’í woman by the name of Miss Elizabeth Muther also lived at the Smith’s home. A while after Mr. Yamamoto’s arrival, Miss Muther decided to share Bahá'u'lláh’s message with Mr. Yamamoto. She has described the process of how she came to this decision in a letter to a friend that is dated September 8, 1902:

"After I became a believer I felt that sometime I might tell (Mr. Yamamoto). I prayed that his heart might be prepared to receive the truth. Although it was a little difficult to give him the Message because of his imperfect knowledge of English, yet God helped me so that he understands perfectly and is rejoicing in the Knowledge of His Truth. I have just had a little talk with him and he told me how happy he was and that he expects to write his letter to the Master [`Abdu'l-Bahá] this evening." [ [http://bahai-library.com/east-asia/ablaze/ablaze.3.html Japan Will Turn Ablaze: Chapter 3] ]

While Mr. Yamamoto’s English was not very good, he understood enough of the message of Bahá'u'lláh to decide to join the Faith. He did so at the tender age of 23. In those days, whoever joined the Bahá’í Faith was asked to write a letter of declaration of belief to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who was the head of the Faith, living in Haifa, Palestine. Mr. Yamamoto’s poor English forced him to rewrite his letter to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá four times and he still was not happy with the letter. Miss. Muther encouraged him to write the letter in Japanese assuring him that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would understand the spirit of his letter. Mr. Yamamoto agreed and wrote the letter in Japanese. Later, he received a full response from `Abdu'l-Bahá. Mr. Yamamoto wrote other letters to `Abdu'l-Bahá too, all in Japanese and received responses. In all, he has four Tablets (letters) from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In one of them, he is addressed as:

"O thou who art the single one of Japan and the unique one of the extreme Orient! That country hath been deprived of the divine breath until this time; now, God be praised! thou art initiated in the mysteries and conscious of the secrets of the lights. Thou hast been earthly, I hope that thou wilt become heavenly; thou hast been gloomy, I desire that thou wilt become luminous. Thou wert wandering in the wilderness, thou hast found a way to the abode of the Beloved One; thou wert a thirsty fish, thou hast attained to the endless Ocean; thou wert a roving bird, thou hast reached the divine Rose-garden; thou wert spiritually sick and thou hast found real health!

"Now is the time that thou shouldest entirely abandon the comfort, ease, enjoyment and the life of this transient world, and wholly arise to guide the people of Japan, illuminating faces, perfuming nostrils and conquering, through the heavenly hosts and divine reinforcements, the hearts of the people of that region. Do not wonder at the favor and bounty of the Lord. By the favor of God, how often a drop hath become undulating like a sea, and an atom hath become shining like the sun! The sun of Truth hath enlightened the divine world and illumined the universe. The rays of His grace have shone upon the East and West, and His heat hath caused vegetation in all countries. So the lights and the heat of the Sun of Truth being help and assistance, what more dost thou need? Thou must warble, like the nightingale of significances, in the rose-garden, so that thou mayest inspire all the birds of the meadow to chant and to sing." [‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, Chicago: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1909 edition, pp. 560-561.]

In March, 1903, he went to Oakland, California, where for years he served in the home of Mrs. Helen S. Goodall, a well-known and active Bahá’í in that area. In 1908, a young woman by the name of Ima immigrated from Japan to Oakland, [California [for the express purpose of marrying Mr. Yamamoto. There is no record of Ima ever becoming a Bahá’í but the couple played a major role in taking care of guests at the Goodall’s home which had become a hub of Bahá’í orientated activities in the Oakland area at that time.

At about the same time Ima had moved to the U.S., the Young Turks succeeded in beginning the process of dissolving the Ottoman Empire (1908-1922). Among the measures they took in 1908, was to release political prisoners and allow freedom of movement to those who had restrictions imposed on them by Ottoman Emperors. Among this latter group was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who, although in ill heath, decided to travel to the different parts of the world and share the message of his father Bahá'u'lláh with others. In April 1912, he reached the U.S. On October 22 of that year, he arrived in San Francisco where he and Mr. Yamamoto finally met in person. While there, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also gave Mr. Yamamoto’s three boys Persian names.

“To Hirose, the eldest, he gave the name of Hassan; to Hinju, Hossein, and to Masao, Farouk.” [Alexander, Agnes Baldwin. History of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan 1914-1938 [with editing and end notes by Barbara Sims] ; Bahá'í Publishing Trust: Osaka, Japan, 1977, p. 5.]

During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s stay in San Francisco, Mr. Yamamoto actually arranged a meeting for him at the Japanese Independent Church. The Yamamotos later decided to move to Berkeley, California where their children attended Bahá'í children's classes. The children’s teacher was Mrs. Kathryn Frankland who also happened to teach the Bahá’í Faith to Mr. Saichiro Fujita, the second Japanese to accept the Bahá’í Faith.

The Yamamotos had six children. In 1919, while pregnant with her sixth child, Ima decided to visit her family in Japan and took their five boys with her. The sixth child was born in Japan. But shortly thereafter, Ima succumbed to influenza. Ima’s sister, Tame, agreed to take care of all the six children until Mr. Yamamoto arrived from the U.S. He and Tame decided that Mr. Yamamoto would take the four oldest sons back to California and leave the two youngest ones with Tame. After Mr. Yamamoto arrived in the U.S., it proved difficult for him to attend to the four sons alone. News of this hardship eventually reached Tame who decided to immigrate to the U.S. and marry Mr. Yamamoto. Their marriage which lasted until Mr. Yamamoto's death in 1961 produced another six children for the couple.

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