Beginnings
According to the record, the property of the Yokota Church of Christ was bought in 1959. But the building was not built until 1961. Christian men from the Yokota Air Force Base built a church building. I do not have a picture of the original building that was built in 1961. Since then, the building was renovated several times.
Some past members who were stationed at the Yokota Air Base in the 1960‘s may have a picture of the building. If you know someone who has one, please let me make a copy of it.
Some time in the late 1960‘s or early 1970‘s, class rooms were added to the building. Over the years the building has deteriorated. There was a time when the outside wall started falling off in 2000. I witnessed it. That was a very discouraging and gloomy time. It looked like a ghost house.
New Beginning
For a long time, a great number of Yokota members tried to acquire a new meeting place. According to Nao Fukushima, minster for the Tachikawa Church of Christ, the building project started in the early 1980‘s.
First, people thought about obtaining enough funds to build a new building by selling the church’s property. That meant that the church must move to a different location. This did not work well. When they found a buyer, they did not know of any new property which would meet the church’s needs. Sometimes new properties were too far from the base or too small for the church. When they found a good property suitable for the church’s need, they could not find a buyer for the church’s property.
In 1997 I came to work with the Yokota church as I was introduced by Nao Fukushima to the church after I graduated from Harding Graduate School of Religion. The building project was still going on that time. I was new there, but the men of the church immediately assigned me to find a buyer and a new proerty. As I recall 1997–1999, our efforts did not create any meaningful results. It was a time of frustration for me.