Curious onlookers gather on streets at Tokyo Japan Temple
By David van der Leek
A statue of the Angel Moroni was placed on the Tokyo Japan Temple December 10th, 2004 as hundreds of spectators looked on from across the street in Arisugawa Park. Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi, Area President of the Asia North Area presided at the installation, also attended by 1st Counselor Elder William R. Walker and 2nd Counselor Elder Won Yong Ko.
The Tokyo Japan Temple was Asia's first Latter-day Saint temple. The temple was dedicated October 27, 1980, by President Spencer W. Kimball. The temple includes a parking garage in the basement and an upstairs apartment for the temple president and matron. With the new statue of the Angel Moroni facing east, the distance from the ground to the top of the statue is about 180 feet.
When President Spencer W. Kimball announced at the start of the Tokyo Area Conference on August 9th, 1975 that a temple would be built in Japan, the congregation burst into applause, then tears.
President Walker says, "The weather forecast for the morning of the 10th was for rain, however, it was a beautiful clear day. Members standing on the ground broke into spontaneous applause as the statue settled into place atop the steeple." The scaffolding was removed over the next week and the steeple and Angel Moroni now stand very clearly atop the temple. President Walker says, "It is magnificent. It is much more dramatic and beautiful than before."
The Tokyo Japan Temple district covers membership in 26 stakes and 15 districts. The temple was designed to extend upward instead of outward. Many visitors comment on how the lines of the temple give a feeling of elevation and of drawing the heart and soul toward God.
The Tokyo Japan Temple has two ordinance rooms and five sealing rooms with a total of 52, 590 square feet of floor space. It was built on the site of the Church's former mission home in downtown Tokyo, which was demolished to make way for the temple.
"Obedience is the price, faith is the power, love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, and Christ is the reason." The motto of the Japan Fukuoka Mission can be applied not only to missionary work, but to everyday life. -BYU President Bateman
