Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, Iwaki, Koriyama, Shirakawa

Aizuwakamatsu

This unique building in Aizuwakamatsu (map) (street view) was dedicated in December 1999. It was built on the land where a former rented building was located. The address is Gyonin-machi 2-33, and is about a 15-20 minute walk from the eki.  Aizu is a castle town with lots of samurai history.

 

 

 

 

 

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Historic Aizuwakamatsu

This is the first meetinghouse for Aizu, established as a dendousho in Spring 1974.  (photo courtesy John Ericson).  The address was Joto machi 15-12.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fukushima

Fukushima's (map) (street view) unique building was the third "permanent" one in the mission. It was not built, but rather was purchased and converted from a private hospital and completed in 1984. It is located in the block right next to the shiyakusho (city office), about a 15 minute walk from the eki, at Kitagorouuchimachi 1-32. For a time, missionaries lived on the top floor apartments.  Fukushima has a population of 290,000.

Because of radiation levels from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear disaster site (only about 40 miles away), missionaries were not assigned to Fukushima for over six years. During this period, a missionary companionship from Yamagata or Nagamachi visited Fukushima Ward every other Sunday. In December 2017, a senior missionary couple was finally allowed to live and serve there. Here's the post in Japanese that Pres. Sekiguchi made to his Japan Sendai Mission Newsroom Facebook page:

【郡山へ宣教師が赴任！】
2011年の震災以降、郡山支部には宣教師は不在のままでした。新しく仙台伝道部へ着任した武田章長老と優子姉妹（山形ワード出身）は、伝道部会長からのアサイメントを受け、12月20日に郡山支部へ赴任しました。

長期間にわたって宣教師が不在であった郡山支部にとっては、６年９ヶ月ぶりに宣教師を迎えることになります。

福島ワードへは、既に２週間前より津田長老姉妹が赴任しており、郡山支部へ武田夫妻が宣教師として派遣されたことにより、仙台伝道部の全てのユニットに専任宣教師が常駐することが実現しました。

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Historic Fukushima

A 1976 picture of branch members in front of the combined meetinghouse/elders quarters.  The address was Satsuki-cho 7-7.  (photo courtesy Craig Brooksby)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Iwaki

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Historic Iwaki

The meetinghouse atTaira Oomachi 18, formerly a private hospital, was moved into in July 1975. The doctor's widow, Igarashi-san, was theooyasan (landlord) and lived in a house behind the church. The hospital layout worked well, as former patient rooms upstairs became classrooms and living quarters for missionaries. The operating room on the main floor became the pulpit area of the chapel, with a little missionary carpentry and paint.

The three shimai church members standing in front are, from left to right, Kobayashi, Aoyagi and Ogino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday August 10, 1975--all the members had gone to Tokyo for the Area Conference, the first to be held in Japan. Sendai non-native missionaries were not allowed to attend-especially painful to us in Iwaki, only a short train ride away--since missionaries from as far away as Nagoya mission were allowed to attend. Life was definitely not fair then either. (Alan Aoki, a 1979-81 RM, informs me all Sendai missionaries were allowed to attend the Tokyo Temple dedication in 1980.)

 

 

This is what was happening at the same time in Tokyo at theBudokan Hall- the Japan Area Conference of the Church, where President Kimball announced plans for a temple to be built on the site where the Tokyo Mission Home stood. I obtained this picture from members who attended and came strolling into the meetinghouse / our house a few hours later.
 

 

 

 

Shokuji-kai (Meal Meeting) was a tradition in most branches. I understand nowadays they maybe are held monthly. Some of the members would stay after meetings and we'd all share a simple meal while socializing. It added a nice touch for fellowshipping and added to the unity of the congregation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Koriyama

Koriyama's church (map) (street view) is about 15 minutes walk from the eki. The appearance is similar to the buildings in Misawa and Morioka, and was completed in 1988. A 2006 remodel included replacing a flush red-brick facade with the front tiled area that has an elevator and new steeple. Also added was a satellite dish for conference broadcasts. Directly across the street is a cemetery, and next door is the Hosonuma post office. The address is Hosonuma-chou 11-27. Koriyama's population is 330,000.

Because of radiation levels from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear disaster site (only about 40 miles away), missionaries were not allowed to live in Koriyama for over six years. During this period, missionary companionships from Aizuwakamatsu or Iwaki visited Fukushima Branch every other Sunday. In December 2017, a senior missionary couple was finally allowed to live and serve there. Here's the post in Japanese that Pres. Sekiguchi made to his Japan Sendai Mission Newsroom Facebook page:

【郡山へ宣教師が赴任！】
2011年の震災以降、郡山支部には宣教師は不在のままでした。新しく仙台伝道部へ着任した武田章長老と優子姉妹（山形ワード出身）は、伝道部会長からのアサイメントを受け、12月20日に郡山支部へ赴任しました。

長期間にわたって宣教師が不在であった郡山支部にとっては、６年９ヶ月ぶりに宣教師を迎えることになります。

福島ワードへは、既に２週間前より津田長老姉妹が赴任しており、郡山支部へ武田夫妻が宣教師として派遣されたことにより、仙台伝道部の全てのユニットに専任宣教師が常駐することが実現しました。

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Shirakawa

In October 2017, then President Sekiguchi posted that Shirakawa, a city of about 66,000 located 40 minutes south of Koriyama via 'futsu' (commuter) train, would be open to mission work. (map). The first baptism was in January 2018, and in July 2020, a rented meetinghouse was officially dedicated for use near the Shirakawa station. The rented building's address is  #A K21 Bldg.14-13 Otemachi 961-0908.

Admin note: I'm speculating that because of the continuing prohibition of missionaries in Koriyama due to radiation concerns, having missionaries in Shirakawa allows missionaries to live close enough to (also) serve in Koriyama during the day (and attend church there), then commute back home to the safer 'suburb' of Shirakawa. That 40 minutes ride would cost about $6. In October 2021 when I checked the Meetinghouse Locator on churchofjesuschrist.org and Shirakawa was still listed, with President Onodera as branch president.

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