Japanese Baptist Church records, 1899-1949

In the Fall of 1891, there was a great revival meeting held at the First Baptist Church, located at 4th and James Street. At that meeting, three youths came forward to join the church. They were Fukumatsu Okazaki, Yoshigoro Akiyama and Yosaburo Nakayama. These young men requested instructions in the English language and in the Bible. With the help of the pastor, Rev. G. J. Burchett and Mr. Jacob W. Sherwood, a small room was rented and school was held three nights a week.

Beginning in April 1892, one night a week was given to Bible study with Mrs. Louise V. Ward as teacher. Within a month, Messrs. Akiyama and Nakayama were baptized. At the same time, Mr. Okazaki transferred his membership from the First Baptist Church of Denver, Colorado to the First Baptist Church of Seattle.

In March of 1893, the Home Mission Society appointed Mr. Sherwood as the principal of the Mission School. The school was located at 418 Jefferson Street in Seattle, where there were 27 rooms. With the help of the Young Men's Group, classrooms were set up. One portion of the building was set aside as a dormitory for the many young people who recently immigrated from Japan.

On May 23, 1899, under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Ward, and after numerous meetings, the Seattle Japanese Baptist Church was organized at 418 Jefferson Street with the following as charter members: Rev. Fukumatsu Okazaki, Imajiro Kudo, Sokichi Hoshide, Toyozo Sakura, Inosuke Kawahara, Tamejiro Watanabe, Keitaro Yamada, Takasaburo Kusumi, Hatsutaro Nakamura, Yoshio Sakuma, and Takesaburo Hironaka. Shortly after the formation of the church, Rev. Okazaki left for Japan. Rev. Shimenosuke Hara became the pastor and served until 1904. Rev. Okazaki returned in 1901 and served as pastor until 1933.

Source: https://jbcseattle.org/history