Saburo Katagiri, 32°
Tokyo Scottish Rite Bodies
4-1-3 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 105-001
tokyoscotrite@hotmail.com

A long history of anti-Masonic propaganda has hindered the growth of Freemasonry in Japan.

Some of the prejudices most Japanese currently have in their minds are (1) Freemasonry is ruled by the Zionists (2) Masonry's goal is to conquer the world's economy (3) Freemasonry is responsible for many of the past wars (4) Masons are devil worshippers.

In my view, these misconceptions were caused by various happenings during the past 150 years. Prior to the mid-19th century, Japan was isolated from the outside world, and its people had no knowledge of Freemasonry. In 1865, Masonry was started in Japan by Westerners in the foreign communities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. These Masons, in order to maintain the privacy of their Lodge meetings, had to deal with the Meiji government's regulation that required the attendance of an official from the government at all private meetings. After negotiations, the Masons gained the government's approval for privacy, but, in return, they had to promise that no Japanese would be accepted into the Frater-nity and no publicity regarding Freemasonry would be imparted to the Japanese people.

This was the "Gentlemen's Agree-ment" which remained in effect until 1941 when the Pacific War started. Because of this agreement, the Japanese were completely ignorant about Masonry, and the concept slowly developed that Masonry was only for foreigners. Some newspaper articles reported that Masons refused to be interviewed when asked questions about the Fraternity. Notwithstanding, a handful of Japanese did become Masons while residing overseas.

After World War I, General Erich von Ludendorff and his wife wrote books and lectured to the effect that the war had been caused by the joint conspiracy of Jews and Freemasons, which led to Germany's defeat. Although these were Ludendorff's personal concepts, they became the first accusations of an alleged "joint conspiracy." This scapegoating campaign was not too effective, but when Hitler gained power, the Nazis used Ludendorff's ideas, more than 7,000 Germans, including 1,265 Masons were imprisoned, and many were killed during World War II.

Coinciding with the Japanese invasion into Korea and China after the Russo- Japanese War in the early 20th century, militarist groups in Japan gained power and copied the Nazi Jew-Freemasonry strategy, mainly because of the fear of the spread of Communism. They thought liberalism and democracy, the fundamental principles of Masonry, were the roots of Communism. Anti- Masonry and anti-Jewish campaigns were aggressively carried out by General Shioten who, through his books and lectures, was effective in deceiving the average Japanese citizens. In some years, he conducted over 100 lectures.

When the Pacific War started in 1941, the political police raided the Masonic Lodges, and most of their paraphernalia was seized and later exhibited to the public at major department stores, further brainwashing the public with anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic propaganda.

Thus, the concept of "The Joint Conspiracy of Jews and Masons" was deeply implanted in the minds of the Japanese, and this prejudice still remains, especially among the aged Japanese who were directly influenced by this illogical campaign.

In 1945, the restriction forbidding Japanese to petition Masonic Lodges was removed, but most Japanese were and still are either uninformed or misinformed about Freemasonry because no significant efforts were made by the Fraternity in Japan to furnish factual information to the Japanese. Further, Japan's imaginative and sensational journalism has published hundreds of books and articles accusing Masons of being devil worshippers and conspirators working for world domination by Masonry. Accordingly, suspicion has deeply accumulated in the minds of the Japanese people, and this situation has been compounded by Masonry's refusal to respond. Rather than working to dispel these misconceptions, Masonry has simply hoped the deceptions will somehow disappear.

Clearly, today we must realize the seriousness of this problem and turn the tide by conducting aggressive educational activities to target the Japanese who represent the potential and future Masonic membership in Japan.