Missionary activities overseas by the Nichiren-shu Order of Buddhism during the Meiji Period began in 1881 in Busan, South Korea. Since then, the mission has spread through Asian countries and regions all the way to Hawaii, North and South America, and beyond. Behind the missionary activities, especially those developed in Asian countries and regions, there was a hardline approach involving Japanese overseas expansion. Meanwhile, the missionary activities playing out in regions outside Asia started in 1899 in Hawaii. They particularly targeted Japanese immigrants who had crossed the ocean in search of work. Since 1914, the missionary route further expanded, centering around the West Coast of the United States.
Previous studies on the overseas missionary activities of the Nichiren-shu Order have focused on developments in Asia, Hawaii, and North America. With regard to Hawaii, to which the Japanese government sent settlers as a national commitment, the focus of the studies has been activities conducted after 1911, when the base was moved to Oahu, but the support operations in Japan and the events and circumstances that led up to building a temple in the Hawaii Islands has been little considered.
In this article, I examine the previously unknown roots of Takagi Gyōun 髙木行運, who set foot in Hawaii as the first Buddhist missionary for the Nichiren-shu Order. I will also review the support operations carried out in Japan in the early stage of missionary activities, and some specific practices the missionaries engaged in the Hawaii Islands, however fragmented they may have been, so as to learn more about the missionary activities of the Nichiren-shu Order of Buddhism in Hawaii.
