After women were granted the right to participate in and attend political assemblies, there was a surge in the development of women's interest groups. Alumni, Christian missionary, and other women's auxiliary groups began to sprout in the interwar period. After a massive earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, representatives from 43 of these organizations joined forces to become the Tokyo Federation of Women's Organizations (Tokyo Rengo Fujinkai). The federation was designed to serve as a disaster relief organization that aided those impacted by the earthquake. As time progressed, it went on to become one of the largest women's activist groups of the time.