Conditions Governing Access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Custodial History
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Administrative/Biographical History
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Online Items Available
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Buddhist Churches of America records
Creator:
Buddhist Churches of America
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2364
Physical Description:
430 linear feet
(287 record cartons, 123 document boxes, 61 flat boxes and panorama folders)
Date (inclusive): 1832-2016
Abstract: The Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) is a national organization of the Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji sect in the continental United
States. Formerly known as the Buddhist Mission of North America (BMNA), the BCA is the largest Japanese American Buddhist
organization and is currently headquartered in San Francisco, California. The collection includes correspondence between headquarters
in the United States, Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji Headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, and individual temples, as well as meeting minutes
and conference materials, education-related records, publications, financial records, and audiovisual materials in a wide
variety of formats.
Physical Location: Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access
special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and Japanese.
Conditions Governing Access
Portions of this collection are restricted due the presence of financially sensitive materials.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL AND DIGITAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual and digital materials are not currently available for
access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Buddhist Churches of America, 2018.
Custodial History
The Buddhist Churches of America records were originally housed at BCA headquarters in San Francisco, California. In 1998
they were transferred to the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) as a repositoried collection held at the museum, where
they were stewarded until their transfer to UCLA Library Special Collections in 2018.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Buddhist Churches of America records (Collection 2364). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Processed by Lauren Zuchowski while stewarded by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in 2016. File level inventories
processed by Sandy Saeki and Eiko Masuyama, BCA members and JANM volunteers.
Further physical processing by Krystell Jimenez, Tess Livesley-O'Neill, Kuhelika Ghosh, Mario Gallardo, and Alejandro Adame
at UCLA in 2019-2020. Description by Matthew Hayes in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) under the supervision
of Courtney Dean, 2019.
Folder titles reflect the original description created by BCA members.
Boxes 129, 145, 147, 149, 487 were weeded from the collection and returned to donors by curator Nov. 2022.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit
feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.
Administrative/Biographical History
The Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) organization was originally founded in 1899 but its origins date back to the Meiji
Restoration (1868) and the arrival of Japanese immigrants to the mainland United States. In the 1870s, Myonyo Shōnin, the
21st Chief Abbot of the Jōdo Shinshū ("True Pure Land") Hongwanji-ha, began sending priests overseas to study Western methods
of religious education and propagation, ultimately laying the groundwork for the formation of the BCA. During this time, there
were very few resources for Buddhist immigrants to receive spiritual guidance. A devout Buddhist immigrant living in California
requested missionaries in San Francisco to address this issue in the late 1890s. As a result, Reverends Eryu Honda and Ejun
Miyamoto visited San Francisco in 1898 to evaluate the spiritual needs of Buddhists living in America. In July 1898, thirty
young men gathered at the home of Dr. Katsugoro Haida and formed the Bukkyō Seinenkai (Young Men's Buddhist Association).
This association would eventually become the San Francisco Buddhist Church in 1905. Reverends Honda and Miyamoto also visited
Sacramento, Seattle, and Vancouver before returning to Japan.
Myonyo Shōnin decided to establish the North American Mission and appointed Reverend Shuye Sonada as director (kantoku) for
the mission. Reverend Kakuryo Nishijima accompanied Reverend Sonada to the United States and together they left Japan on August
16, 1899 and arrived in San Francisco on September 1, 1899. The BCA considers 1899 its official year of founding. In 1905,
the Hongwanji Branch Office/San Francisco YMBA changed its name to the "Buddhist Church of San Francisco." The church was
almost immediately destroyed in the great earthquake of 1906, but a new property was eventually purchased and the Buddhist
Church of San Francisco served as the headquarters for activities in the continental United States until World War II.
Many Japanese missionaries continued to leave for the United States during the first decades of the 20th century to serve
the religious and social needs of the Japanese immigrant population. By 1914 there were 25 temples in the United States and
a growing need for stronger organizational structure as well as the development of programs for second-generation (Nisei)
followers. Ministers and various representatives held their first national meeting in 1914 and officially established the
Buddhist Mission of North America (BMNA). The organization was legally incorporated in 1924.
Headquarters in Japan first gave the chief Buddhist official in the United States the designation of director and later, in
1918, bishop (sōchō), assigning him to the San Francisco temple. The director/bishop led a group of ministers within the BMNA.
However, the BMNA was largely controlled not by the bishop/director, but by ministers and temples, organized and administered
under the authority of their respective temple boards. Other lay organizations such as the Young Men's Buddhist Association
did not fall under the direct authority of the director/bishop.
In the early 1930s, the BMAN established the Buddhist Society of America for Caucasians (hakujin) and other English-speaking
temple members. By 1934, there were chapters in ten of the temples. Five of these chapter leaders were ordained ministers.
The Caucasian members of the Los Angeles branch temple (betsuin) quickly offered their assistance following Japan's attack
on Pearl Harbor and the passage of Executive Order 9066, the order to intern American citizens of Japanese ancestry. Their
leader, Reverend Julius A. Goldwater, first cousin to 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, brought goods
to Japanese Americans incarcerated in internment camps throughout the duration of the war.
Topaz, California served as the temporary headquarters for the Buddhist Mission during World War II. The BMNA remained active
and used this period to reorganize, and officially renamed itself the Buddhist Churches of America in 1944. The name change
was initially suggested by Reverend Goldwater to help indicate that the organization's focus was on taking root in America
on democratic principles rather than continuing as an instrument of the missionary work by the Hongwanji in Japan. The leadership
of second-generation ministers and participating representatives were incorporated both as National Council and Board of Directors.
Plans were made for the establishment of departments, which came to include an educational bureau, Sunday School department,
and youth department. Foundations were also laid for the ministerial training school to serve the growing second-generation
population.
The period following World War II provided the BCA with an opportunity to establish new temples in various parts of the country
as many Japanese Americans left the camps to rebuild their lives in new places such as Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan;
Twin Cities, Minnesota; Seabrook, New Jersey. As families were rebuilding their lives, they were also restoring regular activities
at their respective temples, some of which collapsed to varying degrees during the war. It was during these post-war years
that the Buddhist Study Center was established within Berkeley Temple after the success of a study group for second-generation
students formed by Bishop Shigefuji on the University of California's Berkeley campus. The Study Center's construction was
finished in 1956, but it was eventually moved to the current Durant Street location (Berkeley, CA) in 1966 and renamed the
Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS). The IBS is now a Buddhist Seminary and Graduate School.
During the 1960s, the BCA reached a widespread vibrancy under the leadership of Bishop Shinshō Hanayama. The Lay Speakers
Program was established in September 1961 to increase the number of English-speaking leaders within the BCA. These new leaders
assisted ministers who were not fluent in English to create Dharma talks accessible to a younger generation. Shortly after,
in October 1961, the Sustaining Membership Program was established in order to create reserve funds that would allow the BCA
to meet budget emergencies without having to borrow money. In November 1961, the BCA produced and distributed the first Bodhi
seals. The seals served two purposes: to fundraise for the BCA and to promote the Buddha's teachings. These programs flourished
in the 1960s and early 1970s. Other successful programs included the Disability Income and Accidental Death Benefit Programs
for ministers and BCA employees, the Buddhist Music Workshop, a pension plan for ministers, the Fraternal Benefit Association,
and the Relevant American Buddhist (RAB) Enterprise. Additionally, many new buildings were constructed for various purposes.
Twenty-four new Buddhist temple buildings were constructed along with seven social halls and nine education buildings. A home
for the elderly, student dormitories, and residences for ministers were also constructed.
This period of vitality ended by the late 1970s and the BCA struggled with financial instability. The BCA decentralized department
activities and phased out the RAB enterprise. Young people were not interested or actively participating in activities despite
attempts to revitalize the youth programs in 1978. The BCA focused heavily on Sunday School materials in 1979 and 1980. The
National Council approved the Campaign for Buddhism in America in February 1982 with a goal of raising fifteen million dollars
in five years. The National Council was able to raise ten million dollars in that five year period. The BCA Endowment foundation
similarly made remarkable contributions to the BCA and its Board of Trustees eventually took over administrative responsibility
for the Campaign for Buddhism in America program, and allocated funds for specific programs such as education programs, publications,
scholarships, and ministers' benefits.
As the BCA has crossed into the 21st century, its members have worked hard to revitalize the organization. Membership has
increased in some temples and outreach efforts have been successful in diversifying temple membership.
Source: Lauren Zuchowski, Japanese American National Museum. Biographical history information, April 2016.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes correspondence between headquarters in the US, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji headquarters in Kyoto, Japan,
and individual temples, as well as meeting minutes and conference materials, education related records, publications, financial
records and audiovisual materials in a wide variety of formats.
The records document three major periods of evolution experienced by the BCA as it transformed from a system of missionary
work into a major institution with a nationwide network of churches. Although the records are generally organized according
to the departments that created them, the chronological time frame below is useful to understand the influence of these periods.
1. Records created between 1899 and 1942 document the establishment and early growth of the organization. They provide insight
into the formation of the Buddhist Mission of North America (BMNA) and demonstrate the BMNA's strong ties to headquarters
in Kyoto. During this period, ministers and bishops for the United States and Canada were assigned from Japan and a great
deal of correspondence and reports were sent to and received from Japan. Most records created during this period are in Japanese.
2. Records created between 1942 and 1946 document the World War II period during which most Japanese and Japanese American
ministers and members of Buddhist Mission of North America experienced evacuation and incarceration in American concentration
camps. These records document a period of organizational "Americanization" including incorporation as the Buddhist Churches
of America in 1944, and a period of reorganization following release from camps, including the assignment of ministers to
new communities. During this period, correspondence between American temples, ministers, and headquarters staff is in both
Japanese and English.
3. Records created after 1946 document the immediate post World War II period, including correspondence between ministers
(and/or temples) and the Bishop regarding their respective status after incarceration, and show the development of the Buddhist
Churches of America with its various programs, affiliated groups, publications, and organized network of temples and districts.
Most records from this period are in English and clearly originate from an office, program or department of the BCA.
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged into the following sub-groups and series:
- Record Group 1: Buddhist Mission of North America, 1832-1998
- Series 1: Subject files, 1900-1955
- Series 2: Financial documents, 1904-1957
- Series 3: Publications, 1832-1998
- Series 4: Directories, 1919-1950
- Series 5: Office of the Bishop, 1935-1997
- Record Group 2: Buddhist Churches of America, 1944-2017
- Series 1: National Board and Council Annual Reports, 1948-2015
- Series 2: Directories, 1951-2017
- Series 3: Office of the Bishop, 1946-2017
- Series 4: Administrative Office, 1898-2013
- Series 5: Financial documents, 1945-2007
- Series 6: Office of Education, 1914-2017
- Series 7: Program materials,1907-2010
- Series 8: Ministers' writings, 1902-2012
- Series 9: Publications, 1940-2016
- Series 10: Districts and temples, 1889-2015
- Series 11: Affiliate organizations, 1913-2015
- Series 12: Photographs and scrapbooks, 1901-2005
- Series 13: Audiovisual materials, 1926-2014
- Series 14: Ephemera, 1914-2002
- Record Group 3: Manuscripts, 1888-2014
Online Items Available
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Missionary
Buddhism -- United States -- History
Buddhist Churches of America -- Archives