The first meeting of the post-war kiitsu kyokai (second version) was held on October 23, 1948. However, it didn’t officially form until about two years after.
Meeting notes
References
Brown, A. J. (2024, January 19). Basic Information & Weekly Zoom Meetings on Thursdays. Caute. https://kiitsukyokai.blogspot.com/2023/05/weekly-zoom-meetings-and-basic.html
In Japanese, Kiitsu ( 帰一 ) means “returning” to “oneness” or “unity,” and Kyōkai 協会 means “assembly” or “association” with the associated idea of a “school”, i.e. a place where one gathers together in order to learn and grow. It has sometimes been translated as the “Unitarian Church.”
Kiitsu Kyōkai was the name given to the post-1948 community founded in Tokyo by Imaoka Shin’ichirō-sensei (1881-1988), the twentieth-century Japanese advocate of jiyū shūkyō (自由宗教) which, although it is often translated as “free-religion” we feel is, today, better translated as “a creative, free-spirituality.”
Brown, A. J. (2024, January 19). The Purpose of Tokyo Kiitsu Kyōkai by Imaoka Shin’ichirō (September 1950, “Creation” [創造], Issue No. 1). Caute. https://kiitsukyokai.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-purpose-of-tokyo-kiitsu-kyokai-by.html
The first Sunday meeting was held in October of Shōwa 23 (1948), but it did not suddenly come into existence at that time.