The first connection between Japan and The Theosophical Society (TS) occurred in 1893 when Doho Mizutani proposed to publish Buddhist Catechism by Henry S. OLCOTT; it was published in Kyoto in 1895. Olcott subsequently toured Japan and made his base at the Chion-in Buddhist Temple in Kyoto. His lectures and talks with Anagarika DHARMAPALA had a great effect on the revival of Buddhism in Japan.

Following Olcott’s visit to Japan, several theosophical books were translated into Japanese. Heisaku Udaka and E. S. Stevenson translated The Key to Theosophy by Helena P. BLAVATSKY (Point Loma 1907); Bubei Kon translated At the Feet of the Master by Alcyone (Adyar,1928). Shuncho (ToKo) Kon translated Man Visible and Invisible by Charles W. LEADBEATER (Adyar, 1902).

In 1928 Dr. D. T. SUZUKI an eminent scholar of Zen Buddhism, together with his wife Beatrice Lane Suzuki, organized the Mahayana Lodge of the Theosophical Society in Kyoto and later the Miroku Lodge at Tokyo. After the Second World War, Kanzo Miura organized the Ryuo-kai (Dragon King Society) and introduced theosophical teachings (including Alice BAILEY and Agni Yoga) with his Synthesis Yoga practice. He translated The Voice of the Silence by Blavatsky. After his death, Miura’s daughter, Emiko Tanaka succeeded as President and organized the Nippon Lodge in the Ryuo-kai, registered by the International Headquarters at Adyar in 1971. Subsequently she also organized two other lodges in Osaka and Nagoya.

Emiko Tanaka published the following theosophical books in Japanese. At the Feet of the Master by Alcyone, Light on the Path by Mabel Collins, Clairvoyance, Invisible Helpers, The Astral Plane, Thought Forms, Masters and the Path, by Leadbeater; The Key to Theosophy (Adyar Edition), The Secret Doctrine, (Cosmogenesis) by HPB; When Daylight Comes, (Blavatsky’s Biography) by Howard Murphet. Emiko Tanaka died in 1995 and Jeff Clark of U.S. has become the representative for the three lodges. He is also the President of the Agni Yoga Society in Japan.

H.F.

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