Founded in San Francisco by Japanese Christian students, the Gospel Society was the first immigrant association established by Japanese in the United States. The organization played an integral part in helping many new Japanese immigrants adjust to life in America while pursuing their studies. It was also instrumental in shaping the development of Japanese Protestant Christianity.
At the end of the nineteenth century, many Japanese immigrants arrived in the San Francisco area after being told that it was possible to work and study in the area. The Gospel Society was formed by recent converts to Methodism and Congregationalism to assist these often penniless students. The first meeting place was an austere, windowless room in the basement of the Chinese Methodist Episcopal Mission in the city’s
Ichioka, Yuji. The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885-1924. New York: Free Press, 1988. Yoshida, Ryo. “Japanese Immigrants and Their Christian Communities in North America: A Case Study of the Fukuinkai, 1877-1896.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 34, no. 1 (2007): 229-244.
California
Issei
Japanese American Citizens League
Japanese immigrants
Missionaries
Religions of immigrants
San Francisco