The United Church of Christ in Japankaruizawa Church

The background of Karuizawa Church and the people who laid its groundwork
With 11 churches in Karuizawa Town
and with 4 churches in Old Karuizawa
alone, this Karuizawa Church is
deeply rooted in this area as being
noted for its most long-standing
history of being a church for Japanesepeople.
In 1897 (Meiji 30) when the morethan 600 foreign missionaries fromvarious countries and of varying
denominations came together and built
Union Church for themselves, theKyuuichi Uehara family who operated
a store in this town prayed earnestly about their desire to have a church forJapanese people.
Hereby with the cooperation of the missionaries that built Union Church, onDecember 1st, 1905 (Meiji 38) they made the Uehara house a meeting place andbegan a work as a church.
In June 1912 (Meiji 45), on this property donated by Miss Den Sato, a believer,a church building was built that was designed by Mr. W. M. Vories.
This prayer was offered up at the time the work began as a church. “Maymissionaries, Christians, and non-Christians come together equally in cheerful
fellowship to help each other as God’s workers with no discrimination, with thechurch’s underlying secret being that of feeling thanks, hope, and courage
regarding the lives of those people gathered together.”Now, with the passing of 100 years, this prayer has been the power inovercoming manifold trials.
At the time the Uehara family began this work, they were strongly opposedby unruly people. But they made this prayer their mainstay and sacrificed
themselves to building this church.
Leading the missionaries, that helped the Uehara family in this work, wasMissionary Daniel Norman.
Reverend Norman was from Ontario, Canada.
After coming to Japan in 1897 (Meiji 30), he distributed hand printed tracts,
utilized such newspapers as The Shinano Daily, evangelized in front of post
offices and train stations, preached in prisons and such in Tokyo, in various
prefectures in the Hokuriku region and in Nagano Ken, while also building
several churches.
In particular, “Karuizawa is to be a place to seek pleasure in nature, not toseek pleasure in people.”So, over a period of 40 years, Mr. Norman dedicated himself to safeguardingand cultivating nature and culture by bringing about the building of hospitals,
roads, streets and town water facilities, the establishment of tennis courts, social
morals, the blockage of “over-building”, maintaining an environment for healthysocial living, preserving nature, and conducting such cultural life events asmusical concerts and lecture meetings.
He was called “Karuizawa’s Mayor” with respect and affection.
In 1916 (Taisho 5), this church opened a church affiliated kindergarten. It
was the origin of the “Daniel Norman Memorial School Institute” educationalfoundation.
This was Reverend Daniel Norman’s work in Karuizawa, giving his life tolaying the foundations for various beneficial things.
But in 1940 (Showa 15), as the sun set on the eve of the upcoming great war,
he could not avoid returning to his own country.
On June the 20th of the following year, he was called to Heaven. He was 77years old.
From that year’s (1940) August 19th commemoration to the 25th year after his
call to Heaven, on August 16th, 1965, The Karuizawa Church, Union Church, andThe Karuizawa Kai (tennis club) held a joint memorial service in remembrance ofthe many benefits bestowed upon us in Karuizawa by Mr. Norman
Reverend Norman’s name was Daniel Norman but people whole-heartedly
called him “Norman Sensei” with intimate affection. Daniel himself and his own
family referred to him as “Norman”.