When Elder Dennis H. Atkin served his first mission to Japan in 1950, he formed a lifelong attachment to the Japanese people and the "Land of the Rising Sun." At the time, missionaries held all the administrative positions in the branches. Few husbands and wives were both members, and even fewer entire families were in the Church. The prospect of having a temple was just a dream.

Elder Atkin served his mission and, after returning home, earned a Ph.D. in Japanese language and literature, and spent his career teaching Asian cultures at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. After retiring, he and his wife, Theodocia, served two proselyting missions in the Japan Kobe Mission. Next, the Atkins served another mission at Church headquarters microfilming early Church records that pertained to Japan. Elder and Sister Atkin are currently serving a fourth mission, and are among the few non-Japanese missionaries serving at the Tokyo Japan Temple.

"In Japan at the present time, there are many stakes, wards and branches, and Japanese stake presidents, bishops and patriarchs," Elder Atkin said. "Children are being raised in homes where gospel principles are taught by parents who are strong in the faith. Many Japanese people are serving as missionaries in Japan or elsewhere. Men and women return from the missions with the zeal to serve wherever they are needed. Currently, the president of the Tokyo temple is Kensei Nagamine. All the members of the Tokyo temple presidency, the matrons and all administrative personnel, are Japanese people, as are the vast numbers of regularly serving ordinance workers."

He said that on a recent day he experienced a moment when he felt the spiritual "coming of age" of the Church in this nation. He was ushering as one large group of patrons was going downstairs, while another large group — those from the Fukuoka area who were being trained for their new temple — was arriving. As two large groups passed, "I considered their beauty, their happy uplifting expressions, the husbands and wives together often holding hands, often exchanging looks of affection with each other.

"The awakening here in Japan is a glorious thing to behold. The Sun that is rising is the Son of God and His restored gospel. The light of this gospel and the light it brings into the faces of these people is as beautiful as the sunshine. They are the rising generation. . . in the Land of the Rising Sun." — Louis A. Barnett

Illustration by John Clark.